Zac Farber

5 days ago | berkeleyside.org | Karen D'Souza |Zac Farber

In fourth grade, Nico Lee dressed up as Miss Hannigan, the heartless head of the orphanage in the classic Broadway musical “Annie,” for Halloween. He put together such a fabulous costume, bedecked in a dress, lipstick and a messy bun, that his mother worried her son might get teased. But she was also proud that he had no qualms about being playful about gender.

1 week ago | berkeleyside.org | Adam Echelman |Zac Farber

​​This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. The Trump administration’s latest vow to “aggressively revoke” Chinese student visas could affect as many 50,000 students in California, a population larger than Palm Springs. Sending those students home would have far-ranging financial impacts. Foreign students not only pay higher tuition than in-state students, but they also feed local economies with the dollars they spend with local businesses.

1 week ago | berkeleyside.org | Zac Farber

A new supercomputer named after a winner of the Nobel Prize in chemistry will help power artificial intelligence technology and scientific discoveries from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, federal officials said Thursday. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced the project Thursday alongside executives from computer maker Dell Technologies and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

1 week ago | berkeleyside.org | Hans Pfeifer |Zac Farber

Editors’ note: This story, originally appearing in German, was first published on the website of Deutsche Welle, a state-owned German news service. George Leitmann was 19 years old when he came to Germany as a soldier. It was the spring of 1945, not long before the end of World War II in Europe. U.S., British and Soviet Red Army soldiers were advancing on all fronts to liberate Europe from the crimes of National Socialism under Adolf Hitler.

2 weeks ago | berkeleyside.org | Sue Fishkoff |Zac Farber

Editors’ note: This story was first published by J. The Jewish News of California. Sasha Velour is one of the most imaginative drag stars working today. Known for her fantastical, multimedia shows, she’s a storyteller at heart whose theatrical performances routinely surprise and move her audiences. But before she became Sasha Velour, she was young Alexander (Sasha) Hedges Steinberg, who celebrated a bar mitzvah and confirmation in Urbana, Illinois, and was always finding ways to get on stage.