pandemic

Don’t Be Ashamed to Admit It: You Miss California Traffic

The Commute May Be Lousy, but Gridlock Is Also Good for Us

Don’t Be Ashamed to Admit It: You Miss California Traffic | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Admit it. You miss me, don’t you?

No? OK, maybe you’re not ready to recognize how much you need me. I understand.

I know you’ve never liked me, and for that I’ve never blamed you. You Californians like to live your lives fast, and I’m all about slowing you down. So I try not to let it bother me that you complain about me more than drought or Donald Trump.

I understand that I make you late to school and to work. I lengthen brutal commutes that keep you behind the wheel for …

by California Traffic, as told to Joe Mathews |

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Looking for Jazz Uplift Under Lockdown | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Looking for Jazz Uplift Under Lockdown

A Music Critic Considers the Power of Time-Honored Rituals When They Can’t Happen as They Should

by Larry Blumenfeld |

Three days after the September 11 terrorist attacks I left my Brooklyn home, tracing backward the trail that thick billows of smoke had blown across the East River, to hear …

Quarantine Won’t Be Forever, but Pandemic Humor Is Timeless  | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Quarantine Won’t Be Forever, but Pandemic Humor Is Timeless 

A Century Before TikToks and Memes, the 1918 Flu Inspired Rhyming Poetry and Skeptical Satire

by Katherine A. Foss |

Early in the coronavirus pandemic, as society shut down and social distancing became the new norm, user-created media content about life during the pandemic exploded. Today’s technology makes it easy …

I Love ‘Newsom at Noon,’ but It Needs a New Star | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

I Love ‘Newsom at Noon,’ but It Needs a New Star

Let Nonpartisan Scientists and Doctors Lead the State’s Daily COVID-19 Briefings

by Joe Mathews |

Dear Governor,

Your lunchtime COVID-19 briefings—“Newsom at Noon”—are must-see TV.

No California governor has ever had such a regular, closely observed platform, and you are making the most of it. Your …

How Pirates, Criminals, and COVID-19 Benefit Shy Sea Turtles | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

How Pirates, Criminals, and COVID-19 Benefit Shy Sea Turtles

Human Scourges Are Godsends for Marine Creatures Who Need Solitude

by Yonat Swimmer |

When I read in the news that sea turtles are thriving during the COVID-19 pandemic, I was not surprised. After all, the reasoning was sound: Fear of the virus has …

Masks Have a Rich, Deep History Tailor-Made for Californians | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Masks Have a Rich, Deep History Tailor-Made for Californians

The State’s Highly Polarized Debate Over Face Masks Is Dumb and Dull, and Forgets That Masquerade Is About ‘Fun and Finding Light in Darkness’

by Joe Mathews |

Agoston Haraszthy didn’t hesitate to wear masks. A Hungarian immigrant, he became San Diego’s first sheriff by portraying himself as a military colonel. Then, he sold himself as a metallurgist …


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