On September 9th, California turns 175 (a dodransbicentennial, I’m told). Today, one in eight Americans calls this place home, drawn by gold-plated potential that has captivated dreamers for generations: the Gold Rush, Hollywood, Silicon Valley. California is a grand casino, a promise built on luck, myth, and mirage. A fata morgana of West Coast Americana, full of paradox, power, and heartbreak. Our second annual California issue celebrates this spirit.

We start with our food. We asked big-name chefs from around the state to tell us the restaurants and dishes they seek out when they’re on the road in CA. Consider it your bucket-list guide to California cuisine. As a complement, we also take you on a tour of the best wine destinations around the state.

But you’ve gotta listen to something during those long hours on the highway. So we have your soundtrack. We tapped the top music minds from the top music venues, record stores, and radio stations throughout the state to give us their picks for the next big thing in California’s music scene.

Of course, even in a state where all things edible and audible shine and every autumn sunset is an album cover, we are not without our troubles. The California dream of yesterday faces hard limits today. Drought tightens its grip, housing teeters between aspiration and crisis, and the threat of fire remains top of mind. Wildfires, we know, no longer arrive as an exception—they come year-round. So we explore how SoCal innovators are building smarter, safer housing for a future in which fire season doesn’t end. The story shows how California is again facing crises with reinvention, as we have throughout the last century and three quarters and will for the next.

We hope this issue helps you feel connected to a larger sense of home—avocado handcuffs and all.

Pre-order only. Ships September 4th.