Zócalo Public Square

At the Café Revue in Fresno, a panel of healthcare providers and journalists discussed the future of rural medicine. Moderator Michelle Levander, the director of the California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowships, Fresno-area clinician and family doctor Marcia Sablan, community health reporter Rebecca Plevin, and Herrmann Spetzler, CEO of Open Door Community Health Centers in northern California, discussed doctor shortages, improving access, the problem of transportation, and the possibilities of telemedicine and technology at an event co-presented by the California Wellness Foundation.

At an event co-presented by Kaiser Permanente, NYU psychologist Gary Marcus chronicled how he learned to play guitar as an adult after being inspired by the video game Guitar Hero. Marcus explained how adults can learn new skills, what music does to our brains and bodies, and what teaching methods work best for musicians of all ages and skill levels.

In a conversation ranging from the effects of global warming on wine production (the English countryside may be the new Champagne region) to the aged carrots served at Copenhagen's Noma restaurant,The New Yorker's Adam Gopnik and L.A. food critic Jonathan Gold discussed the pleasures and perils of foodies and food culture. Fine dining ultimately gives us pleasure, builds community, and can even make us healthier people.

A panel moderated by KNBC's Conan Nolan featuring Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman, UCLA football coach Jim Mora, Los Angeles Times NFL writer Sam Farmer, and UCLA sports economist Lee Ohanian agreed that professional football will return to Los Angeles. They debated which team will come, where will the stadium be located--and whether Angelenos will care--at an event co-presented by UCLA.

Former CNN Tokyo and Beijing bureau chief Rebecca MacKinnon, author of Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom, argues that governments and corporations around the globe are taking away our online freedoms--without the average citizen's knowledge. Her discussion moves from China to the Arab world to the battle over SOPA and PIPA in the U.S.

Wait, Arizona Has a History?

A panel moderated by KCRW's Warren Olney, featuring energy journalist Lisa Margonelli, UC Berkeley energy expert Daniel Kammen, SolarCity's Jim Cahill, and LADWP general manager Ron Nichols discusses the future of solar energy in California. They agreed that solar energy has the potential to change the way the state is fueled, but that the financial and political policies need to catch up to technological advancements

A panel featuring KQET's Sarah Varney, the Bayview Child Health Center's Nadine Burke Harris, San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center director Katie Albright, and Robin Karr-Morse, author of Scared Sick: The Role of Childhood Trauma in Adult Disease, discussed what childhood trauma is, how it can be treated and prevented, and its effects on the health of adults. Children who experience chronic exposure to abuse, neglect, and violence are at greatly increased risk for illnesses ranging from heart disease and hepatitis to addictive behaviors like IV drug use.

Is Phoenix the Next L.A., God Forbid?

KCRW's Kim Masters, Homeland and Cold Case writer and producer Meredith Stiehm, the Boston Globe's Joanna Weiss, ex-TV executive James Andrew Miller, and Occidental College historian Thaddeus Russell debate whether we're currently living in the golden age of television--or if more choice means more mediocrity. Their lively conversation encompassed the merits of Cupcake Wars and American Idol, the debt contemporary shows owe to Hill Street Blues, diversity onscreen, and what makes today's critically acclaimed shows great.

Getty Trust President and CEO James Cuno explains why museums matter today more than ever in a talk at the Petersen Automotive Museum. Cuno shares the museum's 18th-century Enlightenment origins and responds to critics who have called the encyclopedic museum elitist and imperialistic.

Historian Olivier Zunz, author of Philanthropy in America: A History, explains why philanthropy is such a powerful force in American politics, economics, and society by explaining the history of the institution.

Leaders of four major research universities--USC President C.L. Max Nikias, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, ASU President Michael Crow, and Rice University President David Leebron--discuss the role of urban universities in their communities with the Chronicle of Higher Education's Jeffrey Selingo. They agreed that while universities alone cannot save dying cities, but they can contribute a great deal to the cultural, economic, and intellectual lives of their cities.

Why is the U.S. the only western country that can't agree on healthcare? Sociologist Paul Starr, author of Remedy and Reaction: The Peculiar American Struggle Over Health Care Reform, explains our bitter war over healthcare through its history from the early 20th century--when the American Medical Association and other groups used xenophobia to defeat the first healthcare bills--up through President Obama's 2010 reforms.

The Past and Future of L.A.'s Global Image

How Life Imitated Art

At a panel as part of the Pacific Standard Time art initiative, New York University historian Thomas Crow, UCLA historian Eric Avila, Huntington Library curator Jennifer Watts, and Kirse Granat May, author of Golden State, Golden Youth, discussed the allure of Los Angeles imagery through the decades. In a conversation about Disneyland and dream houses, freeways and film, they moved from the 19th century through the postwar years.

Mexican tycoon Ricardo Salinas speaks with Economist editor Matthew Bishop about the global economy, the relationship between Mexico and America, the microfinance business he has developed with Banco Azteca, philanthropy, and Mexico's future.

Panelists with extensive experience in local, regional, and state government offered arguments for and against splitting California into more than one state in a conversation at the Fresno Art Museum. They agreed that the state is not fulfilling its promises to its citizens, but while some argued for a North-South split (or even a three-state division), others felt that reform, not secession, is needed.

America's public schools are failing--in a large part because the teacher's unions and the bureaucracy don't put students first, according to media mogul Steven Brill, author of Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America's Schools. Brill explains his journey through the country's public school system, where he discovered heated wars over charter schools, teachers struggling to succeed without burning out, unions that protect their members at all costs, and a culture that is too often complacent with failure.