New at Zócalo
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Where I Go
Where I (Don’t) Go: Three Years in Northern Colorado
I Haven’t Left Larimer County Since Early 2020. It’s Taught Me How to Hear, Smell, and Feel at Home
In late September in northern Colorado, where the Rocky Mountains meet the plains in the traditional and ancestral lands of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Ute Nations and peoples, the waist-high …
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Essay
Finding a Good Society in the Mud of Burning Man
Humans Are Human—And Governments Need to Help Them Achieve Self-Reliance and Avoid Panic in the Face of Disaster
Since leaving Burning Man, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the role that principles play in a society, and what to do when people don’t live up to …
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Democracy Local
My Ride in a German Time Machine
Virtual Reality Took Me to 1926 Cologne. I Found What a City Had Lost—And What Our Democratic Future Needs
I was more than a little startled when Konrad Adenauer approached me in the Old Market.
Sure, I was visiting Cologne, Germany, Adenauer’s hometown. But I had never imagined I’d lay …
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Essay
A Mid-Century Playbook for Saving Progressive American Education
Fifty Years Ago, Parents United to Get the Far-Right John Birch Society Out of Their Schools
This May, an email landed in my inbox. The correspondent, who’d come across my new book on the John Birch Society, wanted to share how members of this far-right anticommunist …
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Essay
Following in My Cherokee Great-Grandfather’s Footsteps
I Work With Tribes Across the Country to Honor Our Ancestors—And Ensure Our Survival
I started working in repatriation efforts before I even knew what the term meant.
But repatriation—bringing our ancestors home—is in my blood. I grew up in a Cherokee community in Chewey, …
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The Takeaway
Making Pozole and Memorializing Mexico’s Disappeared
Food Reunites Families With Lost Loved Ones
“Food can be a strong place to talk about things we don’t want to talk about,” Zahara Gómez Lucini said at last night’s special Zócalo program, “Do We Need More …
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Essay
Where Asian Americans Need Affirmative Action
Our Focus on University Admissions Obscures the ‘Bamboo Ceiling’ in the Workplace
Zócalo is celebrating its 20th birthday this year! As part of the festivities, we’re publishing reflections and responses that revisit and reimagine some of …