My Mom Is Out of Prison, But I’m Still Not Free
The Trauma of Having an Incarcerated Parent Is a Life Sentence of Its Own
I was 12 when I went to prison. Though Mom was the one behind bars, it felt like the system shackled me, too ...
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We've Been Fighting Fast Fashion Since the Industrial Revolution
From the Triangle Factory Fire to Shein, the Garment Business Can’t Escape Ethical Quandaries
Attention-grabbing headlines constantly alert us to the ills of fast fashion. The multi-billion dollar industry churns ...
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Kari Lake Is Just the Latest Arizona Hustler
From Make-Believe Springs and Real Estate Scams to Disappearing Ballots, the State Soaks Up Hallucinatory Claims Like Rain
Kari Lake isn’t giving up. Even as she prepares to mount a campaign for U.S. senator, and more than two months after her election opponent was sworn in as Arizona’s governor, she swears that it is she who is the real governor of the state. She continues to insist the election was stolen.
Election denial has become one of the pillars of the modern GOP—but the desert soil of Arizona soaks up such hallucinatory claims like rain, at least partly because of the state’s unique history. Through most of the last century and a half, Arizona has been a geography of personal reinvention, ambitious schemes, and glowing hype that exceeded nature’s limits. The name itself is derived from a 1736 silver rush in a valley near a ranch called Arizona that flamed out just weeks after it began. Lake’s false crusade has already lasted longer.
What’s in the water in Arizona that inspires ...
Here’s Ancient Solace for ‘Arrested Development’ Fans
As Streamers Drop Content, the Library of Alexandria Offers a Tale of Caution and Hope
Is This the 21st-Century Heroine’s Journey?
Women Don't Have to Reinvent All That Was Lost. We Only Need to Remember It
The decision to attend my first women’s retreat felt indulgent and nerve-racking. Indulgent, because it represented an escape from so many responsibilities. Nerve-wracking in that I didn’t know any of the other women who’d be there, and I’d have to travel from Los Angeles to the remote Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, where cell reception was limited.
What hooked me was that the retreat was led by a Jungian analyst and author who I greatly admire, who would guide us in analyzing fairytales that portray the heroine’s journey, and stages of female initiation. I hoped I would gain wisdom from these archetypal tales of womanhood, and return home armed with secret knowledge.
It was a time in my life when I desperately needed a break from the emotional and physical demands of motherhood. Over 11 years, domestic turmoil had engulfed me. The needs of others—my children’s, my husband’s—flattened my own desires ...
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In California Politics, You Must Find Your Inner Terminator
Your Winning Initiative Requires More Sequels Than Governor Schwarzenegger’s Movies
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Should California Fight for or Against Silicon Valley?
The Growing Federal War on ‘Big Tech’ Poses a Quandary—and Exposes Our Hypocrisy
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The Colorado? Call It the California River
The Golden State's Power Should Be Used Not to Protect Its Water, But to Solve Western Water Problems
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‘Let Your Loneliness Make You Brave’
Take It From Carly Rae Jepsen (and a Bunch of Scholars): This Ordinary Emotion Can Be a Beautiful Thing
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My Year of Sitcoms
It’s Easy to Be Seduced by the Rosy Glow of These Syndicated Fictions—But They Channel a Reality That Never Really Existed
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Friendsgiving Puts Friendship Back Where It Belongs
For Centuries, Civilizations Revolved Around Relationships That Our Modern World Too Often Neglects
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Art Opens a Portal to Curiosity
We Should Measure Its Value Not in Dollar Signs But in Question Marks
“L.A. is one of the largest creative economies in the world but artists here are low-wage workers. So do we even value art at all?”
Artist Joel Garcia asked the pointed question at last night’s Zócalo program, “What Is the Value of Art?” Put on in partnership with NeueHouse, KCRW, and Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, the program took place just days before Frieze Los Angeles—a week of art exhibitions, events, and big money—descends upon …
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Where I Go: Praying to the Pickleball Gods
Making the Pilgrimage to Bainbridge Island Connects Fans to the Sport’s Origins and to One Another
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Where I Go: Hunting Queer Ghosts in Chicago
Why Being Gay and Being Haunted Go Together in Fundamental Ways
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Where I Go: The Specter of the Cinema Café
My Favorite Diner Became a Casualty—and a Warning—of Merced’s ‘City on the Rise’ Ethos