New at Zócalo

  • The Takeaway

    How Poetry Marches Democracy Forward

    Spoken Word Artists Discuss the Power of Language in a ‘Post-Truth’ Nation

    by Talib Jabbar |

    The connection between poems and American politics runs deep. Presidents from John Quincy Adams to Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama are published poets. Poets help usher in new presidential eras …

  • Essay

    How Is a Poem Like a Political Campaign?

    Whether You’re Knocking on Doors or Knocking out Verse, You’re Dealing in Hope, Uncertainty, and the Art of Persuasion

    by Derek Mong |

    To knock on a door and talk politics with a neighbor. To crack open a book and hear a new voice. To canvass a side street, zig-zagging between houses. To …

  • Connecting California

    The Mutual ‘F—k You’ Defines California Politics Today

    Both Citizens and Public Officials Need Protection From the Anger and Violence Threatening Civic Life

    by Joe Mathews |

    As he left office in December, Los Angeles City Council member Paul Koretz publicly addressed Angelenos who disrupt meetings of the scandal-plagued council with protests and profanity. “In their own …

  • Essay

    Unburying Franco and the Crimes of the Spanish Civil War

    For Six Decades, Spain Told a Dictator’s Story. For the Past 22 Years, Citizens Have Been Creating a New Memory Landscape

    by Tyler Goldberger |

    Provocatively deemed “The Spanish Holocaust” by historian Paul Preston, the Spanish Civil War—a conflict, extending from 1936 to 1939 that resulted in the repression, torture, and death of hundreds of …

  • Essay

    Pet Voice Isn’t All About the LOLZ

    The Communication Tactic Dates Back Centuries. But the Act of Anthropomorphizing Our Furry Friends Has Become More Insidious in the Digital Age

    by Jessica Maddox |

    Whether you love or hate people speaking as their pets, using cutesy terms like “pupperinos” and “heckin’ good bois,” or sharing grammatically incorrect cat speak memes, the concept of a …