Best Sugar Dating Sites—Find a Sugar Daddy or Sugar Baby (2025)

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Best Sugar Dating Sites—Find a Sugar Daddy or Sugar Baby (2025)

Published in cooperation between Lust Panther and the East Bay Express

Are you tired of the same old dating scene? Looking for something with a little more luxury? Welcome to the world of sugar dating sites, where sugar babies and sugar daddies find mutually beneficial relationships that are as exciting as they are straightforward.

Whether you’re a successful man eager to spoil someone special, or a stunning woman craving a lavish lifestyle, sugar dating opens up a whole new world of possibilities.

In 2025, the landscape is more diverse than ever, with a range of platforms to choose from. 

But with so many options, how do you know where to find the real deal—a genuine sugar daddy or baby?

Don’t worry—we’ve done the legwork for you. 

From elite sugar dating matchmaking services to more casual, no-strings sugar platforms, here’s your ultimate guide to the 10 best sugar daddy sites this year.

First Look—10 Best Sugar Daddy Sites

Looking for a bit more detail? Here are our reviews for the best sugar daddy websites and tips on how to find a sugar daddy online:

Top Sugar Dating Apps and Sites, Reviewed

1. Secret Benefits—Discreet Sugar Daddy Site

SecretBenefits BannerSites

Top Features

  • Strict photo verification system 
  • Convenient credit system (pay per action)
  • Discreet billing 
  • Over 100,000 active users (weekly)

Pricing

  • Free sign-up
  • 100 credits: $59
  • 500 credits: $169
  • 1,000 credits: $289

Secret Benefits takes one of the top spots for its ease of use and balanced gender ratio.

Sign-up is a breeze and typically takes less than five minutes for daddies and 10 minutes for babies.

And although Secret Benefits profiles aren’t the most detailed, sugar babies are required to upload photos and videos before verification, which makes it easy for daddies to choose between profiles.

Convenient for one of the best sugar daddy sites.

The sugar dating site is also big on user privacy, as billing is discreet. Because sugar daddies have to purchase credits to send messages and view babies’ secret photos, the platform remains out of reach for fake sugar daddies.

No need for lengthy questionnaires or detailed bios. Just create an account and access the vast sea of hot sugar babies in search of love, affection and, of course, special treatment. 

It’s that easy.

Join Secret Benefits today to kickstart your discreet sugar dating adventure

2. SugarDaddy.com—Well-Known Sugar Dating Site

SugarDaddyCom BannerSites

Top Features

  • Inclusive sugar dating site
  • Sign up for free
  • More women than men
  • Not the cheapest for sugar daddies

Pricing

  • 100 credits: $59
  • 500 credits: $169
  • 1,000 credits: $289

SugarDaddy is among the best sugar dating sites online, known for its simple and straight-forward approach to sugar dating. 

Here you can sign up as a sugar baby or a sugar daddy, using extensive filtering options to find the best matches near your location. Male users have a large pool of (usually female) sugar babies to choose from, all of whom are looking for a luxurious lifestyle full of fun.

In fact, there are more women than men on SugarDaddy.com—a rare sight in online dating of any kind!

Real sugar dating sites: Join SugarDaddy.com now

3. Ashley Madison—Best Sugar Daddy Websites for Affairs

ashley madison

Top Features

  • Ideal for mature sugar babies
  • Heavy emphasis on discretion
  • No special features for sugar dating
  • Very open-minded user base

Pricing

  •  Free for women 
  • Credit packages: $59 to $250, depending on the bundle

Ashley Madison isn’t a sugar dating site per se; rather, it’s designed to help married people find affair partners. It’s one of the most infamous and best hookup apps of all time. 

It can also be a good place for sugar daddies to find sugar babies and vice versa, given the thousands of users on here.

AM is also nice for anyone who wants discretion, as many on the site have a lot to lose if their status is made public. You can make your profile anonymous, for example, so you don’t need to worry about being found out by friends or family.

Handy.

(Check out our full-length Ashley Madison Review)

There aren’t any special features for sugar daddies or babies here, but if you’re willing to put in a little work, you may just find a mutually fulfilling relationship all the same on this famously risque online dating site.

Signup to Ashley Madison, one of our top sugar dating sites

4. Elite Singles—Best Sugar Dating Site for Long Term Sugar

EliteSingles sitesBanner

Top Features

  • Ideal for finding professional daddies
  • Personality quiz for compatibility
  • Mainly for highly educated people
  • Limited free version

Pricing

  • 1 month for $59.95
  • 6 months for $44.95 per month ($269 total)

Elite Singles aims to be more of a love-based matchmaker than one focused merely on finances, but it still has plenty of opportunities for sugar babies and daddies alike.

Rather than placing emphasis on a man’s bank account, this online dating site focuses on education level. Of course, there’s quite a correlation between having a robust education and high earning potential, so that’s attractive in its own right.

It expects all users to be able to carry their weight from an intellectual standpoint, so if you’re planning to rely solely on your looks, this might not be the place for you.

All users have to fill out a personality profile, and the site will then try to match you with compatible people.

Sugar dating sites: Find a long-term sugar relationship on Elite Singles

5. SugarDaddyMeet—Best Sugar Daddy Site for the Rich

SugarDaddyMeet BannerSites

Top Features

  • Only accepts rich men from the 20 wealthiest countries
  • Top-notch search function
  • Lots of competition for sugar babies
  • Reputable sugar daddy site

Pricing

  • Free for women
  • $24 to $50 per month for men
  • $20 to $35 per month for women

SugarDaddyMeet only accepts applications for sugar daddies if they come from one of the 20 richest countries in the world.

The search functions are excellent, allowing both sugar daddies and sugar babies to find exactly what they’re looking for in just a few clicks. Refine by age, location, annual income and much more.

You get straight to the point.

This site has significantly more women than successful men, so there’s quite a bit of competition on here. You’ll have to make a bold move to stand out in the crowd.

Sugar dating sites: Stand out on SugarDaddyMeet

6. Victoria Milan—High Security Sugar Daddy Site

victoria milan

Top Features

  • Best choice to keep sugar dating anonymous
  • Automatic app logout feature
  • Panic button to terminate app swiftly
  • 256-bit top-level SSL security

Pricing

  • Free basics
  • $119.94 total for a 6-month subscription

Just like Ashley Madison, Victoria Milan isn’t really a sugar dating site. It was actually made to serve as a haven for married, wealthy men to find discreet affairs.

However, Victoria Milan outlasts other sugar daddy sites because of its first-rate security. Built with top-grade SSL security, hackers will never penetrate this site, ensuring complete protection of your sensitive data.

Flirt worry-free with VM sugar babies with its security features. You can use its panic button in case your partner suddenly peeks at your device. Click this button, and the site will be terminated in a heartbeat.

The only downside to VM is its high-priced premium features. But if you really dream of pampering your sugar babies uninterrupted, don’t mind the exorbitant cost and avail yourself of Victoria Milan’s premium membership now.

Sugar dating sites: Join Victoria Milan and enjoy discreet fun with your sugar baby

7. Luxury Date—For Successful Older Sugar Daddies

Luxy BannerSites

Top Features

  • Member verification feature
  • Secret photo gallery
  • Advanced filtering options
  • Plenty of young women users

Pricing

  • $59 for 100 credits
  • $169 for 500 credits
  • Free signup

Luxury Date is a prominent sugar dating site among old, successful guys seeking the company of young, fresh ladies.

Just like other sugar dating websites, Luxury Date has advanced filters available for quick searching of potential sugar babies. You can sort users according to age, nationality, body type and even hair color.

Potential sugar babies can also upload video introductions to their profile as their proof of verification. We highly recommend sticking with these users if you don’t want to get scammed and flirt only with legit members.

It’s free to register at Luxury Date, but this site is not yet available in some geolocations. But to be fair, this dating site is fairly new in the industry, so it will surely be available in other countries soon.

Sugar dating sites: Check out Luxury Date

8. MillionaireMatch—Bag a Hot Millionaire

millionairematch

Top Features

  • Professional matchmaking
  • Dating coaches
  • VIP memberships
  • Excellent chat functions

Pricing

  • Gold Membership costs $70 per month
  • 3-month offer at $56.67 per month
  • 6-month offer at $45 per month

If you’re after a wealthy sugar daddy—or even a millionaire—MillionaireMatch is the site you need.

Every guy here is wealth-verified, so you can trust they’re the real deal.

The site uses professional matchmakers to pair stunning women with successful men, and there’s a VIP option that helps craft your profile to perfection. After that, the matchmakers get to work, finding your perfect match in the database.

You can even have your dates arranged for you, so all you need to do is show up, look fabulous  and enjoy the ride. It’s always nice to have options, right?

Expect to find a mix of CEOs, pro athletes, supermodels, celebs and hot entrepreneurs in the potential pool.

Your perfect daddy could be just a click away …

Find a millionaire sugar daddy on MillionaireMatch

9. EliteMeetsBeauty—Best Sugar Mama App for Male Babies

EliteMeetsBeauty BannerSites

Top Features

  • Good for men who want to be sugar babies
  • Boasts a quality app
  • Mainly geared towards Europeans
  • Good for sugar mommas (i.e., female sugar daddies)

Pricing

  • 1 month: $69.99
  • 3-month package: $59.99 per month ($179.97 total)
  • 6-month package: $49.99 per month ($299.94 total)

Formerly known as RichMeetBeautiful, EliteMeetsBeauty aims to pair rich people with beautiful ones.

It does have a fair amount of women on the “rich” side, so this is one of the best sites for any man hoping to find a sugar mama.

Yes, guys can be sugar babies, too.

And. yes, women can be “sugar mommas.”

The site has a reliable app that works for both Android and iOS, and the site supposedly verifies each new account manually.

It’s primarily geared towards a European audience, so users elsewhere might find slim pickings to be had.

Sugar dating sites: Find a sugar momma on EliteMeetsBeauty

10. Sugarbook—Easy-to-Use Sugar Daddy Site

Sugarbook BannerSites

Top Features

  • Massive user base of over 700,000
  • Can support sugar babies’ education
  • Super intuitive web interface
  • Available in five languages

Pricing

  • $71.90 per month (includes 1,000 coins)
  • $39.95 per month for a 6-month plan (includes 5,000 coins per month)
  • Free to join

It’s fun to visit sugar daddy sites and apps, but some might be headache-inducing because of their convulsive interface.

Luckily, we have Sugarbook, a sugar dating site with a clean and easy-to-use web interface. From login (you can use Facebook or Email) up to sugar dating itself, Sugarbook will guide you throughout the process.

To help you find the perfect sugar baby to spoil, Sugarbook has filters to narrow down searches based on age, ethnicity, lifestyle, education and more.

We also love that Sugarbook promotes education sponsorship for promising ladies.

Sugar daddies can use the platform to give school allowances to their sugar babies as long as the latter maintain their high grades.

On top of that, sugar daddies can also help their sugar babies create a strong network with other successful tycoons and personalities in the industry.

Sugar dating sites: Try Sugarbook to hook your next sugar baby

Best Sugar Dating Sites—Finding a Sugar Daddy FAQs

Got questions about using a sugar daddy dating site and how it works? Look no further.

How Do Sugar Daddy Sites Work?

Sugar daddy sites connect individuals who are looking for mutually beneficial relationships, often involving financial support, gifts or a luxurious lifestyle in exchange for companionship. 

Users create profiles, browse matches and communicate through the platform. Many sites, like Secret Benefits and SugarDaddy.com, offer features like private messaging and video calls, to help you find the right match, without too much effort. 

Can I Find a Long-Term Relationship on a Sugar Daddy Site?

Yes, it is possible to find a long-term relationship on a sugar daddy site. While some people prefer a casual arrangement, many are looking for something that lasts longer. 

The key is to find someone whose goals align with yours, whether that’s traveling together, enjoying fine dining or building a deeper connection.

Is Being a Sugar Baby Legal?

Yes, being a sugar baby is legal in most countries. What isn’t legal, though, is getting involved with someone under the age of 18. So, always be sure to verify someone’s age before jumping into a relationship with them.

What Should I Look for in a Good Sugar Dating Site?

Look for sugar dating sites with solid verification systems, clear communication, guidelines and a high-quality user base. 

Sites like MillionaireMatch, Secret Benefits and Luxury Date offer privacy protection, detailed profiles and easy-to-use features that offer a better experience for both sugar babies and sugar daddies. 

Read reviews and user feedback to get an idea of which sites have the best reputations.

How Is Being a Sugar Baby Different from Being an Escort?

Being a sugar baby is different from being an escort because of the law in the United States.

An escort or prostitute is someone who engages in sexual acts for money. There’s a clear, contractual connection between the two parties involved: one hands over the money; the other provides sexual favors.

So, what about sugar babies on dating sites to meet sugar daddies?

Sugar daddy websites, or most of them at least, explicitly state that users are only allowed to discuss money when that payment doesn’t involve a sexual obligation. So, dating, traveling, gifts and so on, but not paying for sex.

Most importantly, however, there’s virtually no chance that anyone will be interested in prosecuting a sugar dating relationship, so long as everything’s consensual and legal, of course.

Want to know more about escorts? Check out our guide to the Best Escort Sites.

Related reading: Best cam sites

How Do I Negotiate a Good Allowance With My Sugar Daddy?

You negotiate a good allowance with your sugar daddy by knowing what you’re worth. If you don’t ask, you won’t get it.

Strategize, ladies

You may want to hold off on negotiations until you’ve gone on a date or two. Use that initial time to impress your potential daddy as much as possible, as this will help you stand out from all the other sugar babies who would be satisfied with less money.

Take time to learn as much as you can about their financial situation, including what they do (so you’ll have an idea of their income level) and what other obligations they have. This will give you an idea of how much they can afford to give you.

Most sugar daddies will bring up the topic first, so there’s no need to broach the subject on your own. Try to make them give out a number first, and if you don’t like it, counter-offer with something better.

Example: “I was thinking something more along the lines of $X.”

It’s also important to negotiate the terms of the relationship, not just the allowance amount. Work out how often you’ll meet, be paid and what form the payment should take. Don’t think of it as an allowance. This is money you’ve earned and that you’re owed.

How Can I Be a Good Sugar Baby? Seven Tips

You can be a good sugar baby with a little know-how and practice.

It’s important to understand that sugar daddies are looking for more than just sexual fulfillment from their sugar babies (and some might not even be looking for that).

What they’re really looking for is a woman who will improve their lives in as many ways as possible. They don’t want sugar babies who will embarrass them or be unable to carry their side of a conversation.

While it may be impossible for any one person to be everything a sugar daddy wants, here is the “dream list” that many daddies would love to see:

1. Be intelligent

If your daddy feels like he has to explain everything to you in simple terms, you’ll quickly become more trouble than you’re worth.

Harsh but true.

2. Be attractive and stay in shape

This is a big one, obviously. Keep yourself in good shape, and be able to keep up if your daddy is into athletic activities like hiking or kayaking.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but you need to keep on top of your health and fitness regardless.

3. Drama is not attractive

Many sugar daddies, or mommas, turn to the lifestyle because they recently left high-drama relationships. They have enough stress in their lives from making the big bucks at work. They’re just hoping for something more agreeable in their downtime.

4. Have a decent sense of humor

They need someone who knows how to have a good time, and bonus points if they can keep up when they have friends or family over.

5. Try to have some worldliness about you

You don’t necessarily need to have seen the entire planet—most sugar daddies will be happy to take you to new places, after all. However, if you’re clueless about current events or basic history and geography, you could end up embarrassing your sugar daddy.

Yikes.

6. Be vulnerable from time to time

Nobody wants a sugar baby who feels like a mercenary. Don’t be afraid to show your softer side or let your emotions come out every now and then. As long as you’re not constantly needing reassurance, your sugar daddy will be thrilled with the real you.

7. Be adventurous and exciting

No, we’re not just talking about what happens in the bedroom (although the bedroom is definitely part of the equation). Be willing to try new things, whether it’s a unique food or a cool experience.

Your benefactor wants a partner in crime, not a wet blanket.

Are Sugar Dating Sites Free for Women?

Yes, most sugar dating sites are free for women. The sites generate revenue by charging sugar daddies, who can afford the fees. 

However, if the platform isn’t exclusively for sugar dating, you might need to pay for certain features. But generally, being a sugar baby won’t cost you much—other than maintaining your look.

How Do I Know Where to Find a Sugar Daddy?

The best way to meet rich men is on sugar daddy dating apps like Secret Benefits and SugarDaddy.com. 

These sugar dating sites are very upfront about what they’re used for, so you and your sugar daddy will be on the same page.

What Are the Best Sugar Dating Sites You Know?

The best sugar dating sites I know are the ones we’ve reviewed here, naturally! Depending on what you’re after, whether a quick, sugary fling or something long-term, you should find a suitable site on our list.

What Is the App for Sugar Mamas?

The best app for sugar mamas is probably EliteMeetsBeauty. That is because there is a decent amount of rich and successful women on the site, who very well could be open to spoiling a younger boy.

Best Sugar Daddy Websites, Wrapped Up

By now, you should have a clear idea of how to easily find a sugar daddy (or become one using the best sugar baby websites). 

Whether you’re after a more casual connection on Secret Benefits or a refined experience on Luxury Date, there’s something for everyone, no matter the type of sugar relationship you’re seeking.

While we can’t promise you’ll find your perfect match immediately, these sites give you the best chance at a fulfilling and exciting sugar dating journey.

All that’s left is to sign up and get started on the best dating sites for some sugar.

Stories, sips and sweets await at Mey

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Stories, sips and sweets await at Mey

This has been a stellar year for new bakery openings in the East Bay. To paraphrase Zuzu Bailey’s high-pitched exclamation at the end of It’s A Wonderful Life, “Every time a bell rings a bakery opens.” The list of newcomers includes Tarts de Feybesse, which got its brick-and-mortar up and running in Oakland, and Brian Wood’s second location of Starter Bakery on Solano Avenue. And after two years of cooking cakes and cookies out of her home kitchen for Bench, Sanaz Shariatzadeh has expanded her business into a second and much larger space.

Mey recently opened in the former location of Crixa Cakes on Adeline. Shariatzadeh is slowly but surely filling up the shelves with her takes on quiches, cream puffs, cookies and cakes. An architect turned full-time baker, Shariatzadeh fulfilled her long-term dream of opening a cafe with Bench. But balancing her home life with daily bakes in a residential kitchen was a challenge. “I was baking until I passed out at night,” she said. “I couldn’t stop working because it’s my passion.”

The upside of working from home was it gave her the flexibility to spend time with her kids. But she needed more room. “I wanted commercial ovens. My freezers, everything was small,” Shariatzadeh said. It was also difficult to separate the job from her personal life. “I enjoyed the past two years [at Bench] but at some point I was like, I want to move forward.”

Bench, which actually has a bench that her husband Ali made and installed, embodies Shariatzadeh’s philosophical approach to hospitality. It’s a shared communal space where people can take the time to chill out with a cookie and a cup of tea.

Mey, which means “wine” in Farsi, also has more permeable meanings when it’s used in more poetic contexts. Shariatzadeh has given the new cafe an evocative tagline: Stories, Sips, and Sweets. After we spoke on the phone, she emailed to further clarify the concept of mey. “Rooted in the spirit of Shirazi hospitality, mey reminds us to linger, to savor, and to share—to taste not only what’s on the table, but the beauty of connection itself.”

Retaining some ceremonial aspects of traditional tea and coffee service has been an integral part of the experience at Bench. Shariatzadeh told me in 2023 that she wanted to introduce Persian tea culture to customers in addition to fulfilling everyone’s need for espresso, coffee and lattes. Mey will continue to serve both beverages. “We’re using Highwire Coffee and making cardamom and date lattes, two of the most popular drinks at Bench,” she said.

LINGER AND SAVOR Sanaz Shariatzadeh says the concept of her new cafe, Mey, is rooted in the spirit of Shirazi hospitality—‘to taste not only what’s on the table, but the beauty of connection itself.’ (Photo courtesy of Mey)

My eyes got big as saucers when I stopped by Mey last week. Shariatzadeh’s quiche was the first thing I noticed. The bottom half of my slice was packed with butternut squash. It was similar to Fournée’s quiche, which also has a buttery, flaky crust and a nice filling that rises high. For dessert, I spied a cream puff and swallowed it whole. It was filled with a delightful amount of whipped cream. I hope Mey will add éclairs to the menu, or some version of a cream puff that’s dipped in dark chocolate, because her choux pastry is elegant and tender.

Over the past couple of years, Shariatzadeh has continued to experiment with new recipes. “Now that I have a fridge, I can make cakes and other pastries that I wanted to make at Bench but couldn’t,” she said. Persian roulades were on display as well as spinach and feta hand pies, and pistachio cookies. “I started making cardamom syrups for lattes and in an apple cake,” she said. “But I’m trying to weigh what people like [at Mey]. It’s different here so I’m trying every day to have something new.”

As she settles into Mey, Shariatzadeh will be adding items to the lunch menu. “I’m very into savory stuff,” she said. “At Bench, I started making different frittatas we call kuku in Farsi. We had a cauliflower kuku sabzi, which means herb frittata.”

Shariatzadeh closed her note to me with her defining message of hospitality. “Every pastry and pour carries the warmth of welcome—a celebration of place, of presence, and of the simple joy of being together.”

Mey, 2748 Adeline St., Berkeley. Tue-Sun, 8am to 3pm. IG: @mey_berkeley.

Free Will Astrology: Week of Nov. 26

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Free Will Astrology: Week of Nov. 26

ARIES (March 21-April 19): The Japanese word mushin means “no mind.” In Zen Buddhism, it refers to the state of flow where thinking stops and being takes over. When you are moving along in the groove of mushin, your body knows what to do before your brain catches up. You’re so present you disappear into the action itself. Athletes refer to it as “the zone.” It’s the place where effort becomes effortless, where you stop trying and simply love the doing. In the coming weeks, Aries, you can enjoy this state more than you have in a long time. Ride it with glee!

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): For the foreseeable future, salmon are your spirit creatures. I’ll remind you about their life cycle. They are born in freshwater, migrate to the ocean and live there for years. Then they return, moving against river currents, up waterfalls, past bears and eagles. Eventually, they arrive at the exact stream where they were born. How do they do it? They navigate using the Earth’s magnetic field and their sense of smell, remembering chemical signatures from years ago. I think your own calling is as vivid as theirs, dear Taurus. And in the coming weeks, you will be extra attuned to that primal signal. Trust the ancient pull back toward your soul’s home.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): What if procrastination isn’t always a problem? On some occasions, maybe it’s a message from your deeper self. Delay could serve as a form of protection. Avoidance might be a sign of your deep wisdom at work. Consider these possibilities, Gemini. What if your resistance to the “should” is actually your soul’s immune system rejecting a foreign agenda? It might be trying to tell you secrets about what you truly want versus what you think you should want.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I’m only slightly joking when I recommend that you practice the art of sacred bitching in the coming days. You are hereby authorized to complain and criticize with creative zeal. But the goal is not to push hard in a quest to solve problems perfectly. Instead, simply give yourself the luxury of processing and metabolizing the complications. Your venting and whining won’t be pathological, but a legitimate way to achieve emotional release. Sometimes, like now, you need acknowledgement more than solutions. Allowing feelings is more crucial than fixing things. The best course of action is saying “this is hard” until it’s slightly less hard.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The Chinese concept of yuanfen means that some connections are fated. Certain people were always meant to cross your path. Not soulmates necessarily, but soul-evokers: those who bring transformations that were inscribed on your destiny before you knew they were coming. When you meet a new person and feel instant recognition, that’s yuanfen. When a relationship changes your life, that’s yuanfen. When timing aligns impossibly but wonderfully, that’s yuanfen. According to my analysis, you Leos are due for such phenomena in the coming weeks—at least two, maybe more. Some opportunities appear because you pursue them. Others were always going to arrive simply because you opened your mind and heart.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Let’s talk about a forest’s roots. Mostly hidden from sight, they are the source of all visible life. They are always communicating with each other, sharing nourishment and information. When extra help is needed, they call on fungi networks to support them, distributing their outreach even further. Your own lineage works similarly, Virgo. It’s nutrient-rich and endlessly intertwined with others, some of whom came long before you. You are the flowering tip of an unseen intelligence. Every act of grounding—breathing deeply, resting your feet, returning to gratitude—is your body’s way of remembering its subterranean ancestry. Please keep these meditations at the forefront of your awareness in the coming weeks. I believe you will thrive to the degree that you draw from your extensive roots.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): You are currently in a phase when it’s highly possible to become both smarter and wiser. You have a sixth sense for knowing exactly how to enhance both your intellectual and emotional intelligence. With this happy news in mind, I will remind you that your brain is constantly growing and changing. Every experience carves new neural pathways. Every repeated thought strengthens certain connections and weakens others. You’re not stuck with the brain you have, but are continuously building the brain that’s evolving. The architecture of your consciousness is always under construction. Take full advantage of this resilience and plasticity!

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The coming weeks will be a favorable time to stand near what you want to become. I advise you to surround yourself with the energy you want to embody. Position yourself in the organic ecosystem of your aspirations without grasping or forcing. Your secret power is not imitation but osmosis. Not ambition but proximity. The transformations you desire will happen sideways, through exposure and absorption. You won’t become by trying to become; you will become by staying close to what calls you.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Some seeds can remain dormant for centuries, waiting for the right conditions to germinate. The oldest successfully germinated seed was a 2,000-year-old date palm seed. I suspect you will experience psychospiritual and metaphorical versions of this marvel in the coming weeks. Certain aspects of you have long been dormant but are about to sprout. Some of your potentials have been waiting for conditions that you haven’t encountered until recently. Is there anything you can do to encourage these wondrous developments? Be alert for subtle magic that needs just a little nudge.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Orb weaver spiders make seven different types of silk, each engineered for different purposes: sticky silk for catching prey, strong silk for the web’s frame, stretchy silk for wrapping food and soft silk for egg sacs. In other words, they don’t generate a stream of generic resources and decide later what to do with them. Each type of silk is produced by distinct silk glands and spinnerets, and each is carefully tailored for a particular use. I advise you to be like the orb weavers in the coming weeks, Capricorn. Specificity will be your superpower.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Benevolent gossip is the practice of speaking about people not to diminish them but to fondly wonder about them and try to understand them. What if gossip could be generous? What if talking about someone in their absence could be an act of compassionate curiosity rather than judgment? What if you spoke about everyone as if they might overhear you—not from fear but from respect? Your words about others could be spells that shape how they exist in the collective imagination. Here’s another beautiful fact about benevolent gossip: It can win you appreciation and attention that will enhance your ability to attract the kind of help and support you need.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Every 21,000 years, the Sahara Desert transforms into a lush green savanna. It’s due to precession, which is a wobble in the Earth’s axis. The African seasonal monsoon becomes much stronger, bringing increased rainfall to the entire area. The last time this occurred was from about 11,000 to 5,000 years ago. During this era, the Sahara supported lakes, rivers, grasslands and diverse animal and human populations. I’m predicting a comparable shift for you in the coming months, Pisces. The onset of luxuriant growth is already underway. And right now is an excellent time to encourage and expedite the onset of flourishing abundance. Formulate the plans and leap into action.

Homework: Give yourself a pep talk about how to thrive when other people aren’t at their best. Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com

Modern-day oracle rises from West Oakland

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Modern-day oracle rises from West Oakland

Out of an obscure corner in West Oakland, singer/songwriter Nia Cephas arrived like a modern-day oracle with a marvelous debut album, Cosmicpolitan. Positioned to be released by Little Village Foundation at a no-fee event Nov. 21 at Amoeba Berkeley, the album’s eclectic 11 tracks channel the influence on Cephas of bossa nova, samba, Middle Eastern folk, pop, blues, reggae and jazz music.

Timeless themes and wisdom-of-the-ages lyrics find flight on the wings of songs written by Cephas. Recorded over a one-year span at Kid Andersen’s Greaseland Studios in San Jose, every indication in her first release is that the 26-year-old is a fast-rising artist worthy of the spotlight.

Cephas is also a guitarist, and on the album some tracks have her playing acoustically with multi-instrumentalist Rick Andersen. Other songs are backed by a full band, notably including several award-winning musicians. Among the impressive group are keyboardist Jim Pugh, head of Little Village Foundation; Grammy-winning bassist Jerry Jemmott; drummer Gary Novak; and others. Cephas’ mother, Roseanne Duarte, gets into the act, singing backup and playing piano. 

Cosmicpolitan was produced by Kid Andersen, Pugh and award-winning blues singer/songwriter Alabama Mike—who happened to play a vital role in Cephas’ career and, specifically, in “400 Years,” a song on the new album.

Cephas had the good fortune to cross paths with the celebrated Alabama-born, now-Oakland resident Mike on the front stoop of his cousin’s home. Learning she sang and played guitar, he invited Cephas to join them. She did, singing her “400 Years” and causing Mike to later have her sit in with his band for a show in Berkeley. One opportunity led to another and ultimately, to Pugh’s Little Village Foundation signing a deal to produce her first album.

In an interview, Cephas said she wrote “400 Years” during a time of intense emotional turmoil. It was 2020, when Covid and the Black Live Matters movement demanded  attention—as did stories of unarmed people of color being targeted, injured or killed by police officers meant to protect them. Cephas’ father is African American; her mother, Brazilian.

“I always wondered if I’d have an experience where officers unduly stripped me of my rights,” Cephas said. “That song tells the story of African American people over 400 years. One line says, ‘Help us glow like a light bulb burn long.’ That’s a reference to inventor Lewis Latimer who assisted in creating an element in light bulbs that helps them burn longer.” 

Other lines relate to additional historical stories and collectively support a declaration of resistance against oppression: “We not gonna take it no mo’.”

Another standout track, “Frequencia,” is written partially in Portuguese and unleashes Cephas’ spontaneous, scatting voice. “I was nervous about scatting, but I was alone in the studio with just Kid and myself,” Cephas said. “I felt very free. I was giggling and laughing. The Portuguese came in because my mother is Brazilian. It was hard to mix my African American and Latino cultures on the album, but I have dual citizenship and really, multiculturalism—my ancestry—is the foundation of America.”

“Borderland” is captivating, largely due to the Middle Eastern traditions that allow Cephas to vary the song’s tempos and to employ the two sides of her voice that can be gentle, lyrical and hypnotic, or flip without disruption into highly percussive tone and articulation.

“Kid plays the oud [a lute-type string instrument] that gives that Middle Eastern flare,” Cephas said. “I felt powerfully about the genocide happening in Gaza and had put together an [ad-hoc] group in Berkeley to protest. We started a movement that ended with a candlelight vigil. The song speaks on going into yourself and going what I call ‘god mode,’ which reflects my spiritual journey.”


That journey includes a horrific car accident that in 2019 nearly ended her musical career, if not her life. “I woke up in the hospital with tubes down my throat,” Cephas said. “I almost lost both of my legs, but they were able to put titanium rods within my femurs. All the nerves in my dominant hand were severed, and the bones were shattered.”

Cephas refused to accept the doctors’ prognosis that it would take one year to walk and that the use of her right arm was impossible without extensive surgeries. Instead, she walked in about two weeks and, after intense therapy, returned her arm to functionality.

“The experience solidified my belief in my true reality and the power and potential of the human body and mind,” she said.

Soon, Cephas embarks on a three-month tour in Brazil, where she is excited to connect with a culture and audiences who are part of her lineage. In the future she hopes to collaborate with artists and bands steeped in roots and mainstream music, along with other musical genres, such as electronic music.

Nia Cephas plays a free show in-store at Amoeba Berkeley at 5pm on Friday, Nov. 21. She joins Alabama Mike & the Revelators at The Sound Room, 3022 Broadway in Oakland on Dec. 7. For more info, visit gaiaversemusic.com.

Brad Brooks goes ‘heavy’ soul rocker

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Brad Brooks goes ‘heavy’ soul rocker

Oakland singer, songwriter and bandleader Brad Brooks was at the dentist, having his teeth cleaned, when a dental assistant noticed a bulge on the side of his neck. Further investigation established that the lump was cancer. He underwent surgery and radiation treatments, but it took a toll on his voice and his psyche.

“I was told that there’s a 90% cure rate with this kind of cancer,” Brooks said, “but you also go through hell for a year. After the surgery and radiation, I lost 40 pounds. I kept singing for about a month and a half, but after day 12 of getting radiation, I stopped for a couple of months. I could hardly swallow or talk.

“As I was recovering from cancer and processing it, I wrote a couple of songs about my journey: ‘Burn It Off’ and ‘Scared I Was,’” Brooks said. “They appear on the album I released a few years back, God Save the City. It took me a little over a year to get back on track. My ‘new’ voice helps when I’m belting out the rock-and-blues tunes, but for the more delicate songs, it took a toll.”

After he’d finished writing the songs for God Save the City, Brooks went into the studio with his band and recorded them. “The band played live, all in the same room, with maybe three takes, max,” he said. “We had a blast making it. Adam Rossi, our keyboard player, produced it and got the best out of me vocally. At the beginning, my voice was still a bit compromised from my cancer. As we got farther along, my voice got stronger, so he was really great with me, as well as having a great touch with everyone else in the band.”

The music on the album covers a wide swath of styles. There’s rock, funky R&B, ballads, pop tunes and soul. “Musically, I’ve always had a pretty broad palette, but I knew I wanted this one to be my soul record,” he said. “I’ve always been a soulful rock singer, but I felt like I’d only occasionally touched on that part of my style. I needed to go further into it.”

With the help of the band—guitarists Erik Schramm and Pie Fiorentino, drummer Andrew Griffin, bass player Joey DiBono, percussionist and backing vocalist Vicki Randle, and backing singer Loralee Christensen—Brooks captured the energy of a live performance. “I wanted it to be as raw and real as possible. It’s also a very political record, and I stand firmly behind it,” he said.

The album kicks off with the title track, a rocker driven by the rhythm section of Griffin and DiBono and a vocal from Brooks, that often slides up into the falsetto range. “It’s an anti-gentrification anthem about what I was witnessing in Oakland and the Bay Area,” Brooks said. “Unfortunately, with what’s going on today—racism, Covid, Trumpism and other things—it feels like we’re headed down that dark road again.”

A slow R&B bassline introduces “Why Do You Hurt,” a song that expresses the bewilderment people experience when they pick a fight with a loved one. Randal and Christensen supply wordless, gospel-tinted harmonies that add emotional depth to Brooks’ lead vocal.

Since he releases his music on his own, Brooks promotes his albums by himself. To that end, he played a show with Rossi at the Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley. It was a book release party for Grace, a graphic novel about Jeff Buckley, by Tiffanie DeBartolo. “I met Wayne Kramer, guitar player for the MC5,” he said. “When I told him about my cancer, he reached up to his neck and showed me his cancer scar. We bonded, stayed in touch and started writing songs together.”

Kramer made demos of the songs he was writing with Brooks. He showed them to some of his music business connections, including producer Bob Ezrin (Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, Phish). Ezrin said he’d like to make an MC5 record. “Wayne called me up,” Brooks said. “He told me about the record and asked me to sing lead on the songs we’d written.”

They went into the studio with Don Was (Elton John, Garth Brooks, Bob Dylan) on bass, drummer Abe Laboriel (Paul McCartney), Kramer on guitar and Brooks on lead vocals. “We cut 15 songs in four days,” he said. “We were all in the studio together, playing live.”

After the basics were down, some of Kramer’s friends came in to add parts, including Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), Slash (Guns N’ Roses), William Duvall (Alice in Chains) and Dennis Thompson, the original MC5 drummer.

The result is Heavy Lifting, 13 hard-rocking, politically driven tunes, full of the funk, punk and metal guitar pyrotechnics that made the MC5 so influential on the bands that followed in their wake.

While waiting for the album to be released, they did a short, sold-out, eight-city tour. Kramer died of pancreatic cancer in February 2024, nine months before the album came out. “It was a gut punch,” Brooks said. “He was fearless and we need his energy and wisdom now, more than ever.” Brooks channeled his grief into promoting the Heavy Lifting record and the music he made with Kramer.

For an upcoming gig at the Ivy Room in Albany, Brooks will be backed by most of the musicians he worked with on God Save the City. “I’m excited to play with them again,” he said. “I was in the middle of making the MC5 record and then touring with Wayne since we last played out, so it’s been awhile since we got together.”

Brooks said he’s currently working on a new collection. “I’ve been writing with a friend of mine, Tom Ayres. We’ve finished a record’s worth of material that I’m extremely excited about,” he said. “Tom’s one of the most interesting guitar players I know. We don’t know what we’re going to call it yet, but I can’t wait to get those songs out and play them live.”

Brad Brooks and his band will be playing the Ivy Room on Nov. 21 at 8pm, with Anna Hillburg and Bye Bye Blackbirds supporting. Listen to ‘God Save the City’ at bradbrooks.bandcamp.com. ‘Heavy Lifting,’ his album with the MC5, can be heard on Spotify and other digital platforms.

Social Eyes: Week of Nov. 20-26

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Social Eyes: Week of Nov. 20-26

THURSDAY, NOV. 20

PUNK

THE MUTANTS

When asked to list the names of influential bands in the area, several names will pop up: The Avengers, Dead Kennedys, Flipper and Operation Ivy. However, the Mutants remain one of the most underrated of early Bay Area punks. True ’77 punk, the band first formed in that seminal punk year, inspired by the burst of creative energy they saw around them. They played religiously throughout the state until the mid-’80s but would always reunite sporadically in the decades to follow. In 2022 they released their latest album, Curse of the Easily Amused, an archival collection that absolutely rips and should be a staple in any local punk’s collection. – MAT WEIR

INFO: Thu, 7:30pm, Ivy Room, 860 San Pablo Ave., Albany. $15. 510.526.5888.

FRIDAY, NOV. 21

JAZZ

ALICE COLTRANE TRIBUTE 

In the nearly two decades since Alice Coltrane’s death in 2007 at the age of 69 her musical and spiritual journey has gained increasing recognition as an enduring source of inspiration inside and outside of jazz. The music she created in the decades after the loss of her husband, saxophone legend John Coltrane, reverberates more widely than ever, and her legacy has been well tended by her kin. As part of the John & Alice Coltrane Home’s Year of Alice project, and in the first for the Bay Area, vocalist Sita Michelle Coltrane—daughter of Alice and step-daughter of John—presents an evening of Alice’s music. She’s joined by a stellar cast of collaborators. – ANDREW GILBERT

INFO: Fri, 8pm, The Freight, 2020 Addison St., Berkeley. $44-$49. 510.644.2020.

FRIDAY, NOV. 21

THEATER

‘CABARET’

Directed and choreographed by Erika Chong Shuch, John Kander’s and Fred Ebb’s Tony award-winning musical is in terrific hands. Given the reins to ride this Tony Award-winning musical, Shuch introduces a production that blends the terrifying rise of 1930s Naziism and fascism with today’s no-less-horrifying escalation of violent antisemitism, anti-Asian rage, xenophobia, gender identity battles and authoritarianism. Notably but not surprisingly, given the talented cast, emerging from the gritty nightlife of the Kit Kat Club comes a tender love story between a young novelist and a cabaret singer. Equally nuanced, the club’s emcee fights like a tiger for other characters, and underneath all the ferocity caresses their hearts and their struggles with unexpected gentleness. – LOU FANCHER

INFO: Fri, 7pm, Oakland Theater Project at FLAX art & design, 1501 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. $10-65. 510.646.1126.

SATURDAY, NOV. 22

BLUES

TERRIE ODABI

Over the past 15 years, Oakland vocalist Terrie Odabi has carried the Bay Area blues torch around the world, performing at top festivals, clubs and theaters. She’s a powerhouse who can calibrate her performances for intimate spaces like the Sound Room, leaning into material that calls on her soulful croon as well as her incantatory belting. Whatever dynamic she dials into, Odabi delivers her music with embracing warmth. She might sing about hard times, but she makes it clear that she’s throwing a party to which everyone’s invited. Featuring guitarist Kurt Crumpler, bassist Charles Spikes, saxophonist Danny Sandoval, drummer Pierre Parker and keyboardist Simon Russell, Odabi’s band is a formidable combo. – AG

INFO: Sat, 7:30pm, The Sound Room, 3022 Broadway, Oakland. $35. 510.708.9691.

SATURDAY, NOV. 22

HIP-HOP

WAX

Wax is mostly a rapper, also a producer, partly a singer and sometimes a comedian. His songs hit sideways, sometimes confessional and full of everyday poetry, sometimes cocky and sly. On his “Lifetime Achievement Award” tour, he leans into the warm, lo-fi storytelling on his 2025 album, still with that combo of sharp-tongued humor and disarming honesty. He’s seen highs and lows, laughed at both and made them rhyme. – SONYA BENNETT-BRANDT 

INFO: Sat, 8pm, Cornerstone, 2367 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. $33. 510.214.8600.

SATURDAY, NOV. 22

THEATER

MANUAL CINEMA

The witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth famously cackle and chant: “Double, double toil and trouble.” But in Manual Cinema’s The 4th Witch, the story of a young girl orphan who becomes “unwittingly apprenticed” to the Weird Sisters is told entirely without text through shadow puppetry, actors in silhouette, sound and live music. This Cal Performances co-commission follows her as she chooses between reconciliation and vengeance. The show will be followed by a discussion with Manual Cinema, including a behind-the-scenes glimpse into how the production was created—by theatrical magic. – JANIS HASHE

INFO: Sat, 8pm, Cal Performances at Zellerbach Hall, 101 Zellerbach Hall., #4800, Berkeley. $48-$55. 510.642.9988.

SUNDAY, NOV. 23

COMEDY

JOHN MULANEY

John Mulaney’s “Mister Whatever” tour gives the razor-sharp comic extra edge. Known for precise timing, boyish charm and surreal storytelling, Mulaney continues to turn neuroses into high art. Now he’s reflecting on reinvention, recovery and the absurdities of adulthood, fatherhood and personhood. This go-around he’s a little more unfiltered, and the result is his biggest tour yet. Every master comedian turns their midlife crisis into a punchline, and Mulaney’s is perfectly crafted. – SBB

INFO: Sun, 7pm, Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. $270. 510.893.2300.

SUNDAY, NOV. 23

FILM

‘MOANA’ LIVE-TO-FILM

Disney Concert’s full-length screening of this award-winning animated film is made buoyant by the accompanying live music ensemble. The boisterous score’s Polynesian rhythms and songs like “How Far I’ll Go,” “You’re Welcome” and “Shiny” will likely have audience members, especially the younger set, performing a singalong. Moana tells the story of the determined, independent-minded daughter of a village chief. Setting sail to recover a mystical relic and save her community and its culture, the production exudes hope, resilience, strength, courage and pride in lineage. That’s a heavy load, but in no way burdensome. Lift your spirits; leave inspired. The two-hour-and-10-minute performance includes one intermission. – LF

INFO: Sun, 1pm, Cal Performances at Zellerbach Hall, 101 Zellerbach Hall #4800, Berkeley. $38-94. 510.642.9988.

MONDAY, NOV. 24

FILM

A NOSTALGIC NIGHT WITH MACAULAY CULKIN

Can it be true that it’s been 35 years since Macaulay Culkin portrayed the wily Kevin McCallister in the original Home Alone? Apparently, because Oakland’s Paramount Theatre is celebrating the anniversary of the ’90s classic with a screening of the film, followed by a moderated interview with Culkin, discussing the making of the movie, his favorite memories and why he thinks it’s become so beloved. A limited number of VIP tickets available for super-fans will include access to “an exclusive post-show Q&A.” Because, you know, he made his family disappear. – JH

INFO: Mon, 7:30pm, Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. $61-233. 510.893.2300.

TUESDAY, NOV. 26

ROCK

THE MARS VOLTA

For 24 years, the Mars Volta have stood at the forefront of experimental art-rock. Born from the ashes of influential El Paso act At The Drive-In, founding members Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López have kept the band a favorite among fans with their explosive live shows and carefully crafted concept albums. After making a huge mark on the mainstream music scene in the early 2000s, the Mars Volta announced a hiatus then broke up in 2013. Nine years later—in a perfectly Mars Volta sort-of-way—they announced their reunion online via coordinates to a location in Los Angeles, where fans could go to hear new music from the band via an art installation. – MW

INFO: Tue, 8pm, Fox Theater, 1807 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. $83-$198. 510.302.2250.

‘Cabaret’ presents subversive oppression as a musical

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‘Cabaret’ presents subversive oppression as a musical

Oakland Theater Project’s (OTP) production of Cabaret, John Kander and Fred Ebb’s Tony Award-winning musical, is poised to set a benchmark. Placed in the hands of director and choreographer Erika Chong Shuch, the story plays up love, political unrest, rising antisemitism and fascism, and the dark underbelly of subversive oppression.

The original Cabaret, written and produced in 1966, was set in 1931 Berlin during the last years of the Jazz Age and amid the ascension of Nazism. The action mostly takes place in the gritty Kit Kat Klub. The narrative centers on the unlikely love story of cabaret singer Sally Bowles and novelist Clifford Bradshaw.

Extending romantic themes is the doomed-from-day-one relationship between a German boardinghouse owner and an elderly Jewish fruit vendor. An androgynous Emcee serves as a mercurial “host,” alluring and poisonous in equal measure. Cabaret pulls taught a complex web created by intermingling brilliant, animated entertainment with stories about cataclysmic forces that act upon individuals and within countries.

Since its Broadway premiere, the production has had numerous revivals touched by numerous directors and choreographers. A 1972 film adaptation had Bob Fosse taking on both roles and establishing his own stylistic benchmark in the world of live theater and cinema.

Shuch in an interview described the process she and the cast chose to follow in pursuing OTP’s version. “It’s a mashup of a speculative future and 1930s Berlin,” she said. “We’re taking the broad themes and asking, ‘What are the conditions that would allow the rise of fascism, Nazism—these cycles that seek to eliminate people without power or resources—to repeat themselves?’ We make it personal, individual.”

Shuch admires Fosse’s choreography, but chose to “lean into the contemporary” and develop movement material with the cast that “celebrates their inherent strengths and instincts.” As the choreographer, she became like a collage artist.

“The movement includes very few moments of unison,” Shuch said. “People use unison as a fall-back because it looks good. [Instead] we created a world that amplifies the differences, similarities and true instincts of this cast.” The casting is intentionally bold. “We would not normally have a Nigerian woman playing Nazi sympathizer [Fraulein Kost],” Shuch added, “and I’ve never seen an Asian woman play Sally.”

Sharon Shao, in the role of Sally, is “explosive, weird, charming” and displays self-awareness rooted in deep humanity. James Mercer II pours the full spectrum of his life experiences into his role as Clifford Bradshaw.

Shuch is hesitant to betray her actor’s trust by speaking on those stories, but insists the end result of the personal and honest process is the emergence of a complex character. Similarly, the beastly otherworldliness rooted in tender, maternal expression found in Deanalís Arocho Resto’s Emcee is multifaceted.

“I’m a mother myself, and I say tender care and the willingness to fight to the death are two sides of the same coin,” Shuch said.

Shuch in rehearsals follows a footpath that leads to a culture she and the cast believe could be paralleled in the broader world. When the stage lights come up on each performance, they are warm, welcoming hosts who recognize that people in 2025 enter the space carrying heavy burdens.

“Audiences do not need to be belittled, shamed or schooled,” Shuch said. “It’s a space for shared reflection, a thought experiment taking Cabaret’s big themes and pulling them out to meditate on, together. We’re standing up against oppressive forces in safe spaces to imagine new possibilities. That’s our jobs as artists; to see and hear each other and create conditions that get us falling in love with each other again.”

‘Cabaret’ plays Nov. 21-Dec. 14 at FLAX art & design, 1501 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. oaklandtheaterproject.org/cabaret

Walk-in art connects with passersby

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Walk-in art connects with passersby

Passersby on the Oxford Street side of the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) are now getting an eyeful of art. The museum’s newly commissioned Atrium Projects features an installation by UC Berkeley MFA grad Sarah Cain, titled “Sarah Cain: To—you know—you.”

The work’s title, according to museum materials, “is inspired by the dedication in Diane Seuss’s poetry collection frank: sonnets (2021), implying a direct and intimate connection with the reader that reflects the spirit of Cain’s own creative practice.”

Passersby were also able to witness the creation of the installation, said BAMPFA Chief Curator Margot Norton, as Cain painted walls, ceiling and placed furniture pieces, canvases and found objects in the Barbara Bakar Atrium. “The response has been remarkable,” said Norton, noting that as soon as the installation opened on Oct. 30, people began sitting on the couches, taking photos and otherwise participating in a piece meant to be participated in.

The inspiration for the Atrium Projects arose during the very successful “Making Their Mark” exhibition, said BAMPFA Executive Director Julie Rodrigues Widholm. A sculpture that had stood in a wall niche in the atrium for years was replaced by a piece from “Making Their Mark,” and it transformed the space, she said. She took the idea of converting the atrium to an immersive space to BAMPFA donors, who loved the idea.

However, the abundant light flooding the atrium, and the fact that BAMPFA doesn’t use gallery monitors there, meant that only certain types of work were appropriate for placement in it—and that led Norton to think of Cain’s art. She’d followed Cain’s work for years, had visited her studio, knew of her connection to the university and was aware she’d created installations in factories, hospitals and many kinds of unconventional spaces, she said.

“To—you know—you” was improvised on-site at the museum, “showcasing Cain’s characteristically intuitive and playfully irreverent approach to painting, which draws from a panoply of styles spanning art history and popular culture, embracing high and low,” according to BAMPFA materials. Brilliant colors swoop over the space and furniture, beckoning viewers to come closer.

“The viewers complete the work,” Norton said. Visiting the installation each day since the opening, she continues to find “details constantly being revealed when you spend time with it.”

Commissioning artists to create work specifically for BAMPFA is incredibly important to both the museum’s mission and its future, Norton said. Like most, if not all, art institutions, it seeks ways to involve visitors more directly and draw in new audiences. Seeing an intriguing installation through a window may well lure in visitors who haven’t bought a ticket yet, she said.

Also, every commissioned show is a platform to support the artist, she emphasized, “thinking beyond what [museums] can traditionally do.” The launch of Atrium Projects “advances BAMPFA’s commitment to commissioning new work from leading contemporary artists, complementing the museum’s Art Wall series as well as the commissioned work on display in the MATRIX program,” according to museum materials.

Since the Cain installation will be in place through June 6, 2027, BAMPFA will use the time to evaluate which artists should be chosen to continue the series, said Widholm. But, “there is brainstorming happening on a daily basis,” Norton said.

Both Norton and Widholm pointed out that the “Atrium Projects” is part of BAMPFA’s rethinking and reactivating of spaces within the museum, including the reopening of its second-floor cafe as the Kopi Bar and Bakery, in partnership with chef Nora Haron. The “Indonesian/Californian” fare includes sandwiches, salads, soups, handmade pastries, coffees and teas. Widholm noted that Haron has brought in pieces from her own collection of antique batiks and other art pieces to complement the food’s themes. Entrance to the museum is not required to visit the cafe.

Atrium Projects, ‘Sarah Cain: To—you know—you,’ BAMPFA, 2155 Center St., Berkeley. Through June 6, 2027. 510.642.0888. bampfa.org

Jane moves into SFMOMA

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Jane moves into SFMOMA

The man behind the coat-check counter took a break from arranging the garments of strangers. He paced across SFMOMA’s lobby towards the museum’s cafe. Behind him, two large canvases flanked both sides of the main entrance hall. As he stepped away from his station, Julie Mehretu’s diptych, HOWL, eon (I, II), provided him with a dramatic backdrop. Their emotional impact would have been negligible had the artist made them small enough to post on a refrigerator door.

HOWL’s scale is meant to have an American-sized impact on the viewer, reflecting the chaotic nature of an unruly citizenry and its angry governors. Pausing for a cup of coffee, the coat-check clerk appeared to step out of and away from Mehretu’s howling world.

Cafes offer a reprieve from daily office routines and errand runs. Museum cafes provide that same sense of escape, but they also serve as gateways to and from imagined people and places. In one of two dining areas, Jane on Third looks onto Third Street or into SFMOMA’s lobby. That second dining room, adjacent to the lobby, also houses one of Chelsea Ryoko Wong’s cheerful murals.

CAFE LIFE In one of two dining areas, Jane on Third looks onto Third Street or into SFMOMA’s lobby. (Photo by Marissa Rae)

Amanda Michael’s office at the museum, in contrast, is white-walled, windowless and sparsely decorated. But it’s strategically situated behind the kitchen, where the founder of Jane the Bakery can hear the clatter of plates and pans reverberating in the hallway.

Michael told me she started Jane during a pause in her culinary career. In college, she’d started working in kitchens and fell in love with baking. “Not to date myself too much but if you were a female in the kitchen, pretty quickly you were relegated to pastry,” she said. The daytime hours of a baker came to suit her later responsibilities as a mom. “You could go in early and finish up.” But Michael stepped out of the workforce when her second child was born because, “You don’t make enough money to pay for childcare.” 

When her kids were older, Michael wanted to return to work on her own terms. “I realized I was a little bit unemployable at that time, you know, just opinionated,” she said. Then in 2011, things “came together in a really great way” for the first location of Jane on Fillmore Street. Michael and her family lived nearby. Without a business plan, she proposed a cafe and bakery before realizing that they’d have to add a food menu to pay the rent. “Cookies and coffee wasn’t going to cover the bills, so we came up with the breakfast-and-lunch format that’s very similar to what we do today,” she said.

The menu has evolved since then. It’s much bigger now, but the general, all-day dining concept with a focus on baking and “healthy, good food” has consistently remained in place. Since 2011, Michael has gone on to open six more locations. Jane on Third is the seventh. The rate of expansion for her has been deliberate and careful, she said. The company hasn’t taken money from outside investors.

“Once you take money and become an investment, your mission changes,” she said. “Success is determined by dollars, not quality, and you’re beholden to somebody else.”

Going to each of the seven locations every day isn’t a practical approach to managing the business. But in the course of a week, Michael will visit each store at least once. “If I’m in Marin, I’ll go see those two stores and try to spend a good chunk of the day with the teams there,” she said. She’ll work with the bakers on new recipes or discuss holiday menu plans. “We’re always working on new things so I try to get my hands in as much of that as I can.”

When Michael initially opened on Fillmore Street, she didn’t have a long-term plan in mind. “I just knew what I wanted to do with the first store,” she said. When the company needed more space, she was willing to take certain risks. “I don’t have a problem working hard,” Michael said. “I love a challenge, and I like figuring stuff out. For me, I would just rather take the chance.”

Jane on Third, 151 Third St., First Floor, San Francisco. Fri-Wed 9am to 6pm; Thu 9am to 8pm. itsjane.com/location/jane-third

How legacy media fails trans people

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How legacy media fails trans people

The same day that Tyler Robinson shot Charlie Kirk, co-founder of the conservative student organization Turning Point USA, The Wall Street Journal hastily and erroneously reported that the bullets Robinson used were inscribed with “transgender ideology.”

Quickly, advocates and other news outlets, even The New York Times—which has a track record of biased and inaccurate coverage of LGBTQ issues—pushed back, contending that the unvetted report about rampant violence perpetrated by trans people “had gained enough heft to become fixed in the right-wing imagination.”

And it did.

Conservatives had already been using the tragic August 2025 shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school, perpetrated by a transgender woman, to ramp up inflammatory anti-trans rhetoric—and the establishment press played right into their hands. After Kirk’s death, while Rep. Nancy Mace called for all trans people to be institutionalized and used a slur for trans people on the House floor, the Los Angeles Times ran an op-ed by Josh Hammer, a conservative political commentator, who wrote that “transgenderism … found itself implicated in another horrific shooting.”

Hammer’s op-ed was not just an “alternative viewpoint”; it was rife with deliberate misinformation, as underscored in a subsequent letter to the editor that the paper published days later. His use of  “transgenderism,” a derogatory term employed by anti-trans figures, delegitimizes trans identities.

He also suggests trans people are more prone to political violence—a familiar and calculated ploy by those on the right to dehumanize trans people which viciously, in turn, makes them targets. Never mind that countless analyses have concluded that trans people are far more likely to be victims of violence than they are to commit violence against others, or that the out-of-control anti-trans legislation actively puts trans people in danger. When corporate media neglects to emphasize these points, its coverage bolsters anti-trans politics.

And it’s already shaping culture. Robby Starbuck, an adviser on AI bias for Meta, has spent time since his appointment ceaselessly spreading disinformation about “shootings, transgender people, vaccines, crime and protests” online. Eric Bloem, vice president of corporate citizenship at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, told The Guardian, “People should be able to find safe, welcoming communities online. Robby Starbuck pushes a dangerous anti-LGBTQ agenda, spreading disinformation and denying the very existence of transgender people.”

At a time when trans rights are increasingly threatened, Democrats are distancing themselves from trans issues while attempting to forge middle-of-the-road positions on trans issues that might be more palatable to centrists and Republicans.

In June 2025, the Supreme Court ruled, in U.S. v. Skrmetti, that bans on gender-affirming care for transgender minors are constitutional. The court’s 2022 Dobbs decision had included comparable language, reasoning that abortion should be at the discretion of “the people and their elected representatives.” The Dobbs ruling caused a collective uproar for Democrats, who held “press events, hearings and rallies in support of abortion and women’s rights,” as many outlets, including NOTUS, reported.

But when asked if the Skrmetti decision should encourage the left to renew and reinvigorate its support for trans people, Rep. Julie Johnson, co-chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, said that although she believes “health care should be at the right and the role of the parent … the Supreme Court has ruled,” and the Democrats are “either a party that supports the rule of law or not.”

In her 2025 memoir, Kamala Harris stated that the Trump campaign mischaracterized her position in its “Harris is for They/Them” ad. She maintains that although she feels a “deep connection” with transgender people—whatever that means—she has “concerns” over trans-inclusive sports policies. Still, she acknowledged that her campaign failed to give “even more attention to how we might mitigate Trump’s attacks.”

Prior to this, some Democrats attributed Trump’s win to the Harris campaign focusing too much on transgender rights.

“The Democrats have to stop pandering to the far left,” Rep. Tom Suozzi told The New York Times last November. “I don’t want to discriminate against anybody, but I don’t think biological boys should be playing in girls’ sports.”

This oft-repeated concern has been consistently challenged and debunked by both trans advocates and scientific experts. Yet, The New York Times presented Suozzi’s statement without context or correction, treating it as a legitimate position rather than scrutinizing its accuracy or implications.

Joshua D. Safer, executive director of the Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, told the ACLU that “a person’s genetic make-up and internal and external reproductive anatomy are not useful indicators of athletic performance.” Moreover, he said that, for example, “for a trans woman athlete who meets NCAA standards, there is no inherent reason why her physiological characteristics related to athletic performance should be treated differently from the physiological characteristics of a non-transgender woman.”

After Charlie Kirk’s death, the right-wing Heritage Foundation, most famous for its authoritarian Project 2025, called for the FBI to designate “Transgender Ideology-Inspired Violent Extremism,” or TIVE, as a domestic terrorism threat category. This unhinged appeal by the Heritage Foundation arose from a bogus claim by the organization that “50% of all major (non-gang related) school shootings since 2015 have involved or likely involved transgender ideology.” When Wired asked for the data behind this figure, the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project could not properly cite the research. Instead, they supplied a tweet from one of its vice presidents.

This frightening push by conservatives to treat trans people as a national security threat was utterly absent from corporate media outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN. The silence allowed a dangerous narrative to fester unchallenged in right-wing echo chambers, where calls for state surveillance of trans people are becoming more normalized.

Anti-trans legislation and policies further endanger an already marginalized group. But so, too, does shoddy media coverage. For example, The New York Times frequently quotes Tony Perkins, president of the notoriously homophobic and transphobic Family Research Council (FRC), but regularly features his more moderate or more secular claims, rather than representing him and his organization authentically as demagogic and divisive.

The New York Times even described FRC as “a conservative policy and lobbying group” at a time when the Southern Poverty Law Center designated it as an anti-gay hate group that “portray[s] gay men as sexual predators and pedophiles, pushing the fantastic falsehoods that the LGBT rights movement seeks to eliminate age of consent laws and that adoption by gay parents creates a risk of parental sexual abuse.”

These “filtered” versions of the spokespeople for anti-trans organizations skew the public’s perception. When media institutions fail to investigate extremist narratives masquerading as policy—or even uninformed positions—they create space for hateful, fringe ideologies to gain traction under the guise of legitimacy, ultimately bestowing authority on figures and groups that a dutiful Fourth Estate ought to hold accountable.

As attacks on trans communities intensify, both politically and rhetorically, responsible journalism must rise to meet the moment. Anything less is a failure not only of the press but of our shared commitment to truth, equity and basic human dignity.

This story originally ran in Project Censored.

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