Zócalo Public Square

The Aloha State is on the front lines of climate change. The seas surrounding Hawai‘i already have risen as much as 3.5 inches since 1960. Long-term forecasts anticipate massive beach erosion, higher average temperatures, prolonged droughts, heavy flooding linked to volatile trade winds, and increased ocean acidity that could bleach coral and disrupt marine migration. But Hawai‘i also is on the front lines of scientific experimentation that could mitigate the harsher effects of global warming. What can the world learn from this research and the state’s experience with climate change? How can Hawai‘i set an example for sustainable living that other states and countries might emulate? University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa geologist Chip Fletcher, RAND Corporation scientist and contributor to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Robert Lempert, Honolulu chief resiliency officer Joshua Stanbro, and moderator Catherine Cruz, co-host of Hawai‘i Public Radio's "The Conversation" took part in a Zócalo/Daniel K. Inouye Institute “Pau Hana” event at Artistry Honolulu to discuss how Hawai‘i can help the world survive and thrive amid environmental disruption.

In the United States, a large country defined by its greatest natural wonders, engaging with nature is considered essential to good health and civic virtue. But African Americans, while representing 13 percent of the U.S. population, make up just 7 percent of visitors to our national parks; Latinos and Native Americans are similarly underrepresented among park attendees. The leaders and staffs of America’s major nature organizations—from park services to foundations to public agencies—are much whiter than the country as a whole. And studies show that non-whites rarely show up in media images of people in the outdoors. What explains this phenomenon? How much of the problem lies in a lack of access to the wild and to parks, and how much involves historic and present-day barriers? And what changes must be made before the people enjoying America’s natural beauty actually look like America? REI marketing executive Myrian Solis Coronel, Latino Outdoors founder José González, North Carolina State University environmental sociologist Myron Floyd, and writer and hiker Rahawa Haile visited Zócalo to participate in a Zócalo/Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County panel discussion on how to diversify access to the natural world, held at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

In the United States, a large country defined by its greatest natural wonders, engaging with nature is considered essential to good health and civic virtue. But African Americans, while representing 13 percent of the U.S. population, make up just 7 percent of visitors to our national parks; Latinos and Native Americans are similarly underrepresented among park attendees. The leaders and staffs of America’s major nature organizations—from park services to foundations to public agencies—are much whiter than the country as a whole. And studies show that non-whites rarely show up in media images of people in the outdoors. What explains this phenomenon? How much of the problem lies in a lack of access to the wild and to parks, and how much involves historic and present-day barriers? And what changes must be made before the people enjoying America’s natural beauty actually look like America? REI marketing executive Myrian Solis Coronel, Latino Outdoors founder José González, North Carolina State University environmental sociologist Myron Floyd, and writer and hiker Rahawa Haile visited Zócalo to participate in a Zócalo/Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County panel discussion on how to diversify access to the natural world, held at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

Parents dress their children in bee costumes, and the ant has its own Hollywood movie franchise. But the lowly termite has long been best known for causing billions in annual property damages. That might now be changing. Around the world, as scientists try to figure out biology’s underlying rules and harness them to solve problems, they are looking to termites—and their guts, full of rare microorganisms—for guidance on how to transform the way we design new technologies. Can termites show us how to power our cars without worsening climate change? Do the ways termites organize themselves offer insights for creating new communication systems? Do the genes of termites suggest paths to designing new fuels or substances that might allow humans to live with a lighter footprint on Earth? Lisa Margonelli, author of Underbug: An Obsessive Tale of Termites and Technology, visited Zócalo with moderator Warren Olney, host of KCRW’s “To the Point,” to chew over the potential of a bug with the power to make, or unmake, the world. The event took place at The RedZone at Gensler in downtown Los Angeles.

Parents dress their children in bee costumes, and the ant has its own Hollywood movie franchise. But the lowly termite has long been best known for causing billions in annual property damages. That might now be changing. Around the world, as scientists try to figure out biology’s underlying rules and harness them to solve problems, they are looking to termites—and their guts, full of rare microorganisms—for guidance on how to transform the way we design new technologies. Can termites show us how to power our cars without worsening climate change? Do the ways termites organize themselves offer insights for creating new communication systems? Do the genes of termites suggest paths to designing new fuels or substances that might allow humans to live with a lighter footprint on Earth? Lisa Margonelli, author of Underbug: An Obsessive Tale of Termites and Technology, visited Zócalo with moderator Warren Olney, host of KCRW’s “To the Point,” to chew over the potential of a bug with the power to make, or unmake, the world. The event took place at The RedZone at Gensler in downtown Los Angeles.

American intelligence services have unanimously concluded that the Russian government intervened in the 2016 U.S. elections, and seeks to meddle again. One of Russia’s methods is to use social media to distribute disinformation. What’s the big-picture strategy behind this style of attack, and how badly is it damaging our society and politics? Does disinformation have lasting effects on how voters engage with democracy? What vulnerabilities in American society did Russia exploit in its disinformation campaign? And how can the U.S. best fight back? Former FBI counterintelligence special agent and Yale senior lecturer Asha Rangappa, film producer and Russian Media Monitor founder Julia Davis, Virginia Commonwealth University behavioral scientist and media researcher Caroline Orr, and moderator Warren Olney host of KCRW’s “To the Point,” visited Zócalo to discuss the power and peril of weaponizing information, in a Zócalo/Japanese American National Museum Event, held at The National Center for the Preservation of Democracy in Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles.

American intelligence services have unanimously concluded that the Russian government intervened in the 2016 U.S. elections, and seeks to meddle again. One of Russia’s methods is to use social media to distribute disinformation. What’s the big-picture strategy behind this style of attack, and how badly is it damaging our society and politics? Does disinformation have lasting effects on how voters engage with democracy? What vulnerabilities in American society did Russia exploit in its disinformation campaign? And how can the U.S. best fight back? Former FBI counterintelligence special agent and Yale senior lecturer Asha Rangappa, film producer and Russian Media Monitor founder Julia Davis, Virginia Commonwealth University behavioral scientist and media researcher Caroline Orr, and moderator Warren Olney host of KCRW’s “To the Point,” visited Zócalo to discuss the power and peril of weaponizing information, in a Zócalo/Japanese American National Museum Event, held at The National Center for the Preservation of Democracy in Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles.

Women might have more control over their own destinies today than at any previous time in history. But in the great game of geopolitics, contemporary women rulers hold little sway. Even Angela Merkel, often referred to as the world’s most powerful woman, is merely the head of a weak coalition government in Germany, home to just one percent of the world’s people. To find women who truly dominated vast swaths of the planet requires a journey to the past—to the Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa, Britain’s Queen Victoria, the 16th-century African warrior Queen Aminatu, China’s Empress Wu. And no women in history have had more power over the known world than the ancient Egyptian rulers Cleopatra and Hatshepsut, who presided over her country’s busiest building era. How did these most powerful of women rulers succeed in a man’s world? And what lessons might their histories offer for a 21st-century world where women remain so badly represented in the uppermost ranks of societies? UCLA archaeologist and author of The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt Kara Cooney, University of Manchester Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley, author of Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt, and moderator Bettany Hughes, a historian and documentary filmmaker, took part in a Zócalo/Getty panel discussion titled “Did Women Ever Rule the World?” on Aug. 8, 2018 at The Getty Center, to examine the legacies of the women who actually ruled the world.

Women might have more control over their own destinies today than at any previous time in history. But in the great game of geopolitics, contemporary women rulers hold little sway. Even Angela Merkel, often referred to as the world’s most powerful woman, is merely the head of a weak coalition government in Germany, home to just one percent of the world’s people. To find women who truly dominated vast swaths of the planet requires a journey to the past—to the Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa, Britain’s Queen Victoria, the 16th-century African warrior Queen Aminatu, China’s Empress Wu. And no women in history have had more power over the known world than the ancient Egyptian rulers Cleopatra and Hatshepsut, who presided over her country’s busiest building era. How did these most powerful of women rulers succeed in a man’s world? And what lessons might their histories offer for a 21st-century world where women remain so badly represented in the uppermost ranks of societies? UCLA archaeologist and author of The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt Kara Cooney, University of Manchester Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley, author of Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt, and moderator Bettany Hughes, a historian and documentary filmmaker, took part in a Zócalo/Getty panel discussion titled “Did Women Ever Rule the World?” on Aug. 8, 2018 at The Getty Center, to examine the legacies of the women who actually ruled the world.

Since its adoption in 1868, the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution has inspired advances in legal rights by guaranteeing U.S. citizens and people in the country “the equal protection of the laws.” Except when it hasn’t. From Jim Crow to the World War II-era incarceration of Japanese Americans, from racist police corruption to bans on interracial and same-sex marriages, American governments– federal, state, and local–have repeatedly and systematically discriminated against people despite the amendment’s clear promise of equality. How can we defend equal protection when our governments won’t? What does the Amendment’s “equal protection” really protect us from, when equality remains so elusive? And—as this summer marks the 30-year anniversary of the U.S. government’s “Redress” apology and compensation for the incarceration of Japanese Americans—how can we best remember the lessons of past violations of the 14th? Go for Broke president and CEO Mitchell Maki, Johns Hopkins legal historian Martha S. Jones, National Immigration Forum executive director Ali Noorani, constitutional law scholar Garrett Epps, and moderator Madeleine Brand, host of KCRW’s “Press Play,” took part in a Zócalo/Daniel K. Inouye Institute Event that examined the difficulties of enforcing equal protection. The event, at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy in downtown L.A.’s Little Tokyo, began with an introduction by Irene Hirano Inouye, reading from U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye’s keynote address to the 1968 Democratic National Convention.