An ode to rock climbing on a set of boulders in the Berkeley Hills. How Indian and Mortar Rock changed California climbing and what it did for generations of climbers - for their community, for their hearts. Feat one-finger pull-ups and 📸 by Ximena Natera berkeleyside.org/2023/12/07/roc…

my latest: Cal grad brings DIY bench to Berkeley bus stop after a rider was forced to sit on sidewalk thanks Mingwei Samuel 翁明伟 & @IDoTheThinking for talking abt benches, tactical urbanism and how public spaces could be more accomodating 🪑 berkeleyside.org/2023/12/21/diy…

Why build a wall around People’s Park? berkeleyside.org/2024/01/05/peo…

Inside Israel’s torture camp for Gaza detainees. An investigation by Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם with +972 Magazine and שיחה מקומית. 972mag.com/israel-torture…

my latest for Berkeleyside/Report for America: east bay transit advocates are installing even more DIY benches at bus stops across berkeley & oakland 🚌 berkeleyside.org/2024/01/12/ben… + it includes this v quotable sentence

Stuck around on Twitter (...X) long enough to share this! Grateful to Berkeleyside for letting me report this century-spanning story. Religion, housing, MC Hammer... hope you'll give it a read.

Miss Alice, longtime crossing guard for Berkeley school, gets tearful send-off berkeleyside.org/2024/01/30/mis…

Berkeley has dangerously mismanaged toxic gas below Cesar Chavez Park, air district says berkeleyside.org/2024/02/09/ces…

I learned what the most popular stick in the stick-and-ball library for dogs has going for it. Apparently it's smooth and shiny, with a “good mouth feel."

Listen as a sexed-up heat pump sings to you: —"Baby, tell me what you want. Cool days, warm nights. Yeah, sometimes we all need a little help to make everything just right." —"I’m switched on, sipping on electrons, never gonna burn fuel, ’cause I prefer to keep the planet cool."

He survived 2 ghettos, 9 concentration camps, 2 death marches. Liberated by US Army, he moved to Chicago, marched against neo-Nazis in 1970s. Moved to Berkeley, took on white supremacists in 2017. 🕯️Ben Stern—Holocaust survivor, justice fighter—dies at 102 berkeleyside.org/2024/03/04/ben…

Wanna hear about the history of Berkeley's vast influence on the world of rock climbing? Check out my interview with Berkeleyside reporter Ally Markovich eastbayyesterday.com/episodes/climb…

Fun to see a four-year-old photo of my old apartment go viral. It's from a story I wrote about the muralist, Susan Lynn, who rented the space for a decade as she painted the walls and ceiling of the Newell Mansion's former ballroom. issuu.com/southwestjourn… 📷: Isaiah Rustad

One grandpa delivered Kamala Harris. The other led the A’s to Rickey. A hoops star. A pro tennis player. Three generations of ballplayers. All from one Berkeley family, rooted in helping kids realize their own dreams. For Berkeleyside 📸 Ximena Natera berkeleyside.org/2024/07/29/fam…

A Berkeley historian used the clues from Kamala Harris' family photos to figure out where exactly she lived in the city as a young girl. berkeleyside.org/2024/08/19/kam…

Learn about the day laborers who form and give heart to the Multicultural Institute in Berkeleyside’s latest article: berkeleyside.org/2025/02/19/for…

Customs and border protection agents are arriving at Coast Guard Island in the Bay Area for what’s expected to be some kind of immigration operations. Dozens of protesters have gathered. Berkeleyside has a live blog covering the situation as it develops: berkeleyside.org/2025/10/23/liv…