48 Hills | Independent daily San Francisco news + culture

Under the Stars: Carlos Niño & Friends deliver a glad-to-be-alive moment

Plus: Celebrate 50 years of San Francisco punk at Mabuhay Gardens, DJ Sep hits The Riptide, more.

Music John-Paul Shiver - February 23, 2026

A zap of Latine abstraction in ‘Rebel Forms’

Romer Young's small but powerful show taps into possibilities of futurity, freedom, and unfettered beauty.

Art Marke B. - February 22, 2026

Noise Pop Diary: Indie legend Christopher Owens returns, with a flamenco twist

The Girls frontman has been through hell, but has kept making music; his presence brought roars from the local crowd.

Music Daniel Bromfield - February 23, 2026

Bernie Sanders talks about AI—and the billionaires who control it

Plus: The DCCC holds its endorsements meeting, and the supes vote on more chain stores and an illegal $40 million luxury hotel tax break. That's The Agenda for Feb. 22-March 1

The Agenda Tim Redmond - February 22, 2026

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Campaign Trail

Democratic candidates run away from the billionaire tax

Tim Redmond - February 22, 2026

Discussion of economic inequality was rare at the state convention. Our report from Moscone Center

Movies

What we saw at Sundance 2026: 8 documentaries bringing back facts

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks - February 22, 2026

An ode to Barbara Hammer, a women's chess champ, Marianne Faithfull's reckoning—and polar bears.

Music

Noise Pop Diary: Cindy scored the reconnections, New Jazz Underground went for gold

John-Paul Shiver - February 21, 2026

33rd indie music fest kicked off on a Bay Area high note, with friendly vibes and winning sounds.

Movies

Screen Grabs: End of days at Fear and Faith Horror Festival—plus other new flicks to help scream it out

Dennis Harvey - February 20, 2026

Also: "Films of Remembrance" explores forced WWII Japanese American incarceration, a glockenspiel-equipped tribute to Georges Melies.

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With Gov Gav missing, will Democrats have a strategy to win in November?

News + Politics Tim Redmond - February 19, 2026

The state's weird primary system could put two Republicans in the general election for governor. What is a party with too many weak candidates going to do?

Party Radar: The Night’s Watch takes on sexual violence in SF nightlife

Nightlife Marke B. - February 19, 2026

New org demonstrates how to open more lines of safe communication and plans of action to face down enduring problem.

Under the Stars: Miles Davis centennial celebrations blow into the Bay

Music John-Paul Shiver - February 19, 2026

Plus: Drum and bass contemporaries can't catch Calibre, The Necessaries anthology pays homage to prescient indie rock, more.

Corporate Democrats are in control as party holds state convention in SF

News + Politics Tim Redmond - February 19, 2026

No big-name speakers who support the billionaire tax get to take the stage, a sign of who controls the party as we head for the midterms

Live Shots: In Chinatown, Year of the Fire Horse comes in with a bang

Live Shots Kevin Kelleher and Emily Trinh - February 18, 2026

Unsanctioned Lunar New Year's Eve celebration was lit (and this time no Waymos were harmed).

City by the pint: Our toast-worthy guide to SF Beer Week

Food & Drink Adrian Spinelli - February 18, 2026

Soup dumplings and a hazy IPA, ad hoc taproom disc golf, bus routes to brews—hop lovers, clear your calendars.

Century-old Martha Graham Dance Company proves the future of the art is in good hands

Dance Lou Fancher - February 18, 2026

Elegant, forceful reimaginings of legendary choreography hit their mark.

BIG WEEK: Lunar New Year, Emory Douglas, Catherine O’Hara drag, Bernie vs AI

Big Week Caitlin Donohue - February 18, 2026

Plus: Circlesongs, Optimo, Joe Claussell, SF Beer Week, Hwa Mi Won, Japanese American WWII film fest, more.

‘Sirât’ director Oliver Laxe: ‘Cinema can penetrate the human metabolism’

Movies Claire Wu - February 17, 2026

Desert raves lead to a shocking journey from the esoteric filmmaker, who reflects on ego, AI, and escapism.

Drama Masks: The audience is listening—but who is ‘The Notebook’ romancing?

Stage Review Charles Lewis III - February 17, 2026

Plus: Anti-fascist sentiment spills onto stage—putting an actor at risk.

A visit with Alice the Anarchist to ‘Manet & Morisot’

Art Joel Schechter - February 17, 2026

What does the de Young have against the Paris Commune of 1871?

Manet, Morisot, and the language of the eyes

Art Lou Fancher - February 17, 2026

Two French masters living gender-differentiated realities are hung side-by-side at the Legion of Honor.

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Movies

What we saw at Sundance 2026: 8 documentaries bringing back facts

An ode to Barbara Hammer, a women's chess champ, Marianne Faithfull's reckoning—and polar bears.

Movies Jesse Hawthorne Ficks - February 22, 2026

‘Pillion’ director Harry Lighton on kinky dom-com’s delicious chemistry

Grab a free pass to see new movie ‘Midwinter Break’

Screen Grabs: Oscar missed this heartwarming tale set in 1990 Iraq—you don’t have to

Music

Noise Pop Diary: Indie legend Christopher Owens returns, with a flamenco twist

The Girls frontman has been through hell, but has kept making music; his presence brought roars from the local crowd.

Music Daniel Bromfield - February 23, 2026

Noise Pop Diary: Cindy scored the reconnections, New Jazz Underground went for gold

Under the Stars: Miles Davis centennial celebrations blow into the Bay

Live Shots: In Chinatown, Year of the Fire Horse comes in with a bang

Art

A zap of Latine abstraction in ‘Rebel Forms’

Romer Young's small but powerful show taps into possibilities of futurity, freedom, and unfettered beauty.

Art Marke B. - February 22, 2026

Manet, Morisot, and the language of the eyes

Love, luck, ink: Friday the 13th met Valentine’s Day in SF tattoo parlors

‘Pride in Panels’ fest inks in queer cartoon brilliance

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Housing

Is the tide finally turning on the ‘abundance agenda?’

Two new studies show that the free market won't solve the housing crisis—and that Newsom, Lurie, and Wiener are wrong

Housing Tim Redmond - February 12, 2026

Finally, a media breakthrough of the pro-Yimby narrative that has dominated press and politics

New study shows that deregulation is not the answer to the affordable housing crisis

The Marina Safeway project is just a shiny bauble to distract us from real issues

Politics

Bernie Sanders talks about AI—and the billionaires who control it

Plus: The DCCC holds its endorsements meeting, and the supes vote on more chain stores and an illegal $40 million luxury hotel tax break. That's The Agenda for Feb. 22-March 1

The Agenda Tim Redmond - February 22, 2026

How Lurie bungled the teachers strike

Chakrabarti doubles down on support for Mahmood, Lurie

Watch: Teachers rally outside City Hall as strike launches

Opinion

‘Sex trafficking’ stings—or ICE deportation at the Super Bowl?

The Super Bowl trafficking panic doesn’t reduce exploitation—it legitimizes policing that harms sex workers and immigrants

Opinion megan hobza - February 7, 2026

HIV denialist Peter Duesberg is dead. Good.

Optional vaccines? CDC chair’s bizarre views would turn US into deadly experiment

People do not need to ask permission to belong

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Performance

Century-old Martha Graham Dance Company proves the future of the art is in good hands

Elegant, forceful reimaginings of legendary choreography hit their mark.

Dance Lou Fancher - February 18, 2026

48 hillsIndependent San Francisco News + Culture

48 hillsIndependent San Francisco News + Culture

48 Hills is community-supported journalism

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