New at Zócalo

  • Essay

    What Nevada Stole from Its Native People

    Senator Pat McCarran’s Vision for the Desert Carried a Tradition of Dispossession Into the Mid-20th Century

    by Taylor Rose |

    Today, tourists from all over the world flock to Nevada to experience selective amnesia. “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” the slogan goes. But Las Vegas’ culture of forgetting …

  • Poetry

    a god

    by Nidaa Khoury, translated by Lily Shehady

    Once there was a god who opened his mouth,
    parted his forehead and widened his lips
    the whole world opened. The upper lip was the horizon,
    and the waterline, walking …

  • Culture Class

    Social Media Won’t Kill the Whoopee Cushion

    Today’s Pranks May Be Boosted by the Algorithm, But They’re Still Cultural Weapons for Both the Powerful and the Petty

    by Jackie Mansky |

    The whoopee cushion, sure to be dusted off by pranksters young and old this April Fools’ Day, is among the most enduring pranks in human history. The gag was already …

  • Essay

    No, Ancient Egyptians Did Not Build a City in the Grand Canyon

    Science Refutes Racist, Made-for-TV ‘Alternative Histories’ of Indigenous Americans

    by Jennifer Raff |

    The histories of Indigenous peoples of the Americas are fascinating. Looking at the spectacular buildings of Machu Picchu, the walrus ivory carvings of the Canadian Arctic, and the effigy stone …

  • Prizes

    Michelle Wilde Anderson Wins the 2023 Zócalo Book Prize

    The Fight to Save the Town Highlights the Work of Sewing Society Back Together

    Interview by Sarah Rothbard |

    Michelle Wilde Anderson is the winner of the 2023 Zócalo Public Square Book Prize for The Fight to Save the Town: Reimagining Discarded America.

    Zócalo awards the $10,000 prize annually to …

  • Connecting California

    Why California and I Both Need a Jubilee

    The Golden State (and Your Columnist) Should Embrace the Biblical Tradition of a Reset Every 50 Years

    by Joe Mathews |

    Ye shall hallow the 50th year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every …

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