The 2024 Zócalo Book Prize Honors Nonfiction on Connectedness and Social Cohesion

Recognizing Authors Whose Work Enhances Our Understanding of Community

Zócalo Public Square’s annual book prize honors the U.S.-published nonfiction book that best enhances our understanding of community and the forces that strengthen or undermine human connectedness and social cohesion. Zócalo is grateful to screenwriter and philanthropist Tim Disney for his continuing sponsorship of our literary prize program, which also includes the Zócalo Public Square Poetry Prize.

Our mission is to connect people to ideas and to each other, which is why we have honored authors who explore these themes since 2011. Our annual award ceremony—which includes a lecture, interview, and …

Announcing the 2023 Zócalo Book Prize Shortlist | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Announcing the 2023 Zócalo Book Prize Shortlist

Congratulations to Saladin Ambar, Michelle Wilde Anderson, Stephanie Cacioppo, Anand Giridharadas, and Gaia Vince

The books shortlisted for the 2023 Zócalo Book Prize address five of the most urgent issues of our current moment: racial inequality, economic inequality, the struggle for human connection, political …

Announcing the Zócalo 2022 Book Prize Shortlist | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Announcing the Zócalo 2022 Book Prize Shortlist

Congratulations to Authors Heather McGhee, Sam Quinones, Edward Slingerland, and Michael Patrick F. Smith

What is racism costing all of us? How are communities across America battling the opioid crisis? Who are the people drilling in the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota? And …

We Shouldn’t Rely on Politicians to Memorialize Our Fallen Soldiers

Gold Star Families Need to Reach out—and Communities Need to Reach Back

Five U.S. infantry soldiers died on June 21, 2007, when their 30-ton Bradley tracked vehicle hit a deep-buried bomb in Adhamiyah, Iraq.

I was embedded as a reporter with their unit …

Why Veterans Hurt (It’s Not What You Think)

What’s Tough On Those Who Leave the Military Isn’t Remembering What Was Bad. It’s Missing What Was Good.

When I joined the Army as a 17-year-old, I expected to face many challenges and hardships as an individual—whether that meant getting yelled at or shot at or made to …

Race Is Easy. Ideology Is Hard.

Jonathan Haidt, Winner of the Third Annual Zócalo Book Prize, Explains Why Good People Demonize One Another

The Third Annual Zócalo Public Square Book Prize was made possible by the generous support of Southern California Gas Company.

“It’s a hell of a challenge to create a cohesive community …