Finding L.A. in Food Splatters and Spiral Bindings

Three Centuries of Cookbooks from Clubs, Churches, and Other Groups Chronicle How the City Has Lived, Worked, and Eaten

This piece publishes alongside the Zócalo/LA Cocina de Gloria Molina/California Humanities program “Do We Need More Food Fights?” tomorrow, Thursday, September 14, at 7PM PDT. Register to attend online.

When I open an old cookbook, one of the first things I look for is a “splash page”—one covered with decades of food splatter. It’s a strong indication that the recipe on that page is a good one, well-loved, and often used. Drops of red sauce on yellowing paper become marginalia, a notation from readers past, …

What Will L.A.’s Regional Connector Bring Us?

A Two-Mile Rail Tunnel Could Help California Recapture Its Optimism—If It’s Not Too Late

What will the Regional Connector bring us? A new transformation in California life? Or has it arrived too late to change much of anything?

The June 16 opening of a two-mile …

The Black Angeleno Who Took on the ‘Problem of Palestine’

Diplomat Ralph Bunche's UN Work Paved the Way for Israel's Birth

On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, soon to be the first prime minister of Israel, gave the first public reading of Israel’s Declaration of Independence. With an eye toward wooing …

What Environmental Conservation Looks Like at America’s Biggest Port

Industry and Wildlife Battle for Their Share of the Southern California Coastline

In spring 2021, unauthorized operators crashed two drones in a patch of protected estuarial wetlands near Southern California’s port complex where elegant terns were nesting on sandy soil. Thousands of …

Civic Advocate Rafael de la Rosa

I Love Disco

Rafael de la Rosa is the director of advocacy at the Hospital Association of Southern California. He was previously the assistant vice president for government and community relations at California …

KCRW’s Janaya Williams

All Things Considered’s Janaya Williams

Janaya Williams is the host of KCRW’s All Things Considered. Before moderating the panel for the Zócalo program “What Do We Want From the Next L.A. Mayor?” in May 2022, she joined …