Dear Mom, We’re Broke
A Letter From Las Vegas
by Matthew O’Brien
Dear Mom and Dad,
Don’t be alarmed by this unannounced letter. No one we know has died, and I’m not asking for money (although I, and many other Nevadans, could use it). I just thought, having lived in Nevada for more than 14 years, I’d recap my time here and let you know how your first-born son and the Battle Born State are faring. (OK. You know me too well. I’m being paid to write this letter, but don’t let that cheapen it.)
As you may recall, in December 1997, I packed my worldly possessions into my one-headlight Honda Civic and pushed off for Nevada, which I’d never even visited. (I thought I was being adventurous, but later discovered that’s how most people end ... READ MORE
Parque México
Sundays in the Park With Cotton Candy
by Susana Seijas
Stepping into Parque México, with its greenery and quaint 1920s signs, is like stepping into something out of Alice in Wonderland, an art deco oasis in the middle of the sprawling, traffic-choked city.
The first time I saw Parque México, it literally took my breath away. How could a place like this, with hedgerows, a duck pond, a dog run, and an open-air amphitheater, exist so near thousands of cars charging down ...
features
UP FOR DISCUSSION
Here Comes the Sun King
The sun has been shining brightly on solar power, but can it last? California has seen a lot of booms and busts, and solar power has been among them. Solar power boomed in the late 1970s and busted in the decades that followed. Today, it’s looking bright again, and solar panels blanket the state. But how far can we take it, and how ...
IN THE GREEN ROOM
A Frustrated Disc Jockey
Ricardo Salinas is founder and chairman of media, retail, and banking giant Grupo Salinas. Before talking about microfinance, philanthropy, and Mexico’s past and future in New York, he gamely stepped into the green room to answer questions ranging from the provenance of his fashionable eyeglasses ...
NEXUS
Solar: Not Just For Tinfoil-Hatters Anymore
by Lisa Margonelli
Since 2007, California has experienced a solar boom. Photovoltaic panels rest on 107,159 rooftops, as of this writing (the numbers are updated here every Wednesday). Driven by incentives that are bankrolled by every Californian who pays a utility bill, Californians now have more than one Gigawatt of solar capacity installed over our ...
POEMS
Two Rooms
by JP Reese
Jigsaw men smoke behind cinder block walls,
assemble the pieces of people they've been.
Second-hand voices seep under the door
of the coffee-cup room severing “Al” from “Anon”
—Pain extended from pain embraced.
On this side, new converts speak hushed or hurried,
wet-eyed, or wrung dry. Blank lives assume form ...
The Invention of Disneyland—and California
Kirse Granat May, author of Golden State, Golden Youth, and UCLA historian Eric Avila discuss the invention of Disneyland and its image, and how Disneyland came to stand in for California (and America) for the rest of the world.
READ MORE
About Zócalo Public Square
Zócalo Public Square, a project of the Center for Social Cohesion, is a living magazine, an innovative blend of on-the-ground events and on-line journalism, that connects people to ideas and to each other in an open, accessible, non-partisan and broad-minded spirit. Through our web publication, lectures, panels, screenings, and conferences, Zócalo explores ideas that enhance our understanding of citizenship and community—the forces that strengthen or undermine human connectedness and social cohesion.
We believe that over specialization and narrowcasting undermine the public square and are committed to welcoming a new, young and diverse generation to the conversation.
Established in Los Angeles in 2003, Zócalo roams across L.A. and Phoenix, and has traveled to Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco, and as far as Shanghai, Berlin and Guadalajara. In our eight years, we have featured over 800 compelling thinkers and doers from a wide range of fields—politics, governance, humanities, health, economics, education, technology, foreign policy, arts, science and beyond—who explore how we see and relate to one another, be it locally, regionally, nationally, or globally.
Upcoming |
Monday, February 6, 2012,
Is California’s Solar Gold Rush Destined to Fail?
California history is a tale of crazed grabs: for gold, for oil, for fame, for making weapons and planes. Today, the state is in the midst of a solar energy frenzy. Solar panels materialize on rooftops, on coastal mountains, and in massive arrays in the state’s deserts. The state and ...
Tuesday, February 7, 2012,
Zócalo in Tucson: Does Arizona History Matter?
Arizona’s economy and culture have long depended on reinvention: the Spanish came looking for silver but found copper instead; Phoenix was named for its rebirth as an American mining outpost atop a Hohokam village; four different flags, including Mexico’s, flew over Tucson in the ...
Books
Zócalo Public Square Book Prize
Announcing Zócalo's Second Annual Book Prize, sponsored by the Southern California Gas Company.
Not in Our Lifetimes: The Future of Black Politics
by Michael C. Dawson
The nutshell: Barack Obama’s election was a false barometer of the state of black politics in America, according to University of Chicago political scientist Michael C. Dawson, who asserts that the government response to Hurricane Katrina is much more revealing of the nation’s 21st-century race relations than Obama’s election.
Museums Matter: In Praise of the Encyclopedic Museum
by James Cuno
Getty Trust President and CEO James Cuno defends the encyclopedic museum’s place in the 21st century. By presenting the artifacts of one time and culture next to those of other times and cultures, without privilege or prejudice, encyclopedic museums encourage curiosity about the world, increase understanding, and dissipate ignorance and superstition. They demonstrate a truth about art: that it has never known political boundaries.
The Shot
