Zócalo Public Square

This program is in Spanish. For a version with English audio interpretation, please visit: https://youtube.com/live/A9zQSsOYdhk Zócalo Public Square y la Universidad de Guadalajara transmiten en vivo desde la feria de libro LéaLA en la LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes en el centro de Los Ángeles. Únete a una conversación moderada por Alfredo Corchado, editor ejecutivo del PUENTE News Collaborative, con Irasema Coronado, directora y profesora de la School of Transborder Studies de Arizona State University; Anita Herrera, artista, curadora, y consultora cultural; y Víctor Zúñiga, profesor de sociología en la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León. Visita https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/ para leer nuestros artículos y aprender más sobre próximos eventos. X: https://x.com/thepublicsquare Instagram: www.instagram.com/thepublicsquare Facebook: www.facebook.com/zocalopublicsquare LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/zocalopublicsquare

Live from the Arizona State University California Center Broadway in Los Angeles, CA: Zócalo convenes two back-to-back panels moderated by KQED correspondent and co-host of “The California Report” Saul Gonzalez to discuss when and how protest makes a difference. The first panel features scholars and thinkers who can offer larger context for the current moment: urban journalism professor Danielle K. Brown, constitutional law professor and former director of the ACLU LGBT Project Matt Coles, and First Amendment scholar Eugene Volokh. The second panel features practitioners who have engaged in historic protests in Los Angeles and beyond: co-founder of the day laborer band Los Jornaleros del Norte Pablo Alvarado, Los Angeles Police Department former assistant chief Sandy Jo MacArthur, and immigrant rights and labor justice activist Victor Narro. Visit https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/ to read our articles and learn about upcoming events. Visit www.zocalopublicsquare.org/ to read our articles and learn ab

Live from Sherwood Elementary in Salinas, CA: Agriculture worker and student José Anzaldo, agricultural consultant James Nakahara, Alianza Nacional de Campesinas executive director & co-founder Mily Treviño-Sauceda, and retired farmworker attorney Juan Uranga visit Zócalo in “America’s salad bowl” to discuss what it would take to make life in California sustainable for the people whose work helps sustain us all. This is the sixth event of the “What Is a Good Job Now?,” co-presented with the James Irvine Foundation. This discussion is moderated by Los Angeles Times staff writer Rebecca Plevin. This program is part of Zócalo's series "What Is A Good Job Now?" supported by the James Irvine Foundation. Visit https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/ to read our articles and learn about upcoming events. Follow along on X: https://x.com/thepublicsquare Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepublicsquare/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zocalopublicsquare LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zocalopublicsq

The Inland Empire exemplifies an ongoing tension between hate and resistance, harboring grassroots movements that have banned lessons about race in public schools at the same time as it celebrates the opening of the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture. This duality makes the region a perfect place to grapple with the history of hate in California, and understand past and present efforts to strike back and fight for justice. Can the region’s battles against discrimination chart a path forward for the rest of the state, and nation? California State Assemblymember Corey A. Jackson, Mapping Black California project director Candice Mays, and ACLU SoCal Senior Policy Advocate and Organizer Luis Nolasco discuss hate’s impact on the Inland Empire, and highlight efforts to resist. This program was co-presented with California Humanities, the National Endowment for the Humanities, United We Stand, UCR Arts, and UCR College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Follow along on X: twitter.com/thepublicsquare In

Is “Latino” a race or an ethnicity? Is it European or American? Is it a source of strength or of subjugation? And does it bring people together—around shared histories of migration and resilience—or is it born from racial ideas about “the other,” borders, and national identity? Journalist and novelist Héctor Tobar is a professor of English and Chicano/Latino studies at UC Irvine, a native Angeleno, and the son of Guatemalan immigrants. He is the winner of the 2024 Zócalo Public Square Book Prize for Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of “Latino,” which wrestles with these questions and many more around identity, history, and culture. Tobar visits Zócalo to discuss the epic journey the book took him on—across the country, to Guatemala, and back again—and the epic American journeys that define the “Latino” experience. Zócalo Public Square is proud to award the 2024 Zócalo Poetry Prize to Melanie Almeder for her poem “Coyote Hour.” The 2024 Zócalo Book and Poetry Prizes are gen

Live from the CalMatters Ideas Festival in Sacramento, CA: XPRIZE Foundation CEO Anousheh Ansari, Public Policy Institute of California president and CEO and retired Chief Justice of California Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye, and Ian Klaus, founding director of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace California Center, visit Zócalo at the CalMatters Ideas Festival to discuss the state of new ideas in the Golden State. This discussion was moderated by Joe Mathews, California columnist & democracy editor at Zócalo Public Square. This program was presented in partnership with CalMatters. Visit www.zocalopublicsquare.org/ to read our articles and learn about upcoming events. Follow along on X: twitter.com/thepublicsquare Instagram: www.instagram.com/thepublicsquare/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/zocalopublicsquare LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/z-calo-public-square

Live from the ASU California Center Broadway in Los Angeles, CA: Artist and sculptor Charles Dickson and Destination Crenshaw founding lead historian Larry Earl visit Zócalo to discuss Dickson’s sculpture, “Car Culture,” which will be on permanent display in Sankofa Park, and how monumental public art projects and cruising scenes throughout Southern California can bring people together across zip codes. This discussion was moderated by Destination Crenshaw’s Director of Public Art Projects Heather Heslup. Presented in partnership with Destination Crenshaw, with generous support from Supervisor Holly Mitchell and Akieva and Martin Jacobs. Visit https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/ to read our articles and learn about upcoming events. Follow along on X: https://twitter.com/thepublicsquare Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepublicsquare/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zocalopublicsquare LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/z-calo-public-square

Live from the Crenshaw High School Performing Arts Center in Crenshaw, CA: Architect Gabrielle Bullock and Los Angeles City Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson join Destination Crenshaw senior art advisor V. Joy Simmons on the Zócalo stage at Crenshaw High School to discuss Destination Crenshaw’s genesis and design. This program was presented in partnership with Destination Crenshaw, with generous support from Akieva and Martin Jacobs and Supervisor Holly Mitchell. Follow along on X: https://twitter.com/thepublicsquare Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepublicsquare/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zocalopublicsquare LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/z-calo-public-square

Live from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA: Artist and Bloom & Plume founder Maurice Harris, sports agent and former NFL player Jacques McClendon, and poet aja monet visit Zócalo and Kinsey Collection at SoFi Stadium to discuss what one of the world’s largest private collections of Black art and historical objects is doing at one of the world’s grandest football stadiums, why it matters, and where similar efforts are scoring big. This discussion is moderated by Khalil Kinsey, curator of the Kinsey African American Art & History Collection.

Live from the New Parkway Theater in Oakland, CA: Gig worker and advocate Sergio Avedian, Gigs founder and CEO Allen Narcisse, and the Workers Lab chief research officer Shelly Steward visit Zócalo to help us understand how we might make gig work good work. This is the fifth event in Zócalo's series “What Is a Good Job Now?,” co-presented with the James Irvine Foundation. This discussion is moderated by CalMatters reporter Levi Sumagaysay. Visit https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/ to read our articles and learn about upcoming events.

Maxwell L. Stearns, constitutional law professor and author of the new book Parliamentary America, visits Zócalo to outline a three-part plan to turn the United States into a multi-party parliamentary democracy that could make our politics less maddening, more collaborative—and perhaps even more fun. What are the legal, constitutional, and political steps needed to modernize American democracy and reignite civic zeal and joy? And how different might the U.S. look if governed by a parliament of multi-party coalitions? This program is co-presented by the Los Angeles Times, and is moderated by Los Angeles Times columnist Erika D. Smith. This program is part of Zócalo’s inquiry, “Can Democracy Survive This Election Year?,” an editorial and event series about voters’ experiences around the world in 2024, the biggest election year in history.

What are the best ideas and models for finding good jobs for the formerly incarcerated? How can we improve the low pay and challenging working conditions in those industries that are most likely to employ people who have been in the system? And what policies and economic changes would open more possible career paths and economic opportunities for this population? Amity Foundation president and CEO Doug Bond, Root & Rebound executive director Carmen Garcia, and Anti-Recidivism Coalition executive director Sam Lewis visit Zócalo to discuss how to build better career pathways for formerly incarcerated people. This is the fourth program in Zócalo's series “What Is a Good Job Now?” supported by the James Irvine Foundation, and was presented on January 24, 2024. Visit https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/ to read our articles and learn about upcoming events. Follow Zócalo on X: https://twitter.com/thepublicsquare Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepublicsquare/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zocalop

Artists across disciplines have harnessed generative AI as mind-extenders, expanding the possibilities of their work, and unleashing new ways to see the world. But as bots get more adept at human-like thought, writers, actors, and others protest in lawsuits and on picket lines, asking: What’s left for artists? Should tech companies be allowed to use existing art to train AI engines? Who gets credit—and paid—for AI-assisted creative work? What do we lose when machine brains take over aspects of our creativity, once a defining feature of humanity? And, tantalizingly, what do we gain? LACMA’s Art + Technology Lab program director Joel Ferree, Concept Art Association co-founder Nicole Hendrix, Writers Guild of America AI working group member John Lopez, and interdisciplinary artist Sarah Rosalena join Zócalo, Arts for LA, the ASU Narrative and Emerging Media program, and LACMA to discuss whether AI heralds the end of humans making art to make sense of the world, or a new key to being and seeing. Moderated by Anu

How are institutional leaders navigating the warring tides of politics and public opinion—tides that may steer them toward uncertain futures? Can organizations help artists, patrons, and the public find common ground, or productive ways to discuss their differences, in this moment of deep democratic and cultural conflict? And, even as they themselves struggle to stay afloat, how do arts institutions serve as spaces of civic engagement, community, and inclusion? MOCA director Johanna Burton, Center Theatre Group artistic director Snehal Desai, former Oregon Shakespeare Festival executive artistic director Nataki Garrett, and Whitney Museum director emeritus Adam D. Weinberg discuss how the culture wars have impacted their work, and where they see institutions, and the arts at large, going next. Moderated by Kristin Sakoda, Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture. This program was co-presented with the Thomas Mann House and Los Angeles Review of Books as part of “Arts in Times of Cri

Can artists shield themselves from the demands of politics and polarized discourse or—in places and periods where activism puts their life and liberty at risk—from bodily danger? Does all their work, in a moment of crisis, have to address that crisis? And how can they know when that moment has come? Two women artists—social-practice artist Suzanne Lacy and photographer Catherine Opie—discuss the role they see themselves, their work, and their peers playing in sustaining, enhancing, or even strengthening democracy when it feels like everything is going up in flames. Moderated by Karen Mack, Founder and Executive Director of LA Commons. This program was co-presented with the Thomas Mann House and Los Angeles Review of Books as part of “Arts in Times of Crises: The Role of Artists in Weakened Democracies,” on November 18, 2023. Follow Zócalo: X: twitter.com/thepublicsquare Instagram: www.instagram.com/thepublicsquare/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/z-calo-public-square

Environmental activist and hip-hop artist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez (Xochimilco), L.A. LGBT Center communications officer and former editor-in-chief of Out magazine Phillip Picardi, and “On Being” founder, executive producer, and host Krista Tippett visit Zócalo to discuss how society might draw strength and coax vision from the shortcomings and failures of its collective past, moderated by University of Pennsylvania historian and author of Hattiesburg, William Sturkey. Featuring a special live performance by the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arktet. This is the final program in Zócalo's series, “How Should Societies Remember Their Sins?,” supported by The Mellon Foundation. Find all essays and previous programs in the series here: https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/feature/societies-sins-mellon/ Follow Zócalo: X: https://twitter.com/thepublicsquare Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepublicsquare/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/z-calo-public-square

The state of California has some of the nation’s strongest legal protections for workers. But Californians continue to suffer from various forms of abuse by their employers—from unpaid overtime to dangerous working conditions; from wage theft to racial, ethnic, gender discrimination. What are the biggest challenges for agencies and communities as they seek to turn pro-labor legislation into better workplace realities? To what extent do our systems—from the courts to workers’ compensation to federal and state labor enforcement—create obstacles to realizing California’s promises to workers? And what steps could state and local governments, and workers themselves, take to make jobs safe from discrimination and abuse? California State Senator Maria Elena Durazo, warehouse worker Sara Fee, and California Labor Commissioner Assistant Chief Daniel Yu talk with Zócalo on the Capitol steps in Sacramento to discuss how to make jobs more fair for workers. Introductory comments by Don Howard, President & CEO of The Jame

Early this year, an uncrewed Chinese-operated high-altitude balloon floated across U.S. airspace, stoking anxiety and fascination among Americans, who assumed it was spying on them, and ultimately provoking President Biden to order the Pentagon to shoot it down. Just as alarming as foreign espionage, though, is the fear of information-gathering turned inward. American anxieties around the “surveillance state” have only grown since the Watergate scandal; with the post-9/11 passage of the USA PATRIOT Act; and with revelations that federal agencies sift through ordinary Americans’ phone and email communications, financial information, and Internet usage. Add in the rise of artificial intelligence, and our addictions to smartphones and sharing personal data, and pressing questions arise: Is Big Brother watching, and do we like it? What is the role of surveillance in our democracy, and to what ends do government and business use it? Does being watched keep us safe, or are we being snookered into becoming our own u

We know cooking best as an act of nourishment, love, and tradition—but it can also cut as sharply as the knives that chop an onion. In Sinaloa, Mexico, a group of relatives of desaparecidos (the tens of thousands of people who have disappeared from the country), have banded together to fight back against government indifference and complicity. Dubbed Las Rastreadoras del Fuerte, the members’ main method of resistance is to search for the bodies of those they love. But they have also brought their battle to the kitchen, where they cook missing family members’ favorite dishes, preserving their memories and reminding the world of the void their absences create. What makes feeding people an act of protest? How do the families of the disappeared continue to find communion, hope, and joy at the table? And where else can cooking be a potent weapon in the face of a fight that feels never-ending? An exhibition based on Recetario para la memoria, a cookbook that collects recipes and remembrances from these families in

Benjamin W. Rawlins Professor of Communication Andre E. Johnson, Monument Lab co-founder and artist Ken Lum, and reparations leader Robin Rue Simmons join Zócalo and the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis to discuss what repair looks like, and how different people and places have stumbled and succeeded in its pursuit. This program was co-presented with the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, TN and is the third program in Zócalo's series "How Should Societies Remember Their Sins?" supported by the Mellon Foundation.