In this episode, I sit down with Lynn Hershman Leeson, an Art:21 honoree, for a conversation that moves well beyond a traditional art interview.

Recorded live in the studio, the discussion unfolds naturally—guided less by chronology or critical frameworks than by curiosity and presence. We talk about memory, identity, personas, technology, resilience, recognition, and the long arc of a creative life, allowing the conversation to follow its own course rather than a prepared agenda.

This is not a survey of work or a career retrospective, but a listening-forward exchange shaped by reflection and lived experience. A reminder that some conversations are most meaningful when they remain open, unforced, and attentive to what emerges in the moment.

Recorded live in Lynn Hershman Leeson’s studio., San Francisco, CA
Hosted, recorded, and produced by Mark Sanford Gross.

for more information on Write-Up-The-Coast visit writeupthecoast.com or email writeupthecoast@gmail.com

On New Year’s Day—the first day of 2026—Write Up the Coast set up the Step-In Story Booth at The Sea Ranch Lodge, on the rugged northern edge of California’s Sonoma Coast.

Set at the entrance to the Lodge, the booth drew people in by curiosity rather than invitation. Some were gently nudged to step in; others arrived entirely on their own. One at a time, they recorded a two-to-three-minute, stream-of-consciousness response to a simple New Year’s prompt, offered just before entering:

What is something you’re leaving behind, and what is something you’re taking with you?

There was no preparation and no performance. Each person spoke in their own voice, in the moment, without names. Those voices were later woven together in this podcast—just a moment of sharing, held in sound.

Credits
Music: Still Blue Quartet
stillbluequartet.com

Produced by Mark Sanford Gross
Gualala, California

Write Up the Coast — Step-In Story
writeupthecoast.com
writeupthecoast@gmail.com

for more information on Write-Up-The-Coast visit writeupthecoast.com or email writeupthecoast@gmail.com

This episode is a tribute to Claudia Altman Siegel, recorded live on the night of the gallery’s closing celebration at Altman Siegel in San Francisco on November 20th, 2025.

Amid the noise of the evening, a quiet space was carved out. Through the Step-In Story Booth, voices stepped in to speak — offering reflections, stories, and sentiments shaped by years of shared attention, conversation, and care. The voices are left unnamed, not to obscure identity, but to center listening.

The episode begins with Claudia alone, before the room filled, and ends with her again — laughing.

Produced by Mark Sanford Gross for Write Up the Coast.

This is not an ending but a listening

for more information on Write-Up-The-Coast visit writeupthecoast.com or email writeupthecoast@gmail.com