Mike Daisey is a man on a mission. And for the last few years that mission has been to call attention to the lousy labor conditions under which the iPhone and other Apple products are made. His monologue, “The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,” which tells the story of his trip to the Foxconn factory in Shenzhen, China, has played in theaters around the country and generated debate and ......

At 27, Amy Winehouse is gone.  The neo-soul singer who won international fame for her 2006 album Back to Black was found dead in her apartment in north London at 3.54 pm, according to the Guardian.  As of now, the cause of her death is being called "unexplained" by authorities. Here's a clip of Winehouse performing "Back to Black" live at Popscene in San Francisco in 2007. ...

Marin County resident Kay Ryan was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry today for her book "The Best of It: New and Selected Poems," which the judges praised as “a body of work spanning 45 years, witty, rebellious and yet tender, a treasure trove of an iconoclastic and joyful mind.” (New York Times review here.)The author of eight books and a long-time teacher of remedial English at College of Marin ......

It was a sunny day in Sacramento on Sunday, and the plants in front of the Crocker Art Museum were soaking it in.But it wasn’t just an ordinary afternoon of sunshine for the greenery, which was enjoying an organic, locally sourced meal at the world’s first “Photosynthetic Restaurant” – courtesy of conceptual artist Jonathon Keats. Plants in Sacramento have no shortage of sunlight.  But it’s a tedious diet: day after ......

As you look around the site today, you’ll notice a few changes to our blogs and columns.First of all, we’ve given them brighter, bolder new headers that we hope capture the personality of each offering and also help them stand out from our articles and other kinds of content on the site.   We’ve also re-jiggered the cover to display more blog posts from more of our blogs.   Besides the new ......