Alta Journal

Alta Journal Alta Journal is a quarterly magazine celebrating and examining California and the West.

Alta Journal, launched in Fall 2017, is a magazine, website and series of events that will provide a fresh, smart, literate take on the issues, culture, personalities, politics, lifestyle and history of California. Alta’s quarterly magazine features some of the state’s best writers, photographers and illustrators.

Silicon Valley startups might be in the business of remaking the world, but you’d never guess it from their architecture...
05/09/2025

Silicon Valley startups might be in the business of remaking the world, but you’d never guess it from their architecture, which tends toward the serviceable and uninspired.

The great exception is a jaw-dropping structure at Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View that, nearly a century after it was built, still manages to suggest a historic design breakthrough and throw off a futuristic gleam. Known as Hangar One, it was constructed between 1931 and 1933 with help from a pair of naval engineers.

We named Hangar One as one of our Seven Wonders of California. Tap the link in our comments to find out why.

📸 NASA


In her new novel Porthole, Joanna Howard imagines a tyrannical filmmaker navigating obsession, accidents, and recovery a...
05/09/2025

In her new novel Porthole, Joanna Howard imagines a tyrannical filmmaker navigating obsession, accidents, and recovery at a mysterious asylum. Inspired by directors like Herzog, Hitchcock, and Varda, Howard’s story blurs dream spaces and cinematic control in haunting, witty ways.

Read Anita Felicelli’s conversation with Howard now.

Seven parole recommendations. Zero releases.Bruce Davis, once a follower of Charles Manson, has spent more than five dec...
05/09/2025

Seven parole recommendations. Zero releases.

Bruce Davis, once a follower of Charles Manson, has spent more than five decades behind bars—even after the parole board said that he should be let out.

For Alta, Joe Garcia, an incarcerated journalist who served with Davis at San Quentin, and Kate McQueen look at how public opinion, politics, and a dark legacy keep one man from walking free.

📖 Tap the link in comments to read.


Beneath the beauty of the remote Round Valley of Mendocino County lies a history of forcibly relocated Indigenous tribes...
05/09/2025

Beneath the beauty of the remote Round Valley of Mendocino County lies a history of forcibly relocated Indigenous tribes.

Today, unspeakable crimes continue. Daniel Duane investigates at the link in our comments.

📸 Scott Baxter


Looking for your next great read?With reporting from the California Independent Booksellers Alliance, Alta Journal bring...
05/09/2025

Looking for your next great read?

With reporting from the California Independent Booksellers Alliance, Alta Journal brings you the bestselling books from indie bookstores across Southern and Northern California for the week ending August 31.

The list features favorites including R.F. Kuang, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Louis Sachar, Daniel Silva, Ocean Vuong, Ezra Klein, Mel Robbins, Rick Rubin, Robert B. Reich, and Andy Weir.

See the full bestseller breakdown by genre on our site!

Bianca Majolie—the Italian-born artist who helped shape Snow White, Bambi, and Pinocchio—was Disney’s first female story...
04/09/2025

Bianca Majolie—the Italian-born artist who helped shape Snow White, Bambi, and Pinocchio—was Disney’s first female storyteller, yet her groundbreaking work was overlooked for decades.

In the latest Alta Journal, writer Shannon McHugh uncovers Majolie’s story and joins us live next week to discuss Majolie's struggles in an all-male workplace, her visionary perspective, and her impact on cinema.

📅 Wednesday, September 10
⏰ 12:30 p.m. PT

Check out a Q&A with the incredible Percival Everett—one of the most prolific and provocative contemporary American auth...
04/09/2025

Check out a Q&A with the incredible Percival Everett—one of the most prolific and provocative contemporary American authors—in conversation with David L. Ulin.

Read here: bit.ly/466qC9F

Percival Everett's "James" won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. But if you haven't yet had the chance to ...
04/09/2025

Percival Everett's "James" won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. But if you haven't yet had the chance to pick it up, you can read an excerpt at the link in our comments.


After the Eaton Fire took his home and nearly his restaurant, Tyler Wells pitched a tent on a regenerative farm—and foun...
04/09/2025

After the Eaton Fire took his home and nearly his restaurant, Tyler Wells pitched a tent on a regenerative farm—and found a reason to return to Altadena.

Link in comments to read more about this restauranteur making it work.

📸 Jeff Gordinier


T.C. Boyle’s The Tortilla Curtain is a razor-sharp satire of California’s contradictions. Set in Topanga Canyon, it expo...
04/09/2025

T.C. Boyle’s The Tortilla Curtain is a razor-sharp satire of California’s contradictions. Set in Topanga Canyon, it exposes the divide between wealthy homeowners who wall themselves off and the undocumented immigrants struggling for survival just outside those gates.

The novel made Alta’s list of 25 Books That Define California—check out a review written by Heather Scott Partington.

When Carlos Castaneda died, five of his closest followers vanished.Bestselling author and New Age icon Carlos Castaneda ...
04/09/2025

When Carlos Castaneda died, five of his closest followers vanished.

Bestselling author and New Age icon Carlos Castaneda left behind 12 books, millions in royalties—and a cult. His inner circle called themselves "chacmools," after Mesoamerican warrior statues. Soon after his death, five of these women disappeared without a trace.

What really happened to them? Journalist Geoffrey Gray goes deep inside the archive of court records, burned diaries, desert trails, and Malibu mansions to uncover the truth behind Castaneda’s legacy—and the women who vanished in its shadow.

Read the full Alta investigation.

🔗 bit.ly/4lUfzWTFrom burned-out hills to celebrity-packed trails, L.A.’s scenic overlooks tell a deeper story.⁠Hiking co...
03/09/2025

🔗 bit.ly/4lUfzWT

From burned-out hills to celebrity-packed trails, L.A.’s scenic overlooks tell a deeper story.
⁠
Hiking columnist John McKinney revisits four classic Inspiration Points across Los Angeles—where nature meets memory, and the views are always earned.

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The Journal of Alta California, launched in Fall 2017, is a magazine, website and series of events that will provide a fresh, smart, literate take on the issues, culture, personalities, politics, lifestyle and history of California. Alta’s quarterly magazine will feature some of the state’s best writers, photographers and illustrators, and its website, AltaOnline.com, will be a daily guide to the best writing about the state from Alta and other sources.