Cover Stories

Cover of Wallace Baine’s Founding Daughter over John Trumbull’s Declaration of Independence painting.

A New American History

June 17, 2026

Santa Cruz writer Wallace Baine’s debut novel, Founding Daughter, imagines a startling alternate history in which the Declaration of Independence’s most famous ideals come not from Thomas Jefferson, but from a brilliant teenage servant girl with everything at stake.

GOALLLLL

Santa Cruz County is getting ready for the 2026 World Cup with beachside watch parties, youth soccer clinics, restaurant fan zones, MAH events, Watsonville tournaments and a massive Main Beach celebration beneath the Giant Dipper.

Don’t Sleep on This

With the 2026 World Cup arriving in North America, Thomas Brew argues that soccer’s beauty, global reach and democratic spirit make it worth watching—even for Santa Cruz fans who haven’t caught the fever yet.

Green Beings: VegFest ’26

Santa Cruz VegFest returns with vegan food, music, comedy, family activities, vendors and a message of compassion for animals, people and the planet.

High Five, Dusty

Dusty Baker returns to Santa Cruz with “Crossroads,” a memoir that follows his journey from the Monterey Pop Festival and Hank Aaron’s mentorship to the World Series, the high five and a lifetime of trusting his feelings.

Playing with Digital Fire

When The Salty Otter used AI to help shape its logo, the backlash became part of a larger Santa Cruz debate over art, technology, community anger and what we still owe each other in an uncertain future.

Bold Directions

Ginger Shulick Porcella, the MAH’s new executive director, talks about Santa Cruz, community-driven museum leadership, creative risk, financial recovery and making the impossible possible.

The Healing of Kat Moss

After Scowl’s rise from Santa Cruz hardcore band to international success, singer Kat Moss is stepping back, processing grief and burnout, and rediscovering her artistic self.

Home School Asia

What happens when you take your kids out of school and into the world? One Santa Cruz family finds education, connection and adventure across Asia.

The Beach Belongs to Everyone

Walk the California coast and you’ll find beauty, barriers and a trail still being built—one negotiation at a time along the bluffs north of Santa Cruz.

Rippling Santa Cruz

The Ripple Effect Arts Festival turns Santa Cruz into a citywide celebration of music, art and performance, with events unfolding across multiple venues.

Don’t Call Him Bro, Dude

From Santa Cruz skate parks to punk stages and comedy tours, Joe Sib’s larger-than-life journey is a story of reinvention, storytelling and relentless creative energy.

From Wrigley to the Sphere

From a Santa Cruz lab to the world’s biggest stage, Visual Endeavors is building the technology behind immersive shows at the Sphere and beyond—where music, light and real-time graphics converge.

A Great Artist Lost

Guitar Power

Solstice Symphonies

Getting to the Point

Letters

The Editor’s Desk

Open the Taps

Signature Ramen