Posts Tagged ‘jeffschechtman’
Miriam Pawel wraps up the recall and looks at what’s next
, a Brown family biographer and New York Times essayist, has some final words on the recall vote and what’s next. She looks at whether any of it matters in the long run, how might it change California politics, will anyone but consultants benefit,…
Read MoreWoody Hastings and Jenny Blaker think we have enough gas stations
Woody Hastings and Jenny Blaker didn’t like the idea of a new gas station in a rural area of Cotati, in Sonoma County. Their efforts launched a growing statewide movement to stop the construction of new gas stations and the expansion of existing…
Read MoreLizzie Johnson on how Paradise portends a future written in flames
Lizzie Johnson, a former San Francisco Chronicle reporter, covered fifteen of California’s deadliest fires. However, none reached the level of death and destruction that she witnessed in Paradise on Nov. 8, 2018. Within two hours of the fire’s…
Read MoreDaniel O’Connell and Scott Peters on local farmers vs. industrial agribusiness in California.
Daniel O’Connell, a labor scholar, and Scott Peters, a professor of global development, talk about the historic battle, from the 1930s to the present, between rural farmers and agribusiness in California’s Central Valley. In their new book, “,” they…
Read MoreMizgon Zahir Darby on California’s Afghan diaspora
Mizgon Zahir Darby, a longtime leader in the Bay Area’s Afghan community, helps give voice to the large diaspora of Afghans living in California. She says they are in mourning over recent events. Families may never be able to go home again, and they…
Read MoreJaime Lowe on fighting fires and doing time
Jaime Lowe connects us with the female inmates who are battling California’s wildfires. In her new book “” she takes readers inside the fire camps where inmates are paid $5 a day and pay a physical and emotional price for putting their lives on the…
Read MoreRick Doblin on the value of psychedelics
Rick Doblin, Ph.D., is the founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, based in San Jose. He received his doctorate in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School, where he wrote his dissertation on…
Read MoreKatie Hill’s second act
Katie Hill, once a congresswoman and now a private citizen, has seen a lot of politics in her 33 years. In 2019, in the course of ten months, she lived through what some have experienced in an entire career. Now back home in her Southern California…
Read MoreSupervisor Matt Haney’s candid look at San Francisco
Matt Haney grew up in the Bay Area. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Stanford and is now a supervisor for San Francisco’s 6th district, which includes some of the poorest and wealthiest parts of the city. He talks about San Francisco’s lack of…
Read MoreGeorge J. Sanchez and the wonder of Boyle Heights
George J. Sanchez, a USC professor and author of the new book “: How a Los Angeles Neighborhood Became the Future of American Democracy,” shares his appreciation for his birthplace, the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. He sees it as a rare…
Read MoreRosecrans Baldwin’s L.A. embrace
Rosecrans Baldwin, a novelist and journalist, adds his unique voice in trying to make sense of what he calls the “city-state” of Los Angeles. He talks about L.A. as welcoming but somehow detached from the rest of America. While Baldwin argues that…
Read MoreSteve Wasserman returns to his roots
Steve Wasserman was born and raised in Berkeley, but launched his literary life in Los Angeles, first as deputy editor of the Los Angeles Times then as the long-time editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review. He then sampled a rich life among the…
Read MoreColleen McCain Nelson now leads our capital city’s newspaper
In January, Colleen McCain Nelson was named executive editor of the Sacramento Bee and the regional editor for McClatchy’s California news outlets, including the Fresno Bee, the Modesto Bee, the Tribune in San Luis Obispo, and the Merced Sun-Star. A…
Read MoreMick LaSalle takes California to the movies
Mick LaSalle, author of his new book “,” shows how movies have historically captured the essence of California. For almost a century, the movies have defined the California dream and projected it out to the world. The long-time film critic for the San…
Read MoreJustin Zhu talks startups, LSD, and anti-Asian discrimination
Justin Zhu was fired from Iterable, the successful marketing startup he founded. The reasons given to him included his use of LSD, inappropriate attire (even by Silicon Valley standards), and giving secrets to a reporter. Unstated, he believes, were…
Read MoreDenise Hamilton on L.A.’s post-apocalyptic vibe
Denise Hamilton is the editor of the just-published anthology “.” In the past writers like Harlan Ellison, Ray Bradbury, and Philip K. Dick represented the dark fantasy life of the city. Now a new generation of writers takes on that dark life for the…
Read MoreMichael Storper on the L.A. vs. Bay Area conundrum
Michael Storper, one of the world’s leading economic geographers and a professor at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs, goes deep into the history and resulting contemporary problems facing Los Angeles and the Bay Area. He explains why some…
Read MoreRon Brownstein on the magic of 1974 Los Angeles
The writer Ron Brownstein takes us back to 1974 Los Angeles, a period he views as a cultural and political hinge point. It was during that year — as Brownstein details in his new book, “” — that Los Angeles reached its creative peak, transforming…
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