Zócalo Public Square

The conventional American narrative since the civil rights era has been that states tend to violate our rights, and the federal government intervenes to protect people. But much of American history runs the other way, offering numerous examples of states acting to protect the rights of their people—notably Indigenous peoples, African Americans escaping slavery, and undocumented immigrants—from federal authorities. What’s more, state constitutions, which are relatively easy to amend, typically grant citizens far more rights than the much more difficult-to-amend U.S. Constitution. Are our state capitals better suited than Washington, D.C., to defend our freedoms? What will happen if a more conservative U.S. Supreme Court majority turns more debates over rights into questions for individual states? Do today’s bitter disputes over election and voter suppression at the state level suggest that it’s time to revisit the Voting Rights Act of 1965—or finally add the right to vote to the U.S. Constitution? UC Rivers

The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 proclaimed that celestial objects are “the province of all mankind.” But so far, space travel has been a costly and exclusive province (fewer than 600 people have been in orbit). Today’s headlines about space are dominated by billionaires who dream of escaping their Earth-bound lives or providing new tourist thrills. And the biggest space travel successes in recent memory belong to robots rather than humans. How can we better use space exploration in service of all humanity, not just a favored few? What sorts of social structures and governance practices might make possible greater exploration or even colonization of space? And how might the challenges of traveling through the void of space help us survive an increasingly inhospitable climate here on our home planet? Analog astronaut and geoscientist Sian Proctor, designer and co-founder of Space Exploration Architecture Melodie Yashar, and Lindy Elkins-Tanton, principal investigator of the NASA Psyche Mission and director of t

Many Americans of Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian heritage have thrived in the U.S. through perseverance, resilience, education, and upward mobility, despite waves of discrimination both overt and hidden. Now, COVID-19 has escalated xenophobia and anti-Asian prejudices—from references to “Kung Flu” or the “Chinese virus” to acts of violence across the country. What strategies and tools can help combat this new wave of racism and help prepare the nation for the next wave, which will also likely be triggered by a moment of fear or panic? Can we find inspiration for preventing anti-Asian violence and building a more inclusive culture from diverse communities within the U.S. and around the world? United States Senator Mazie Hirono, Chinese for Affirmative Action Executive Director Cynthia Choi, USC historian and Two Faces of Exclusion: The Untold History of Anti-Asian Racism author Lon Kurashige, and Karthick Ramakrishnan, political scientist and director of the UC Riverside Center for Social Innovation, visi

The United States—once revered for its political stability—now seems gripped by political mania. American discourse, particularly around government and elections, is full of conspiracy theories, paranoia, xenophobia, and overheated denunciations. Such hysteria might be the product of more recent economic dislocation, failed wars, the digital revolution, or divisive elected officials. But perhaps it has deeper roots in America’s imperial history, and the contradictions within the country’s concept of itself. What explains the demented politics of the United States, and other countries in the West? Are the leading thinkers and policymakers of the West, who portray themselves as fighting political fanaticism, making any real progress—or are they making things worse? Essayist and novelist Pankaj Mishra, author most recently of Bland Fanatics: Liberals, Race and Empire, visits Zócalo with Ronald Brownstein, Atlantic senior editor and author of The Second Civil War, to discuss whether the United States has lost it

Across the world, elite politicians, militaries, and powerful business and political groups appear to have a monopoly on representative democracy. By exploiting the resulting discontent, populists and authoritarians have created an international narrative of democracy in decline. But in many regions and countries, including some ruled by autocrats, citizens are collaborating with local and provincial officials to expand participatory and direct democracy so that residents can make decisions themselves. What is the relationship between the seemingly opposing trends of authoritarian nationalism and stronger local democracy? How are people using participatory tools to change their communities, and the world? And what are the future possibilities and perils of direct citizen decision-making? Participatory Budgeting Project executive director Shari Davis, political scientist and “Citizenship and Contemporary Direct Democracy” author David Altman, Taiwan Foundation for Democracy senior fellow and former Taiwan fo

Since 1964, more women than men have voted in every United States presidential election. Yet we still don’t have a woman president or vice president; California, one of the first states to give women the right to vote, is one of 20 states that still hasn’t had a female governor, and Los Angeles has never had a female mayor. Why do women remain much less likely than men to run for office, despite the fact that they win elections at comparable rates (and that in some cases, women have an edge)? What would it take for women to achieve political power equal to that of men both locally and nationally? One hundred years after the U.S. ratified the 19th Amendment, which was meant to guarantee American women the Constitutional right to vote, Johns Hopkins University historian Martha S. Jones, author of Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All, Institute for Women’s Policy Research president C. Nicole Mason, California State Senator and author of the California Fair Pa

Imagine a society where truth and knowledge have no value, people are glued to their screens, and world war feels imminent. Or think of a place enraptured by the seductive promises of a carnival-hawker con man. Sound familiar? The first, of course, is the dystopia of Fahrenheit 451, the story of a firefighter charged with burning books in order to destroy knowledge. The second is the fictional Green Town, Illinois, the setting of Something Wicked This Way Comes, the story of a sinister traveling carnival leader and the young boys who thwart his plot to enslave their home. They are two of the most famous novels by one of the most brilliant and beloved science fiction writers of all time: Ray Bradbury. The author, who saw the dangers inherent to the modern world, used a variety of genres, including fantasy, horror, and science fiction, to illuminate pressing issues like censorship and xenophobia. Author Lilliam Rivera, Arizona State University Center for Science and the Imagination professor Michael Bennett,

There are few forces of nature more formidable than a group of women fed up with the status quo. From the French Revolution—which was sparked in part by a 7,000-woman march from Paris to Versailles—to Black Lives Matter—which was founded by three women—some of the most important protest movements in global history have been women-led. In addition to organizing many of summer 2020’s continuing marches, over the past century women have taken to the streets to rally for voting and equal rights, to condemn sexual and gun violence, and to stand against the sitting president. But protest has taken other forms too, including the #MeToo movement, anti-colonial mobilizations from Ethiopia to Southeast Asia, women taking the wheel in Saudi Arabia to demand the right to drive, and boycotts and strikes like the Women’s Political Council Montgomery bus boycott. How have women risen up collectively to create change—and influenced broader movements in the process? What has made women particularly effective protesters, and w

What is the relationship between American economics and American racism, and can it be severed? How will systemic racism, past and present, slow our emergence from the current downturn? New York Times journalist Eduardo Porter, author of the new book American Poison: How Racial Hostility Destroyed Our Promise, visited Zócalo with historian and writer Cynthia Greenlee to discuss economic disparities that have been centuries in the making. This discussion streamed live on Twitter on Tuesday, July 21, 2020. Visit www.zocalopublicsquare.org to read our articles and learn about upcoming events. Twitter: twitter.com/thepublicsquare Instagram: www.instagram.com/thepublicsquare/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/zocalopublicsquare

From Australia to the Amazon to the American West, megafires—wildfires that burn more than 100,000 acres of land—have grown so frequent, large, and deadly that they’ve forced a reevaluation of how human societies coexist with fire. In a warming world, governments are confronting whether we must retreat from certain places to survive in a fierier world. Have fires become too big for people and the planet? How are fire management techniques—both old (such as “cool” or prescribed burns used by some Indigenous people) and new (digital technology that maps fire hot spots)—being employed against megafires? And how can citizens and their communities learn to live, build, and plan for a future of firestorms? Historical ecologist Jared Dahl Aldern, CSU Long Beach American Indian Studies professor Theresa Gregor, and Fernanda Santos, The Fire Line author and Professor of Practice at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, visited Zócalo to examine how and whether human beings can coexist with m

On Wednesday, June 24, the latest UCLA Anderson Forecast predicted a difficult economic future for California and reported that the U.S. economy is in a "Depression-like crisis." What does this mean for California’s pressing long-term problems, especially housing? Could this depression offer opportunities to make housing more affordable in an expensive state? Jerry Nickelsburg, economist and director of the UCLA Anderson Forecast, visited Zócalo with Erika Aguilar, director of podcasts at KQED, to explore what a post-COVID economy means for California communities. This discussion streamed live on Twitter on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Visit www.zocalopublicsquare.org to read our articles and learn about upcoming events. Twitter: twitter.com/thepublicsquare Instagram: www.instagram.com/thepublicsquare/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/zocalopublicsquare

What is the history behind the president’s style of rhetoric, and what does the past tell us about how to counteract it? Jennifer Mercieca, historian of rhetoric and author of Demagogue for President, visited Zócalo with William Sturkey, historian and author of Hattiesburg: An American City in Black and White. They traded questions and insights into the history behind the president’s words, live on Twitter on June 16, 2020. The conversation touched on the history of presidential rhetorical strategies, such as reification and paralipsis, as well as the difference between history and memory in Americans' understanding of the Civil War. The talk also explained “law and order” rhetoric, its recent history in the U.S., as well as its roots in ancient history, and discussed why it continues to appeal to certain voters. Visit www.zocalopublicsquare.org to read our articles and learn about upcoming events. Twitter: twitter.com/thepublicsquare Instagram: www.instagram.com/thepublicsquare/ Facebook: www.facebook.com

The Summer Olympics are the one time every four years when millions of people tune into track and field and swimming; stars from rival basketball and soccer clubs come together to represent their respective countries; and people learn (and then forget) the rules of synchronized swimming and the difference between platform and springboard diving. But the Olympics are also fraught with problems, from corruption to doping to the costs and impacts of hosting, including environmental damage, displacement, and intrusive policing. And the Games can be a stage upon which racism, homophobia, and sexism play out. Can the Olympics be rebuilt? What lessons can we take from the history of the modern Games? Olympic gold medalist and activist Greg Louganis, Olympic medalist Lashinda Demus, athlete and ASU sports historian Victoria Jackson, and Donna Lopiano, athlete and former CEO of the Women’s Sports Foundation, visited Zócalo to discuss possible futures for the Summer 2020 Olympics. Visit www.zocalopublicsquare.org

Throughout the first half of the 20th century, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, was a city of opportunity for African Americans. Leaving the surrounding cotton fields behind, they built churches, schools, clubs, and businesses; they were tied together by Friday night football games, dance halls, a newspaper, and charitable organizations. At the same time, Hattiesburg, like the rest of the South, was a place of systemic segregation and violent racism. How did Hattiesburg’s African American residents forge deep bonds amidst institutional oppression—and why did many of those bonds fail to survive after segregation was outlawed? What lessons can communities facing seemingly insurmountable inequality and discrimination draw from Hattiesburg today? University of North Carolina historian William Sturkey, winner of the 10th annual Zócalo Public Square Book Prize for Hattiesburg: An American City in Black and White, visited Zócalo to discuss the community Hattiesburg built, how it helped birth and bolster the Civil Rights mo

“in times like these / to have you listen at all, it’s necessary / to talk about trees.” So wrote Adrienne Rich in her poem “What Kind of Times Are These?” Human beings, when faced with difficulty and uncertainty, seek meaning, connection and perspective in cooking, faith or music. But in the most challenging situations, poetry plays a special role, helping us name our deepest feelings—or just “talk about trees.” What is it about poetry that allows us to escape our greatest anxieties, find space for introspection, or even achieve catharsis? What is it about the poetic combination of meter, rhyme, and carefully chosen words that hits us so hard in hard times? Why, when faced with uniquely modern problems and pandemics, do we reach for this oldest of art forms? Former United States Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, poet and author Inez Tan, and Arizona Poet Laureate Alberto Ríos visit Zócalo to consider how reading and writing poetry can save us when all seems lost. Moderated by Carla Hall, editorial board mem

More than half of our nation’s fruits and vegetables are produced by California workers—who often risk their health to put food on our tables. Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, farmworkers have been designated “essential workers” along with doctors and nurses. Yet most farmworkers lack health care coverage, even as they face health hazards including noise, heat, harmful chemicals, and musculoskeletal injuries. As they maintain our consistent food supply during the disruptions of our COVID-19 responses, farmworkers are potentially exposed to the virus while struggling with long hours, low wages, polluted air, overcrowded housing, and frequent relocations. What do Americans owe to the laborers who put fruits, vegetables, nuts, and milk on our tables? How are changes in technology and immigration enforcement reshaping the nature of farm work and its health—including mental health—concerns? What progress has been made in protecting the health of farmworkers, and what important steps are regulators or the agricultural i

A quarter century ago, neurologist Oliver Sacks wrote of a young patient whose brain tumor appeared to have cost him his memory—until the music of his favorite group, the Grateful Dead, brought him back to reality. Today, scholars in the field of neuromusicology suggest that music can be a tool to improve our brains—helping children develop faster, improving the performance of athletes and computer programmers, and even reducing the number of mistakes made by physicians. What does listening to or making music do to the different parts of our brains and the chemicals that help us think? And what potential does music have as a treatment for conditions from anxiety to Alzheimer’s? Songwriter and actress Mary Steenburgen, research psychologist Assal Habibi, and Mark Jude Tramo, neuroscientist and director of the Institute for Music & Brain Science, visit Zócalo to explore how music transforms our brains.

Native American artists have long used explorations of the future as a way to reflect on the present. Contemporary Native artists, from the Mohawk sci-fi multimedia artist Skawennati to the Navajo photographer Will Wilson, have been using innovative techniques to create visual art, literature, comics, and installations to build on that tradition and reframe it in a modern context. Often described as “Indigenous Futurisms,” this movement has reconsidered science fiction’s colonialist narratives in ways that place the Native American experience at their heart. What are the inspirations for this wave of futuristic work? How does it build on the many traditions of Native American art forms? And to what extent does this art suggest ideas for addressing civilizational threats like climate change, plagues, inequality, and mass violence? Harvard historian and Becoming Mary Sully: Toward an American Indian Abstract author Philip J. Deloria, visual and performance artist Kite, and writer and Sweet Land librettist Aja C

Even in a city where people dare to be different, Zev Yaroslavsky stands out. Zev, now director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs and the Department of History, has packed several lives into one lifetime, reshaping himself along with his fast-changing city. The child of immigrants from what is now Ukraine, Zev first drew notice as a UCLA student activist on behalf of Soviet Jews, before earning election to the L.A. City Council. Later, as a longtime member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, he was a leader in making far-reaching changes, involving everything from mass transit to healthcare to the Hollywood Bowl, in a county that he once compared to a “Soviet-style system ... with too many people only sort of in charge and no person sufficiently at the helm to take responsibility.” What lessons has Zev learned about how to get things done in Los Angeles? How can art, culture, and politics shape each other here? And what sort of city is Los Angeles now in the p

Nearly two-thirds of Americans say it has become more common for people to express racist or racially insensitive views since the current administration took office. Majorities of Americans, across all demographics, say race relations have worsened and reports of hate crimes are soaring. Are these trends the short-term product of an angry era, unregulated digital media, and divisive political leadership? Or will the resurgence of white supremacy lead to a deeper shift in how Americans relate to each other? Harvard University sociologist Lawrence D. Bobo visited Zócalo to examine how the white supremacy of today is forging the America of tomorrow. Moderated by L.A. Times columnist Sandy Banks, this Zócalo event took place at Cross Campus in downtown Los Angeles.