NERD NITE SF #148: Gumbo, Virtual Gynecology, and Red Light Fights

Greetings beloved nerds, and welcome to the 2025 Season of Nerd Nite SF! Get ready for your monthly dose of nerdy delight starting with our inaugural show! Seek refuge from the chaos of 2025 with fun, funny, inspiring talks about the art of a classic Nawlins dish, the future of healthcare, and the power of collective action.

The Art of Gumbo

The origin, influences and styles of a delicious, metaphorical cuisine. Lawrence created this gastro-ed talk as an homage to his late mother, Helen McKendell, and the vibrant city of New Orleans. The talk explores gumbo’s origins, cultural influences, and why it serves as an iconic metaphor for the region.

Speaker: Lawrence Mckendell

The Virtual Approach to Gynecology

Whether or not you’ve had a Pap test yourself, have you ever stopped to wonder, “How do people learn how to do that before they start seeing patients?” The Virtual Approach to Gynecology Project was created for healthcare trainees to practice the steps of a gynecologic exam in virtual reality. Come learn how VR is being used to help future healthcare providers deliver sexual health services.

Speakers: Barbie Klein & Rosalyn Plotzker, UCSF

Bio: Roz Plotzker is the UCSF Baum Family Simulation Scholar, and an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. After doing a Preventive Medicine residency in New York City, Roz came to San Francisco for a fellowship in Sexually Transmitted Infections which led to her current non-monogamous job of teaching, research, clinic and public health work. 

Red Light Revolt! How Sex Workers Fought Gentrification in 1917 San Francisco

1906: San Francisco has been leveled by earthquake and fire. As the city rose again from the ashes, opportunistic speculators and moral reformers sought to mould the city in their own image. This included the erasure of the Barbary Coast, the city’s legendary vice district. In 1917, 300 sex workers stormed the church of the Rev. Paul Smith, a notorious anti-vice crusader. Kicking the man of the cloth off of his pulpit, they pleaded with his congregation, demanding better wages for working women and a cessation of the mass evictions they faced. Join historians Ivy Anderson and Devon Angus as they discuss a brief history of sex work, suppression and resistance in San Francisco from 1849 to today.

Speakers: Ivy Anderson and Devon Angus are historians, writers, and filmmakers based in San Francisco.

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