Advertise on podcast: The Fun Police

The recent horrifying news about Cesar Chavez and his sexual abuse of the women around him has been a gut punch for many who grew up admiring Chavez and the movement he helped build. On today's episode we speak with Lily Ho who serves as chair of the Special Committee on Sexual Assault and Harassment for the San Francisco Democratic Party, and Olga Miranda, President of SEIU Local 87 about how local political groups are wrestling with this news, and the work that is being done to make things better in the future.

The Fun Police discuss the oh-so-exciting topic of Charter Reform and we promise you will not be bored to tears. Maybe a little misty, but not full-on tears.

SF public schools have been closed since Monday as teachers have gone on strike. The issues being wrestled with are complex, and we didn't get here overnight. Former School Board president Lainie Motamedi joins us to share her perspective, and shares her insights on how we can make things better going forward. A can't miss episode for understanding an issue that is affecting tens of thousands of parents across the City.

The reading material at Fun Police headquarters is reviewed. A few Movie suggestions are made as well, before we get to the meat of the matter: 2026 political predictions. Special guest (and San Francisco Democratic Party Executive Director AND Fun Police fact checker) Bobak Esfandiari helps flesh those predictions out. Come for the hot takes, stay for Sharky's rant at the end.

Our 2/3 hungover hosts go through the events of 2025 and determine what the biggest stories and people of the year were. We discuss all the greatest hits, speculate as to what might have caused the more toxic elements of our local politics to be somewhat less toxic this year, bandy about the hidden upsides for neighbors of the Safeway Marina project, and close with a fun idea that would really make things lively in our lovely City on a lunar basis.

The Fun Police, along with former D4 candidate (and current podcast host Jessica Ho) discuss the divisive and deleterious debacle of District 4, and deliver dramatic new details about Supervisor Alan "Dragonkin" Wong and the dungeon denizens he has ducked and dodged. Along the way we learn about how fashionable fireworks can be, and get a fun idea from Jessica that is more green than envy.

Ben, Manny, and Sharky started the Fun Police podcast years ago to talk about ways to make cities fun and interesting. We've talked to dozens of elected officials. Now it's one of us who is running for office, specifically Manny. Is this going to be the episode that sinks him? You never know, it's always a possibility. Listen to us grill our friend, and see if we found a way to screw it all up for him.

The Mayor's Family Zoning Plan is the first significant change in the San Francisco's zoning in 50 years. Approved last night by the Planning Commission, it now begins to work its way through the Board of Supervisors as a series of legislative packages. We talk with Planning Director Sara Dennis Phillips about the plan, what it entails, what the challenges are, and where this is all headed. And we get a fantastic fun idea at the end too!

The Fun Police take a look at the impact of AI on SF. We get things started by chatting with Alexander Quinn, Senior Director, Northern California Research for JLL - a global real estate services company. Then we talk about the City's new deal with OpenAI and what that could mean for government services. Today's Fun Idea was controversial with the gang, but should delight movie fans. Finally there's a special easter egg at the end.

It's been a minute but Ben, Manny, and Sharky have now returned, only this time nothing has changed. Still the same three dum dums. Topics include vibe check on the Mayor, San Francisco's budget, and Supervisor Engardio's recall election in District 4.

Ben & Sharky meet with San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee Chair (wow what a mouthful!) and Mayoral Transition Advisor Nancy Tung. We discuss the then-upcoming Mayoral appointments (which, thanks to a grumpy SD disk, took a week to post so those appointments have now been made) as well as the then-upcoming Board of Supervisors election for Board President. Sound like inside baseball? It absolutely is. This is the kind of magic our little podcast delivers.

Bet you were just DYING to listen to us talk about four of the FIFTEEN ballot propositions on the ballot this November. If that's the case then today is your lucky day! Ben, Manny(!!!!), and Sharky come out of hiatus (and some of us came out of their shirts) to bring you this scintalicious propoalicious chit chat to brighten your week with

We do a quick analysis of the most recent election (featuring some insightful observations from our friend and former United Democratic Club president Bobak Esfandiari) before getting into an EXHAUSTIVE analysis of the state of the upcoming mayoral race. We examine the case *for* and the case *against* each of the candidates (and potential candidates... *PLURAL*) and how the heck Ranked Choice Voting will play into their strategies. This episode is super long (our longest ever!), but holy cow there's a lot of candidates!

Season 2 begins! We've got updates on what we've been up to, what to look forward to in upcoming episodes, and launch into the upcoming election season with an explainer on the 7 ballot measures on the March ballot (which you can do early voting on starting today!). Our guest host is Nate Allbee aka "The Progressive Assassin"