Past Events

Will Americans Ever Be In This Together? with Heather McGhee | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian
Los Angeles In-Person | Streaming Online

Will Americans Ever Be In This Together? with Heather McGhee

From tax cuts and voting rights to healthcare and labor coalitions, middle- and working-class Americans frequently vote for politicians and support policies that go against their interests. The reason, argues economic and social policy scholar Heather McGhee, is racism. Prosperity and success, as the majority sees it, is a zero-sum game: Whatever benefits Black Americans, as well as immigrants and …

What Do We Want From the Next L.A. Mayor? | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian
Los Angeles In-Person | Streaming Online

What Do We Want From the Next L.A. Mayor?

Mayoral candidates in Los Angeles love to offer plans and make promises. But in L.A., City Hall is more likely to follow than to lead. Change here has always come from Angelenos themselves, and the ways we interact with each other and cope with the accidents, disasters, and ongoing challenges that define life in L.A. Before June’s first-round mayoral election, …

Is This What Direct Democracy Looks Like? With Shirley Weber | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian
Los Angeles In-Person | Streaming Online

Is This What Direct Democracy Looks Like? With Shirley Weber

Direct democracy is supposed to be a people’s process, allowing everyday citizens to enact their own ideas for laws or constitutional amendments. But does California’s system live up to that promise? Qualifying a measure for the ballot costs so many millions of dollars that only the richest people and interests can bring their proposals forward. Elected and appointed officials have …

Can We All Live in the Best Version of Los Angeles? | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian
Streaming Live Online

Can We All Live in the Best Version of Los Angeles?

Food, art, culture, weather, beaches, mountains—and people, from all over the world and with a broad range of talents and dreams—make Los Angeles an amazing place to live. A homelessness and housing crisis, drought, traffic, inequality, and political dysfunction can make Los Angeles an impossible place to live. The county is home to areas with the lowest and highest rates …

Zócalo Presents: How Immigrants Composed L.A. | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian
Los Angeles In-Person | Streaming Online

A Special Zócalo Music Presentation: How Immigrants Composed L.A.

In 1933, Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg immigrated to the United States, settling in Los Angeles; he would spend the rest of his life writing music and teaching composition at USC and UCLA. Following him, in 1940, came Russian-born composer, pianist, and conductor Stravinsky, who settled in Hollywood after making the move from France. Then, in 1942, fellow Russian-born composer, pianist, …

How Can Our Communities Escape Polarizing Conflict? with Amanda Ripley | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian
Los Angeles In-Person | Streaming Online

How Can Our Communities Escape Polarizing Conflict? with Amanda Ripley

Growing homelessness has fueled bitter conflicts in hundreds of neighborhoods across California. The drought is renewing generations-old local wars over water. Schools have become political and cultural battlegrounds, with parents and teachers at odds. And fights over pandemic response, from Shasta to Orange Counties, have escalated into violent threats between citizens and local officials. Why are so many Californians falling …