Our Favorite Public Programs of 2023

It Was a Year of Hard-Hitting Conversations, a Traveling Public Square, and Even a Dance Party

 

It’s Zócalo’s 20th birthday, and we hit the two decade milestone running—we hosted 21 events in 2023 to fulfill our mission of connecting people to ideas and to each other.

At our homebase at the ASU California Center in downtown Los Angeles, we discussed some of the biggest issues of the day—from artificial intelligence to surveillance. We enjoyed a special homecoming, hosting our first-ever event steps away from our namesake: Mexico City’s Plaza de la Constitución, otherwise known as the Zócalo, one of the largest public squares in the world. We traversed California, …

Our Favorite Essays of 2023 | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Our Favorite Essays of 2023

In the Boxing Ring. At a Parking Lot. Through Prison Glass. These Stories Captured the Sights, Sounds, and Heart of the Year

South Africans got it right when they made “kuning,” the isiZulu word that roughly translates to “it’s a lot,” one of the defining words of 2023.

It was a lot this …

Boxing Champ Sergio “the Latin Snake” Mora

The Best Education Is Getting Your Ass Whooped

Sergio “the Latin Snake” Mora is currently a boxing analyst for DAZN. He is a former WBC light middleweight champion and was the first winner of NBC’s The Contender series. …

Boxer and Actress Kali “KO” Mequinonoag Reis

It’s Not Me, It’s ‘We’ for the Things I Fight For

Kali “KO” Mequinonoag Reis is a professional boxer and actress. She hails from East Providence, Rhode Island, and is a member of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe, and is the first …

California State Athletic Commission Executive Director Andy Foster

I’m Just Like Michael Scott from The Office

Andy Foster is the California State Athletic Commission executive director. Previously, he served as executive director of the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission and also as regional director of the …

Sport and Ethnic Studies Scholar Rudy Mondragón

I Want Boxers’ Stories to Live on

Rudy Mondragón is a UC Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at the University of California, Los Angeles. Before moderating the Zócalo program “What …