Bench Ansfield is a professor in the History department at Temple University. Their book "Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking of the American City" covers how racial capitalism, political corruption, and the insurance industry created a world where landlords can profit more by burning their own buildings down than maintaining them. They were also part of the research team on the 2019 documentary "Decade of Fire".

Bench Ansfield https://www.benchansfield.com

Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking of the American City https://citylights.com/new-nonfiction-in-hardcover/born-in-flames-bronx-arson-1970s

Decade of Fire https://decadeoffire.com

Born in Flames (the film the book was named after) https://www.criterion.com/films/30707-born-in-flames

Let the Fire Burn: documentary about MOVE's infamous eviction in Philadelphia https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/let-fire-burn

Recent episode on the fire at 22nd and Mission with Angelica https://www.patreon.com/posts/aftermath-of-at-135107521

Alexis Shotwell is a professor of gender and feminist studies and philosophy at Carleton University in Ottawa. She's also an anarchist organizer particularly interested in the anarchist fantasy and science fiction author Ursula K. LeGuin. Alexis's website https://www.alexisshotwell.com/ Punch Up Collective https://www.punchupcollective.org/ Episode with Deeg on LAGAI-Queer Insurrection! https://www.patreon.com/posts/lagai-queer-w-1-104043005 October 11: Sacramento Anarchist Book Fair https://itsgoingdown.org/announcing-the-third-annual-sacramento-anarchist-bookfair/ October 18: Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair https://www.instagram.com/bayareaanarchistbookfair/ More episodes on anarchism: Edxi Betts https://www.patreon.com/posts/voting-is-scam-f-110266232 Margaret Killjoy https://www.patreon.com/posts/radical-demands-139152446

Court support has spread to Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 100 Montgomery Street, while the mayor and SFPD continue to be complicit with ICE, against the city's sanctuary city policy. Lxspinguinxs (updates about SF anti-ICE actions on Instagram) https://www.instagram.com/lxspinguinxs Lea on Substack https://leftylea.substack.com on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/leftylea_in_sf Los Angeles Tenants Union https://latenantsunion.org/ Palestinian Youth Movement https://palestinianyouthmovement.com Tenants and Neighborhood Council https://baytanc.com/ Unión del Barrio https://uniondelbarrio.org/

Sad Francisco is produced by Toshio Meronek and edited by Tyger Ligon.

Support the show and get new episodes early on Patreon: https://patreon.com/sadfrancisco

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/sadfrancisco.bsky.social

Instagram: https://instagram.com/sadfrancis.co

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sadfrancisco

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sadfrancisco69

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@sadfranciscopodcast/

Listen on podcast platforms https://pod.link/1653309103

Boiler Room is a global event promotion company known for enlisting local DJs and promoters to produce Boiler Room-branded parties. This year, Boiler Room was acquired by a Zionist private equity firm, Superstruct/KKR. Three people who DJ and throw parties in the Bay—Daria Lourd, DJ Fridge, and Juanny—on creating culture that is removed from the Boiler Room industrial complex. 9/19 at The Stud: No Bias https://ra.co/events/2225702 9/20 at f8: Bring It Back https://ra.co/events/2224734 9/26 at Monarch: Dj Warning https://ra.co/events/2235766 Daria / No Bias on Bandcamp https://nobias.bandcamp.com/ DJ Fridge https://linktr.ee/DjFridge DJ Juanny's party/label/recording studio project Amor Digital https://linktr.ee/amordigital On Instagram Daria Lourd https://www.instagram.com/bored_lord DJ Juanny https://www.instagram.com/dj_juanny DJ Fridge https://www.instagram.com/djfridge_ HYDEFM (radio) https://www.instagram.com/hydefmradio Ravers for Palestine https://www.instagram.com/raversforpalestine/

Sad Francisco is produced by Toshio Meronek and edited by Tyger Ligon.

Support the show and get new episodes early on Patreon: https://patreon.com/sadfrancisco

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/sadfrancisco.bsky.social

Instagram: https://instagram.com/sadfrancis.co

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sadfrancisco

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sadfrancisco69

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@sadfranciscopodcast/

Listen on podcast platforms https://pod.link/1653309103

Tracey Helton Mitchell writes about living in San Francisco with an addiction in her memoir "The Big Fix" and now works in harm reduction in the city. The Big Fix: Hope After Heroin https://sfpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S93C3207933 Tracey on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@traceyh415. Tracey on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@traceyh415 Black Tar Heroin: The Dark End of the Street - HBO documentary released in 2000, following Tracey and others around San Francisco https://archive.org/embed/blacktarherointhedarkendofthestreet Update on the cast from Black Tar Heroin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jQSpNmLVeM

Jen Snyder organizes with the Democratic Socialists of America, and recently wrote a piece for Jacobin about socialist policies like free MUNI, and taxing landlords for leaving homes empty. Things that are so popular in San Francisco, people voted to pass them. But then oligarchs and their minions defanged, reversed, or litigated them to death. San Francisco's Ultrarich Are Blocking a Zohran-Style Agenda https://jacobin.com/2025/08/san-francisco-zohran-democratic-socialism Red Bridge https://www.redbridgewins.com/ Jen on IG https://www.instagram.com/ohjennyboy Chris Arvin's Election Map SF https://electionmapsf.com/

Discussing the word "affordable" and how it's weaponized by the real estate industry. What is Affordable Housing? zine https://gayshame.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/What_is_Affordable_Housing_2025_zine.pdf Gay Shame zine: Steal This House: Dissecting the War on Houselessness and the Housing Crisis in the SF Bay Area https://gayshame.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Steal-This-House-Chronological-Order.pdf Tenant and Neighborhood Councils (TANC) https://baytanc.com West Side Tenants Association https://sfern.org Western Regional Advocacy Project https://wraphome.org Street Sheet newspaper https://www.streetsheet.org/ Indybay https://www.indybay.org Related episodes: With members of WSTA https://www.patreon.com/posts/we-keep-each-f-102747039 Landlord Tech with Erin McElroy https://www.patreon.com/posts/109663054 Food Not Bombs with Keith McHenry https://www.patreon.com/posts/136586623 Abolish Landlords with Tracy Rosenthal and Leonardo Vilchis https://www.patreon.com/posts/119757781

Sad Francisco is produced by Toshio Meronek and edited by Tyger Ligon.

Support the show and get new episodes early on Patreon: https://patreon.com/sadfrancisco

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/sadfrancisco.bsky.social

Instagram: https://instagram.com/sadfrancis.co

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sadfrancisco

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sadfrancisco69

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@sadfranciscopodcast/

Listen on podcast platforms https://pod.link/1653309103

Keith McHenry co-founded Food Not Bombs in 1980, and has been arrested more than 100 times for serving free food to homeless people and protesting the US government. A history lesson on SF's Phil Burton Democratic Party machine, black bloc, and how FNB became labeled as a domestic terrorist group by the FBI. Food Not Bombs https://foodnotbombs.net/new_site/ Seven Steps to Starting a Food Not Bombs https://foodnotbombs.net/seven_steps_flyer.pdf Keith on Twitter https://x.com/keith_mchenry Keith on Substack https://keithmchenry.substack.com/ Episode with Stop AI https://episodes.fm/1653309103/episode/M2FkNmUxNWEtM2M0NC00ZjBmLWE4NjQtYWQ2YmUxZDNhOTU5

Sad Francisco is produced by Toshio Meronek and edited by Tyger Ligon.

Support the show and get new episodes early on Patreon: https://patreon.com/sadfrancisco

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/sadfrancisco.bsky.social

Instagram: https://instagram.com/sadfrancis.co

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sadfrancisco

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sadfrancisco69

Listen on podcast platforms https://pod.link/1653309103

Starting in 2021, a shoplifting panic was hatched and spread by corporate media, cops, and politicians, resulting in life-or-death consequences (see: Banko Brown).

Damena Page called from SF county jail to report on the conditions, abuse, and how reporting abuse can result in retaliation.

Amy Martyn is a journalist based in the Bay, who's been covering the shoplifting panic since the beginning of the pandemic.

Damena on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/girlyfacemena/

America's absurd war on 'organized retail crime' (Amy Martyn, Business Insider)

https://www.businessinsider.com/americas-war-organized-retail-crime-target-cvs-victorias-secret-2024-9

Women Languish at San Francisco's Jail for Years Without Answers—or Sunlight (Amy, The Appeal)

https://theappeal.org/women-languish-at-san-franciscos-jail-for-years-without-answers-or-sunlight/

The Killing of Banko Brown (Toshio, The Nation)

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/banko-brown-killing-san-francisco-crisis/

Sad Francisco episode: "Avenge Banko"

https://episodes.fm/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5saWJzeW4uY29tLzQ0NTgyNC9yc3M/episode/ZTI4NDgxYzQtZmVjNy00MDUxLWE1ZTEtYmQ1ODA0MmE5ZDJi

Ten years have passed since the fire that disappeared the apartments and businesses at 22nd and Mission Streets, and killed Mauricio Orellana. Many people continue to suspect landlord arson. Slumlord Hawk Ling Lou inherited the buildings in the 1990s, and owns the now-empty lot, plus about 20 other buildings in San Francisco (some under family members' names).

On May 15, 2025, despite overwhelming community dissent the Planning Commission granted Hawk Ling Lou the permission to build market-rate luxury condos on the space. If they're ever built, they'll be sold to hypothetical newcomers and investors from outside the Mission.

Alejandra Rubio grew up in the Mission and has been following the story of the block since she was a teenager. Now a fellow at Galeria de la Raza, she's archiving the memories of people living in the area through a series of art and a zine, so the history of the block doesn't vanish.

Download the zine

https://alejandrarubio.art/22nd-and-mission-series-of-events

Alejandra's website

www.alejandrarubio.art

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/alejandraaaa415/

TikTok

https://www.tiktok.com/@alejandraaaa415

Al Jazeera article on the fire (Toshio, with Prisca Carpenter, Kentaro Kaneko, and Clio Sady)

https://web.archive.org/web/20160117083725/http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/4/2/hot-rental-market-sparks-suspicions-of-landlord-arson-in-san-francisco.html

Sad Francisco episode on 22nd and Mission, with Christen Cioffi

https://episodes.fm/1653309103/episode/ZWVlYTI1MWUtYzk0YS00ZmRkLTgzMjMtYTIxNmYzMTVjZWJj