Bacon Is Not a Vegetable

Bacon Is Not a Vegetable

As a vegetarian, I have to walk a fine line. Really, I’m not judging you. But I often find it necessary to establish myself as “not a threat” to meat eaters. I also occasionally bump up against militant vegans. Consider this collision I had the other...
Cry a River over California’s Drought

Cry a River over California’s Drought

As a Californian, I have not gotten too much sympathy from friends and family about our rotten weather this winter. Yes, I said rotten weather. It’s been incredibly pleasant— except for a few times when the temperature crept up to 90 — but we’ve hardly had...
Messing with Our Beer Supply

Messing with Our Beer Supply

OK, climate change deniers. This has gone too far. You’ve gone from just being annoying know-nothings to now posing a serious threat to an essential good that embodies humankind’s finest collaboration with nature: beer. It’s one thing for the science...
The Ultimate Captive Market

The Ultimate Captive Market

Now here’s a heads-they-win, tails-we-lose situation: Three of the contracts Arizona signed with private companies to house its prisoners require 100 percent occupancy. That’s right: If the state fails to send along enough jailbirds to fill all the beds,...
This Is What Climate Change Looks Like

This Is What Climate Change Looks Like

“It’s been a bit cold here,” my dad told me on a recent phone call. He lives in Chicago; I’m in San Diego. The next time I turned on the news, I saw headlines screaming “Polar Vortex!” with sub-zero temperatures across the Midwest....