Shows
Sad FranciscoQuarterly Stream of Consciousness with Tofu and ToshioA quick check-in where we look back at the longest three months in recent memory, with some notes on what’s coming up. Thanks to all our subscribers on Patreon; please join them at patreon.com/sadfrancisco2025-03-3127 min
Sad FranciscoWaymos Aren't Asian with Jasmine Lee EhrhardtA crowd of people set fire to a robotaxi last Lunar New Year in San Francisco's Chinatown. Jasmine explains how Asian American influencers and corporate media outlets used the "death" of a Waymo "self-driving" vehicle to stoke fear about anti-Asian violence. Fundraiser for Yazan in Gaza [https://chuffed.org/project/115145-yazan] Write to Casey Goonan [https://www.abcf.net/blog/update-on-casey-goonans-legal-case] LA Public Press Podcast: https://lapublicpress.org/the-tenant-association/ Episode referenced: Dylan Rodriguez on Zionists and Counterinsurgency in Stop Asian Hate [https://www.patreon.com/posts/zionists-and-in-103600189] 2025-01-2748 min
Sad FranciscoThe Anti-Sex Trafficking Industrial Complex f/ Chanelle Gallant and Elene LamChurches, nonprofits and politicians have turned the anti-sex trafficking movement into a billion-dollar industry. The lives and stories of migrant sex workers get used as an excuse to hire more cops, and criminalize a form of labor that pays better than most. Chanelle and Elene, on their new book featuring the stories of migrant sex workers from across North America. Not Your Rescue Project (Haymarket Books) [https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2258-not-your-rescue-project] Butterfly: Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network [https://www.butterflysw.org]2025-01-2046 min
Sad Francisco"Abolish Rent" with Leonardo Vilchis and Tracy Rosenthal"Abolish Rent" is a new organizing bible from Leonardo Vilchis and Tracy Rosenthal, laying out the reasons why capitalism will never provide everyone with the basic human need of shelter. They discuss tactics from successful rent strikes, how California's COVID-19 eviction moratorium was both a success and failure of tenant activism, and the attempt by landlords to rebrand as "housing providers." Buy Abolish Rent [https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2443-abolish-rent] "Privatizing Public Housing: 'The Genocide of Poor People'" (Toshio in Truthout) [https://truthout.org/articles/privatizing-public-housing-the-genocide-of-poor-people/] Support us and find links t...2025-01-1355 min
Sad FranciscoJapan-Palestine Solidarity f/ Hanin Siam, Mai, and Nadina OHanin, Mai and Nadina met and became friends through the Palestine solidarity movement in Tokyo a little over a year ago. We cover some of the recent successes of the movement, including Israeli defense company Elbit Systems losing contracts, and Israel being disinvited from the yearly event in Nagasaki that memorializes the day the US dropped an atomic bomb. They speak to some of the particularities of organizing against imperialism from inside Japan, and ways to sustain the organizing as the latest wave of genocide in Gaza continues. Palestinians of Japan (Instagram) https://ww...2025-01-061h 27
Sad FranciscoAIPAC Zombies Episode 1: Scott WienerMama Ganuush and Toshio bring you AIPAC Zombies: people in American culture who have been possessed by the worst Zionist brainrot. Our first episode: California politician Scott Wiener. More: "Scott Wiener’s Appalling Legacy as San Francisco Supervisor" (Patrick Range McDonald, Housing is a Human Right) [https://www.housingisahumanright.org/scott-wiener-appalling-legacy-san-francisco-supervisor/] "Gay Neoliberal Candidate in San Francisco Disproves Myths About LGBT Values" (Toshio, Truthout) [https://truthout.org/articles/gay-neoliberal-candidate-in-san-francisco-disproves-myths-about-lgbt-values/] 2025-01-0151 min
Sad FranciscoThank You for Being a Friend in 2024Join Tofu and Toshio on an end of the year, stream-of-consciousness check-in. New episode of Sad Francisco on January 3. AIPAC Zombies with Mama Ganuush premieres January 1. Support us and find links to our past episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco 2024-12-2334 min
Sad FranciscoMama Ganuush on Gaza Family, Hunger Striking and Post-Election ReflectionsA check-in with Mama Ganuush where we hear about their recent hunger strike, their visit with family who evacuated Gaza for Egypt, and discuss how US elections are bought and sold by AIPAC. SF Drag Artist Leads Hunger Strike Against US Funding of Israel (Nastia Voynovskaya, KQED) https://www.kqed.org/arts/13967427/sf-drag-artist-leads-hunger-strike-against-us-funding-of-israel Mama Ganuush on Instagram HALA Collective Support us and find links to our past episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco 2024-12-0254 min
Sad FranciscoSolidarity in Times of Repression f/ Dean Spade[This episode went up back in September, but it felt OK to put it back on the feed for anyone who might've missed it. New episodes soon.] As liberation movements face intense repression from CEOs, cops, landlords, politicians, and Zionists, Dean Spade and friends put together a list of questions we can all ask ourselves, so we don't reproduce the logics of the state. Dean is author of the classics Mutual Aid and Normal Life: Administrative Violence and the Limits of the Law, and future classic Love in a F*cked-Up World: How to Build Re...2024-11-1445 min
Sad FranciscoCops Take All the Money f/ Cynthia Fong and Jenica Garcia (Lavender Phoenix) and Anya W. (People's Budget Coalition)*Lavender Phoenix https://lavenderphoenix.org/ SF People's Budget: https://www.instagram.com/sfpeoplesbudget/ #JusticeForAkaiGurley: AAPI response to people supporting Peter Liang, the NYPD officer who killed Akai Gurley. https://caaav.org/justiceforakaigurley-national-sign-on-letter Support us and find links to our past episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco *People's Budget Coalition listed for ID purposes only. 2024-11-0444 min
Sad FranciscoSurviving US-Backed Death Squads in the Philippines f/ Brandon LeeOriginally from San Francisco, Brandon Lee was working as a journalist in Ifugao in the Philippines when he survived an assassination attempt–a shooting carried out by forces close to the US-backed Duterte regime. Brandon talks about surviving the attack, the US disinformation machine, and why the Bay goes so hard for liberation in the Philippines. Website: Justice4BrandonLee.org IG: Justice4BrandonLee: https://www.instagram.com/justice4brandonlee/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/Justice4BrandonLee International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippin...2024-10-2829 min
Sad FranciscoTogetherSF Wants Elite Control f/ Jeremy Mack (The Phoenix Project)Jeremy Mack (from The Phoenix Project, which exposes dark money in Bay Area politics) is back for a discussion about upcoming elections, TogetherSF, the billionaire-funded, "pro-moderate" astroturfing group behind SF's Prop. D, and Balaji Srinivasan's plan for "The Network State," a techbro-led New World Order complete with a walled-off Hayes Valley. The Phoenix Project: https://www.phoenixprojectnow.com/ Instagram: @phoenixprojnow | Twitter: @phoenixprojnow Past episodes mentioned: -Alison Collins on being recalled from SFUSD: https://www.patreon.com/posts/project-2025-in-111973369 -Anna Kirsch on the billionaire attempt to cr...2024-10-211h 03
Sad FranciscoHow Cash Runs Local Politics (Live Salon HALA Show at Brava Theater) f/ Jeremy Mack, Keane Chukwuneta, Mama Ganuush, and Pup ZemblaMama Ganuush hosts a discussion on whether people in the US actually stand a chance under American democracy, when money rules everything around us. Guests from The Phoenix Project (exposing dark money in Bay Area politics) and Pups for Palestine (what it says :) ). Salon HALA will return in 2025. Salon HALA on Instagram The Phoenix Project Zinedogs | Instagram @zinedogssf Support us and find links to our past episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco 2024-10-1447 min
Sad FranciscoCan't Hide a Genocide f/ Dylan Rodriguez and Loubna QutamiIt's one year since the start of the most recent wave of Israel's US-backed genocide of Palestinians. This episode was recorded last fall with Loubna Qutami (co-founder of the Palestinian Youth Movement and a member of the Palestinian Feminist Collective), and one of her mentors, and ours, Dylan Rodriguez (co-founder of Critical Resistance and the Critical Ethnic Studies Association). Both organizers and professors, Loubna (UCLA) and Dylan (UC Riverside) discuss Zionist repression, and why we must continue to fight it. >> LISTEN TO ALL 14 OF OUR PALESTINE EPISODES FROM THE PAST YEAR HERE. 2024-10-0953 min
Sad FranciscoAbstinence-Obsessed, Rightwing Recovery Influencers f/ Lea McGeever"Brothers in recovery" Matt Dorsey (an ex-SFPD staffer turned politician) and Tom Wolf (the rightwing influencer who said the impending closure of a Macy's store was "San Francisco's 9/11") are examples of how conservatives are using their drug rehab journeys to prop up the war on drug users. With enemies like Tom Wolf, rightwing lobbyist Christopher Rufo, and conservative misinformation machine PragerU, our guest, Tenderloin-based writer Lea McGeever, must be doing something right. Lea: Substack: https://leftylea.substack.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leftylea_in_sf/ TikTok: https://www.t...2024-09-301h 12
Sad FranciscoProject 2025 Came Early in San Francisco f/ Alison CollinsProject 2025 soft launched in San Francisco years ago, with successful attempts to replace politicians with people who are obedient to the rightwing. Because it’s the Bay, these replacements are registered as Democrats and they virtue signal about diversity, but make no mistake, they are deeply aligned with rightwing forces like the Heritage Foundation. This episode’s guest Alison Collins is a SFUSD teacher and former school board member who was recalled in a rightwing recall campaign in 2022. Ali’s Patreon: www.patreon.com/justtalkspodcast Support us and find links to our past episode...2024-09-2349 min
Sad FranciscoBay2Gaza Mutual Aid f/ Brooke Lober, Lauren Gutierrez and Mama GanuushMutual aid and relationships with people we trust are gonna be key to surviving the political and climate apocalypses ahead. Brooke, Lauren and Mama Ganuush on Bay2Gaza Mutual Aid, and how to sustain connections with people living through the genocide in Palestine, as the US and Israel do everything they can to repress signals of solidarity. Bay2Gaza Benefit is 9/20 at Oakland Secret https://www.instagram.com/p/C_ggDqUyDoj/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== https://www.Bay2Gaza.org Thank you to LoCura for this episode’s outro track “Guerriller@s (Bang Data re...2024-09-171h 00
Sad FranciscoSolidarity in Times of Repression f/ Dean Spade"Cultivating Solidarity in Times of Escalating Repression" (Dean, with Community Justice Exchange, Jocelyn Simonson, Pilar Weiss, Atara Rich-Shea and Zohra Ahmed: http://bit.ly/cultivatesolidarity As liberation movements face intense repression from CEOs, cops, landlords, politicians, and Zionists, https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/over-60-people-indicted-on-rico-charges-in-atlanta-allegedly-promoting-anarchist-ideas/ Official Indictment: https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/atlanta-rico-indicts-doc-official.pdf Dean Spade and friends put together a list of questions we can all ask ourselves, so we don't reproduce the logics of the state. Dean is author of the classics Mutual Aid and...2024-09-0942 min
Sad FranciscoDebt is a Threat to Liberation f/ Maddy Clifford (Debt Collective)Debt is a tool of control wielded by rich people. Maddy Clifford and Debt Collective (the union for people dealing with debt) want to wipe it out. Maddy's Linktree https://linktr.ee/madlines Debt Collective https://debtcollective.org/ Tenant Power Toolkit https://tenantpowertoolkit.org/ "They Want to Keep You in Debt" (Maddy at More Perfect Union) https://perfectunion.us/the-secret-student-debt-fight/ “It’s a system that’s rigged. It’s messed up, and we’re the ones that have to bear that burden...2024-09-0250 min
Sad FranciscoZionism at Burning Man (and in Party Culture) f/ Mama GanuushHate to be that bummer podcast, but Zionism has invaded party culture, too. Mama Ganuush discusses Adam Swig, a party promoter from the real estate empire that brought you San Francisco’s posh Fairmont and St. Francis hotels. Next, we talk Israel’s colonization of the Playa, complete with a Nova Music Festival memorial, and a “No donations for Doctors Without Borders” policy at the queer Comfort & Joy camp. More episodes on with Zionist culture-washing: “Civic Joy Brings Sorrow” with Mama Ganuush https://www.patreon.com/posts/civic...2024-08-2650 min
Sad FranciscoVoting is a Scam f/ Edxi BettsElections suck people's energy, money, and imagination, while legitimizing a system where a few elites cling to most power and wealth. (Not to mention the multiple genocides.) What's not to love? Edxi's Linktree linktr.ee/bettsurevolt I'm NOT Dreaming of a White 'Insurrection': How the Right Wing Stole Crisis https://edxithatradgworl.substack.com/p/im-not-dreaming-of-a-white-insurrection?r=327odc&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Support us and find links to our past episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco 2024-08-1958 minSad FranciscoThank you, back in a minuteLove to everyone who listens to the podcast unless you're a cop or YIMBY! Short announcement today. BTW, if you're a member, the new Patreon-only content is up today. Toshio Meronek and Tofu Estolas make Sad Francisco. Support us and find links to our past episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco 2024-08-1903 minSad FranciscoThank you, back in a minuteLove to everyone who listens to the podcast. Short announcement today. BTW, if you're a member, the new Patreon-only content is up today! Support us and find links to our past episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco 2024-08-1303 min
Sad FranciscoHunger Striking for Housing f/ Jordan DavisHomelessness is becoming even more criminalized thanks to the Grant's Pass decision at the Supreme Court, plus the desire by politicians to suck up to their Nextdoor.com lurker donors. Permanent supportive housing (PSH) is one way to give people a roof over their heads without taking away their self-determination. Jordan Davis discusses living in, and fighting for, permanent supportive housing. Jordan's columns in Street Sheet Jordan on Instagram: www.instagram.com/veganpaczki or reach out directly: jodav1026@gmail.com "Do Not Speak for Us" in Street Sheet (throwback from Toshio and Miya So...2024-08-0556 min
Sad FranciscoCivic Joy Brings Sorrow f/ Mama GanuushThe Civic Joy Fund is an artwashing front for nefarious causes like Zionism and the Police Officers Association, helmed and funded by sociopaths like Manny Yekutiel of Manny's in the Mission, crypto bro Chris Larsen, and Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie. Mama Ganuush on the boycott directed at the aforementioned rich guys and the milquetoast art they're funding. HALA Collective - Mama Ganuush-founded artist collective (Toshio is a member) https://www.mamaganuush.com/hala Our episode with Deeg on the Anti-Zionist Boycott of Manny's https://www.patreon.com/posts/anti-zionist-of-106162019?utm...2024-07-2932 min
Sad FranciscoImperial War Games of RIMPAC f/ Abbey Irodistan from BAYAN USA NorCalFor RIMPAC, 29 countries and so-called Israel are in Hawaii to explode some old naval ships, waste a ton of money, kill some birds and dolphins, and make local kids feel like they're under a perpetual state of siege. Abbey Irodistan is with the Filipino anti-imperialist group BAYAN USA NorCal, which is joining Hawaiians to call for an end to RIMPAC forever. "SF Against APEC" episode with Anakbayan CCSF BAYAN USA NorCal (Instagram) Anakbayan USA Gabriela USA SF Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines Toshio Meronek and Tof...2024-07-2338 min
Sad FranciscoPinkwashing Genocide f/ Brooke Lober, Deeg, and Mama GanuushSad Francisco fam Brooke Lober (Jewish Voice for Peace Bay Area), Deeg (Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism), and Mama Ganuush on why Zionists started putting rainbow flags on tanks destroying Gaza, and the Bay Area roots of Brand Israel’s gay hasbara campaign. Recorded June 27, 2024 at the Queer & Trans Artists for a Free Palestine closing at SOMArts, hosted by the BLOOM Collective. Palestinian queer group alQaws: “Reflecting on Queerness in Times of Genocide” Mama Ganuush on queers for Palestine, and Trans Black Palestinian Solidarities Deeg on the Manny’s in the Mission boycott...2024-07-191h 07
Sad FranciscoClocking Copaganda f/ Abe Woodliff (@realbayareamemes) Abe Woodliff on how it's impossible to actually predict when a meme will hit, writing, and the shocking lack of negatives there are to existing authentically. Plus his recent piece on who wins and loses from fake narratives around crime rates. "Crime is Down in the Bay Area, Why Are People Pretending It's Not?" at Broke-Ass Stuart Abe Woodliff on Substack | Instagram | Twitter | Abe's Book @realbayareamemes on Instagram | Facebook 2024-07-1057 min
Sad FranciscoPlanning the Technofascist City w/ Anna Kirsch (Artists Against Billionaires) YIMBY billionaires are buying up thousands of acres northeast of the Bay, to build a planned community of rich tech types. To sell their East Solano Plan (f.k.a. “California Forever”) to locals, its founders launched a PR campaign complete with artwashing and more. Vallejo-based Anna Kirsch of Artists Against Billionaires is part of the resistance. Artists Against Billionaires on Instagram Anna Kirsch (@girlonbus) on Instagram 2024-07-0132 min
Sad FranciscoDeath & Life of Bay Area Media Kevin L. Jones from Doomloop Dispatch–"the podcast about the worst parts of the San Francisco Bay Area" reached out! Him and Toshio speak on the ongoing death of traditional corporate news, plus background on the origins of Sad Francisco. Doomloop Dispatch is on all the podcast platforms, plus Twitter and Instagram. Toshio Meronek and Tofu Estolas are Sad Francisco. Support us and find links to our past episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco 2024-06-2458 min
Sad FranciscoThe Anti-Zionist Boycott of Manny's f/ Deeg Get to know the gay Zionist Burner Manny Yekutiel, of Manny's cafe in the Mission, and why groups like Gay Shame and Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism (QUIT!) have been boycotting Manny's since 2018. HALA Collective BAD (Bay Area Drag) Fund "Progressive coalition boycotts ‘woke-washing’ of San Francisco event space" (Toshio at Waging Nonviolence) "What boycott of Manny's in the Mission is about" (Margot Goldstein and Rachel Lederman at SF Chronicle) 2024-06-1721 min
Doomloop Dispatch14. Talking Local News with Toshio Meronek of Sad FranciscoWelcome to Doomloop Dispatch, the show covering the worst parts of the San Francisco Bay Area. In this episode, Kevin goes solo -- Scot had an appointment -- and talks with Toshio Meronek, host of the Sad Francisco podcast. We discuss Toshio's journalism experience, follow ups with some of his best episodes, and all the issues we have with San Francisco politics. Follow the show on X: @doomloopdisp Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doomloopdispatch Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DoomloopDispatchSad Francisco on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sadfrancisco/posts2024-06-1459 min
Sad FranciscoTrans Black Palestinian Solidarities f/ Jemma DeCristo, LaVelle Ridley and Mama Ganuush (May Live Show)For our first live show taping in May, Jemma DeCristo, LaVelle Ridley, and Mama Ganuush spoke brilliantly on Trans Black-Palestinian Solidarity amidst the ongoing genocide in Palestine. Naturally, given the topic, things got emotional. Thanks to everyone who made the night possible! Jemma Decristo currently holds the record for most appearances on Sad Francisco! Her repertoire includes the episodes "Is the Transgender District a Force for Liberation or Gentrification?" and "Hot Cop of the Castro" This was LaVelle Ridley's debut episode; she will return! Mama Ganuush (the episode with Mama Ganuush fro...2024-06-1049 min
Sad FranciscoHow South African Solidarity Encampments Worked f/ Matt Ray and Matt Wranovics (Left in the Bay)LEFT IN THE BAY exposes histories of the Bay Area that explain how we got our ideological reputation. Two from the collective, Matt Ray and Matt Wranovics, speak on their recent piece covering the Bay's protests in the 1980s against South African apartheid, and some lessons to genocide in Palestine. "They're watching you; don't let them down": the 1985 anti-apartheid occupation movement at Berkeley by Left in the Bay (at Notes from Below) Left in the Bay on Instagram Left in the Bay on Twitter2024-06-0351 min
Sad Francisco5 Rich Guys Trying to Buy the Bay f/ Julie Pitta and Jeremy MackJulie Pitta and Jeremy Mack are part of the Phoenix Project, which is tracking the wealthy wannabe overlords of the Bay. They run down dossiers of five extremely rich dudes who want to run local politics: Michael Moritz, William Oberndorf, Chris Larsen, John Kilroy, Jr., and Garry Tan. Phoenix Project - request the Phoenix Papers: Volume 2 Episodes mentioned: "VCs vs. SF" f/ Julie Pitta "Michael Shellenberger Thinks He Knows Your Gender" f/ Soleil Ho "Stop Garry Tan to Stop Asian Hate" f/ Emily Mills2024-05-2751 min
Sad FranciscoLAGAI-Queer Insurrection! w/ Deeg (Part 2) Part 2 of the conversation with Deeg, with more on LAGAI-Queer Insurrection (formerly Lesbians And Gays Against Intervention), the Bay Area collective that started organizing in 1983 in response to the US war machine meddling overseas. UltraViolet (LAGAI's zine) "How a queer liberation collective has stayed radical for almost 40 years" (Toshio in Waging Nonviolence) Episode with Deeg on the Boycott of Manny's in the Mission Episode with LAGAI member Kate Raphael: Queers for a Free Palestine 2024-05-2040 min
Sad FranciscoLAGAI-Queer Insurrection! w/ Deeg (Part 1)Deeg is back for some oral history lessons about LAGAI-Queer Insurrection (formerly Lesbians And Gays Against Intervention), a radical collective that started organizing in 1983 in response to the US war machine meddling overseas. Some of the same members from forty years ago continue to meet, plan direct actions, and send thousands of copies of their zine UltraViolet into prisons for free, with no 501(c)3 and next to no funding. We talk: avoiding burnout and cooptation, how to measure movement successes (and why sometimes you can't), and more. This is Part 1 of a two-part episode. U...2024-05-131h 04
Sad FranciscoWar of Information w/ Tiana Reid In the US, traditional media censorship of pro-Palestinian voices didn't start October 2023. A new report on Zionism's chilling effect on journalists is out this week, spotlighting how some reporters and editors self-censor, and corporate outlets keep Palestinian stories from being published. With Tiana Reid (@tianareid | tianareid.com
) of the National Writers Union's Freelance Solidarity Project. *This episode was recorded in March. Subscribers to our Patreon got this episode early. Help support the show there. Red Lines: Retaliation in the media industry during the war on Gaza National Writers' Union Freelance Solidarity Project Writers Against the War on Gaza Me...2024-05-0724 min
Sad FranciscoZionists and Counterinsurgency in Stop Asian Hate with Dylan Rodriguez Dylan Rodriguez is back to talk about his new piece: "How the Stop Asian Hate Movement Became Entwined with Zionism, Policing, and Counterinsurgency." Launching off the murders of Asian sex workers in Atlanta in 2021, The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) raised over $1 billion in six months. How was the rage over those deaths transformed into liberal, reformist solutions to violence, plus a TAAF board appointment for the ADL's Jonathan Greenblatt? Dylan's "How the Stop Asian Hate Movement Became Entwined with Zionism, Policing, and Counterinsurgency" (Critical Ethnic Studies Journal) "Astroturf Antisemitism Watchdogs" (Emmaia...2024-05-0633 min
Sad FranciscoSilicon Valley Imperialism f/ Erin McElroyErin McElroy is back to talk about fresh release "Silicon Valley Imperialism." Starting in the 2010s, the post-socialist Romanian government created special visas to attract tech corporations and digital nomads. They hoped to create a mini-San Francisco; the book looks at how that materialized. Silicon Valley Imperialism (Duke) Anti-Eviction Lab Previous Erin episode: Landlord Tech Watch Silicon Holler episode f/ Tom Sexton 2024-04-2944 min
Sad FranciscoWe Keep Each Other Housed f/ West Side Tenants Association Nonprofits could never: Three members of the autonomous West Side Tenants Association/WSTA discuss the evergreen problem of charity; what movements gain by putting collectivism before individualism; how knowing your neighbors is the most effective and meaningful survival tactic; and the inspiration we all get from past solidarity work in the Bay, like the thousands of people who came together around the I Hotel in the 1970s. West Side Tenants Association (also on Instagram) The Worst Evictors of San Francisco and Oakland Past episodes mentioned: Should Social Movement Work Be Paid? f...2024-04-2240 min
Sad FranciscoKeep Masks in Healthcare f/ Jillian Crochet, Senior and Disability ActionPolitics have turned COVID into a dirty word, but Jillian Crochet, a Senior and Disability Action member, is working to get the San Francisco Department of Public Health to keep masking requirements in medical facilities and jails beyond April 30, when they're set to expire. Letter to SFDPH to keep masks in healthcare April 16 Action (IndyBay) Senior and Disability Action (Instagram | Twitter) Disability Visibility Project #N95s4UCSF 2024-04-1433 min
Sad FranciscoQueens of the Intifada, Part 2 f/ Lady BunnyWell-known drag artists have been using their platforms to combat the genocide in Gaza since last October. In part two, Lady Bunny takes on virtue signaling politicians, and describes her suspicions around the viral photo with her name written on an IDF missile. Check part one for Nicki Jizz, host of locally beloved drag night Reparations, who explains how politics and drag mix. And our recent episode with Bay Area-based Palestinian drag artist Mama Ganuush. "Meet the Drag Artists Using Their Platforms to Combat the Genocide in Gaza" (Truthout) Lady Bunny...2024-03-3147 min
Sad FranciscoQueens of the Intifada, Part 1 f/ Nicki Jizz Well-known drag artists have been using their platforms to combat the genocide in Gaza since last October. In this first part, Nicki Jizz, host of locally beloved drag night Reparations, explains how politics and drag mix. Check part two for Lady Bunny, who talks about virtue signaling politicians, and describes her suspicions around the viral photo with her name written on an IDF missile. And our recent episode with Bay Area-based Palestinian drag artist Mama Ganuush. "Meet the Drag Artists Using Their Platforms to Combat the Genocide in Gaza" (Truthout) Nicki...2024-03-3114 min
Sad FranciscoRE-RELEASE: "Mental Health" Jail Expansion, f/ Thatcher Sady and Tory BeckerInstead of demanding free housing or health care, some people think the answer to homelessness is to build "mental health" jails and forced "rehab" centers to stow unhoused people, indefinitely. With Clio/Thatcher Sady and Tory Becker, from Gay Shame. "Cities Across the US Are Stripping Homeless People of Their Autonomy," by Tory and Toshio, for Truthout In other news: April 5 at Bluestockings in New York City: Come hang out with Shuli Branson, Zuri Arman, and Toshio, around the anthology "Surviving the Future: Abolitionist Queer Strategies" Sad Francisco is produced by Toshio Meronek; this episode w...2024-03-2632 min
Sad FranciscoYBCA's Neoliberal Nothingspeak on Palestine f/ Ralowe AmpuOn February 15, eight artists altered their works at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) in solidarity with Palestine. Ralowe Ampu is on to talk about the YBCA's neoliberal nothingspeak response to the artists' - and now many staffmembers' - demands of a museum that claims to be centered on diversity and community. **The museum remains closed as of March 7. Love Letter to Gaza, Open Letter from the Artists Boycott YBCA Artists' Statement Open Letter from YBCA Employees in Support of Palestine and BAN9 Artists Artists Alter Their Own Work at YBCA in Pro-Palestinian Protest (Nastia Voynovskaya, KQE...2024-03-0744 min
Sad FranciscoWhy the US Fears a Liberated Haiti f/ Pierre Labossiere and Charlie HintonPierre Labossiere and Charlie Hinton (Haiti Action Committee) speak on common threads between Haiti and Palestine, and how US-enabled death squads are creating chaos in the first country to come out of a successful slave uprising. Haiti Action Committee HAC: Haiti Ten Years After the Earthquake HAC: 'From Haiti to Palestine: One Struggle/One Fight' on Antoine and Georges Izméry, Palestinian-Haitian brothers assassinated by US-backed death squads Randall Robinson: An Unbroken Agony (book) Graham Greene: The Comedians (book) The Comedians (1967 movie) Haiti Ransom Project (NY Times) Sad Francisco is produced by Toshio Meronek and edited by T...2024-02-2239 min
Sad FranciscoVCs vs. SF: The Tech Barons Behind GrowSF and TogetherSF f/ Julie PittaGrowSF, TogetherSF and other benign-sounding local political organizations are more rightwing innovations from rich tech barons like David Sacks and Michael Moritz. Julie Pitta, a journalist previously at the LA Times, Forbes, and the SF Richmond Review, talks about the newly launched Phoenix Project, which looks at how dark money flows in California politics. (FYI: The conversation with Julie was recorded in early February, shortly after Garry "Die Slow" Tan's drunken appropriation of Tupac lyrics calling for the death of a bunch of local politicians, and just before a rightwing trolling campaign convinced the Richmond Review's publisher...2024-02-1519 minSad FranciscoMuseum of Transgender Hirstory and Art (MOTHA) f/ Chris VargasChris Vargas, on the Museum of Transgender Hirstory and Art (MOTHA), a project with no real estate that is "forever under construction," and its Bay Area connections. MOTHA Trans Hirstory in 99 Objects Our episode with Susan Stryker (director of Screaming Queens), on the Tenderloin's Compton's Cafeteria Sad Francisco is produced by Toshio Meronek and edited by Tofu Estolas. Support the show and find links to our past episodes on Patreon. 2024-02-0819 minSad FranciscoThe Redstone Labor Temple f/ Rick Gerharter and Tiny Gray-GarciaIn 2021, Lakeside Investment Company bought the Redstone Labor Temple in the Mission. Poor Magazine's tiny gray-garcia (aka povertyskola), and Rick Gerharter, a movement photographer who's had an office in the Redstone for decades, talk about the significance of the building, as the new landlord drops a gentrification bomb in the form of massive rent increases. Poor Magazine Rick Gerharter Sad Francisco is produced by Toshio Meronek and edited by Tofu Estolas. Please support the show and find links to our past episodes on Patreon. 2024-01-2754 minSad FranciscoMichael Shellenberger Thinks He Knows Your Gender f/ Soleil HoSoleil Ho is an opinion editor at the San Francisco Chronicle who recently covered the Berkeley-based writer and wannabe California governor Michael Shellenberger. In Shellenberger's last book, San Fransicko, he says rising homelessness rates in West Coast cities comes from us "loving victims" too much. Shellenberger's latest escapade: positioning himself as an expert on trans people. Soleil breaks it down. Soleil's SF Chronicle column on Michael Shellenberger Stop Garry Tan to Stop Asian Hate - our episode on Garry Tan, a Shellenberger ally based in SF (f/ Emily Mills) Support Sad Francisco and find links to our pa...2024-01-1828 minSad FranciscoWe're Queer, We're Trans, No Peace on Stolen Land f/ Mama GanuushMama Ganuush is an African Palestinian American drag artist living in San Francisco. Right now, they're combining direct action, performances, and Bay solidarity to combat Israel's campaign of cultural erasure and colonization - a campaign led locally by gay Israel subs Matt Dorsey, Rafael Mandelman, and Scott Wiener. Mama Ganuush on Instagram Heritage Anti-Racist Liberation Artists (HALA) - their new artists' collective! Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism Gay Shame BDS Movement BBC News: "McDonald's hit by Israel-Gaza 'misinformation'" Recent episodes on Palestine: Can't Hide a Genocide f/ Dylan Rodriguez and Loubna Qutami Queers for a Free Palestine...2024-01-1132 minSad FranciscoGay Liberation, Not US Invasion f/ Charlie HintonBAGL (Bay Area Gay Liberation) was a major force in 1970s San Francisco labor activism on many fronts, supporting farm workers and gay teachers, and thwarting the Coors beer dynasty's polygraph tests to weed out gays. The group gave BAGL member Charlie Hinton purpose; he describes its ascent and eventual dissolution that resulted over plans to host a gay air force officer. Read more about queer history from 1970s SF in Christina Hanhardt's 'Safe Space' and Emily Hobson's 'Lavender and Red'. Edited by Tofu Estolas (IG: @terabyte_tofu). Support Sad Francisco and find li...2024-01-0428 minSad FranciscoNeighborhood Associations Ruin Public Art f/ Christen CioffiOffensively bland art results from the tyrrany of homeowners with too much time on their hands. Two recent cases where Nextdoor.com creeps and gentrifiers at community benefits district meetings made decisions that censored murals and the like, discussed with Christen Cioffi. Support Sad Francisco and find links to our past episodes on Patreon.2023-12-2825 minSad FranciscoMost COVID Relief Went to Cops and Jails in SF and AR f/ Gracie Fuhrman & Caitlin WoodPoliticians always warn that there's never enough funding to pay for the basic things people need to live. Reporting from Northwest Arkansas, Gracie Fuhrman (Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition) and (Sad Francisco's editor) Caitlin Wood describe how politicians wasted federal COVID relief on cops and jails.2023-12-2132 minSad FranciscoMost Downloaded Episodes, Year OneSad Francisco is one year old. Listed in no particular order, our five most downloaded episodes: Queers for a free Palestine, with Kate Raphael Should social movement work be paid? with Dean Spade Is the transgender district a force for gentrification or liberation? with Jemma DeCristo APEC: SF bends over for Asian dictators and Biden, with CCSF Anakbayan Urban Alchemy: a new layer of police in the Tenderloin, with Brooke Lober and Norma Azucar Support Sad Francisco and find links to our past episodes on Patreon. 'Miss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary' is available at...2023-12-1416 minSad FranciscoThe Norway Model for California Prisons f/ Emile Suotonye DeWeaverGavin Newsom is soft-launching his presidential campaign with his "California model" of prisons as a centerpiece. Emile Suotonye DeWeaver on how Newsom's attempt to mimic the "Norway model" of imprisonment will affect the biggest single prison system in the world. Re:Frame | Emile Suotonye DeWeaver Gavin Newsom's Prison Reform Isn't Progress - It's a 'Near Enemy' (The Appeal) Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB) Prison Closure Roadmap Support Sad Francisco and find links to our past episodes on Patreon.2023-12-0729 minSad FranciscoCan't Hide a Genocide f/ Dylan Rodriguez & Loubna QutamiGaslighting and double-standards are all over the media and at schools, where Zionists often get put on pedestals, while pro-Palestinian voices get silenced. A discussion of how censorship works on and off college campuses, featuring: Dylan Rodriguez, co-founder of Critical Resistance and the Critical Ethnic Studies Association, and professor of Media and Cultural Studies at UC Riverside Loubna Qutami, co-founder of the Palestinian Feminist Collective and the Palestinian Youth Movement, and assistant professor in Asian American Studies at UCLA Shownotes: Palestine Legal: 'Distorted Definition: Redefining Antisemitism to Silence Advocacy for Palestinian Rights' 'P...2023-11-3046 min
The Verso PodcastLove and Money, Sex and Death | McKenzie Wark & Toshio MeronekThis week on The Verso Podcast Eleanor Penny is joined by McKenzie Wark and Toshio Meronek to talk trans narratives, the politics of desire, and queer family. Together they take a critical look at the medical model of transition, its relationship to transmisogyny, and tactics of resistance.
You can find McKenzie's book, "Love and Money, Sex and Death: A Memoir", here tinyurl.com/ycyvkam8
And Toshio's book, "Miss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary", here tinyurl.com/4whkpdxw2023-11-301h 08Sad FranciscoShould Social Movement Work Be Paid? f/ Dean SpadeAhead of 'Giving Tuesday,' it's our episode from the archives featuring Dean Spade, on the nonprofit industrial complex. Next week: a brand-new episode with Dylan Rodriguez and Loubna Qutami, on the Zionist censorship campaign. Support Sad Francisco and find links to our past episodes on Patreon.2023-11-2330 minSad FranciscoInternment Camps to Detention Centers f/ Nikkei ProgressivesJan Tokumaru and Kimi Maru (Nikkei Progressives) describe mutual aid projects that connect Japanese American internment camps to today's ICE detention centers. Nikkei Progressives Nikkei Resisters Shut Down Adelanto Support Sad Francisco and find links to our past episodes on Patreon. 2023-11-1628 minSad FranciscoQueers for a Free Palestine f/ Kate RaphaelKate Raphael co-founded Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism (QUIT!) in the Bay back in 2001. She talks about getting arrested in Israel for taping IDF harassment of Palestinians, why Palestinian liberation is a queer issue, and how Israel hired an SF-based PR firm to pinkwash Israel’s genocide. Also check the archives for the recent episode with another QUIT! Member, Deeg, who speaks on the anti-Zionist boycott of Manny’s in the Mission. Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism (QUIT!) Kate Raphael 'Major News Networks Sideline Palestinian Analysts' (Mari Cohen in Jewish Currents) Budrus (documentary by Julia Bacha) Pinkwashing Exposed (docum...2023-11-0942 minSad FranciscoSF Against APEC w/ Anakbayan CCSFBiden, Bongbong Marcos and dozens of billionaires will be shaking hands and making deals at the APEC conference downtown in November. Malaya and Mara (Anakbayan CCSF) explain how a locked-down meeting of free trade-loving elites from Asia and North America will hurt the working class, and why protesters might want to ruin their party. no2apec Anakbayan CCSF Support Sad Francisco and find links to our past episodes on Patreon. 2023-11-0233 minSad FranciscoManny's is Your Local Zionist Gentrification Cafe A GAY SHAME podcast. Emmanuel Yekutiel is a marketing associate for conservative causes and Israel who in 2018, opened a gentrification cafe in the Mission that he named after himself. Since then, Manny's has been a safe space for neoliberal figures to gather, including Dr. Jill Biden, Matt Yglesias, Nancy Pelosi, Sam Bankman-Fried, SFPD chief Bill Scott, and the trio of local politicians Manny dubbed the "Power Gays." Deeg from Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism (QUIT!) speaks on the boycott of Manny's, and the tradition of queers organizing against Israel's genocide of Palestinians. Queers U...2023-10-2621 minSad FranciscoSafer Fare Evasion Through Copwatching w/ Aditya of Unfare SFKansas City, Olympia, and parts of Boston and DC now have fare-free public transportation. Yet BART and MUNI fares keep going up. Aditya, of the copwatching project Unfare SF, on moving the Bay toward no-ticket public transit. Unfare SF on Mastodon Unfare SF on Twitter Bikehopper Segregation by Design The Bay Area's Lost Streetcars (Chris Arvin) Shaping SF: The Freeway Revolt (Chris Carlsson) Support Sad Francisco and find links to our past episodes on Patreon. 2023-10-1935 minSad FranciscoHow City College Got Free w/ James TracyIn 2017, City College of SF became one of only a few colleges in the US with free tuition for locals. One of the organizers behind Free City was James Tracy, an author, organizer and teacher at City College in the Department of Labor and Community Studies. He describes the organizing strategy behind a successful campaign where the Left went on the offensive. 'Free City' by Marcy Rein, Mickey Ellinger and Vicki Legion: pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1141 Two of James's many books about organizing on the Left you should read:2023-10-1320 minSad FranciscoStop Garry Tan to Stop Asian Hate f/ Emily MillsThe self-appointed voice of techbros and “effective accelerationism,” Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan is a prime example of a common archetype in Bay Area tech - a libertarian who wants socialism, but only for corporations. Emily Mills (@sf_mills on Twitter/X) does the undervalued job of keeping track of some of the richest people in the Bay, and which politicians and campaigns they're spending their money on, including Garry. Taping of an evening with Garry Tan, featuring Martin Shkreli, hosted by techbro hype house AGI House: youtube.com/watch?v=xMRlKPqNMT4 Latest puff...2023-10-0518 minSad FranciscoBlaming Honduras for the Overdose Crisis f/ Nestor CastilloNestor Castillo lays out the recent racist media tropes around Honduras, and why they're especially dangerous for immigrants. Nestor's El Tecolote column, "Dear SF Chronicle: No, Hondurans aren’t responsible for the City’s fentanyl crisis": eltecolote.org/content/en/dear-sf-chronicle-no-hondurans-arent-responsible-for-the-citys-fentanyl-crisis/ Nestor on Twitter: twitter.com/ProfeNessC "The Contras, Cocaine, and Covert Operations" (George Washington University's National Security Archive): nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB2/index.html "Defensores exigen investigación por crimen de ambientalista del Valle de Siria" (Defensores En Linea): defensoresenlinea.com/defensores-exigen-investigacion-por-crimen-de-ambientalista-del-valle-de-siria/ | Google translation: www-defensoresenlinea-com.translate.goog/defensores-exigen-investigacion-por-crimen-de-ambientalista-del-valle-de-siria/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl...2023-09-2820 minSad FranciscoCoal to Crypto Mines f/ Tom Sexton (Trillbilly Workers' Party)Silicon Valley scions tried to sell Appalachia on how crypto would bring every out-of-work coal miner a job. Locals got nothing, but the scheme worked for a few tech entrepreneurs, who were showered with government subsidies and tax breaks. With Tom Sexton of the Trillbilly Workers' Party. Trillbilly Workers' Party: soundcloud.com/user-972848621-463073718/tracks2023-09-1422 minSad FranciscoThe Threat of Free College f/ Adele Failes-CarpenterCity College of San Francisco is one of the only remaining public colleges in the US where the tuition is free for locals. CCSF professor and AFT 2121 member Adele Failes-Carpenter talks about why City College presents a threat to the forces that want to completely privatize higher education, and ongoing battles over one of the remaining free spaces where people can still come together, in-person, across difference. 'Free City' by Marcy Rein, Mickey Ellinger and Vicki Legion: pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1141 CCSF Collective: youtube.com/@ccsfcollective6130/videos AFT 2121: aft2121.o...2023-09-0728 minSad FranciscoWar on Drugs Redux f/ Sara ShorttThe War on Drugs doesn't save lives, but it brings in huge profits for anyone who works for the police, in all of policing's forms. While rich people can microdose LSD at the office or Burning Man without any worries of getting arrested, the War on Drugs is fought against poor, often nonwhite queer and trans people, in what local media loves to call 'open-air drug markets'. Sara Shortt (@Shorttyshorttt) is on to talk about harm reduction and the city's strategy of throwing money at policing in response to rising overdose statistics. GLIDE: g...2023-08-2428 minSad FranciscoResisting Urban Renewal f/ Niccolo Calderaro"This land is too valuable to let poor people park on it," said SF Redevelopment Agency head Justin Herman, about Asian and Black people living in Central San Francisco. Today many politicians are acting like it's the 1950s all over again. Niccolo Calderaro, professor of anthropology at SF State, speaks on resistance then and now. Niccolo Calderaro's article in Progressive City: "Community Mobilization against Eviction in 1970s San Francisco & the contribution of Chester Hartman": progressivecity.net/single-post/community-mobilization-against-eviction-in-1970s-san-francisco-the-contribution-of-chester-hartman Niccolo's book, "An Ethnography of the Goodman Building: The Longest Rent Strike": link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978...2023-08-1728 minSad FranciscoThe Leather & LGBTQ District is a Gentrification Vehicle f/ Cole ClarkThe local politics around kink culture, and how the same bureaucracy put in place to preserve it is helping to undermine that culture. With Cole Clark. Previous episode mentioned: "Is the Transgender District a force for gentrification or liberation?" w/ Jemma DeCristo: sites.libsyn.com/445824/is-the-transgender-district-a-force-for-gentrification-or-liberation-w-jemma-decristo "How Gentrification Is Eroding San Francisco's Historic Leather Scene" by Toshio Meronek and Cole Clark for them: them.us/story/san-francisco-leather-gentrification Homeless Exclusion Districts, via Western Regional Advocacy Project: wraphome.org/homeless-exclusion-districs/ For the photo of London Breed and other politicians in hard hats, see: "...2023-08-0335 minSad FranciscoUrban Alchemy's Policing of the Tenderloin f/ Norma Azucar and Brooke LoberUrban Alchemy is the proto-policing nonprofit incubated in SF, and exported to Austin, Los Angeles and Portland. Norma Azucar and Brooke Lober talk about harm reduction in the midst of the Tenderloin's overdose crisis, and how the city is funneling millions in the resource-suck known as Urban Alchemy. "#SweepThePolice" by Brooke Lober: stjamesinfirmary.org/wordpress/?p=5738 | Tenderloin Peoples' Congress: tlpeoplesplan.org/tenderloin-peoples-congress | St. James Infirmary: stjamesinfirmary.org/wordpress/?page_id=5821 | Hope Center: cityhopesf.org/programs-410661.html | GLIDE: glide.org/programs/walk-in-center | "The Confounding Life of the Woman Seeking To Heal San Francisco's Wounds" by Matt Smith for S...2023-07-2027 minSad FranciscoLandlord Tech Watch f/ Erin McElroyHow are landlords using tech to refine evictions, surveillance, and speculation? Erin McElroy of The Anti-Eviction Mapping Project tracks the new brainchildren of the real estate and tech industries. Anti-Eviction Mapping Project: antievictionmap.com | Landlord Tech Watch: antievictionmappingproject.github.io/landlordtech | Anti-Eviction Lab: antievictionlab.org | Counterpoints: A San Francisco Bay Area Atlas of Displacement & Resistance: pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1140 | "Prison Tech Comes Home" by Erin McElroy, Meredith Whittaker and Nicole E. Weber for Public Books: publicbooks.org/prison-tech-comes-home | "Access Denied: Faulty Automated Background Checks Freeze Out Renters" by Lauren Kirchner and Matthew Goldstein f...2023-07-0653 minSad FranciscoPoliticians' Texts REVEALED: Public Records w/ HazelWhat politicians say in public usually doesn't line up with what they text friends from their work phones. Hazel (Twitter: @dizz_h) pores over public records that give insight into what politicians really think. Also see: Stolen Belonging: stolenbelonging.org | For more Sad Francisco: patreon.com/sadfrancisco 2023-06-2931 minSad FranciscoAnarchism, Queers, and Mutual Aid f/ Shuli BransonA book club episode with Shuli Branson, co-editor of the new anthology "Surviving the Future: Abolitionist Queer Strategies," and author of "Practical Anarchism." Shuli: sjbranson.com | Surviving the Future: Abolitionist Queer Strategies: pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1296 | Practical Anarchism: plutobooks.com/9780745344928/practical-anarchism | Remembering Jen Angel, 1975-2023 (The Agency): anarchistagency.com/commentary/remembering-jen-angel-1975-2023 | SF Food Not Bombs: sffnb.org | "Times Square Red, Times Square Blue" by Samuel Delany: massivebookshop.com/products/9781479827770 | More Sad Francisco: patreon.com/sadfrancisco2023-06-2232 minSad FranciscoAvenge Banko Brown f/ Kazani FinaoKazani Finao remembers Banko Brown, and speaks on fighting the forces that caused Banko’s death. -- People’s Mission Coalition Statement: https://eltecolote.org/content/en/guest-commentary-we-must-fight-poverty-not-the-poor/ | People’s Mission Coalition: thepeoplesmissioncoalition.com | The Killing of Banko Brown and SF’s Crisis (The Nation): https://www.thenation.com/article/society/banko-brown-killing-san-francisco-crisis/ -- We’ll drop links and info on actions we get word about at twitter.com/sadfrancisco69 -- sadfrancisco@riseup.net | www.sadfrancis.co2023-06-0818 minSad FranciscoRadical Asian American Organizing History in the Bay w/ Andrew SzetoAndrew Szeto makes food and zines. Their most recent zine is “Heartbeat of Struggle," part of Kearny Street Workshop's "Dreaming People's History" (www.kearnystreet.org/dreaming-peoples-history). Anti-Eviction Mapping Project: antievictionmap.com | Andrew at Truthout: truthout.org/authors/andrew-szeto | "Fall of the I-Hotel" by Curtis Choy: youtube.com/watch?v=lzrWwvI8JpI | “San Francisco’s International Hotel” by Estella Habal: tupress.temple.edu/books/san-francisco-s-international-hotel-2 | “The Prison Industrial Complex and the Global Economy” by Linda Evans and Eve Goldberg: www.freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC510_scans/Prison_Labor/510.prison.complex.global.economy.1998.pdf2023-06-0132 minSad FranciscoMiss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary 'Miss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary' is out this week, wherever you get books. patreon.com/toshiom has upcoming book events. Nice things people have said about the book: I’m so thrilled everyone gets to see what I see every day in Miss Major Speaks. Miss Major has shaped the world in countless ways from Stonewall to today, by being her unruly, fabulous self, leading communities, making time, and caring for and keeping her girls going. Lucky us to live in a moment where she is radiantly shining her light unto us...2023-05-1812 minSad FranciscoAnti-Sex Worker Barricades on Capp Street (Gay Shame) w/ Celestina Pearl, Cesar Espinoza Perez, Dilara Yarbrough and Ivy AndersonA Gay Shame (gayshame.net) podcast. Gentrifying neighbors, politician Hilary Ronen, the SFPD, and the media conspired to shut down parts of Capp Street in the Mission using concrete barricades. While they continue to sink millions into a fire hazard that makes sex workers less safe, Gay Shame talked to Celestina Pearl (St. James Infirmary | stjamesinfirmary.org), Dilara Yarbrough (scholars.org/scholar/dilara-yarbrough), Cesar Espinoza Perez (instagram.com/juliuscaesarsf/), and Ivy Anderson (co-editor of ‘Alice: Memoirs of a Barbary Coast Prostitute’ | voicesfromtheunderworld.com) on the history of sex work in the Bay; why decriminalization is better than legal...2023-05-0445 minSad FranciscoThe Ugly Laws w/ Susan Schweik Historian Susan Schweik, on the Ugly Laws - a San Francisco policy invention that criminalized people for appearing poor, disabled, and/or fat in public. Show Notes: 'The Ugly Laws' by Susan Schweik: https://bookshop.org/a/82838/9780814783610 | Stacey Milbern's 'Notes on Access Washing' via the Disability Justice Network of Ontario: https://www.djno.ca/post/notes-on-access-washing | 'Crip Camp' (dir. Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht): https://cripcamp.com/ | Previous Sad Francisco episode 'New 'Mental Health Jails': We #FreedBritney. Who's Next?': https://sadfrancis.co/new-mental-health-jails-we-freedbritney-whos-next/ | Support the show at patreon.com/sadfrancisco. 2023-04-2035 minSad FranciscoIs the Transgender District a force for gentrification or liberation? w/ Jemma DeCristoJemma DeCristo (@jemmaisOKeh) returns to explain the ways that the Transgender Cultural District is a container for gentrification and police. Support the show at patreon.com/sadfrancisco. Show Notes: "San Francisco May Soon Have the World's First Transgender Cultural District" by Toshio Meronek, for Vice: https://www.vice.com/en/article/xyvapd/san-francisco-may-soon-have-the-worlds-first-transgender-cultural-district | Christina Hanhardt’s “Safe Space”: https://bookshop.org/a/82838/9780822354703 | “Improvements for Whom? Business Improvement Districts and Their Impact on Communities” report by Spencer Bowen, Emily Estus, Vanessa Quintana, and Maiya Zwerling with Paul Boden at WRAP (wraphome.org): https://www.law.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Goldman-School-BIDS-Report-May-2019.pdf | Tamar...2023-04-0336 minSad FranciscoThe Boulders of Clinton Park: Hostile Architecture Pt. 1 w/ Christen CioffiNew-in-town techies fundraise for the installation of boulders to stop homeless people from using public sidewalks. What could go wrong? With Christen Cioffi (http://www.chzaz.com/). Show notes: "The Boulders of Clinton Park: Sisyphus Retold" by Quiver Watts in Street Sheet: http://www.streetsheet.org/the-boulders-of-clinton-park-sisyphus-retold/?fbclid=IwAR0aEem9j9godxuOS-mN9WrcMVM9pSa8j2URjimtS6i8-Dy-XiknmDPG0oM Support the podcast: http://patreon.com/sadfrancisco2023-03-2427 minSad FranciscoBullsh*t Jobs: Nonprofits Edition w/ Dean Spade "Should social movement work be paid?" is a question that a lot of nonprofit workers take personally. In Dean Spade's first visit, we talk about why 15 years after 'The Revolution Will Not Be Funded,' we still have to ask it. "Should Social Movement Work Be Paid?" at BCRW: http://www.deanspade.net/2023/01/06/video-should-social-movement-work-be-paid-lecture | BCRW Mutual Aid (the book): http://www.deanspade.net/mutual-aid-building-solidarity-during-this-crisis-and-the-next/ | Normal Life: http://www.deanspade.net/books/normal-life/ | "Fragments Against Reparations: Thoughts on Anti-Blackness and Black Liberation": https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/anonymous-fragments-against-reparation | “Transgender Activists Speak Out Against Campaign to End Trans Military Ban” at Truthout: https://truth...2023-03-1729 minSad FranciscoGay Baiting Politicians: Gavin Newsom and Lori Lightfoot w/ Yasmin Nair California Governor Gavin Newsom and ex-Mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot owe their political lives to gay wealth. A conversation with cultural critic Yasmin Nair (yasminnair.com) on politicians who never fail to disappoint. | Show Notes: “How Gay Money Became Gay Wealth: A Fable” by Yasmin Nair: https://yasminnair.com/how-gay-money-became-gay-wealth-a-fable | "American Gay: Pete Buttigieg and the Politics of Forgetting" also by Yasmin Nair: https://yasminnair.com/american-gay-pete-buttigieg-and-the-politics-of-forgetting | Support the show at patreon.com/sadfrancisco | twitter.com/sadfrancisco69 | instagram.com/sadfrancis.co | tiktok.com/@sadfrancisco 2023-03-1033 minSad FranciscoThe Occupation of Parker Elementary: Possibilities of a Truly Public School with Chelsea Carl and DanielDuring quarantine, plans to close 24 public schools in Oakland were announced by the politicians atop the very corrupt Oakland Unified School District. Oakland teacher Chelsea Carl and student Daniel were two of hundreds of people who occupied Parker Elementary School and ran a school under the constant threat of eviction by the city and police. Show Notes: “As a Teacher Who Dreams of Liberatory Education, This Is What Gives Me Hope” by Chelsea Carl, Truthout: https://truthout.org/articles/as-a-teacher-who-dreams-of-liberatory-education-this-is-what-gives-me-hope/ | Daniel’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dani.el51o/ | Support the show at patreon.com/sadfrancisco | twitter.com/sadfrancis...2023-03-0330 minSad FranciscoThe Jail at Compton's Cafeteria: Trans Liberation Landmark to Private Prison, with Susan StrykerSusan Stryker is an historian who uncovered one of the first modern rebellions against police violence by trans/queer people. In 1967, the Tenderloin's Compton's Cafeteria was a site of resistance against state violence, but today its space arm of the prison industrial complex owned by one of the largest private prison corporations in the world, Geo Group. - At the Crossroads of Turk and Taylor: Resisting Carceral Power in San Francisco’s Tenderloin, by Susan Stryker for Places Journal: https://placesjournal.org/article/transgender-resistance-and-prison-abolitionism-san-francisco-tenderloin - Screaming Queens (Susan Stryker and Victor Silverman): https://www.youtube.co...2023-02-2459 minSad FranciscoNationalism vs. History: The Comfort Women Statues (Part 2)Japanese politicians want to erase the history of the 200,000 women who were forced by the Japanese military into sexual slavery. Statues around the world remember the "comfort women" from places including China, Korea, the Phillipines, and Japan itself, but it's been a battle. Kota from Against Japanism joins us in the treaty capitol of the world. Part 1 is here, with guest Judith Mirkinson from the Comfort Women Justice Coalition. -
Support the show, get bonus episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco - Against Japanism podcast Against Japanism interview with M...2023-02-1040 min
Sad FranciscoNationalism vs. History: The Comfort Women Statues (Part 1)Japanese politicians want to erase the history of the 200,000 women who were forced by the Japanese military into sexual slavery. Statues around the world remember the "comfort women" from places including China, Korea, the Phillipines, and Japan itself, but it's been a battle. Guest: Judith Mirkinson from the Comfort Women Justice Coalition. Part 2, with Kota from Against Japanism is coming later this week. -
Support the show, get bonus episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco - Comfort Women Justice Coalition Building the San Francisco Memorial: Why the Issue of th...2023-02-0140 minSad FranciscoNew 'Mental Health Jails': We #FreedBritney. Who's Next? Rich liberals don't love to be reminded of poverty that they've created. Instead of pushing for more access to housing or health care, they call their politician friends and tell them to hire more police and build more psychiatric/"mental health" jails to hold houseless people. Clio/Thatcher Sady and Tory Becker join us from a paddleboard amidst the Sad Francisco floods. -
Support the show, get bonus episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco - Shownotes: Gay Shame, the podcast: "#FreeBritney, Free Them All" Gay Shame's most recent ten...2023-01-2031 minSad FranciscoLandlord Arson: Evidence in the AshesEight years after a fatal fire in the Mission District, there's still a blank space where dozens of people, a Latinx market, and a Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen once existed. We follow up on what many people at the time suggested was "the perfect crime." On assignment in the Silicon Desert, Christen Cioffi (Twitter: @jfchrist_) declares landlords unfit for human habitation decisions. -
Support the show, get bonus episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco - Shownotes: Hot Rental Market Sparks Suspicions of Landlord Arson in San Francisco in Al Jazeera, reporting by Prisca Ca...2023-01-0730 min
Reply GuysSad Francisco with Toshio MeronekThis week, Kate is on the road and spoke with Bay Area journalist Toshio Meronek about the rightward turn of SF politics and what's motivating it, as well as the SF civilian police force, and more.
Show Notes:
Toshio's Patreon: http://patreon.com/toshiom
Podcast “Sad Francisco”: sadfrancis.co
Website: toshiomeronek.com
Kate and Mohanad can be found on Twitter at @KateWillett and @MohanadElshieky
Subscribe to the Patreon here: www.patreon.com/replyguys
Hosts: Kate Willett and Mohanad Elshieky
Producer: Genevieve Gearity
Theme Song: Emily Frembgen and Kate Willett
Artwork: Adrienne Lobl2023-01-041h 16Sad FranciscoTech Bro Countdown: Five Techies Who Defined the ArchetypeWhat exactly is a "techbro"? Meet five Silicon Valley megalomaniacs who helped hone the genre, and whose actions made them briefly famous beyond the Bay. Which ones failed up? Who was (possibly) canceled? Jemma DeCristo (Twitter: @jemmaisOKeh) helps shine a light on anti-tech hate crime survivors from behind the liberal front. - Support the show, get bonus episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco - Shownotes: The archives of Valleywag (RIP) - twitter.com/sadfrancisco69 instagram.com/sadfrancis.co tiktok...2022-12-3056 minSad FranciscoThe Twitter Tax Break: How AOC-West Sold Out SoMaThe legacy of America's former "hottest Korean American politician" Jane Kim, the wannabe mayor who gave away millions to tech CEOs who promised jobs and "community reinvestment" in central San Francisco. And you'll never believe what happened next. Guest host Jemma DeCristo (Twitter: @jemmaisOKeh) practices her New York accent from behind the liberal front. - Support the show, get bonus episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco - Shownotes: Twitter, Other Tech Companies Get S.F. Tax Breaks but Show Little Progress Hiring in Neighborhood, Yoona Ha in SF...2022-12-2356 minSad FranciscoDon't Buy the YIMBY Lie: 61,000 Empty Homes and Counting Meet the YIMBYs: Fake-grassroots, "pro-housing activists" who swear that building more luxury condos will trickle down to the rest of us, and solve the housing unaffordability crisis. Backed by tech titans, corporate landlords, and Barack Obama, YIMBYs are trying so hard to make over the real estate industry's predatory image. And a lot of people are buying what they're selling. Culturally critical visitor Christen Cioffi (Instagram | Twitter) states facts from a backyard somewhere behind the liberal front. - Support the show and get bonus episodes at patreon.com/sadfrancisco - S...2022-12-161h 01Sad FranciscoGirlbossing is a Verb: When Quirky White Girls Fail Up To some, it was a memoir, a miniseries, and a movement: #GIRLBOSS founder Sophia Amuroso is the self-proclaimed ex-socialist and dumpster-diver who departed her own failing fast-fashion startup with expert timing. Through her company Nasty Gal (like Uber, but for clothes), “serial entrepreneur" Amuroso was briefly taken seriously in sexist Silicon Valley circles, because for some, to fail is to succeed. Krystal Farmer, co-host of Two Cents Plus Tax with Sad Francisco producers Caitlin and Toshio, joins this week’s look behind the liberal front of the hometown of #Girlboss™, Inc. | Support the show and get bonus episodes:
patreon.com/sadfranc...2022-12-0947 minSad FranciscoQueers Out of the Cop Parade: Blue Always Comes FirstFor two years, the San Francisco police department was uninvited to Gay Pride. In solidarity, bureaucrats boycotted the 2022 Pride parade. Jemma DeCristo returns to report from behind the liberal front of a city whose highest-paid employee is a sheriff's deputy. - Support the show (and get upcoming bonus episodes): patreon.com/sadfrancisco - Shownotes Miss Major's Gay Shame '5-0 Out of Pride' video; SF Pride board meeting interrupted (Gay Shame) ‘Wild animals’: Racist texts sent by San Francisco police officer, documents show (Scott Glover and Dan Simo...2022-12-0251 minSad FranciscoFake 'Asian Hate' Claims, Real Ghost Hotel: A Disneyland for White People in Japantown An empty tourist hotel in Japantown is an obvious choice for almost 200 houseless people to call home, until the plans are killed by landlords and realtors using scare tactics and a disingenous "Anti-Asian Hate" campaign. Miya Sommers of Nikkei Resisters (Instagram here) visits Sad Francisco, where as always, we report to you from behind the liberal front of America’s so-called capitol of innovation. - 2022-11-2545 minSad FranciscoHot Cop Of The Castro: A Sock Is A Grave SFPD officer Christopher Kohrs was a sex object among Castro gays and a copaganda tool for the police, until his fame came crashing to a halt. Jemma DeCristo (on Twitter @jemmaisOKeh) is our special guest this week in Sad Francisco, where we report to you from behind the liberal front of America’s so-called capitol of progress. Go to sadfrancis.co to support the show and get future bonus episodes. - 2022-11-1859 min