Why California Should Let Pandas Vote

Two Immigrants From China Have Taken Up Residence at the San Diego Zoo, and They Have Thoughts on Golden State Governance

Nǐ hǎo, jiāzhōu!

Hello, California!

We are the Golden State’s two giant pandas, the first to enter the United States in two decades. And while it’s only been a few months since we departed southwest China for the San Diego Zoo, we’ve already met the governor, celebrities, TV broadcasters who love puns (“Panda-monium”), and thousands of everyday people, some of whom pay $115 to enter the zoo in the early morning and walk around with us for an hour. We now feel so at home in California that we’re wondering how we might …

Invisible Women, Invisible Abortions, Invisible Histories

One La Jolla Family’s Story Illuminates a Persistent Gap in Our Collective Memory

In the summers of 1897 and 1898, the San Diego, Pacific Beach, and La Jolla Railroad hired “Professor” Horace Poole to provide Fourth of July weekend entertainment. The spry 20-something …

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 …

Why Does San Diego Love Recalling Governors?  | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Why Does San Diego Love Recalling Governors? 

Ambitions and Frustrations Churn in the ‘Most Unabashedly American of California Cities’

Why are you so desperate to seize the governorship, San Diego?

The attempted recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom has many geographic roots. Its original proponent was a sheriff’s deputy from …

Where I Go: The Nature Preserve of Memory  | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Where I Go: The Nature Preserve of Memory 

Torrey Pines—A Mythic Hike in My Childhood Imagination—Feels Fragile Now

Like a giant’s sandy belly rising up from the gentle chill of the ocean, Torrey Pines Natural Reserve was a mythic force in my childhood imagination. Yet during a recent …

The Zombie Building That Ate San Diego | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

The Zombie Building That Ate San Diego

Can the Rest of California Learn From the City Losing Millions on an Empty Office Tower?

As Californians figure out what to do with thousands of buildings made empty by pandemic and recession, we should hold ourselves to a baseline standard: Let’s not be as scared …