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| Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

What Would a New Cold War Mean for the World?

Civilization faces existential threats—pandemics, climate change, nuclear proliferation, runaway technologies—that seem to require international collaboration. Meanwhile, China and the United States are engaging in greater conflict with each other, and embracing unilateralism in matters of trade, technology, national security, and the sovereignty of their neighbors. To what extent will nations, businesses, NGOs, and individuals across the globe have to take …

Has California Ended Mass Incarceration? | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Has California Ended Mass Incarceration?

Between 1975 and 2007, incarceration rates in the United States increased nearly fivefold. But over the last decade, California has slowly turned away from mass incarceration, reducing its prison population and changing criminal sentencing and other law enforcement practices to give more people more second chances. What has California done right in this transformation, and where has it fallen short? …

How Do Our Cities Prepare for the Post-Apocalypse? | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

How Do Our Cities Prepare for the Post-Apocalypse?

It’s too late to prevent the apocalypse. Because it’s already here. A virus spreads globally, creating a pandemic, as yet uncontrolled. Climate change accelerates, and hurricanes, droughts, heat waves, and floods grow deadlier. Nuclear weapons and disruptive technologies proliferate, and economic dislocation and record mass migrations destabilize cities. Is it reasonable to expect urban centers, which are particularly threatened by …

How Do Our Cities Prepare for the Post-Apocalypse? | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Can We Still Find the Good in the World?

It feels like such a dark time. The planet is burning with hatred, disease, and environmental degradation. And, between the confusing nature of our societies and our own biases, traumas, and privileges, it’s become increasingly difficult to be sure we will know the good when we see it. What does it mean, when the bad urgently demands our attention and …