The Zócalo lecture series is asking the question on January 27: "Does the American Middle Class have a Future?" Given the topic, the speakers are a surprise. The question wil be hashed out in a conversation between Eli Broad, ranked as the fourth richest man in Los Angeles by the L.A. Business Journal, and former mayor Richard Riordan, a man of considerable wealth himself. The Zócalo website explains:

Two of LA's most prominent businessmen and philanthropists, themselves products of the middle class, will discuss the fate of the middle class and the future of upward mobility. They ask whether mobility is still possible in an economically polarizing America, particularly in urban areas like Los Angeles.

In February the speaker will be the Times' new Editor of the Editorial Page, Andrés Martinez. (The Daily News' Rick Orlov calls the Broad-Riordan sitdown an only in L.A. event: "At least the two know something about being rich.")