Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

As the build out of infrastructure for electric passenger vehicles gets underway, another segment of transportation is just starting down the road to electrification: heavy duty trucks. It’s one of the hard-to-decarbonize parts of our economy. Right now, nearly all long-haul trucks run on fossil fuels. And if we continue with business as usual, freight will become the highest-emitting part of the transportation sector by 2050. That’s why seven states, led by California, have mandated that an increasing number of zero-emission trucks be sold between now and 2035. What does the road to zero emissions trucking look like? Guests: Ray Minjares, Heavy-Duty Vehicles Program Director, International Council on Clean Transportation Mike Roeth, Executive Director, North American Council for Freight Efficiency Chris Shimoda, Senior Vice President, California Trucking Association Adam Browning, Executive VP, Forum Mobility Rudy Diaz, CEO, Hight Logistics This episode features a freelance piece from Emily Cohen in Wyoming on trucker views on EVs For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/audio/road-zero-emissions-trucking Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michelle Meow will sit down with American actress and transgender activist Shakina, to discuss the current state and future of the transgender arts and how we can uplift and support their community. Join us for this free program in Palo Alto! This program is part of a collaboration with TheatreWorks New Works Festival: Songs and Stories with Shakina. Please visit https://theatreworks.org/new-works/nwf/shakina/to find out more about how to participate in other events after this program has concluded. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By looking west to California, Jean Pfaelzer shifts our understanding of slavery as a North-South struggle and focuses on how those who were enslaved in California fought, fled, and resisted human bondage. In unyielding research and vivid interviews, Pfaelzer exposes how California's appetite for slavery persists today in the trafficking in human beings who are lured by promises of jobs but who instead are imprisoned in sweatshops or remote marijuana fields, or are sold as nannies or sex workers. Pfaelzer relates the history of slavery in California across its entire spectrum, from indentured Native American ranch hands in the Spanish missions, children sent to Indian boarding schools, Black miners, kidnapped Chinese prostitutes, and convict laborers to the victims of modern human trafficking, and she argues that California owes its origins and sunny prosperity to slavery. Spanish invaders captured Indigenous people to build and farm the chain of Catholic missions. Russian otter hunters shipped Alaskan Natives down to the California coast—the first slaves to be transported to California. The Russians also launched the Pacific slave trade with China. Southern plantation slaves were marched across the plains to help their owners mine during the Gold Rush. San Quentin Prison was the incubator for California’s carceral state. Kidnapped Chinese girls were sold to caged brothels in early San Francisco. And Indian boarding schools supplied farms and hotels with unfree child workers. Pfaelzer's provocative history of slavery in California could rewrite people's understanding of the settling of the West, and redefine the actual paths to eventual freedom for many Americans. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With unprecedented numbers of anti-trans and anti-LBTQ+ bills being presented in state legislatures across the country, Tiffany Woods says it is critical that we stand up and fight for trans, nonbinary, and LGBTQ+ people now more than ever. In 2023, more than 500 anti-trans bills have been introduced in 36 states across the country, rolling back decades of progress on trans rights fueled by transphobia, deliberate misinformation, discrimination, and misplaced fear under the false guise of “protecting children, girls and women.” These bills by GOP lawmakers across the country have been focused on prohibiting trans health care for youth, and at least 10 states have already passed such bans. Proposed bills range from gender-affirming care bans, bans on transgender youth participating in sports, bills that bar trans people from using bathrooms that correspond to their gender, and LGBTQ school censorship on what schools can say about LGBTQ people, to drag bans and bans on name and pronoun changes on government-issued documents. Trans youth, who have been the primary focus of anti-trans legislation this year, are experiencing a mental health crisis: A 2022 survey by the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention group focused on LGBTQ youth, found that 86 percent of trans or nonbinary youth reported negative effects on their mental health stemming from the political debate around trans issues, and nearly half had seriously considered suicide in the past year. We will highlight the worst of these legislative attacks and the collective efforts to fight back from communities impacted and the states protecting trans and LGBTQ rights. About the Speaker Tiffany Woods is a nationally awarded LGBTQ+ leader and chair emeritus of the California Democratic Party LGBTQ Caucus, the first trans woman elected a caucus co-chair, and a member the Democratic National Committee’s Transgender Advisory Committee. In 2020, she was honored by the California Legislature’s LGBTQ Caucus as a 2020 Pride Honoree. She has 21 years experience in public health with expertise in HIIV prevention and trans health and is currently serving as the first state transgender health manager at the Office of AIDS, Prevention Branch, California Department of Public Health, where her primary responsibility is the development and coordination of departmental and statewide programs and trainings focused on gender and trans health education, with a focus on statewide coordination of HIV prevention services related to the health and well-being of transgender individuals in California. This program contains explicit content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This year is shaping up to be the hottest year in 125,000 years. It may also be the coolest year a child born today will ever see. In “The Quickening,” science writer Elizabeth Rush documents her journey to Antarctica’s infamous “doomsday” glacier as she contemplates what it would mean for her to have a child at this time of radical change. In “Humanity’s Moment,” IPCC climate scientist Joëlle Gergis wrestles with their own questions of how we can all find enough hope to restore our relationships with ourselves, each other and the environment. Guests: Elizabeth Rush, Author, “The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth” Joëlle Gergis, IPCC Climate Scientist, author, “Humanity’s Moment: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope” For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/audio/navigating-science-and-feelings-destabilized-planet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nationally, Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee is perhaps best known for being the only member of Congress to vote against war authorization after the Sept. 11 attacks, a decision that led to death threats and hate mail. But her willingness to take tough, progressive stands has endeared her to East Bay voters—who have re-elected her 13 times—and liberal Democrats across the country. Now, Lee is running to fill retiring California Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat. “We have to ease the burden on the middle class. We have to find a solution to poverty and homelessness. We have to take on the climate crisis. And we have to stop these MAGA extremists who think they can control people’s bodies and dismantle our democracy,” she said when announcing her candidacy. If she succeeds, Lee would be the sole Black female senator and only the third in U.S. history. Lee returns to The Commonwealth Club as part of our “Race to the Senate 2024” series of candidate forums. Come meet the candidate in person before you cast your vote for California’s next U.S. senator. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Come on out for an in-person summertime Week to Week political roundtable. At Week to Week, we're dedicated to the lively and informed discussion of politics—with a good sense of humor—as a platform for healthy involvement in the issues that drive our society. The Commonwealth Club's Week to Week Political Roundtable and social hour, now in its 12th year, will take a look at the politics of the day—the issues, the people, and the trends affecting our political world. Join us to hear our panel of political experts discuss the latest developments with knowledge, civility and humor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Concordia University Professor of Marketing Dr. Gad Saad is not afraid to make people unhappy, if it makes them rethink their assumptions. For years, he has worn the mantle of the "anti-woke professor" and has shared his thoughts everywhere from Psychology Today to "The Joe Rogan Experience" to "The Saad Truth" on YouTube. Now he wants to make people happy, and he's sharing his 8 secrets for leading the good life. In this provocative and surprising new book, The Saad Truth about Happiness, Dr. Saad roams through scientific studies, culls the wisdom of ancient philosophy and religion, and draws on his extraordinary personal experience as a refugee from war-torn Lebanon turned academic celebrity. He shares secrets about resilience, purpose, moderation and more—including what you can learn from your dog about happiness. Hear more from Dr. Saad, who has become a "de facto global therapist" to an ever-growing audience of hundreds of thousands of people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can you imagine if everything you needed in your everyday life was just a walk or bike ride away? That’s the goal of the 15-minute City, a new name for an old idea. Reducing the need for cars cuts emissions and gets autos off of the roads, which is a boon for safety, air quality and the climate. But, as is often the case, good ideas become a lot more difficult when you have to implement them in real places, with real people, who don’t always share the enthusiasm for the idea. What will it take to make compact, walkable cities a reality in the U.S., where the car is king? Guests: Beth Osborne, Director, Transportation for America David Miller, Former Mayor of Toronto Justin Bibb, Mayor of Cleveland Henry Grabar, Author of Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World. For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“When heat comes, it’s invisible. It doesn’t bend tree branches or blow hair across your face to let you know it’s arrived. . . . The sun feels like the barrel of a gun pointed at you.” The world is waking up to a new reality: wildfires are now seasonal in California, the Northeast is getting less and less snow each winter, and the ice sheets in the Arctic and Antarctica are melting fast. Heat is the first-order threat that drives all other impacts of the climate crisis. As the temperature rises, it is revealing fault lines in our governments, our politics, our economy and our values. Journalist Jeff Goodall says the basic science is not complicated: Stop burning fossil fuels tomorrow, and the global temperature will stop rising tomorrow. Stop burning fossil fuels in 50 years, and the temperature will keep rising for 50 years, making parts of our planet virtually uninhabitable. The hotter it gets, the deeper and wider our fault lines will open. Goodell's book The Heat Will Kill You First is about the extreme ways in which our planet is already changing. It is about why spring is coming a few weeks earlier and fall is coming a few weeks later—and the impact that will have on everything from our food supply to disease outbreaks. It is about what will happen to our lives and our communities when typical summer days in Chicago or Boston go from 90 degrees Fahrenheit to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. A heatwave, Goodell explains, is a predatory event, one that culls the most vulnerable people; but that is changing—as heatwaves become more intense and more common, they will become more democratic. As an award-winning journalist who has been at the forefront of environmental journalism for decades, Goodell might be his most provocative yet, explaining how extreme heat will dramatically change the world as we know it. This program contains explicit content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many people think of the arts as entertainment, but Ivy Ross and Susan Magsamen believe activities such as painting, dancing, expressive writing, etc. are more essential to our daily lives than we realize. They say the science of neuroaesthetics has the power to transform traditional medicine and build healthier communities. Ross and Magsamen offer compelling research that shows how engaging in an art project for as little as 45 minutes can reduce stress and participating in just one art experience per month can extend your life by 10 years. Learn more about a significant cultural shift in which arts can deliver accessible and proven solutions for the well-being of everyone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is anybody else out there? As a child, Aomawa Shields was always looking at the sky and dreaming of becoming an astronaut. Now an astronomer and astrobiologist at the top of her field, Dr. Shields studies the universe outside our Solar System, researching and uncovering the planets circling distant stars with just the right conditions that could support life. In order to ultimately achieve her life-long dream Dr. Shields had to overcome discouragement from others, self-doubt, and uncertainty that she belonged. Her complex journey included a period where she left the field and pursued acting professionally. Hear more as Dr. Shields reflects on her life as an astronomer, classically trained actor, and Black woman in STEM. Additionally, she is the founder and director of Rising Stargirls, a program dedicated to encouraging girls of all colors and backgrounds to learn, explore, and discover the universe using theater, writing and visual art. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the climate movement’s earliest days, young people have been at the forefront of activism. But the first major international climate conferences took place 30 years ago. The first cohort of youth activists are now adults, some with children of their own. The emotional cost of seeing so little payoff for years spent fighting can be agonizing at any age, but perhaps more so for young people who put so much of themselves into the effort. Many youth activists burned out along the way, frustrated by participating in actions that rarely led to meaningful and lasting change. How do former youth activists now view the work of their younger selves? And what advice do they have for the next generation? Guests: Alec Loorz, Writer, Photographer, former youth climate activist Slater Jewell-Kemker, Director, “Youth Unstoppable;” former youth climate activist Victoria Loorz, Founder, Center for Wild Spirituality; Author, “Church of the Wild: How Nature Invites Us into the Sacred” Abrar Anwar, Chief Technology Officer, Rebel Force Tech Solutions; former youth climate activist Kyle Gracey, Strategy Consultant, Future Matters; former youth climate activist For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this interactive program, Harvard-trained physician Dr. Akil Palanisamy will present the T.I.G.E.R. Protocol. Based on the latest science and research, he says the T.I.G.E.R. Protocol addresses the five key drivers of autoimmune and all other chronic diseases, including toxins, the gut microbiome, and diet. Dr. Palanisamy will teach you holistic strategies incorporating diet, lifestyle and supplement recommendations he says will help you optimize your immune system, reduce inflammation, and feel better than ever before. He will shed light on the epidemic of autoimmune disease, the fastest growing category of disease right now, and discuss how you can prevent and heal these conditions. MLF ORGANIZER Patty James Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a technology, print at its birth was as disruptive as the digital migration of today. Now, as the internet ushers us past print culture, Jeff Jarvis offers an overview of important lessons from the era we leave behind. Jarvis traces the epoch of print from its fateful beginnings to our digital present. He tracks Western industrialized print to its origins; explores its invention, spread, and evolution; as well as the bureaucracy and censorship that followed. Additionally print gave rise to the idea of the mass—mass media, mass market, mass culture, mass politics, and so on—that came to dominate the public sphere. Hear more about this complex and compelling history of technology and power and the lasting impact it has today. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sex. Friendship. Love . . . . How have the pandemic and digital life changed these? What has been lost? What will slowly return? And what changes have actually been good for us? Above all, what can we do to thrive in this new environment? What works well for meeting new people, for maintaining close relationships, and—yes—for finding romance and love in this new world of post-pandemic and digital life? For more than 75 years, the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University has been a trusted source for scientific knowledge and research on critical issues in sexuality and relationships. They are the American pioneers in studies of human sexual behavior since issuing the groundbreaking Kinsey Reports in 1948 and 1953, and continuing to this day. Today, we are fortunate that Dr. Justin Garcia, executive director of the Kinsey Institute and scientific advisor to Match.com, can visit with us to discuss what he has learned about this new environment, answer our questions, and help guide us onto a successful path. Let's explore this brave new world of digital life together in this online discussion. MLF ORGANIZER Eric Siegel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

And our moderator, Toni Wang, is a Shanghai-born independent artist and producer whose background spans IT/consulting, web management, and music. She is a co-host for SEA Creatives, a collective of Southeast Asian filmmakers and artists in Los Angeles and an advocate for AAPI representation in media. In addition to several feature film projects in development, she has helped to produce a handful of short films as well as the indie feature A Great Divide, starring Ken Jeong, which opened the 2023 Bentonville Film Festival. Learn more at toniwang.com. The Films and Filmmakers Apartment 605 (length 7:02): Miké is interrupted by the loud sound of the apartment buzzer. Over the course of a conversation with a stranger separated by the building's intercom, we learn of the connection they have with the owner of the apartment, Miké's estranged father. Full Service (length 10:01): When an Indonesian woman is invited to her cousin's engagement party, she decides to hire an escort to keep her aunties, and their persistent questions about her dating life, off her back. Astonishing Little Feet (length 8:58): Afong Moy, the first documented Chinese woman to come to the United States, realizes the men who separated her from her family only have interest in profiting off the peculiarities of her bound feet. Soul Food (length 21:28): A mother and daughter must reconcile the love and hurt in their relationship before time runs out in a place between our world and the next. This program contains explicit content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Racism has persisted throughout history—but so have antiracist efforts to dismantle it. Award-winning historian Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and comic artist Joel Christian Gill reveal how understanding and improving the world cannot happen without identifying and facing some of the ugly forces that shape it. Stamped from the Beginning: A Graphic History of Racist Ideas in America is an educational and comprehensive look at how people can learn from the past to work toward a most equitable and antiracist future. NOTE: This program contains explicit content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congressman Adam Schiff gained national prominence for his role as the lead prosecutor in President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial. Now, the Los Angeles Democrat is running for the U.S. Senate seat for California long held by Dianne Feinstein, who will not seek re-election. A former chair of the House Intelligence Committee and member of the select committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol, Schiff says that Californians “need a fighter in the U.S. Senate who has been at the center of the struggle for our democracy and our economy.” He has also pledged to make the environment a centerpiece of his campaign. Schiff returns to The Commonwealth Club as part of our “Race to the Senate 2024” series of candidate forums. Come meet the candidate in person before you cast your vote for California’s next U.S. senator. This program contains explicit language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Batteries are a critical part of the transition away from fossil fuels. From electric vehicles to grid scale storage for wind and solar, demand for batteries is expected to grow 500% by 2030. In order to meet that demand, we’re going to need a lot more batteries. And while companies like JB Straubel’s Redwood Materials are building capacity for recycling, for now that means a lot more mining. How do we build a battery supply chain that meets demand and reduces harm? This episode is underwritten by ClimateWorks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the past few years, as our country has faced unprecedented challenges, Senator Klobuchar has been in the room where it happens—at the debate podium during one of the most critical presidential elections in U.S. history and in the Capitol on January 6, 2021, when insurrectionists stormed the building. Additionally, during this time Sen. Klobuchar faced personal difficulties, including her husband’s battle with COVID-19, her own cancer diagnosis, and her father’s death. In her new book The Joy of Politics, Sen. Klobuchar reflects on these past few years and what continues to drive her to live with improbable joy and resilience. She also reveals what it’s really like working in Washington DC and her concerns about the state of American democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jacob Harold, author of The Toolbox: Strategies for Crafting Social Impact, tells us that “there are no easy solutions. Instead there are tools.” Jacob’s book is an essential guide for anyone trying to improve our world. In it, Harold offers clarity and inspiration to leaders at all levels. Beautifully designed and executed, The Toolbox features 36 diagrams, 22 stories, 17 poems, nine tools, five equations, and one goal: a better world. Joining us for a one-hour fireside chat to dig through The Toolbox is Steven LaFrance, founder of Learning for Action, who will engage Harold in discussion about how The Toolbox can be applied to benefit nonprofits—and other organizations—you care about. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, UCSF's Dr. Monica Gandhi became one of the most prominent public health experts in the country. National and local political leaders, health professionals and media often turned to Dr. Gandhi for her thoughts and recommendations on how to handle the constantly shifting dynamics and demands of the pandemic. Dr. Gandhi has now put her thoughts together into a new book, Endemic, which aims at reckoning with the country's present condition: comprehending and living with a new respiratory disease and how to face the coming variants and next pandemic with reason, science, understanding, courage and compassion. With her trademark straight talk and honesty, Dr. Gandhi discusses where we have been, where we find ourselves now, and how we ought to manage the virus in the coming years. Dr. Gandhi's book couldn't be better timed, as the world must learn to live with a virus that has become “endemic." As Dr. Gandhi notes, our current moment requires a shift in both mindset and policy. She lays out a 10-point plan that she says will serve to best guide us today and into our future; she offers a guide for many still confused by inconsistent mandates and policies. Please join us for a conversation with one of the Bay Area's top public health leaders about a virus we will be dealing with the rest of our lives. NOTES Dr. Gandhi was honored along with her UCSF colleagues for their work on the pandemic at the Commonwealth Club's 2021 Distinguished Citizen's Gala. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This July is the 75th anniversary of the critical 1948 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, during which Hubert Humphrey, then the mayor of Minneapolis, gave a stirring and surprisingly successful speech asking the Democratic Party to commit itself to civil rights and to ending segregation. This caused the southern Dixiecrats to walk out and to run Strom Thurman for president—in order to teach the Democrats a lesson. But Truman's upset win over Dewey, caused in no small part by a surge of support from Black voters in northern cities, taught the Democrats a totally different lesson, and set the stage for Truman's desegregation of the military. That led to Brown v. Board of Education and the Montgomery bus boycotts of the 1950s, and to the civil rights legislation that LBJ, with the help of his Vice President Hubert Humphrey, pushed through Congress in the 1960s. Freedman presents a revisionist and riveting look at the American politician whom history has judged a loser because his vice presidency ended in disgrace during the Vietnam War, partially due to the chaos surrounding the also contentious 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago—after which Humphrey lost to Richard Nixon. Yet Humphrey played a key leadership role in the greatest social movement of the 20th century. Freedman explores Humphrey’s early life, from a remote, all-white hamlet in South Dakota to the political heights of Minnesota, as he tackles its notorious racism and anti-Semitism and solidifies his role as a national champion of multiracial democracy. His allies in that struggle include a Black newspaper publisher, a Jewish attorney, and a professor who had fled Nazi Germany. His adversaries are the white supremacists, Christian Nationalists, and America Firsters of mid-century America—one of whom tried to assassinate him. Celebrating one of the often overlooked landmarks of civil rights history, Freedman illuminates the early life and enduring legacy of the man who helped bring it about. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Donald Trump seeks the presidency again, one of the country's most insightful political observers wonders whether American politics has already passed the point of no return in terms of its divided politics and culture and decayed social order. New York Times columnist Thomas Byrne Edsall, author of the new book The Point of No Return: American Democracy at the Crossroads, fears the country might be headed over a cliff and argues that the 2016 election of Donald Trump was the most serious threat to the American political system since the Civil War. As the country prepares for another election with Trump, Edsall documents how the Trump years of 2016–2020 negatively impacted the country, in his opinion. He explains the demographic shifts that helped make Trump’s election possible, and describes the racial and ethnic conflict, culture wars, rural/urban divide, diverging economies of red and blue states, and the transformation of both the Republican and Democratic parties that have left our politics in a state of permanent hostility. As the country prepares for the 2024 election, can the country step back from the brink? Edsall isn't so sure. Please join us as the the prominent columnist explains why and what might be ahead for the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a democracy, meaningful change often requires adapting views and building coalitions. Some believe finding common ground and building rapport is the best way to change minds. Others believe activism and protests are key to raising awareness. Increasingly, however, the acts of listening and persuasion are left out, as each side is convinced that the other is unmovable. Anand Giridharadas is a journalist, columnist, on-air political analyst, and author. His latest book, “The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy,” explores how the tactics of persuasion can help strengthen democracy and foster positive societal change. Guests: Anand Giridharadas, Journalist, Author, “The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy” For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recently, CNN wanted to find out, “What Happened to San Francisco?” They called Willie Brown. As two-term mayor of San Francisco and legendary speaker of the California State Assembly, he is still the go-to guy in California politics, government and civic life. With the national media spotlight on the Bay Area as San Francisco faces twin crises of homelessness and drug addiction, Mayor Brown returns to The Commonwealth Club to give us the lowdown. He will separate hype from reality and talk about what local leaders can do to address the city's multiple challenges. A strong advocate for health equity, his focus is on ways to ensure access to quality health care regardless of income or background. He’ll also share his take on state and national politics as well as on the country’s growing polarization. Join us for Willie Brown’s annual conversation with The Commonwealth Club. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The United States faces a public health crisis on its roads. In 2021 alone, almost 43,000 people died in traffic crashes and millions more suffered serious injuries. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg calls the situation a preventable crisis—one for which we must take responsibility by recognizing that human lives are not a price to pay for modernity. New funding available through the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) provides a significant opportunity to reduce crashes through infrastructure redesign. Join the Mineta Transportation Institute and a panel of national experts to discuss the role of infrastructure redesign in achieving a national goal of zero traffic fatalities. NOTES This program is supported by the Mineta Transportation Institute at San José State University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Billions of dollars from the Inflation Reduction Act have started flowing into renewable energy projects and manufacturing. That’s bringing jobs and revenue back to the country and to some areas abandoned by the oil, coal and gas industries. Despite the massive investments in their districts, some Republican politicians aren’t fans of the green energy companies moving into their backyards and are doing everything they can to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act – putting them at odds with their constituents. How do we advance the clean energy transition when it’s seen as a partisan issue? Guests: Emma Dumain, Reporter, E&E News Heather Reams, President, Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions Terry Weickum, Mayor, Rawlins WY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

El Ultímo Sueño de Frida y Diego (2022) by local composer Gabriela Lena Frank is the first-ever San Francisco Opera production by a female composer, and the first ever in Spanish (libretto by Nilo Cruz).The opera tells the story of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera reliving their tumultuous love for 24 hours on El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) through their paintings, embracing the passion they shared and the pain they inflicted upon one other. Artists Kahlo and Rivera were and are icons of Mexican arts and culture, magic and realism. This Commonwealth Club panel will focus on the impact of their artistic motivation, clothing, design and the famed murals across the Americas. Their fashion and lifestyles have continued to inspire many in the arts world today, including the costumes in El Ultímo Sueño de Frida y Diego, the incredible co-commissioned production of San Francisco Opera you can see on stage from June 13–30, 2023. MLF ORGANIZER Anne W. Smith and Robert Melton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The last several years have seen a big increase in the number of lawsuits focused on the climate crisis. Some lawsuits challenge governments for their support for fossil fuels and for their failure to take climate action, while other cases target the fossil fuel companies themselves for knowingly misleading the world about the climate disrupting impacts of burning their products. Some of these cases seek monetary damages, others seek to hold governments accountable to their emissions reduction pledges. As more of these cases get their time in court, how powerful can litigation be in forcing action around the climate emergency? Guests: Delta Merner, Lead Scientist, Science Hub for Climate Litigation, Union of Concerned Scientists Korey Silverman-Roati, Senior Fellow, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School Lucy Maxwell, Co-Director, Climate Litigation Network, Urgenda Foundation For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Government at all levels has limped into the digital age, widening the gap between the policy outcomes we intend and what we get. Jennifer Pahlka served as President Barack Obama’s former deputy chief technology officer. Join us for an in-depth talk as she offers a bold reexamination of how our government operates and the improvements that she says need to be made to end bureaucratic dysfunction. It’s not more money or more tech we need; Pahlka calls for "recoding" American government to reclaim it for the people it is supposed to serve. NOTES This program is presented in collaboration with the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No elemental force has done more to shape life on this planet than water, from originating the earliest forms of life, to sculpting our landscapes, to determining patterns of human civilization. Humans have tried to control water for thousands of years, and access to this precious resource has caused conflict and also unlikely partnerships. In an era defined by climate disruption, the control, access, and quality of water will continue to determine our ability to survive and thrive. How can we ensure a future where clean water exists for all who need it – including the ecosystems we depend on – and navigate the challenges of too little or too much? Guests: Peter Gleick, co-founder, The Pacific Institute; author, “The Three Ages of Water” Contributor: Luke Runyon, Managing Editor & Reporter, Colorado River Basin, KUNC Radio For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Few drugs in history have generated as much controversy as MDMA—or held as much promise, according to some. Once vilified as a Schedule I substance that would supposedly eat holes in users’ brains, MDMA (also known as Molly or Ecstasy) is now being hailed as a therapeutic agent that could transform the field of mental health and outpace psilocybin and ketamine as the first psychedelic approved for widespread clinical use. Award-winning science journalist Rachel Nuwer separates fact from fantasy, hope from hype, in the drug’s contested history and still-evolving future. Hear more as Nuwer explains the cultural and scientific upheaval that is rewriting our understanding of our brains, our selves, and the space between. This program contains EXPLICIT content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia. It begins with mild memory loss and progresses to more severe effects, in some cases leading to the loss of the ability to carry on a conversation or respond to the surrounding environment. According to the CDC, in 2020, 5.8 million Americans were living with Alzheimer's; the number of people living with the disease doubles every five years beyond the age of 65; and as many as 14 million people in the United States are projected to have Alzheimer's by the year 2060. The disease and its impact can be experienced in different ways in different communities. Join us live as television host Michelle Meow leads a discussion with health experts and Alzheimer's advocates. They'll discuss Alzheimer's awareness, caregiving and the API stigma, filial piety, a personal caregiving story, LGBTQ caregiving and family dynamics, early detection, and brain health. This is a free event—your chance to learn more about this disease affecting millions of people. NOTES The Michelle Meow Show thanks Kaiser Permanente for its support of independent LGBTQ media producers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every year millions of tourists from around the world come to California to see our famous redwoods. Yet few understand how unlikely it is that these last groves of giant trees still stand at all. Activist Greg King examines how investors and a growing U.S. economy drove the timber industry to cut down the giant redwoods on all but four percent of the original 2-million-acre redwood ecosystem. The land grab began in 1849, when a “green gold rush” of migrants came to exploit the legendary redwoods that grew along the Russian River. Several generations later, in 1987, Greg King discovered and named Headwaters Forest—at 3,000 acres the largest ancient redwood habitat remaining outside of parks—and then led the movement to save this grove. After a decade of one of the most dramatic and violent environmental campaigns in U.S. history, the state and federal governments finally protected Headwaters Forest in 1999. The Ghost Forest explores the mystery of what it was about this unique Northern California forest that was both so spectacular and yet so enticing as fuel for economic growth that it inspired a life-and-death struggle. Few but loggers and surveyors ever saw such magnificent trees, ancient sentinels that, like ghosts, have informed Greg King’s understanding of the world, and have inspired him to tell the story of their discovery and their exploitation, and to protect them against those determined to cut them down. MLF ORGANIZER Andrew Dudley NOTES A People & Nature Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. This program contains EXPLICIT content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our food and agricultural systems are helping fuel the climate emergency. But climate isn’t the only harm; these systems also impact local economies, human dignity, and animal welfare. The upcoming Farm Bill presents an opportunity to infuse more climate-smart practices in American agriculture, which accounts for about 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. But doing so involves confronting industrial practices that focus on short-term gains and commodity subsidies that have deep support in both parties. Senator Cory Booker has a plan to address our broken food system. He introduced legislation that would challenge large industrial beef and pork packagers and tilt the balance of power in our industrial agriculture system, giving family farmers, ranchers, and workers a better deal. But what chance do these elements have of passage? And what other options are there for decreasing the concentration of power in Big Ag? Guest: Cory Booker, United States Senator, New Jersey Contributor: Elizabeth Rembert For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robert Del Bonta will share how Shiva’s Many Dances and the celebrated ‘Nataraja’ pose is a culmination of how the ultimate depiction of Shiva’s essence evolves over time in a dynamic conception among the Hindu trinity of gods (the Trimürti). Del Bonta creates an engaging aspect of one of the Hindu trinity gods, reflecting on how the iconic image of Shiva Nataraja the "Lord of Dance" illustrates a creative and destructive power over eons of time. Shiva’s nature as both male and female is also a constant theme. Shiva manifests many other forms suggestive of power and mythological stories of dance or in prayers. It's but a tiny introduction to a major dance visualization heritage. Teacher and curator Dr. Robert Del Bonta's work has been presented in exhibition venues such as San Francisco's Asian Art Museum, Berkeley Art Museum, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Mills College, Notre Dame de Namur University, Art Passages in San Francisco and New York City, Portland Museum of Art and the New Orleans Museum of Art. He has lectured widely at museums and institutions in the United States, and published numerous articles and exhibition catalogue contributions on South Asian art with thematic focus largely on Indian art of the Jainas. MLF ORGANIZER Anne W. Smith and George Hammond Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Six years ago, Richard Rothstein’s important book, Color of Law, made a powerful case that direct and indirect government action and policies at the federal, state and local levels had caused segregation and the resulting social problems throughout the United States. The book was a best seller and significantly influenced discussions of the systemic impact of segregated communities on a range of outcomes in education, health and workforce participation. It stands as one of the most important recent books on residential segregation published in the past few decades. What that book did not do was provide enough solutions for citizens to pursue to address the legacy of state-sanctioned segregation. In their new book, Just Action How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law, Rothstein and housing policy expert Leah Rothstein provide a blueprint on how to address segregation for concerned citizens and community leaders. The new book describes dozens of tangible strategies the Rothsteins say readers and supporters can undertake in their own communities to make their commitment real and create tangible change that might finally challenge residential segregation and help address the legacy of America's profoundly unconstitutional past. The Rothsteins provide a tool kit for activism and advocacy, with myriad real-life examples from communities, groups and individuals that have confronted segregation-related challenges from legal, real estate, banking, and commercial development standpoints. They also counter misconceptions about the consequences of integration and make their case for closing the wealth gap that has made homeownership unaffordable for many middle-class Americans, particularly African-Americans. Please join us for a critical conversation about how people can be empowered to address the legacy of state-sanctioned segregation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a child, Sarafina El-Badry Nance spent nearly every evening with her father gazing up at the flickering stars and pondering what secrets the night sky held. The daughter of an American father and Egyptian mother, Sarafina dreamed of becoming an astronomer. But it wasn’t long before she was told, both explicitly and implicitly, that girls just weren’t cut out for math and science. In a field that sees few women and women of color, Sarafina reflects on the obstacles that she faced to pursue her passion for the cosmos. Join us for an in-depth talk with astrophysicist Sarafina El-Badry Nance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who cleans up and rebuilds our communities after floods, fires, and hurricanes? COVID redefined America's definition of “essential workers,” but many who help communities recover from climate disasters remain underpaid and overlooked. In 2006, labor organizer Saket Soni got an anonymous call from an Indian migrant worker in Mississippi who had scraped together $20,000 to apply for the “opportunity” to rebuild oil rigs after Hurricane Katrina. The caller was only one of hundreds lured into Gulf Coast labor camps, surrounded by barbed wire, and watched by armed guards. Since then, the frequency and intensity of climate-related disasters has only increased – and disaster recovery has become big business. How are the lives of people displaced by disasters intertwined with those helping to rebuild? Guests: Saket Soni, Founder and Director, Resilience Force Daniel Castellanos, Director Of Workforce Engagement, Resilience Force For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Extreme heat kills more people per year than any other climate disaster. It preys on the poor, exacerbates racial inequalities, and there is a growing body of evidence that shows women and girls are increasingly susceptible to heat-health effects. Globally, women and girls represent 80% of climate refugees. They are more likely to be displaced, suffer violence and die in natural disasters. As temperatures rise, children’s test scores decrease, gender violence increases, and miscarriage rates go up. But preventing heat deaths is possible. From Europe to Africa, Chief Heat Officers throughout the world are implementing projects to make cities more climate-adaptive. Guests: Kathy Baughman McLeod, Director, Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center; Senior VP, Atlantic Council Eleni Myrivili, Global Chief Heat Officer, UN Habitat Eugenia Kargbo, Chief Heat Officer, Freetown, Sierra Leone Freelance piece from Hellen Kabahukya on mud wattle construction in Uganda For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Please join us for clips and conversation with three award-winning Bay Area women documentary filmmakers. These women are changing the way we see our world through their important work. They will share their process of making the films, choosing, and developing their subjects as we view a clip from each of their latest films. They will also discuss the challenges they have faced as women in the industry and in getting their films funded and distributed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Food is more than just sustenance or nourishment. Food brings us together and connects us to family, history, migration and beyond. Perhaps no one understands this better than food columnist Illyanna Maisonet, who has spent years documenting her family’s Puerto Rican recipes and preserving the island’s disappearing foodways through rigorous research. Maisonet was the first Puerto Rican food columnist in the continental United States. Her San Francisco Chronicle column, “Cocina Boricua,” was dedicated to safeguarding traditional Puerto Rican recipes and exploring food throughout the Puerto Rican diaspora. Maisonet’s cookbook, Diasporican, provides a visual record of Puerto Rican food, ingredients and techniques. She shares deeply personal recipes—some even passed down from her grandmother and mother—that trace the island’s flavor traditions to the Taino, Spanish, African, and even United States’ cultures that created it. Shaped by geography, immigration and colonization, these dishes reflect the ingenuity and diversity of their people. Join as we celebrate and learn more about the essence of Puerto Rican culture and cuisine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a time of existential crisis, Pakistanis continue to believe that infusing the right "Islamic" spirit into the population will somehow see it through. Critics say that experience shows otherwise. Pakistanis—both religiously orthodox and liberal—believe that the founder of Pakistan had a game plan for the state after it came into being in 1947. There was none. Nationalist Hindus imagine India was populated in ancient times by a Hindu nation whereas nationalist Muslims tie Pakistan's origin with pre-existing Muslim identity and the first Muslim invader arriving on Indian soil. Historical evidence refutes both. The author will discuss these and other myths that are widely held in Pakistan as well as in India. Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy earned his Ph.D. in nuclear physics from MIT and is also a prominent anti-nuclear activist. His earlier book was Confronting the Bomb: Pakistani and Indian Scientists Speak Out. As an advocate for science and reason in Islam, his first book was Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality, which included a foreword by the physics Nobel Prize winner Abdus Salam. As a science popularizer, Hoodbhoy received the UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize. Earlier he had received the Burton Award for Electronics and the Abdus Salam Prize for Mathematics. He is also a recipient of the Joseph A. Burton Award from the American Physical Society, is a sponsor of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and was included among the top 100 global thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine in 2011. Hoodbhoy’s newest project is The Black Hole, a community center in Islamabad for nurturing science, art, and culture. It houses an auditorium for speakers who would otherwise go unheard, a library, and a science lab for children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Ambroz is a living testament to the power of hope, strength and perseverance in overcoming some of life’s greatest challenges. Ambroz’s childhood was a harrowing tumult of poverty, homelessness and hunger as he, his siblings, and his mentally ill, abusive mother survived on the streets of New York. His subsequent experience in the foster system as a young gay man was similarly marked by neglect and abuse until he finally found stability. In his recent memoir, A Place Called Home, Ambroz vividly describes his story of survival and ultimately life success. Today, Ambroz is a law school graduate, a leading advocate for child welfare, and a national voice for improved foster care and homelessness policies. He is a head of Community Engagement (Southern California & Western U.S. Region) at Amazon, and has been recognized by former President Obama as an American Champion of Change. Please join us for a conversation with an inspirational person who is using his lived experience to help build a more humane and compassionate nation, and how you can too. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lawyer, author, professor and Supreme Court expert Stephen Vladeck—author of the new book The Shadow Docket—exposes the Court’s increasing reliance on secretive judicial processes that permit typically public hearings and discussions to occur behind closed doors. Having argued multiple cases before the Supreme Court himself, Vladeck explains how the Court’s expanded use of the “shadow docket” has enabled cryptic late-night rulings that leave the public without explanation for decisions affecting everything from immigration to COVID vaccine mandates. A University of Texas law professor and CNN’s lead Supreme Court analyst, Vladeck joins us to talk about the important issues raised in his book as well as the biggest cases facing the Court this term. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Land use, pollution and the climate crisis are driving what may be the largest mass extinction event since the dinosaurs. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that the planet has seen an average 68% drop in mammal, bird, fish, reptile and amphibian populations since 1970. In order to help address species collapse, over 190 countries – signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Biodiversity – recently agreed to an ambitious new plan, called 30x30, which aims to conserve 30% of the world’s land and waters by 2030. Will the framework be enough to bring biodiversity back from the breaking point? This episode is supported in part by Resources Legacy Fund. Guests: Tanya Sanerib, International Legal Director, Center for Biological Diversity Ian Urbina, Director and Founder, The Outlaw Ocean Project Jennifer Tauli Corpuz, Managing Director of Policy, Nia Tero For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recent advances in artificial intelligence are raising hopes of a U.S. productivity boom by automating mundane tasks, improving decision-making, and opening up new business models and opportunities. At the same time, many workers are skeptical, fearing that the new tools may make them obsolete. What impact will AI have on businesses and employees in the long and short term? And how can we be more productive while also ensuring that the benefits will be distributed equally? A new report by the McKinsey Global Institute, "Rekindling Productivity for a New Era," sheds light on these questions. The study examines which sectors and geographic regions, such as California, have been the most innovative and productive, and what it took to achieve that success. "To unlock value from truly new technology, firms must reconfigure how they work, often over sustained periods, as they tinker with processes and workers adapt their skills," the report finds. The study also argues that maintaining the status quo is not an option. U.S. productivity has been lagging since 2005, averaging 1.4 percent a year, compared to the post-World War II average of 2.2 percent. Bringing productivity up to its historical average could add an additional $10 trillion to the U.S. GDP over the next 10 years, amounting to an extra $15,200 per U.S. household. We'll talk with McKinsey's Olivia White about how to fix the U.S. productivity engine in a way that benefits everyone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 21st century, technology dominates all aspects of our lives. With the advent of artificial intelligence, some believe we are at a critical moment with our ability to control the very technology that humans built. And the decisions we make now will likely shape our society's progress on a range of variables in the future. According to economist and global thinker Simon Johnson, a thousand years of historical and contemporary evidence makes one thing clear: societal progress for all depends on the choices we make about technology. In his new book Power and Progress: Our 1000-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity, Johnson explores the history and economics of major technological transformations up to and including the latest developments in artificial Intelligence. He finds that new ways of organizing production and communication can either serve the narrow interests of the elite or become the foundation for widespread prosperity for society. Johnson demonstrates that the path of technology was once—and may again be—brought under control if we make the right choices. The tremendous computing advances of the last half century can become empowering and democratizing tools, but not if all major decisions remain in the hands of a few tech leaders, which characterizes much of the world of technology today. Will this change, and what is our role? Hear more as Johnson addresses these critical questions about the power of technology and its influence on societal progress. NOTES This program is generously supported by the Jackson Square Partners Foundation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices