Latest posts by Zack Ruskin

The world deserves GPS directions as read by Tawny Newsome. As a frequent guest on Paul F. Tompkins’ delightfully silly podcast Spontaneanation, Newsome can, in a matter of seconds, slip from the boisterous cadence of an arrogant oil tycoon to the frightened whisper of a lost child. An alumna of Chicago’s heralded Second City, she […]

For fans of improv, Lauren Lapkus has become a drug of choice. Tune in to any number of podcasts and you might hear her in the guise of Ho Ho the Naughty Elf, a small creature who helps Santa by delivering knives and other weapons to bad girls and boys each Christmas. Or perhaps she’ll […]

For most people, being of stable mental health and having a supportive spouse by your side would be a dream come true. For Maria Bamford, it means she has to find something new to talk about on stage. In the past, Bamford’s struggles with mental illness have proven to be fertile ground for her stand-up […]

Rest assured, the timing was intentional. Attorney General Jeff Sessions waited a grand total of four days from the moment adult-use cannabis became legal to sell in California before striking a key piece of legislation that has long allowed state industries to operate without federal interference. The decision to rescind the Cole Memo — Justice […]

Six weeks after San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors passed regulations to govern adult use sales of cannabis in the city, the day has finally come. On Jan. 5, anyone 21 and over can take their California ID to a licensed dispensary and buy marijuana hassle-free. For those asking why other cities like Oakland and Berkeley […]

On Jan. 1, 2018, you will no longer need a doctor’s note to buy the good stuff. 2017 was a year dominated by debates within the state’s cannabis industry on every aspect of how regulations for selling adult-use cannabis on the state and local level should look. Now, just days remain before Prop. 64 takes […]

Marijuana was never Mayor Ed Lee’s chief concern. Prior to his sudden death on Dec. 12, Lee’s public policy with respect to cannabis was to leave it for others to decide. While Lee approved legislation designed to define recreational marijuana sales for San Francisco earlier this month, his voice was largely absent from the subject […]

On a day when fans across the country gathered lawn chairs and Wookiee masks to queue up for the latest Star Wars, a very different line formed at Oakland’s Fox Theater. An email sent from the venue the evening prior had kindly requested that ticket-holders not arrive before 8 a.m. — a concept that most […]

On Dec. 6, then-Mayor Ed Lee signed into law rules that will regulate the city’s sales of recreational cannabis. Having already missed the cut-off to put sales in place by Jan. 1 — the first day sales will be permitted in California under Prop. 64 — the Board of Supervisors rushed to get something onto […]

Bill Murray, Jan Vogler & Friends Dec. 8, The Masonic, sfmasonic.com Fans know a chance to see the brilliant and enigmatic Bill Murray doesn’t come often. Teaming up with renowned cellist Jan Vogler, violinist Mira Wang, and pianist Vanessa Perez, Murray presents a program that “showcases the core of the American values in literature and […]