Zócalo Public Square
599 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 4 ratingsAn innovative blend of ideas journalism and live events.
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Episodes
What Are Today’s L.A. Women Fighting For? at Zócalo Public Square
December 07, 2020 22:39 - 1 hour - 60.1 MBOne hundred years after the passage of the 19th Amendment, Zócalo and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County present When Women Vote, a three-event series that concluded with “What Are Today’s L.A. Women Fighting For?” Women have made Los Angeles one of the nation’s most progressive cities, fighting for their own rights as well as those of children, laborers, immigrants, and other underrepresented groups since well before they gained the right to vote over 100 years ago. The city, ...
Why Is It So Easy To Get Away with Murder? at Zócalo Public Square
November 17, 2020 22:06 - 38 minutes - 36.6 MBIf you commit murder in the United States, there’s a 40 percent chance you’ll get away with it. That shocking statistic belies other realities; you have better than even odds of getting away with murder if you kill people who are poor, powerless, or non-white, or if you do your murdering in less wealthy and developed places. Why are Americans willing to tolerate such widespread failure to achieve justice for murder victims? To what extent are the nation’s social problems and inequalities refl...
What Do We Do Now? at Zócalo Public Square
November 13, 2020 22:04 - 1 hour - 115 MB“What do we do now?” asks Robert Redford at the end of “The Candidate,” the 1972 political satire that ends in an election upset—and existential despair. After a presidential election defined by an international pandemic and rampant misinformation and a post-election period that seems destined to be marked by bitterness and conflict, America must ask itself the same plaintive question. What comes next for the American republic, its discontents, and its enemies? Can the United States rebuild v...
How Much Can Americans Expect Of Our Leaders In Crisis? at Zócalo Public Square
October 28, 2020 15:47 - 1 hour - 85.8 MBFew Californians pay attention to state government (much less visit the state Capitol), and few of us even bother to vote in elections for our weak local governments. So our officials are often elected by the campaign dollars of rich people, powerful developers, and a handful of labor unions. But when crisis hits California—as it so often does—we are quick to demand action and to lash out at politicians whose names we barely know. What can we reasonably expect from California leaders when cri...
Are American States Better at Protecting Human Rights Than the U.S. Government?
October 24, 2020 17:45 - 1 hour - 56.7 MBThe 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...
Can Space Exploration Save Humanity? at Zócalo Public Square
October 15, 2020 17:27 - 1 hour - 86.5 MBThe 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 ...
Does a New Wave of Anti-Asian American Racism Require New Ways of Fighting Back?
October 08, 2020 18:43 - 1 hour - 58.3 MBMany 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 li...
Has Hysteria Conquered America?
October 07, 2020 17:28 - 1 hour - 139 MBThe 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 con...
Should Global Democracy Become More Direct? at Zócalo Public Square
September 30, 2020 19:56 - 1 hour - 132 MBAcross 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 ...
Why Don’t Women’s Votes Put More Women in Power?
September 16, 2020 00:00 - 1 hour - 59.1 MBSince 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)?...
Are We Living in a World Ray Bradbury Tried to Prevent?
August 27, 2020 00:00 - 1 hour - 58.3 MBImagine 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 travel...
How Have Women's Protests Changed History?
August 20, 2020 00:00 - 1 hour - 63.9 MBThere 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, ...
How Has Racism Shaped the American Economy? Live on Twitter: Eduardo Porter and Cynthia Greenlee
July 20, 2020 00:00 - 46 minutes - 42.5 MBWhat 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, Ju...
How Can Humans Coexist With Monster Wildfires?
July 16, 2020 00:00 - 1 hour - 59.3 MBHow Can Humans Coexist With Monster Wildfires?
Will Anyone Ever Be Able to Afford to Live in California?
June 29, 2020 00:00 - 45 minutes - 41.8 MBOn 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 KQE...
Can We Build A Better Summer Olympics?
June 17, 2020 00:00 - 1 hour - 58.7 MBThe 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, displ...
Four Questions with Jennifer Mercieca and William Sturkey
June 16, 2020 23:56 - 42 minutes - 38.8 MBWhat 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 s...
How Do Oppressed People Build Community?
May 20, 2020 00:00 - 1 hour - 67.2 MBThroughout 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 ...
What Can Poetry Offer Us in Distressing Times?
May 07, 2020 00:00 - 1 hour - 57.5 MB“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 sp...
How Can We Make Farm Work Healthier?
April 14, 2020 00:00 - 59 minutes - 54.6 MBMore 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 respon...
How Does Music Change Your Brain?
March 19, 2020 00:00 - 1 hourA 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 t...
How Are Native American Artists Envisioning the Future?
February 25, 2020 00:00 - 59 minutesNative 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 narrative...
How Can L.A. Use Its Past to Build a Brighter Future?
February 11, 2020 09:20 - 1 hourHow Can L.A. Use Its Past to Build a Brighter Future?
What Does the Resurgence of White Supremacy Mean for the Future of Race Relations?
January 23, 2020 00:00 - 56 minutesNearly 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 ...
Will California Learn to Regulate the Marijuana Business?
December 10, 2019 00:00 - 1 hourIn 2016, Californians voted to legalize the sale of recreational marijuana. But three years later, the very basics of regulating legal weed remain uncertain, and the new markets for marijuana have become another confounding California mess. It’s unclear how much marijuana can be consumed before police can make an arrest for driving under the influence, or whether the state can guarantee that marijuana being sold is safe and effective. Vaping—popular yet controversial—confuses the issue furthe...
What Can Life on the U.S.-Mexico Border Teach America?
November 21, 2019 00:00 - 54 minutesEarlier this century, President George W. Bush’s administration sought to celebrate the U.S.-Mexico border as America’s front door. But in the years since, the border has been widely portrayed by politicians as a source of problems. Today most news is about illegal immigration, abuses of migrants by Customs and Border Protection, or President Trump’s family separation policy. This deluge of negative coverage obscures the fact that the border region is not only a place where millions of people...
What Can Everyday Angelenos Do About Homelessness?
October 22, 2019 22:00 - 1 hourLos Angeles leaders have developed billion-dollar plans to boost services and build housing for the homeless. But such plans are now stuck in political quicksand, with neighborhood activists blocking shelters and new housing. Meanwhile, living in a city with a homelessness emergency is an everyday struggle, and there is no guidebook to dealing with sidewalk squalor or witnessing human suffering on your street. What’s the best way for Angelenos to engage with our homeless neighbors? What can w...
Does Hawai‘i Welcome Immigrants?
October 17, 2019 22:00 - 1 hourThe history of modern Hawai‘i has been defined by immigration, from the Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, and Puerto Ricans imported to work on 19th-century plantations, to the Filipino, Korean, and Micronesian migrants who make possible today’s growing tourism and hospitality industry. Arrivals from around the world have shaped and reshaped the islands’ economy and culture, and made Hawai‘i a global crossroads. But some arrivals have faced ostracism and discrimination. To what extent does conte...
How Are Immigrants Changing the Way Health Care Is Practiced?
October 07, 2019 22:00 - 57 minutesNo sector in the state of California relies more on immigrants than health care. One-quarter of the health workforce—from nurses to pharmacists to home health aides—and nearly one-third of all doctors and surgeons‚ are foreign-born. And, according to some studies, patients of foreign-trained health providers actually do better than patients who rely on native-born Americans. How have immigrants working in health care changed the standards and culture of our hospitals and clinics? Do cardiolog...
Is Politics Really Tearing America Apart?
October 01, 2019 22:00 - 55 minutesIs Politics Really Tearing America Apart?
Is Journalism About Social Justice?
September 25, 2019 22:00 - 1 hourIs Journalism About Social Justice?
Is Depression a 21st-Century Epidemic?
September 11, 2019 22:00 - 55 minutesMore than 17 million adults in America—7 percent of people 18 and older in the U.S.—have at least one major depressive episode annually. An estimated 15 percent of all people on Earth are expected to experience depression during their lifetimes. In 2015, UCLA launched a campus-wide initiative to cut the global burden of depression in half by 2050. Are we suffering more from depression than we used to? What is the balance between genetics and life experience in determining who suffers from thi...
Are Americans Turning Against Science?
July 18, 2019 22:00 - 1 hour - 55.6 MBScientists have demonstrated that climate change is real, but polls show that 30 percent of Americans disagree. Scientists have shown that genetically modified foods pose no threat, but, according to one survey, half the country sees such foods as dangerous. And despite scientific assurances about vaccine safety, the number of very young children who don’t get vaccinated has quadrupled in the past two decades. Why are so many Americans ignoring—or rejecting—broad scientific consensus on these...
What Will California’s Coastline Look Like in 2100?
July 09, 2019 22:00 - 1 hour - 56.6 MBIf state projections prove right, the sea level along California’s coast will rise 55 inches by the end of this century. That increase, which will be even higher during tidal floods and Pacific storms, would threaten the economies of the coastal counties that 85 percent of Californians call home. And it could spell doom for water sources, major roadways, hazardous waste facilities, military installations, power plants, airports, and seaports. How will this sea level rise change coastal commun...
Is Civilization on the Verge of Collapse?
June 19, 2019 22:00 - 46 minutes - 42.5 MBTwenty-first century visions of the future now seem drawn from Hollywood horror films. Runaway climate change portends the wholesale destruction of economies and species. Scientists fear new mass epidemics. Old technologies are breaking down and new technologies are used for oppression and social control. The deluge of digital information makes it hard to separate truth from fiction. What are the risks of human society of entering a darker, less civilized age? Do the rise of authoritarians an...
Is Propaganda Keeping Americans From Thinking for Themselves?
June 06, 2019 22:00 - 1 hour - 55.9 MBIs Propaganda Keeping Americans From Thinking for Themselves?
What Can the Ancient World Teach Us About Feminism?
June 04, 2019 22:00 - 1 hour - 55.9 MBWe tend to think of women’s liberation as starting in the 19th century and of feminism as originating in the 20th century. But women throughout the ages have found ways to advance themselves and protect their rights even under the most oppressive circumstances. How did women in ancient societies, from Greece to China to the Yucatán Peninsula, carve out roles for themselves, resist misogyny, and defend themselves against discrimination? Which societies, if any, were open to the participation o...
Will Pidgin Survive the 21st Century?
May 21, 2019 22:00 - 1 hour - 55.9 MBEh braddah, howzit? Did you hear that a pidgin word—hammajang—made the Oxford English Dictionary? Wait, you missed it? No worry, beef curry. Pidgin remains one of the strongest and most distinctive elements of culture in Hawai‘i, used in everyday conversation and local advertising. What does the popularity of pidgin say about the history, culture, and class structure of Hawai‘i? How has contemporary immigration changed the ways in which it’s used? And what explains its persistence in a nation...
Will California Pick the Next President?
May 15, 2019 22:00 - 1 hour - 55.9 MBWhen it comes to picking the country’s presidents, the richest and most populous state hasn’t much mattered. Because their primaries are held earlier and they are swing states in the general election, smaller and colder places—like New Hampshire, Iowa, and Ohio—have an outsized influence on who occupies the White House. But could 2020 be different? California has moved its presidential primary to an earlier spot on the calendar, and American politics is changing in ways that make California’s...
How Did the American Conquest of the Southwest Shape New Mexico’s Future?
May 14, 2019 05:57 - 1 hour - 57 MBHow Did the American Conquest of the Southwest Shape New Mexico’s Future? by Zócalo Public Square
How Does Community Conflict Turn Into Genocide?
May 02, 2019 22:00 - 1 hour - 60.7 MBHistory often blames genocide solely on murderous demagogues and military campaigns. But more often than not, the forces that unleash ethnic cleansing arise slowly and during peacetime, and stem from seemingly everyday interactions in places that are home to diverse peoples. What sorts of exchanges and social conditions unleash genocidal behavior? How do people who long lived together as neighbors come to turn on—and kill—each other? And can we teach ourselves to spot the early steps towards ...
Is America Ready for the Next Recession?
April 11, 2019 22:00 - 1 hour - 55.9 MB“Economists have predicted nine out of the last five recessions,” Nobel-winning economist Paul Samuelson famously joked. But recessions do eventually arrive, and when the next one hits, the United States may not be well-positioned to fight back. Instead of building up surpluses that could stimulate the economy in a downturn, the federal government has cut taxes and run up trillion-dollar annual deficits and a $21 trillion national debt. The Federal Reserve is still unwinding the actions it to...
Did Truth Ever Matter?
March 13, 2019 22:00 - 1 hour - 56.8 MBToday, Americans wring their hands about the systematic lying in politics, and media claim to be fighting to uphold the principles of truth and the existence of verifiable facts against unprecedented challenges. But the very idea that 'fake news' is a new problem is itself 'fake news.' Way back in 1710, Gulliver’s Travels author Jonathan Swift wrote, “Falsehood flies, and the truth comes limping after it.” And lies, slander, and libel were central features of politics, public discourse, and o...
Are American Presidents Above the Law?
March 06, 2019 22:00 - 1 hour - 55.9 MBThe Mueller Report promises to clarify what happened in the 2016 election and its aftermath. But that document may only add to the confusion over a broader question: What does it take to fire an American president? In recent months, critics of Donald Trump have discussed removing the president by impeachment, indictment, and the 25th Amendment. But no president has ever been impeached and convicted by the Senate, and the Department of Justice may preclude a president from being indicted. If i...
Is the Digital Age Making Museums Obsolete?
February 28, 2019 22:00 - 1 hour - 59.7 MBBefore the digital age, museums were places where people went to acquire knowledge. But now most of the information and images contained in museums are available on your smartphone. So how can museums stave off obsolescence? Can populist shows and attention-getting architecture keep museums relevant and pull today’s audiences away from their devices? Are some museums succeeding in redefining their purpose as providing “experiences” and at least the semblance of authenticity, like touching mas...
How Much Tourism Is Too Much?
February 21, 2019 22:00 - 1 hour - 56.8 MB2018 was the seventh straight year of record tourist arrivals to Hawai‘i. Visitor spending has grown rapidly too, generating historically high tax receipts and new jobs. But as more tourists crowd the islands and slow traffic, it’s time to ask: How much tourism can Hawai‘i really handle? Should more priority be placed on diversifying the local economy? What effect has catering to tourists had on Hawai‘i’s culture and environment? And what can Hawai‘i learn from other popular destinations abou...
How Are Immigrants Changing Our Definition of Health?
February 04, 2019 22:00 - 1 hour - 56.8 MBHealth 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 le...
Is America Enabling Autocrats to Run the World?
January 30, 2019 22:00 - 59 minutes - 55.9 MBA 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 autoc...
How Has America Survived Two Centuries of Capitalism?
January 24, 2019 22:00 - 1 hour - 55.9 MBThe United States is envied around the world for its unparalleled wealth. But its riches would not have been possible without what Alan Greenspan has called America’s “unique tolerance” for the messy effects of capitalism’s creative destruction. What is so special about our brand of capitalism that generations of Americans have been willing to endure so much wrenching change in its service? What moments in history have shaped America’s complicated relationship with capitalism? And how have Am...