California

In mid-century America, pioneering engineers, artists and activists put the Golden State on the edge of a changing world.

Car culture and the birth of Silicon Valley transform the state, while the environmental movement fights to preserve its landscape. The 1984 L.A. Olympics bring the California dream to a new generation around the world.

Passenger spaceflights, self-driving cars, and Hollywood blockbusters: California can seem like a land of science fiction. But earthquakes, racial injustice and environmental crises show that it is very much the state of our times.