Zócalo Public Square (Audio)

Within weeks of winning the presidential election, Barack Obama has begun to assemble his administration, starting with those charged with addressing the economic crisis and national security. But he still has several key appointments to go. Three former Clinton administratoin officials -- former Deputy Secretary of Defense Rudy deLeon, former Deputy Chief of Staff Maria Echaveste, and former Deputy Assistant to the President John Emerson -- join moderator Eric Garcetti at Zócalo to discuss the decisions Obama has made so far, what difficult choices await, and how his transition signals what sort of president he will be. Media files

Before National Geographic, before the Discovery Channel, Carleton Watkins set the standard for sweeping panoramic photographs of the American West, from vast Yosemite to booming San Francisco. Bob Sipchen, editor of Sierra magazine, leads a panel discussion based on the groundbreaking Getty Center exhibition, "Dialogue among Giants: Carleton Watkins and the Rise of Photography in California." Panelists include Getty Research Fellow Ken Gonzales-Day, UCSD historian Nayan Shah, and Matthew Garcia from Brown University. They explore the dynamic relationship between nature, immigration, and development. How does California's physical environment attract inhabitants and how has it been re-shaped by their efforts to build communities they can call home?

The Statue of Liberty’s pedestal lays claim to "world-wide welcome," but U.S. immigration policy has, since its inception, been a muddle of conflicting attitudes towards immigrants and their place in American society. While our nation does not demand ethnic homogeneity, we are deeply divided over how newcomers should assimilate and offer little support to arrivals eager to become American. Tomás Jiménez, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Stanford University, sits down with Alfonso Aguilar (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services), José Luis Gutiérrez (Illinois Office for New Americans), Laureen Laglagaron (Migration Policy Institute), and Urban Planning Professor Dowell Myers (USC) to ask what government should do to bridge the gap between immigration and integration. Should we offer immigrants more help in adjusting to their new country? Or does the American dream need to be strictly self-service?

Like nearly everyone else, those working in non-profit organizations are concerned with the bleak economic forecast: a diminished public purse, shrunken private foundation portfolios and donor wallets slapping shut. Yet in the fretting corridors outside conference centers, community rooms and local meeting halls nationwide, it’s actually possible to detect a heartening and persistent belief in the resilience of the non-profit sector. What causes some leaders, social entrepreneurs, community activists and service providers to possess such impertinent optimism and to entertain bold ideas and possibilities when the economy appears so grim? A panel of experts--the Weingart Foundation's Fred Ali, California Black Women's Health Project founder Frances E. Jemmott, United Way's Alicia Lara, L.A. Health Action's Yolanda Vera and USC's Adlai Wertman—chatted with moderator Paul Vandeventer at Zócalo to discuss what lies ahead for nonprofits and how they can survive.

In the face of global competition and rapid technological change, the American economy will soon face its most severe test in nearly a century—one that will make the recent turmoil in the financial system look like a modest setback by comparison. Matt Miller, host of KCRW's "Left, Right & Center" and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, visited Zócalo, arguing that our leaders have failed to prepare us for what lies ahead because they cling to old truisms about how a modern economy works. Exploring themes from his new book, “The Tyranny of Dead Ideas,” Miller discusses what he considers the greatest threat to our economic future: the things we think we know—but don’t.

Barack Obama is said to be the fulfillment of King's dream, the post-racial candidate perfect for helping the country transcend the divide between black and white. But Louis Chude-Sokei and Robin D.G. Kelley beg to differ in their Zócalo dialogue. Hear Chude-Sokei, author of The Last "Darky": Bert Williams, Black-on-Black Minstrelsy, and the African Diaspora, and Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination, discuss King's still unfulfilled legacy, and what Obama's election does mean for the country.

Not all fiction by contemporary female authors concerns itself with stiletto heels, Martini glasses, or wedding gowns. But in the last decade, material written by women--particularly white, middle-class American women--is increasingly assumed to be a lesser literary endeavor than similar projects by men. From the shocking dearth of female bylines in magazines like Harper's and The Atlantic to novels that are automatically deemed "beach reads" because they feature female characters, we seem to be in the midst of a troublingly sexist cultural moment. Are women the victims of a male-centered world of letters, or do they purposefully choose stories that lack philosophical or sociological heft? Authors Elisabeth Robinson and Laura Zigman visit Zócalo to talk with Los Angeles Times columnist Meghan Daum about whether women could do more to close the literary gender gap.

Forget superpowers. Hyperpowers are what count, dominating not just their part of the world but the entire breadth of it with their military might and cultural range. The U.S. is the seventh hyperpower in history. Yale Law School’s John Duff Jr. Professor of Law Amy Chua, author of Day of Empire, visits Zócalo to discuss the extraordinary hyperpowers of the past and the fate of the American power in the 21st century.

Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton has been leading the force for more than twice as long as he served in the same capacity in New York, the city where he firmly cemented his reputation as “America’s Top Cop” and put himself on the short list for high-level law-enforcement jobs around the world. Bratton’s time in L.A. has given him the chance to move beyond being a "turnaround" specialist, putting longer-term plans into place that have led to consistent and significant reductions in crime. Bratton visits Zócalo to talk about his tenure and its impact on the LAPD, the agency’s goals and challenges, and his plans for the future.

After the devastating L.A. riots in 1992, the South Central Farmers worked to heal one of the country’s most blighted neighborhoods by planting a garden, letting families grow their own food and rebuild their community. But the fourteen-acre site became the subject of a fierce and ongoing dispute between the mostly immigrant farmers and the developer who bought the land below market price and planned to build a warehouse on it. Capturing the story of the country’s largest urban farm, Scott Hamilton Kennedy, producer and director of the Oscar-nominated documentary “The Garden,“ visits Zócalo to screen his work and discuss with actress and environmentalist Daryl Hannah and South Central Farmers activist Tezozomoc the crucial issues it raises about development, environment, power, money and race in Los Angeles.

It's all but certain that the state government will run out of money this year. Even if the legislature and governor somehow reach an agreement on budget cuts or tax increases, any solution likely will come too late to prevent a cash crunch. This is uncharted territory for California. What happens if the state goes broke? A panel of California’s top fiscal and economic experts — including State ControllerJohn Chiang, New America Foundation Senior Scholar Mark Paul, and Peter Taylor of Barclays Capital— visited Zócalo to discuss with moderator Joe Mathews how this quasi-bankruptcy will impact state finances, public services, and Californians.

Despite tallies of Facebook friends or Evites in inboxes, loneliness happens. It can strike us while we’re dining at a table of one, taking a long solo journey, or even while we’re with family and friends. The lonely feel more depressed, more deeply addicted, and are more easily angered. Why does loneliness hit and why does it hurt? Humans have evolved, thanks to the long period of abject dependency of our offspring, as social beings, with brains wired for communication and empathy. Forming and maintaining social connections—from romantic partners to families, communities, cities, and civilizations—is essential to our survival. John Cacioppo, director of the Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience at the University of Chicago and co-author of Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection, visited Zócalo to discuss the evolutionary basis of human relationships and why they matter.

Following up on last year's panel on the Writers Guild of America strike, Zócalo’s panel of Hollywood and high-tech experts -- including AFTRA National Executive Director Kim Roberts Hedgpeth, actress Kathryn Joosten, actor Ron Ostrow, UCLA’s David R. Ginsburg, Veoh Founder and Chief Innovation Officer Dmitry Shapiro and TroyGould entertainment attorney Jonathan Handel -- explores how Hollywood will handle negotiations and divide revenue during its transition to the digital age.

If any single mood characterizes the emotional climate of the 21st century, it’s anger, particularly media rage—indignant cable news pundits, rancorous bloggers and the apoplectic comments they engender. Our society appears to be choking on the bile of its own discontent. Dick Meyer, author of “Why We Hate Us: American Discontent in the New Millennium,” and Time magazine writer Lev Grossman visit Zócalo to discuss the new anger.  

Authenticity is a virtue many of us prize in our restaurants. But Los Angeles is also a city where the California roll was born and the best pizza hews to a standard more Californian than Neapolitan. A panel of Los Angeles’ best-known chefs -- includingNancy Silverton of Mozza; Roy Choi of KoGi, Jimmy Shaw of Loteria Grill and Sarintip "Jazz" Singsanong of Jitlada -- visited Zócalo to discuss with moderator and Pulitzer-Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold what it means for food to be authentic, and whether the pursuit of authenticity is worth it.