Zócalo Public Square

Zócalo Public Square brings people together to explore important ideas and connect with one another. In an era where public discussions and online conversations can feel increasingly divided, Zócalo aims to foster an inclusive intellectual atmosphere, encouraging a fresh and varied generation to participate in public discourse. We fulfill our mission through hosting events and sharing thought-provoking journalism. We believe that democracy is not just a structure but also a way of life, and by providing valuable chances for individuals to engage and learn from each other, we help sustain and strengthen it.

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Articles

What Happens When You Trade Doomscrolling for Hopescrolling

5 days ago | zocalopublicsquare.org | Jennifer Mercieca

My students tell me that they don’t sleep. They stay up all night endlessly scrolling their social media feeds. Their attention has been captured, but not by anything in particular, not really, they say. Like a lot of us, my students are chronic doomscrollers. And, like a lot of us, they’re miserable as a result.
The U.S. Government Says L.A. Protests Are Insurrection

1 week ago | zocalopublicsquare.org | Joe Mathews

I’m not just your columnist. I’m your outlaw. I’m not telling you this to seem cool, or to sell a country album. No, siree. I am telling you that, as an official matter of public record, I am a criminal. According to the government of the United States of America. If you’re a Californian, you might be one, too. To be sure, my criminality isn’t entirely my fault, and yours likely isn’t either. I haven’t knocked over any banks or defrauded investors. At least not yet.
Dear DOGE, Tear Down Those Dams!

2 weeks ago | zocalopublicsquare.org | Tom Zoellner

No big government infrastructure project made an imprint on the landscape and economy of the West more than the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s 20th century dam-building spree, which peppered 490 dams across the country, created an agricultural civilization dependent on federal hydrology civil engineering, and brought about a welter of environmental difficulties after drying up dozens of once-healthy rivers. Today, the agency claims a $1.4 billion budget to maintain its fleet of aging dams.
I Went to Find Trump's 'Rebellion.' I Ended up at a Birthday Party

2 weeks ago | zocalopublicsquare.org | Joe Mathews

On Saturday, I went to a riot and found myself at a quinceañera. I wasn’t lost. I had headed to the L.A. County cities of Compton and Paramount to see the “riots and looters” that Donald Trump and his administration were talking about on social media. I know those communities well.
Can the L.A. Bagel Come Full Circle? | Culture Class

3 weeks ago | zocalopublicsquare.org | Jackie Mansky

The bagel shop that opened in my neighborhood this spring announced itself with a bold blue banner out front that read “There are no good bagels in California.” Except the “no” came with a caret that tacked a “w” onto the end, so the text actually read “There are now good bagels in California.”The sentiment might have been provocative a decade ago. Back then, California, and specifically Los Angeles, where I live, was widely considered, at least by East Coast standards, to be a bagel desert.
Bagels Gave Me My Hollywood Ending

3 weeks ago | zocalopublicsquare.org | Jason Kaplan

In our village (we call it the East Village), bagels are a food of the people. Rich or poor, you can afford one. Years ago, working late nights as a sound editor, I got into the habit of stopping at a bagel shop on my way home, buying one onion bagel with an unprofitable amount of cream cheese and one pumpernickel with nothing on it. After I climbed back to my fifth-floor walk-up, turned on the light, and shooed away the roaches, I’d split the cream cheese between both bagels.
A Rebellion Is Fizzing in Santa Cruz | Connecting California

3 weeks ago | zocalopublicsquare.org | Joe Mathews

I want to move to Santa Cruz, but not for the boardwalk, or the cool summer temperatures, or to earn a graduate degree. I want to move to Santa Cruz to join the rebellion. Wanna come with me? Hoping to improve public health and raise revenue, Santa Cruz has established a two-cent-per-ounce tax on sodas. The new tax defies a 2018 state law that prohibits local governments from imposing such levies. This Santa Cruz Rebellion might seem like small root beer.
Aurora Jiménez Was Mexico’s First, Forgotten Congresswoman

3 weeks ago | zocalopublicsquare.org | Carin Zissis

When Aurora Jiménez de Palacios took her seat in Mexico’s Congress in 1954, the country’s women still hadn’t been able to vote in a national election. The 28-year-old, showered with confetti and joined by her young daughter, climbed the steps of the Chamber of Deputies, becoming Mexico’s first congresswoman—and opening the door for seven decades of women’s rising legislative power. In October 2024, Mexico inaugurated Claudia Sheinbaum as its first woman president.
Getting Undocumented Californians on Medi-Cal Is a Huge Success

1 month ago | zocalopublicsquare.org | Joe Mathews

One recent morning, I interviewed a farmworker over breakfast at a McDonald’s in the south Salinas Valley. Then I drove out of town to talk to a dozen of his colleagues in a cauliflower field. Over a couple hours, we chatted about their diverse circumstances. Some were married, with children in California schools and colleges, and some were single, living far from family.
Let's Rename This California Waterway in Honor of Trump | Connecting California

1 month ago | zocalopublicsquare.org | Joe Mathews

“It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.”—MachiavelliThe Tijuana River stinks. So, what could be more fitting than renaming it in honor of Donald Trump? Turning the sewage-filled Tijuana into the River Trump would be far more than commentary on a corrupt and lawless American dictator. It would be the best way for California and Mexico to win necessary attention for a critically endangered waterway. It also would swipe a page from the playbook of Trump, who loves renaming things.