Coachella Is a City for Two Weekends. Here Is Its Economy
A quarter-million people cycle through the Empire Polo Club each April, turning a desert town of farm fields and medians into one of the most profitable pieces of ground in American music.
Culture
California culture: film, music, food, wine and the creative life of the state, covered year-round.
How a Berkeley Restaurant Rewired the Way America Eats
Chez Panisse opened in Berkeley in 1971 with a single nightly menu and a stubborn idea about ingredients, and the farm-to-table restaurant you ate at last month is its descendant.
The Hollywood Sign Was an Ad for Houses. A Century Later It Still Works
Built in 1923 to sell lots in a subdivision called Hollywoodland, the world's most famous billboard outlived its real estate pitch to become California's most durable cultural export.
How Wine Country Tourism Really Works in Napa and Sonoma
California grows about four-fifths of American wine, and the tasting rooms of Napa and Sonoma turn that harvest into a multibillion-dollar visitor economy with its own rules and rhythms.
Vinyl Records Are a Billion-Dollar Business Again. California Is Where It Plays
Vinyl has out-earned CDs in the United States since 2020, and the pressing-plant bottleneck behind that revival runs straight through California's record stores, collectors, and indie labels.