Megafires Are Getting More Dangerous—But We Can Better Prepare for Them

To Coexist With a Fierier Planet, We Need to Stop Viewing Fire as the Enemy

Megafires—wildfires that burn more than 100,000 acres of land—have long been a fact of life across the American West and elsewhere. But as such fires grow larger and more frequent this century, it’s not enough for humans to work on improving fire prevention and firefighting methods. We’ll have to rethink our relationship with fire itself.

That was the message of scholars of fire at a Zócalo/Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West event, titled “How Can Humans Coexist With Monster Wildfires?” and streamed live on YouTube and Twitter Thursday night. Led …

by Joe Mathews | July 17, 2020

More In: The Takeaway

Will Anyone Ever Be Able to Afford to Live in California?

Housing Affordability Is a Long-Term Problem, but COVID Could Help Reset the Conversation

by Sara Suárez | June 30, 2020

On June 24, the UCLA Anderson Forecast predicted a difficult economic future for California and reported that the U.S. economy is in a “Depression-like crisis.” What does this mean for …

Love the Games or Loathe Them, the Olympics Need to Do Better by Competitors and Local Communities

From Displacement to Doping, Athletes Argue for More Moral and Engaged Leadership

by Joe Mathews | June 19, 2020

The Olympic Games need to overhaul their governance and give more decision-making power to athletes if they are ever going to address their many failings, from the costs they impose …

Hattiesburg Tells Us What America Has Lost, Gained—and Still Needs to Fix

Zócalo Book Prize Winner William Sturkey Describes What a Community Achieved Under Oppression—and How We Can Learn From Its Accomplishments Today

by Sarah Rothbard | May 21, 2020

At a moment when community feels precious and crisis lays bare American inequalities, the title subject of the 10th annual Zócalo Public Square Book Prize Lecture felt vital: “How Do …

Poetry’s Unique Power to Change Its Readers and Sustain Them Too

During a Pandemic, Poems Offer ‘a Space of Words Where You Can Dwell’

May 8, 2020

What is it about poetry that allows us to escape our greatest anxieties, find space for introspection, or even achieve catharsis? What is it about the poetic combination of meter, …

Will COVID-19 Finally Convince Us to Do Better by Farmworkers?

The Current Crisis, and Longstanding Conditions, Argue for Enforcing Laws and Offering Better Protections—From Face Masks to Retirement Accounts

by Jackie Mansky | April 15, 2020

In California, the COVID-19 shutdown coincided with the lettuce season in the small Fresno County town of Huron. Its mayor, Rey León, has since been struggling to convey shifting safety …