Total SF

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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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"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

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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

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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

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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

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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