Cover Stories

Silver Anniversary

September 8, 2026

Jonathan Franzen looks back on 25 years of The Corrections, the Santa Cruz years that helped unlock the novel, his life with longtime partner and writer Kathy Chetkovich, and the coming Netflix adaptation starring Meryl Streep.

A Billion Views

Poet, comedian and filmmaker Joshua Turek has drawn more than a billion views online. Now the Los Angeles transplant is building a new life—and publishing Notes of a New Dad—in Santa Cruz.

From Rockets to Oil Rigs

Richard Stockton traces how SpaceX launches, a new federal review of California’s coastal program and possible offshore oil leasing have converged into a larger fight over who controls California’s coast.

Gravity Wins

Santa Cruz’s Danny Wright believes rainwater harvesting could be the next solar. His nonprofit Gravity Water and startup Cloudwell are turning rooftops into clean-water infrastructure, from schools in Nepal and Vietnam to a vision for cities worldwide.

No Parking at Any Time

UC Santa Cruz students, faculty and staff are pushing back against steep parking fee increases they say will worsen an already difficult mix of high housing costs, long commutes and scarce campus parking.

The Days Between

Three decades after Jerry Garcia’s death, the Grateful Dead’s legacy keeps expanding through musicians, scholars, archivists and generations of Deadheads—with Santa Cruz still caught in the center of its psychedelic orbit.

Fighting Fire

After five years on call day and night, Ryan Masters looks back on the danger, trauma and consuming commitment of serving as a Zayante volunteer firefighter.

We the Dreamers

The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music invites audiences to imagine a more expansive future through Philip Glass, Rita Dove, Leilehua Lanzilotti and other visionary artists.

Keeping the Bard Fresh

The directors behind Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth and Fences reveal how collaboration, casting and close attention to the text keep classic plays alive.

The Aging of Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz County has California’s fastest-growing senior population, raising questions about housing, affordability, youth culture and the city’s changing identity.

Too Young?

Santa Cruz County senior and social centers offer dances, tech help, fitness classes, gardens, meals, day trips and community for adults 50 and older.

Freedom of Expression

DNA profiles Dennis Bartok, the new executive director of The 418 Project, whose life in film, avant-garde art and cultural programming could reshape Santa Cruz’s creative scene.

Can Food Improve Mood?

UCSC professor Andrea Cook explores nutritional psychology, an emerging field studying how food, mood, stress and mental health influence one another.

New Fireproofing Rules

Dragonfly Year

Private Lives and Public...

Kicking Good Time

The Editor’s Desk

Letters

Gifted Winemaker

Pasta Twist