New at Zócalo
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Essay
What We Lose When We ‘Cancel’ Russian
After the Ukraine Invasion, Enrollment in the Language Hit Historic Lows. But Turning Away Isolates the Entire Post-Soviet World
Feeling decisive one morning during my sophomore year of college, I picked my major: Russian. I had been studying the language and was excited for the opportunity to read literature, …
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The Takeaway
How Poetry Marches Democracy Forward
Spoken Word Artists Discuss the Power of Language in a ‘Post-Truth’ Nation
The connection between poems and American politics runs deep. Presidents from John Quincy Adams to Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama are published poets. Poets help usher in new presidential eras …
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Essay
How Is a Poem Like a Political Campaign?
Whether You’re Knocking on Doors or Knocking out Verse, You’re Dealing in Hope, Uncertainty, and the Art of Persuasion
To knock on a door and talk politics with a neighbor. To crack open a book and hear a new voice. To canvass a side street, zig-zagging between houses. To …
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In the Green Room
Lieutenant General (ret.) Robert E. Schmidle, Jr.
French Philosophers Make My Brain Hurt. I Enjoy It
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In the Green Room
Air Force Veteran and Social Worker Noël Lipana
My Pitbull Looks Like a Ball of Blueberry Scone Dough
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Essay
Space Is Not Just for Scientists
Public and Private Partnerships Built Our New Space Age—Which Should Include All Aspects of Human Endeavor
Launching objects into orbit has never been so affordable nor has space ever been so accessible. As a result, humanity’s expansion into the universe is accelerating—and with it, the opportunity …
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Connecting California
The Mutual ‘F—k You’ Defines California Politics Today
Both Citizens and Public Officials Need Protection From the Anger and Violence Threatening Civic Life
As he left office in December, Los Angeles City Council member Paul Koretz publicly addressed Angelenos who disrupt meetings of the scandal-plagued council with protests and profanity. “In their own …
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Essay
Unburying Franco and the Crimes of the Spanish Civil War
For Six Decades, Spain Told a Dictator's Story. For the Past 22 Years, Citizens Have Been Creating a New Memory Landscape
Provocatively deemed “The Spanish Holocaust” by historian Paul Preston, the Spanish Civil War—a conflict, extending from 1936 to 1939 that resulted in the repression, torture, and death of hundreds of …