San Francisco is filled with excellent music venues, from historic spots including the Great American Music Hall and SF Masonic to the brand new Chase Center. Dublin poet Laureate James Morehouse joins hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight to draft their nine favorite music venues in San Francisco, and tell stories about some of their favorite concerts in the city. Morehead wrote the upcoming book "At the Barricade," celebrating San Francisco's music venues through his poetry and...

For Valentine's Day, Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub, Heather Knight and Tony Bravo head to the Cupid's Span sculpture along the Embarcadero to pick 12 of the most romantic spots in San Francisco. The picks include some less obvious spots, including the most romantic view in San Francisco, a tour of Chinatown and North Beach and two romantic walks through the Presidio. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music from the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community," Castro Theatre organist David Hegarty...

This Valentine's Day is the 50th anniversary of Ruth Asawa's most community-minded work, her San Francisco Fountain, which was conceived with baker's dough and made with contributions from more than a hundred locals ages 3 to 90. Asawa's grandson Henry Weverka joins Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub, Heather Knight and Tony Bravo to talk about Ruth Asawa's legacy, growing interest in her work, the Apple Store controversy and the history and wonderful details of the fountain. More information...

Anchor Brewing has been a big part of San Francisco for more than a century, surviving Prohibition as the only steam beer left in San Francisco, then leading the craft beer movement after innovative brewer Fritz Maytag took over in 1965. Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight got an Anchor Brewing tour from brewmaster Dane Volek, then sat down to talk about Anchor history, the controversial label change and what is was like joining the Anchor team as a 20-year-old San Francisco...

With two new penguin chicks arriving at California Academy of Sciences late last year, Academy biologist Holly Rosenblum gave the Total SF team a behind-the-scenes tour — and an exclusive interview with the baby birds. Also in this episode, hosts Heather Knight and Peter Hartlaub announce their new quest to find an official animal of San Francisco (the penguins are nominated!) and Rosenblum explains the international breeding program to save the African penguins — which includes travel on...

With wet weather hitting San Francisco, Stuart "Broke-Ass Stuart" Schuffman joins Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight in the San Francisco Chronicle archive to talk about free things to do in 2023. Choices include a free museum in the city with no fee, hidden parks near the Financial District, the best outdoor movie series and the best free basketball action in the city. Get tips from Broke-Ass Stuart and his new book Slouching Toward Neverland at www.brokeassstuart.com Produced...

As a bomb cyclone hits San Francisco, Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight hunker down in the San Francisco Chronicle archive and look forward to exploring San Francisco in 2023, and each choose seven things that listeners should do in the city this year. Choices include two of the city's most underrated hikes, the Muni route with the best views and a new adventure to challenge Peter's fear of heights. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music from the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album...

After seeing yet another high-profile attack about "the decline of San Francisco," hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight returned on Feb. 8, 2022, to the San Francisco Chronicle's podcast studios to discuss the myth of the Golden Age of S.F., and then pick eight reasons why they still love the city. San Francisco's parks and views, a few very competent city agencies and the Phoenix mentality are all on the list. Is San Francisco over? Maybe some day, but it's definitely not going to be...

Gerry Diaz is the first meteorologist in San Francisco Chronicle history, after working for the National Weather Service. Total SF hosts Heather Knight and Peter Hartlaub invite Diaz on the podcast to talk about San Francisco fog and why it happens, the current cold front and help us give a name to San Francisco's wind. Knight and Hartlaub also welcome Diaz to San Francisco, and talk about how newcomers to the city help us all appreciate our home. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music from the...

San Francisco is a beautiful place to have a wedding, as Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight learned, after attending the nuptials of podcast listeners Kevin Dublin and Kate Lewin. Hartlaub and Knight play audio from that wedding, then invite Chronicle arts and culture columnist Tony Bravo for a draft to pick the best places in the city to get married. The Muni historical streetcars, Hornblower cruises, San Francisco Botanical Garden and Vaillancourt Fountain (!?!) make the...

The Transamerica Pyramid was mercilessly attacked by critics when it was finished 50 years ago. But now a new owner of the Pyramid may be a catalyst to help save San Francisco's struggling Financial District. Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight welcome new Pyramid owner Michael Shvo, who talks about his childhood visit to the building in the 1970s and his current plans to revitalize the area. And then the podcast hosts take a trip to the very top of the city's second-tallest...

Glide Memorial Church musical director Vernon Bush is a dynamic presence leading the Glide Ensemble, using his experience as a preacher's kid and his love for community to lift the diverse group – and the congregation — higher. Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight watch and record a Glide Ensemble rehearsal, then join Bush on stage to talk about his upbringing near choirs, the church's history and how he feels about the Tenderloin District making the news. And Bush tries to...

Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight choose the eight things they're thankful for in 2022, including two very specific modes of transit, a small business category that survived the pandemic and ... disco balls? Also in this episode, Hartlaub heads out to JFK Promenade and interviews Total SF listeners and other San Franciscans, asking the question: "What are you thankful for in San Francisco in 2022?" Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music from the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album...

Food Network chef Tyler Florence is an international star, but he chose to settle in the Bay Area. Total SF hosts Heather Knight and Peter Hartlaub meet Florence at Warriors owner Joe Lacob's table in the Chase Center restaurant Miller & Lux, to talk about the California cattle barons who inspired the steak house's name, the future of restaurants in San Francisco, how the South Carolina-born chef ended up settling in the Bay Area and the secret "Goodfellas" door between his restaurant and...

Tom Meschery had his number retired by the Golden State Warriors. He's a poet, 20-year English teacher, poet, bookstore owner and at age 84 just published his first novel. Total SF hosts Heather Knight and Peter Hartlaub sit down with the extremely well-rounded basketball great to talk about Meschery's signing bonus and NBA fights in the 1960s, his immigrant childhood in San Francisco and his new book — "The Case of the '61 Chevy Impala: A Brovelli Brothers mystery." He also reads three...

What are the best hikes in San Francisco and the Bay Area? Chronicle data editor Dan Kopf joins Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight to talk about their recent collaboration, using more than 600,000 AllTrails user reviews to determine the best and worst hikes in the region. Kopf talks about his own love of hiking (and fungi) and the 10 best local trails, Knight recounts her journey on the worst trail in S.F. and Hartlaub explains whether the highly-rated Dipsea Trail cured his...

Mike Sullivan is the author of The Trees of San Francisco, and has been sharing his tree expertise for years on his site sftrees.com. But he found new purpose during the pandemic, working with tree-loving friends to create chalk tree tours throughout the city. Total SF hosts Heather Knight and Peter Hartlaub sit down with Sullivan in his tree-filled Cole Valley backyard, and talk about S.F.'s good and bad tree neighborhoods, tree history and Peter's suggestion that there are "bad" trees....

Total SF hosts Heather Knight and Peter Hartlaub each pick a full perfect day in San Francisco, including food, drinks, historic streetcars, drag shows, an edible and a lot of love for small businesses. It's a sequel to the 2021 "perfect day in S.F." episode that was the most popular Total SF release of the year. This year, we included perfect day ideas from 15 Total SF listeners, recorded on the All Our S.F. Outdoors Day hike across the Crosstown Trail. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music from...

With three 10-foot Doggie Diner heads appearing on John F. Kennedy Promenade in Golden Gate Park, historian, maker and Doggie Diner collector John Law joins hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight to talk about the phenomenon. The history of Doggie Diner includes detours into Dan White and Jefferson Airplane, with more recent stories about the preservation of the heads. And Law also talks about the Suicide Club and Cacophony Society, two local urban exploration and pranking groups that...

Juanita More has spent 30 years in San Francisco as a drag queen, philanthropist, activist, chef and party central. Total SF hosts Heather Knight and Peter Hartlaub visited the new Juanita More exhibit at the San Francisco Arts Commission's main gallery and talked with More and her fashion designer Mr. David Glamamore about their history, why San Francisco has not lost its soul and how to bring glamour back to the city and our lives. Juanita: 30 Years of More! is free to the public and is...

Total SF hosts Heather Knight and Peter Hartlaub recap some of the highlights from their Total Transit 2022 adventure, where they attempted to ride as many of the Bay Area's 27 transit agencies as possible. (Ending at the San Francisco Giants game.) Audio from the journey is shared, including an interview with Pac-Man the BART falcon. And they break down some positives and negatives for regional transportation, and a grade for the current state of Bay Area transit. Produced by Peter Hartlaub....

Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight visit the cable car barn in San Francisco and talk with gripman Val Lupiz and former cable car barn superintendent David Banbury about the history of the transit network, and ask listener questions about the cable car line. Lupiz and Banbury cover the meaning of certain bells, why Muni no longer allows tourists to push cars on the turnaround and what gripmen think about that cable car explosion scene in "The Rock." Produced by Peter Hartlaub....

Transit lover and poet Mc "Mack" Allen met Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight on Total Muni 2018, when he was the first civilian to find them during their successful attempt to ride every Muni line in one day. He's since become a Muni operator, and we invited him back on the podcast to answer "Ask a Muni driver" questions from listeners — including his favorite views, the strangest things he's seen as a driver and what he thinks of the Lunchables ad-wrap on several Muni coaches...

The ferry system in San Francisco was written off as dead in 1958. But the San Francisco Bay Ferry rose again after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, and is arguably the most liked transit system in the Bay Area. Total SF hosts Heather Knight and Peter Hartlaub recorded on the ferry with executive director Seamus Murphy, talking ferry history, learning how the system works and what's the possible future for the growing transit agency. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music from the Sunset...

For the first episode of Transit Month on the Total SF podcast, hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight invited BART's Alicia Trost and Seung Lee, who hold the keys to the transit agency's social media. Trost and Lee talk about BART history, modern challenges and the agency's 50th anniversary celebration, which lands during Transit Month in September. BART's big plans for the birthday include video games at the Powell Station, fare discounts and a big Sept. 10 party at the Lake Merritt...