Total SF

Honey Mahogany is a drag queen, small businesswoman, social worker, political aide, "Ru Paul's Drag Race" contestant, singer, and now a candidate for District 6 supervisor. After Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight spent two years of talking about her — including a demand in an early 2021 episode for a Honey Mahogany High School — the San Francisco native sits down near the Central Freeway in District 6 to talk about Transgender History Month, her early life in the Sunset District, a "Ru Paul" breakdown and her optimistic view of the future for the city. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music from the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community," Castro Theatre organist David Hegarty and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight announce Total Transit 2022, their attempt to ride as many of the Bay Area's transit agencies in one day. There are 27 transit agencies covering nine Bay Area counties, but most operate independently of one another. Knight and Hartlaub — who rode every Muni line in one day in 2018 — will try to ride as many as possible from early morning until night, while assessing the difficulty of riding different lines in our balkanized transit region. Also in this episode: We take another caller on the Total SF Party Line, this time asking about Glen Park Canyon history, and one headache-inducing part of the podcast.. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music from the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community," Castro Theatre organist David Hegarty and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco is one of the romantic cities in the world — and we've been spending the week thinking up perfect first dates. Chronicle arts and culture columnist Tony Bravo joins hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight record in the Conservatory of Flowers Dahlia Garden and pick nine ideas for first dates in the city, including museums, the best flower exhibition and the most romantic bar, bookstore and ferry ride. The hosts also share their own stories of first dates in San Francisco, and Bravo and Knight question Hartlaub's Homer Simpson-esque choice for bowling as a romantic first date. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music from the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community," Castro Theatre organist David Hegarty and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will Clark is a San Francisco Giants legend, and an all-time Bay Area fan favorite athlete. On the week that the team retires his No. 22 alongside Mays and McCovey, Total SF co-hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight joined Clark in the "Tony Bennett Suite" at Oracle Park, where he told some of his best stories. The podcast ended with Hartlaub and Knight handing Clark covers of Chronicle Sporting Greens from the 1980s, while he told stories about his biggest game in the 1989 playoffs, his involvement in an epic brawl with the St. Louis Cardinals and why he thinks the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake happening during the World Series saved lives. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the awaited opening of the new Tunnel Tops and Battery Bluff parks in the Presidio, San Francisco Chronicle urban design critic John King joins Total SF hosts Heather Knight and Peter Hartlaub at the new park overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge to talk about the changes. Tunnel Tops links the Presidio to Crissy Field, and Battery Bluff exposes old military posts along a pathway with stellar views of the bridge and Marin Headlands. After a review of the new spaces, King, Knight and Hartlaub talk burritos, San Francisco movies and share their favorite and least favorite landmarks and buildings. Also in this episode, Hartlaub and Knight debut their new Total SF t-shirts and Total SF phone line. Call 415-777-7413 and your question may be read on a future episode! (A few selected callers will win a T-shirt!) Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A return from vacation sparks a Total SF discussion between hosts Heather Knight and Peter Hartlaub about the San Francisco things they miss when they're gone, including weather patterns, food and one very specific transit agency. Knight just returned from two weeks in England, and Hartlaub — who rarely travels — channels the things he missed while living in Los Angeles in the 1990s. Total SF also gets a visit from James Morehead, the poet laureate of Dublin, Calif., (and Total SF listener) who shares a poem he wrote about San Francisco. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Heather Knight out for the week, San Francisco Chronicle arts and culture columnist Tony Bravo takes co-hosting duties in to help pick the greatest San Francisco movies of all time. Total SF host Peter Hartlaub and Bravo choose 10 movies to show in a hypothetical two-day festival at the Castro Theatre. They quickly get five locks — starting with "Vertigo" and "Mrs. Doubtfire" — but struggle near the end, deciding whether to go with established classics or personal favorites. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sutro Tower may be the most beloved landmark among San Francisco residents, and after this best-of episode from 2021, we'll all have a PhD in the Sutro's history and present. Sutro spokesman Dave Hyams joins co-hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight to talk about what exactly Sutro does in 2021, the constant maintenance and some wild trivia. Did you know that there's so much concrete underneath Sutro Tower that the center of gravity is below ground? And no mayor has ever been to the top. (Be the first London Breed!) Also in this episode, we give a Total SF Book Club update, and replay Daniel Handler's very funny S.F.-centric accordion version of "Should I Stay or Should I Go" Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Longtime Castro Theatre organ player David Hegarty got a scare earlier this year, when Another Planet Entertainment took over operations of the 100-year-old cinema and the future seemed unclear. But the music will go on — the Castro is continuing to employ Hegarty, has been screening movies and a new generation will get to hear "San Francisco" before every show. Hegarty talks about his start as an organ player (including a stint at Pizza & Pipes) and the new digital organ for the theater that is close to reality. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Orpheum Theatre on Market Street has a history that dates back to the Vaudeville era, with classic architecture that has been maintained and restored even through eras of turmoil and closure. Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight get a tour from the stage to the rafters — passing through secret doors, learning about a hidden apartment and hearing how the home of "Hamilton" fared when the lights were turned out because of the pandemic. BroadwaySF spokesman Scott Walton and managing director Ranier Koeners also talk about running the Orpheum and sister theater Golden Gate in San Francisco's changing Tenderloin District. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The AIDS Memorial Quilt will return to Golden Gate Park on June 11-12, with the biggest display in San Francisco history. Cleve Jones joins Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight to talk about his first time visiting San Francisco, how the quilt started and why activism in LGBTQ communities is as important as ever. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Chronicle podcast: Host Laura Wenus and producer Cintia Lopez are on a quest to find out why one of the wealthiest and best-educated cities in America, one where most people belong to the same political party and subscribe to the same basic values, has so many intractable problems. And more importantly: Can they be fixed? Join us as we find out, one San Francisco story at a time. Coming June 21 from the San Francisco Chronicle’s SFNext project. Follow Fixing Our City on your favorite app. Got a tip, question, comment? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Muni chief Jeffrey Tumlin offers Total SF a tour of the new Central Subway Union Square station and answers questions, including when (after a three-year delay) it might be open for passengers. Total SF hosts Heather Knight and Peter Hartlaub also talk about the art installations, Rose Pak, whether the station is haunted — and the importance of the new Prop A bonds on the ballot, with some of the new subway being controlled with software that still uses floppy disks. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former San Francisco Giants outfielder Hunter Pence and his wife Lexi (who hosts Let's Get Lexi on YouTube) have joined the small business community in San Francisco, serving their Pineapple Labs coffee at Hotel VIA and 25 Lusk restaurant across the street from Oracle Park. They talk about the endeavor and their increasing love of San Francisco — and surprise hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight with some alcoholic coffee drinks. Also in this episode: Talk about paddle boarding, surfing and a bonus Hunter Pence review of "Top Gun Maverick." Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco supervisor Myrna Melgar has been dancing in the Mission District's Carnaval festival since the 1980s, and once marched costumed in high heels when she was eight months pregnant. District 7 supervisor Melgar joins Total SF hosts Heather Knight and Peter Hartlaub to give her inside story on Carnaval, and also talk about car-free JFK the Nordstrom valet lot and her commissioned study proving male supervisors talk more than the women. Melgar also takes on the Total SF lightning round, picking her favorite place in S.F. to get a burrito, and which supervisor she'd like to take to Carnaval. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam Zolot started his Dogpatch Paddle business after watching the construction of Crane Cove park outside his apartment window. Now he's leading youth camps and a Facebook paddleboard club with 1,200 members. Total SF hosts Heather Knight and Peter Hartlaub take a paddleboat tour of Crane Cove with Zolot, Knight almost crashes into a yacht, and the pair meet a friendly seal whose name is Klay. (Or Chase.) Dogpatch Paddle will move into a Pier 70 space with the YMCA later this year. More information at dogpatchpaddle.com. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brandon Schneider was a waiter at a Burlingame restaurant in 2002 when he took an entry level job cold-calling fans to sell ticket plans to see a losing Golden State Warriors team. Now he's the Warriors president, handling operations for a team shooting for its fourth title of the Steph/Klay/Draymond era. Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight join Schneider outside Chase Center before a Warriors game to talk about the team's watch parties on the giant outdoor screen, planning an arena in a city where it's hard to build anything and the new statue of former San Francisco mayor Ed Lee. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Total SF's first live podcast in three years is a tribute to Emperor Norton, featuring the emperor himself (played by Joseph Amster) in front of a wonderful crowd at Manny's in the Mission District. Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight host an evening of history featuring Amster and Western Neighborhoods Project board president Arnold Woods — then everyone (including the audience) hops in a time machine to decide where they'd most like to go in San Francisco history. With cameos from Muni head Jeffrey Tumlin and Countess Lola Montez. Take a tour with Emperor Norton at Emperor Norton's Fantastic San Francisco Time Machine. Learn more about Western Neighborhoods Project and follow their podcast at Outsidelands.org. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco Supervisor Matt Haney recently was elected to the California state assembly, after battling a negative campaign that labeled him "the Tenderloin supervisor." Haney sat down in the Tenderloin with Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight one day after his last Board of Supervisors meeting — where supervisors approved making a stretch of John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park permanent. Haney talked about his commute to Sacramento, his cats and city redistricting. Haney and the hosts also offer a spirited defense of the Tenderloin — a neighborhood with very visible challenges, that is also vital to the past and future of the city. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What we can do to save small business is San Francisco? "Fun Police" podcasters Manny Yekutiel and Sharky Laguana join Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight to talk about the present and future of San Francisco, and how lessons learned from a worldwide pandemic can help independent business in the future. Laguana is CEO of the van rental business Bandago and Yekutiel founded Manny's — the community space that will host Total SF's "An Evening with Emperor Norton" on April 28, 2022. Reserve your seats in advance at welcometomannys.com. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spring is here, and Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight are excited about the better weather on the way and our first spring in three years with loosened pandemic restrictions. Hartlaub and Knight sat on the steps of Alta Plaza Park and came up with a spring to-do list, including good food, good biking, cherry blossoms and the return of the live Hunky Jesus contest in Dolores Park. Also in this episode, Hartlaub and Knight announce a LIVE podcast taping at Manny's, featuring an evening with Emperor Norton. Tickets are free but please reserve your seat in advance at welcometomannys.com. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With tourists returning in larger numbers to San Francisco, Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight choose the eight touristy destinations they wholeheartedly embrace as locals. Along with the cable cars, Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, Knight and Hartlaub pick some surprises. Tell us your favorite tourist traps on Twitter — using #TotalSF and tagging @PeterHartlaub and @hknightsf. Also in this episode: Promotion for "What's Up Doc?" the next Total SF Movie Night, 7 p.m. April 21 at the Balboa Theatre in San Francisco. Buy tickets early at BalboaMovies.com - this will likely sell out. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Cartoon Art Museum is one of the all-time non-profit survival stories, moving several times since it opened in 1987. It may have found the perfect home in San Francisco's tourism epicenter, on Beach Street a block from Fisherman's Wharf. Total SF co-host Peter Hartlaub sits down with museum curator Andrew Farago, to talk about Garfield, Mark Hamill, Batman, Peanuts, eating at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and the underrated power of San Francisco as a cartooning powerhouse. The Cartoon Art Museum's latest exhibition is "Keith Knight's 'Woke' in San Francisco," a tribute to longtime Bay Area artist Knight and the Hulu TV series based on his strip. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The National Guard Armory has had fascinating and somewhat random 110-year history in San Francisco, including a military training site, boxing arena, studio where "The Empire Strikes Back" was made and porn studio for Kink.com. Stephanie Blake and Jeremy Houston from Skylight Studios join hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight to talk about its latest use — as a flexible event space. The current exhibition is Imagine Picasso, an immersive art experience that has been extended to April 9, 2022. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Teen voice actress Rosalie Chiang, the Bay Area native who stars as Mei in Pixar's "Turning Red," wasn't supposed to appear in the finished movie — then was stunned to learn she would have her name at the top of the credits alongside Sandra Oh. Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight meet Chiang at the San Francisco Zoo, where a red panda like the one in the movie was renamed for the film. Hartlaub and Knight tell Chiang about the history of S.F. Zoo animal thefts, and Chiang talks about how she landed the role, her first visit to Pixar and how she kept a four-year secret from her friends. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Comedians on Bicycles Getting Bobs" host Sarah Katz-Hyman and producer Alec Hawley are about to come out with the third episode of the web series. They join Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight to talk about creating an ultra-positive video series during tough times for the city, and the joys of biking and eating doughnuts in San Francisco. Then everyone conducts a "doughnut draft," picking the best doughnut options in history. Check out "Comedians on Bicycles Getting Bobs" on YouTube, with a new episode on March 26. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

News broke late Monday morning that 1) the S.F. Rec and Parks Department recommends that John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park remain closed to cars permanently; and 2) Mayor London Breed is endorsing the plan. Chronicle culture critic Peter Hartlaub and San Francisco columnist Heather Knight immediately got on the phone and recorded a podcast, talking about what the decisions means, how we got here and what kind of party the Total SF hosts will throw if the Board of Supervisors follow the recommendations and Car-Free JFK becomes forever after a 40-plus year fight. The road opened seven days a week at the beginning of the pandemic, to give bikers and walkers more open space. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco Chronicle theater critic Lily Janiak is feeling optimistic about the future of live theater in the Bay Area, as she reviews live indoors shows again after a worldwide pandemic. She's also excited about the journey to and from the theaters — since she was hired by The Chronicle, the critic has been riding her bike to almost every performance. Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight meet Janiak next to Bernal Rock, where they talk about their favorite bike lanes, bike mentorship and answer the question: Is San Francisco a great biking city? Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After seeing yet another high-profile attack about "the decline of San Francisco," hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight return 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 decided by some venture capitalist on Twitter. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grace Cathedral in San Francisco was declared "a house of prayer for all people" when its first cornerstone was laid down in 1910, and the worship center has carried that pledge for more than a century. Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight get a tour of the California Street landmark, then sit down with Very Rev. Malcolm Clemens Young, the dean of Grace Cathedral. Young talks about the cathedral's history — including a visit from Martin Luther King Jr. after the Selma march — and its role in the 21st Century as a place for all to enter. They also talk about Carnivale, the cathedral's gala coming up on March 1. Total SF Book Club meets at 6 p.m. Thursday Feb. 24 in the Koret Auditorium at the San Francisco Public Library's main branch. Register for the live event or virtual at www.sfpl.org Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What has flower pianos, yoga on the meadow and magnolia blossoms and is free to San Franciscans? Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight pay a visit to the San Francisco Botanical Garden, the most underrated 55 acres in San Francisco, to get a tour from executive director Stephanie Linder. The Botanical Garden gained popularity during the pandemic, when the open space and good vibes were more valuable than ever. Listeners will find out what happens when visitors try to steal plants (it happens!) and learn some of the secrets of the Garden. Total SF Book Club meets at 6 p.m. Thursday Feb. 24 in the Koret Auditorium at the San Francisco Public Library's main branch. Register for the live event or virtual at www.sfpl.org Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Science fiction author Charlie Jane Anders sits down outside the Exploratorium to talk about indie bookstores, the importance of mentors and her book "Victories Greater Than Death" — the latest Total SF Book Club title. Anders published three books in 2021, including a collection of short stories ("Even Greater Mistakes") and a book about writing to get through tough times ("Never Say You Can't Survive"). Total SF Book Club meets at 6 p.m. Thursday Feb. 24 in the Koret Auditorium at the San Francisco Public Library's main branch. Register for the live event or virtual at www.sfpl.org Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight are joined by Chronicle arts and culture columnist Tony Bravo to talk about The Castro Theatre, and the changes set to happen when Another Planet Entertainment takes over in 2023. San Francisco native Bravo and the hosts share Castro history, its importance to the LGBTQ community and some of their favorite moments at the movie theater — including the "Last Black Man in San Francisco" premiere, and the time Bravo was able to introduce "Vertigo" star Kim Novak to his grandmother. And they share their hopes for the theater's future. Total SF has an audio tour in Golden Gate Park! Learn more and sign up at sfchronicle.com/audiotours Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight meet up with Bishop Megan Rohrer and record a podcast episode in their most unusual location yet — on the Ferris wheel in the music concourse at Golden Gate Park. As they sit in the VIP gondola and enjoy the view, Bishop Rohrer talks about keeping positive in 2022, when resolutions can lead to unneeded guilt and shame. And they give a blessing for San Francisco, talking about the potential for the city — even during frustrating times. Total SF has an audio tour in Golden Gate Park! Learn more and sign up at sfchronicle.com/audiotours Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Heather Knight and Peter Hartlaub spend a Sunday afternoon cleaning up trash in North Beach, after Refuse Refuse SF founder Vincent Yuen put out a Twitter call to Hartlaub, Knight and Hunter Pence, and the former San Francisco Giants outfielder answered. After the event, the Total SF hosts sat down with Yuen to learn his origin story, discover a new word (garbology!), find out why the west side of the street in S.F. accumulates three times as much trash — and why empowering neighbors to clean their streets has become Yuen's mission. Total SF has an audio tour in Golden Gate Park! Learn more and sign up at sfchronicle.com/audiotours Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With overcast weather and omicron raging, hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight look forward to better days, and make a list of 16 things you should do in San Francisco in 2022. Among the suggestions is the most underrated place in S.F. to watch the sunset, the most entertaining Muni line, a new must-ride ferry route, the best section to watch a Giants game and ... the dissection of a cow eyeball? Total SF has an audio tour in Golden Gate Park! Learn more and sign up at sfchronicle.com/audiotours Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Total SF hosts Heather Knight and Peter Hartlaub break down their perfect day in San Francisco in this flashback episode, , creating an hour-by-hour list of things to do and places to go in the city, without telling each other until the podcast started rolling. It gets competitive, as Knight picks a more historical and cultural route, while Hartlaub chooses to get inebriated in the morning and eat sandwiches. But it's collectively a celebration of the city, with tips for your next off day in good weather. Some common ground includes the historic F-line street cars, a walk through Golden Gate Park, visits to independent bookstores and big finish on the roof of a drag club in SOMA. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Quentin Kopp is a former San Francisco supervisor, state senator and judge — but he's known to local journalists as the most prolific angry letter-writer in the city. In this flashback episode from July 21, 2021, Total SF co-hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight visit the self-professed "curmudgeon" to talk about his life, his letter-writing process, what he really thinks of them ... and to wish him a happy 93rd birthday! After making peace, with no apologies, Kopp lets us know his advice for living a long and active life. (It involves more letters to The Chronicle.) Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Married couple Michael Morris and David Sweeney started putting on festive light-up tree costumes for a TV-20 "Dance Party" episode seven years ago. They got such a great reaction, they upped the costume details, upped the glitter and heels and upped their holiday spirit — surprising different neighborhoods in San Francisco throughout the holiday season as the Tree Twins. After Heather Knight spent a fun evening in North Beach with the twins, Total SF hosts Knight and Peter Hartlaub join Morris and Sweeney in their home, to talk about costume-making, what San Francisco neighborhoods are the best and worst for a tree visit — and why the city needs spontaneous joy more than ever. Total SF has an audio tour in Golden Gate Park! Learn more and sign up at sfchronicle.com/audiotours Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After interviewing celebrities (mostly) for the San Francisco Chronicle for the past 50 years, Ruthe Stein has written a memoir of her experiences — "Sitting Down with the Stars: Interviews with 100 Hollywood Legends." Stein sits down with Total SF host Peter Hartlaub to talk about why she asks the uncomfortable questions, who are the nicest and most difficult stars and how she developed her own interest in Hollywood gossip. Hartlaub also asks Stein (his former editor) one tough question from the book: to defend her take that Jerry Lewis was kind of hot. "Sitting Down with the Stars" is available on Grizzly Peak Press. Total SF has an audio tour in Golden Gate Park! Learn more and sign up at sfchronicle.com/audiotours Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mc "Mack" Allen spent most of the pandemic with his dream of becoming a Muni driver put on hold. But he's driving buses now — part of the new class of Muni drivers — and his tweet thread about the "Shang-Chi" movie bus chase went viral, with a shout-out from Shang-Chi actor Simu Liu himself. Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight rode the 44 O'Shaugnessy with Allen, then sat down to talk to him about becoming a bus driver, his first ride on a bus and why he thinks driving a bus will bring him ever closer to San Francisco. Total SF has an audio tour in Golden Gate Park! Learn more and sign up at sfchronicle.com/audiotours Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight head to Golden Gate Park to announce their new audio tour of the park, "Secrets of Golden Gate Park: gunfire, graft and a 90-year-old fish." In this episode Knight explains why the park is distinctly San Francisco, Hartlaub shares some history and they introduce the new tour, which operates on the VoiceMap app and uses GPS technology to give a seamless audio tour through the outdoors. The 2.6-mile hike, on the 49 Mile Makeover route created by Knight and Hartlaub, visits the Conservatory of Flowers, AIDS Memorial Grove, Stow Lake, California Academy of Sciences and lesser known spots including the former Sweeny Observatory and Monarch Grove. It's fun and affordable — and Chronicle subscribers get a big discount. Learn more and sign up at sfchronicle.com/audiotours Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gary Kamiya, who penned the ultimate San Francisco history book "Cool Gray City of Love," is giving nautical history tours. Total SF hosts Heather Knight and Peter Hartlaub take a boat trip through the Bay with Kamiya, learning about Juana Briones and other under-appreciated early city heroes, Then they record on his patio in North Beach — talking about his first memories of San Francisco, why El Farolito is nothing like Carl's Jr., and why San Franciscans are generally wrong when they say the city has let them down. (But we should listen carefully to them anyway.) More information at www.garykamiya.com. He also talks about his involvement as host in the new documentary "Moving San Francisco." Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The future of the Cliff House restaurant space is in limbo, but it remains a destination, after the Cliff House Museum moved into the gift shop and set up an exhibit showing the history of entertainment on San Francisco's northwest corner. Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight sit down with Western Neighborhoods Project executive director Nicole Meldahl to talk about the recent auction that contributes heavily to the museum collection. Hartlaub, Knight and Meldahl also discuss the potential future of the Cliff House. The Cliff House Museum is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday through early April, and is free to the public. More information here. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Total SF co-hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight pick their all-time favorite views in San Francisco, including Mt. Davidson, the Bernal Heights rock and two different views from modes of public transit. Hartlaub and Knight made their picks during a recording in Glen Park Canyon after going on this year's Peak 2 Peak hike through San Francisco, an annual benefit for members of Walk SF in its 17th year. Walk SF has reopened Peak 2 Peak ticketing for a week — join Walk SF and register here. And share your own favorite views in San Francisco using the hashtag #TotalSF and tagging @PeterHartlaub and @hknightsf on Twitter. The Total SF Book Club event is set for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 17 at the Koret Auditorium at the SFPL main branch, with a virtual option. Register for free here. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For Total SF's first Halloween episode, hosts Heather Knight and Peter Hartlaub meet with Terry Hamburg, director of the Cypress Lawn Heritage Foundation, for a tour of some of the Colma-based memorial park's most memorable graves. They visit Chronicle founders Charles and Michael de Young to get some of The Chronicle's gun-toting history, and talk about a decapitated cemetery resident and Hells Angels funerals. Plus, they pay respects to Willie McCovey and Lefty O'Doul. (Who really needs to be in the Hall of Fame.) Hamburg says people are welcome to stroll through the Cypress Lawn cemeteries, which encouraged visitors — including pets — to visit their open space during the pandemic. The Total SF Book Club event is set for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 17 at the Koret Auditorium at the SFPL main branch, with a virtual option. Register for free here. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

George Horsfall lives in one of the Painted Ladies homes in San Francisco, and he's not just happy to live in the tourist landmark — he wants to share it with the world. Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight get a full tour from Horsfall of his blue Victorian on the edge of Alamo Square, made famous by uncountable movie appearances, tourist souvenirs and the opening credits of "Full House." He explains that it's a surprisingly quiet life, and that the tourists are mostly wonderful. After being the recipient of the small "pay it forward" moment years ago, he's decided to give tours of the home, which can be secured by checking out his Instagram @bluepaintedladyhousetour. The Total SF Book Club event is set for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 17 at the Koret Auditorium at the SFPL main branch, with a virtual option. Register for free here. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight dive in the San Francisco Bay with "Why We Swim" author Bonnie Tsui, as a warm-up for their Total SF Book Club event on November 17 at the San Francisco Public Library. Tsui talks about an Icelandic legend who survived a frigid multi-hour swim, why San Francisco is a great swimming city and how newcomers can get started — and maybe work up to their own Bay swim. Hartlaub and Knight also recap their very cold but invigorating swim, including a cameo from former author Daniel Handler. The Total SF Book Club event is set for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 17 at the Koret Auditorium at the SFPL main branch, with a virtual option. Register for free here. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight drive into a nearly empty museum concourse parking garage to make a point: that there's plenty of room for cars to park in Golden Gate Park, and John F. Kennedy Drive should remain car-free. They talk about Knight's recent scoop about a potential car-free solution, and Hartlaub's upcoming history column featuring controversy surrounding the first cars in Golden Gate Park in the early 1900s. Stick around for our interview with the 15-year-old cello prodigy who was taking advantage of the nearly-empty garage acoustics and playing classical music during our recording. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alicia Tapia combines books and biking with the Bibliobicicleta, a rolling library that was funded by a Kickstarter and has brought joy and reading to San Francisco. Tapia meets Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight in the Tenderloin, where her bibliobicicleta has found new purpose, parking on the Safe Passage parklet on Turk Street and providing books for children and adults in the neighborhood. Tapia talks about how she started the Bibliobicicleta, why she doesn't need to expand it into a larger franchise and why the Tenderloin feels safer for her than many other places in the city. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices