We've got our very own Haunted Mansion, baby! Joined by special guest Shannon from San Francisco, come aboard for the story of the most interesting building in Pac Heights, Whittier Mansion. Yeah, even more interesting than the Spreckles mansion.
San Francisco has been the subject of many movies including some scary ones so let's kick off October with some SF movies based out of SF. I think as a culture, we need to talk more about Interview with a Vampire more anyway.
SF's shoreline is fake, did you know that? It's all an illusion. Just kidding, it's landfill. Thanks to the Gold Rush, the SF Bay was inundated with old, shitty ships with no where else to go, until Rotten Row came to be. Join me for the world's shortest episode of Sordid SF.
Mary Ellen Pleasant was an abolitionist, an entrepreneur, a financier, and the woman history tried its hardest to forget. Born into slavery, she became one of the wealthiest and most influential figures in Gold Rush-era California - funding John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry and building a network of support for freedom seekers on the West Coast. This episode reclaims her story in full. If you've never heard of the 'Mother of Civil Rights in California,' that's exactly the problem Sordid SF is here to fix.
In 1916, a bomb exploded on Market Street during a Preparedness Day parade, killing ten people and wounding dozens more in one of San Francisco's most significant acts of political terror. This episode dives into the pre-WWI climate that made San Francisco a flashpoint, the controversial convictions that followed, and the lasting impact on labor and civil liberties in the city. If you're fascinated by San Francisco history, early 20th-century radicalism, or wrongful conviction stories, this episode is a gripping piece of American history you may never have heard.
Punk isn't dead - and neither is San Francisco. This episode dives deep into one of the city's most extraordinary and underreported music scenes: the deaf punk community that thrived in SF and left an indelible mark on the city's counterculture. Inspired by the Vice documentary that brought this scene to wider attention, host Monica Rodriguez explores how deaf punks experienced, performed, and transformed music on their own terms. A love letter to the intersection of disability, identity, and the relentless San Francisco spirit.
The Church of Satan didn't start in some dark corner of the world - it started right here in San Francisco. This episode investigates the founding of the Church of Satan, its surprisingly humble origins in the Bay Area, and the very human con at the heart of one of America's most provocative religious institutions. Spoiler alert: the church is a scam. But understanding how it worked - and why so many people bought in - tells you something important about San Francisco, counterculture, and the eternal human appetite for transgression.
When Cash App founder Bob Lee was stabbed to death in San Francisco in 2023, the tech world (cough, Elon, cough) immediately blamed the city's politics, homelessness crisis, and drug epidemic. The truth was far more complicated - and far more disturbing. This episode examines the murder of Bob Lee, the arrest of alleged killer Nima Momeni, and the dangerous narrative that tech culture constructed around a crime that had nothing to do with the story they wanted to tell.
Did you know San Francisco has its own vampire lore? This quickie episode ventures into Nob Hill and the shadowy world of SF's undead mythology - the real ghost stories, vampire legends, and supernatural tales that have haunted the city for over a century. Short, strange, and absolutely worth your time. Also: everyone go watch Renfield. If you love San Francisco history with a paranormal twist, this is your episode.
Did you know we've had our (one) own mass shooting? July 1st, 1993 some loser took the lives of 8 San Franciscans and injured 6 more. As gun violence rises across the country, let's keep the victims at the front of our minds.
Before you can understand San Francisco's scandals, crimes, and characters, you need to understand how this city came to exist in the first place. This episode offers a fast, honest, and unflinching rundown of San Francisco's origins - from its Indigenous roots to Spanish colonization, the Gold Rush, and beyond. Yes, it includes genocide. Yes, it's still a fascinating story. Think of it as the essential primer for every other episode of Sordid SF - and a palate cleanser from all those Murdaugh Murder podcasts.
Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle was the biggest star in Hollywood - until a party at San Francisco's St. Francis Hotel destroyed his life. This episode examines one of early Hollywood's most infamous scandals: the manslaughter accusation that ended Arbuckle's career, the sensational trials that followed, and the media frenzy that revealed just how easily an innocent man's reputation could be obliterated. Justice for Fatty!!
Before 'sugar baby' became a modern dating term, there was Alma Spreckels - San Francisco's original. This episode, recorded with guest Katy from San Francisco, tells the remarkable story of Alma de Bretteville Spreckels, a penniless model who married a sugar magnate and became the most powerful woman in California. Philanthropist, socialite, and fierce personality, Alma essentially built San Francisco's cultural institutions through sheer force of will. If you love stories of women who played the game on their own terms and won, Alma's story is pure gold.
Francis Van Wie loved to ring bells - and San Francisco loved him for it. This episode rides the D Line streetcar back to the 1910s and 1920s Fillmore District to meet the man who became one of the city's most beloved characters through sheer, joyful eccentricity. If you've ever wondered about the colorful personalities who made up the fabric of early San Francisco, Ding Dong Daddy is the kind of forgotten local legend that Sordid SF lives to unearth. A warm, charming detour through the city's past.
All aboard the sexy cable car for the tale of the Cable Car Nymphomaniac - a woman whose wild ride through San Francisco's public transit became the subject of a landmark obscenity case and a classic example of government-sanctioned slut-shaming.
Before Jonestown became a punchline, Jim Jones built a movement in San Francisco. This episode focuses on the People's Temple's roots in the Bay Area - the idealism, the political power, and the slow unraveling of a man who started as a progressive force and became a murderer and cult leader. This is not just a story about Jonestown; it's a story about San Francisco, about how a city can be seduced by charisma, and about the price of unchecked power.
You know the name from the venue, but Bill Graham was so much more than a concert hall. This episode - recorded with longtime friend Shannon from San Francisco - unpacks the extraordinary life of the man who shaped the sound of San Francisco and American rock music. From his childhood as a refugee fleeing Nazi Europe to becoming the most powerful concert promoter in the world, Bill Graham's story is one of survival, passion, and the transformative power of music. A celebration of San Francisco's musical soul and a man who deserves far more credit than a building can give him.
In the 1990s, San Francisco had a monster problem - specifically, the Mountain Lake Monster. This episode tells the wild true story of Trapper Jim and the hunt for a rogue alligator terrorizing one of the city's most scenic lakes. Equal parts absurd and fascinating, this is San Francisco at its most delightfully weird. If you love quirky local history, unusual urban wildlife stories, and San Francisco's capacity for total chaos, this bite-sized episode is a perfect listen.
The story that started it all. Well, the inspiration for this podcast at least. In late 1990s San Francisco, three off-duty police officers beat a man over a bag of fajitas - and then the entire SFPD tried to cover it up. Fajitagate is the scandal that exposed deep corruption inside the San Francisco Police Department and rocked the city's faith in its institutions. This is the episode that started it all: a reminder that the only thing worse than a bad guy with a gun is a 'good' cop who wants a fajita. Essential San Francisco true crime and SFPD history.
San Francisco's Pride Parade is one of the world's largest - but in recent years, it's been at the center of a heated local controversy. This episode digs into the drama surrounding the SF Police Officers Pride Alliance, the SF Pride Parade, and Mayor London Breed's role in the debate. Host Monica Rodriguez serves up her unfiltered opinions on the politics of policing, pride, and who gets to march. A timely, opinionated take on queer politics and law enforcement in one of America's most progressive cities.
Carol Doda didn't just take her top off - she changed America. This episode takes you to the Condor Club in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood, where Carol Doda became the first legally topless dancer in the United States and launched a cultural revolution. But this story has more than one layer: throw in a freak accident between dating coworkers, and you've got one of the most outrageous tales in SF nightlife history. A wild ride through the city's go-go era for fans of San Francisco history, counterculture, and stories that couldn't happen anywhere else.
Happy Pride! This episode is part history lesson, part love letter to San Francisco's most iconic dive bars. Host Monica Rodriguez takes you on a Sunday tour through the Tenderloin and North Beach - stopping at the Phoenix Hotel, Emperor Norton's Boozeland, Aunt Charlie's, and Specs - uncovering the LGBTQ+ history soaked into every barstool. If you want to understand what makes San Francisco's bar scene unlike anywhere else in the world, pour yourself a drink and hit play. Perfect for SF locals, queer history enthusiasts, and anyone who loves a good watering hole with a story.
San Francisco's John McLaren Park is one of the city's largest and least-talked-about green spaces - and it holds some deeply dark secrets. This episode returns to true crime territory with a look at the bodies discovered in one of SF's most overlooked parks. Whether you're a San Francisco local who's walked these trails or a true crime fan drawn to cases hidden in plain sight, this episode uncovers what the park service won't put on a sign.
Carol Doda didn't just take her top off - she changed America. This episode takes you to the Condor Club in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood, where Carol Doda became the first legally topless dancer in the United States and launched a cultural revolution. But this story has more than one layer: throw in a freak accident between dating coworkers, and you've got one of the most outrageous tales in SF nightlife history. A wild ride through the city's go-go era for fans of San Francisco history, counterculture, and stories that couldn't happen anywhere else.
After the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, one building's survival sparked a legend - and a limerick. This episode tells the story of Anson Hotaling, the whiskey baron whose Jackson Square warehouse emerged from the rubble while churches crumbled around it. Learn how one man's liquor empire left a permanent mark on San Francisco's architectural and cultural landscape. Perfect for history buffs, whiskey lovers, and anyone obsessed with the stories hiding inside San Francisco's oldest buildings.
San Francisco has seen its share of shocking crimes, but few cases are as brutal or bizarre as the murders of Catano Perez and Brian Egg. This episode unravels two disturbing true crime cases from the City by the Bay - stories involving dismemberment, mystery, and the dark underbelly that lurks beneath SF's iconic skyline. If you're drawn to unsolved mysteries, San Francisco true crime, and the strange stories that don't make the history books, this episode is essential listening.
This ain't no Tobey Maguire Spiderman. San Francisco had its own web-slinging outlaw. This episode dives into the true story of Kristian Kwon Marine, the real-life Sunset Spiderman - a cat burglar who scaled his way through San Francisco's Sunset District and back out again. Discover the unlikely redemption story of the thief who became one of SF's most surprising local legends.
Long before the Tenderloin became synonymous with San Francisco's urban struggles, it was home to a very particular breed of hustler: the B Girl. Equal parts con artist and survivor, these women ran sophisticated scams inside the bars and back rooms of one of SF's most notorious neighborhoods. Host Monica Rodriguez is joined by guest co-host Hannah to unpack the world of San Francisco's lady scammers - who they were, how they operated, and why their story is one of the most underrated chapters in Bay Area history. A must-listen for fans of San Francisco history, women's history, and true crime.
