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Photography by Jeff Hunt
This is the final installment in our four-part series with Creativity Explored, whose mission is "to provide developmentally disabled people access to the human right of creative expression." Please listen to Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 if you haven't already. Vincent Jackson has been making art at Creativity Explored for more than half of his life. In this podcast, Vincent shares his life story with us. He was born and raised in the Bayview. He had drawn some here and there before a social worker told him about the non-profit in the Mission. He used to spend a lot of time at the Bayview Opera House. That was 37 years ago. He says that CE became family to him after his mom died. Vincent has sold a lot of his art over the years. He's done commissioned pieces for folks and fashion where he gives another artist pieces to be quilted. He was once on a speaking panel with Paul Moshammer (featured in Part 3 of this series). His favorite thing about doing art at Creativity Explored, as he puts it, is: "It's no limit here." Late last year, Vincent went to New York City to show his art. It was his first trip there and he enjoyed it. In fact, he wanted to stay longer, although he did miss home. Vincent loves his hometown, but isn't happy with the changes in San Francisco. He feels like people used to be nicer to one another. He plans to keep doing art and and maintains an open mind about the future. Here's a peek at some of Vincent's art:
We recorded this podcast at Creativity Explored in the Mission in January 2022.
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Photography by Jeff Hunt
This is the third in a four-part series we're doing with Creativity Explored. CE's mission is "to provide developmentally disabled people access to the human right of creative expression." Please listen to Part 1 and Part 2 and check back next week for the final episode in this series, with artist Vincent Jackson. You'll hear Vincent a little in the background as he sat in with Jeff and Paul during the recording. Paul Moshammer is the offspring of artists. In this episode, we get to know the director of programs at Creativity Explored. Paul was born and raised in Vienna. His dad was an architect and his mom was a gold- and silversmith. They encouraged Paul's creative energy from a young age by sending him to various art schools. Around 19, he felt he already had a strong artistic voice, something schools weren't so much looking for. He started to travel around this time, and ended up living and working on a kibbutz in Israel. He met his wife, a Cuban-American, there during this time. After three months on the kibbutz, the young couple started to travel together. Eventually, Maria went back to her home in the US while Paul stayed on in Kenya for five weeks. Paul arrived in San Francisco in October 1989—two days before the Loma Prieta earthquake. Maria was already here and had discovered Creativity Explored before Paul's arrival. An art teacher from earlier in his life had talked about the art of children and folks who were institutionalized and it had left a strong impression on him. He stuck around for four hours on his first visit and ended up volunteering in early 1990. He was soon hired as a substitute teacher, and when there was an opening, Paul got the job. Vincent Jackson was at the table Paul took over, and they've been working together ever since. We chat a bit about Florence and Elias Katz, the cofounders of Creativity Explored. Paul never met Florence, but he knew Elias well. Vincent steps in to share stories of Florence with us. Paul skims over some of the highlights of his 30-plus years with the organization. They were in crisis, as he puts it, when the original director left. The second director rescued them, so to speak, and one of her innovations was to open the front of the 16th Street space to the public in the form of a gallery for CE artists to show and sell their work. It was an instant success. We wrap up this episode talking about what it means for Creativity Explored to still be here, especially in its role as an art space for folks with developmental disabilities. We recorded this podcast at Creativity Explored in the Mission in January 2022.
Photography by Jeff Hunt
This episode is the second in a series we're doing with Creativity Explored. CE's mission is "to provide developmentally disabled people access to the human right of creative expression." Check back Thursday for the next episode in this series, where we meet Studio Director Paul Moshammer. Joseph "JD" Green lives close enough to Creativity Explored on 16th Street that he walks to get there. JD has been with Creativity Explored since just after he graduated from high school 10 years ago. He was doing art in the building where he lives, in Hayes Valley, when someone let him know about the organization serving people with developmental disabilities. He's been making art nearly his whole life, inspired by TV shows, animation, and cartoons. Nickelodeon and Disney characters made up the bulk of figures he drew, but his favorite to this day is Spider-Man. JD also does social and political art. He tells us all about a collaboration he did with other Creativity Explored artists looking at Black identity through the lens of "blackface" and flipping the script on white supremacy. In 2019, he was part of a show with other Black CE artists called "Blackiful" that looked at police violence against Black folks. JD recounts his first visit to CE for us. He was in awe of the large space filled with so many people "just doing art." He immediately loved it and started meeting other artists. Today, he still draws cartoons, but his main jam is portraits. He's drawn Michael Jackson, Prince, and David Bowie, among other singers and celebrities. He also does ceramics in addition to painting and drawing.
And here's a slideshow of some of our favorite pieces by JD:
We end this episode with what JD loves about San Francisco and who his favorite artists are, including fellow Creativity Explored artist and JD's friend, Gerald Wiggins.
If you missed it, Part 1 with CE's Executive Director, Linda Johnson, can be found here. We recorded this podcast at Creativity Explored in the Mission in December 2021.
Photography by Jeff Hunt
This episode is the first in a series we're doing with Creativity Explored. CE's mission is "to provide developmentally disabled people access to the human right of creative expression." Check back next week for the next episode in this series. In her own words, Linda Johnson "always had a passion for city life." In this podcast, the executive director of Creativity Explored shares her life story with us. She grew up in Ohio, graduated college with degrees in English and creative writing, got her master's in Iowa in social work and poetry, and moved to San Francisco in the early Nineties on a hunch. After working at a number of different places, Linda combined her loves of social work and the visual arts with a job at Creativity Explored. Before that, she had worked at Streetside Stories, a program that helps young people tell their life stories. From there, she worked for the city of Walnut Creek, what Linda describes as "an incredibly arts-focussed city." She managed arts programs there. She shares the story of first falling in love with Creativity Explored, many years before working there. It was back in the day when you had to be somewhere, in person, to see and buy art. She remembers the big sales that CE would host and what enriching experiences they were. While at the City of Walnut Creek, Linda told herself, 'My dream job would be executive director of [Creativity Explored].' When its then-ED was retiring, the person doing the outreach to find a replacement just happened to live in Walnut Creek and found Linda through her work there. It was like a dream come true. Linda tells us in her own words what Creativity Explored is and what the non-profit's vision and outlook are. A big part of CE's future is moving more deeply into a "community with" type of organization and away from an "in service to" operation. She goes on to talk about how proud she is of CE's artists. Some have been collected or gone on to show in museums and galleries around the world. Please visit Creativity Explored's website here, where you can sign up for their newsletter and never miss any of the things they're doing. You can also donate to the non-profit there. Check back next week for another episode in our series with Creativity Explored. We recorded this podcast at Creativity Explored in the Mission in December 2021.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
In this episode, Kim picks up where she left off in Part 1, with her decision in 1985 to stay in town and go to college at SF State. She was, as she says, "deeply" into politics. She attended protests at the DNC in 1984, which took place in San Francisco. She felt pressures from the Red Power Movement, and talks about how tricky it was to be just the right amount of Indian. It was the middle of the Reagan era and Kim lived in the Castro, where AIDS was ravaging the gay community and the president infamously refused to even say the name of the disease. As far as she and anyone in her life knows, Kim has always written. After college, a friend surprised her by asking Kim to read poetry live in front of people. She’s been doing that on and off since then. Kim talks about Murdered Missing, her book of poems on the large number of Indian women who disappear, even here in The City. She spent many years teaching Native American arts, both at SF State and CCA. She taught origami arts at elementary schools all over The City. She has also written curriculum for The Exploratorium. Kim shares the story of becoming San Francisco's seventh poet laureate, including how and where she was when she learned the news. She says she's incredibly honored to have been bestowed with the honor. (Tongo Eisen-Martin is the current poet laureate: Part 1 / Part 2). We end this episode with Kim talking about what it means to still be here and her outlook for her hometown: San Francisco. If you're still listening at this point, keep going to hear Kim reading a couple of poems for us. We recorded this podcast at Kim's partner's house in The Sunnyside in December 2021.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Kim Shuck's parents met on Market Street in the late-1950s when her dad wrestled an ocelot away from its grips on her mom. In this podcast, the San Francisco poet laureate emerita talks about the five generations of San Franciscans on her mom's side. Her dad joined the Navy partly to get out of Oklahoma. He was "career" for a while, but then left that to become an electronics engineer in Silicon Valley. Her San Francisco grandparents (maternal) met at the Polish Hall in the Mission. Kim spent significant time with both sets of grandparents—both her in The City and in Oklahoma. When she was young, Kim's mom started working as a special needs para at a school near their home. She was also a founder of Noe Valley Nursery School, one of the first such co-ops in The City and also where Kim went to nursery school. Kim tells stories of the no longer extant Noe Valley Street Fair, which was a fundraiser for the school. Kim spent most of her years growing up in the Mission, Noe Valley, and the Castro. She lists the different public schools she went to. She reminisces about growing up in the Sixties and Seventies in San Francisco, with an emphasis on the way people used to paint houses in The City in vibrant color and with many hand-painted details (see our episode with Bob "Dr. Color" Buckter--Part 1 / Part 2) We eventually get around to stories about outdoor music shows and her memories of seeing the San Francisco Mime Troupe when she was young. We also spend a good amount of time talking about her love of roller skating (see our podcasts last week with David Miles, Jr., of the Church of 8 Wheels--Part 1 / Part 2). Ruth Asawa was a neighbor and (probably) Kim's first art teacher at Alvarado Elementary School. Later in her life, Kim did origami and became friends with Ruth again. Like so many guests of this show, Kim went to college at SF State. She recounts all the academic and social movements that have origins at the school, including ethnic students, free speech, and the American Indian takeover of Alcatraz. One theme Kim keeps coming back to is the cyclical nature of things, especially pertaining to creativity and art in San Francisco. "One step forward, one step back. We're cha-cha-ing." We end Part 1 with Kim going into her Cherokee heritage and then more of the story of her decision to stay in town and go to college at SF State. Check back Thursday for Part 2 and our last podcast of 2021. We recorded this podcast at Kim's partner's house in the Sunnyside in December 2021.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
In this episode, David picks up where he left off in Part 1. He had just met Rose, whom he would eventually successfully woo. It was the heyday of roller skating, with thousands of skaters flooding Golden Gate Park on the regular. But there was a large and growing number of naysayers. Early in his San Francisco skating days, David joined Skate Patrol at the park. It's a colorful story that he tells in this episode. David and Rose got married in 1984. They were both managers at different Kentucky Fried Chicken locations around town. The company pressured managers intensely to raise profits and lower costs, which caused David to think of another way to make a living. In 1989, Rose told him to go for it with teaching skate lessons in the park. They had three kids during this time. David tells the story of how his daughter Melanie won the Red Bull national skating championship in 1998. The next year, his other daughter, Tiffany, overtook her sister ... by one point. His son, David, came to roller skating by accident, winning a spot in a contest in down in Venice and coming in seventh overall. David also shares the story of how the Church of 8 Wheels went from an ad-hoc location in Golden Gate Park to a brick-and-mortar actual former church on Fillmore Street. It started out as a one-off. Then it moved to weekly. That was eight years ago. Now, it's the Church's home and HQ. According to David, there's no Church of 8 Wheels without Burning Man. David has been going to the party in the Nevada desert for 20 years. He's got his own group there called the Long Riders. The Critical Tits contingent had asked them to essentially run security for them. We end the podcast with David reflecting on what it means to still be here in San Francisco. If you missed Part 1, please go back and listen. David is a treasure. We recorded this podcast at the Church of 8 Wheels in November 2021.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
David G. Miles, Jr., is the godfather of skate in San Francisco. In this podcast, the founder of the Church of 8 Wheels joins us to share his life story. David came from a multi-ethnic family and grew up in Kansas City. On one side, his grandparents were Irish and Indian, while his dad's family hailed from the South. His single mom, a nurse, raised David and his sisters. The Black baseball legend Satchel Paige lived in their neighborhood. His parents had divorced when David was 6 or 7 and he wasn't close with his dad at all. It was the Sixties and he didn't care much about differences in people. His mom eventually fell in love with her high school sweetheart and moved to San Francisco to marry him when David was 20. "Kansas City is a place you leave," according to David. And so, after a bit of urging from his mom and a brutal winter in Kansas, he saved up bus fare and got a one-way ticket out west. The bus dropped David and the other passengers at Seventh and Market, which was quite the contrast from anything he'd seen before. His new step-dad drove him around town as a welcome to San Francisco. The family lived in Daly City at first and David was infatuated with BART. He recounts his first visit to Golden Gate Park shortly after his arrival here in February 1979. Folks lying on the grass in front of the Conservatory of Flowers didn't impress him much. But what did catch his eye was thousands of roller skaters in the park that day. He was hooked. Roller skating was huge in those days, but there was a growing drumbeat of outrage and bans were being threatened. It was around this time that David met Rose, whom he courted and eventually married. Check back Thursday for Part 2 and the story of the founding of the Church of 8 Wheels. We recorded this podcast at the Church of 8 Wheels in November 2021. 
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Hear Kitten on the Keys, our guest on the show this week, play tunes on the piano at Royal Cuckoo Market!
If you missed them, here's Part 1 and Part 2 with Kitten.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
In this podcast, Kitten picks up where she left off in Part 1. In 1981, she started going to school at SF State. It was her official move to The City. She talks about dorm life, which involved lots of music and stereo wars. She kept going to see live shows, something she began doing as a teenager when she lived in the East Bay. Kitten catalogs bands she was in during her time in college, including one with someone who became a pretty infamous rocker. After college, Kitten floated a bit. She looks back on a comparatively inexpensive city. She lived on Ninth Avenue in the Sunset and worked at Esprit as a phone operator until the young company shut down that department. Then she started working in vintage clothing and met many artists through that. After a short time working in the world of "sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll" at a club in South of Market, she got a job on Divisadero at a place called The Thirdhand Store, where she stayed for 17 years. Members of The Cockettes worked there and bought stuff from the store. Kitten lived above the store. "Kitten on the Keys" was born in the late-90s inspired by her time working at The Thirdhand Store. The shop played vintage music and she became enamored with tunes from the 1920s. A neighbor gave her some vintage sheet music, and everything aligned. We chat about how Kitten has navigated the pandemic, which for a long time, meant no live performances. And we end the podcast with her response to the idea of what it means to still be here in San Francisco. If you missed Part 1, definitely go back and check that out to hear all about Kitten's parents and her early life. Follow Kitten on Twitter, Instagram, or her website, and book her for your next event! She'll be playing at The Rite Spot next Tuesday, Dec. 14. We recorded this podcast at Royal Cuckoo Market in the Mission District in December 2021.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Kitten on the Keys's musician dad was born with crossed-eyes. In this podcast, Kitten, a musician in her own right, traces her story back to her parents. Both were born and raised in southeastern Missouri. Her dad made his way out as a traveling musician when he was 14. Her mom took a job after college in Washington, DC. Eventually, the two made their ways back to their shared hometown: East Prairie, MO. They got married and came to the Bay Area because her dad wanted to become a music teacher. Then they moved to Lafayette, where Kitten (née Suzanne) was born. She says her dad worked hard during the week and then gigged hard on the weekends. "He was always gone." Thanks mostly to her mom, Kitten grew up singing in the Lutheran church. In her teen years, she went with the church on several trips to Mexico. She shares a pretty out-there story from those journeys south. She was in a Christian dance troupe called "The Earthen Angels." But the group eventually got shut down because, with the A/C in the church cranked, their leotards were allegedly too revealing. Kitten and her siblings all took music lessons, but she says she was never good at any instruments when she was young. In fact, she says, she's shocked that she's a musician today. Once she able to start choosing her own music (you gotta hear a great story about a switcheroo involving "Bohemian Rhapsody"), she enjoyed playing. We end Part 1 with Kitten sharing stories of her earliest and fondest memories of visiting San Francisco, including taking classes at ACT and meeting all sort of punk kids and seeing some legendary bands. Don't miss Part 2, which drops this Thursday wherever you get your podcasts. We recorded this podcast at Royal Cuckoo Market in the Mission District in December 2021.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
In this episode, Matt picks up where he left off in Part 1. He talks about places in the US that his family traveled before Matt went to college in Santa Cruz. He shares what went into his decision to stay close to home for school. He graduated in five years and stayed one extra because he didn't want to leave. Then he came back to what is essentially his hometown: San Francisco. His first place was at the top of Telegraph Hill and he loved living in North Beach. He worked in catering, and despite the recession that hit in 2008, never lost his job. Matt still loves to travel, but like our host Jeff, he always loves coming home to San Francisco. He tells us about jobs he's had since his return to living here, including at the Edgewood Center for Children and Families. After Edgewood, Matt started working for Tonic Nightlife Group, which owns a few bars here in The City. From here, we go on a sidetrack about what being from here means to Matt. He talks about his never-ending appreciation for all the sites and attractions in The City. Hosting pub quizzes started for Matt at Tonic Bar in 2014. He shares that story for us. Matt wrote the San Francisco trivia we read and guests competed in at our first ever pub quiz. That was at "We're Still Here" back in September. Pub quizzes went virtual when the pandemic began, and they remain online (and in person) today. We end the podcast with Matt's response to our Season 4 theme: We're still here. If you missed Part 1, please go back and listen to Matt talk about his ancestors and his early life. We recorded this podcast at Soda Popinski's on Nob Hill in November 2021.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
One side of Matt Sterling's lineage is a big, Irish Catholic family. In this podcast, the bartender and pub quiz host delves into his family's history in San Francisco. Three generations ago, great-grandparents came here from Ireland, established their roots, and had kids. Matt's maternal grandma was one of them. She grew up in Ingleside and raised seven kids of her own, including Matt's mom. Matt says that on his mom's side, he's got 23 cousins and he knows them all pretty well. Through his mom and his aunts and uncles, Matt shares stories from the neighborhood back in the 1960s. He describes Thanksgiving dinners, first at his grandmother's house and then at his own home, where somewhere around 50 family guests showed up. Matt's dad came to the US from the Philippines when he was 22. He got married and had three kids, but that marriage ended in divorce. Then Matt's parents met when they both worked for the SFPD. His dad was an officer and his mom worked a desk job. The couple had Matt and his sister for a total of five kids. His dad worked many different beats around The City in the thirty-plus years he worked as a cop. As his family started to grow with the arrival of Matt and his sister, his dad found a larger home in Daly City. Matt tells us some of his earliest memories, including going to Catholic school in South San Francisco and later, Sacred Heart in SF. He ran cross country, which helped him get to know San Francisco really well. Matt ends Part 1 talking about various excursions in The City that sealed the fate of his moving here for him. Check back Thursday for Part 2 and the continuation of Matt Sterling's life story. We recorded this podcast at Soda Popinski's on Nob Hill in November 2021.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
In this podcast, Shizue picks up where she left off in Part 1. Her paternal grandmother, Shige, had just located her husband in Stockton. Shizue goes into more depth about her grandmother's life. Her dad, Barry, grew up in Stockton and went to UC Berkeley. He was set to graduate in June 1942. But then Pearl Harbor was bombed in December 1941. The order to "relocate" Japanese-Americans to internment camps was issued in February 1942. Her mom's family had been in camp in Arizona. At this point in the conversation, we springboard to a larger, broader talk about the dominant, northern European culture in this country and what it's like not to be part of it. Shizue worked for many years at the J. Walter Thompson office in San Francisco. At first a fine arts student, she switched to commercial art at the Academy of Art here in The City and got the job in advertising. She describes a white, male-dominated work culture and how she navigated that. We rewind to talk about Shizue's early life. Her parents met shortly after WWII, when Japanese-Americans who had been forced into internment camps were now free. Her dad joined the Army and so the family moved around. Shizue was born in Baltimore. Around the time she was 12, they moved back to California and eventually up from the Santa Clara Valley to San Francisco, where Shizue went to high school. She describes being a shy, bookworm-ish kid who strove to fit into the "model minority" demographic. That ended when she was a teenager and had an existential crisis. After her work in advertising, she ended up doing HIV prevention outreach to folks living in subsidized public housing. It was through this work that Shizue started to turn her attention toward people of color. She also started writing poetry. We end the episode with Shizue's thoughts on our theme this this season: "We're still here." Shizue's personal site is https://www.shizueseigel.com/. Her creative writing for people of color website is https://www.writenowsf.com/. We recorded this podcast at Shizue's apartment in the Outer Richmond in November 2021.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
This podcast is almost totally about Shizue Seigel's ancestors. In the episode, the poet and author digs deep into her family's history, which goes back to Japan just two generations ago. Sakuichi Tsutsumi and Umematsu Yokote Tsutsumi were from Kyushu, a large island in the south of Japan. Irene Yoshiko Tsutsumi Saiki, Shizue's mom, was born in Hawaii. Her family moved there to work on sugar plantations, but the conditions were brutal and they weren't able to save money thanks to the sugar companies' "company store" operations. Also, conditions in the cane fields were dangerous. The family went back to Japan. Sakuichi moved to San Luis Obispo on the central coast of California. He and his cousins bought some land and used their knowledge of irrigation to help them grow produce. Thanks to an oil boom in the area, the town of San Luis was growing and its population needed vegetables. Now successful, it was time to send for his wife back in Japan. Shizue shares the incredible story of finding the tiny mountain village and home where Sakuichi's family lived. It's one of those "you have to hear to believe" tales. Shizue's mom, Irene, was born in 1920. Shizue shares many stories of her mother's family and the Japanese community in and around San Luis Obispo where she mostly grew up, notably before World War II. Her dad's family moved from Hiroshima to Hawaii with his two older brothers. Life was tough there for them as well, and so it was decided that her grandfather, Yasaburo, would go ahead to California while her grandmother, Shige Matsuoka, took their children back to Japan. Shige waited for two years with no word back from the US. She left her two kids with in-laws and decided to come over to track her husband down. Her journey east is another amazing tale you just have to hear. Check back tomorrow for Part 2 and the continuation of Shizue's life history. We recorded this podcast in Shizue's Outer Richmond apartment in November 2021.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
In this episode, Andrew picks up where he left off in Part 1. He starts with the different bands and music projects he took part in during high school. He got a guitar and started writing solo songs when he was 16. Andrew shares the story of how he got his stage name. (Surprise! Andrew St. James isn't his real name.) It involves being totally smitten with a woman way, way older than he was at the time. After high school, he moved to Boston to go to Berklee School of Music. The twist—he got in on the wrong instrument. Turns out, he didn't dig college life too much. He had just released a record, Doldrums, and it got wide critical praise. He went to New York to play a show and was immediately awestruck by the city. It all led to Andrew quitting college and recording another album: The Shakes. In 2014, The Killers' manager called him and had him do a residency in North Beach. But San Francisco had changed so much in his short absence that Andrew moved to LA, a town that had been luring him. It turned out to be a wild but pretty brief stay, as the pull of San Francisco and family brought him back. Once he returned to The City, Andrew started playing with a friend and touring. He hooked up with a producer to start putting on shows at Amnesia, and with that, the Fast Times Presents series was born. For Andrew, the aim was to bring together San Francisco's many segregated music cliques. He's the first to admit the messiness of the music events. They eventually relocated to The Chapel to accommodate a bigger audience, but then the pandemic hit and Andrew took his show to the streets, literally. Starting in September this year, Fast Times Presents events have moved to Make-Out Room. The next show is tonight (Nov. 18). We end this podcast with Andrew reflecting on our Season 4 theme: We're still here. We recorded this podcast at Hyde Street Studios in the Tenderloin in November 2021.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Andrew St. James's birth mom was a tour caterer for the Rolling Stones. In this episode, the musician traces his lineage back to his being adopted by a young San Francisco couple. Carol moved to San Francisco in 1971. She worked at the Gap and what used to be Live 105 and KMEL. Nathan was born in Brooklyn to Holocaust survivor parents. After his New York marriage fizzled, he hopped on a motorcycle and rode to San Francisco in 1978. Nathan and some friends opened the original Captain Video stores. The two met when Nathan went to buy radio advertising from Carol. The couple lived in Glen Park when they adopted Andrew, then they all moved to the Sunset District, where Andrew was raised. Andrew shares early memories from both neighborhoods. He sang in the San Francisco Boys Choir for a number of years before getting jaded at a young age. He decided to branch out more on his own, and so he bought an organ. He soon began playing rock music with friends roughly his age—12. Andrew got into Urban High School, which he shares the background and philosophy of for us. Andrew says that by the time he entered high school, in the late-2000s, that philosophy had more or less gone by the wayside. Check back Thursday for Part 2 and the continuation of Andrew's life story. Shout out to Ashley Graham for connecting us with Andrew. We recorded this podcast at Hyde Street Studios in the Tenderloin in November 2021. 
Photography by Allison Tom
We start with the honeymoon, time away from The City. Jeff and Erin spent two weeks in northern New Mexico, bouncing around between Taos, Santa Fe, and the small town of Dixon (about halfway between Taos and Santa Fe), where old friends of Jeff have some land with a house, a casita, a tiny house, a large garden, and some chickens. Then we back up to start chronicling Thursday, October 14, 2021. Jeff's wedding day started with some rather incredible news: Storied: San Francisco won Best Podcast in 48 Hills/SF Bay Guardian's Best of the Bay 2021!!! The whole point of our recording us talking about the wedding is that we felt it needed to be memorialized. Yes, it was my wedding ... but I have no problem saying that it was fucking epic. Please listen to the podcast for details of the day, but here, shout-outs are in order. As you'll see, many of the folks instrumental in making the day what it was have been on the podcast. Some will be soon. Here they are:
It takes a village, y'all. Check back next week for our first storyteller in almost two months: musician Andrew St. James! We recorded this podcast at Shovels Cocktail and Whiskey Bar in the Tenderloin in November 2021. 
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
In this podcast, Yeva picks up where she left off in Part 1. She backs up from her time in Brazil to tell us about peace camps she went to as a kid, and how that took her to places like Tanzania. As the kids who went the camps got older, they started having reunions they dubbed "seminar camps." As a teen, Yeva went to one such reunion the French Alps. Years later, as a college student in Brazil, she was on staff as a seminar camp, coming full circle. Back in Rhode Island, she went straight into medical school. Returned from her time abroad as a young adult, Yeva noted the material abundance found in US versus a place like Brazil. She says she almost quit med school because it was so intense, but she ended up sticking with it. Once her education really ramped up, things like writing for the newspaper and playing flute fell by the wayside. Yeva explains that it was during her time in med school that HIV/AIDS started becoming known. But that wasn't necessarily what brought her west to San Francisco. She cites a spring break trip to The City while she was still in med school that sealed the deal for her—that, a brush with Armistead Maupin, and getting matched with a program at San Francisco General Hospital in family medicine serving underserved populations. Just before her move here in 1990, she came out to help with Loma Prieta earthquake recovery efforts. She did her training, met a partner, had kids, and has worked a lot since her move. Yeva also discovered poetry and shares the story of how that happened. We end this episode with Yeva's thoughts on San Francisco today as well as what could be in store for The City's future. And then she reads one of her poems: "Incantation for Black Lives to Remain in Focus After the Outrage Fades." We recorded this podcast at Shakespeare Garden in Golden Gate Park in September 2021. 
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Yeva Johnson was born in Detroit by necessity. In this podcast, we welcome Yeva back to the show. We first met her back in 2018 at Working With Death, the show we did that year with Reimagine End of Life. Her family moved from Michigan to Washington, DC, when Yeva was young. She often joined her siblings and parents at various marches in the capital city—for the ERA, peace marches, etc. As a student, Yeva liked to read. She talks about going to DC museums and the Library of Congress ("They had every book—almost!") when she was young. Her parents moved her to a new school, and so she had to adjust to a new environment and make new friends. Music has always been a big part of Yeva's life. She has been playing the piano since she was five and the flute since she was in fourth grade. When she was young, she went to several jazz festivals in the DC area with her mom. She kept playing flute throughout her time in school and in fact, she still plays today. She went to Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where she immediately got into their medical program. In her third year of college, she spent time in Brazil, which we wrap this episode with. Check back Thursday for Part 2 and the continuation of Yeva's life story, including her move to San Francisco. We recorded this podcast in the Shakespeare Garden at Golden Gate Park in September 2021. 
Photo by Vince Donovan
In this episode, Bishop Megan talks about their trans identity. Through popular culture and with age, they knew they were queer around the time they went to college. Eventually, as the world and language evolved, "trans" became what they identify with. One of their children is also trans, and Bishop Megan shares their perspective of what it's like to parent the kid. Then they us about life after college. Deciding to pursue religious studies wasn't so obvious, as churches at that time refused to ordain LGBTQ people. They ended up at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley. Within the first year there, they started working with hungry and homeless folks on Polk Street in The City. We pivot to the story of meeting their wife. It involves therapy homework and falling off a curb. Needless to say, the two hit it off. Because they wanted to adopt children, they moved to the Sunset to a place with multiple bedrooms. They continue living there with their family today. Next, Bishop Megan discusses the arduous process of becoming a bishop in the Lutheran Church. If you missed it, Megan is the first trans bishop of a major U.S. church. We end this podcast with Megan talking about the current state of things in San Francisco as well as their vision for the next phase here in The City. If you missed Part 1, please go back to hear the story of Bishop Megan's early life and their ancestors. We recorded this podcast at Harvey's in the Castro in August 2021. 
Photo by Vince Donovan
The Rev. Dr. Bishop Megan Rohrer's ancestors must've liked the cold. In this podcast, Bishop Megan traces their South Dakota family lineage back to Switzerland, Germany, and Norway. In the new country, they lived in barns and farmed the land. Their great-grandmother carried a bucket of lard with a piece of bread in it when she went to school. Eventually, their family survived the Depression. They discuss the culture in South Dakota as being one where grudges can't be held long. As they put it, "Your neighbor might be the one to pick you up when your car runs off the road and into a ditch." Their mom grew up in a small town in the state and moved to Sioux Falls, where their dad grew up. Dad, a veteran, eventually turned to alcohol. Things got so bad that his restraining order meant he had to move out of state. He chose California—Visalia specifically. On a visit to see their dad, Bishop Megan learned of some half-siblings in California. They also have a full brother and half-sister from back in South Dakota. When it comes to growing up in Sioux Falls, Bishop Megan says the Eastern South Dakota town is more diverse than you might think. They go on to explain the politics and economics of the place, and point to the reason many of us might already know of the town. We also talk about the weather there. After graduating from high school, they moved onto to the college campus in town to work there. Through that job, Bishop Megan got free tuition to college, which they finished in three years. We end Part 1 with Megan's experiences following the death of Matthew Shepard, something that eventually led to their going to religious school. Check back Thursday for Part 2. We recorded this podcast at Harvey's in the Castro in August 2021.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
In this podcast, Mike picks up where he left off in Part 1. He tells us about a comedy class he took at SF State that had a pretty profound effect on him. From there, the conversation turns to how Mike discovered that he's funny. He shares the story of a secret show he put on for fellow college students that you just have to hear. Around this time, Mike started doing comedy at Mutiny Radio (Pam Benjamin). Then he collaborated with Joe Talbot and Jimmie Fails ("Joe and Jimmie") on a project that ended up being the movie The Last Black Man in San Francisco. Through that, Mike met Joe's dad, David, author of Season of the Witch. David was hosting an event and invited Mike to do political comedy there. Mike says this was when his loves of comedy, politics, and movie-making all came together. The success of Last Black Man, after five years of production, inspired Mike to write his own stories. He talks about the evolution of his show Rent Check Series. A preview is up on Youtube now, and the rest of the series drops this fall. We end this episode with Mike's thoughts and feelings about still being here. Mike will be part of the comedy lineup at our live event (!!!) next Thursday, Sept. 9, at Casements Bar in the Mission. We hope you can make it. We'd sure love to see your faces. Event info here. We recorded this podcast in Mike's home in August 2021.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Mike Evans, Jr., is a funny guy. In this podcast, the young comedian traces his family history back to his parents, who were both born in San Francisco and met here. They raised Mike and his two older sisters in Diamond Heights as long as they could before moving to Vallejo for more space. But the family still commuted back to work in The City and brought their young son with them to go to school here. Mike stayed in San Francisco public schools as long as he could. When his cover of not living in The City was blown, his parents got him into Leadership High School—a charter school focused on social justice. He shares the experience of being young and going through a racial identity crisis around how he talks. But talking ended up being central to Mike's life. He wound up on the speech and debate teams at SF State. Mike talks about various sports he played—baseball, football, and basketball—and how he kept up with baseball to impress a girl he was crushing on. We end Part 1 talking about how Mike got started "performing," something else he owes to his parents. Mike will be one of the comedians at our live event next week: We're Still Here. Details coming soon. Please join us for Part 2 with Mike Evans, Jr., this Thursday. Shout out to Larry Dorsey, Jr. (Part 1 / Part 2), for connecting us with Mike. We recorded this podcast in Mike's home in August 2021.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
In this episode, Midgett picks up where she left off in Part 1. She had just escaped an abusive relationship out east and decided to make her way to San Francisco. One of her brothers was in the Navy and already in the Bay Area. Another had just moved out here, and so Midgett had people already in place. Her mom had left an apartment on Jones Street in The City that she was able to move into with her two kids. It was 1974 and the women's movement was well under way. She met Roma Guy and got involved with opening the Women's Building, among other things LGBTQ and women's rights activists were engaged in at the time. It was there that Midgett started doing her workshops. We rewind a little to discuss how Midgett got started teaching. It began with her agreeing to serve on a school board, then she got her daughter into that school, and others recognized how good she was with kids suggested she teach. Her first job in San Francisco was at the Booker T. Washington Community Service Center. She also taught fifth graders in after-school programs. She retired at 70 in the face of petitions that she stay on. She went back as a substitute regardless. She's currently working with the Kai Ming Head Start program. These days, Midgett is launching a subscription service to publish writings based on the workshops she did at the Women's Building for years. The topics include: parenting, friendships, relationships, sensuality, sexuality, and aging. Please go to her site, Midgett's Reading Room, and consider subscribing. We end the episode with Midgett talking about what it means for an 85-year-old to still be here. We recorded this podcast at Midgett's home in Bernal Heights in August 2021. |