Forget about the romantic past of Montmartre. On this walk, you will explore the rebellious and contemporary side of the hill. Radio producer Jeanne Robet will lead you through a world of the fringe economy. Our journey will make you think about the way we use public space, as you witness how Paris’s strict laws, ranging from comical bureaucratic regulations to controversial laws to meaningful restrictions on darker vices, play out in the streets. You’ll meditate on how we choose what we show and what we hide in public, what we condone, and what we punish. 

You will first climb the hill of Montmartre among the tourists, and then walk down to La Goutte d'Or district with a large population of African immigrants. You will meet a grumpy painter, Barry Black the Goulou-Goulou, the Cowboy and his illegal flyers, a pickpocket and other lawbreakers and observers, including the police commander of the whole district. You will search for Eiffel Tower miniatures and stocks of contraband cigarettes, salute a crew of fresh fowl, and remember how beautiful an Imam can sound. Hopefully after this walk, you will feel just as comfortable downhill in the vibrant chaos of illicit activities, as uphill in the polished postcard.


Illegal Paris

Maybe you’ve seen Milk, that Sean Penn movie about Harvey Milk and the gay rights movement in the Castro? Cleve Jones is the adorable, curly-headed kid (played by Emile Hirsch). But the real Cleve Jones, in his 60s and still living in the Castro, is a hundred times more compelling. 

Imagine walking through the Castro with a key figure in almost every twist and turn of San Francisco’s historic fight for gay rights. Cleve helped Harvey Milk get elected when no other openly gay man had succeeded in California. After Milk was killed, Cleve inherited his famous bullhorn and used it to lead some of the most impassioned marches in gay history. That quilt you might have heard of, honoring lives lost to AIDS, that grew large enough to blanket the entire National Mall in Washington DC? Cleve Jones started it.

Walk in Cleve’s shoes through the Castro and you know everyone (the regulars at his local bar, the admiring girl behind the counter at Hot Cookie), you’ve seen everything (a party in every building, a protest on every corner, the death of a friend from AIDS on every block). You’ll walk along gorgeous side streets and up and down the Castro’s main drag, with its racy underwear shops and neighborhood bars. And all along the way, Cleve will tell you how his own story is interwoven with a movement that changed the world. 

The Castro with Cleve

Stroll through the fictional world of Meg Framblo’s Oakland, where two bored teenagers birthed a music revolution. 

Starting at the exact spot where they first met, Framblo’s first collaborator, Amir Gastrali, takes you through the streets and alleyways where she discovered her talent, and took her first steps to international pop superstardom.

Peer into the garbage can that changed music history and rip a piece of history off the tree that launched their first tour. As you walk, Gastrali will treat you to rare early recordings from his private collection, shared exclusively on this Detour, of songs that a few million people now know by heart. You’ll play along with Framblo and Gastrali as they develop their unique style on Oakland’s blandest street corner, then witness the moment these two uncompromising artists went their separate ways. 


Framblo's Oakland

The Black Panther Party for Self Defense changed the world with its militant expression of Black Pride and empowerment. This Detour will walk you through North Oakland's small Santa Fe neighborhood, where two college kids started a movement that fed pancakes to hungry kids, gave legal assistance to families, and carried enough guns to get them labeled “the greatest domestic threat to American National Security.”

On this Detour, you’ll visit the intersection where the Black Panthers became the first crossing guards to carry shotguns. You’ll flip through their favorite quotes from Chairman Mao, eat sweet potato pie baked at the site of their national headquarters, and hear directly from original Panthers like Emory Douglas and Bobby Seale. Plus you’ll get a first hand look at the fruits of the Panthers’ legacy--the modern day activists carrying on in their footsteps--and the economic forces that might wipe that legacy away.

Best of all, this Detour is set to the beat of the Black Panthers house band, an incredible group of Oakland musicians called The Lumpen.

The Black Panthers

St Boniface

from the Radiolab Austin Detour: https://www.detour.com/detours/austin/radiolab-austin

Radiolab Austin - Dandys

From "Cool Gray City": https://www.detour.com/detours/san-francisco/cool-gray-city

Gray Brothers

From the Fisherman's Wharf Detour: https://www.detour.com/detours/san-francisco/fishermans-wharf

Fisherman's Wharf - Chapel

From the "Castro with Cleve" Detour: https://www.detour.com/detours/san-francisco/castro

Harvey's Camera Store

Peter Coyote’s a famous actor now, but back then he was one of those starry eyed kids who flooded into San Francisco and got the sixties going. He’ll walk you through the heart of the Haight, where it all started -- from the site of Jimi Hendrix’s first San Francisco concerts to the parade route where Coyote and his pals declared the whole scene dead and tried to bury it. Along the way, he’ll tell you about feeding whale meat to hundreds of people in a park, tearing it up with the Hell’s Angels, turning tie-dyed shirts into a fashion statement, and sparking radical social changes that have become mainstream.

This Detour, presented by KQED, shows you the real Haight Ashbury through the eyes of someone who was there. In the pop culture version of the 60s, the Summer of Love is always sunny and warm. But in reality, things got dark. Very dark. This walk shows you both sides.

Haight-Ashbury

Here's an example of a tape-driven script

Detour

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