Neoliberal nightmares and the people trying to stop them.
"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 to our past episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco
1/13/25 • 55:19
Hanin, 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://www.instagram.com/palestinejapan Mai’s Instagram https://www.instagram.com/yudetamai Nadina’s Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nadina.mp4 Nam Nam Space (Koenji, Tokyo) https://www.instagram.com/namnam_space Support Simo in Palestine https://www.gofundme.com/f/urgent-relief-for-salamas-family-in-gaza
1/6/25 • 87:57
Mama 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/]
1/1/25 • 51:45
Join 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
12/23/24 • 34:00
A 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
12/2/24 • 54:33
[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 Relationships, Hook Up, and Raise Hell, Together. "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 Our last episode with Dean: Should Social Movement Work Be Paid? https://www.patreon.com/posts/should-social-be-109620321?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link Dean's website: http://deanspade.net Support us and watch the video version of this episode on Patreon.
11/14/24 • 45:13
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.
11/4/24 • 44:21
Originally 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 Philippines-US: https://ichrpus.wordpress.com/ BAYAN USA: https://www.bayanusa.org/ "Death Squads Hunting Environmental Defenders" (Brandon, In These Times): https://inthesetimes.com/article/brandon-lee-philippines-violence-environmental-activists "The U.S. Is Complicit in War Crimes in the Philippines" (Brandon, Inkstick Media): https://inkstickmedia.com/the-us-is-complicit-in-war-crimes-in-the-philippines/ "The Forces That Nearly Murdered Me Are Meeting In San Francisco Today" (Brandon, The Nation): https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/apec-summit-san-francisco/ "Pentagon ran secret anti-vax campaign to undermine China during pandemic" (Chris Bing and Joel Schectman, Reuters): https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-covid-propaganda/ "SHUTDOWN: The Rise and Fall of Direct Action to Stop the War": documentary about the protests in response to the Iraq war in 2003 that shut down San Francisco for: https://vimeo.com/57710595 Past episodes mentioned: Imperial War Games of RIMPAC f/ Abbey Irodistan from BAYAN USA NorCal: https://www.patreon.com/posts/video-imperial-f-108415933 SF Against APEC w/ Anakbayan CCSF: https://www.patreon.com/posts/sf-against-apec-109660245 - Support us and find links to our past episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco
10/28/24 • 29:41
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 create a billionaire's compound in Solano County, "California Forever": https://www.patreon.com/posts/video-planning-f-107097104 "The Tech Baron Seeking to Purge San Francisco of 'Blues'" (Gil Duran, The New Republic): https://newrepublic.com/article/180487/balaji-srinivasan-network-state-plutocrat "SF Dems’ sexual-misconduct inquiry puts politico Jay Cheng back in the spotlight" (Joe Rivano Barros, Mission Local): https://missionlocal.org/2024/05/sf-dems-sexual-misconduct-committee-puts-allegations-against-politico-jay-cheng-back-in-spotlight/ Support us and find links to our past episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco
10/21/24 • 63:46
Mama 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
10/14/24 • 47:04
It'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.
10/9/24 • 53:34
"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.tiktok.com/@leftylea?lang=en Support us and find links to our past episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco
9/30/24 • 72:25
Project 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 episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco
9/23/24 • 49:52
Mutual 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 remix) https://www.locuramusica.org Past Sad Francisco episodes mentioned: Pinkwashing, with Brooke, Mama Ganuush and Deeg https://www.patreon.com/posts/video-genocide-f-108029780 Trans Black Palestinian Solidarities with Jemma Decristo, Lavelle Ridley and Mama Ganuush https://www.patreon.com/posts/video-trans-f-105794127 Support us and find links to our past episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco
9/17/24 • 60:37
"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 Normal Life: Administrative Violence and the Limits of the Law, and future classic Love in a F*cked-Up World: How to Build Relationships, Hook Up, and Raise Hell, Together https://www.deanspade.net/2024/08/14/new-book-out-january-pre-order-now/ Our last episode with Dean: Should Social Movement Work Be Paid? https://www.patreon.com/posts/should-social-be-109620321?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link Dean's website: http://deanspade.net Support us and find links to our past episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco
9/9/24 • 42:06
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." (Maddy at In These Times) https://inthesetimes.com/article/leimert-park-jubilee-debt-collective "Debt" by David Graeber https://linkencore.iii.com/iii/encore/record/C__Rb42088729 Support us and find links to our past episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco
9/2/24 • 50:02
Hate 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-joy-brings-108848550?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link “Zionists and Counterinsurgency in Stop Asian Hate” with Dylan Rodriguez https://www.patreon.com/posts/zionists-and-in-103600189?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link “The Anti-Zionist Boycott of Manny’s” with Deeg https://www.patreon.com/posts/anti-zionist-of-106162019?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link “Pinkwashing Genocide” with Brooke Lober, Deeg and Mama Ganuush https://www.patreon.com/posts/pinkwashing-f-108029935?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link “Queers for a Free Palestine” with Kate Raphael https://www.patreon.com/posts/queers-for-free-109660043?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link “Haaretz confirms Grayzone reporting it dismissed as ‘conspiracy’ showing Israel killed own festivalgoers” (via The Grayzone) https://thegrayzone.com/2023/11/21/haaretz-grayzone-conspiracy-israeli-festivalgoers/amp/ Support us and find links to our past episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco
8/26/24 • 50:24
Elections 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
8/19/24 • 58:38
Love 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
8/13/24 • 03:28
Homelessness 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 Sommers) Support us and find links to our past episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco
8/5/24 • 56:37
The 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_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_fan&utm_content=web_share Support us and find links to our past episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco
7/29/24 • 32:23
For 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 Tofu Estolas make Sad Francisco. Support us and find links to our past episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco
7/22/24 • 38:23
Sad 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, and LAGAI - Queer Insurrection Brooke Lober on Urban Alchemy Toshio’s reporting on pinkwashing at Truthout, Waging Nonviolence, and Bitch magazine Toshio Meronek and Tofu Estolas make Sad Francisco. Support us and find links to our past episodes: patreon.com/sadfrancisco
7/19/24 • 67:24
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
7/9/24 • 57:14
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
7/1/24 • 32:50
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
6/24/24 • 58:05
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)
6/17/24 • 21:43
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 from earlier this year, "We're Queer, We're Trans, No Peace on Stolen Land!" is a must-listen)
6/10/24 • 49:33
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 Twitter
6/3/24 • 51:06
Julie 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 Mills
5/27/24 • 51:25
