Why Californians Are Such Suckers for Superheroes

From Onscreen Icons to Tech Stars, the State's Obsession With Larger-Than-Life Characters Is a Way to Avoid Inconvenient Truths

California faces a peculiar overpopulation problem: We have too many superheroes.

Missed this news in The Daily Planet? Fear not—your ignorance is understandable. California is not as closely associated with superheroes as New York City (and its fictional doppelgangers), where Superman, Spiderman, and Batman all base operations.

So it’s easy to miss the menace that hangs over the Golden State: California has become dangerously dependent on superheroes.

This peril is most obvious in Hollywood, where superhero films are now almost as common as mortgage-backed securities were in 2006. The stagnant film industry …

By Joe Mathews | July 23, 2015

What My High School Taught Me About Sex

At the Clinic, Teens Learn to Grapple With Difficult Choices About Their Own Bodies

By Destiny Wiley-Yancy | July 23, 2015

The Hollywood High School Wellness Center is tucked away, far from the famous mural painted on our auditorium, which depicts alumni such as Dorothy Dandridge, Laurence Fishburne, and Cher. My …

Let’s Play the Drought Blame Game

There Are Plenty of Guilty Parties During This Dry Spell—Even the Cows are Moo-ches

by Joe Mathews | June 11, 2015

I hate to play the blame game, but let’s face facts: This drought is all your fault.

You are watering outdoors too much. You kept your lawn when you should have …

Black List CEO Franklin Leonard

In Retrospect, I Get Why Kids Called Me ‘Urkel’

May 10, 2015

Franklin Leonard is founder and CEO of The Black List, an annual report on the most popular unproduced screenplays in Hollywood. Before participating in a discussion of the lack of …

Black-ish Executive Producer Brian Dobbins

An Excellent Driver, a Secret Backflipper, and a Lover of Gardenias

May 6, 2015

Brian Dobbins is executive producer of the TV show Black-ish and a talent and literary manager at Principato-Young Entertainment. Before participating in a discussion on diversity in Hollywood, he explained in …

When Will Hollywood Figure Out That Diversity Sells?

The Most Successful Movies and TV Shows Reflect America’s Demographics, But Executives, Writers, and Directors Are Still Catching On

by Sarah Rothbard | February 26, 2015

Just a few days after an Academy Awards ceremony that host Neil Patrick Harris joked honored “Hollywood’s best and whitest,” entertainment insiders at a “Thinking L.A.” event co-presented by Zócalo, …

Is Batgirl the Next Great Feminist Superhero?

Like Wonder Woman, the DC Comics Heroine Is Overcoming Sexist Plot Lines

California Promised ‘Preschool For All.’ What I Got Was $120,000 in Tuition Fees.

For a Generation, the Golden State Has Failed to Educate Its Youngest Citizens

Will the Superhero Blockbusters Just Keep Coming?

The Latest Marvel Installment Promises Something Old, Something New, and Thor Feeling Blue—Mirroring the Genre’s Serial Nature

California’s Last Stand Against San Francisco Imperialism

Only San Jose Can Stop the City by the Bay from Gaining Too Much Power and Money

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