Zócalo Public Square

Delta farmer Russell van Loben Sels, PPIC senior fellow Ellen Hanak, deputy operating officer for the Santa Clara Valley Water District Joan Maher, and executive officer of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy Campbell Ingram talk with San Francisco Chronicle deputy editorial page editor Lois Kazakoff about a major source of California's water supply, the California Delta, at a panel co-presented by Occidental College. Will the Bay Delta Conservation Plan work? What are the biggest problems facing the Delta today? And, what do Californians need to know about this part of our state?

For years, Rupert Murdoch has been “the most influential and important media figure in the English-speaking world,” according to National Public Radio media correspondent David Folkenflik, author of Murdoch’s World: The Last of the Old Media Empires. Folkenflik spoke with L.A. Observed publisher Kevin Roderick about how Murdoch has changed journalism not just at his own holdings but around the world at a program co-presented by ASU's Cronkite School of Journalism.

For years, Rupert Murdoch has been “the most influential and important media figure in the English-speaking world,” according to National Public Radio media correspondent David Folkenflik, author of Murdoch’s World: The Last of the Old Media Empires. Folkenflik spoke with L.A. Observed publisher Kevin Roderick about how Murdoch has changed journalism not just at his own holdings but around the world at a program co-presented by ASU's Cronkite School of Journalism.

A new law in Arizona requires the state to fail— and hold back—third graders who haven’t learned to read. An estimated 1,500 students will be held back this year. Why are so many 9-year-olds struggling with literacy, how can schools and teachers best help them? Arizona Republic education reporter Cathryn Creno talks with ASU literacy education scholar Frank Serafini, City of Phoenix youth and education program manager Tim Valencia, and Phoenix elementary school instructional coach Daniela Robles about the state of Arizona elementary education and whether this policy can work at a panel co-presented by the ASU Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College.

A new law in Arizona requires the state to fail— and hold back—third graders who haven’t learned to read. An estimated 1,500 students will be held back this year. Why are so many 9-year-olds struggling with literacy, how can schools and teachers best help them? Arizona Republic education reporter Cathryn Creno talks with ASU literacy education scholar Frank Serafini, City of Phoenix youth and education program manager Tim Valencia, and Phoenix elementary school instructional coach Daniela Robles about the state of Arizona elementary education and whether this policy can work at a panel co-presented by the ASU Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, have spoken by phone. It appears that Rouhani, a moderate, wants to negotiate and change the two countries’ relationship. Does Iran actually want a rapprochement, and will this be possible? How do Iranians feel about the United States? How do Americans--our leaders and the public alike--feel about Iran? Occidental College political scientist Hussein Banai, Asia Society vice president of global policy programs Suzanne DiMaggio, and Occidental College historian Thaddeus Russell talked with former NBC correspondent George Lewis about the future of U.S.-Iran relations at a panel co-presented by Occidental College.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, have spoken by phone. It appears that Rouhani, a moderate, wants to negotiate and change the two countries’ relationship. Does Iran actually want a rapprochement, and will this be possible? How do Iranians feel about the United States? How do Americans--our leaders and the public alike--feel about Iran? Occidental College political scientist Hussein Banai, Asia Society vice president of global policy programs Suzanne DiMaggio, and Occidental College historian Thaddeus Russell talked with former NBC correspondent George Lewis about the future of U.S.-Iran relations at a panel co-presented by Occidental College.

Wildly famous. Frequently scandalous. Speakers of truth to power. Action heroes. Acclaimed by the people. Romantic, rebellious, charismatic, inspirational. These were just a few of the ways saints were described at a Zócalo/Getty panel that asked a group of scholars of art, history, and religion, “Why Do We Need Saints?” Documentary filmmaker Jody Hassett Sanchez speaks with Cabrini College folklorist Leonard Primiano, UC Riverside medieval art historian Conrad Rudolph, and University of Notre Dame theologian Candida Moss about how the cult of saints came to be, and what saints offer those who love and pray to them.

Wildly famous. Frequently scandalous. Speakers of truth to power. Action heroes. Acclaimed by the people. Romantic, rebellious, charismatic, inspirational. These were just a few of the ways saints were described at a Zócalo/Getty panel that asked a group of scholars of art, history, and religion, “Why Do We Need Saints?” Documentary filmmaker Jody Hassett Sanchez speaks with Cabrini College folklorist Leonard Primiano, UC Riverside medieval art historian Conrad Rudolph, and University of Notre Dame theologian Candida Moss about how the cult of saints came to be, and what saints offer those who love and pray to them.

The debate over gun rights is so contentious in America that it often seems the two sides are speaking different languages. The fight continues, bitterly—and yet nothing seems to change. At an event co-presented by the California Wellness Foundation, Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell, USC legal scholar Jody David Armour, and Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence Executive Director Robyn Thomas offered their thoughts to a standing-room-only crowd at the RAND Corporation on what, if anything, might end this deadlock.