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
Do We Know Anything Anymore?
July 25, 2012 23:00 - 55 minutes - 25.7 MBLike the Internet, knowledge today is inclusive and overwhelming, unsettled and messy, and linked, says David Weinberger, author of Too Big to Know: Rethinking Knowledge Now That the Facts Aren't the Facts, Experts Are Everywhere and the Smartest Person in the Room Is the Room. The demise of the Encyclopedia Britanica and the uncertain future of the newspaper and libraries demonstrates that the Internet is destroying knowledge as we have always known it. But according to Weinberger, we should...
Should My Dog and I Share A Doctor?
July 19, 2012 23:00 - 49 minutes - 22.9 MBUCLA cardiologist Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and UCLA writing lecturer Kathryn Bowers, authors of Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About the Health and Science of Healing, talk with Los Angeles Times science writer Eryn Brown about what they think is medicine's next frontier: collaboration between human and animal doctors. Animal and human diseases across the spectrum--from eating disorders and psychiatric maladies to certain types of cardiac arrest and cancers--overlap. And by working t...
An Evening with Juan Felipe Herrera
July 18, 2012 23:00 - 1 hour - 33.2 MBHow do you make an American poet? California’s new poet laureate, Juan Felipe Herrera, answered that question with laughter, singing, storytelling, and poetry as he recounted his life and work in a conversation with KPCC News Editor Oscar Garza. Herrera grew up all over California, and he spoke about how his itinerant childhood influenced his work. He also talked about why he believes Latino writers in the 21st century are able to write as writers--no prefix needed.
Is Civility Overrated?
July 16, 2012 23:00 - 1 hour - 29.9 MBAt a Zócalo/Cal Humanities "Searching for Democracy" event, Dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley Henry Brady, the Institute for Civility in Government's Cassandra Dahnke, Arizona State University communications and performance scholar Jennifer Linde, and economist and anthropologist Meenakshi Chakraverti, who leads the Public Conversations Project in San Diego, discussed whether the lack of civility in American politics is a problem--or if civility is indeed overrated.
Does Our Wealth Disparity Matter?
July 10, 2012 23:00 - 53 minutes - 24.7 MBAccording to New Republic editor Timothy Noah, author of The Great Divergence: America's Growing Inequality Crisis and What We Can Do About It, America is in the midst of two significant divergences that are causing increasing wealth disparity. The first is between people with college or graduate degrees and people with lower levels of education. The second is between the 1 percent (people in the financial industry and leaders of corporations) and the 99 percent (everyone else). He explains h...
Mayim Bialik on Acting, Neuroscience, and Being a Mom
July 09, 2012 23:00 - 56 minutes - 26.1 MBMayim Bialik is at the very least a triple threat. She’s an actress who stars on CBS’s The Big Bang Theory; she’s a neuroscientist who received her Ph.D. from UCLA, where she wrote her dissertation on the genetic disorder Prader-Willi syndrome; and she’s the author of a book on parenting, Beyond the Sling: A Real-Life Guide to Raising Confident, Loving Children the Attachment Parenting Way. At an event co-presented by UCLA, Bialik talked with Huffington Post science correspondent Cara Santa M...
What Would A Persian Spring Mean for L.A.?
July 07, 2012 23:00 - 1 hour - 29.5 MBL.A. has the largest population of Iranians of any city outside Iran. If reform were to come to Iran, would life change for the hundreds of thousands of Iranian-Angelenos who call Southern California home? Writer and activist Amir Soltani, entrepreneur and philanthropist Sharon S. Nazarian, and acting director of Iranian Studies at UCLA M. Rahim Shayegan joined moderator Shiva Falsafi, UCLA lecturer in women's studies, to discuss what reform in Iran could mean for the city known as Tehrangeles.
U.S. Poet Laureate Philip Levine on Social Isolation and Democracy
July 05, 2012 23:00 - 1 hour - 28.1 MBU.S. Poet Laureate Philip Levine joined Sacramento Bee editorial page editor Stuart Leavenworth in Fresno to discuss whether social isolation is a threat to democracy. In a wide-ranging conversation they discussed poetry, Levine's youth in Detroit, the community he came to love in Fresno, and the future of American democracy.
James Q. Wilson, Broken Windows and Los Angeles
July 04, 2012 23:00 - 57 minutes - 26.5 MBLAPD Chief Charle Beck, Pepperdine University economist Angela Hawken, and UCLA political scientist Mark Peterson joined moderator Mark Kleiman, a UCLA public policy analyst, to discuss the legacy of the late political scientist and long-time Southern California resident James Q. Wilson. How did Wilson's broken windows theories change our cities? Where did his greatest influence lie? And what made him special?
An Afternoon with Benjamin Millepied
June 03, 2012 23:00 - 47 minutes - 21.7 MBBlack Swan choreographer Benjamin Millepied--Natalie Portman's husband and a recently retired New York City Ballet principal dancer--talks with Amanda Fortini, a contributing writer to The New Yorker, about why he loves L.A., his plans for his new L.A. Dance Project, and the making of Black Swan. Millepied plans to take advantage of the city's vibrant arts culture to collaborate with many different kinds of artists, and to incorporate his own background--his classical ballet training as well ...
Are We All Paparazzi Now?
May 16, 2012 23:00 - 59 minutes - 28.1 MBActor Adrian Grenier sees the paparazzi as storytellers. Us Weekly editor Carolyn Davis publishes their photos to entertain. And celebrity photographer Galo Ramirez is just trying to make a living. But why do the rest of us crave photographs of Brad and Angelina’s wedding, or Jennifer Aniston’s baby bump—the two hottest “dream shots” of the moment—and what makes a great paparazzi photo? Grenier, Davis, and Ramirez joined the Los Angeles Times' Carla Hall and curator Carolyn Squiers to discuss...
Will China Rule the Skies?
May 14, 2012 23:00 - 52 minutes - 24.2 MBIn the story of China's aviation industry, The Atlantic's James Fallows, author of China Airborne, found a window into the country's struggles and contradictions, as well as where it might be going next. Chinese companies aren't going to be overtaking Boeing and Airbus any time soon. But the pace of China's aerospace modernization--100 airports are being built there right now--is astonishing.
Does ExxonMobil Rule the World?
May 10, 2012 23:00 - 59 minutes - 27.2 MBThe New Yorker's Steve Coll, author of Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power, explains how America's largest corporation wields its power within and without, and how it has stayed on top for over a half century. After the Exxon Valdez spill, the corporation placed an intense focus on rules and regulations, trying to eliminate the possibility of human error. At the same time, many of its operations take place in the world's least stable and poorest countries. Coll explains how ExxonMob...
Is Democracy Too Slow?
May 08, 2012 23:00 - 1 hour - 31 MBThe world is moving faster than ever, and democracies are struggling to keep up. Meanwhile, China's rise has been facilitated by the heavy hand of its one-party leadership. In a conversation moderated by Zócalo California editor Joe Mathews, Deng Xiaoping biographer Ezra Vogel, attorney and activist Christine Pelosi, and civic participation expert Janice Thomson discuss whether the EU and the U.S. could use a little more authoritarianism.
Why is the Central Valley Sick?
May 07, 2012 23:00 - 55 minutes - 25.3 MBThe Central Valley is one of California and America's unhealthiest regions. What is causing problems like asthma, obesity, and diabetes--and what can we do about it? According to California Endowment Central Valley Program Manager Sarah Reyes, Central Valley Health Policy Institute Executive Director John Capitman, and San Joaquin Valley Rehabilitation CEO Edward C. Palacios, the answers lie in improving education, access, and addressing inequalities.
What If No One Were Born American?
May 05, 2012 23:00 - 1 hour - 32 MBWhat if we repealed the 14th Amendment, and no one could become a citizen because of birth alone? Civic entrepreneur, author, and former Clinton speechwriter Eric Liu imagines an America where we don't take the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship for granted. He argues that we need to re-Americanize Americans in order to revitalize civics and strengthen our citizenship.
Can Sprawling Cities Find Their Centers?
May 02, 2012 23:00 - 51 minutes - 39.3 MBAmericans are trading places, according to urbanologist Alan Ehrenhalt, author of The Great Inversion and the Future of American Cities. The more affluent are moving into city centers, and the lower classes are being displaced to the suburbs. This demographic inversion is going to change our concepts of cities, suburbs, and urban mobility. And it will even change our most sprawling cities, like Phoenix and the rest of the Sunbelt.
What Does the Future of Digital Medicine Look Like?
April 27, 2012 23:00 - 46 minutes - 21.7 MBCardiologist Eric Topol, author of The Creative Destruction of Medicine, believes that digital technology has the potential to change healthcare as we know it--but only if consumers demand change from doctors and the medical establishment. Healthcare is currently population-based, and thus wasteful, expensive, and inefficient. Wireless technology and genomics can build a new, individualized paradigm for healthcare that can help patients and save the nation billions of dollars.
Is Eating Well Just for the Rich?
April 19, 2012 23:00 - 1 hour - 30 MBKCRW "Good Food" host Evan Kleiman talks with journalist Tracie McMillan, author of The American Way of Eating, about McMillan's journey from farm fields to Wal-Mart to Applebee's--doing some of the most menial jobs in the American food system to find out what it would take for everyone to eat well. Is it possible to eat well on minimum wage? Not really. For all of us to eat well, said McMillan, change needs to come not just on our plates and in our shopping carts but in getting everyone easy...
Can Diverse Societies Cohere?
April 13, 2012 23:00 - 1 hour - 31.6 MBIn the 2012 Zócalo Book Prize lecture, sociologist Richard Sennett, author of Together: The Rituals, Pleasures and Politics of Cooperation, discusses how today's diverse societies can learn to cohere. Cooperation is a craft, he argues, that we can learn--but we must develop certain skills in order to do so: dialogical listening skills, using the subjunctive voice, and practicing empathy rather than sympathy.
Redemption, Memoirs, and Going Wild with Cheryl Strayed and Meghan Daum
April 04, 2012 23:00 - 53 minutes - 25 MBLos Angeles Times columnist Meghan Daum interviews Cheryl Strayed, author of WIld: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, about the perils and pleasures of memoir-writing, and the 1,100 mile hike that changed her life. Strayed reveals why she loves redemption but not redemption stories, how to walk the line between making confessions and telling the truth, and the physical and mental hardships she faced on the trail.
What Happens When Women Rule the World?
March 27, 2012 23:00 - 57 minutes - 27.3 MBWe are on the verge of becoming a society of breadwomen--where women out-earn men--which will change society on many levels. Journalist Liza Mundy, author of The Richer Sex: How the New Majority of Female Breadwinners is Transforming Sex, Love and Family, explains why this is a good development for men and women alike.
The Slate Culture Gabfest Live in Los Angeles
March 20, 2012 23:00 - 1 hour - 31.9 MBSlate Magazine's Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf, and Dana Stevens discussed Mike Daisey's monologue on Apple in China--and Ira Glass's retraction of the story on This American Life and Zooey Deschanel's role on the television show The New Girl. Actress Elizabeth Banks joined the conversation to talk about The Hunger Games movie, and playing the villain Effie Trinket.
Why Is Oil Wealth a Bad Thing?
March 14, 2012 23:00 - 56 minutes - 26.5 MBUCLA political scientist Michael Ross, author of The Oil Curse: How Petroleum Wealth Shapes the Development of Nations, explains why oil wealth is bad for developing countries: because of the extraordinary power and kinds of revenue it generates for governments, and because of the industry's lack of transparency. It's not a coincidence that the world's most volatile countries are rich in oil, he argues.
An Evening With Josefina Vázquez Mota (english translated)
March 09, 2012 00:00 - 40 minutes - 19.3 MBAn Evening With Josefina Vázquez Mota (english translated)
An Evening With Josefina Vázquez Mota (spanish)
March 09, 2012 00:00 - 38 minutes - 18.1 MBAn Evening With Josefina Vázquez Mota (spanish)
Gustav Klimt's Stolen Masterpiece
March 06, 2012 23:00 - 46 minutes - 21.8 MBWashington Post writer Anne-Marie O'Connor, author of The Lady in Gold, explores the artistic and cultural ferment of Vienna--driven in part by women and Jews--at the turn of the 20th century. This was the setting in which Gustav Klimt painted his famous portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer--a painting that was then stolen by the Nazis, renamed "The Lady in Gold," and displayed for decades in Austria's national Belvedere Museum. After years-long lawsuits, Bloch-Bauer's heir, Los Angeles dressmaker M...
Does Rural Healthcare Have a Future?
February 28, 2012 23:00 - 48 minutes - 22.7 MBAt the Café Revue in Fresno, a panel of healthcare providers and journalists discussed the future of rural medicine. Moderator Michelle Levander, the director of the California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowships, Fresno-area clinician and family doctor Marcia Sablan, community health reporter Rebecca Plevin, and Herrmann Spetzler, CEO of Open Door Community Health Centers in northern California, discussed doctor shortages, improving access, the problem of transportation, and the possibil...
Music, the Brain, and Learning Guitar at Age 40
February 24, 2012 23:00 - 41 minutes - 19.4 MBAt an event co-presented by Kaiser Permanente, NYU psychologist Gary Marcus chronicled how he learned to play guitar as an adult after being inspired by the video game Guitar Hero. Marcus explained how adults can learn new skills, what music does to our brains and bodies, and what teaching methods work best for musicians of all ages and skill levels.
Does Foodie Culture Do Anyone Any Good?
February 22, 2012 23:00 - 1 hour - 32.1 MBIn a conversation ranging from the effects of global warming on wine production (the English countryside may be the new Champagne region) to the aged carrots served at Copenhagen's Noma restaurant,The New Yorker's Adam Gopnik and L.A. food critic Jonathan Gold discussed the pleasures and perils of foodies and food culture. Fine dining ultimately gives us pleasure, builds community, and can even make us healthier people.
Is L.A. Ready for the NFL?
February 17, 2012 23:00 - 1 hour - 29.2 MBA panel moderated by KNBC's Conan Nolan featuring Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman, UCLA football coach Jim Mora, Los Angeles Times NFL writer Sam Farmer, and UCLA sports economist Lee Ohanian agreed that professional football will return to Los Angeles. They debated which team will come, where will the stadium be located--and whether Angelenos will care--at an event co-presented by UCLA.
Is Internet Freedom At Risk?
February 13, 2012 23:00 - 47 minutes - 22 MBFormer CNN Tokyo and Beijing bureau chief Rebecca MacKinnon, author of Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom, argues that governments and corporations around the globe are taking away our online freedoms--without the average citizen's knowledge. Her discussion moves from China to the Arab world to the battle over SOPA and PIPA in the U.S.
Wait, Arizona Has a History?
February 07, 2012 23:00 - 1 hour - 32.6 MBWait, Arizona Has a History?
Is California’s Solar Gold Rush Destined to Fail?
February 06, 2012 23:00 - 1 hour - 34.2 MBA panel moderated by KCRW's Warren Olney, featuring energy journalist Lisa Margonelli, UC Berkeley energy expert Daniel Kammen, SolarCity's Jim Cahill, and LADWP general manager Ron Nichols discusses the future of solar energy in California. They agreed that solar energy has the potential to change the way the state is fueled, but that the financial and political policies need to catch up to technological advancements
Can Childhood Trauma Make You Sick?
February 01, 2012 23:00 - 54 minutes - 25 MBA panel featuring KQET's Sarah Varney, the Bayview Child Health Center's Nadine Burke Harris, San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center director Katie Albright, and Robin Karr-Morse, author of Scared Sick: The Role of Childhood Trauma in Adult Disease, discussed what childhood trauma is, how it can be treated and prevented, and its effects on the health of adults. Children who experience chronic exposure to abuse, neglect, and violence are at greatly increased risk for illnesses ranging fro...
Is Phoenix the Next L.A., God Forbid?
January 26, 2012 23:00 - 58 minutes - 28.1 MBIs Phoenix the Next L.A., God Forbid?
Is This the Golden Age of Television?
January 24, 2012 23:00 - 55 minutes - 25.9 MBKCRW's Kim Masters, Homeland and Cold Case writer and producer Meredith Stiehm, the Boston Globe's Joanna Weiss, ex-TV executive James Andrew Miller, and Occidental College historian Thaddeus Russell debate whether we're currently living in the golden age of television--or if more choice means more mediocrity. Their lively conversation encompassed the merits of Cupcake Wars and American Idol, the debt contemporary shows owe to Hill Street Blues, diversity onscreen, and what makes today's crit...
Why Museums Matter
January 23, 2012 23:00 - 44 minutes - 20.8 MBGetty Trust President and CEO James Cuno explains why museums matter today more than ever in a talk at the Petersen Automotive Museum. Cuno shares the museum's 18th-century Enlightenment origins and responds to critics who have called the encyclopedic museum elitist and imperialistic.
The History of American Philanthropy
January 17, 2012 23:00 - 57 minutes - 26.3 MBHistorian Olivier Zunz, author of Philanthropy in America: A History, explains why philanthropy is such a powerful force in American politics, economics, and society by explaining the history of the institution.
Can Universities Save Cities?
January 12, 2012 23:00 - 1 hour - 30 MBLeaders of four major research universities--USC President C.L. Max Nikias, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, ASU President Michael Crow, and Rice University President David Leebron--discuss the role of urban universities in their communities with the Chronicle of Higher Education's Jeffrey Selingo. They agreed that while universities alone cannot save dying cities, but they can contribute a great deal to the cultural, economic, and intellectual lives of their cities.
Paul Starr on America's Healthcare War History
December 08, 2011 23:00 - 1 hour - 31 MBWhy is the U.S. the only western country that can't agree on healthcare? Sociologist Paul Starr, author of Remedy and Reaction: The Peculiar American Struggle Over Health Care Reform, explains our bitter war over healthcare through its history from the early 20th century--when the American Medical Association and other groups used xenophobia to defeat the first healthcare bills--up through President Obama's 2010 reforms.
How Los Angeles Created the Good Life
November 19, 2011 22:59 - 1 hour - 31 MBAt a panel as part of the Pacific Standard Time art initiative, New York University historian Thomas Crow, UCLA historian Eric Avila, Huntington Library curator Jennifer Watts, and Kirse Granat May, author of Golden State, Golden Youth, discussed the allure of Los Angeles imagery through the decades. In a conversation about Disneyland and dream houses, freeways and film, they moved from the 19th century through the postwar years.
The Past and Future of L.A.'s Global Image
November 19, 2011 22:59 - 1 hour - 37.1 MBThe Past and Future of L.A.'s Global Image
An Evening With Ricardo Salinas
November 17, 2011 05:57 - 56 minutes - 52 MBMexican tycoon Ricardo Salinas speaks with Economist editor Matthew Bishop about the global economy, the relationship between Mexico and America, the microfinance business he has developed with Banco Azteca, philanthropy, and Mexico's future.
Is California Too Big?
November 01, 2011 23:00 - 1 hour - 31.1 MBPanelists with extensive experience in local, regional, and state government offered arguments for and against splitting California into more than one state in a conversation at the Fresno Art Museum. They agreed that the state is not fulfilling its promises to its citizens, but while some argued for a North-South split (or even a three-state division), others felt that reform, not secession, is needed.
Steven Brill on America's Struggling Public School System
October 27, 2011 23:00 - 55 minutes - 25.5 MBAmerica's public schools are failing--in a large part because the teacher's unions and the bureaucracy don't put students first, according to media mogul Steven Brill, author of Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America's Schools. Brill explains his journey through the country's public school system, where he discovered heated wars over charter schools, teachers struggling to succeed without burning out, unions that protect their members at all costs, and a culture that is too often comp...
The Future of E-government in California
October 26, 2011 23:00 - 1 hour - 34.5 MBFive leaders in e-government--technology consultant April Manatt, senior management analyst for the city of Carlsbad Greg Hermann, executive director of California Common Sense Dakin Sloss, Intellitics, Inc.'s Tim Bonnemann, and executive director of the National Conference on Citizenship David B. Smith--joined Irvine Senior Fellow Joe Mathews of the New America Foundation to discuss whether technology can save California's government. They discussed how local governments are using technology...
The State of Politics in Arizona
October 20, 2011 23:00 - 1 hour - 31.6 MBIn a panel moderated by The New York Times' Marc Lacey, former Arizona House Minority Leader Art Hamilton, Arizona State University political scientist Jennifer Steen, and Tom Zoellner, author of A Safeway in Arizona, discuss how the state became the front lines of America's biggest cultural and political battles, from immigration to gun control.
Robert Frank on Darwin the Economist
October 19, 2011 23:00 - 1 hour - 30.6 MBEconomist and New York Times columnist Robert Frank, author of The Darwin Economy: Liberty, Competition, and the Common Good, proposed a radical plan to save America's economy--grounded not in conventional economic theory but in the work of Charles Darwin, which turns Adam Smith's invisible hand on its head.