New at Zócalo

  • Culture Class

    Smile, You’re on Jury Duty!

    First Came Candid Camera. Then The Truman Show. Now, a New Swath of TV Speaks to 21st-Century Voyeurism

    by Jackie Mansky |

    Since The Truman Show premiered 25 years ago, the premise—about a man unaware his entire life has been a reality TV program—has gone from thought experiment to reality.

    Jury Duty, which …

  • Where I Go

    Where I Go: The Playground That Helped Make Prague Feel Like Home

    On the Plastic Benches of Výtoň’s Park, I Watched Our Sons Play and Let My Imagination Roam

    by Chad Bryant |

    In 2013, my wife and I rented an apartment in Výtoň, a classic urban neighborhood south of the tourist-packed city center of Prague. This wasn’t my first move to the …

  • The Takeaway

    Make Art Not War

    Creative Expression Builds Consciousness—and Resistance—in Hearts and Minds

    by Talib Jabbar |

    How do you mobilize art against war? Can artwork be co-opted by warmongers? And what, if anything, can we hope for in creating and consuming art about war?

    These were some …

  • Essay

    The Banana King Who (Tried to) Put People Over Profits

    1970s United Fruit CEO Eli Black Got Caught Between the Warring Ideals of ‘Social Responsibility’ and Shareholder Gains

    by Matt Garcia |

    After the latest banking crisis, an old question has resurfaced: What should corporate executives care about, people or profits?

    Hard-right Republicans contend that it was “woke” investment strategies of liberal executives—who …

  • Connecting California

    Gavin Newsom’s ‘Campaign for Democracy’ Has a Democracy Problem

    The Governor Should Keep His Eyes on the Homefront Instead of Battling ‘UnAmerican Extremists’ in Republican States

    by Joe Mathews |

    Gov. Gavin Newsom is doing a good thing by launching “Campaign for Democracy” against authoritarian governors who are limiting freedom in Republican states like Alabama and Florida.

    But what he’s campaigning …

  • Glimpses

    When Kids Make Art, a Richer Story of War Emerges

    The Stone Soup Refugee Project Helps Young People Move Beyond Empathy

    by Laura Moran |

    The sea is stormy, please help me!

    My wings are small, please help me!

    The butterflies are afraid, please help me!

    My world is ignored, …

  • Essay

    ‘Guernica’ Did Nothing—Which Is Why It Still Matters

    Picasso’s Masterpiece Teaches Us How Antiwar Art’s Power Lies in This Paradox

    by David McCarthy |

    This month marks the anniversary of one of the many atrocities of the last century carried out in the cause of nationalism. On Monday, April 26, 1937, less than a …