What Does Kamala Harris’s Rise Say About America? 

The Vice President’s Political Career Is a ‘California Story,’ Says Biographer Dan Morain 

The inauguration of Kamala Harris was a moment of many firsts—the first woman, the first Black woman, the first woman of color, the first person of South Asian heritage, even the first California Democrat to become vice president. But this moment has been punctuated by an eruption of hatred and violence, and further evidence of America’s bitter divisions, making it difficult to celebrate Harris’s rise as evidence of national progress. How has the country shifted over the past four years—and over the course of Harris’s career—to make her election possible? …

How to Teach an American Inauguration | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

How to Teach an American Inauguration

Since 2008, My College Students Have Been Exploring—in Real Time—What the Transfer of Power Ceremony Reveals About the Nation

“Wouldn’t it be cool to go to D.C. for the inauguration?” I remember telling a fellow adjunct instructor in late 2008. Barack Obama had just been elected, and most of …

The Global Women’s Movements That Helped Kamala Harris Rise | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

The Global Women’s Movements That Helped Kamala Harris Rise

The Vice President-Elect Rides a New Wave of Feminism—Led by Women of Color From Africa and Asia to South America—to the White House

As Kamala Harris readies to take the oath of office this January, she does so knowing that she will be the first woman, the first Black woman, the first Asian …

Make Me California’s Next Senator | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Make Me California’s Next Senator

The Senate Is an Absurd Institution, so Let's Put an Even More Absurd Californian in the Office

Dear Governor Newsom,

You’ve complained publicly that you’re overwhelmed with texts and calls, and I understand why. With the election of Kamala Harris as vice president, you must appoint someone to …

Don’t Trust Kamala Harris; Trust the California That Made Her | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Don’t Trust Kamala Harris; Trust the California That Made Her

Harris’s Path Through the Golden State Prepared the VP Nominee to Understand America as Few Can

Kamala will be fine. She’s a Californian.

This column is not an endorsement of the vice presidential nominee. But you can ignore all the anxiety on the left about her shifting …

Face It, People: Kamala Harris Is Hot

In California, Where We Dislike and Emasculate Politicians, Being Good-Looking Is Most of the Job

I don’t care what our elites say.

No one is going to stop me from speaking the truth to power. And here’s a truth about power that a lot of people …