Zócalo Public Square (Audio)

Wait, Arizona Has a History?

A panel moderated by KCRW's Warren Olney, featuring energy journalist Lisa Margonelli, UC Berkeley energy expert Daniel Kammen, SolarCity's Jim Cahill, and LADWP general manager Ron Nichols discusses the future of solar energy in California. They agreed that solar energy has the potential to change the way the state is fueled, but that the financial and political policies need to catch up to technological advancements

A panel featuring KQET's Sarah Varney, the Bayview Child Health Center's Nadine Burke Harris, San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center director Katie Albright, and Robin Karr-Morse, author of Scared Sick: The Role of Childhood Trauma in Adult Disease, discussed what childhood trauma is, how it can be treated and prevented, and its effects on the health of adults. Children who experience chronic exposure to abuse, neglect, and violence are at greatly increased risk for illnesses ranging from heart disease and hepatitis to addictive behaviors like IV drug use.

Is Phoenix the Next L.A., God Forbid?

KCRW's Kim Masters, Homeland and Cold Case writer and producer Meredith Stiehm, the Boston Globe's Joanna Weiss, ex-TV executive James Andrew Miller, and Occidental College historian Thaddeus Russell debate whether we're currently living in the golden age of television--or if more choice means more mediocrity. Their lively conversation encompassed the merits of Cupcake Wars and American Idol, the debt contemporary shows owe to Hill Street Blues, diversity onscreen, and what makes today's critically acclaimed shows great.

Getty Trust President and CEO James Cuno explains why museums matter today more than ever in a talk at the Petersen Automotive Museum. Cuno shares the museum's 18th-century Enlightenment origins and responds to critics who have called the encyclopedic museum elitist and imperialistic.

Historian Olivier Zunz, author of Philanthropy in America: A History, explains why philanthropy is such a powerful force in American politics, economics, and society by explaining the history of the institution.

Leaders of four major research universities--USC President C.L. Max Nikias, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, ASU President Michael Crow, and Rice University President David Leebron--discuss the role of urban universities in their communities with the Chronicle of Higher Education's Jeffrey Selingo. They agreed that while universities alone cannot save dying cities, but they can contribute a great deal to the cultural, economic, and intellectual lives of their cities.

Why is the U.S. the only western country that can't agree on healthcare? Sociologist Paul Starr, author of Remedy and Reaction: The Peculiar American Struggle Over Health Care Reform, explains our bitter war over healthcare through its history from the early 20th century--when the American Medical Assocation and other groups used xenophobia to defeat the first healthcare bills--up through President Obama's 2010 reforms.

How Los Angeles Invented the World - The Past and Future of L.A.'s Global Image