Welcome to Daydreaming

Awesome!

Welcome to Daydreaming, the companion blog to our radio series, "California Dreamin'." It's where you and I can talk about our California dreams, and how they're being affected by this crazy economy.

Why are we doing this radio series? Here's a little peek behind the NPR curtain. One day in an editorial meeting we were brainstorming about how to cover the economic trouble people are in, and someone wondered aloud, "How is this going to affect people in the long term; how will it mess with their American Dream?"

"What if we narrowed it to California?" I suggested. After all, this state more than any other is a repository for people's dreams, even if all they know about California is that Jeff Spicoli went to high school here.

And then we noted practically that a) it was summer and the news is usually sparse, so a series would be good to rely on and b) NPR has also been affected by the economy and has no money to send to us on fancy remotes like the ones I took last summer here and here.

So my first story is based in more humble environs. Riverside, California, home to one of the nation's highest foreclosure rates.

We hope you dig the series and weigh in here at the blog about the status of your California dream. Remember, your California Dream doesn't have to be based in California.

--Madeleine Brand

9:35 AM ET | 06-23-2008 | permalink

comments | | e-mail