New at Zócalo

  • Democracy Local

    Democracy Advocates Should Stop Fighting About Democracy

    Forget Deliberative vs. Direct vs. Electoral. We’re All on the Same Team

    by Joe Mathews |

    If democracy is going to flourish on this planet, its practitioners must come to see themselves as members of the same team.

    Unfortunately, global democracy is a field divided. And not …

  • Essay

    Does My Neighborhood Want Me to Drop Out of College?

    A Student in Watts Asks Why She’s Spent a Decade Choosing Between Survival and Her Degree

    by Shanice Joseph |

    Zócalo celebrated its 20th birthday recently! As part of the festivities, we’re publishing reflections and responses that revisit and reimagine some of our most …

  • Essay

    Is Birth Control Under Attack?

    Moves to Limit Contraception—From IUDs to the Pill—Are Following the Anti-Abortion Playbook

    by Megan Kavanaugh |

    Zócalo celebrated its 20th birthday recently! As part of the festivities, we’re publishing reflections and responses that revisit and reimagine some of our most …

  • Poetry

    Halation

    by Georgia M. Brodsky

     

    With her, you are more. Morning now. You are
    horizontal in the guest bed most of the time. You
    are awake and horizontal more than you have ever
    been. She …

  • Essay

    ‘Navigate’ Is an Overused Metaphor

    And Other Observations From a Native English Speaker Who Relocated From India to the U.S.

    by Ashwini Gangal |

    In the 15th century, Italian merchant Amerigo Vespucci undertook many a voyage—navigating rough seas for months, sometimes years, between Europe and the New World.

    There’s nothing I would change about that …

  • Election Letters

    How I Became a One-Way Pen Pal for Democracy

    I Write Postcards to Try to Reform Ballot Scofflaws. All the While Wondering, Who Are These People Anyway?

    by Melissa Wall |

    Oh, you beautiful souls in Battle Creek, Michigan: the teacher, the pipelayer, the barista, the big-hearted tech at the vet’s office checking in a scared family’s pug. How I wish …

  • Connecting California

    California Officials Can’t Build By Their Own Rules

    An Addition to the Capitol Is Over Budget and Behind Schedule—While Sacramento Keeps Exempting Itself From State Law

    by Joe Mathews |

    At the very center of state government, you’ll find a hole in the ground demonstrating that the people who make California laws can’t live by them. 

    That hole is, for now, …

By continuing to use our website, you agree to our privacy and cookie policy.

✕

Get More Zócalo

No paywall. No ads. No partisan hacks. Ideas journalism with a head and a heart.

You may opt out or contact us anytime.

×