Morocco Has High-Speed Rail. California Has Excuses
The automated voice over the loudspeaker is polite, and its English is American-accented. “For your convenience, we invite you to make your phone calls from the platform between the cars.” I am sitting in a plush green seat, watching the digital speedometer at the front of the carriage climb. Outside, the landscape blurs into a familiar tapestry of scrub, yellowing grasses, eucalyptus trees, low-slung oaks, and waves from a west-facing seacoast. The post Morocco Has High-Speed Rail. California Has Excuses appeared first on Zócalo Public Square.
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In Defense of Public History
In June 2024 Anthea Hartig, director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (NMAH), gave a virtual talk at UCLA’s Luskin Center for History and Policy for budding historians to think about work in the public sphere. Hartig is one of the country’s leading public historians, a Southern California native and longtime resident who has served as a professor, as an officer of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and as CEO of the California Historical Society. In those roles, over two decades, she has introduced millions of Americans to the rich and diverse histories of California and the United States. The post In Defense of Public History appeared first on Zócalo Public Square.
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The Origins of the Beach Read
The lists begin to appear around Memorial Day with media outlets as varied as NPR, Oprah Daily, New York Times Book Review, Forbes, and BookTok influencers touting the best summer reads. One recommends a gossipy thriller it describes as “White Lotus meets Gossip Girl,” another proclaims the opening of “Lit Girl Summer.” The post The Origins of the Beach Read appeared first on Zócalo Public Square.
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Can the Energy Crisis Finally Unite Us?
A panel of experts in energy and media comes together to discuss how the future of energy can unite us, followed by a free reception. The post Can the Energy Crisis Finally Unite Us? appeared first on Zócalo Public Square.
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A Walk-Through
Ten thousand years. / Nothing really. Butterflies / and the shadows of invisible swans. / A yellow house standing alone / in a green swale. / What is there to worry about? / We can all see the way / in which hesitation is actually The post A Walk-Through appeared first on Zócalo Public Square.
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Can Optimism and Organ Music Change Our Climate Perspectives?
“I’m taking you to church,” Arnold Schwarzenegger told me. “Have I sinned?” I asked. “There’s a new organ. You have to hear it. The vice president might be coming too.” We were inside Vienna’s Hofburg Palace, the seat of Austrian imperial power for 600 years. The church to which I was being invited was St. […] The post Can Optimism and Organ Music Change Our Climate Perspectives? appeared first on Zócalo Public Square.
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Let’s Fight About Art So We Can Talk About Politics
Imagine: You come out of a movie theater talking about the film you’ve just seen. You express your feelings about it—you liked it. Your friend disagrees. You bring up parts of the movie that gave you pleasure—she responds by stating why those same moments didn’t land for her. You think about the movie a bit differently as a result, and in the process your own perspective broadens ever so slightly. The post Let’s Fight About Art So We Can Talk About Politics appeared first on Zócalo Public Square.
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How Will California Educate Its Future Workforce?
A free pre-summit conversation on how best to prepare California’s students for the big, bright world ahead. The post How Will California Educate Its Future Workforce? appeared first on Zócalo Public Square.
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Tremors
I notice the slight movement just there at the edge of my peripheral vision. We sit in metal folding chairs in an auditorium next to the ocean. I turn my head away to the darkness beyond the tall windows. I imagine the symphonic melody of our central nervous system. The post Tremors appeared first on Zócalo Public Square.
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UCLA Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt
Darnell Hunt is the executive vice chancellor and provost of UCLA and the co-founder and co-author of the Hollywood Diversity Report series.Before joining the panel for “How Does the Silver Screen Shape the Golden State?,” a public program co-presented by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Zócalo Public Square, Hunt chatted with us in […] The post UCLA Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt appeared first on Zócalo Public Square.
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