Can the Real San Francisco Airport Please Stand Up?

SFO and OAK Both Want to Claim the Bay Area City, but Neither Is Actually Located There

I’ve never much cared for San Francisco International Airport—until SFO decided to take a courageous stand for truth and accuracy in airport names.

Last month, SFO’s leaders filed a lawsuit to stop the Port of Oakland from changing Oakland International Airport’s name to “San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport.”

Author and Oakland native Gertrude Stein famously said “There is no there there” of her hometown. Which is perhaps why the Oakland Port Commission justified the name change by saying it wanted to educate travelers unfamiliar with California that Oakland is an actual …

by Joe Mathews | May 7, 2024

CalMatters Reporter Levi Sumagaysay

My Mom’s Work Ethic Sticks With Me

March 22, 2024

Levi Sumagaysay reports on the California economy for CalMatters. She previously worked at MarketWatch and the Mercury News. Before moderating the Zócalo/The James Irvine Foundation panel in Oakland, …

My Boss Owes Me Over $12,000

A Bay Area Restaurant Worker Recounts His Fight Against Wage Theft

by Eder Juarez | October 18, 2023

This piece was published alongside the Zócalo/Irvine Foundation program “How Can Workers Make Sure They’re Treated Fairly in the Workplace?” Read the Takeaway of …

How California Made a Polish Poet Great

Exiled to Berkeley, Czesław Miłosz Explored the Margins of Alienation, the Horrors of His Past, and Visions of the Future

by Joe Mathews | February 7, 2023

Want to become a signature voice of your troubled nation? Perhaps you need a decades-long exile in California.

It worked for Czesław Miłosz, who entered the pantheon of Polish poets thanks …

Is San Jose Destined to Be a Train Wreck for California Transportation?

The Bay Area City Could Be the State’s Rail Capital. But Plans Are Veering Off Track

by Joe Mathews | June 21, 2022

Can Californians find their way to San Jose?

That spin on the old song, made famous by Dionne Warwick, might be the most important question facing the state’s transportation system. Because …

The 1970s Beer Boycott Inspiring Amazon Organizers Today

Over the Course of a Decade, a Diverse Bay Area Coalition Convinced Coors to Change Its Employment Practices

by Allyson P. Brantley | April 21, 2022

In 1973, San Francisco beer delivery drivers were at odds with local beer distributors over low wages, union-busting efforts, and employment discrimination. Distributors of the Colorado-based Coors Brewing Company were …

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