California

The Unsung Heroes of the Boxing World

Mismatched Fighters Help Up-and-Coming Champs Bolster Their Records in a Winner-Takes-All Industry

In the name of beer sales and taco Tuesday nights, Cinco de Mayo has morphed from a symbol of anti-imperialist struggle into a lucrative marketing opportunity for corporate America. Cinco de Mayo’s fight night—a stage for high-profile fights and staggering paydays, with renowned headliners like Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr., generating millions in revenue—has, too, become a cash grab for the boxing industry.

This Cinco de Mayo weekend, Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez, this era’s top earner, is scheduled to take on Jaime Munguía and defend his super middleweight world …

by Rudy Mondragón |

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Huell Howser Lives!

One Chronicler of Our State Offers His Take on Another

by Joe Mathews |

Zócalo is celebrating its 20th birthday! As part of the festivities, we’re publishing reflections and responses that revisit and reimagine some of our most …

A Movie That Might Be Worse Than Civil War

‘Civil War’ Offers A Vision of California Fighting the U.S. That Matches Foreign Propaganda—and Misses the Point

by Joe Mathews |

The new film Civil War is a historic cinematic achievement. British director Alex Garland has made a movie that might be worse than a real American civil war.

Perhaps that was …

In Search of the ‘Tomato King’

Finding a Mexican Migrant Politician, Rooted in California Soil

by Adrián Félix |

There is only one person more obsessed than I when it comes to the memory of Don Andrés Bermúdez: his son, Andrés Junior. Junior lives with his family in the …

I’m Proud to Be Un-American

A New Poll Shows the Rest of the Country Hates the Golden State—And That’s a Good Thing

by Joe Mathews |

I’m not really American, and I couldn’t be prouder of that.

I hope you, my fellow Californians, feel the same way.

Because sometimes there’s no greater compliment than an intended insult.

This time, …

California’s High-Speed Rail Dreams Could Go “Whoosh”

The Golden State Seems Primed to Repeat the Mistakes and Miscalculations of Indonesia’s New Bullet Train

by Joe Mathews |

The good news is that California will almost certainly have a high-speed rail line someday.

The bad news is that it may look a lot like “Whoosh.”

Whoosh is the name of …


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