Sad Francisco

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

Part 2 of the conversation with Deeg, with more on LAGAI-Queer Insurrection (formerly Lesbians And Gays Against Intervention), the Bay Area collective that started organizing in 1983 in response to the US war machine meddling overseas.

UltraViolet (LAGAI's zine)

"How a queer liberation collective has stayed radical for almost 40 years" (Toshio in Waging Nonviolence)

Episode with Deeg on the Boycott of Manny's in the Mission

Episode with LAGAI member Kate Raphael: Queers for a Free Palestine

Deeg is back for some oral history lessons about LAGAI-Queer Insurrection (formerly Lesbians And Gays Against Intervention), a radical collective that started organizing in 1983 in response to the US war machine meddling overseas.

Some of the same members from forty years ago continue to meet, plan direct actions, and send thousands of copies of their zine UltraViolet into prisons for free, with no 501(c)3 and next to no funding. We talk: avoiding burnout and cooptation, how to measure movement successes (and why sometimes you can't), and more.

This is Part 1 of a two-part episode.

• UltraViolet (LAGAI's zine)
• "How a queer liberation collective has stayed radical for almost 40 years" (Toshio in Waging Nonviolence)
• Episode with Deeg on the Boycott of Manny's in the Mission
• Episode with LAGAI member Kate Raphael: Queers for a Free Palestine

In the US, traditional media censorship of pro-Palestinian voices didn't start October 2023. A new report on Zionism's chilling effect on journalists is out this week, spotlighting how some reporters and editors self-censor, and corporate outlets keep Palestinian stories from being published. With Tiana Reid (@tianareid | tianareid.com ) of the National Writers Union's Freelance Solidarity Project.

*This episode was recorded in March. Subscribers to our Patreon got this episode early. Help support the show there.

• Red Lines: Retaliation in the media industry during the war on Gaza
• National Writers' Union Freelance Solidarity Project

• Writers Against the War on Gaza
• Media Against Apartheid & Displacement
• International Federation of Journalists, War in Gaza death count

Sad Francisco is produced by Toshio Meronek and edited by Tofu Estolas.

Dylan Rodriguez is back to talk about his new piece: "How the Stop Asian Hate Movement Became Entwined with Zionism, Policing, and Counterinsurgency."

Launching off the murders of Asian sex workers in Atlanta in 2021, The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) raised over $1 billion in six months. How was the rage over those deaths transformed into liberal, reformist solutions to violence, plus a TAAF board appointment for the ADL's Jonathan Greenblatt?

Dylan's "How the Stop Asian Hate Movement Became Entwined with Zionism, Policing, and Counterinsurgency" (Critical Ethnic Studies Journal)

"Astroturf Antisemitism Watchdogs" (Emmaia Gelman, Jadaliyya)

18 Million Rising: Drop the ADL

Erin McElroy is back to talk about fresh release "Silicon Valley Imperialism." Starting in the 2010s, the post-socialist Romanian government created special visas to attract tech corporations and digital nomads. They hoped to create a mini-San Francisco; the book looks at how that materialized.

• Silicon Valley Imperialism (Duke)

• Anti-Eviction Lab

• Previous Erin episode: Landlord Tech Watch

• Silicon Holler episode f/ Tom Sexton

Nonprofits could never: Three members of the autonomous West Side Tenants Association/WSTA discuss the evergreen problem of charity; what movements gain by putting collectivism before individualism; how knowing your neighbors is the most effective and meaningful survival tactic; and the inspiration we all get from past solidarity work in the Bay, like the thousands of people who came together around the I Hotel in the 1970s.

• West Side Tenants Association (also on Instagram)

• The Worst Evictors of San Francisco and Oakland

• Past episodes mentioned:

  Should Social Movement Work Be Paid? f/ Dean Spade

  How City College Got Free f/ James Tracy

  Landlord Tech Watch f/ Erin McElroy

Politics have turned COVID into a dirty word, but Jillian Crochet, a Senior and Disability Action member, is working to get the San Francisco Department of Public Health to keep masking requirements in medical facilities and jails beyond April 30, when they're set to expire.

• Letter to SFDPH to keep masks in healthcare

• April 16 Action (IndyBay)

• Senior and Disability Action (Instagram | Twitter)

• Disability Visibility Project #N95s4UCSF

Well-known drag artists have been using their platforms to combat the genocide in Gaza since last October. In part two, Lady Bunny takes on virtue signaling politicians, and describes her suspicions around the viral photo with her name written on an IDF missile.

Check part one for Nicki Jizz, host of locally beloved drag night Reparations, who explains how politics and drag mix.

And our recent episode with Bay Area-based Palestinian drag artist Mama Ganuush.

"Meet the Drag Artists Using Their Platforms to Combat the Genocide in Gaza" (Truthout)

Lady Bunny on Instagram and Twitter

Nicki Jizz (and Reparations) on Instagram and Twitter

Well-known drag artists have been using their platforms to combat the genocide in Gaza since last October. In this first part, Nicki Jizz, host of locally beloved drag night Reparations, explains how politics and drag mix.

Check part two for Lady Bunny, who talks about virtue signaling politicians, and describes her suspicions around the viral photo with her name written on an IDF missile.

And our recent episode with Bay Area-based Palestinian drag artist Mama Ganuush.

"Meet the Drag Artists Using Their Platforms to Combat the Genocide in Gaza" (Truthout)

Nicki Jizz (and Reparations) on Instagram and Twitter

Lady Bunny on Instagram and Twitter