Is It Time for Californians to Vote in Florida and Texas?

People Need Representation Not Just Where They Live—But Also Where They Have Interests

Should Floridians get to vote in California elections? Should Californians get to cast ballots in Florida?

These questions might seem strange, but they’re not. Gov. Gavin Newsom broadcast his first re-election TV ad not in California but in Florida, appealing to Floridians to either join California’s fight against the policies of Florida Republicans, or move to California. In response, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis blasted California policies and accused Newsom of treating Californians “like peasants.”

The tussle has been dismissed as partisan trolling, and evidence of both governors’ presidential ambitions. But its import …

More In: Connecting California

Hike the High Sierra, See the Future Unfold | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Hike the High Sierra, See the Future Unfold

Science Fiction Writer Kim Stanley Robinson’s Visions of a Changing Climate, and World, Run Through California’s Great Mountain Range

Do you want to develop the superpower of seeing decades, even centuries, into the future?

Then start hiking the High Sierra.

That’s the inescapable conclusion of a surprising new memoir from California’s …

Is It Time for California to Go?

America Keeps Failing the Golden State—And the Supreme Court Decisions on Abortion, Guns, and the Environment Are Pushing Us to the Edge

To encourage us to think about the unthinkable, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists sets a Doomsday Clock, showing how close humanity is (in metaphorical minutes and seconds) to the …

Stop Using Homelessness to Hate on California | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Stop Using Homelessness to Hate on California

A Tradition as Old as the State Itself Has Caused Lasting Damage

In California, homelessness is a long-running crisis. And it is a human tragedy for an estimated 160,000 unhoused people.

But homelessness is also incredibly useful for anyone who wants to complain …

Is San Jose Destined to Be a Train Wreck for California Transportation?

The Bay Area City Could Be the State’s Rail Capital. But Plans Are Veering Off Track

Can Californians find their way to San Jose?

That spin on the old song, made famous by Dionne Warwick, might be the most important question facing the state’s transportation system. Because …

Top Gun Is Too Dumb for San Diego | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Top Gun Is Too Dumb for San Diego

A Thoughtless Film Sequel Reflects Today’s America, But Not America’s Finest City

Watching Top Gun: Maverick made me feel sad—for San Diego.

San Franciscans have Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, a classic film of cinematic heights and existential falls, to define their city by the …