How L.A. Can Keep Its Creative Hive Buzzing

To Nurture Artists, Writers, and Toy Manufacturers, the City Needs to Keep Encouraging Weird Ideas

Los Angeles isn’t fantasizing when it calls itself America’s creative capital–the numbers back it up. Economist Kimberly Ritter-Martinez rattled them off at a panel sponsored by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs to discuss the business of creativity: 355,000 jobs are directly tied to the city’s creative industries, and 620,000 jobs are related in some way. More than 10 percent of Los Angeles county’s GDP comes from these careers.

But just because creativity is one of Los Angeles’ defining features doesn’t mean it doesn’t have to be defended. …

by Paul Bisceglio | June 23, 2015

A Future Awash in LED Light

The Unexpected Rise of This Bright, Energy-Efficient Lighting Technology Spells the End for Edison’s Incandescent Lamp

by Hal Wallace | October 15, 2014

The Nobel Prize in Physics just awarded to Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji Nakamura for their work on blue light-emitting diodes—LEDs as they are commonly known—reveals the extent to …

Let’s Violate the Laws of Physics

Ideas from Science Fiction That Should Become Reality

September 12, 2014

Science fiction writers can be eerily prescient. Consider what John Brunner got right about our world in 2010, as described in his 1968 novel Stand on Zanzibar: a world shaken …

No, That Parking Spot Does Not Belong to You

An App Lets You Find, and Buy, Street Parking in San Francisco—But Is It Legal?

by Stephen Zavestoski and Julian Agyeman | July 10, 2014

MonkeyParking is a smartphone app that gives car-owning San Franciscans an opportunity to auction off the street parking they are about to vacate. Just mark your parking spot in the …

Yes, Airbnb Has a Dark Side

New ‘Sharing’ Companies Promise to Transform Everything From How We Vacation to Who Does Our Laundry. They Could Also Turn California Into a Battleground.

by Joe Mathews | June 26, 2014

I have learned the hard way, as father to three small boys, that sharing causes conflict. Ask humans to play with the same toy at the same time, and it …

Africa’s Entrepreneurs Are Young and Restless

With Fast-Growing Economies, Middle-Class Ambitions, and a Boom in Technology, There’s No Waiting Around in Africa

by Sarah Rothbard | March 6, 2014

Nigerian-American journalist Dayo Olopade spent two years traveling through 17 African countries. But it’s still difficult for her to talk about the continent, she told a crowd at The Actors’ …

innovation

How L.A. Can Keep Its Creative Hive Buzzing

To Nurture Artists, Writers, and Toy Manufacturers, the City Needs to Keep Encouraging Weird Ideas

A Future Awash in LED Light

The Unexpected Rise of This Bright, Energy-Efficient Lighting Technology Spells the End for Edison’s Incandescent Lamp

Let’s Violate the Laws of Physics

Ideas from Science Fiction That Should Become Reality

No, That Parking Spot Does Not Belong to You

An App Lets You Find, and Buy, Street Parking in San Francisco—But Is It Legal?

Yes, Airbnb Has a Dark Side

New ‘Sharing’ Companies Promise to Transform Everything From How We Vacation to Who Does Our Laundry. They Could Also Turn California Into a Battleground.

Africa’s Entrepreneurs Are Young and Restless

With Fast-Growing Economies, Middle-Class Ambitions, and a Boom in Technology, There’s No Waiting Around in Africa

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California Can Reconceive the Arts by Offering More Choices and Ways to Participate

Demographic and Technological Shifts Could Let Arts in the Golden State Better Serve Communities

Bankrupt San Bernardino is Rich in the Arts

To Advance Its Revival and Change the Narrative, the City Should Invest in Creativity

Was Ever a City More Bewildering?

Wim Wenders, John Singleton, Richard Rodriguez, and Others Grapple With the Hidden, Violent, Beautiful, Sunny, Dreamy Mystery That Is Los Angeles

The Arts Can Do for California What Politics and Big Business Can’t

The Cultural Sector Retains Its Credibility, Imagination—and Ability to Bring People Together

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