Zócalo Public Square

Health involves both measures, like taking our blood pressure, and perceptions—the ideas we hold in our heads about what it means to be healthy. As California attracted a more diverse cross section of people from around the world, those ideas began to change, and once-risky enterprises—from acupuncture to eating very spicy foods or drinking a glass of wine every day—are now recognized as paths to wellness. How have immigrants and their families influenced the way we understand health? What lessons are we learning—about everything from birthing to diet to meditation—from global Californians? And what is the connection between immigration and today’s greater emphasis on a holistic sense of health, which includes the quality of our relationships with neighbors and family? Director of the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture at UCLA School of Medicine David Hayes-Bautista, journalist and author of The Immigrant Advantage Claudia Kolker, and UCLA medical anthropologist Marjorie Kagawa-Singer visited Z

A Saudi journalist living in the United States is murdered by agents of a government to which America provides arms. President Trump openly favors autocratic rulers from Russia to Hungary to the Philippines, and even expresses “love” for North Korea’s dictator. What does it mean when the president of the United States, a country long cast as a defender of freedom, sides with repressive regimes and even withdraws from democratic alliances? Is American financial and rhetorical support for autocrats really responsible for the decline of liberal democracy, or are other factors driving the rise of authoritarianism globally? And what specific U.S. actions strengthen authoritarians around the world—and which policies and institutions might frustrate or weaken them? Director of the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations Kal Raustiala, Washington Post Global Opinions editor Karen Attiah, and UCLA political scientist Richard D. Anderson visited Zócalo to examine how America’s turn away from promoting democracy

What Would Immigration Reform Mean for Chicago?

Reporting From Mexico’s Drug Wars

What Would Immigration Reform Mean for Houston?

An Evening With Debbie Allen

Can Popular Music Still Change Culture?

Is Economic Austerity Good For Us?

What Would Immigration Reform Mean for Miami?

Live Mayoral Debate Moderated by KCRW’s Warren Olney

What Would Immigration Reform Mean for Los Angeles?

How Are The Wars Changing Medicine?

How Do Wars Affect Families?

Is Our Marriage With Mexico Working?

Would Better Leaders Fix Our Problems?

Do Architects Really Shape Cities?

How Do People Re-Invent Spaces?

Who Designs Tomorrow’s Los Angeles?

Should Power Be More Concentrated?

As much as social scientists have learned about what drives people’s decision-making, we still haven’t found a silver bullet for changing people’s behavior. Yet at a panel co-presented by UCLA at MOCA Grand Avenue and moderated by The Atlantic contributing editor David H. Freedman, L.A. County Director of Public Health Jonathan Fielding, University of Minnesota social psychologist Traci Mann, and UCLA health economist Frederick J. Zimmerman agreed that it is possible to get people to make better health choices—if you give them time, and you engage them on several fronts.