History isn’t boring, but far too often, the person telling it is. Forget dense books about politicians that all but ensure a midday nap. Turn off the History Channel’s neverending World War II coverage. In fact, get up off the couch and walk out the front door, because The Whole... More >>

Coit Tower has its history, and it's definitely got its views -- and some of the best of each is inside the tower itself. The murals, commissioned during the beginning of the New Deal in the 1930s as a way to get artists back to work were painted by some masters in modern art history. After... More >>

As a self-described "logical extension of a free public library," our local free walking-tour company is, like most libraries, a fascinating mash of nerdy and white-hot rad. The San Francisco City Guides walking tours happen every day (except major holidays), are free, and follow in the... More >>

Politicians and news outlets have started using the term "WPA" again — have you noticed? The Works Progress Administration, of course, put people to work during and after the Great Depression. Even artists were paid to work; the WPA encompassed projects that employed actors, painters, and... More >>

We want to warn you, because otherwise it might bum you out: You’re sitting comfortably on the Magic Bus, grooving out on a loving multimedia gloss of what happened in San Francisco in the 1960s, and the windows suddenly disappear. Because you’re sitting facing the windows, this... More >>

If Hollywood ever tries its hand at Escape from San Francisco, we hope there are kayaks involved. There just aren’t enough kayaks in action films, you know? We imagine the little boats riding a tsunami, hurtling toward the bad guys who have taken Coit Tower hostage, somehow managing to... More >>

Mural people are nuts. Wall paintings never last and can't be purchased, and the people who go specifically to see them are often the hoi polloi who know nothing about art. How can muralists expect to survive in the art world? The answer: They don't. The folks who make their work on outdoor... More >>

To our recurring surprise, many locals never get the idea to visit Alcatraz, because traveling by boat to an island to walk around cellblocks is just something they don't like do. How come? Because tourists get that idea, every day, by the shorts-wearing boatloads. Here's your solution: The... More >>

Alcatraz -- "The Rock" -- is one of those tours that you have to take at least once, whether you're local or just visiting. The abandoned prison sitting on an island about a mile and a half off the city's north shore was home to some of the most infamous names in crime, including Al Capone, it... More >>

In the beginning it was, of course, Ohlone Indian. Then it was Spanish-Ohlone. Were there Russians? It was Italian. Then it was Irish and German. As far as we can tell, the Mission District was never Chinese, but this is San Francisco, so why shouldn't it have been? It was Mexican, and then it... More >>

When the Laurel Hill Cemetery fell into disrepair in the late nineteenth century, a new resting place had to be found for the roughly 35,000 people buried there. A new, larger, cemetery was constructed in what is today Colma (the city whose motto is "it's good to be alive in Colma," due to the... More >>

Did you know that when the Golden Gate Bridge gets hot, it sits low in the saddle? Course you didn’t: You don’t have a Bridge Thermometer, which looks like one of those scenic coin-op binoculars crossed with a first-person shooter. Peer into it (no coin needed!) and it shows the... More >>