New at Zócalo
-
-
Up For Discussion
How Do We Disagree in the Public Square?
Those Who Study and Work to Keep Civil Discourse Civil Share the ‘Secret Sauce’ for Productive Debate
The public square is the meeting ground where people make society happen. In these spaces, physical or metaphorical or digital, we work through our shared dramas and map our collective …
-
Essay
The Genius Mexican Composer History Forgot
Uncovering Juventino Rosas, Whose Waltz Took the World By Storm But Whose Story Remains a Mystery
Juventino Rosas’ waltz “Sobre las Olas” (Over the Waves) is perhaps the most famous song of its generation. Now, more than 130 years after it was written, the tune still …
-
Connecting California
A Movie That Might Be Worse Than Civil War
‘Civil War’ Offers A Vision of California Fighting the U.S. That Matches Foreign Propaganda—and Misses the Point
The new film Civil War is a historic cinematic achievement. British director Alex Garland has made a movie that might be worse than a real American civil war.
Perhaps that was …
-
Essay
Is the Wilderness Act Still Protecting Nature?
The Landmark 1964 Law Is Now Preventing Effective Land Management and Critical Climate Research
At the end of 2023, four environmental groups sued the National Park Service and invoked the Wilderness Act to stop the replanting of trees following a catastrophic wildfire in Sequoia and …
-
-
Essay
Will Young Americans Finally Rock the Vote?
After Decades of Research, We Know How to Get New People to the Polls. We Just Don’t Always Do It
Twenty years ago, I published Taking Back the Vote: Getting American Youth Involved in Our Democracy. The book grew out of a personal passion: Once my oldest child was able …
-
Essay
Reading Animal Farm in Zimbabwe
From Minority White Rule to Dictatorship and Beyond, Orwell’s 1945 Novel—Now in a New Translation—Has Proved Prescient
I began to notice Animal Farm references proliferating in Zimbabwe in 2008.
That was the year hyperinflation nosedived the economy, and long-time leader Robert Mugabe felt threatened enough by a newly …
-
Connecting California
The Losing A’s Found a Winning City to Host Them
West Sacramento Is on a Hot Streak. Other California Cities Should Watch
The Oakland A’s are baseball’s biggest losers. But their new temporary home—West Sacramento—is one of California’s greatest winners.
No California city has had a better 21st century than West Sacramento. The …
-
Up For Discussion
What Makes an Inclusive Public Square?
A Space With the Right Infrastructure Can Support, Welcome, and Empower Everyone
The public square is the meeting ground where people make society happen. In these spaces, physical or metaphorical or digital, we work through our shared dramas and map our collective …
-
-
Up For Discussion
How Do We Find Connection in the Public Square?
On Forming Bonds Over Bars, Benches, Books, and Breakfast
The public square is the meeting ground where people make society happen. In these spaces, physical or metaphorical or digital, we work through our shared dramas and map our collective …