How California Got Broken to Pieces
Wherever you live in California, your county probably doesn’t fit you. In mountainous and rural areas, your county may be too small to do the
Joe Mathews
March 24, 2016
Author: Joe Mathews
Connecting California Columnist and Editor, Zócalo Public Square, Fellow at the Center for Social Cohesion at Arizona State University and co-author of California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It (UC Press, 2010)
Direct Democracy and Bull
It’s healthy for a journalist to be on the other side of the notebook once in a while. That’s where I found myself on Friday
Joe Mathews
March 18, 2016
The Sun Always Shines on the California Empire
The sun has set on the British Empire. Its successor, America, is showing signs of decline. But one empire still has plenty of battery life:
Joe Mathews
March 17, 2016
Reading Arnold’s Mind
After some years in storage, the Fox & Hounds mind-reading machine is back, and pointed at a familiar target… I am sick and tired of
Joe Mathews
March 14, 2016
Beth Garrett, RIP
The terrible headlines said that Cornell’s president, the first woman to head the university, had died of cancer at age 52. The news hit hard
Joe Mathews
March 11, 2016
Is Fresno California’s Taco Capital?
Can tacos save Fresno? Greater Fresno, with 1.1 million people and growing, is in the process of becoming California’s next big metropolitan area (it’s already
Joe Mathews
March 10, 2016
Can Everyone Sign Up for the Kamala Harris Expedited Initiative Service?
It is nice to have friends in high places, especially if you’re an initiative sponsor. But why does Gov. Jerry Brown get faster service than
Joe Mathews
March 4, 2016
How Riding the Rails Can Change Cities and Lives
What will the railroad bring us? That was the question Henry George sought to answer for California in his famous 1868 essay, “What the Railroad
Joe Mathews
March 3, 2016
McCarthy, Hunter Head Into the Trump Abyss
Kevin McCarthy and Duncan Hunter said things in the past week that could be used to destroy whatever future the Republican Party has left in
Joe Mathews
March 2, 2016