Students new and old come out in droves for the community-boosting swag-fest that is Caltopia. Find Berkeleyside at booth E104 UC Berkeley freshmen, some looking dazed, others excited, as well as more blasé seniors, turned out in their thousands on Sunday for Day One of Caltopia, the self-described “two greatest days on the planet”. The […]
Books Inc
Posted inEvents
UC Berkeley’s Caltopia: The ultimate Town & Gown affair
This weekend, when around 30,000 students and faculty stroll through Caltopia, browsing the booths of more than 100 exhibitors, Berkeley’s two driving forces, the city and its university, will be pitched in perfect harmony. And Berkeleyside will be there to sing along too. Caltopia was launched nine years ago as a way for Berkeley businesses […]
Posted inArts
Are plastics good or bad? An author explains
When Susan Freinkel decided to write a book about plastic, she vowed to spend an entire day not touching the stuff. The plan lasted about ten seconds. After she woke up, she walked into the bathroom to use the toilet. She suddenly realized the seat was plastic, which meant she couldn’t sit down. Freinkel quickly […]
Posted inNosh
Alice Medrich’s sweet life
Alice Medrich, the author, is best known for her high-end sweets cookbooks devoted to serious bakers and dessert makers, including the bestsellers Pure Dessert and Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate. Alice Medrich, the dessert chef and chocolatier, is best known for her influential and ahead-of-its time shop Cocolat. Medrich ran the […]
Posted inCity, Community
Reports from the US-Mexico border: Tyche Hendricks
Day laborers looking for work The recent passage of a law in Arizona that gives police expanded power to ask people for documents proving their legal status is just the latest expression of frustration over immigration. It’s a question that no administration, Democrat or Republican, seems inclined to address. Tyche Hendricks, who teaches international reporting […]
Posted inArts, Business
Books are back
I had an unusual experience for present day America. I went to two new bookstores in Berkeley. First, I stopped in at Books Inc on Fourth Street. I’ve lamented before the loss of Cody’s, which had robbed me of my main reason for going to Fourth Street. Books Inc, which opened in October, doesn’t rise […]