Zócalo in San Diego: Where Will Vigilance Come From In a Post-Newspaper Age?

In a world where traditional media is under fire, and the way we get information is in a period of rapid transition, what does vigilance mean?
Zócalo in Riverside: Can Democracy and Diversity Be Friends?

We tend to think that both democracy and diversity are good things; many of us even say that diversity is a strength.
Zócalo in Bakersfield: How Much For That Presidency In the Window?

Money has been a hot topic in the 2012 election—from how the campaigns are being financed post-Citizens United to the 99 percent and the national debt and Mitt Romney’s offshore […]
Full Interview with Rebecca Solnit

*Note: this is the full-length interview. You can also find a shorter version of this interview here on our site. In the aftermath of disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, […]
Full Interview with Daniel Alarcón

Daniel Alarcón is the author of California Reads selected book Lost City Radio, a fiction rooted in the human experience of the aftermath of war through the focal lens of […]
Author in Conversation: Richard Beeman

Our partner Mary Menzel from the California Center for the Book spoke with Beeman, who is one of the nation’s foremost Constitutional scholars, at the Newport Beach Library at an author in conversation event in April 2012.
Scholar in Conversation: Catherine Jurca

What if Americans elected a dictator? Scholar Catherine Jurca talks with our partner Mary Menzel of California Center for the Book about It Can’t Happen Here, a California Reads selected […]
Author in Conversation: Jeanne Houston

Our partner, Mary Menzel, at California Center for the Book, led a discussion about the memoir, which deals with Houston’s interment as a Japanese American during World War II.
Zócalo in Los Angeles: What if Nobody Was Born American?

One of the most controversial fights of today concerns the policy of birthright citizenship. What if no one were to be granted automatic U.S. citizenship regardless of the nationality of […]
Zócalo in Sacramento: Is Democracy Too Slow?

The world moves so fast now that democracy can’t keep up. China, Singapore, and some other undemocratic countries can make smart, long-term fiscal decisions faster.