Zócalo Public Square

When the Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989—or 11/9—many Americans turned their attention away from foreign policy, and only re-awakened to world affairs on 9/11, even though trends that led to that day—failed states, religious extremism, terrorism—were brewing during the happy-go-lucky, self-congratulatory 1990s. Derek Chollet, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, and James Goldgeier, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, brilliantly mapping the forces that shaped the post-Cold War era, discuss how the legacy of the 1990s is vital to understanding the challenges faced by the Obama administration, and why foreign policy is more difficult when it doesn’t fit on a bumper sticker.

Worldwide, there are more slaves today than ever before, and as the first person in recorded history to witness negotiations for the sales of human beings on four continents, journalist E. Benjamin Skinner has gone inside the modern slave trade like no one else. In his book, A Crime So Monstrous, Skinner weaves a vivid narrative of slaves, traffickers, survivors and liberators. With years of reporting in such places as Haiti, Sudan, India, Eastern Europe, and The Netherlands, he has produced a vivid testament and moving reportage on one of the great evils of our time. His journey led right back to the United States, where some 50,000 are slaves—including countless numbers held in hidden bondage right here in Los Angeles. At the heart of the story are the slaves themselves. In his Zócalo lecture, Skinner bears witness for them, and for the millions who are held in the shadows. (This event was sponsored, in part, by The California Wellness Foundation.)

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L.A. vs. Shanghai: Who Is the Art Capital of the Pacific Rim?

Are L.A.’s Hospitals Safe?

Josh Kun, “The Kidnapped Country: Violence, Drugs, and the Crisis of Mexican Culture”

Baby, I’m Bored: When Did Motherhood Become a Career and Is It a Professional Disaster?

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Peter Gosselin, “Is the Ownership Society Dead?”

Is Business Abusing the Ballot?

Remember the Taco Truck!

Matt Welch, “Deconstructing McCain”

A House of Horrors

New L.A. Times Editor Russ Stanton

Standard Operating Procedure

Daniel Weintraub, “Is Arnold Schwarzenegger a Party of One?”

An Evening with Luis Valdez

The Future of Broadway