Zócalo Public Square

At a Zócalo/NPR Berlin event moderated by Sylke Tempel, Editor-in-Chief of the Berlin Policy Journal, three panelists offered differing views on the potential of populist parties and movements to renew democracy. Harvard University political theorist Yascha Mounk, Die Welt columnist Alan Posener, and Timo Lochocki, a Transatlantic Fellow with the German Marshall Fund, engaged in a wide-ranging conversation, focused on the growing importance of new political parties and populist movements in Europe and North America.

At the Zócalo/WeHo Reads event “Do Libraries Have a Future?” on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the opening of the West Hollywood Library on September 30, 2016, three librarians were challenged by Zócalo Public Square publisher and moderator Gregory Rodriguez to shake off stereotypes and misconceptions about their professions—and predict what’s next for their places of work. Susan Hildreth, former director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Professor of Practice at University of Washington Information School, Miguel Figueroa, Director of the Center for the Future of Libraries at the American Library Association, and Susan Parker, UCLA Deputy Librarian, explained how libraries build community and fulfill a broad, important mission at the West Hollywood City Council Chambers.

At the Zócalo/WeHo Reads event “Do Libraries Have a Future?” on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the opening of the West Hollywood Library on September 30, 2016, three librarians were challenged by Zócalo Public Square publisher and moderator Gregory Rodriguez to shake off stereotypes and misconceptions about their professions—and predict what’s next for their places of work. Susan Hildreth, former director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Professor of Practice at University of Washington Information School, Miguel Figueroa, Director of the Center for the Future of Libraries at the American Library Association, and Susan Parker, UCLA Deputy Librarian, explained how libraries build community and fulfill a broad, important mission at the West Hollywood City Council Chambers.

Religious experiences are deeply personal, yet for millennia people who have had spiritual visions or encounters have attempted to convey what they saw—and artists have rendered these details in word and image. At a Zócalo Public Square/”Open Art” event at the Getty Center moderated by documentarian Jody Hassett Sanchez, three panelists discussed—and questioned—how humans have depicted the supernatural: Lisa Bitel, University of Southern California medieval historian and author of Our Lady of the Rock, Leonard Norman Primiano, religious studies scholar at Cabrini University, and Michael Tolkin, writer and director of The Rapture.

Religious experiences are deeply personal, yet for millennia people who have had spiritual visions or encounters have attempted to convey what they saw—and artists have rendered these details in word and image. At a Zócalo Public Square/”Open Art” event at the Getty Center moderated by documentarian Jody Hassett Sanchez, three panelists discussed—and questioned—how humans have depicted the supernatural: Lisa Bitel, University of Southern California medieval historian and author of Our Lady of the Rock, Leonard Norman Primiano, religious studies scholar at Cabrini University, and Michael Tolkin, writer and director of The Rapture.

A panel that included a scholar, a community organizer, a youth mentor and a former city official tackled the question of South LA's progress during a Zócalo/California Wellness Foundation event held at Mercado La Paloma, a former garment sweatshop turned community hub. Moderated by KCRW president Jennifer Ferro, the lively discussion covered the evolution of South Los Angeles into a place that is both far more hopeful and far more complex than stereotypes would suggest.

A panel that included a scholar, a community organizer, a youth mentor and a former city official tackled the question of South LA's progress during a Zócalo/California Wellness Foundation event held at Mercado La Paloma, a former garment sweatshop turned community hub. Moderated by KCRW president Jennifer Ferro, the lively discussion covered the evolution of South Los Angeles into a place that is both far more hopeful and far more complex than stereotypes would suggest.

Zócalo Public Square and the Getty Villa convened a panel of historians and classicists at the Villa in Malibu to discuss what lessons today's democracies can draw from ancient Greece and Rome. Los Angeles Times political writer Seema Mehta moderated the lively "Open Art" event, which focused heavily on one particular American demagogue—presumptive Republican party presidential nominee Donald Trump, but also touched on the demagogue value of presumptive Democratic party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (low, but not for lack of trying) and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (high). Eric Robinson, a historian of ancient Greece and Rome, reminded the audience of one of history's most famous demagogues, Cleon, who stirred up Athens by breaking the rules of decorum to deliver fiery speeches. University of Florida classicist Victoria Emma Pagán reminded the audience that while Trump may seem shocking, his insults were nothing compared to what the Roman Cicero would hurl at his political opponents. Jennifer Mercieca, a rhetorician at Texas A&M University who is writing a book on Trump, pointed out just how ancient some of Trump's techniques really are.

Zócalo Public Square and the Getty Villa convened a panel of historians and classicists at the Villa in Malibu to discuss what lessons today's democracies can draw from ancient Greece and Rome. Los Angeles Times political writer Seema Mehta moderated the lively "Open Art" event, which focused heavily on one particular American demagogue—presumptive Republican party presidential nominee Donald Trump, but also touched on the demagogue value of presumptive Democratic party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (low, but not for lack of trying) and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (high). Eric Robinson, a historian of ancient Greece and Rome, reminded the audience of one of history's most famous demagogues, Cleon, who stirred up Athens by breaking the rules of decorum to deliver fiery speeches. University of Florida classicist Victoria Emma Pagán reminded the audience that while Trump may seem shocking, his insults were nothing compared to what the Roman Cicero would hurl at his political opponents. Jennifer Mercieca, a rhetorician at Texas A&M University who is writing a book on Trump, pointed out just how ancient some of Trump's techniques really are.

At an event exploring the legacy of Robert Mapplethorpe's legacy hosted by Zócalo Public Square/Getty “Open Art” at the West Hollywood Council Chambers, panelist Jonathan Weinberg argued that the photographer "mainstreamed and made slick a certain kind of presentation of the homoerotic." Weinberg, a painter, art historian, and author of Male Desire: The Homoerotic in American Art, was joined on the panel by an author, two curators and a photography collector. Though the controversy that began in 1989 over a traveling solo exhibit with homoerotic and sadomasochistic themes gained Mapplethorpe significant fame, the panelists agreed that the ongoing interest in his work demonstrates a provocation far deeper than shock.