Sad Francisco

Covering the end of capitalism from a "far Left" trans/queer POV.

Sad Francisco is a news podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 163 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts Sad Francisco, a news show with 163 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Sad Francisco

  Medicine for Melancholy (Sad Framecisco #4)

  Aug 17, 20261h 28mS1

  What was the filmic movement called mumblecore? Jemma Decristo and dee(dee) c. ardan offer an abridged history of the post-college-centric genre that went mainstream in the early 2000s. One of few mumblecore movies with a Black director and Black leads is 2008's indie romance Medicine for Melancholy by Barry Jenkins, before he did Moonlight If Beale Street Could Talk, and the 2024 Lion King sequel. In the movie, girl living in the Marina hooks up with boy living in the Tenderloin, and a meditation on gentrification ensues, replete with a cameo by anti-gentrification activist Tommi Avicolli Mecca. Return to the time of "violently heterosexual" hipsters on fixed-gear bikes as we talk MOAD vs. MOMA, the influence of Criterion, Awkwafina's blaccent, and why being the solitary blerd or gaysian in an otherwise white clique should never be the goal. Episode: Jemma on her book The Aesthetic Character of Blackness: Sounds Like Us Support the show and get merch: https://patreon.com/sadfrancisco

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  Sad Francisco

  It's All Bots, Girl: Chappell Roan and the Fake Outrage Machine with Matthew Lawson (Eating For Free)

  Aug 10, 20261h 5mS1

  In 2026, dead internet theory—the idea that most of the internet is bots and AI-generated content—is more reality than theory. Matthew Lawson co-hosts Eating For Free—a podcast critiquing American culture and politics through the lens of pop culture—with Paper Magazine editor Joan Summers. In their series "It's All Bots, Girl," they've been reporting on the corporations and politicians (Benjamin Netanyahu, for example) who are engaged in psychological warfare against the rest of us, using bots that pretend like they're real people on the internet. Topics discussed include industry plants, fake fan accounts, and manufactured hate campaigns devised to control discourse and sell you products. And possibly to punish Chappell Roan for being a gay woman who supports Palestine and Epstein survivors. Eating For Free https://eatingforfree.com/ https://www.instagram.com/eatingforfree/ https://x.com/_matthewlawson Eliza McLamb: Fake Fans https://www.wordsfromeliza.com/p/fake-fans Times of Israel: Netanyahu, allies using armies of bots to influence social media discourse – report https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-allies-using-armies-of-bots-to-influence-social-media-discourse-report/ Madiswan on YouTube: Is Zeus Network a CIA Psyop? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-9wU2sRdpY Buzzfeed: In the Chapell Roan controversy, 23% of posts were bots https://www.buzzfeed.com/natashajokic1/chappell-roan-controversy-bots Zeteo: The Fake 'Invasion' of Spain: What You Need to Know https://zeteo.com/p/the-fake-invasion-of-spain-what-you What did Epstein have to do with 4Chan, and Ghislane have to do with Reddit? https://www.ms.now/opinion/jeffrey-epstein-4chan-chris-poole Support the show and get merch on Patreon: https://patreon.com/sadfrancisco

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  Sad Francisco

  [Audio Fixed!] Enter the Panopticon with Ian Firstenberg

  Aug 4, 202653 minS1

  The government is putting queers on lists and hunting undocumented people at the Home Depot parking lot. Have you ever felt so seen? Sad Francisco Surveillance State Correspondent Ian Firstenberg returns to talk about our current dystopia, but it's not all bad news: people are destroying FLOCK cameras with abandon, protests against data centers are getting bigger, and Garry Tan is freshly single. Ian's recent piece for 48Hills on the death of privacy culture in San Francisco: https://48hills.org/2026/07/what-happened-to-sfs-privacy-culture/ Cydney Hayes for Gazetteer: Why do these Castro gay bars have TSA-style face scanners: https://sf.gazetteer.co/why-do-these-castro-gay-bars-have-tsa-style-face-scanners Matt Wolfinger for Working Mass: The Dungeon Over Lowell: How the Data Center Boom Divided One City's Working People: https://working-mass.com/2026/06/10/the-dungeon-over-lowell-how-the-data-center-boom-has-divided-one-citys-working-people/ ShotSpotter lobbyist's dramatic monologue at an Oakland City Hall hearing (via Jaime Omar Yassin / @hyphy_republic on X): https://x.com/hyphy_republic/status/1846598258308825144 Noah Shachtman and Maddy Varner for Wired: "Madison Square Garden Kept a List of Gay Celebrities": https://www.wired.com/story/madison-square-garden-celebrity-database-surveillance/ Andy Greenberg and Dhruv Mehrotra for Wired: "A Leak of San Francisco Police Drone Footage Exposes the New Reality of Urban Surveillance": https://www.wired.com/story/sfpd-drone-video-leak-surveillance/ DeFlockSF (IG): https://www.instagram.com/deflocksf/ Have I Been Flocked?: https://haveibeenflocked.com/ Ian's last episode: https://www.patreon.com/sadfrancisco/posts/home-sweet-state-158916825 Episode with StopAI: https://www.patreon.com/sadfrancisco/posts/end-agi-before-127632638/ Support the show and get merch on Patreon: https://patreon.com/sadfrancisco

  ListenShow Notes
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  Sad Francisco

  Enter the Panopticon with Ian Firstenberg

  Aug 3, 202653 minS1

  The government is putting queers on lists and hunting undocumented people at the Home Depot parking lot. Have you ever felt so seen? Sad Francisco Surveillance State Correspondent Ian Firstenberg returns to talk about our current dystopia, but it's not all bad news: people are destroying FLOCK cameras with abandon, protests against data centers are getting bigger, and Garry Tan is freshly single. Ian's recent piece for 48Hills on the death of privacy culture in San Francisco: https://48hills.org/2026/07/what-happened-to-sfs-privacy-culture/ Cydney Hayes for Gazetteer: Why do these Castro gay bars have TSA-style face scanners: https://sf.gazetteer.co/why-do-these-castro-gay-bars-have-tsa-style-face-scanners Matt Wolfinger for Working Mass: The Dungeon Over Lowell: How the Data Center Boom Divided One City's Working People: https://working-mass.com/2026/06/10/the-dungeon-over-lowell-how-the-data-center-boom-has-divided-one-citys-working-people/ ShotSpotter lobbyist's dramatic monologue at an Oakland City Hall hearing (via Jaime Omar Yassin / @hyphy_republic on X): https://x.com/hyphy_republic/status/1846598258308825144 Noah Shachtman and Maddy Varner for Wired: "Madison Square Garden Kept a List of Gay Celebrities": https://www.wired.com/story/madison-square-garden-celebrity-database-surveillance/ Andy Greenberg and Dhruv Mehrotra for Wired: "A Leak of San Francisco Police Drone Footage Exposes the New Reality of Urban Surveillance": https://www.wired.com/story/sfpd-drone-video-leak-surveillance/ DeFlockSF (IG): https://www.instagram.com/deflocksf/ Have I Been Flocked?: https://haveibeenflocked.com/ Ian's last episode: https://www.patreon.com/sadfrancisco/posts/home-sweet-state-158916825 Episode with StopAI: https://www.patreon.com/sadfrancisco/posts/end-agi-before-127632638/ Support the show and get merch on Patreon: https://patreon.com/sadfrancisco

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  Sad Francisco

  Judith Butler, Brooke Lober, Mama Ganuush and Lavelle Ridley: Queers Against Zionism LIVE SHOW

  Jul 27, 20261h 40mS1

  THANK YOU to everyone who made it out to our biggest live show ever. The night ended up raising ~$5K for Bay2Gaza Mutual Aid , which will go directly to Gaza (Brooke shares details during the show). The episode was recorded at The Lab in the Mission on June 25, 2026, with music from DJ Parle G and help from a ton of volunteers. Brooke's performance focused on Cypress, a Jewish lesbian feminist who lived in the Bay . She talks more about Bay2Gaza Mutual Aid on this episode. Mama Ganuush read from their upcoming memoir. JB honored the late, great Leslie (Les) Feinberg . Lavelle sat them down to get the details on their pieces. Supergrateful to everyone who picked up some Sad Francisco dad hats, t-shirts, and tabi socks to help cover some of my bills. Speaking of, you can support the show and get merch on Patreon: https://patreon.com/sadfrancisco

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