November 2019
What Can Life on the U.S.-Mexico Border Teach America?
Earlier in this century, President George W. Bush’s administration sought to celebrate the U.S.-Mexico border as America’s front door. But in the years since, the border has been widely portrayed by politicians as a source of problems, and today most news is about illegal immigration, abuses of migrants by Customs and Border Protection, or President Trump’s family separation policy. This deluge of negative coverage obscures the fact that the border region is not only a place where millions of people…
Find out more »December 2019
Will California Learn to Regulate the Marijuana Business?
In 2016, Californians voted to legalize the sale of recreational marijuana. But three years later, the very basics of regulating legal weed are still uncertain, and the new markets for marijuana have become another confounding California mess. It’s unclear how much marijuana can be consumed before police can make an arrest for driving under the influence, or whether the state can guarantee that marijuana being sold is safe and effective. Vaping—popular yet controversial—confuses the issue further. How can local and…
Find out more »January 2020
What Does the Resurgence of White Supremacy Mean for the Future of Race Relations?
Nearly two-thirds of Americans say it has become more common for people to express racist or racially insensitive views since the current administration took office. Majorities of Americans, across all demographics, say race relations have worsened in the last two years, and reports of hate crimes are soaring. Are these trends merely temporary, the short-term product of an angry era, unregulated digital media, and divisive political leadership? Or will the resurgence of white supremacy lead to a deeper shift in…
Find out more »February 2020
How Can L.A. Use Its Past to Build a Brighter Future?
Moderated by Joe Mathews, Editor and Columnist, Zócalo Public Square Even in a city where people dare to be different, Zev Yaroslavsky stands out. Zev, now director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs and the Department of History, has packed several lives into one lifetime, reshaping himself along with his fast-changing city. The child of immigrants from what is now Ukraine, Zev first drew notice as a UCLA student activist on behalf of Soviet…
Find out more »How Are Native American Artists Envisioning the Future?
Native American artists have long used explorations of the future as a way to reflect on the present. Contemporary Native artists, from the Mohawk sci-fi multimedia artist Skawennati to the Navajo photographer Will Wilson, are using innovative techniques to create visual art, literature, comics, and installations to build on that tradition and reframe it in a modern context. Often described as “Indigenous Futurisms,” this movement has reconsidered science fiction’s colonialist narratives in ways that place the Native American experience at their heart.…
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