Inside 'The Box': New Play Explores Life in Solitary
You may remember the three hikers who'd lived in California and were seized at the Iraq-Iran border in 2009, then held in a Tehran prison. One of them, Sarah Shourd, spent 410 days in solitary confinement. When she returned home to Oakland, she began researching the use of solitary confinement in American prisons. Shourd has written a new play called "The Box," which opens this weekend in San Francisco.
The World According to Sound: Chasing Off the Homeless With Classical Music
We've been covering the growing crisis of homelessness in cities around the state. In San Francisco, a downtown business is trying an unusual tactic to discourage homeless people from loitering. This story comes courtesy of The World According to Sound.
Hitting the Road With California's Poet Laureate
Dana Gioia is California's new state poet laureate. He's written poetry for more than 45 years, composed music and opera and is a professor at USC. Now, he's heading on a tour of California -- bringing poetry to some pretty rural communities, mostly in the Northern part of the state.
Is L.A. Losing Its Smell? Future Is Uncertain for All-Ages Punk Club
A beloved all-ages music club in downtown Los Angeles called The Smell could soon be bulldozed to make way for more parking spaces. The Smell isn't just any club. Over its hand-to-mouth 17-year existence, it's become the epicenter of a young, vibrant indie music community. News of its possible demise is sparking widespread anxiety over changes redefining downtown L.A.
Making Wine From California's Oldest Vines
When you think of California wine, you probably think of Napa and Sonoma, maybe Paso Robles. But not Downtown L.A. Believe it or not, the state's first major wine hub was right there, on historic Olvera Street. Of course, that was back in the 1800s, and a lot has changed since then. But one vine from that era is still producing -- and winemakers are hoping to turn it into something worth toasting.