Margaret Wertheim, "Space versus Spirit: Why the Battle between Science and Religion is Driving us Crazy"

Sunday December 24, 2006 at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Science and religion are often viewed as two competing and utterly opposed worldviews--one based on faith, the other on reason. Yet both are systems that attempt to make sense of the world and of humanity's place within a wider cosmological scheme. Religions usually posit that the material realm is just one part of a larger whole that also includes an immaterial spiritual domain, while modern science speaks only of a physical realm. But at the birth of modern science in the seventeenth century no one imagined that science was articulating the whole of reality. In a talk recorded live at the Los Angeles Central Library as part of Zócalo’s “Public Square” Lecture Series, science writer Margaret Wertheim traces the history of how any notion of a spiritual realm was written out of Western science. She examines the social, psychological, and cultural effects of this transformation and urges us to acknowledge the intellectual gifts we derive from both sides of this maddening divide.

Margaret Wertheim is the author of Pythagoras’ Trousers, a history of the relationship between physics and religion, and The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace: A History of Space from Dante to the Internet. She has written and produced a dozen television science documentaries, including the PBS special “Faith and Reason”.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mpeg - 30min, 14mb

Empire, American Style: Niall Ferguson

Historian and Los Angeles Times columnist Niall Ferguson presents his recent thoughts on America at war. Ferguson is a proponent of “counterfactual” history, a controversial method which attempts to answer “what if” questions by imagining alternative outcomes of events as a way of stressing the contingent aspects of history. Ferguson's "The Pity of War" was a sensation in Britain for its assertion that the country would have been better off staying out of World War I. His latest book is “The War of the World.” Ferguson’s talk on America’s shaky global empire was recorded live at the California Institute of Technology as part of the Zócalo “Public Square” Lecture Series and presented in conjunction with the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West and the Los Angeles Times Editorial Pages.

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Life 2.0: Market and Society on the Virtual Frontier
Edward Castronova and Cory Ondrejka

Edward Castronova, online game theorist and author of “Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games,” speaks with radio journalist Ethan Lindsey about the online game industry, its implications for both business and culture, and the long-term social consequences of online games for the millions of players who spend more time in the synthetic world than in our own.

Virtual environment producer Cory Ondrejka is Chief Technology Officer for San Francisco-based Linden Labs, creators of the wildly popular virtual environment, “Second Life.” In this eye-opening conversation, Ondrejka fleshes out the nature of these new virtual worlds and gives abundant detail on how millions of lives around the globe are affected.

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Made in Americas: Latino Impact on American Culture

Josh Kun and Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez

Josh Kun, a leading authority on popular music and culture and author of “Audiotopia: Music, Race, and America,” insists that America is not a single chorus of many voices folded into one, but rather various republics of sound that represent multiple stories of racial and ethnic difference. He shares his insights and musical examples with Oscar Garza, editor-in-chief of Tu Ciudad Magazine.

Archivist Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez tells Garza about her fascinating oral history project, “A Legacy Greater Than Words: Stories of U.S. Latinos and Latinas of the World War II Generation,” which chronicles the untold stories of this generation through more than five hundred interviews.

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Contact Between Cultures: Nathaniel Philbrick on the Mayflower and Eytan Gilboa on Public Diplomacy

Sunday November 19, 2006 at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Nathaniel Philbrick, winner of the National book Award for “In the Heart of the Sea,” speaks with former BBC host John Buckley about the hard life and times of the early immigrants to America, chronicled in his book, “Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War.”

Eytan Gilboa, a world-known expert on international communication and US Policy in the Middle East, speaks on the application and technique of public diplomacy with Yael Swerdlow from the USC-Annenberg Center on Public Diplomacy.

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Two Streams on the Left: Jorge Castañeda on Latin American Politics

Moderated by Andrés Martinez, Times Editorial Page Editor
Sunday November 5, 2006 at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

In his 1994 book "Utopia Unarmed," Jorge Castañeda examined the failed movements of the Latin American left. The Los Angeles Times Book Review praised the work for its honesty, its lack of dogmatism and its success in "[restoring] direction to the Latin American left." More than ten years later and after serving as Mexican President Vicente Fox's foreign secretary, Castañeda visits Zócalo to reexamine Latin America's left and its latest incarnations, including Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and Mexican presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Recorded live at the Grand Hall of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion as part of the Zócalo “Public Square” Lecture Series, and presented in conjunction with the Los Angeles Times Editorial Pages, Castañeda’s speech is followed by a discussion with the Times’ Andrés Martinez.

((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 59min, 20mb

Michael Tomasky:"What's Wrong with Liberalism?"

Sunday October 29, 2006 at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Last May, Michael Tomasky published an essay in The American Prospect, the respected liberal opinion magazine he edits, that set Washington on its ear. “Party in Search of a Notion” was Tomasky’s call for the Democrats to rise above the politics of interest-group particularism and become the party of the common good. The influential essay got front-page treatment in The New York Times and is one of the most widely quoted magazine essays of the past decade. In this lively talk, recorded live at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy as part of the Zócalo Public Square Lecture Series, Tomasky discusses his ideas, his critics, and the new historical opportunity for progressive politics.

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Steal this Music: Intellectual Property vs. Artistic Creativity

Joanna Demers and Jeff Gauthier

Interviews by Richard Paske
Sunday October 22, 2006 at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

University of Southern California assistant professor Joanna Demers discusses the past, present, and future of music copyright law, downloading, and sampling with Richard Paske, producer of the web music magazine, Notes From the Western Edge. Demers, a forensic musicologist and consultant on copyright law, is author of "Steal This Music: How Intellectual Property Law Affects Musical Creativity." Paske is also joined by Jeff Gauthier, composer, musician, and head of Cryptogramophone Records, who discusses how copyright law and new technologies affect him and other music entrepreneurs.

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Denise Dresser: "Will Mexico Survive its Presidential Election?"

Sunday October 15, 2006 at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

The razor thin margin of its recent presidential election has left Mexico deeply divided and the future of its democracy in question. Recorded live as part of Zócalo’s “Public Square” Lecture Series, Mexican political scientist and columnist Denise Dresser discusses candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador's challenge to the election's outcome and the credibility gap that a Felipe Calderón presidency faces. Known for her bold, insightful, and unbiased commentary on Mexican politics, Dresser shares the backstory of this long and winding presidential campaign and delivers the definitive analysis on its historic outcome.

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Structure and Motion: Robert Graham, David Greenberg and Kitty McNamee

Interviews by Adolfo Guzman Lopez, Ming Fung, and Jennifer Berry
Sunday October 8, 2006 at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Robert Graham, prolific sculptor of civic monuments, including the Olympic Gateway at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, speaks with public radio reporter, Adolfo Guzman Lopez, about working with both monumental and very small artworks, and about growing up in Mexico City. Urban Planner David Greenberg joins architect Ming Fung in a discussion about his international treehouse competition chronicled in his book, “Treehouses in Paradise.” And Kitty McNamee, artistic director and founder of Hysterica Dance Company, sits down with Zócalo’s Jennifer Berry to discuss her humanistic and psychological approach to dance.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 59min, 20mb

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels as Civic Space
Kevin Kostelnik, David Tlapek, and Lita Albuquerque

Interviews by Larry Stammer
Sunday October 1, 2006 at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels is more than a religious edifice. On the fourth anniversary of the dedication of the Cathedral, former LA Times religion writer Larry Stammer speaks with Kevin Kostelnik, pastor of the Cathedral, David Tlapek, producer of a documentary on the Cathedral tapestries, and Lita Albuquerque, designer of "Celestial Disk", the star map, sculpture and waterfall that adorn the main entrance to the Cathedral.

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John Dean: Conservatives Without Conscience
Laurence J. Kotlikoff: The Coming Generational Storm

Interviews by Peter Stenshoel and Jennifer Berry
Sunday September 24, 2006 at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

John Dean, former White House Counsel to U.S. President Richard Nixon, speaks with Zócalo Radio’s producer, Peter Stenshoel about the modern Conservative movement in America, his relationship to the late Senator Barry Goldwater, and his bestselling book, “Conservatives Without Conscience.” Laurence J. Kotlikoff sounds a warning in his new book, “The Coming Generational Storm: What You Need to Know about America's Economic Future,” in a cogent discussion with Jennifer Berry about threats to our nation’s economic security.

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Theater on a Grand Scale
Heather Woodbury, Suzan-Lori Parks and caryn esai

Interviews by Meghan Daum and Jennifer Berry
Sunday September 17, 2006 at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Heather Woodbury speaks to L.A. Times columnist Meghan Daum about “Tale of 2Cities,” her epic multi-character play about the Dodgers’ 1957 move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, and its bi-coastal impact on three generations. Suzan-Lori Parks sits down with Zócalo’s Jennifer Berry to discuss her “365 Plays/365 Days” festival, marking the largest collaboration in theater history. Berry also speaks with caryn desai about her 20 year run as general manager of the award-winning International City Theatre in Long Beach.

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“Rich Friends, Poor Us: Is Status Anxiety the Newest Form of Depression?”

A Conversation with Nicole Holofcener, Sandra Tsing Loh, and Meghan Daum
Sunday September 10, 2006 at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

The subject of social class may the last taboo. No one likes to talk about it, but we spend a lot of time thinking—and worrying—about where we fit into the culture of conspicuous consumption. But is “class” really a matter of money? What do tastes and values say about our relationship to our own social class? Does anyone really believe America is a “classless society”? Does Los Angeles still subscribe to the theory of “you are your car” or has the cult of real estate become our primary mode of aspiration and personal expression? Join three of LA's wittiest and most insightful social observers--L.A. Times columnist Meghan Daum, filmmaker Nicole Holofcener ("Friends With Money," "Lovely & Amazing") and author/performer Sandra Tsing Loh ("Mother on Fire," "A Year in Van Nuys,")-- for a frank and provocative discussion about social class in Los Angeles and beyond.

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The Best of Zócalo: Antonio Damasio

Sunday September 3, 2006 at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

By popular demand, we reprise world-renowned neuroscientist and best-selling author Antonio Damasio as he takes us on a journey through his research on the mysterious yet inextricable link between the human brain and the human heart. In this talk, recorded live as part of the Zócalo "Public Square" lecture series, Damasio discusses new breakthroughs in emotion research and explains why it is relevant in our everyday lives. Knowing how the brain processes emotion can help us manage conditions such as depression and drug-addiction. It can also provide the key to understanding day-to-day decision-making, social behavior, and creativity.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* - mp3 - 59min, 20mb

The Best of Zócalo: Sonia Nazario and Muhammed Yunus

Sunday August 27, 2006 at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Zócalo Radio reprises two interviews that captured our listeners imaginations. Sonia Nazario discusses her recent book, Enrique’s Journey, in which she follows the harrowing attempts made by children in search of their immigrant mothers, women who had to give up their families in order to support them. Nazario speaks of her own risks in writing this book, and draws attention to a little-known tragedy of our times. Oscar Garza, Editor-in-Chief of Tu Ciudad magazine, hosts the discussion.

Then, Muhammed Yunus, visionary founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, discusses how he came to use microlending as a way to help the poor and do good business at the same time. In his discussion with New York Times (and former L.A. Times) financial columnist James Flanigan, Yunus shares his passion and his latest projects in his fight against poverty.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 59min, 20mb

"Do Immigrants Really Take Our Jobs?"

Moderated by Andrés Martinez, Times Editorial Page Editor

Sunday August 20, 2006 at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Immigration may be a national issue, but its economic implications are felt locally. Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, civil rights attorney Connie Rice, Fernando J. Guerra, director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles, and L.A. Times op-ed columnist Erin Aubry Kaplan discuss the economics of immigration and how they affect local politics and race relations. This discussion was recorded live at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center as part of the Zócalo "Public Square" Lecture Series.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 59min, 20mb

Eric Liu: "The Politics of Purpose"

Sunday August 13, 2006 at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Eric Liu, former speechwriter and policy adviser to President Clinton and author of "Guiding Lights: The People Who Lead Us Toward Our Purpose in Life," speaks on the deeper needs, fears and hopes that must inform a renewal of progressive politics. Democrats recently have been working overtime to get reacquainted with the language of faith.  But is the salvation of progressive politics truly to be found in the Bible?  Liu’s talk was recorded live at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy as part of the Zócalo “Public Square” Lecture Series.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 59min, 20mb

Francis Fukuyama, "The Neoconservative Legacy and the Future of American Foreign Policy"

Sunday August 6, 2006 at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

One of America's most formidable intellectuals, Francis Fukuyama, visits Zócalo to explain his very public break with neoconservative foreign policy.  In this brilliant, incisive, and compelling talk, recorded live as part of the Zócalo “Public Square” Lecture Series at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, Fukuyama outlines his vision of a "Realistic Wilsonianism" that he thinks ought to guide America's future relations with the outside world.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 59min, 20mb

Amy Brenneman and Brad Silberling: “Do Popular Artists Have A Moral Responsibility?”
Leigh Curran: “The Virginia Avenue Project”

Sunday July 30, 2006 at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Acclaimed actress Amy Brenneman is the creator and star of the former hit TV series Judging Amy. Her husband, Brad Silberling, has directed a number of films, including Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. In this kitchen table discussion, recorded live at the Kirk Douglas Theater in Culver City as part of the Zócalo "Public Square" Lecture Series, Brenneman and Silberling offer insights on the interplay of morality, creativity, and money in the film industry.

Also, Jennifer Berry talks with Leigh Curran, founder of The Virginia Avenue Project, a free after-school performing arts program providing one-on-one mentoring for kids.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 59min, 20mb

Robert K. Ross, M.D.: "What's Wrong with Philanthropy in L.A.?"

Sunday July 23, 2006 at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Robert K. Ross, M.D., President and CEO of The California Endowment, discusses the challenges the philanthropic community faces in LA. In a lecture recorded live at Los Angeles Central Library as part of the Zócalo “Public Square” Lecture Series, Dr. Ross shares the crucial lessons he learned on his varied career path, from his early days as an inner city pediatrician, all the way to his current position as head of California’s largest private health foundation.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 59min, 20mb

L.A.: From Skidrow to the Front Row

Jan Perry and Michael Ritchie

Interviews by Dan Costello
Sunday July 16, 2006 at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Los Angeles City Councilmember Jan Perry speaks to Los Angeles Times Editorial Board member Dan Costello about homelessness in L.A. She discusses the uneven progress the city is making and the even more daunting challenges that lie ahead.

Costello then chats with Michael Ritchie, the artistic director of Center Theatre Group. Ritchie talks about his dramatic debut in the City of Angels and shares his ambitious vision for theater in Los Angeles.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 59min, 20mb

War, Diplomacy, and Video Games

Quang X. Pham, Asi Burak, Eric Brown and Tim Sweeney

Interviews by Alvin Shuster and Yael Swerdlow
Sunday July 9, 2006 at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Quang X. Pham, author of A Sense of Duty: My Father, My American Journey, discusses the Vietnam War, its legacy, and today’s war in Iraq with former L.A. Times correspondent and foreign editor Alvin Shuster.

Asi Burak, Eric Brown, and Tim Sweeney are three members of the team that created Peacemaker, a cross-cultural political video game simulation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that teaches peacemaking skills to young adults and promotes a peaceful resolution. Game scriptwriter Yael Swerdlow interviews the team about their efforts to reinvent diplomacy through gaming.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 59min, 20mb

Women In Business And The New Battle Of The Sexes: Jamie McCourt, Mary Sue Millikan, Susan Feniger and Rebecca Traister

Interviews by Meghan Daum and Jennifer Berry
Sunday July 2, 2006 at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Meghan Daum speaks with Dodgers vice-chairman and president Jamie McCourt about her highly visible role as “the most powerful woman in major league Baseball.”

Jennifer Berry brings chefs Mary Sue Millikan and Susan Feniger to the table. The famous restaurateurs share stories from their work in the unsavory business of restaurants.

And Meghan Daum returns to talk about the war of the sexes with outspoken Salon.com writer Rebecca Traister.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 59min, 20mb

William Deverell: "The Redemptive West"

Sunday June 25, 2006, at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Historian William Deverell, the director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West, delivers a groundbreaking lecture on the role that the American West played in healing the wounds inflicted by the Civil War. In this talk recorded live as part of the Zócalo "Public Square" lecture series, Deverell explores themes of reunification through stories of the convalescence of individuals and the re-fashioning of what it meant to be an American after the Civil War.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 59min, 20mb

Theater Innovators
Ken Roht, Adriana Sevan, and Ron Weiner

Interviewed by Jennifer Berry
Sunday June 18, 2006, at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Jennifer Berry introduces listeners to three young theater artists who are working to renew the medium. Ken Roht took song and dance to new limits under the tutelage of the late “shock theater” director, Reza Abdoh, before writing and directing his own works. He speaks of his critically acclaimed work, Echo’s Hammer, as well as his new role as an opera director.

Actress Adriana Sevan was personally affected by the 9/11 tragedy, and through a painful process developed a transcendent theater piece about the true meaning of friendship.

Television writer Ron Weiner took his experiences about Internet dating, set them to music, and eventually developed a shrewd but hopeful musical about digitally-mediated romance.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – Real Audio - 59min, 20mb

Christians and Civic Engagement

Malcolm Boyd and Anne Lamotte

Interviewed by Melissa Milios
Sunday June 11, 2006, at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

In the 2nd of Zócalo’s two part series on faith, Los Angeles writer Melissa Milios interviews the Reverend Canon Malcolm Boyd, and “writer’s writer” Anne Lamotte. Boyd, author of the newly-republished Are You Running with Me, Jesus?, recounts his colorful experiences as a civil rights activist, media star, antiwar protestor, and pioneering gay spiritual leader. Anne Lamotte’s influential book of essays, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith, has generated a great deal of interest and discussion. In this interview, the committed Christian speaks of her family, faith and the presidency, and how she grapples with the process of writing.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – Real Audio - 59min, 20mb

A Meeting of Faiths: At the Intersection of
Religion and Media

A Discussion moderated by Rob Eshman,
Editor-in-Chief, The Jewish Journal

Sunday June 4, 2006, at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Rob Eshman, Editor-in-chief of the The Jewish Journal, moderates a discussion on the co-existence of world faiths in modern society and the representation of religion in the media. The panel features Ani Zonneveld, Director, Progressive Muslim Union; Glen Harold Stassen, Professor of Christian Ethics, Fuller Theological Seminary; David Suissa, founder and publisher of Olam Magazine; and Diane Winston, Knight Chair in Media and Religion, USC Annenberg School.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – Real Audio - 59min, 20mb

"Is This the End of Crime as We Know it?"

Criminologists George Kelling and Mark Kleiman
In Discussion with the Los Angeles Times Editorial Pages

Sunday May 28, 2006, at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Since the late 1970s, urban police departments have watched crime rates fall drastically. But not everyone agrees on why it happened or whether our gauging is accurate. The L.A. Times Editorial Board presents George Kelling, one of the country's foremost experts on crime policy and the co-author of the "broken windows" theory, and Mark A.R. Kleiman, professor of public policy at UCLA. Moderated by Andrés Martinez, LA Times Editorial Page Editor, the panel includes Times op-ed columnist Erin Aubry Kaplan and editorial writer Robert Greene.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – Real Audio - 59min, 20mb

Business in the Interest of Good

Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank
Nicolas de Torrenté, Doctors Without Borders

Sunday May 21, 2006, at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

New York Times business columnist James Flanigan interviews Professor
Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. In a lively dialog, Professor Yunus explains how "microcredit" lending can reduce poverty.

Daniel Costello, L.A. Times Editorial Board member, speaks with Nicolas de Torrenté, Executive Director, Doctors Without Borders/Mèdecins Sans Frontiëres (MSF). Torrenté details the delicate business of running an organization that places doctors in the world's most conflicted regions.

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Science and Humanity
 
Sunday May 14, 2006, at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Public radio producer, Nate DiMeo, discusses the science career of Benjamin Franklin with Harvard historian and author, Joyce Elizabeth Chaplin. Her biography, "The First Scientific American: Benjamin Franklin and the Pursuit of Genius," examines Franklin's love of science, an important-yet often overlooked--aspect of the founding father's career.

Zócalo producer Peter Stenshoel interviews cultural anthropologist Walter Goldschmidt, author of "The Bridge to Humanity: How Affect Hunger Trumps the Selfish Gene." Exploring the relationship between biology and culture, Goldschmidt explains how biological mechanisms that have evolved from our distant past influence the way we live today.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 59min, 20mb

Photo by Zeke Ruelas

Oscar Garza: Dan Guerrero and Anthony Franco
 
Sunday May 7, 2006, at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Oscar Garza, editor of Tu Ciudad magazine, interviews producer/actor Dan Guerrero and fashion designer Anthony Franco.

Guerrero has enjoyed a successful career as a musical and cabaret performer, a Broadway talent agent and TV producer. A self-described “born-again” Latino, Guerrero, now starring in a new one-man show, “Gaytino,” discusses his life as a gay Latino performer and his relationship with his father, the legendary Chicano musician Lalo Guerrero.

Los Angeles-based designer Anthony Franco is quickly making a name for himself in fashion circles. He has exhibited his clothing designs at major fashion shows, and works as a costume designer for television and film.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 59min, 20mb

Antonio Damasio: "Understanding Emotions and
the Brain"
 
Sunday April 30, 2006, at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM
 
World-renowned neuroscientist and best-selling author Antonio Damasio takes us on a journey through his latest research on the mysterious yet inextricable link between the human brain and the human heart. In this talk recorded live as part of the Zócalo "Public Square" lecture series, Damasio discusses new breakthroughs in emotion research and explains why it is relevant in medicine and in society. Knowing how the brain processes emotion can help us manage conditions such as depression and drug-addiction. It can also provide the key to understanding day-to-day decision-making, social behavior, and creativity.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 59min, 20mb

Changing Lives through Theater

Luis Alfaro and Mariette Hartley
 
Sunday April 23, 2006, at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM
 
Playwright Jennifer Berry spotlights two theater artists whose work explores emotional vulnerabilities.
 
Luis Alfaro, recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and co-founder of three non-profit arts organizations, discusses his approach to theater, poetry, and performance as an opportunity to reach troubled young people.
 
An Emmy Award-winning screen actress, Mariette Hartley is the author of the bestselling book, Breaking the Silence.  A survivor of bi-polar disorder and a co-founder of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Hartley discusses the history of suicide in her family and how her one-woman show addresses the shame surrounding an issue that affects thousands of American families.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 59min, 20mb

“The Return of Social Criticism”

Meghan Daum: Novelist Stephen Elliott and writer Caitlin Flanagan

Kevin Roderick: French journalist Emmanuelle Richard

Sunday April 16, 2006, at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Is social criticism making a comeback? L.A. Times Editorial Page Columnist Meghan Daum talks with two writers with divergent viewpoints. Novelist Stephen Elliott, editor of Stumbling and Raging, and author of several books (Happy Baby, A Life Without Consequences), relates how his life as a ward of the state resulted in his heightened political consciousness.

Caitlin Flanagan, contributing editor to The Atlantic Monthly and author of To Hell with All That, employs her liberal background to develop conservative critiques of modern society.

Kevin Roderick, editor of L.A. Observed.com, the self-described blog of “LA media, news and sense of place,” interviews LA-based French journalist and blogger, Emmanuelle Richard.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 59min, 20mb

Zócalo and the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board
Present

Dan Glickman: The Film Industry at a Pivotal Moment

Sunday April 9, 2006, at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Dan Glickman, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is interviewed by Jon Healey of the LA Times Editorial Board. Former Secretary of Agriculture in the Clinton Administration, Glickman succeeded Jack Valenti as Hollywood's chief lobbyist. In this wide-ranging discussion - recorded live as part of the Zócalo "Public Square" lecture series - Glickman and Healey discuss the film industry's role in politics, the future of movie theaters in the age of home theater systems, the rise of DVDs and the threat posed by piracy.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 59min, 20mb

Jennifer Berry: New Theater, New Art

Sunday April 2, 2006, at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Playwright Jennifer Berry gets up close and personal with three LA artists. Actor Richard Brooks takes up the challenge of reviving the gospel play, a form made famous by playwright Langston Hughes, in his new work, Hope Runs Eternal.

Lee Wochner, co-founder of Moving Arts Theatre, offers up humorous personal anecdotes that mix his love of absurdism with the difficult business of art.

Sculptor Alisa Gabrielle continues to paint and sculpt despite being legally blind. She discusses the transformational nature of her work.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 59min, 20mb

Patty Stonesifer, "All Kids College Ready: What Will it Take to Ensure that Our Public Education System Prepares All Children?"

Sunday March 19, 2006, at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Patty Stonesifer is the co-chair and president of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In this broadcast she zeros in on the tough, essential job of reforming not just schools -- and school systems -- but the entire structure of education. Brilliant, witty, and down-to-earth, Stonesifer has also been named one of the world's most powerful women by Forbes Magazine. Stonesifer’s aim is to engender a community-wide conversation on the future of education.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 59min, 20mb

Journalist Sonia Nazario and Playwright/Screenwriter Jose Rivera

Sunday March 12, 2006, at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Interviews by Oscar Garza, Editor-in-Chief, Ciudad Magazine

Sonia Nazario discusses her recent book, Enrique’s Journey. She follows the harrowing attempts made by children in search of their immigrant mothers, women who had to give up their families in order to support them. Nazario speaks of her own risks in writing this book, and draws attention to a little-known tragedy of our times.

Garza’s second guest is the celebrated playwright and screenwriter Jose Rivera, nominated a year ago for an Academy Award for his adapted screenplay of The Motorcycle Diaries. Rivera speaks of his upbringing, the role that hooked him on theater, and balancing his current success between Hollywood and the Stage.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 59min, 20mb

Steve Wasserman, "Do Books Have a Future in the Digital Age?"

Sunday March 5, 2006, at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Is there a crisis of literacy in America?  Is the Age of Gutenberg dead? Steve Wasserman, literary agent and former editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review, suggests that books can survive, but readers to comprehend them could be in short supply.  A lively speech performance is followed by questions and insightful answers.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 52min, 18mb

An Evening with Greg Critser & Leonard Chang

Sunday February 26, 2006, at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

LA-based author Greg Critser discusses his new book, Generation RX: How Prescription Drugs Are Altering American Lives, Minds and Bodies. Critser applies his incisive reporter's eye to the politics of the pharmaceutical industry, revealing the hidden agenda fueling the need for today's most popular drugs.

Also, we reprise a recent lecture by Leonard Chang. Chang is the author of five novels, including a mystery trilogy which features a Korean-American detective. Here, he discusses the universal struggle to reconcile one's creative life with outside expectations and pressures.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mpeg - 59min, 27mb

"Can Hollywood Survive the Internet?"
A Discussion with the Los Angeles Times Editorial Pages

Sunday February 19, 2006, at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

Yair Landau, president of Sony Pictures Digital, and Eric Garland, CEO of BigChampagne, join Los Angeles Times editorial writers Jon Healey and Michael Newman to discuss the challenge the Internet poses to the entertainment industry. The Net is becoming an increasingly important source of music, movies and games.  The panel discusses entertainment industry reaction to the changes, the risks faced (including online piracy), and some promising new ways to distribute music and movies online.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mp3 - 59min, 20mb

An Evening with Culture Clash:
Confused and Still Full of Rage
Moderated by Oscar Garza, Editor-in-Chief, Ciudad Magazine

Sunday February 12, 2006, at 9pm on KPCC 89.3 FM

The infamous Chicano performance trio discuss two upcoming world premiers, Hollywood's relationship with Latinos, and the wide gap between art and politics. As irreverent, satirical, and edgy as ever, Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas, and Herbert Siguenza share their deepest, darkest secrets.

(((Audio Broadcast)))* – mpeg - 30min, 14mb