Civic interviews from a San Francisco lens.
The San Francisco Experience follows long-form civic conversations with authors, public figures, entrepreneurs, researchers, and political voices. Its range is broad, but the throughline is practical consequence: how institutions work, where pressure is building, and why the San Francisco and Silicon Valley angle matters.
PRESS PLAY
The San Francisco Experience is a civic interview show with a wide field of view. Its center of gravity is San Francisco, but its subjects regularly move beyond city politics into national elections, biotech, education, climate entrepreneurship, military history, and international affairs. The show favors explanation over speed. Episodes often begin by laying out the public stakes, naming the institution or trend at issue, and then asking the guest to describe how they arrived at the work. That pattern gives the conversations a deliberate rhythm. A discussion with Nancy Tung frames San Francisco's political center through city elections, party governance, prosecution work, and public boards. A conversation with Josh Dorfman looks at climate companies through the practical question of selling benefits rather than beliefs. Chad Peace's episode brings independent voters, Prop 14, polarization, and election law into the foreground. The show also gives space to scientific and medical infrastructure, including Tetiana Alexandrova on Subsense and nanoparticle-powered brain-computer interface technology, and Dr. Deepak Srivastava on Gladstone Institutes, Mission Bay biotech, philanthropy, heart disease, and women's health. Its book conversations can reach into history, as with Ron Drapkin and the story of Frederick Rutland, a British double agent linked to Japan and Pearl Harbor. Its geopolitical episodes can be expansive, as with Alp Sevimlisoy on the Organization of Turkic States, Iran, identity, and regional power. The questions are often long. The answers carry much of the substance. That makes the show less like a headline briefing and more like a recorded public conversation. It is at its strongest when a guest can explain how a system works from the inside. The result is broad, civic, and institutionally minded. It does not chase jokes or outrage. It asks what is changing, who is affected, and what the change reveals about San Francisco, California, or the wider world.
Made for: For listeners who follow public affairs, San Francisco institutions, politics, science, and global issues, and prefer patient context to fast opinion. It especially suits people who like expert-led conversations with practical stakes.
What sets it apart: The show connects San Francisco and Silicon Valley concerns to a broader civic map, moving comfortably from local party politics to biotech, education, climate companies, and geopolitics. Its strength is the long setup: guests are asked to explain the system before arguing about it.
We are a "deep dive" news podcast, for Americans who get their news from the Internet. Our mission is to give the listener succinct, fact based analysis both non-ideological and independent from a California, Silicon Valley perspective.Your hostJim Herlihy is a published author: his novel “Deceit and Dirty Money” is available on line. He served as President of the SF Public Library Commission 1992 - 1996. While working in Latin America, he was a stringer for The Economist, The Times and the BBC. Jim serves as a director on two SF sister city boards : Bangalore, India and Cork, Ireland.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Guest-led conversations connect public policy, institutional choices, and personal experience through Jim Herlihy's direct, mechanics-focused questioning.
Jim Herlihy starts with a defined public question, then gives guests room to explain the institutions and experiences behind it. The San Francisco Experience moves easily between electoral reform, rural access to selective colleges, California housing development, biomedical…
From an ambulance glove used as a notebook to closed primaries, your curiosity gets a wide berth.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A careful look at how rural students are pushed to hide what shaped them.
The San Francisco Experience stays centered on how rural students move through elite colleges, and Mara Casey-Teekin gives that divide a clear shape through Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
A biotech conversation about expansion, philanthropy, and why heart-disease research still has public stakes.
Jim Herlihy shapes the episode around a new Gladstone building in Mission Bay, the expansion of research space, and what that momentum means for San Francisco. Dr.
An Istanbul conversation on the Organization of Turkic States, Iran's layered identities, and the stakes of keeping the country intact.
The San Francisco Experience places the Iran war alongside a wider look at how Turkic-speaking nations are building cooperation. Jim Herlihy speaks with Alp Sevimlisoy, described as a geopolitical strategist and national security expert, about the Organization of Turkic States,…
Joanna Sokol's ambulance notes turn emergency work into a reflective account of what responders carry home.
Emergency medicine comes through as a public service that starts before anyone asks about payment. The San Francisco Experience speaks with Joanna Sokol, an author and longtime paramedic whose work across Reno, Santa Cruz, and San Francisco still lives in the records she kept at…
A measured look at how Lagoon Valley's 1,100-home plan ties housing to jobs, hospitality, recreation, and climate resiliency.
Building New Homes in California frames California's housing pressure through the making of Lagoon Valley, keeping the focus on how the community is taking shape.
A clear look at independent voters, open primaries, and the reform case around Prop 14.
The episode centers on a political contradiction: 45% of U.S. adults identified as independents in a 2025 Gallup survey, while Republicans and Democrats each stood at 27% and the broader system felt increasingly polarized.
D.C. business with civic stakes.
North Dakota politics, argued at close range.
Jim Herlihy interviews Chad Peace, co-founder of the Independent Voter Project, about electoral reforms aimed at empowering independent voters.
Jim Herlihy talks with Triad Development Director Kurt Johansson about Lagoon Valley in Vacaville, where 85% of the 2,300-acre specific plan is set aside for open space and recreation.
This episode discusses the Neptune Project's participation in the Ocean Globe Race and their initiative, Sailing for Parkinson's, featuring interviews with skipper Tan Raffray, crew member Bertrand Delhomme who has Parkinson's, and Amy Bridge of Neptune USA.
This episode discusses the historic recall of San Francisco Supervisor Joel Engardio, featuring an interview with grassroots campaign organizer Albert Chow about the election's significance and potential political impact.
This episode features an interview with Darlene Plumtree, CEO of the San Francisco Maritime Museum, discussing the museum's history, architecture, and her professional journey.
This episode explores cryptocurrency investment strategies with Mukarram Mawjood, discussing its history, appeal to investors, and comparisons to the internet's transformative impact.
Geopolitical strategist Alp Sevimlisoy discusses the current state of NATO, focusing on alliance dynamics, U.S.
This episode features an interview with Nancy Tung, a political centrist and Democratic Party leader in San Francisco, discussing her career and the city's recent political shift toward the center.
This episode features an interview with climate entrepreneur Josh Dorfman, discussing how to build successful sustainable businesses by focusing on practical benefits rather than just beliefs.
This episode discusses the rise of independent voters in the U.S., political polarization, and how the Independent Voter Project aims to reform voting systems through initiatives like Prop 14.
This episode features an interview with author Ronald Drabkin about his book on Frederick Rutland, a decorated British World War I hero who became a double agent helping Japan attack Pearl Harbor.
This episode features an interview with Tetiana Alexandrova, founder and CEO of Subsense, discussing their nanoparticle-based brain-computer interface technology for treating Parkinson's disease and her background in BCI development.
The host opens with a 2021 gap: 31% of rural adults have college degrees, compared with 45% of urban adults.
Jim Herlihy sits down with Dr.
Jim Herlihy introduces the Organization of Turkic States before bringing in Alp Sevimlisoy from Istanbul.
Joanna Sokol served as a paramedic for 10 years.