Zócalo Public Square
The Origins of the Beach Read
The lists begin to appear around Memorial Day with media outlets as varied as NPR, <i>Oprah Daily, New York Times Book Review, Forbes</i>, and BookTok influencers touting the best summer reads. One…
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9mDoes an Oil Spill Matter If It’s Not Somewhere Beautiful?
On January 28, 1969, three miles off the coast of Santa Barbara, Union Oil workers began removing lengths of drill pipe from a well. Suddenly a gap in pressure between forces above and below the waters strained the well’s casing, causing gas and mud to burst uncontrollably on the water’s surface. Attempts to stem the oil’s flow over the next several days failed. Oil reached the beaches, killed wildlife, and resulted in the largest oil spill in U.S. history at the time.
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10mICE Can’t Silence Prince’s Minneapolis
In South Minneapolis, where a teenage Prince couch-surfed, performed, and dreamed up a diverse sound that revolutionized music, thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers still occupy the streets, even as the federal government says it is decreasing forces. By banding together, the people of this Midwestern city challenged the federal government's actions, exposed their lawlessness, and perhaps showed the nation what a multiracial democracy looks like in the process.
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7mThe Massacre That Made Modern California
Discover the forgotten 1880 Mussel Slough massacre, a bloody conflict between settlers and railroad barons that sparked national outrage and fueled the transformative Progressive Era movements in California.
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7mNo One Should Be President, Gavin Newsom Included
Joe Mathews urges Governor Gavin Newsom to abandon presidential ambitions, arguing the American presidency has become an inherently dangerous, monarchical office that must be abolished to save democracy.
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9mMorocco Has High-Speed Rail. California Has Excuses
The automated voice over the loudspeaker is polite, and its English is American-accented. “For your convenience, we invite you to make your phone calls from the platform between the cars.” I am sitting in a plush green seat, watching the digital speedometer at the front of the carriage climb. Outside, the landscape blurs into a familiar tapestry of scrub, yellowing grasses, eucalyptus trees, low-slung oaks, and waves from a west-facing seacoast.