Ending the Disinformation Era
In an Age of Distrust, Local Media Is Our Secret Weapon
After an election, an attempted insurrection, and a transfer of power defined in part by a massive amount ...
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The Theatrical Concept Powerful Enough to Break a Trumpian Spell
The Great German Playwright Bertholt Brecht Knew How to Jolt an Audience Out of Narrative Complacency
How strange to watch Trump’s failed insurrection on Congress unfold from one’s living room TV during ...
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Conspiracy and Complicity Got Our Democracy Here
What Role Have We All Played in the Spread of Disinformation and the Rise of Authoritarianism?
Two phenomena have characterized the outgoing Trump administration and spilled over to other countries ...
New at Zócalo
How Can a Society Apologize?
A Rabbi Asks Whether America Can Bridge ‘the Sea of Society and the River of Time’ to Atone for Its Sins
The Biblical story of the Gibeonites rarely makes it into the classroom of a Sunday School or Hebrew school, but the tale has much to say to 21st-century Americans.
The Gibeonites, a Canaanite group, forged a pact with the Israelites when the Israelites were conquering the land—but, after a series of twists and turns, wound up their permanent servants. The Gibeonites became "hewers" …
How to Teach an American Inauguration
Since 2008, My College Students Have Been Exploring—in Real Time—What the Transfer of Power Ceremony Reveals About the Nation
Wouldn’t it be cool to go to D.C. for the inauguration?” I remember telling a fellow adjunct instructor in late 2008. Barack Obama had just been elected, and most of us were filled with joy at the arrival of the nation’s first Black president. A new era of hope in America was beckoning us to take part.
“You can go, you …
Dispatches
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A Letter From South Phoenix, Where Two Pandemics 'Have Turned American Life Feral'
Raising a Black and Brown Family Here Was Complicated, Even Before COVID Struck
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A Letter From Napa Valley, Where Love Burns Hotter Than Fire
A Writer Reflects on Fleeing Northern California's Glass Fire, the Written History She Lost to the Blaze, and the Relationships That Sustain Her
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A Letter From Northern Michigan, Where Remote Is Not Remote Enough to Escape COVID
A Professor Who Finds a Home in the Upper Peninsula No Longer Has the Heart to Return to the Classroom
Where I Go
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Where I Go: Foraging for Wild Mushrooms
Chanterelles in the Market? $24.99 Per Pound. In the Forest? Priceless
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Where I Go: Coming Together ’Round the Telly
In Praise of TV-Watching, the Pinnacle of Evening Entertainment
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Where I Go: The Biting Cold of Open-Water Swimming
When the Ocean Temperature Plunges in the Winter, There’s Nowhere to Hide
Glimpses
Connecting California Joe Mathews
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Why Californians—of Both Parties—Should Embrace the Recall
Even When You Don’t Want to Remove a Politician, the Vote Provides a Healthy Democratic Dose of Self-Examination
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Don't Tear Down L.A.’s Notorious Men's Central Jail
Transforming the Facility Into a Museum and Democracy Center Would Allow California to Remember Its Carceral Cruelty—And Create a Different Future
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SLO Down, You Move Too Fast, California
In Praise of the Peaceful Pleasures of San Luis Obispo County
In the Green Room
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Black Voice News Publisher Paulette Brown-Hinds
One of My First Jobs Was Typesetter
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Attorney and Former Federal Election Commissioner Ann Ravel
You Must Think I Have a Hill or Mountain Obsession
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American Journalism Project CEO Sarabeth Berman
Every Day Was a Feast for Learning
