Zócalo Public Square (Audio)

Los Angeles isn’t fantasizing when it calls itself America’s creative capital: 355,000 jobs are directly tied to the city’s creative industries, and 620,000 jobs are related in some way. But just because creativity is one of Los Angeles’ defining features doesn’t mean it doesn’t have to be defended. Economist and principal contributor of the Otis Report on the Creative Economy Kimberly Ritter-Martinez, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural affairs general manager Danielle Brazell, and Maker City L.A. co-founder Sharon Ann Lee joined moderator Lisa Fung, the founding editor of the "Los Angeles Times Culture Monster," in a panel sponsored by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs on what Los Angeles needs to do to hold onto its creative edge.

The term gentrification can be a catch-all word to characterize the arrival of hipsters, widely available wi-fi, and whites moving into neighborhoods of color. But at a Thinking L.A. event co-presented by UCLA and moderated by KCRW news producer Saul Gonzalez, a panel of Angelenos who study and work to improve the city -- Urban Planner Gilda Haas, Former City Planning Commissioner Maria Cabildo, UCLA cityLAB director Dana Cuff, and western region director of The Actors Fund Keith McNutt -- tried to hone in on how gentrification plays out on the ground, and how best to manage the forces that are rapidly transforming neighborhoods like Highland Park and Lincoln Heights.

Arizona and Mexico, separated at birth? Panelists at a Zócalo/Azteca event Phoenix didn’t go that far, but in a conversation moderated by New York Times Phoenix bureau chief Fernanda Santos about Mexico’s economic rise and the opportunities it creates for Arizona and the U.S. Southwest, it became apparent that Arizona and Mexico have a lot in common--including bad reputations that represent significant barriers to achieving greater prosperity together. The three panelists--two from Arizona (Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and former Arizona-Mexico Commission executive director Margie A. Emmermann) and one from Mexico (Signum Research CEO and economist Héctor Romero) took pains to dispel those reputations.

Some people questions whether or not Phoenix should even exist, but could their doubt actually be good for the city? At a Zócalo/ASU College of Public Service & Community Solutions event, Arizona Republic columnist Robert Robb moderated a discussion between three panelists -- former Phoenix Mayor and Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, New York University historian Andrew Needham, and Sarah Porter, director of ASU’s Kyl Center for Water Policy at Morrison Institute -- on Phoenix's resources, history, and future.

To better preserve its past, Los Angeles needs a better sense of its history -- and the places that define that history. That's what five panelists -- crime novelist Denise Hamilton, Libros Schmibros founder David Kipen, L.A. Office of Historic Resources manager Ken Bernstein, L.A. Weekly staff writer Dennis Romero, and KCET arts and culture columnist Lynell George -- agreed at a Zócalo/Getty - Open Art - event. In a discussion moderated by KCRW's Saul Gonzalez, the group talked about the importance of the places from the past that make L.A. feel like home today.

How can a movie with a Mexican-American theme tell the story of all America? Why aren’t there more movies that reflect the increasingly complex racial and ethnic demography of our country? How can filmmakers make movies that gather audiences that reflect this new America? These are some of the questions writer and director Luis Valdez and producer Moctesuma Esparza took on at a "What It Means to Be American" event, moderated by film critic Claudia Puig.

What if you could learn to sing like Maria Callas, theorize like Stephen Hawking, and, at the same time, become fluent in Russian and French? What if you could accomplish all that in just three years? At a Zócalo event moderated by Sacramento Bee publisher Cheryl Dell, Arizona State University President Michael Crow and California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom shared their ideas about higher education’s evolution into the future, and what it will take to keep up with an ever-shrinking world and ever-growing technological capabilities.

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