Whose Sedona Is It, Anyway?

The Arizona City—Long Defined by Visitors and Outsiders—Is Fighting Over the ‘Right Kind’ of Tourist

You’d think that a town dependent on tourist dollars could never stop advertising itself. But in Sedona, Arizona, as wealthy residents’ weariness of riffraff jamming up their roads sparked a bitter rift over what constitutes “the right kind” of visitors, that’s just what has happened.

After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sedona’s city government and chamber made a joint agreement to quit advertising the town in glossy national travel magazines and doing social media posts targeted at rich people, reasoning that such money would be wasted during an international shutdown. …

My Boss Owes Me Over $12,000

A Bay Area Restaurant Worker Recounts His Fight Against Wage Theft

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 …

The Human Costs of Building a ‘World-Class’ City

In Advance of the G20 Summit, New Delhi Has Demolished Neighborhoods and Displaced Thousands

On a hot summer day in New Delhi, a young resident of the posh area of Greater Kailash looked down from the window of his air-conditioned room.

“I don’t know how …

Why Corporate America Needs to Listen to Workers’ Voices

When Companies Raise Pay Without Empowering Employees, Morale and Democracy Both Suffer

Like many frontline workers across the country, Denise Kohr saw her pay at Amazon increase over the past year; as for her say, not so much.

“They don’t want to hear …

The News From 2049: Texas Surpasses California

Decades Earlier, the Golden State Gave Up on Growth and Progress

Austin, December 2049

Today, state officials held a massive parade and public barbecue to celebrate official federal confirmation that Texas is America’s greatest and most important state.

The occasion: The U.S. Census …

Why Mexico City’s Tepito ‘Exists Because It Resists’

For Over 100 Years, This Neighborhood and Its Black Market Have Thrived by Straddling the Underground and Official Worlds

In 2016, the leaders of several street vendor organizations from the Mexico City neighborhood of Tepito met with local officials with a request: They wanted the capital city’s new constitution …