Storied: San Francisco

Latest Episodes:

Comedian/DJ Pam Benjamin (S4E15) Jun 29, 2021

Show notes

Pam Benjamin has lived in California her entire life.

In this podcast, the Mutiny Radio DJ and comedian shares the story of her life. She was born in Livermore and raised in Danville, not fully knowing that her family was well-off because there were always richer kids around.

From there, Pam talks about her religious upbringing (a story involving an invisible cat), her eating disorder at a young age, and being a varsity cheerleader ("reverse-stalking"). Pam shares early memories of SF (somehow, a nunnery and her dad's work downtown factor in here).

She left Danville for UC San Diego, where she did lots of acid but got good grades, as she attests. Pam lived in Davis after college and taught special ed there. She and her then-husband moved back to San Diego, where Pam started a theater company. Her ex-mother-in-law convinced her to get a corporate job, which she did. But she stopped taking birth control and wrote a novel in six weeks.

Pam got a DUI, quit her corporate job, and then had people at Burning Man telling her to move to The City, which she did in 2007. Now in San Francisco and going to SF State grad school, she started doing poetry readings all over SF, and then tried comedy in 2011.

At Pirate Cat Radio in 2008, she started reading stories after Common Thread with Diamond Dave Whitaker. In 2011, after the station's manager embezzled from them and the FTC started snooping around, they changed from Pirate Cat to Mutiny. A few years later, the board that ran Mutiny Radio bailed on her, but Pam stayed on and took over.

During the pandemic (or, as she refers to it, the "PAMdemic"), she stated doing comedy shows in parklets and at Mutiny in the Mission. Pam plans to bring Mutiny's comedy festival back this October 10–16.

We end the podcast with Pam's thoughts on where San Francisco goes from here.

We recorded this podcast at Mutiny Radio in June 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

Filmmaker Joey Yee, aka Uncle Fuz (S4E14P2) Jun 24, 2021

Show notes

In this podcast, Joey picks up where he left off in Part 1. After high school, knowing that he wanted to continue learning how to make movies, he went to SF State. And then he entered a Justin Lin video contest, and, to his surprise, was one of the finalists.

Joey tells us about a career detour that came after that: He learned about a sleep-technology course, and got a job in that industry that required tough hours (7 p.m. to 7 a.m.). In 2014, a friend told him about a video-editing job at Kink.com that he ended up getting. He was there a couple years before moving over to CBS Interactive to work on gameplay videos.

From there, we pivot to when and how Joey figured out that he loves his hometown—San Francisco.

He ends the podcast talking about making movies about the Richmond District and how he got the "Uncle Fuz" nickname.

To see Joey's photo and video love letters to San Francisco, following him on Instagram and Twitter.

We recorded this podcast at Sutro Heights Park in May 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

Filmmaker Joey Yee, aka Uncle Fuz (S4E14P1) Jun 22, 2021

Show notes

So many San Francisco born-and-raised folks' stories go way, way back. That's certainly the case for Joey Yee.

Joey begins this episode telling us about his maternal grandfather, who was from Isleton and was a pilot in World War II. After he came back from war, he met Joey's grandma, who was born and raised in SF. He charmed his future wife by giving her the biggest tomatoes she'd ever seen. Joey's grandfather wanted to put roots down, and so he bought a building in San Francisco.

His dad's dad immigrated to the US from China. Joey's parents met ice skating and dated for eight years before getting married. After living in Daly City a short time, they moved back to the family house, the one his grandfather bought on Nob Hill. Joey was born during this time.

When he was 12, the family moved to the Richmond District. Joey regrets that he didn't explore Nob Hill when they lived there, but he goes on to share his early Giants memories and describes games at Candlestick.

He tells us about the public schools he went to, eventually ending up at Washington High in the Richmond. It was there that Joey started dabbling in video classes. That's when his love of video, film, and editing began. Join us for Part 2 on Thursday, when Joey will share stories from life after high school.

We recorded this podcast at Sutro Heights Park in May 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

S4E13, Part 2: Singer Tara DeMoulin Jun 17, 2021

Show notes

In this podcast, Tara picks up where she left off in Part 1, talking about how to be in the world. The thoughts are related to her time in La Cañada, California, where she finished high school and took some college courses before deciding to move back to her hometown—San Francisco.

From there, Tara discusses sentimentality and having more diverse perspectives in life and art.

Tara picks up the story of her move back to The City, which involves handing over exact change—all she had left—to the toll-taker at the Bay Bridge. She talks about jobs she had, including at Tower Records.

Then we get into her history with singing. It started back when she lived in Maine (see Part 1). She played Eva Peron in Evita in Texas when she was 12. She reflects on art, passion, limitations, and collaboration. She talks about singing in Europe before coming back to San Francisco and singing mostly jazz and American Standards.

Tara ends the podcast with her vision of what San Francisco can be as we emerge from the pandemic.

Visit Tara's website, tarademoulin.com, and follow her on Instagram @tarademoulin.

We recorded this podcast at Vesuvio Cafe in June 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

S4E13, Part 1: Singer Tara DeMoulin Jun 15, 2021

Show notes

Tara DeMoulin grew up collecting eucalyptus buttons in the Panhandle with her mom.

In this podcast, the singer/songwriter, activist, and filmmaker shares the story of her life. It starts in San Francisco in the late-1980s, travels east to Maine and New York City (where she discovered and became obsessed with Broadway), starts to circle back west with a stop in Texas before scooting over to Southern California.

In the early 2000s, after some college, Tara decided to come back to her native home in San Francisco, which we'll get more into in Part 2.

The rest of this episode includes some of Tara's thoughts on living in such wildly different places in the U.S. Check back Thursday for Part 2 and the conclusion of Tara's life story.

We recorded this podcast at Vesuvio in June 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

S4E12, Part 2: Cartoonist Jaime Crespo Jun 10, 2021

Show notes

In this podcast, Jaime picks up where he left off in Part 1, describing his evolution as an artist. Like a lot of kids his age, Saturday morning cartoons were a big influence. Comics in the newspaper also played their part. We shift back to his return to SF after high school. He worked as a screen-printer at The Color Machine and Winterland. The music venue was closed, but Jaime shares stories of playing and seeing shows at The Mab back in the day. Jaime dives into the street art scene in The City in the '80s, which he dabbled in. He also talks about his first publishing experiences. He took a brief break from his art and left San Francisco to raise a kid and go back to college. But his friend Harvey Pekar got him back into drawing about five years later. He shares the story of starting Corn Tortilla Press (check out their About page for all the stuff in Jaime's life we didn't have time to talk about here). Jaime ends the podcast reflecting on what's become of the city he used to call home and what's possible for the future of San Francisco. Related Podcasts Ricky Rat (Part 1 / Part 2) We recorded this podcast at Jaime's home in Alameda in May 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

S4E12, Part 1: Cartoonist Jaime Crespo Jun 08, 2021

Show notes

Jaime Crespo's first drawings were made on the blank pages in a Bible.

In this podcast, the cartoonist traces his lineage back to his mom, who was born in Northern Mexico and is Yaqui/Yoeme. She came to LA with her brother in the early 20th century. When their mom got deported back to Mexico, she moved up to run a cafe in Sacrament, where she ended up meeting Jaime's dad.

But his mom took Jaime to San Francisco when her husband became abusive. The kid was 4.

They made their way back to Sacramento to live with Jaime's widowed step-grandad and his new wife, a Black couple from Louisiana. He finished school up there and shortly after that, moved back to The City instead of New York, which he and his friends had dreamed about.

In the podcast, Jaime reflects on both stints in San Francisco—when he was 4 and then again when he was around 20. He reminisces about seeing hippies on Muni, his first Giants game and seeing Willie Mays, BBQ joints and bars that are long gone, and how he was moving away from sports like baseball and football, and more toward punk rock music and art.

He shares how he got started drawing at a young age with a story that's either charming or blasphemous, depending on how you look at it.

Check back Thursday for Part 2, when Jaime will continue the story of his life.

Meanwhile, check out more of his art at his website: corntortillapress.com. And follow Jaime on Instagram @the_real_comixvato. We recorded this podcast at Jaime's home in Alameda in May 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

S4E11, Part 2: Filmmaker H.P. Mendoza Jun 03, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, H.P. picks up where he left off in Part 1. He had moved with his mom to Daly City and starts off telling a story about the Colma Target. It involves a kid he met while hanging out at Radio Shack and Walden Soft at Serramonte Mall across the freeway.

From there, we go on to talk about H.P.'s first feature-length movie, Colma: The Musical. He shares how he went about writing the story that became the movie.

Next, we discuss H.P.'s time at College of San Mateo, where he went to study film. Following up on the success of Colma, H.P.'s directorial debut came with the movie Fruit Fly.

He pivots from there to address the hate and violence that Asian folks have experienced in recent years.

Then we talk about H.P.'s music and artists he's often compared to as well as younger musicians who've told him that he influences them.

H.P. wraps things up reflecting on what his hometown, San Francisco, means to him in 2021. He ends with his personal thoughts on our theme this season: "We're still here."

We recorded this episode at Casements Bar in May 2021.

Photography by Syl Simon

S4E11, Part 1: Filmmaker H.P. Mendoza Jun 01, 2021

Show notes

So, we're doing something a little different here.

Way, way back in Season 1, on Episode 14 (Part 1 / Part 2), we had friend of the show H.P. Mendoza on. Back then, we were all about stories, not necessarily people's stories, like we are today. And so, we asked H.P. to come back on and share his personal history with you.

He starts off with his birth (St. Luke's in the Mission) and his childhood (on La Grande Avenue in the Excelsior). Then he backs up to go into some depth about his paternal grandmother, who taught English and adored H.P., her first grandchild born in the U.S. She had a piano and that's how H.P. learned to play.

A tangent leads to H.P. talking about his love of movies from an early age. He credits his brother Joe with that, as well as H.P.'s continued interest in storytelling, video games, cartoons, and more.

H.P. shares stories from his school days. Being the first U.S.-born kid in his family, there were higher expectations placed on him. His early curiosity about kids who were different from him and his family led to some pretty funny mischief. His parents pulled him out of public school and sent him to Epiphany Catholic School.

After skipping second grade, H.P. experienced ostracism from kids older than him and kids his age. Because of this, he added one year to his age well into his twenties.

He ends Part 1 rattling off different obscure, adult-ish movies he was into as a kid.

Join us for Part 2 on Thursday, when we'll hear the rest of H.P.'s story.

We recorded this podcast at Casements Bar in the Mission in May 2021.

Photography by Syl Simon

S4E10, Part 2: DJ and Pastor Wanika King-Stephens May 27, 2021

Show notes

In this podcast, Wanika picks up where she left off in Part 1. After high school, her band Mystic Youth became more of a full-time gig, writing music, playing shows, recording. She shares the mischievous story of how she got started playing bass. Self-taught at first, she eventually took lessons, and that made her think that music school at City College was a good idea. She came to think of herself as a songwriter around this time.

Wanika talks about the influence that Father "Blue Water" Haven had on her relationship with music, as well as others she didn't know personally who affected her.

From there, Wanika talks about the history of "Uplift," a show on KPOOthat she took over and was the DJ on for two decades. And then she tells us how her parents founded the St. John Coltrane African Orthodox Church.

It all started with jazz "listening clinics" in the Bayview. The small but growing group began to investigate Coltrane and the message in his music. The church was born and became part of the AOC in 1982. And Wanika decided she wanted to be active in this new church—she became a deacon.

Wanika was the Uplift DJ for 19 years. She handed the show over to her nephew as Wanika sets out to launch her own show on Coltrane Consciousness Radio (Live 365) later this summer.

She wraps up this podcast with her thoughts and wishes for the future of San Francisco.

Shout out to Rev. Arnold Townsend (Part 1 / Part 2) for introducing us to Wanika.

We recorded this podcast at St. John Coltrane AOC in May 2021.

Photography byMichelle Kilfeather

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