Environmental Activist and Hip-Hop Artist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez (Xochimilco)

Kendrick Lamar Would Appreciate My Grandmother’s Chilaquiles

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez (Xochimilco), or X, is an advocate, activist, and hip-hop artist. Recently named one of Time magazine’s Next 100, X been an activist since the age of 6. Before joining the panel for the Zócalo program “How Does Confronting Our History Build a Better Future?”—the final event of our Mellon Foundation-supported series “How Should Societies Remember Their Sins?”—X stopped by our green room and chatted about St. Louis-bred artist Jordan Ward, how he unplugs, and kinship between Indigenous peoples.

Gustavo Arellano’s Diaspora Jukebox Playlist

Essential Music for this Zacatecano Spans Corridos, the Beatles, and AM Radio

As part of Zócalo Public Square’s 20th birthday, we’re sharing the sounds of the Southland with “Diaspora Jukebox,” a series of playlists that celebrate …

What Makes a Song a ‘Camp Song’?

Most Aren’t Composed at Camp. Nor Are They About Camp. But They Unite Kids Across North America on Trails, in Mess Halls, and Around Bonfires

At a children’s summer sleepaway camp in upstate New York in the mid-1920s, two young staffers, Artie and Larry, write a song for the annual camp play. It begins:

Emo Music Made Me a Better Man

A Father Reflects on the Genre’s Greatest Gift—Vulnerability

Is it normal to wonder how you didn’t wind up more of a mess?

As a man, I sometimes find myself asking this question. As an American, I’ve met my fair …

| Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Concertmaster and Violinist Roberto Cani

You Get So Deep Into Music, You’re in a Different World

Roberto Cani is the Stuart Canin Concertmaster at the L.A. Opera and a violinist who has performed as a soloist with the Moscow Philharmonic, the Orchestra of La Scala in …

| Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Hollywood Bowl Violist Erik Rynearson

Life Is Easier in France

Erik Rynearson is principal violist of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Santa Barbara Symphony, Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, and has been a regular substitute musician with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. …