APRIL 13, WEDNESDAY - Zócalo/NHM - HOW CAN OUR COMMUNITIES ESCAPE POLARIZING CONFLICT?

HOW CAN OUR COMMUNITIES ESCAPE POLARIZING CONFLICT?

A Zócalo/California Wellness Foundation Event, Co-Presented with the Natural History Museum of LA County

Featuring Amanda Ripley, journalist and author of High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out, B. Scott Silverman, mediator, arbitrator and retired California Superior Court judge, Kyeyoung Park, UCLA sociocultural anthropologist

Moderated by Erika D. Smith, Columnist, Los Angeles Times

Growing homelessness has fueled bitter conflicts in hundreds of neighborhoods across California. The drought is renewing generations-old local wars over water. Schools have become political and cultural battlegrounds, with parents and teachers at odds. And fights over pandemic response, from Shasta to Orange Counties, have escalated into violent threats between citizens and local officials. Why are so many Californians falling into fights with their neighbors? How much do social media and our polarized national politics contribute to local divides? And what are the best strategies to extract ourselves, and our neighbors, from intense conflicts so that we might work together to solve problems?

The La Brea Tar Pits and Museum will extend its hours to 6 PM and will offer free admission for attendees. A hosted reception with complimentary drinks will follow the discussion.