WhatMatters

If your doctor’s office has ever asked you to sign an electronic pad without showing you exactly what you’re signing, you aren’t alone. CalMatters’ director of sociotechnical research, Alex Rosenblat, heard dozens of stories like this as she visited clinics across the country to see how hard it is for patients to do basic things […]

Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton are holding on to the lead in the latest poll ahead of the California governor election.  That’s according to the Public Policy Institute of California, which surveyed 986 likely voters earlier this month. Nearly a quarter of those surveyed (23%) said they’d vote for Becerra, followed by Hilton […]

Online college classes can be impersonal, isolating and disengaging. But with high demand among their students for online learning, California’s community colleges and universities are trying to find better online teaching practices. As CalMatters’ Adam Echelman explains, about 40% of all community college classes are online. Online courses enable students, especially those who are part- […]

With just a week until Election Day and only 8% of ballots returned so far, millions of California voters are still making up their minds about the election. But here at CalMatters, we listen, we don’t judge — so we have a last-minute voter guide to catch you up on what you need to know, […]

Scheduling note: WhatMatters is taking Memorial Day off and will return to your inboxes on Tuesday. Is artificial intelligence here to save us or destroy us all? Like you, we don’t yet. But we heard from some smart people at our Idea Festival Thursday in downtown Sacramento, where one AI proponent tried to assuage public […]

Which of these is least likely? Kendrick Lamar and Drake squashing their feud? Giants fans and Dodgers fans sharing high-fives?  Or California charter schools endorsing the same candidate for superintendent as the state’s largest teachers’ union? If you remember the 2018 election, you’d probably vote for the pigs-flying scenario of the California Charter Schools Association […]

It can start subtly enough: One day a social media influencer you follow — the one who talks about politics, recommends beauty products or shares internet memes — posts a TikTok or Instagram Reel saying they like a candidate for California governor.  You don’t think much of it and you go on doomscrolling. But what […]

For many Californians, unseasonal winds and grass fires in May are reminders that climate change is intensifying extreme weather. But as gas prices continue to rise, a long-running debate in the Capitol is reigniting: Can California consumers afford the state’s nation-leading climate agenda? As CalMatters’ Alejandro Lazo explains, the Iran war has shot up gas […]

Remember talking to people with civility about politics — even on contentious issues? Meet the CalMatters guy who has made that happen dozens of times. CalMatters’ director of partnerships, Dan Hu, has been traveling across the state to talk with Californians about the upcoming election. His VotingMatters events with local news organizations, colleges and others, […]

Democratic frontrunner Xavier Becerra took fire from all sides at the last debate among governor hopefuls before the June primary. He was an easy target considering that his former political consultant was in court earlier Thursday pleading guilty to federal fraud charges. But even with San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan calling Becerra the “embodiment of […]