Zócalo Public Square

When George W. Bush declared the Iraq War finished in May 2003, it was far from over. Over the next several years, terrorism and sectarian conflict continued and American troop levels increased. Now, after Barack Obama’s own speech declaring the combat mission complete, conflict wears on. As the U.S. turns its forces toward Afghanistan, how can America learn to bring conflicts to an end? Driven by ideology or constrained by domestic politics, presidential administrations throughout the 20th century have botched postwar planning, and successive leaders have failed to learn from the past. In an event co-presented with the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations, Gideon Rose, editor of Foreign Affairs and author of How Wars End: Why We Always Fight the Last Battle, visits Zócalo to chat with Burkle Center director Kal Raustiala and explain how to conclusively and effectively end our wars.

Over the past 50 years, religion in America has radically transformed. The 1960s saw a drop in religious observance and spurred a conservative reaction that, over the next 20 years, created the Religious Right. In the 1990s, younger generations, put off by the deepening link between faith and conservative politics, began to abandon organized religion altogether. Because it has long inspired volunteerism, philanthropy, and community engagement, the decline of religion threatens to impoverish civic health. But despite these trends, religious tolerance seems to be on the rise: up to one-half of all American marriages are interfaith; even deeply religious Americans believe people of other faiths can go to heaven; and one-third of Americans have switched religions. Where does religion stand today, and what does it mean for our civic health? In an event co-presented with UCLA’s Center for Civil Society, groundbreaking political scientist Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone and the forthcoming American Grace, visited Zócalo to chat with UCLA’s Bill Parent and ask whether Americans can get past the new religious divide, and what the future holds for religious life in America.

Americans may worship success, but we’re also good at failing. Nearly three-quarters of all Americans have considered starting their own businesses — compared to fewer than half of Europeans. Silicon Valley executives highlight rather than bury their collapsed start-ups on their resumes. Our corporate and personal bankruptcy systems are the most generous in the world, and New Deal-era financial safeguards let banks collapse without destroying sound institutions or personal wealth. But has the latest economic crisis left us longing for a failure-free system — one in which some organizations are too big to fail, and one that is immune from the natural and corrective cycles of the market? New America Foundation fellow and Atlantic magazine business and economic editor Megan McArdle visited Zócalo to explain why failure — and the ability to do it gracefully — is an essential part of the American economy.

Over the past few years, Americans have heaped blame for the financial crisis on hedge funds. These mysterious but powerful organizations have, in just a few decades, invented previously unheard-of financial instruments, created new markets, and rewritten the rules of capitalism. By studying everything from economics to physics, hedge fund managers also seemed to accomplish the impossible — beating the market, and surviving repeated financial panics, from the stock market slump of the early 1970s to the bond market downturn of the 1990s to the dot-com collapse in 2000. How will hedge funds — and the controversial, commanding men and women who run them — pull through the latest crisis, and how will they determine the future of finance? Sebastian Mallaby, Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow and author of More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite, visited Zócalo to reveal the hidden history and workings of hedge funds, and the way they’ll shape the future booms and busts of our economy.

For 80 years the Los Angeles River has been less a river than a flood control channel winding from Simi Valley to Long Beach. Its concrete-lined course seemingly carries little more than a trickle of water, and its banks lie largely fallow and off limits despite long-running efforts to restore public access to and green spaces along its edges. Now, an ambitious plan to turn 125 acres of an under-utilized downtown rail yard into a thriving public space could transform not just the river but the entire city, uniting its residents as well as its urban and natural environments. As architects and planners grasp the rare opportunity to work on a site in the heart of the city, they’re focusing on a broader question: what would an integrated, healthier city look like? Zócalo invited a panel including Cal Poly Pomona’s Michael Woo, Marc Salette of Chee Salette Architecture, Jim Stafford of Perkins+Will, Mia Lehrer of Mia Lehrer + Associates, and Michael Maltzan of Michael Maltzan Architecture to discuss the promise of a revitalized Los Angeles, and how to build it.

Unscrupulous lenders, mysterious new financial products, and shadowy banks might have taken most of the blame for the economic crisis, but the problem begins with a type of business that has troubled the U.S. since its founding: the monopoly. Over the last 30 years, regulation of monopolies has eased, leaving the companies commanding governments, courts, wars, resources, and even patents to the human genetic code. As consolidation proceeds largely unchecked across every sector — crushing entrepreneurs, stifling innovation, and inflating prices — monopolies threaten our economy and our democracy. Financial Times contributor Barry C. Lynn, author of Cornered: The New Monopoly Capitalism and the Economics of Destruction, visited Zócalo to illuminate the workings of monopolies and how they might be stopped.

Hospitals and clinics are not generally considered well-designed places for today’s healthcare needs. Work spaces for doctors and nurses can be crowded, too close to patient treatment areas, and missing new technology that would streamline care. At hospitals, patient rooms often lack windows or privacy. They can be cramped and far from waiting areas and cafeterias, making it more difficult to visit easily with family. But a growing number of hospitals and clinics are taking design and architecture into consideration with an eye toward patient outcomes and quality of care. The shifts have been shown to aid recovery, boost morale, decrease hospital-caused infections that can cost billions of dollars a year, calm patients, and create better communication between doctors, nurses, families, and patients. They have also helped clinics expand their services beyond primary care. Could good design make for good health, and save money in the process? Zócalo invited journalist Dana Dubbs, James Theimer, principal architect and founder of the Redding firm of Trilogy Architecture, Robin Orr, a board member of the Center for Health Design, and Mary Dee Hacker, Vice President of Patient Care Services of the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, to explore how medical care environments harm us, and how they could help us.

Chefs have always had a knack for fame — from Julia Child to Napoleon’s personal chef, who published lucrative cookbooks and invented the tall white chef’s hat. But today, thanks in part to the Food Network, several seasons of "Top Chef" and "Hell’s Kitchen," and a burgeoning foodie culture, chefs are full-fledged celebrities. Besides running top restaurants across the country, they publish enough books to overwhelm the shelves — and abilities — of most any home cook. They host TV shows that rely on outsized personality as much as inventive recipes. And they lend their names and talents to chain eateries and bottled grocery-store sauces. Are celebrity chefs over exposed and over extended, and how have they transformed food? Pulitzer Prize winning LA Weekly food critic Jonathan Gold visited Zócalo with a panel of star chefs — including Nancy Silverton of Mozza, "Top Chef" Season Two winner Ilan Hall, and "Top Chef Masters" stars Ludovic Lefebvre of LudoBites and Susan Feniger of Border Grill and Street — to find out what makes a celebrity, and whether TV helps or hurts chefs and the way we eat.

After a long and bruising legislative battle, President Barack Obama signed national healthcare reform into law. The plan promises coverage to the uninsured, lower healthcare costs for small businesses, and tighter regulation of insurance companies, preventing them from denying care to the sick. The reform comes at a crucial time for California. The economic crisis has left the state considering cuts to its healthcare programs, particularly for the elderly and the disabled. With nearly one in four of its residents lacking access to care, California has the highest number of uninsured people of any state. What does national healthcare reform mean for California? Zócalo invited the L.A. Times’ Duke Helfand, the California HealthCare Foundation's Marian Mulkey, Jan Spencley of San Diegans for Healthcare Coverage, Small Business Majority Founder and CEO John Arensmeyer, and Lucien Wulsin of the Insure the Uninsured Project to consider how reform will help Californians, how it will impact local businesses, insurers, and hospitals, and how it might fall short. This event was made possible by a generous grant from the California HealthCare Foundation.

Salomón Huerta is known for revealing identity by obscuring it. He has painted collections of finely detailed portraits of the backs of heads, florid but unemotional masked lucha libre wrestlers, and unassuming suburban homes stripped of individuality. Huerta, who was born in Tijuana and raised in Boyle Heights, has exhibited at the Whitney Biennial, the Gagosian Gallery, and LACMA, and is beginning to paint new works with no unifying theme. But Huerta remains committed to his unusual creative process — destroying each piece several times with a sander, and then repainting on the same canvas. In an event made possible by the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts, Huerta visited Zócalo to discuss with art critic David Pagel his method and what it says about art, ego, and creativity.