Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
In this special episode, we listen to artist William Rhodes talk about his arrival in San Francisco back in 2008. It wasn't exactly the city he had imagined. Together with other Black artists in the city, he helped cofound the Three Point Nine Art Collective, and that helped William feel grounded in community and what he loves to do. But it of course didn't stop the racist micro-aggressions he experienced here on a daily basis. William ends this episode offering a genuine sense of hope for the future, which he believes has to start with us all being true to ourselves. In case you missed William's original podcasts with us, please go back to Season 2 Episode 33. We recorded this podcast on Zoom during quarantine in San Francisco in June 2020.
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Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez grew up in Cow Hollow, and he'd like you to know what that means. In Part 1, the prolific San Francisco journalist tells the story of how his parents met (it involves his mom and uncle hitchhiking from Los Angeles to San Francisco). He talks about the neighborhood where he grew up and all the misconceptions that surround it. An influential neighbor he had back then led him to become a writer for his middle school newspaper. Joe ends Part 1 sharing stories from his time making documentary videos in high school, and how, in a roundabout way, that led him back to journalism at City College.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
In Part 1, District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen tells the story of how her parents, one from Israel, one from Milwaukee, met in Los Angeles, where she grew up. She went to college at UC San Diego and engaged in activism on the state level, fighting props 187 and 209. After graduation, she wanted to learn Spanish, and she spent a couple of years in Barcelona. She came back to the states to go to law school at UC Berkeley, where, after a couple of summers doing various legal work, she had a realization that landed her in the Mission District in San Francisco.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Remember when cafés had couches? In Part 1, Pinhole Coffee owner JoEllen Depakakibo walks us through her life growing up just outside of Chicago. She ended up going to college at DePaul and moving to Chicago, which lead to her first jobs in coffee shops.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
From Kansas farms to Austin bands, Cheese Plus owner Ray Bair's life experiences span quite a broad spectrum. In Part 1, Ray takes us back to the early '70s, when he'd spend summers on his grandparents' farm in Kansas. He'd return for the school year to his hometown of Dallas, where he spent his high-school days and stuck around a few years after graduating. A job lured him to Austin, where he later found work at the nascent Whole Foods Market. That eventually helped him land in the Bay Area several years later.
Photos by Michelle Kilfeather
Growing up, Robin Galante felt she didn't fit in with kids in her neighborhood, and so she turned to her imagination at an early age. In Part 1, Robin, who grew up on the Peninsula in Los Altos, talks about her life there. Owing partly to her mom's creativity, she engaged in visual arts and never looked back. As a young girl and again as a teenager, she visited San Francisco and formed impressions of the big city up the way. She eventually moved here when she decided to attend SF State.
Photography by Jeff Hunt
Marke Bieschke, who today is a member of the 17-person Stud Collective, which owns San Francisco's oldest gay nightclub, and is the publisher/arts editor of 48 Hills and legacy keeper of the SF Bay Guardian archives, was throwing raves back when they were a novel thing. In Part 1, Marke traces his early life, from lower Ontario farms and inner-city Detroit abandoned buildings to early techno and house nightclubs. Part 1 ends with a rather auspicious tip from a friend.
Photography by Jeff Hunt
Born in Phoenix in 1943 and raised in the all-black town of Rentiesville, Oklahoma, Arnold Townsend's family moved to Southern California when he was 6. He lived in Watts in LA on an integrated block. In Part 1, Arnold takes us through the early years of his life, with tales of racism, defiance, and, as he put it, a "Leave It to Beaver" neighborhood.
Photography by Jeff Hunt
Chinatown in San Francisco is so much more than ornate streetlamps. In Part 1, Josh Chuck, who co-directed and produced the documentary Chinatown Rising, traces his family's story back a few generations and explains how they ended up the city. His parents met at Cameron House, where Josh was raised mostly. He has stories of he and his teenage friends finding fun all over town in the nineties. He ends the podcast with his time at UC Davis, which is where Josh started getting into filmmaking.
Photography by Chloe Jackman
Erin Lim is a huge inspiration for this podcast. In Part 1, Erin shares her parents' back stories and how they met. She talks about growing up in San Leandro, ice skating, going to Giants games with her dad and step-great-grandpa, and the various internships she had while in college. Full disclosure: Erin and Jeff are engaged and live together.
Photography by Jeff Hunt
Since she was a little girl, Aireene Espiritu has searched for a place where she felt she belonged. In Part 1, Aireene, who today is a musician, talks about her childhood in the Philippines and on the East Coast. Her mom had to work three jobs to support her and her brother, and so Aireene came west to live with family in Milpitas. She eventually found her way to San Francisco, when she enrolled at SF State. A few years later, she started going to open mics, first in the Sunset, then later at Hotel Utah. After being inspired by some of the folks she saw get up and perform, Aireene soon started to play music herself.
Photography by Jeff Hunt
Jan Yanehiro defied familial pressures to follow her dream. In Part 1, Jan traces her story back to Hawaii, where she grew up a third-generation Japanese-American. She braved upsetting her parents to go to college in California, and after a short stint as a flight attendant following graduation, she came to San Francisco and got a job at a local radio station.
Film photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Adam Bergeron's parents are awesome. In Part 1, Adam, who today owns and operates the Balboa Theater, shares the story of a cross-country roadtrip his family took back in 1977, and how they ended up in San Francisco at a particularly important moment in cinematic history. The family moved around quite a bit but ended up back on the East Coast, where Adam went to high school and college. He came out west with friends after graduating from Northeastern University. Then, after a brief stay in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Adam ended up back in the Bay Area. He split his time between Santa Cruz and the city before opening 12 Galaxies in the Mission back around 2002.
Film photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Dayna Keyes never knew her real dad. In Part 1, Dayna talks about growing up in Mississippi. Her mom soon met the man who ended up helping to raise Dayna, and the family moved to Southern California. Dayna's love of make-believe and escape hinted at her young adulthood of acting, voiceover work, and eventually, drugs.
Film photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Skating and building ramps consumed much of George Rocha's childhood. In Part 1, George, who today owns and operates Iris Skateboards, recounts various tales from his childhood on four wheels. He took a roadtrip to Portland right out of high school, his first taste of the West Coast and a world he had been reading about and seeing pictures of in magazines and videos. He would end up moving to San Francisco just a few years later. Check out this video by Jeremy McNamara on George's work with Iris Skateboards:
Film photography by Michelle Kilfeather
When she was a teenager, P. Segal was held by her father under what she calls "house arrest." In Part 1, P. talks about her Sicilian roots, her many warm memories of growing up in San Francisco, leaving for college in Los Angeles, and her eventual return to The City.
Photography by Jeff Hunt
Lincoln Mitchell's family came to San Francisco from New York City in the 1970s. In Part 1, Lincoln talks about growing up in The City and being a fan of the Yankees and the Giants. He discusses how he came to love baseball, his family's and his own sense of politics, schools he went to here, and both the differences and similarities between New York and our city.
Film photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Harmony Fraga grew up mostly in the East Bay, with San Francisco always just a scenic drive over the Bay Bridge. In Part 1, Harmony, who today owns and operates the Social Study in the Fillmore, talks about her early life, schools she went to, graduation and spending more and more time in the city, and eventually moving over after getting her first job here. That job lead to another, and then to her first business—a day and evening lounge in a neighborhood and city that needed something exactly like that.
Film photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Some of us talk about making the world a better place. Bob Buckter, aka Dr. Color, has spent the last 50 years doing just that. In Part 1, Bob, a born-and-raised San Franciscan, reflects on his childhood in the Excelsior and Outer Sunset Districts.
Film photography by Michelle Kilfeather
For 15 years, starting on the day he moved to the Mission, Sam was Jeff's corner-store guy. In this podcast, Sam talks about his move to the U.S. from Jordan as a teenager. He and his brother Joe ended up in Daly City, where Sam finished high school. Shortly after that, Sam had the opportunity to own a store on Mission just south of Army Street. Then in the late-'80s, he bought Golden Eagle Market on Valencia at 20th St., where he still works today. He talks about how the neighborhood, and especially that corner, has evolved over the years. We recorded this podcast at Golden Eagle Market in December 2019.
Film photography by Michelle Kilfeather
When Cassandra Dallett moved to San Francisco in the mid-1980s, she hit the ground running ... Welcome to Season 3 of Storied: San Francisco! It's good to be back at it, capturing the spirit of the people still here making this city one hell of a special place. Cassandra is the perfect person to get us started. In Part 1, Cassandra talks about her early life in New England and what drew here to San Francisco as a teenager. She takes us through adventures in a flat at Haight and Fillmore that sounds like something right out of Tales of the City. She started going to shows all over town, but the Mab in North Beach had the strongest attraction for her and her young punk rocker friends. Today, Cassandra lives in Oakland and is an award-nominated poet with her own podcast and book club. She'll be reading her poetry live tonight at our Season 3 kickoff event--Love Letters to the City.
Film photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Chloe Jackman grew up all over San Francisco. In Part 1, she takes us on a journey through several different neighborhoods she lived in and schools she went to. After high school, she lived in Santa Barbara long enough to graduate and realized how good we have it here in the Bay.
Film photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Brian Goggin moved to San Francisco from Davis, California, in 1988. His first visits to the city came as a kid when his parents enrolled him in a class at the SFMoMA where he studied animation and sculpture. In Part 1, Brian reflects on his childhood, arriving in San Francisco, why he left and what it was like to return, his early art explorations, and how he began to fuse his interests of literature, painting, and performance into his three-dimensional art.
Film photography by Michelle Kilfeather
These days, Dara Kosberg is the program director for the non-profit Reimagine: End of Life, a 10-day gathering with more than 250 events all over SF and the Bay Area that explore topics around death, dying, grief, and living life to the fullest. But her journey to San Francisco was no straight line. In Part 1, Dara talks about her life in Massachusetts and New Orleans before moving here in 2003. It involves ruby slippers and being an extra in a Ben Stiller movie, among other things. |