Tim Wahl

Timothy Wahl is an ESL teacher, reporter, essayist, and author living in Southern California. His most recent book is “Footballogy: Elements of American Football for Non-Native Speakers of English.”

‘Celtic Woman’ 2022 USA Tour

Songs of pining, love, land, and loss are like magnets to the Emerald Isle. Observed Paddy Maloney, the ...

Music March 1, 2022
Trying to Find ‘Inclusive’ Language Is Like Chasing the End of a Rainbow

Commentary An old saying goes that the more things change, the more they stay the same. In 1988, ...

Opinion March 16, 2021
‘Latinx’ and the Debate Around Gender-Neutral Language

Commentary "My Word" was a public radio quiz show decades ago that deliberated word meanings and word origins. ...

Viewpoints March 4, 2021
Reusing and Recycling is Part of Traditional Culture

Twentieth century American poet T.S. Eliot’s classic poem "The Waste Land" deplored the loss of traditional culture in ...

Viewpoints August 8, 2019
ESL Students From Southeast Asia Inspire Author’s Lifelong Passion

The adage that experience is the best teacher has a profound meaning for Southern Californian Marc Phillip Yablonka, ...

Southern California August 7, 2019
Berkeley Eliminates References to Gender in City Documents

Long known for progressive political activism, Berkeley is again at the forefront to try to change the world ...

Northern California July 25, 2019
Rats: Not Quite as Bad as You Thought

Imagine it’s a brisk morning, and when you’re about to snap up the morning newspaper at the doorstep, ...

Animals December 15, 2017
Wristbands on Quarterbacks

There’s something about that statement fashioned around a quarterback’s wrist. Wary should be any football team whose motherboard, ...

NFL December 13, 2017
A Place Called Home

What could ring more fuzzy-feely this seasonal stretch of year than A Place Called Home? Sounding like a ...

Southern California December 12, 2017
Joe Estevez: Leading a Quiet Life in Front of the Scenes

"Movie Stumpers," a question category on the popular TV game show "Jeopardy," did not stump this contestant: ...

People April 22, 2017
Immigrant Entrepreneurs: The Job Creators We Don’t Always Hear About

While stereotypes may have it that immigrants take jobs from Americans—particularly those Americans shun, like butchering hogs, cleaning ...

US March 28, 2017
Swearing: The New Normal?

Something is happening these days that kicks into gear the old platitude, "Sticks and stones may break ...

Life & Tradition February 26, 2017
Remembering Maggie Kuhn, Firebrand of the Aged

Hardly do clenched fists raised high in revolt invoke images of senior citizens. But in 1970, a recalcitrant ...

Life & Tradition December 1, 2016
Prop 14 Comes Back to Roost

Proposition 14, or the Top Two Primaries Act, approved by California's voters in 2010, was supposed to ...

US October 19, 2016
October: Dysautonomia Awareness Month

October is a popular month for awareness and fundraising for health-related causes. Each cause has a color and ...

Health October 6, 2016
Life Is Made Up of Parts

The cinema's ambience—from the smells and tastes of buttery popcorn to the comfort of the seat and room ...

Entertainment September 29, 2016
Rams Kick Off for Charity Luncheon

Coming back to Los Angeles after a 22-year hiatus, the National Football League's Los Angelees Rams mean ...

NFL September 17, 2016
Juan Gabriel: Virtuous Virtuoso

"You don't know what you have until it's gone" aptly underscores remembrances of Juan Gabriel for his ...

Americas September 8, 2016
The Mixed Bag of Hero Worship

A long-held belief says that the more things change the more they stay the same. Hero worship ...

Life & Tradition August 18, 2016
The First Woman ‘President’

"History doesn't repeat itself," said Mark Twain, "but it sometimes rhymes." Hillary Clinton, the presumptive 2016 presidential nominee ...

US July 1, 2016
Bringing the World Closer Together With Choral Singing

By the time California State University East Bay nailed down a permanent home in Hayward, Calif., in 1959, ...

Arts & Culture June 28, 2016
Futbol Versus Soccer

The Wall Street Journal and NBC News are among sources that offer quantitative data that support the growing ...

Soccer June 24, 2016
Remembering the Holocaust—and Preventing Future Ones

"Never again" is the steady mantra passed on from Holocaust survivors in World War II to succeeding ...

International May 6, 2016
The Growing Problem of Street Racing

Illegal street racing has authorities worried. Not much has seemed to keep the sometimes deadly pastime in check."[T]estosterone-fuelled ...

US May 6, 2016
Superdelegates and the 2016 Campaign

A decades-long fixture in the U.S. presidential nomination called superdelegates is causing a ruckus in both of the ...

US February 26, 2016
YOLA at Super Bowl 50

At a holiday concert in Lafayette Park in Los Angeles last December, the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles ...

NFL February 3, 2016
Californian Supporters Advocate for Sanders Before Iowa Primary

As the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary near, the Bernie Sanders campaign last weekend rolled into Montrose, ...

US January 27, 2016