All Shows
S2: Ep 4 China Live and China Town with George Chen
China Live and Chinatown with George Chen
Whatever your idea is of Chinese food, throw it out. This week’s episode will have you astonished by the executive chef and owner of China Live, Eight Tables, Shanghai 1939 and the Betelnut restaurants–– George Chen. Together with his wife Cindy Wong, Chen runs 16 restaurants in the United States and China, boasting culinary experiences that are award-winning and one of a kind. TIME Magazine named Eight Tables one of the “World’s Greatest Places 2018, 100 destinations to experience right now.” Betelnut, Chen’s first restaurant, was also nominated for a James Beard Award for the Best New Restaurant in America in 1995 (the “Oscar’s of the culinary world.)
Chen spent many of his early years working for top restaurants in Los Angeles and San Francisco. During his time attending UC Berkeley, Chen worked at The Mandarin under the mentorship of Madame Cecelia Chiang, a lifelong friend of his. Because of his culinary expertise and impact on San Francisco’s culinary world, we were so excited when we received a YES to interview George Chen. We at Beyond the Fog Radio love all things food, and George helped us give you a wonderful opportunity for an inside peek into his world.
Please meet George Chen!
S2: Ep 3 Carl Nolte & The Waterfront
Carl Nolte & The Waterfront
This week’s guest is a walking encyclopedia for the history of San Francisco, with expertise that extends far before humans ever inhabited this area. Carl Nolte–– a 4th generation San Franciscian–– has served as both a writer and editor for the San Francisco Chronicle for 60 years. He has a weekly column called Native Son. Though he mostly scribes stories of the city and the western coast, he has also reported on larger events, such as SS Jeremiah O’Brien when it Sailed to Europe for the D-Day Anniversary, the Persian Gulf War, and the Invasion of Iraq (the latter two of which he also served as a war correspondent.)
Nolte has likewise received many accolades, including the President’s Medal for Public Service by the California Maritime Academy (2011), the Maritime Heritage Award by the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association (2010), and the Award of Merit by the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society (2012). In 2016, Nolte received an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.
Carl describes himself as a storyteller more than a historian and journalist, as he writes with such conviction and creativity. In return, we at Beyond the Fog Radio describe him as charming, intelligent, highly articulate, and hilarious. We are so pleased to have him share his knowledge of San Francisco and history of the Bay Area with us this week.
Meet Carl Nolte!
S2: Ep 1 Kimberly Brandon & The Waterfront
Kimberly Brandon is the current President of the San Francisco Port Commission. She is the first African-American woman to serve on the Commission and is the initiator of the Southern Waterfront Advisory Committee through which she engages the SE waterfront communities with development planning in their neighborhoods.
S2: Trailer 1 Exploring the Waterfront
S2 Trailer: SF Waterfront
Welcome to Season 2 of the Beyond the Fog Radio!
To start us off we decided to explore the history of San Francisco’s Waterfront. It is in many ways the main event here, and is often why so many have come to visit our beautiful city even before the construction of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges! Since the Gold Rush era when the population boomed, San Francisco has been a vital destination for ships of goods and people from all over the world. The city’s Waterfront is a testament to this, and is why it has such a rich history and significance to the city to this day.
To give us a deeper look into the Waterfront, we interviewed three fantastic and knowledgeable people: Kimberly Brandon– President of the San Francisco Port Commission, John L. Burton– author of the Burton Act that gave the City and County of SF responsibility over the San Francisco Port, and Carl Nolte– journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle who authors the weekly column “Native Son.” All three give us a unique and curious take on the Waterfront of San Francisco.
We cannot wait to share our second season with you and thank you kindly for listening!
Ep:19 Marc Capelle & The Mission
Marc Capelle & The Mission
This week Susan and Michaela sit down with native San Franciscan Marc Capelle to talk about his artistic career and the city’s sunny Mission District. A musician, composer, producer, educator and entertainer, Capelle has performed with the American Music Club, Tommy Guerrero and The West Coast Spiritual Corinthians for decades. He’s even had guest performances with artists like The Plastic Ono Band, Rodriguez, Grandaddy, and Kelley Stoltz. Capelle founded SFO’s live music program “ You Are Hear,” and remained the programmer and producer of it for nine years. Likewise, Capelle is the founder and musical director of the Red Room Orchestra and the soul and pop dance ensemble Marc & the Casuals. He studied at Columbia College at Columbia University, and since returning to his home city, Capelle has taken advantage of the deep concentration of arts and music that the city offers.
Such concentration of the arts can be found in Capelle’s own neighborhood, The Mission. In the mid 20th Century, artists and musicians flocked to The Mission to find affordable housing, thus spawning an explosion of creativity that spilled out of every bar and restaurant. Its cultural history fueled the district’s colorful character, first by its inhabitance of the city’s Native American population, to the Irish, and now to the cherished Latinx community. Today, not only is the neighborhood dominated by an abundance of the arts, but the food, music, and culture has a vibrant Mexican and Latinx flare. There was even a time when Spanish could be heard more than English on the neighborhood’s streets.
The Mission has had its fair share of challenges, such as increased gang violence in the 80’s and rising costs from the growing tech industry of the last 20 years. Nevertheless, it maintains its lively artistic spirit, and who better to tell its story than Mission musician Marc Capelle, who can be found making music on The Mission’s streets or at various venues like The Chapel on Valencia St.
Check out Capelle’s compositions and sound design in the Bay Area art scene documentary “Tell Them We Were Here,” or read more about him on the local news website Mission Local: https://missionlocal.org/2021/06/people-we-meet-a-san-francisco-musician-who-never-left/
Meet Marc Capelle!
Ep 18: Nina Clima and the Gang & North Beach
In the beloved Italian North Beach neighborhood, three San Francisco natives Nina Clima, Charles Farruggia, and Don Di Basilio join Susan and Jae to reminisce on the rich cultural history North Beach offers the city. Nina, Charles, and Don grew up together in North Beach and are all 2nd or 3rd generation Californians. Now 80 years young, the three friends boast healthy, independent, and active lifestyles. They remain dedicated residents of this incredible neighborhood.
Ep 17: David Katznelson Haight & Divisadero
Ep 17: David Katznelson and Haight & Divisadero
The best way to describe GRAMMY-nominated producer and San Francisco native David Katznelson is “larger than life.”
The 30-plus-year music industry veteran is the Executive Director of Reboot, founder of the independent Birdman Records label, and board member of the Stern Grove Music Festival. David worked for Bill Graham Presents in high school and was former Vice President of A&R at Warner Bros. Records; today, he has a podcast, a daily newsletter called “The Signal,” and an upcoming first-of-its-kind double album box set.
Just as there’s no one on Earth quite like David, there‘s no place on Earth quite like the neighborhood of Haight & Divisadero — where soul and rock & roll music meet. And who better to tell the story of the neighborhood than David himself?
Meet David Katznelson!
Ep 16: Sheila Von Driska & SOMA
Shelia Von Driska is the owner and founder of White Space, a full service creative design and advertising agency located in SOMA in San Francisco. SOMA, or South of Market, was historically an industrial neighborhood, full of almost exclusively warehouse buildings. During the 90s it became a hotspot for boutique design and advertising agencies to set up shop. Shelia moved into an industrial loft space in SOMA in the 90s and built her career and her company in this incredible neighborhood. Meet Shelia Von Driska!
Trailer 3: Exploring the Neighboods
We are ending our first season with exploring the neighborhoods. In this series we explore South of Market a former industrial area now artist lofts. The Mission a vibrant neighborhood that was formerly Latin X and over the last ten years it’s become hipsters and eclectic. The Haight/and Divisadero
And we will take a deep dive into the beloved North Beach which is a wonderful Italian neighborhood with its roots in the beat area of the 1950’s. We interviewed four dynamic people Shelia Von Driska, David Katznelson, Nina Clema, and Marc Capelle.
Our food episode closes the Season 1 with an interview with Arnold Wong a San Francisco native who has a fascinating story
So please join us for Exploring the Neighborhoods!!
Ep 14: David Lei & Chinatown Part II
David Lei is an active participant with several nonprofit organizations including The Chinese Performing Arts Foundation, the Asian Art Museum, the Chinese American Community Fund, Chung Ngai Dance Troupe, Academy of Chinese Performing Arts, World Arts West - San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, the Bancroft Library, and the Center for Asian American Media.
Ep 13: Jay Xu, The Asian Art Museum & Civic Center
This week we are honored to bring you our conversation with Dr. Jay Xu, the CEO and Director of the Asian Art Museum! Dr. Xu spoke to us about the Museum, located directly across from San Francisco’s City Hall, as well as the surrounding neighborhood, Civic Center. Civic Center is in the center of the city, and host to many important arts buildings as well as civic ones. In addition to City Hall and the Asian Art Museum, the neighborhood is home to the famed Bill Graham Auditorium, San Francisco’s Superior Court, the Davis Symphony Hall, the Hearst Theater, the San Francisco Opera House, and the Norris Auditorium. We’re so pleased for Dr. Xu to share his neighborhood and his Museum with us, and to help us continue our celebration of AAPI Heritage Month.
Meet Jay Xu!
Ep 12: Claudine Cheng, AAPI Heritage & Japantown
This week we are pleased to bring you our conversation with Claudine Cheng, a lawyer, community leader, community rights activist, and civil rights advocate; born in Hong Kong, Claudine Cheng is a graduate of University of Southern California and the University of California Hastings College of Law. Ms. Cheng was the first person from the West Coast elected to serve as the National President of OCA, a national advocacy and education organization headquartered in Washington, DC, with over 50 chapters across the country. In that role, Ms. Cheng was involved in coalition-building efforts amongst minority communities.
Her dedication to Asian communities is tireless, in addition to her decades of community organizing and the development of programming to support these communities, she also led a successful advocacy campaign for the issuance of United States Postal Service commemorative stamps celebrated the Lunar New Year! Currently, Ms. Cheng serves as the President of the APA Heritage Foundation and coordinates San Francisco’s annual celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. We are so pleased to bring you our conversation with such an important advocate for San Francisco’s asian communities!
Meet Claudine Cheng!
Ep 11: David Lei & Chinatown
Many people, tourists and San Franciscans alike, think of Chinatown as restaurants and knickknacks, and don’t recognize Chinatown for the culturally rich, deeply historical, and close knit community it is. It is a neighborhood as resilient as its people, both of which have faced turmoil and struggle in their histories.
Trailer 2: Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage in San Francisco
May is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage month, and Beyond the Fog Radio is celebrating by bringing you interviews from some incredible AAPI San Franciscans. With the rise of racism, xenophobia, and hate that AAPI people are facing in this country right now, and have faced for decades, we know that it is more important than ever to highlight the stories and voices of our AAPI brothers and sisters.
This diverse city is home to at least 300,000 people of Asian decent. We as a city must stand with our AAPI neighbors, against hate, and for justice and equity for all San Franciscans.
Join us as we hear from David Lei, Claudine Cheng, and Jay Xu: coming soon to Beyond the Fog Radio!
Ep 10: Chef David Lawerence
Our hosts are excited to share with you their lovely long lunch on Battery Street at Piperade with Chef David Lawrence. Chef Lawrence is the co-owner and Chef at the famed 1300 Fillmore, now located at the San Francisco International Airport, and closed temporarily due to Covid.
Prior to making his culinary mark in the Bay Area, Chef David Lawrence received formal training in his native London, where he worked under two of England's most celebrated chefs, the Roux Brothers. Working alongside them at five of their restaurants, Lawrence quickly advanced from apprentice to sous chef before his experience led him to the United States where he took the helm in a number of prestigious kitchens. Chef Lawrence is a charismatic, charming, kind man with a heart of gold; he engages with everyone from his staff to his patrons because he loves being with people, and most of all, he truly just loves cooking. And it shows in his food.
Meet Chef David Lawrence!
Ep 08: Judge John Dearman & The Haight-Ashbury
The Haight-Ashbury district is a neighborhood in San Francisco that was aptly-named for the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets. Running from Masonic Avenue to Stanyan Street, the beloved neighborhood is residential as well as commercial; famous for its connection to hippies and counterculture in the 1960s, it has long been one of the most dynamic, lively, and interesting neighborhoods in San Francisco.
In 1965 Judge John Dearman moved into the Upper Haight, into the very house where he and his family still live today. Judge John, as he is affectionately known to some, is a retired Superior Court Judge for the City and County of San Francisco. When he retired in 2009, Judge Dearman had been the longest serving judge in the history of San Francisco. Judge Dearman has long been an activist for change and the betterment of others, and recently celebrated his 90th birthday on March 28th, 2021!
Meet the Hon. Judge John Dearman.
Ep 06: Reverend Amos C. Brown & The Fillmore
The Western Addition, better known as The Fillmore, is one of the most vibrant and unique neighborhoods in San Francisco. Historically, it has been one of the three predominantly African American San Francisco neighborhoods, and from the 1950s to the 1970s it was known nationally as The Harlem of the West. The Fillmore lived up to this moniker, as was reflected in the music, food, and culture, unique to the vibrant neighborhood and her inhabitants. Third Baptist Church has been, and still remains, the hub of The Fillmore, and Reverend Amos C. Brown is its esteemed and beloved reverend. He is also a lifelong Civil Right leader, and President of the San Francisco Chapter of the NAACP. Reverend Brown sat down with us in September 2020 to tell us all about The Fillmore, and his life there.
Meet Rev. Brown!
Trailer: San Francisco and Social Justice
Social Justice has always been an integral part of San Francisco’s culture, the Bay Area’s very fabric is built on a long history of fighting for the rights of its people.
San Francisco’s diversity means many different groups come together to fight for their rights here, from Civil Rights, Indigionous Rights, LBGTQ Rights, to Labor Union Rights, Teachers Rights, and United Farm Workers Rights, San Francisco is a city with the will to fight for the disenfranchised. In this new series we focus on social justice with interviews from
Rev Amos C. Brown, Sunny Schwartz, Judge John Dearman and Mayor Willie L. Brown Jr.
Join us as we explore San Francisco’s social justice!
Ep 03: Shelley Bradford Bell & Downtown San Francisco
Shelley Bradford Bell is a writer, The former President of the San Francisco Planning Commission, the former Vice President of the Environmental Commission and the Former Executive Director of the Bay View Opera House.
She is a dedicated community activist and lives in downtown San Francisco which is French Inspired
Meet Shelley Bradford Bell
Ep 02: Rodney Fong & Fisherman’s Wharf, North Beach, & Chinatown
Rodney Fong is the CEO and President of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. Fong is a fourth generation San Franciscan whose grandfather started the Fisherman’s Wharf Wax Museum in 1962; Rodney discusses what it was like to grow up in the Wax Museum, as well as in the neighborhoods of North Beach and Chinatown.