Jia-Rui Cook Takes the Editorial Helm at Zócalo

Change Comes as Zócalo’s Syndicate Grows and New Partnerships Begin

Zócalo Public Square, the Los Angeles-based blend of daily ideas journalism and live events, has promoted managing editor Jia-Rui Cook to the position of editor. Cook will guide Zócalo’s editorial projects at a time when the organization is boosting its journalistic offerings in Southern California while also rapidly expanding its reach into communities across the country and world.

“My goal is to make Zócalo the must-read source for smart pieces that help us connect to our shared past, understand the present, and imagine our future,” Cook said.

At a time …

At an Irish-American Funeral Home, I Found My Chinese Roots

Just Blocks Away From the Blarney Stone Pub, Buddhist Nuns Helped My Family Lay My Grandmother to Rest in San Francisco

In a room filled with wreaths bearing Chinese characters on broad ribbons, two Buddhist nuns in embroidered yellow robes started chanting and striking bells. One by one, members of my …

Introducing Our New National & Science Editor, Jia-Rui Cook

Cook Joins Zócalo From NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

We’re proud to announce that Jia-Rui Cook is joining our team as Zócalo’s new National & Science Editor. Cook, a graduate of Harvard College who earned her master’s at Oxford …

What’s Tougher Than Winning on Jeopardy!?

The Clue: Getting on Jeopardy!, for a New Mother From L.A.

My quest to get on Jeopardy! started as a joke, but here I was at a theater in the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City watching people trot gleefully on …

Jia-Rui Chong

Jia-Rui Chong knew she’d had enough of school after earning a graduate degree at Oxford. “I missed the real world too much,” she said. But upon her return, she faced …