Zócalo's Connecting California

Zócalo's Connecting California

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6 min

Every week, Zócalo columnist and fourth-generation Southern Californian Joe Mathews talks to Morning Edition host Chery Glaser about 21st-century California's people, politics, trends and idiosyncrasies.

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Among a certain set, Joan Didion stands as California’s purest homegrown literary voice. But Didion left the state long ago and her most seminal works are decades old.

Cleaner, cheaper and more reliable. That’s what the town of Gonzales is hoping for energy-wise as it sets out to build the state’s first municipal microgrid.

Zocalo commentator Joe Mathews says California’s often overlooked class divisions often come down to two words: “hills” and “flatlands,” with the state’s wealthier residents literally…

It’s hard to overstate the importance of places like the Whittier Narrows Recreation Area in highly-urbanized Southern California.

Zocalo commentator Joe Mathews has come with a word that describes what he calls the state’s obsessive and unhealthy aversion to red ink: budgetism.

The drive to force a vote on removing Gavin Newsom from office is picking up steam, spurred on by anger over coronavirus restrictions and other conservative grievances.

It’s been a rough year, let’s face it. Cut off by a deadly virus from those we love and the things we love to do, many of us have felt trapped at home.

Some see Elon’s Musk’s personal move to Texas as a blow to California’s prestige and possibly its economy. But Zocalo commentator Joe Mathews is happy to show him the door.

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