TONY CASTRO, the former award-winning Los Angeles columnist and author of "Chicano Power" (E.P. Dutton, 1974), is a writer-at-large and national political writer with LAMonthly.org. "Chicano Power" will be published in a 50th anniversary edition in 2024. He can be reached at tony@tonycastro.com. Website: https//tonycastro.com
This isn’t just a win for the Mets — it’s a psychological blow to the Yankees. For a franchise that has long prided itself on being the preeminent power in baseball, losing Juan Soto to the...
By TONY CASTRO Fathers and Sons. And headaches and heartbreaks in between. Joe and Hunter Biden are like Turgenev's timeless depiction of generational conflict during social upheaval in another...
Resurrecting Lucy's El Adobe Café, a beloved Hollywood landmark facing a hopeful revival, restaurateur heiress Patricia Casado fights to restore her father Frank's legacy. After years of decline,...
Thanksgiving isn’t just about turkey and pie—it’s about gratitude for the beautifully imperfect lives we lead, and for the people who walk beside us through it all. And this Thanksgiving, I am...
By TONY CASTRO In American politics, the pendulum never stops swinging. It glides through eras of change, overcorrects, and arcs back again, propelled by public mood, cultural shifts, and the...
Democrats don’t lose presidential elections because they’re “too progressive.” They lose because they let the cultural left hijack the conversation, turning what should be a winning...
Once hailed as the "Hispanic Obama," Florida Senator Marco Rubio has been appointed by President-elect Trump to serve as Secretary of State, the most prestigious Cabinet position a Latino has ever...
In Texas, we’re taught to stand our ground and brace for whatever comes next. Like Travis at the Alamo, I find myself hoping for a miracle—but I’m also half-expecting to be overwhelmed. By...
What if in Trump's Inaugural Address, the world were to witness one of the most profound transformations in recent political history? Trump proving that even the most polarizing figures can surprise...
Many of Donald Trump's supporters believe that his presidential election returns the nation to an America that’s recognizable to them, even if it exists mostly as an idea, one where their voices...
As Trump ushers him into diplomatic circles, Elon Musk’s power and reach will only grow. He isn’t restrained by political red tape or elections, and he isn’t bound to national allegiances....
Jenner’s Republican-leaning views, combined with her public journey of gender transition, turn her into something of a walking Rorschach test, with each side projecting their views onto her life...
“Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race. The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary.”...
How did Democrats lose the White House and almost everything else in 2024? Because Democratic party leaders thought their messaging didn't stink and, as legendary LBJ mentor Sam Rayburn might have...
Will the Second Trump Administration become an unpredictable eccentric West Wing circus with Elon Musk, the world's richest man, juggling trillion dollar budget cuts and crusading Robert F. Kennedy...
Unlike many career politicians, Cisneros didn’t need to claw his way back into politics for financial security or status. His lottery win had taken care of that. And while his early life and...
The California Governor is the best kind of bridge between America’s ideals and its realities. Newsom possesses a mix of both likability and depth, speaking to voters across race, class, and...
Everything you thought you knew about Latino politics is meaningless and out of date, thanks to Donald Trump of all people and his stunning, historic political comeback, made possible in part by...
Why didn't Kamala Harris and the Democrats just take the billion dollars they raised for her campaign and hand them over to Donald Trump to help him pay his legal debts and get on with the task of...
Quincy Jones was more than a musician or a producer. He was a bridge between worlds. He wasn’t just a part of American culture; he was a shaper of it. By TONY CASTRO I only met Quincy Jones once,...
Baseball doesn't need a halftime show. In fact, it doesn’t even have a halftime. And when you hear the national anthem, it’s supposed to be a clear transition from standing at attention to...
By TONY CASTRO Aaron Judge stands as a behemoth on the baseball diamond, a towering figure whose reputation as a power hitter commands respect from fans and foes alike. Yet, in this 2024...
Reminiscences in commemorating Día de Los Muertos, a mix of humor and nostalgia celebrating family, tradition and those ever-present connections we share with loved ones beyond this world. By TONY...
Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong's veto of the LA Times editorial board's endorsement of Kamala Harris for President has proven the biotech mogul to be more of a danger to journalism than the disease...
The main attraction in the ER waiting room: a guy I’ll call Angry Dude whose vocabulary was impressive if you’re the sort of person who appreciates the many uses of the F-word. It was like a...
By TONY CASTRO Let me tell you a little story about the miracle of scoundrels. No, I’m not talking about Lazarus rising from the dead, though Kevin de León’s political comeback might be the...
The passing of Fernando Valenzuela marks the end of Fernandomania that began as a cultural phenomenon in 1980s Los Angeles as a young Mexican left-hander became the toast of the city and ultimately...
Kamala Harris was supposed to be a historic figure, a torchbearer for progress, the long-awaited answer to what Hillary Clinton couldn’t deliver in 2016. Yet here we are, again, witnessing a...
Something truly miraculous happened during the vice-presidential debate. Was it the arrival of JD Vance, the common-sense, bipartisan-talking, largely agreeable candidate? Who is this man?...
By TONY CASTRO It’s hard to believe that Pete Rose, baseball’s all-time hits leader, the man who turned more singles into doubles than most of us turn coffee into energy, has passed away at the...
In a district as politically scarred as the 14th of Los Angeles, voter apathy is practically a local pastime. But this election could be different. After all, how many times can you elect a...
Perhaps it will take the death of the last baby boomer—gasping, clinging to an overstuffed armchair and a cherished first edition of Profiles in Courage—to finally bury the myth of Camelot, a...
I came to town to promote my books about a legendary baseball player, including one titled 'The Best There Ever Was.' I saw a ball game while here. And I wound up leaving feeling like I had...
J.D had that rare gift of capturing heartbreak and hope all in one breath. He could take a moment, a feeling, and turn it into something timeless. It wasn’t just music; it was emotion set to...
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s not every day that you find yourself with a front-row seat to the strangest conversation since Socrates asked his disciples to pass the hemlock. But here we are,...
I have always believed that nothing brings a neighborhood together quite like a good old-fashioned scandal. And in our cozy, diverse, and mostly serene Southern California community, we now find...
If the stars align and Kamala Harris ascends to the highest office in the land, it won't just be another presidency. No, my friends, brace yourselves for the dawn of a new era—a magical epoch that...
The Richard Alatorre I knew, the Richard Alatorre who said he had to change the world — and to a great degree, he did just that… that Richard Alatorre dramatically altered the...
WHEN I ELOPED with my girlfriend from college, my best friend had a good laugh at my expense. "People don't elope to Waxahachie, Texas," he said. "Las Vegas, man. People elope to Las Vegas." it...
Roberta Dos Santos Busby, a Brazilian-born exotic dancer, gets too choked up with emotion and can’t finish the thought: That people now stare at her because of the extensive scar tissue from burns...
Does Donald Trump like his yes-men a little on the unusual side? Or why is his GOP running mate JD Vance wearing mascara? Is it just those baby blues that make it look like he's got Hillbilly Elegy...
I HAVE BEEN A DEI writer all my life, I suppose, without ever knowing about it even when the invisible branding behind my back by some editors and insecure, fucked up colleagues was there for...
Nearly sixty years after JFK's assassination, recent incidents involving the denial of protection to presidential candidates Robert Kennedy Jr. and Donald Trump, combined with revelations of budget...
Pete Rose, the man with more hits than anyone in the history of Major League Baseball, this titan of baseball is conspicuously absent from the Hall of Fame. The reason? He gambled on baseball....
Vice President Harris stands on the threshold of history to become not only the first woman but also the first Black woman elected President of the United States but facing a country experiencing...
By TONY CASTRO A few days ago, a famished orange stray cat jumped into our front patio, perhaps trying to escape this summer's record-high heat not only in Los Angeles, but throughout the country. A...
The Surprising Agenda of the New President The Better Angels Initiative including a new reality TV show, “Angel Apprentice,” the Ask-Not Challenge includes a call for public service, encouraging...
Elon Musk decided that California is no longer big enough for his ambitions and with a flick of his diamond-encrusted spurs, has announced that SpaceX, Tesla, and X (formerly Twitter) will all be...
It's a scene straight out of a Clooney heist movie, but instead of robbing a casino, he's plotting an escape from the land of the free and the home of the increasingly conservative ahead of a second...
"I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad... The dollar buys a nickel's worth... shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and...
