Storied: San Francisco

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S4E10, Part 1: DJ and Pastor Wanika King-Stephens May 25, 2021

Show notes

Wanika King-Stephens' life is full of music and church.

In this episode, Wanika traces her life back to her parents' move to San Francisco from Los Angeles in the 1960s with their four-month-old daughter. Her dad's dad was an evangelist in the Pentecostal Church. It was a strict upbringing where, if her father as a young man wanted to listen to so-called music of the world, country music was the only acceptable genre.

Despite that, he grew up loving jazz and, especially, John Coltrane. And he raised his own children in that light.

Wanika's little sister sings, and the two were in a band when they were younger called Mystic Youth. Wanika played bass in the group and was the band leader. They wrote their own music but were too young to play clubs at first.

Her mother sang jazz and, along with Wanika's dad, joined with Alice Coltrane to help found the Vedantic Center, which was originally in San Francisco. Around this time, the family had moved to Visitacion Valley, a diverse, lively neighborhood that Wanika describes for us. From there, she shares stories of trips around town she took as a young girl.

Wanika wraps up Part 1 talking about her high school days in The City. And after that, as she puts it, she "was jammin' pretty hard with Mystic Youth."

Join us Thursday for Part 2 and the continuation of Wanika's life story.

We recorded this podcast at St. John Coltrane African Orthodox Church in May 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

S4E9, Part 2: Maitri's Tomas Moreno and Rusty Smith May 20, 2021

Show notes

In this podcast, we pick up where we left off in Part 1. After college out east, Modesto's Tomas Moreno moved to the Bay Area. His mom is a recently retired high school teacher who taught kids with disabilities, and Tomas feels that her work instilled in him a drive to serve others. That eventually led him to Maitri.

Tomas is joined by Maitri Executive Director, Rev. Fr. Rusty Smith, to share with us the history of the nonprofit, which was founded by Issan Dorsey in the Castro in 1987. Rusty tells us how he came to work at Maitri, explaining how a big part of its mission is to serve those with HIV/AIDS who also suffer from poverty.

Rusty and Tomas talk about how Maitri has fared over the past year of the pandemic. Stories include non-volunteers like these two stepping up to facilitate and play bingo with the residents.

We end this episode with Rusty and Tomas's hopes for San Francisco as it emerges from the pandemic.

We recorded this podcast at Maitri Compassionate Care in April 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

S4E9, Part 1: Maitri's Rusty Smith and Tomas Moreno May 15, 2021

Show notes

In this podcast, Maitri Compassionate Care's Executive Director, Reverend Father Rusty Smith, shares stories of his youth. His very New Mexican mom was a powerful figure in his early life, shaping the liberal world view Rusty espouses to this day. Rusty traces his military family upbringing all over the country and the world. The family eventually settled in Texas for his high school years.

After that, Rusty became a priest in the Anglican Church, given that the church allowed openly gay priests. He began his adult life in his mother's home state, doing charitable work in Albuquerque.

While living in New Mexico, Rusty and his husband noticed that San Francisco had become a second home for them. When the opening at Maitri happened, they made the move.

Then we meet Maitri's Development Director, Tomas Moreno. Tomas shares his story of growing up in the Central Valley and making his way to San Francisco.

Check back for Part 2 on Thursday, when we'll hear more of Tomas's story as well as his and Rusty's discussion of what Maitri is and what it does for the community.

Related Podcasts Project Open Hand, Part 1 / Part 2

We recorded this podcast at Maitri Compassionate Care in April 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

S4E8, Part 2: Radio Personality Larry Dorsey, Jr. May 13, 2021

Show notes

Ed. note: As with Part 1 of Larry's episode, a reminder that we recorded under the BART tracks, so we took pauses when trains passed by overhead. We left that audio in the final edit and we hope you enjoy.

In this podcast, Larry picks up where he left off in Part 1. He talks about going to Lowell High School in The City and then Academy of Art University, where he first got to know people very unlike himself.

In his high school days, Larry had started to question things he was into as well as stereotypes of Black young men such as himself. He took some acting and movies courses at AAU and then went on to actual theater school. But Larry didn't wanna be an actor.

A chance ride one day turned out to be fortuitous. He got an in at The Punchline.

As he was coming up in comedy, as he puts it, he "disappeared from the world" to hone his craft. It was around this time that he also got an internship at KMEL.

Larry traces his activism to his time at City College. He worked with Black Lives Matter, various Black student unions around The City, fed houseless folks. He makes light of his activist work, but ties it back to his comedy. He shares stories of some of his first times on the comedy stage.

He lets us know about his 101-year plan. 2020 being 2020 threw things off a little, but thanks to his week-by-week plan, Larry was able to pivot. And he ends the podcast sharing his hopes for San Francisco to get its soul back through culture and youth and how he wants to focus on reparations.

Follow Larry on social media @larrydorseyjr

We recorded this podcast at Cayuga Park under the BART tracks in April 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

S4E8, Part 1: Comedian Larry Dorsey, Jr. May 11, 2021

Show notes

Ed. note: This one is special for a couple reasons. First, Larry blew us away with his kindness, energy, and knowledge. Also, we recorded under the BART tracks, so we took pauses when trains passed by overhead. We decided to leave that audio in the final edit because, well, it was part of the experience that day. We hope you enjoy. Larry Dorsey, Jr.'s parents came to the Bay Area from the South and South America.

In this podcast, the SF born-and-raised comedian and radio personality shares the story of his parents' migration to San Francisco. His dad played football in the NFL before his move west; Larry's mom, a lawyer, left her home country of Colombia because of political reasons.

They arrived in Oakland separately and met at SF State. Larry is their first-born, one of two sons. Larry has vague memories of his first years on Earth, which he shares with us. One is a pretty hilarious (and hilariously cute) playground-type story.

Larry tells us what it was like to go to a "hippy" elementary, and then contrasts that with his time at Aptos Junior High. But he also spent many school lunchtimes in the library. His curiosity and pursuit of knowledge was just getting started. He ended up at Lowell, during a time when he started getting into "a lot of trouble."

Larry wraps up Part 1 sharing the first time he got in trouble with a cop.

Join us Thursday for Part 2 and the continuation of Larry Dorsey, Jr.'s story.

Related Podcast Arthur Gaus, Part 1 and Part 2

We recorded this podcast at Cayuga Park in April 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

S4E7, Part 2: My Milligram's Marcia Gagliardi May 06, 2021

Show notes

Marcia Gagliardi could've ended up in LA. In fact, if it weren't for the 1994 Northridge earthquake, there might be no Tablehopper.

In this podcast, Marcia picks up where she left off in Part 1. She came back to the Bay Area and found a place in the Western Addition (where she still lives today!). She chronicles various jobs at design firms before the 2000 "dotbomb." Not long after that, she started Tablehopper.

We asked Marcia to name three of her favorite San Francisco bars or restaurants in 2006 when she launched her newsletter.

Then Marcia tells us how she got started in 2018 doing My Milligram, a media brand featuring reviews of low-dose and high-quality cannabis products made in California.

She ends the podcast with her outlook on San Francisco in the near future.

We recorded this podcast at an apartment in the Western Addition in April 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

S4E7, Part 1: Tablehopper's Marcia Gagliardi May 04, 2021

Show notes

Marcia Gagliardi's family used to own a pizzeria and Italian deli in the Sierra foothills.

In this podcast, the Tablehopper creator and author goes a couple generations back to trace her family's story and how they ended up in Northern California. Her Italian grandparents went back to their homeland shortly before Marcia was born, but we'll get back to that.

Marcia grew up on the Peninsula, one of two daughters for the Gagliardis. She recounts what that experience was like for her, and shares the story of the time she spent in Italy during college. It was at a Christmas dinner there that she discovered just how diligently her dad had kept up their Italian customs in California.

She talks about family's move to the foothills and back and shares how she and a friend would drive up to The City and arrange deals for their high school classmates, long before the internet. Marcia ends Part 1 with the story of her year in Venice and her return home to finish college at UCLA.

Please check back Thursday for Part 2, when Marcia will tell us how she got started doing Tablehopper, and later, MyMilligram.

Related Podcasts Laura Meyer's Wedge of Parmesan

We recorded this podcast at an apartment in the Western Addition in April 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

S4E6, Part 2: Restaurant Owner Matt Leum Apr 29, 2021

Show notes

In this podcast, Matt picks up where he left off in Part 1, with his involuntary foray into placing temp workers. Turns out, he loved the job.

He moved around from job to job over the next few years, but returned to thank the person who pushed him into this new career.

A trip to Paris led, in a very roundabout way, to Matt starting his own French recruiting firm. With that, he moved to Europe and lived there for the next 11 years, while keeping his place (and job) here the Bay Area.

Jumping back a bit, Matt describes meeting Sister Roma shortly after he moved up to San Francisco. Then we fast-forward to Matt's return from Paris to Glendale to help care for his ailing father. After his dad passed away and his marriage broke up, Matt moved back to The City.

After trying unsuccessfully to buy an Italian restaurant in the Castro, he and his chef partner went in search of a new place of their own. Matt closed escrow on the spot where Roma's is on March 16, 2020.* He describes how, in light of the quarantine order, he shifted his business approach—he added an Italian market to the restaurant he had already established.

Matt is quick to point out what a communal effort it was to get the place off the ground. Please visit their website for more info, including their "Roma's Drag Deliveries" on Wednesdays.

He ends this podcast looking into the future, both for his business and for San Francisco.

* the date that San Francisco's shelter-in-place order went into effect.

We recorded this podcast at Roma's Ristorante Italiano in South of Market in April 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

S4E6, Part 1: Restaurant Owner Matt Leum Apr 27, 2021

Show notes

Matt Leum has more friends from his school days now than he did back then.

Matt grew up in Glendale, a suburb north of LA. His family's swimming pool was the only one on that block.

His dad owned a chain of supermarkets in the greater Los Angeles area. His parents met at the flagship store of that chain back when it was just a corner market. Matt grew up the youngest of six; his younger brother died at 4.

In the podcast, he shares stories of his mom's bad-assery as we dive into her history quite a bit, including her French and Inuit parents.

After college in Santa Barbara, Matt sent an unsolicited letter to a law firm in San Francisco asking about jobs, and got offered work as a response.

Please check back Thursday for Part 2, when Matt will tell us all about opening his restaurant in The City during the pandemic.

We recorded this podcast at Roma's Ristorante Italiano in South of Market in April 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

S4E5, Part 2: Business Founder Morris Kelly Apr 22, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Morris picks up where he left off in Part 1, sharing some of the pot edibles he was making with a friend. This was back when California had legalized medicinal marijuana, but not yet recreational. And the US government, as they still do to this day, more than frowned upon even this limited use.

Morris walks us through the evolution of his business, from a medicinal marijuana cultivation and delivery company known as "San Francisco Roots" through to what SF Roots is today—an equity cannabis company based right here in The City. He tells us about San Francisco's Cannabis Equity Program, whose stated goal is to "lower barriers to cannabis licensing to those hit hardest by the War on Drugs."

We chat about how COVID has impacted the business. And then Morris ends the episode with his take on the future of San Francisco.

Related PodcastsUncle Damien, Part 1 and Part 2

We recorded this podcast at SF Roots HQ in April 2021.

Photography by MIchelle Kilfeather

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