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Fake Ruins by Sara Nicholson | Poetry

Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · 4d

Zócalo publishes a new poem every Friday. Read our latest: "Fake Ruins" by Sara Nicholson. zps.la/48b0HAs

Where the sparrows nest / And me, reading / Medieval lyrics in bed / It was never about me / My life I mean / I didn’t ask for this

The Disasters ‘High-Risk’ Insurance Fails to Paper Over | Essay

Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · 5d

By leaning on insurance-based solutions to deep-seated societal problems, California has put itself on a path toward repeating the mistakes of the past, warns Temple University historian @benchansfield.bsky.social. zps.la/4nuhIdv

From the Watts Riots to 2025 Wildfires, California’s FAIR Plan Has Stood in the Way of Transformative Change

Artist Emilie Jenks' Sketchbook | Zócalo Public Square

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Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · 6d

In illustrator Emilie Jenk's Zócalo Sketchbook, she paints a bouquet of plants with connections to local folklore. View the original artwork here: zps.la/4gXOBgo

Emilie Jenks is the illustrator behind Dream Folk Studio in South Dakota. Her artwork explores the emotions of color, the beauty of everyday moments, and the interconnectedness of all beings. She is i...

The Tuba’s Cross-Border Journey to the Front of the Band | Essay

Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · 7d

What do tubas and Mexican immigrants have in common? Sam Quinones, author of "The Perfect Tuba," on how both found their liberation in Southern California. zps.la/3IJxkdY

The Horn’s Evolution Reflects the Liberation of So Many Mexican American Immigrants

The World's Longest and Most Frustrating Light Rail Is in L.A. | Connecting California

Reposted by Zócalo Public Square

Alissa Walker @awalkerinla.bsky.social · 7d

"The A Line’s purpose is to get us out of our cars. But its stations’ designers can’t imagine a life without cars... Many stations are bordered or surrounded by large, empty parking lots, occupying too much space where new, transit-friendly development should be." @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social

The A Line Runs Through 60 Miles and Touches Most of My Life. I Hate It Anyway

www.zocalopublicsquare.org

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Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · 11d

What does California’s democracy look like in 2200? Zócalo convened the program, “Will California’s Future Be Exceptional?," this past Wednesday to discuss the future of the Golden State. Watch the recorded discussion here: zps.la/cafuture

Will California’s Future Be Exceptional? | Recent Experience | Zócalo Public Square

Join Zócalo Public Square and Latino Community Foundation for two back-to-back panels, one with established experts, and the other with youth leaders. In discussions moderated by Zócalo’s California c...

Who Are Memorials For? | Essay

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Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · 12d

How can we memorialize past tragedies in a polarized present? Historic monuments will never mean the same to everyone. But if designed carefully, they can serve as tools for reckoning, write researchers Güneş Murat Tezcür, Muna Güvenç, and Lev Sewald. zps.la/4gFTtGN

On a hilltop in downtown Montgomery, Alabama, more than 800 steel columns hang from a roofed canopy, each inscribed with the name of a county and the victims of racial terror lynchings that occurred t...

Will California’s Future Be Exceptional? | Upcoming Experiences | Zócalo Public Square

Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · 13d

TONIGHT at 6:30 pm PT: Join Zócalo and the Latino Community Foundation for "Will California's Future Be Exceptional?" at the ASU California Center Broadway in downtown Los Angeles (or watch live online). RSVP here: zps.la/cafuture

Join Zócalo Public Square and Latino Community Foundation for two back-to-back panels, one with established experts, and the other with youth leaders. In discussions moderated by Zócalo’s California c...

Will California Still Be Golden in 2050? | Essay

Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · 15d

For Zócalo's "What Connects California?" series, on the occasion of the state's 175th year, writer D. J. Waldie predicts what 2050 California might look like: zps.la/41WZE3a

Shorn of the Myths of El Dorado, California Will Have to Get Imaginative About Its Future by Its Bicentennial

A Historian’s Notes on College Football’s New Money Era | Essay

Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · 19d

It's fall @universityofga.bsky.social, and everyone's talking about football. This year, however, conversations about money are overshadowing the game. James C. Cobb explains. zps.la/47TEoiB

Prohibition, Theodore Roosevelt, the Invention of Television, and How the NCAA Got Here

Zona Libre: Music, Dance, and Conversation | Recent Experience | Zócalo Public Square

Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · 20d

Missed our recent program with Grand Performances at Skirball Cultural Center? Read a recap and watch our panel discussion "Can Music Change Minds?" here: zps.la/zonalibre

An afternoon and evening of music-based community-building activities and performances honoring Latino L.A. An afternoon and evening of music-based community-building activities and performances honor...

Will California’s Future Be Exceptional?

Reposted by Zócalo Public Square

The Progress Network @progressntwrk.bsky.social · 20d

🎂California is celebrating it's 175th birthday this year!

🔮What will the next 175 years look like?

👀On Sept 24th at the ASU California Center, @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social is putting together an event to talk about it.

🎟️RSVP and to read about the speakers👇

This program is presented with generous support from Latino Community Foundation, the Karsh Family Foundation, and Snap Foundation

www.eventbrite.com

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Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · 21d

Are Gavin Newsom and Alex Padilla going to swap jobs next year?

Columnist Joe Mathews writes about the implications of a Padilla-Newsom political switcheroo: zps.la/46t94or

Will Gov. Newsom and Sen. Padilla Swap Jobs Next Year? | Connecting California

History Has a Warning as California's Top Two Politicians Consider a Risky Switcheroo

In an Irish Memorial, I See Palestine | Essay

Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · 22d

Poet Andy Young sees the faces of starving Palestinians in Ireland's "Famine" memorial, asking: "Is it only at a safe, hundred-year distance that the world is willing to look into the emaciated faces of the starving?" zps.la/4n4959t

Dublin’s Famine Statues Commemorate the Dead, and Remind Us Not to Look Away from Gaza

What’s a Labubu Doing at an Anti-ICE Protest? | Culture Class

Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · 25d

Poet and musician Gil Scott-Heron once warned that “the revolution will not be televised.” What does it mean if it’s become, for lack of a better word, Labubu-ized? Read Culture Class columnist @jasmansky.bsky.social's latest. zps.la/4ntet5Q

I was surprised to see Labubus, the mega-popular toy monsters with Puck-like grins, staring at me in the crowd at anti-ICE demonstrations in Los Angeles. Some were in the periphery, hanging off purses...

Why Can’t I Quit Fantasy Football? | Connecting California

Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · 28d

Is fantasy football one of California’s greatest fumbles?

Joe Mathews on the billion-dollar industry that’s created new addiction risks and raised legal questions. zps.la/4gkEq5g

A Bad California Idea Retains a Hold on the State and Country

Can Soviet Satire Offer Clues to the Future of American Comedy? | Essay

Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · 29d

Even after Colbert's cancellation (for "financial" reasons), could America's authoritarian turn make its comedians funnier? Soviet satire offers a glimpse into a possible future: zps.la/45QW8JR

Colbert Got Canceled. South Park Got Wild. Under Authoritarians, Russian Comics Took a Tongue-in-Cheek Approach

Slavery Was Bad. Plantations Should Say So | Essay

Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · Sep 4

Lousiana's Nottoway Plantation burned down in May, inspiring debate about what stories these antebellum estates should tell. Historian and geographer Perry L. Carter writes about why they should preserve the history of chattel slavery. zps.la/3K28feu

Good Riddance to Nottoway, and Antebellum Estates That Ignore Black Stories of Struggle and Triumph

WORLD’S FINEST COLUMNIST ‘FIGHTS FIRE WITH FIRE’ | Connecting California

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Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · Sep 3

HEY GAV, IT’S NOT HOT TO FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE. AND I, JOE MATHEWS, SHOULD KNOW, I’M THE WORLD’S FINEST COLUMNIST!!! zps.la/4lOKqnK

BUT WARNS GOV. GAV NOT TO DO SAME

One Tsunami, Many Warning Systems, 6,500 Miles Apart | Connecting California

Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · Aug 28

It was to be a magical day of baseball. Our Southern California youth team was playing in Shohei Ohtani's old spring training stadium in Japan.

Then a siren rang out, and our day became quite different. Read Joe Mathews’ latest: zps.la/4mSN5xM

A California Team Lost a Day of Baseball in Okinawa, But Your Columnist Gained an Appreciation for Strong Disaster Alerts

Newsletter | Zócalo Public Square

Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · Aug 27

Eclectic but curated. Smart without snark. Ideas journalism with a head and heart. Sign up for our newsletter to get more Zócalo directly to your inbox. zps.la/newsletter

Get More Zócalo Eclectic but curated. Smart without snark. Ideas journalism with a head and heart. Sign up for the Zócalo newsletter to get our latest essays, poems and updates on our (always) free ev...

Zona Libre | Upcoming Experiences | Zócalo Public Square

Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · Aug 26

Mark your calendars! Join Zócalo, @skirball.bsky.social, & #GrandPerformances for Zona Libre on Sun, Sept 14 from 3 to 9:30 PM. A day of music, dance, & conversation celebrating Latino L.A. Free RSVP to attend in person: zps.la/zonalibre

An afternoon and evening of music-based community-building activities and performances honoring Latino L.A. An afternoon and evening of music-based community-building activities and performances honor...

Los Angeles' Literary Public Square

Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · Aug 22

Zócalo's latest miniseries explores L.A.'s Literary Public Square. Read from @davidulin.bsky.social on his journey from NYC to L.A., Brittany Menjivar & Sammy Loren on the "alt-lit" scene, @lynellgeorge.bsky.social on making literary community, and John Szabo on libraries. zps.la/LitLA

Literature—the reading it, the writing it—has a reputation of being a solitary endeavor, best conducted in dark, chilly garrets. But the Los Angeles sun has a way of burning off clichés, allowing them...

In L.A., the Public Library Is a Storyteller | L.A.’s Literary Public Square

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Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · Aug 21

More than a repository of books, the @lapubliclibrary.bsky.social helps Angelenos tell their stories. City librarian John Szabo for Zócalo's "L.A.'s Literary Public Square." zps.la/4fUwA20

At Local Branches Across the City, Everyday Angelenos’ Narratives Unfold