I'm taking a holiday break from the calendar at @coyotemedia.org but our friends at @oaklandreviewofbooks.org just put theirs up so if you're at a loss for what to do this week: www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/calendar/

update: one of our readers is buying her kids a nice new record player! awwww yay 💕

This week at @coyotemedia.org we're doing a couple of roundups for the end of the year! Today is music day, and you can find a playlist of the songs that got us through the last 365ish days.

Read @soleilho.com's interview with Gina Cargas, a librarian at SFUSD who is collecting vinyl records to create a 'listening station' for her middle school students. "Libraries have shifted a lot in the last 10 years...It's not a silent space. Which I think is, in many ways, for the best."

My longtime love of physical media is only increasing as algorithms & AI seep into everything online like toxic runoff in groundwater, so I love this @coyotemedia.org story about a librarian in SF starting a vinyl collection for middle schoolers: www.coyotemedia.org/a-bay-area-l...

“It was so cheap in those days…and I was so broke. Those companies were dealers, got you hooked, lulled you into complacency with rates that made no sense unless someone was getting exploited, which of course we understood. It wasn’t actually cheap: We just paid for it in other ways.”

I flippin' love @coyotemedia.org, damn. SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE 15% OFF RIGHT NOW, Y'ALL. www.coyotemedia.org/coyotes-gift...

why, I ask? (posting plate in the reply) www.coyotemedia.org/a-michelin-r...

hey hey! want an easy holiday gifting slam dunk? 'til the end of the year, @coyotemedia.org gift subscriptions (1 year of COYOTE!) are 15% off! just $68 to show your Bay Area crush how cool you are www.coyotemedia.org/gift-subscri...

it's taken me a while to put this together. but I hope, if you've never heard of her, or even if you have, this tribute to Alice Wong buoys your heart and gives you a good sense of who this incredible person was. www.coyotemedia.org/remembering-...

this is today! main library 12 noon @sfpubliclibrary.bsky.social

Today is the first official Drag Story Hour Day in the city of San Francisco! We talked to Drag Laureate Per Sia about the org turning 10, and how one event in the Castro became a global movement 👠✨

A couple people have asked and so I want to be clear: YES please do a version of this story for your local sports mascots. Send it to me! This is what I want my legacy to be!

Did you know that Drag Story Hour started in SF *ten years ago*? @emmaruthless.bsky.social spoke with Per Sia, the queen who first read to kids at a library in drag, and what it means to see this organization become so big and impactful.

How does ice cream maker Stephanie De La Cruz develop flavors like Pumpkin Piñata, Vegan Coconut Chai, and Chocolate Peppermint Oreo? “I always leave space for the new flavors that I think of right before I fall asleep,” she says. “And the farmers always provide me with amazing seasonal produce.”

for @coyotemedia.org, I wrote about Drag Story Hour, an event born in SF that’s now a global movement. Learning that the chapters are now all trained in bomb threat management I felt sad but also in awe. Most punk rock thing imaginable. They just keep going. anyway see u at the library Sunday!!

Drag Story Hour, a global storytelling movement born in SF, celebrates its 10th birthday with a bash Dec. 14 at the SF Public Library. “It really is a form of resistance to share joy,” says SF Drag Laureate Per Sia, who read at the first event in the Castro in 2015. ✍️: @emmaruthless.bsky.social

independent journalism is so important

Which Bay Area sports mascot ranks supreme? We asked four furries, including @lafterlight.bsky.social @dogpatch.press and @brat.fm, to share their expertise. Here's what we learned... ✍️ @reveleth.com

Firstly, Violet is amazing Secondly, I don't care about the huskie, and how am I supposed to when he's pictured next to THIS amazing design, Twizzle

It’s not every day that you see a septuagenarian blues singer put on a hard hat and take a chisel to a wall — but that's what happened last weekend, when a group of community members gathered to preserve the facade of Esther's Orbit Room. ✍️ @reveleth.com 📸 @amir.photo

I’m only getting my news from furries from now on. They are truly the only people you can take seriously.

Me, looking at the best mascot according to furries: .... yes.

I had the absolute pleasure of contributing to this wonderful romp through Bay Area mascot lore with @reveleth.com ! Learned a lot of fun stuff; justice for Crazy Crab!

What's going on in the Bay Area this week? Check out this snapshot of COYOTE's weekly calendar of hand-picked events to get you off the couch! This week, we've got a Christmas party at Seafood City, Alicia Silverstone (!!!), eggnog, and more. To see the full listings, check out coyotemedia.org.

This is what local news is for

yes

Here are some things furries said when we showed them the Bay Area’s professional sports mascots: “I want to see the feet”; “I bet he smells like bread”; “I really wish his trunk would flop more”; “I would hug him;” and, “Well, that’s furry bait.” Find out how the mascots ranked 👀 ✍️ @reveleth.com

I have three things up at @coyotemedia.org this week! 〰️ A scene report from Esther's Orbit Room, where the community (gently) took apart a wall to save history

My @coyotemedia.org membership just paid for itself for the next three months with a single story. 🫡 @reveleth.com

From bizarre to maybe TOO sexy, find out what furries think of the Bay Area’s spread of sports mascots. ✍️ @reveleth.com

When contractors told Noni Session it wasn’t worth saving the facade of Esther’s Orbit Room, she turned to the community for help. This past Saturday, West Oakland residents came out to (gently) demolish the wall themselves. www.coyotemedia.org/this-oakland...

This month all stories at @coyotemedia.org have their paywalls removed, so everyone can enjoy their excellent Bay Area reporting (that we used to have back in the day!). I’m a subscriber because I miss these stories and want to keep funding them. Please do check it out and sample some! #SanFrancisco

"This is political: Every flavor is a statement that we all belong here." In honor of the fifth year anniversary of De La Creamery, a popular ice cream pop-up in Berkeley, @pochoboymeetsworld.bsky.social spoke to Stephanie De La Cruz about what it's been like to make 'ice cream for the community.

Over at @coyotemedia.org my colleagues and I are trying to build a new, worker-owned outlet in the Bay Area. We've already broken stories and had impact. To continue that work we need more members, plain and simple. And now you can get a discount! 🎁 Use COYOTE2026 for 15% off an annual membership.

$68! A full year’s worth of journalism for $68. It’s like a doordash order that benefits you year-round

An incredible new series launched in @coyotemedia.org: Homeless to Housed www.coyotemedia.org/homeless-to-...

great idea! also, if someone you love is in the Bay Area, why not grab them a gift subscription to COYOTE? 15% off this month! www.coyotemedia.org/gift-subscri...

This holiday season, patronize the small neighborhood businesses and independent makers that really need your support. Here are a few personalized recommendations from COYOTE staff to get you started (spoiler: we like pickle candles and Cambodian jerky). www.coyotemedia.org/coyotes-gift...

Now 50+! And I'm adding more as folks send them. Happy to get submissions and also please ... check if the thing you're sending is already on the map. A full half of the emails I woke up to are people sending me ones I already included. The map is free, no paywall, just look! 😭

Does shopping online make you feel gross? Does the prospect of heading to big box stores for gifts make you want to throw up? We have a solution! Check out these 40 (!) Holiday Art Markets in the Bay Area, where you can get jewelry, soaps, ceramics, paintings, and tattoos. ✍️ @reveleth.com

What's going on in the Bay Area this week? Check out this snapshot of COYOTE's weekly calendar of hand-picked events to get you off the couch! This week, we've got a sea urchin dye workshop, hot gay surfers, Panamanian Mother's Day, and more. To see the full listings, check out www.coyotemedia.org

If you’ve been cheering on @coyotemedia.org from afar (thank you!) or have been enjoying our stories until you hit the paywall (we get it!), THIS is the time to subscribe. Get 15% off annual subscriptions (+ gift subscriptions!) and help us reach 2,026 paid subscribers before 2026.

We're trying to reach a total of 2,026 paid subscribers before 2026 (~600 new members… casual). We want to keep investigating, ranting, cultural critiquing, sharing service journalism and whatever else we dream up at 2am with YOU by our side. Read more about our campaign, and SUBSCRIBE now!

friends! @coyotemedia.org is dropping our paywall for December so you can see what we’ve been up to even if you have none dollars. All of our posts are currently free to read. Come check us out & spread the word? www.coyotemedia.org

Everybody knows that the best gifts come from local artists, and now you can find a market full of those sweet goods near you using our Holiday Art Market map! Go forth and shop. Fuck Amazon, shop local. Here’s where:

I love the work my comrades at @coyotemedia.org are doing; if you're searching for a gift for your Bay Area friend who has everything and mysteriously isn't a Coyote reader yet, gift subs are 15% off!

lots of @coyotemedia.org news today: our paywall's down for the month, so read everything you want! subscriptions (for you and for gifting) are 15% off! we're trying to get to 2,026 paid subscribers by 2026!! now's a GREAT time to finally subscribe 💖 www.coyotemedia.org/media-coop-m...

Bay-area based COYOTE needs to get to 2026 paid subscribers by end of the year. They're only a few hundred away. Back their project and tell your coolest friends! www.coyotemedia.org/media-coop-m... @coyotemedia.org