Announcement of Special Guest: Gustavo Arellano

We’re thrilled to welcome Alta Journal contributing editor and journalist Gustavo Arellano as a special guest to discuss Mecca with its author, Susan Straight, and California Book Club host John Freeman on Thursday.

Arellano was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Opinion Writing in 2026 and for Commentary in 2025. He was also part of the team that won the 2023 Pulitzer for Breaking News.

Alongside Stacey Grenrock Woods, he writes humorous responses in Alta’s Ask a Californian column. Recently, Cranky for Cortado asked, “Why are baristas so snotty? I know they can’t be this haughty in Kansas.” Arellano replied, “Isn’t all café culture snotty, or was that Friends lying to me again? The idea of sipping on something for hours while nibbling on biscotti as hard as concrete and waiting for that one person to give up the one seat next to a wall socket seems antithetical to the California spirit, which demands action—Gaspar de Portolá didn’t trek from San Diego to the Bay and back in 1769 just so the rest of us could frappé away our lives.”

Arellano is also a columnist for the Los Angeles Times and the former editor of the OC Weekly. He recently wrote a newsletter for the L.A. Times that considered the battle for the Los Angeles District 9 council seat.

He has written three books, any of which would be great to check out after Straight’s Mecca: ¡Ask a Mexican! (2007), Orange County: A Personal History (2008), and Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America (2012). ¡Ask a Mexican! gathered the satirical material from Arellano’s syndicated column of the same title at the OC Weekly. The column started as a one-off joke in April 2004 but ultimately ran until 2017, answering such questions as “Why do Mexicans call white people gringos?” At one point, it had a circulation of more than two million in 38 markets. Also funny, Orange County weaves together personal narrative, a family history dating to 1918, and local cultural history to tell a story of the place where Arellano grew up. Taco USA tells tales of Mexican food in the United States, combining anecdotes, history, and cultural criticism. Arellano writes, “Mexican food is as much of an ambassador for the United States as the hot dog, whether either country wants to admit it or not.”

We’re looking forward to a lively Thursday evening with Straight, Arellano, and Freeman and hope you’ll join us.•

Join us on June 18 at 5 p.m. Pacific time, when Straight will sit down with host John Freeman and special guest Arellano to discuss Mecca. Register for the Zoom conversation here.