Culture
![](https://alumni.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/juke_open_bg_no_type_1Fcover-1024x458.jpg)
What’s on Your Berkeley-Inspired Playlist?
By Pat JosephWhile music may not be the first thing most people think of when they think of Berkeley, both the campus and town have been home to an enormously influential and eclectic music scene across the years, one with deep roots in the folk and blues revivals of the mid-20th century.
![](https://alumni.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Tel_Hua_Hsu_1Fcov-1024x454.jpg)
6 Questions for Pulitzer Prizewinner Hua Hsu
By Hayden RoysterThe New Yorker writer and author on his memoir of Berkeley
![](https://alumni.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/MM_Shortcomings_1F-2-1024x457.jpg)
Normal (Asian) Lives
By Esther OhFans of comics wunderkind Adrian Tomine may have rested easy upon seeing the film adaptation of his 2007 graphic novel Shortcomings this past summer.
![](https://alumni.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/AP23258699913009-1024x455.jpg)
Hot and Getting Hotter
By Pat JosephGoodell examines the most obvious effect of warming: Extreme heat.
![](https://alumni.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/bottomscover-1024x428.jpg)
Marshawn Lynch Acts Like an Actor
By the editors at California magazine… and other Berkeley movies, books, and entertainment
![](https://alumni.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/fosbury-1024x456.jpg)
Clearing a High Bar
By Pat JosephIt may not say so on the cover, but the organizing theme of this issue is creativity—what it is, how it works, what it says about us as human beings.
![](https://alumni.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Nora-and-Susan-with-Barbie-2-1024x454.jpg)
The Original Barbie Movie was Created by a Cal Alum
By Margie CullenLong before Margot Robbie entered the Barbie Dreamhouse, another Barbie movie had attempted to tackle the cultural phenomenon that is Mattel’s tip-toeing doll.
![](https://alumni.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/cal-performances-the-rite-of-spring-by-maarteen-vanden-abeele-1024x456.jpeg)
Coming to Zellerbach: Individual, Community and the Performing Arts
By Emily WilsonIt’s a striking scene: Dozens of men and women, wearing simple dresses and pants, dance across a dirt-covered stage.
![](https://alumni.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/commitmentcover-1024x456.jpg)
Mona Simpson’s Literary Commitment
By Mary FleglerThrough her writing, Simpson explores characters and locales both ordinary and extraordinary, her novels probing the nooks and crannies of family dynamics, lingering in the details of how we choose to give and receive love.
![](https://alumni.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/zapruder-1024x459.png)
The Working Poet: Catching Up with Matthew Zapruder on the Road in Portland
By Geoff KochSitting in the coffee shop at Portland’s famous Powell’s Books, his name on the marquee outside, Matthew Zapruder seems surprised when asked how it feels to be an emergent public figure in poetry.
![](https://alumni.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/@buttercreations_-7404035-2-1-1024x457.jpg)
Hippie House Music: DJ Puts a New Spin on the Dead
By Leah WorthingtonAround 11 p.m., a curly-haired woman, twinkling in a black, sequined pantsuit, took to the stage to roaring applause. A tie-dye Dead shirt peeked out underneath her jacket as she fit headphones over her ears and hit play.
![](https://alumni.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/nakatacover-1024x458.jpg)
Nakata’s Smile: Unlocking the Diaries of Jack London’s Valet
By Aleta GeorgeThe reference librarian slid the archival container across the counter. “This looks like a fun box to look through,” he said. I smiled behind my face mask.