Joshua Bote

Joshua Bote is a reporter focusing on the nexus of culture, trends, and digital phenomena within San Francisco.
Previously, he covered technology for The San Francisco Standard and SFGate. He’s also served as a trending news reporter at USA Today, and as a music writer at NPR. His work has been published in places like New York Magazine, Billboard, and Paste.
Geographer comes home to the city that shaped him
The longtime SF indie pop luminary is returning for a Noise Pop celebration Friday
Facebook is now overrun with AI-generated film review slop
At best, the posts read like rewrites of Wikipedia entries. At worst, they recommend nonexistent movies
San Francisco’s bet on dance music to revive the city pays off
Between Downtown First Thursdays and the NBA’s concert series, there’s a real, palpable boom underway
A playlist from Lauren Mayberry of CHVRCHES for your listening pleasure
The iconic synthpop group's frontwoman sent us a playlist of her favorite songs ahead of her Jan. 29 solo show in San Francisco
A humble church cookbook from Stockton defined Cantonese home cooking for a generation
The St. Mark’s cookbook, first published in 1966 to raise funds for a Methodist church in the Central Valley, remains a cult classic across California
Meta quietly removed mentions of LGBTQ-affirming care from public benefits page
The company said that they were ‘removed in error’
Introducing Guest List, a series of playlists from your new favorite local acts
First up: French Cassettes vocalist Scott Huerta shares his all-time top 10 songs
I can’t stop thinking about this local news anchor’s pizza meatloaf
KGO-TV anchor Dion Lim knows the dish she posted to Facebook doesn’t look appetizing, but says it tasted damn good
Acclaimed Hamburger Project chef steps down after haranguing influencer over TikTok review
Geoffrey Lee, the celebrated head chef of Hamburger Project, is at the center of an online firestorm after his response to a TikTok influencer’s review of the place