Alta Journal contributor Geoffrey Gray investigates Carlos Castaneda's bizarre cult and finds himself entangled in a web of murky financial dealings, sex, and possible foul play. In this 4-minute audio clip, Gray reads from "The Case of the Missing Chacmools." To read the entire article, visit altaonline.com

This very special Alta podcast welcomes young authors and poets from 826 Valencia, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting under-resourced students with their writing skills. Today, we’re meeting at 826’s Tenderloin location with four students whose work has appeared on the 826 Valencia podcast, “Message in a Bottle." Our guests include Sara, age 10, Dax, age 12, Emily, age 13, and Julissa, who’s 18.

Everyone likes a good news — and we're delighted to include some today. Our guest is Bonnie Tsui, a journalist, author and Alta contributor. In our Winter 2020 Issue, Bonnie reports on a program in the Monterey peninsula that offers safe parking lots to homeless people living in their cars. She’s here today to discuss that program—and to provide an update on one of the people profiled in her article. Bonnie author of the award-winning American Chinatown; her next book, Why We Swim, will be published by Algonquin Books in April 2020. Previously for Alta, Bonnie wrote about fighting California’s wildfires from the sky.