Economist Political Editor Adrian Wooldridge

Going to America Is Like a Shot of Cultural and Intellectual Adrenaline

Adrian Wooldridge is the political editor and “Bagehot” columnist at the Economist. In advance of the Zócalo event, “Is There Still Merit in a Merit-Based System?,” which was inspired by his latest book, The Aristocracy of Talent: How Meritocracy Made the Modern World, he chatted in the green room about pandemic productivity, his inability to quit chocolate, and what he’d study if he could go back to school today.

November 16, 2021

Visalia Can Help You with Your Zombie Opera

This Central Valley City Supports the Arts—and Reaps Their Cultural and Economic Benefits, Too

by Sarah Rothbard | October 17, 2014

Can the arts make a city vibrant both economically and culturally? Artists and arts administrators in Visalia, California, think so. At a “Living the Arts” event co-presented by the James …

An Aria for L.A.’s Oldest Freeway

An Urban Opera About the Concrete River That Is the 110

by M.G. Lord | September 26, 2014

“People are afraid to merge on the freeways in Los Angeles.”

That’s the first line from Less Than Zero, Brett Easton Ellis’ infamous 1985 novel of alienation that paints a grim …

My Hometown Opera

How a Young Woman Without Credentials Started Up an Opera Company in Visalia

by Rosalinda Verde | July 30, 2013

How did I, of all people, end up starting an opera company? The answer has to do with being willing to forget about credentials and just take that first step. …

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