Zócalo Public Square

Documentary film can bear witness, challenge assumptions, and give voice to communities too often unheard. Where Hollywood and fictional films often rely on stereotypes and reductive plotlines, documentaries can close the representation gap. When the right teams make, distribute, and platform documentary films, they not only capture the world, but can change it. By centering complex realities, can docs shift hearts and minds? Where do the inspiration and funding for “for-us-by-us” stories come from? And how do documentaries and the teams responsible for distributing them move people from witnessing to taking action? PBS SoCal producer Angela Boisvert, Film Independent director of artistic development and head of non-fiction storytelling lab Angela C. Lee, and social impact strategist Gretel Truong come together to discuss the power of the screen, collaborative storytelling—and what it takes to make films that make a difference. This program featured a screening of 5 short films produced by Girls' Voices

The United States has had an epic run on the world stage. Two hundred fifty years of independence and imperial aspirations. Eighty years of hosting the U.N. headquarters. But today the country has abdicated many of its leadership roles, from champion of free trade, global health, and climate regulation to defender of democracy and keeper of peace. As the U.S. marks its semiquincentennial, how should Americans understand their country’s place in the world, and calibrate a nation’s aims? Does a less-dominant U.S. offer new opportunities? For whom? What can we learn from past empires? And what do other world powers, like India, have to say about it? This program features two urgent conversations about the shifts redrawing old maps and forging new ambitions for the U.S., India, and the wider world. First, a keynote discussion between politician and former diplomat Shashi Tharoor and UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations director Kal Raustiala. Then, a panel moderated by foreign policy columnist Seema

There are 150 food deserts in Los Angeles County, areas where affordable, nutritious food is out of reach. Some frontline efforts to combat the issue have transformed unused spaces like front lawns, schools, and alleyways into sustainable microfarms. There, neighbors are growing their own grains, fruits, and vegetables—feeding friends and family and transforming the cityscape, block by block. In these localized oases, can food build political and social power? Can urban farming protect against crises facing food systems worldwide, such as drought, fire, and inflation? Can gardens reconnect and regenerate community? And why is it more sustainable to grow a squash than a carrot? Urban farming leader Jamiah Hargins of Crop Swap L.A. and Carola Di Poi, head gardener of The Huntington's Ranch and Kitchen Gardens, come together to engage with questions inspired by THIS LAND IS … and discuss food justice, community empowerment, and urban farming in The Huntington’s Kitchen Garden. Moderated by Bianca Collins, Dir

With the largest population of public school students in the country, and an even larger workforce, California has a lot riding on educating its future workers. Pressed by economic and technological shifts and facing enrollment declines, how will the state think outside the box—employing non-traditional learning approaches to remain competitive? Will this mean reimagining the state’s mission to provide quality public higher education, or devising new ways to leverage “cradle-to-career” data to drive student and worker success? Will AI be student, teacher, or aide in our classrooms? And how will regions like the Inland Empire forge strong career pathways for future workers who want to join booming healthcare, manufacturing, and green technology sectors? Health workforce manager Vicky Bocanegra, higher education and workforce policy leader Su Jin Jez, and Growing Inland Achievement president and CEO Ashish Vaidya discuss how best to prepare California’s students for the big, bright world ahead. Moderated by A

Climate debates are going nowhere. Highly ideological, they end in gridlock more often than solutions. And younger generations, long worried about living on a warming planet, are moving from anxiety to frustration, feeling like they’re left with all the problems but no decision-making power. The world needs a new approach. What new climate narratives, and which media messengers, will bring us together to effect progress across politics, state lines, national borders, and vast oceans? Featured guests: Carlos Curbelo (Former Florida U.S. Representative) Heela Rasool-Ayub (Director, Planetary Politics at New America) Kate Yoder (Senior Staff Writer, Grist) Moderated by Uwe Jean Heuser (Journalist and 2026 Thomas Mann Fellow) This program is co-presented by Thomas Mann House and Zócalo Public Square, in partnership with ASU Global Futures Laboratory and Palisadian-Post. Visit www.zocalopublicsquare.org/ for more programs, interviews and essays.

The 2026 Zócalo Book and Poetry Prizes are co-presented with The Jar, and generously sponsored by Tim Disney. Americans love building walls, and not just on our international borders. Our houses are bigger and more fortress-like than ever before. We drive cars and trucks designed like mobile suits of armor. We consume media that reflects our point of view back to us, closing off dissenting voices. What are these walls doing to our country, our communities, and our minds? Can we stop building them, or even break them? And what might we put in their place? Johns Hopkins University anthropologist Anand Pandian, winner of the 2026 Zócalo Book Prize for Something Between Us: The Everyday Walls of American Life, and How to Take Them Down, visits Zócalo to share what he learned from talking to people across the country about what divides us and how we come together. Featuring: Anand Pandian, anthropologist and author of Something Between Us: The Everyday Walls of American Life, and How to Take Them Down Mike Madr

As an economic powerhouse, California charges forward. The benefits, though, are distributed and felt unequally, especially in places like the Central Valley. Here, thousands of farmworkers feed the nation while facing food insecurity themselves, rural communities struggle to access adequate health care, the housing market is in an affordability crisis, and neighborhood inequality persists. But the region is changing: with steady population growth, reformed labor union legislation, the promise of California High-Speed Rail, and burgeoning arts and culture scenes. And it’s shifting California power dynamics with it, away from the coastal cities and into the Valley’s major cities like Fresno, Bakersfield, Merced, and Stockton. How are leaders in Fresno harnessing these changes to transform their region for the better? And what does it mean for the Central Valley and for California? Featured guests:
Danielle Bergstrom (Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Fresnoland)
Betsy McGovern-Garcia (Vice President, Self-Help Ent

Amid great technological, political, and cultural shifts, who choreographs the great dance of America? Which tales have we inherited, which will we pass down, and what will future generations do with them? And, as this series aims to answer: What can become of us? A panel moderated by IAJS faculty director Tomás Jiménez, and featuring author, poet, and social entrepreneur Ahmed Badr; writer, filmmaker, and powwow dancer Julian Brave NoiseCat; and population geneticist and science journalist Janina Jeff Ringo explores how the stories we tell shape our perspectives on movement and migration, and the legacy of America. This program is inspired by "Durga’s Daughters," an original performance created and directed by Indian American Bharatanatyam choreographer and dancer Mythili Prakash. Visit Zócalo's Youtube channel to watch the performance of "Durga's Daughters": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m000c1FCDdY This is the fourth and final program in “What Can Become of Us?”, a collaboration between the Stanford

Museums tell America’s story. Exhibit by exhibit, they acquire, study, preserve, and interpret art and artifacts for the public, offering proof to bolster thoughtful interpretations of our national truths. But they haven’t always done so freely. What can museums do when the state imposes revisionist history on them? Can curation be a form of self-censorship? Is censorship ever good? And what have museums done to protect their freedom of expression and the separation between art and state? Featured guests: Devon Akmon (Director, Michigan State University Museum and Chair of the Board, American Alliance of Museums) Ann Burroughs (President and CEO, Japanese American National Museum) Hamza Walker (Director, The Brick and Co-Curator, MONUMENTS) Hamza Walker will discuss how museums resist the erasure and revision of our history and culture, and what this means for how we document our shared past, present, and future. This program is co-presented by Zócalo Public Square, Japanese American National Museum (JA

With the national midterm elections alongside high-profile contests such as the Los Angeles mayoral and California gubernatorial races, voters, election officials, and policymakers alike are being forced to confront AI’s growing role in democratic life. Can AI be responsibly integrated into election systems without compromising transparency or fairness? Who bears responsibility for governing its use—technology companies, election officials, lawmakers, or voters themselves? And what safeguards, norms, or reforms are needed to ensure that innovation serves democracy rather than undermines it? Featured guests: Kristen Muller (Executive Editor, The LA Local) Darwin Mastin, Ph.D. (Founder & CEO, Synaptic Spike Venture Studio & TwinWise AI) Michael Moore (Chief Information Security Officer, Arizona Secretary of State’s Office) Gowri Ramachandran (Director of Elections and Security on the Elections & Government team, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU) This program is co-presented by Zócalo Public Square, LA

Deportation has impacted communities across California and the country, and has become the face of U.S. immigration policy today. At the culmination of a year marked by violent ICE raids, it’s crucial to understand how we got to this point, and what may lie ahead. Part origin story, part forecast, this conversation between historian and MacArthur Fellow Kelly Lytle Hernández and filmmaker and MacArthur Fellow Alex Rivera illuminates the history of deportation. The pair discuss the first man to be deported under the 19th-century Chinese Exclusion Act, reach further back in time to consider that law’s predecessors, and, finally, return to the present day to pose questions about the future of U.S. banishment. Is deportation an anomaly of our modern era, or does it reflect the very heart of this country’s history? Who is targeted for deportation in America, and why? And where should we look for reform or respite—resistance groups, the courts, political leaders? This program is co-presented by Zócalo Public Squ

Is hip-hop the driving force behind Black business and economic mobility? What can we glean from its innovative strategies and enterprising spirit? And how do the creative economies hip-hop has brokered affect California’s racially diverse and rapidly changing communities? Tara DeVeaux is a brand marketer influenced by hip-hop culture and Detavio Samuels is a media executive for youth culture storytelling. They discuss hip-hop’s impact on the economy with Robeson Taj Frazier, director of the USC Annenberg Institute for Difference and Empowerment in the Arts, during the opening night of CA FWD’s 2025 California Economic Summit. This program was co-presented by Zócalo Public Square, ASU, and California Forward (CA FWD) in partnership with Stocktonia. Part of Zócalo’s series "California 175 — What Connects California?" Timestamps: 00:00 - Intros 04:23 - Panel: Robeson Taj Frazier, Tara DeVeaux, Detavio Frazier Visit www.zocalopublicsquare.org/ for more programs and essays in the series. Follow Zócalo o

A panel featuring Stanford IAJS faculty co-director Brian Lowery, James Beard Award-winning cookbook author and Jewish cuisine expert Joan Nathan, community organizer and immigration activist Power Malu, and food studies scholar Krishnendu Ray explores how what we eat, and where it’s from, shape our sense of identity. This program is inspired by "Speak Sing Shout: We, Too, Sing America" (2025) by Pakistani American artist Sarah K. Khan. The piece is commissioned by Stanford Institute for Advancing Just Societies, and will be on view at BRIC in Brooklyn from October 7 to December 23, 2025. Visit Zócalo's Youtube channel to watch a performance by artist Sarah K. Khan: https://youtube.com/live/ztRolqNFXoQ This is the third program in “What Can Become of Us?”, a collaboration between the Stanford Institute for Advancing Just Societies (IAJS) and Zócalo Public Square, envisioning new perspectives on migration, America’s diverse communities, and how people come together across differences. Timestamps: 00:00 -

Zócalo Public Square presents two back-to-back panels moderated by Zócalo’s California columnist Joe Mathews to ask: How exceptional do we want California to be? The first panel features expert voices in fields shaping California’s identity: business advocate and public affairs specialist Brooke Armour Spiegel, Caltech astrophysicist Konstantin Batygin, and immigrant rights advocate Yliana Johansen-Méndez. The second panel features youth leaders who are inheriting the state: trans rights organizer, budget advocacy and policy expert Michaé De La Cuadra, community organizer and housing justice advocate Aidan Lin-Tostado, and Tongva, Chumash, and Xicano artist and environmental advocate Isaac Michael Ybarra. This program is presented with generous support from Latino Community Foundation, the Karsh Family Foundation, and Snap Foundation. Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intros 00:03:18 - Panel 1 (Expert Voices): Brooke Armour Spiegel, Konstantin Batygin, Yliana Johansen-Méndez 00:43:02 - Panel 2 (Youth Leaders): Mi

It used to be that Spanish-language artists had to perform in English to succeed in the U.S. Today, they can sing in their native tongue and top the charts. But with increased visibility, does increased industry equity follow for Spanish-language artists? In an era of division over immigration—when so many love Latin music that crosses borders, but question Latin people who do—can music bring America together? Activist, musician, and Chicanx-Latinx studies professor Martha Gonzalez and "La Banda Elástica" magazine founder and publisher Emilio Morales discuss how Latino music transcends borders. This program was co-presented by Zócalo Public Square, The Skirball Cultural Center, and Grand Performances. Timestamps: 00:00 - Intros 04:00 - Conversation with Emilio Morales and Martha Gonzalez Visit www.zocalopublicsquare.org/ for more programs and essays in the series. Follow Zócalo on X: x.com/thepublicsquare Instagram: www.instagram.com/thepublicsquare/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/zocalopublicsquare Linked

This program is inspired by "So, I told her I was half-Indian" (2025) by Chicanx and Punjabi American weaver Kira Dominguez Hultgren. The piece, multiple looms woven together as a suspended sculpture, is commissioned by IAJS and will be on view at Zhou B Art Center from August 12 to September 12, 2025. Artist Kira Dominguez Hultgren and guitarist and Chicago Immigrant Orchestra co-director Fareed Haque discuss the work’s larger themes, including how race plays out across generations, how public memorials help make hushed histories visible, and how new technology reveals outdated stereotypes. Then, a panel moderated by featuring Stanford IAJS faculty co-director Brian Lowery, Yale historian and Pulitzer Prize-winner David W. Blight, historic preservation leader Bonnie McDonald, and creative consultant and fashion designer Siying Qu explores how migrant communities help stitch together our ideas of American life. This is the second program in “What Can Become of Us?”, a collaboration between the Stanford Ins

Medusa, the “Godmother of West Coast Hip-Hop,” and reparations advocate and business manager to the stars Khansa T. Jones-Muhammad aka Friday Jones, discuss the role of women in hip-hop. Hip-hop is a conversation across communities. But power and privilege exert control inside this industry as they do outside. It is all interconnected. Many talented female hip-hop performers have fallen prey to fear and exploitation, and continue to fight for recognition while battling abuse and stereotypes imposed by industry insiders and general audiences. Meanwhile, streaming and predatory contracts have opened the doors for new modes of financial manipulation in the fine print, impacting royalties and devaluing artistry. What do reparations for these unfair practices look like? How can women in the industry support the next generation and build pathways for their success? And how can hip-hop respond to the changing political climate? This program was co-presented with Levitt Pavilion Los Angeles. Visit www.zocalopu

Jean-Martin Bauer is the author of “The New Breadline: Hunger and Hope in the Twenty-First Century” and the winner of the 2025 Zócalo Public Square Book Prize. He’ll visit Zócalo to explore the role hunger plays in our world today, and what it takes to help people come together and feed one another. This discussion is moderated by Ertharin Cousin, Food Systems for the Future CEO. Zócalo Public Square is proud to award the 2025 Zócalo Poetry Prize to Jennifer Blackledge for her poem "Mt. Trashmore." The 2025 Zócalo Book and Poetry Prizes are generously sponsored by Tim Disney. Visit www.zocalopublicsquare.org/ to read our articles and learn about upcoming events. Follow along on X: twitter.com/thepublicsquare Instagram: www.instagram.com/thepublicsquare/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/zocalopublicsquare LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/z-calo-public-square

This program is inspired by "Coatlicue & Las Meninas: The Stanford Edition" (2007/2025) by Mexican American artist Pedro Lasch, commissioned by IAJS and on view at Asheville Art Museum from April 16 to July 13, 2025. Asheville Art Museum associate curator Jessica Orzulak and artist Pedro Lasch discuss the work’s larger themes, including how mirrors encourage viewers to reflect on the movement of people, ideas, and objects across time and space. Then, a panel featuring Stanford IAJS founding faculty co-director Tomás Jiménez, philosopher and ethicist Kwame Anthony Appiah, immersive journalism and extended reality (XR) pioneer Nonny de la Peña, and immigrant integration advocate Federico Rios will discuss the ways Americans, old and new, see ourselves in each other. This is the first program in “What Can Become of Us?”, a collaboration between the Stanford Institute for Advancing Just Societies (IAJS) and Zócalo Public Square, envisioning new perspectives on migration, America’s diverse communities, and how

America’s high-poverty cities and counties have suffered for decades, enduring skyrocketing inequality, the opioid epidemic, rising housing costs, and widespread disinvestment. Governments have offered a variety of failed solutions, from luring wealthy outsiders to slashing public services. But four communities are turning inward instead: Stockton, California; rural Josephine County, Oregon; Lawrence, Massachusetts; and Detroit, Michigan. In these diverse places—all of which went broke in the wake of the Great Recession—locals are building networks and trust in one another and their institutions, to promote health, wealth, and opportunity. In Stockton, this meant designing organizations to help residents cope with trauma. In Josephine County, people convinced freedom-loving, government-averse voters to increase taxes. Lawrence is building a new model to secure living wages. Detroit is battling to stabilize low-income housing. What did these strategies look and feel like on the ground? How can other strugglin