Journal of Alta California

Featuring great stories, in-depth reporting, beautiful photography, smart thinking — Alta is the magazine and website that bring you everything California.

CONTRIBUTORS

JOURNAL OF ALTA CALIFORNIA

Audience Is the Future

The Gatekeepers • For centuries, zanjeros have controlled the waters of California.

OLYMPIAN DREAMS • The West Coast’s only native oyster has a colorful history that appears to have been embellished for dramatic effect. But the true story is just as compelling.

Birds of Passage • A proposal to introduce an endangered species to a group of California islands challenges assumptions about native habitats under global warming.

Our Son Comes Over

THE GENTRIFICATION OF CONSCIOUSNESS • SAN FRANCISCO’S MISSION DISTRICT HAS BECOME SYNONYMOUS WITH WELL-PAID TECH WORKERS DISPLACING NON-WHITE LONGTIME RESIDENTS. IT’S NOW THE SETTING FOR A NEW BATTLE, AS THE COMING PSYCHEDELIC-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX THREATENS TO STRIP HALLUCINOGENIC DRUGS OF THEIR HISTORICAL AND RELIGIOUS SIGNIFICANCE.

Fresno on Her Mind • Urban planner Danielle Bergstrom has taken an unlikely route to combating social inequities in the Central Valley: she started a nonprofit newsroom.

STREET FIGHT • Boyle Heights’ DoorDash-sponsored murals and the backlash against fnnch’s honey bears reveal the polarizing rifts in the California guerrilla art community.

Renoir Sparks in Me an All-Consuming Urge to Paint

Storming the Mission • Toypurina, a female shaman who led a revolt against Spanish rule, emerges as a cultural icon.

SHE HAS A NAME

the NEW HOLLYWOOD

IMAGE MAKERS • Three top directors of photography on filming for screens—big and small—in stressful times.

THE SECRET POWER OF THE MAGICIANS? IT TEACHES US ABOUT GROWING UP.

TELLING THE STORY YOU WANT TO TELL IN I MAY DESTROY YOU

FASHION GONE STREAMABLE • Will film ever make us play dress-up again?

RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE OPENS THE DOOR ON A GAY-SUBCULTURE ART FORM

PLAY IT AS HE LAYS • The Academy Awards represent the last gasps of a morally decrepit version of Hollywood.

EMBRACING FIERCE FEMALE FRIENDSHIPS IN WE ARE LADY PARTS

ACTING YOUR AGE • Hollywood is finally falling for the middle-age meet-cute.

THE ODDLY RELATABLE FAMILY DRAMA AT THE HEART OF SUCCESSION

KEEPING HOLLYWOOD IN HOLLYWOOD • California is tired of losing big money to runaway production—so it’s fighting back.

WHAT SHALL WE DO IN OUR DARK? • The screen reflects our anxieties about community, technology, and, perhaps, the end of the world.

FINDING HOPE IN CHARACTER GROWTH ON MYTHIC QUEST

AN INFLUENCER’S GUIDE TO THE NEW HOLLYWOOD

The Form of a Sentence • Sarah Shun-lien Bynum on finding thought in language—or is it the other way around?

The Practice of Poetry • Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natalie Diaz explores the power of language and images in her work.

‘Year of the Monkey’

WHEN MARK TWAIN CANCELED BRET HARTE • Despite their shared history of condemning bigotry, anti-Chinese racism fueled the falling-out betweentwo of California’s biggest writers.

Take to the Days a Fist of Starlight

To See ‘Such Color’ • Tracy K. Smith’s new and selected poems show her gracefully pivoting between light and dark and channeling grief into joy.

A Literary Odd Couple • Writer Victor Villaseñor and editor Marc Jaffe’s working partnership spans 50 years—and 3,000 miles.

The Man That Got Away • Jim Bailey spent his career impersonating Judy Garland, leaving a biographer to ponder: Where did that leave him?

The Sisterhood of the Baton • Jessica Bejarano is on a quest to become one of the few women to lead a top-tier orchestra. She’ll...