48 Hills | Independent daily San Francisco news + culture

What we ate at Outside Lands: Hot takes on Bay Area tastes

Crab pastries, jollof plates, caviar corndogs, and super sundaes—the fest’s sexiest food hit all the high notes.

Food & Drink Tamara Palmer - August 11, 2026

What we heard at Outside Lands: Automatic for the people

Acts on the come-up, faves on the curve, bison in the weeds, and a festival porta potty epiphany. Listen in.

Music John-Paul Shiver - August 11, 2026

What we saw at Outside Lands: Live shots of wild times, sunshine excluded

Who needs light when you've got the heat of Baby Keem, The Strokes, Boys Noize, Silvana Estrada, and bazillions of cute fans.

Music Andrew Brobst - August 11, 2026

12 years of SF Cocteaufest—now with a real Cocteau Twin in it

Classic ethereal outfit receives two-day tribute with dancing, live bands, and a DJ set and meet-up with bassist Simon Raymonde.

Nightlife Marke B. - August 10, 2026

Movies

Director Jane Schoenbrun: ‘I’m trying to queer the rules of horror’

Pam Grady - August 10, 2026

'Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma' puts Gillian Anderson and Hannah Einbinder through a bloody libidinal portal.

The Agenda

Wiener’s attacks on Chan backfire, badly

Tim Redmond - August 9, 2026

Plus: What are the candidates going to do to make Larry Ellison pay for Social Security? And what's up with Matt Dorsey's $25K slush find? That's The Agenda for Aug 9-16

Puff

Cannabis cafes are coming to SF—and it’s about damn time

Dan Karkoska - August 7, 2026

A bill finally passed by the city last month allows cannabis retailers to serve food and beverages. Will SF become a new Amsterdam?

Lit

Subversive spirit matches Victorian romantic intrigue in Ayelet Waldman’s latest

Lou Fancher - August 7, 2026

Berkeley author knocked off from award-winning TV work to finish 'a failed novel I tried to write a decade ago.'

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Under the Stars: Midsummer music notables, from gallant rock to Jilly from Philly

Music John-Paul Shiver - August 6, 2026

Plus: Black Marble plucks college radio strings, Twin Bloom bronzes out, The Koreatown Oddity raps it all up, more great listens

Live Shots: Valkyries flew high in return to Ballhalla

Sports D.A. Mission - August 6, 2026

WNBA home team filled Chase Center with wild community spirit and plenty of winning shots.

Screen Grabs: ‘The Piano’ plays again

Movies Dennis Harvey - August 5, 2026

Sam Neill (RIP) in major key. Plus: Futile love in 'White Nights,' Hector Babenco tribute, whimsical 'Drunken Noodles,' sour "Ice Cream Man'

As wider layoffs hit, videogame workers’ union launches hardship fund

Labor Leah Isobel - August 5, 2026

UVW-CWA aid initiative and innovative Necrosoft bundle aim to support affected workers from indie orgs and big corps.

Charli XCX is the future of rock, in fact

Music Daniel Bromfield - August 5, 2026

The genre will be saved by outsiders—even highbrow-nodding hyperpop ones who know how to slay big festivals like Outside Lands.

Drama Masks: Forget AI, you’re in ‘Urinetown’ now

Stage Review Charles Lewis III - August 4, 2026

Ray of Light's latest triumph is awash with talent. Plus: 'In a Memory Palace' at Z Space used Noh to haunting effect.

Wiener’s racist, sexist Anthropic AI chatbot attacks Chan–and it’s weird and stupid and gross

Campaign Trail Tim Redmond - August 4, 2026

Why is nobody in the Democratic Party establishment or the news media calling out Wiener on this?

Experimental sounds ring out from Adobe Books, for an eager community in the know

Music Jess Oledan - August 4, 2026

Promoter Tonko's unassuming series platforms local musicians with a genre-blurring bent.

Best of the Bay 52 voting starts in September!

Best of the Bay Marke B. - August 4, 2026

Vote for what you love and celebrate the Bay Area! We're going back to our roots for the 52nd edition.

Aerial Arts Fest flies high on a shoestring and a dream

Dance Aimée Ts'ao - August 3, 2026

Losing NEA funding and artists' reluctance to visit the US can't keep Zaccho's vertical dance celebration down.

‘The Last Human Bear’ came to Jack Kerouac Alley

Lit Tom Molanphy - August 2, 2026

Author and Native American tribal chairman Greg Sarris discussed his first novel in 30 years, immersed in 1930s Pomo history.

How the fall election is shaping up

The Agenda Tim Redmond - August 2, 2026

Chan and Wiener are essentially tied; how will the Marina Safeway project impact that race? That's The Agenda for Aug. 2-9

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Movies

Director Jane Schoenbrun: ‘I’m trying to queer the rules of horror’

'Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma' puts Gillian Anderson and Hannah Einbinder through a bloody libidinal portal.

Movies Pam Grady - August 10, 2026

Screen Grabs: From farmworker to ‘the Shakespeare of Chicano theater’

A ‘sensual labyrinth’ blooms at Blush erotic film fest

To the bipper go the spoils? Cannabis impresario Berner on his debut crime thriller

Music

What we saw at Outside Lands: Live shots of wild times, sunshine excluded

Who needs light when you've got the heat of Baby Keem, The Strokes, Boys Noize, Silvana Estrada, and bazillions of cute fans.

Music Andrew Brobst - August 11, 2026

12 years of SF Cocteaufest—now with a real Cocteau Twin in it

Under the Stars: Midsummer music notables, from gallant rock to Jilly from Philly

Charli XCX is the future of rock, in fact

Art

Enjoy your trip inside M. Mark Bauer’s labyrinthine paintings

His works are eye-popping, but contain deep 'flow of consciousness' messages about the environment and society.

Art Mary Corbin - July 31, 2026

Mildred Howard writes her own history book

Flushing things out with artist Blake Cedric

After his passing, a daughter collects and catalogues her father’s generous art

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Housing

The Chron discovers, sort of, that Wiener’s housing bills are a con

Finally, a story that mentions the real issue: Cities can't force developers to build

Housing Zelda Bronstein - July 6, 2026

Lurie and four supes move to cut affordable housing fees for luxury developers

New Melgar-Lurie plan for affordable housing is great; cutting other funding is not

The complete failure of Lurie’s tax cuts for developers on full display at hearing

Politics

Wiener’s attacks on Chan backfire, badly

Plus: What are the candidates going to do to make Larry Ellison pay for Social Security? And what's up with Matt Dorsey's $25K slush find? That's The Agenda for Aug 9-16

The Agenda Tim Redmond - August 9, 2026

Wiener’s racist, sexist Anthropic AI chatbot attacks Chan–and it’s weird and stupid and gross

How the fall election is shaping up

What’s up with our new Planning Commission members?

Opinion

Labor, Gordon Mar, and Connie Chan

OPINION: Labor and community coalitions have won in the past. Will that happen in November?

Opinion Tim Paulson - July 28, 2026

The other problem with police drones: They don’t work well in San Francisco

Why can’t all that campaign money go to public services?

In Cuba, blackouts and resilience

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Performance

Drama Masks: Forget AI, you’re in ‘Urinetown’ now

Ray of Light's latest triumph is awash with talent. Plus: 'In a Memory Palace' at Z Space used Noh to haunting effect.

Stage Review Charles Lewis III - August 4, 2026

48 hillsIndependent San Francisco News + Culture

48 hillsIndependent San Francisco News + Culture

48 Hills is community-supported journalism

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