San Francisco History Podcast – Sparkletack

It was 1841, and like so many of those who have washed up on these shores, then or since, William Alexander Leidesdorff was a man on the run from his past — a man trying desperately to reinvent himsel...

14 Jan 200627min

“So what do you think of that beautiful bridge?” I started to say, but she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, an odd, wistful look in her eyes. “what is it?” I asked. She turned to me with a grave e...

7 Jan 200625min

“I will sing in San Francisco if I have to sing in the streets, for I know that the streets of San Francisco are free.” It was 1910. San Francisco was still in a bad way following the great earthquake...

31 Dec 200519min

It was 1871. William Ralston had become one of the richest and most powerful men in California, partly on the strength of his shrewd business maneuverings, but largely on the fact that he was an incor...

17 Dec 200532min

In 1889 this talented young writer, the son of a British colonial schoolteacher and future winner of the Nobel prize for literature, visited San Francisco on his way from India to England. It was not ...

10 Dec 200532min

Riding around the chilly streets of San Francisco this week I spotted a bumpersticker that I hadn’t seen for some time: “kill your television”. The rich irony of seeing that particular message display...

3 Dec 200525min

Part three of the pre-history of San Francisco, the early life of the village of Yerba Buena. (if you missed ’em, listen to part one and part two first.) This is the concluding episode on this theme, ...

26 Nov 200533min

Part two of the pre-history of San Francisco, the early life of the village of Yerba Buena. The epic sweep of Mexico’s revolution and the annexation of California to the United States for all intents ...

19 Nov 200534min