Educator Kelly Gregor Hartlaub had been a librarian for some time until the pandemic hit, and she was suddenly called to become a teacher on Zoom for distance learning. Her first task as a Zoom teacher? Sex education. 

And that wasn't even the hardest part. Kelly shares the challenges of teaching on Zoom, how she and fellow teachers kept going, and how she reached out to a student who was an English learner having a hard time during this all.

We’re always looking for stories about how San Francisco has changed and transformed you, whether it happened on Muni or off. 

If you’ve ever been inspired by a story on our podcast or gone to one of our storytelling shows and imagined yourself on stage, we are here to help!

Please email us your story idea at munidiaries.sf@gmail.com, or tag us @munidiaries on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.

We're bringing you a blast from the recent past from the stage of Muni Diaries Live in 2019. Storyteller Chris Arvin is a product designer who is passionate about cities and public transit. You might know Chris from the the adorable pins, stickers, Clipper card covers that they’ve designed at their store called Transit.supply. But what you might not know is that Chris is also a big part of what made Boat Tram - that famous open top tram on Market Street -  such a part of San Francisco culture.

Chris shares how the life of Boat Boi started on Twitter, and you can follow Chris on Twitter @chrisarvinsf and Boat Tram @boattramsf for the latest going-on's of this beloved SF icon.

Aruna Lee is the founder of San Francisco-based Volcano Kimchi, whose organic kimchi and sauces are made in her "Fermentation Lab" in Dogpatch. Aruna grew up in a Buddhist monastery in Korea, where every meal included an assortment of kimchi.

When she arrived in San Francisco in 2001, doing anything related to food was the furthest thing on her mind. In this episode, Aruna shares the journey of how she built her small business in San Francisco, using her childhood memories as inspiration. 

You can find Volcano kimchi and sauces at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market, Clement Street Farmer's Market, Good Eggs, Rainbow Grocery, and more.

We are always looking for stories of people who make San Francisco the beautiful city it is today. If you have a story to share or someone to nominate, email us at muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com.

After shuttering for more than a year since the start of the pandemic, San Francisco venues finally opened their doors for the first time this summer. We talk to Rickshaw Stop managing partner Dan Strachota about their first indoor show and how things have changed for independent venues. Dan also gave us a behind-the-scenes peek at the unexpected things that happens when you haven't used your venue in 16 months.

You can find Rickshaw Stop's event calendar at RickshawStop.com.

After 15 months of COVID-related restrictions, San Francisco is opening up this week. There's no time like the present to look at what our history can teach us about pivotal moments like this. On the podcast today, we chat with Chris Carlsson, the director of Shaping San Francisco and the co-director of FoundSF.org, a rich online archive of San Francisco History,

Chris is a writer, San Francisco historian, tour guide, and wroyer. He recently published a new book called “Hidden San Francisco: A Guide to Lost Landscapes, Unsung Heroes and Radical Histories.”

Storyteller Kathleen Auterio moved to San Francisco from Massachusetts to do new things, just like in the BeeGees song. It was 2000, and everything seemed to be on track: she had an apartment, a roommate, and a job at SFWeekly doing the adult ads in the back of the paper -- a job that accepted her as a full metalhead. When she meets a new guy at the paper, they would soon come face to face with a relationship trust exercise that most people can't imagine.

Kathleen is also a Muni Diaries Live alum: you can hear her story about an eventful Muni ride on episode 81 of our podcast.

We are always looking for people to share their stories about what makes San Francisco uniquely ours. If you have a story to share, pitch your idea to us by emailing us at muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com. And don't forget to rate us on Apple Podcasts to help people find more stories about the city by the Bay.

Storyteller Teddy Hose grew up in the Unification Church of the United States, whose followers are more commonly known as the Moonies after founder Sun Myun Moon. His father came to San Francisco as an artist in the 1960s, living in the famed artist commune in the Goodman Building on Geary and Van Ness. 

In this episode, Teddy shares his story of returning to San Francisco as an adult to start his life as an artist. San Francisco was, ultimately, the best place for him to examine his family’s past and the imprint it has left on him today.

We are bringing you stories about the people, places, and things that keep San Francisco ticking. Everyone has a story—submit yours by emailing us at muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com, or by tagging us @munidiaries on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

Here at Muni Diaries HQ, we usually end the year with a fun and lighthearted “Top Most WTF Moments of the Year” type of countdown. But in 2020…where do we even start?

As shelter-in-place became a more permanent fixture of our lives, documenting life in San Francisco, especially via commute tales, took on a different meaning. We saw the uphill battle faced by so many small businesses and venues (like our beloved Rickshaw Stop), and the struggles of essential workers, particularly Muni operators and first responders—many of whom relied on Muni to get around. We’re grateful that we could help share those stories.

So here are some highly memorable moments from your commuter tales, in this Dumpster fire of a year.

As always, Muni Diaries is made entirely of stories by San Franciscans like yourselves. Our inbox is always open for your tales: email us at muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com.

Thumbnail photo by @jack.kerouac.alley on Instagram.