My Transnational Son Has a Passport to Optimism

As Europeans Agonize Over Birth Rates and Migrants, Bicultural Kids Like Mine Will Dispel the Continent’s Paranoia

A couple of weeks ago, my 3-year-old son, Max, agreed to let me take him to school by bicycle. This was momentous because recently he’s been insisting that we are crocodiles, and thus incapable of sitting upright. Convincing Max that crocodiles can ride bicycles has allowed me to reclaim an hour of my mornings, which had been spent slowly meandering along the five blocks to Barcelona’s Diputacio Elementary.

Barcelona is a great place to have a kid. Max is in his first year of free preschool offered at the same …

Professional Football Has a California Problem

Three Teams Want to Come to L.A., but I've Got Better Ideas

Pro football has a “California problem.”

So say some of the most powerful people in the sport. And as a new National Football League season kicks off this weekend, they are …

How a Long Beach Doctor Created Social Security

The Angry Retiree Wrote the Letter That Helped Establish the Great Depression's Most Enduring Program

Long Beach, California, is known today for its terrific aquarium, for the Queen Mary, and for being the hometown of Snoop Dogg. But its greatest contribution to the United States …

Don’t Blame Germany for Greece’s Debt Crisis

No Country Has Done More to Democratize and Raise Europe's Living Standards

Germany knows a thing or two about being punished for bad deeds, but in recent weeks the country has been the poster child for the old adage that no good …

What Amnesiac California Needs Is a Museum of the Great Recession

The State Invented This Worldwide Downturn, So Why Not Memorialize It?

Californians are bad at remembering things, especially about California.

Our memories are so gone that our politicians, from Gov. Brown on down, can’t stop reminding us that just a few …

Imagination Is a City’s Most Vital Resource

If You Want to Know the Health of a City, Count the Permits It Issues for Concerts, Street Fairs, and Festivals

In hard economic times, cities need to decide what industries are essential, and what programs and services can be cut down to save resources. The arts are perennial contenders for …