Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

For thousands of years, the American buffalo evolved alongside Indigenous people who relied on them for food and shelter, and, in exchange for killing them, revered the animal. For millennia, this totemic animal lived in symbiotic relationship with grasslands throughout North America, then – in less than 100 years – new settlers and hunters brought their numbers from 30 million to the mere hundreds, while in the same era glorifying them as our iconic national animal. It’s a classic and cautionary tale of our ability to destroy the natural world – and potentially, to bring it back. Guests: Ken Burns, Director, The American Buffalo Rosalyn LaPier, Indigenous environmental historian and ethnobotanist For show notes and related links, visit our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The past three years of the pandemic and the widespread practice of working from home have had a huge impact on our cities, businesses, individuals, and real estate of all types around the world. What will the future look like when considering long-term trends in population, employment, office attendance, housing prices, and other factors? Join us for a special presentation featuring the results of a new McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) report, "Empty spaces and hybrid places: The pandemic’s lasting impact on real estate." MGI Director Jonathan Woetzel will take the lead in a discussion of the report's findings and implications, such as the ripple effects of hybrid work on the way we live, work, and shop; the resulting impact on demand for office, residential, and retail space in cities; and how urban stakeholders can adapt to the new reality. He will be joined by Peter Calthorpe, urban design and planning principal at HDR. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Joe Biden took his oath of office, the trajectory of his presidency—and the fate of our nation—remained unknown. Thousands of Americans were still sick with COVID, former presidents and first ladies sat masked on the balcony of the Capitol building—while Biden’s predecessor was notably absent. Just two weeks prior, the same building was under siege by a group of insurrectionists who sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election. On top of it all, suffering from the many unforeseen consequences of the pandemic, the American economy faced a looming economic crisis. As a staff writer for The Atlantic, Franklin Foer had exclusive access to Biden and his inner circle. Foer revisits the challenging and consequential formative years of the Biden presidency from an insider’s perspective in his forthcoming book, The Last Politician. Join us for a conversation with one of our nation’s leading political journalists as we cover topics ranging from the withdrawal of the last troops from Afghanistan, to the war in Ukraine, to covering politics at a time when the stability of American democracy remains imperiled. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congressman Ro Khanna has made a name for himself as a pragmatic progressive and critic of Big Oil. He grilled oil company CEOs under oath and helped negotiate with Senator Joe Manchin to keep climate policy in the Inflation Reduction Act, the biggest piece of climate legislation ever passed in the United States. Despite being one of the more progressive voters in Congress, Khanna has a reputation for coalition building; he got more bills passed than any other Democrat during the previous administration. Now that Republicans control the House of Representatives and are looking to claw back climate provisions of the IRA, what levers can he still pull to address the climate crisis? Guest: Ro Khanna, U.S. Congressman For show notes and related links, visit our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you one in a million? One in a billion? What if an app could pick you out of a crowd based on your face alone? New York Times tech reporter Kashmir Hill was skeptical when she got a tip about a mysterious app called Clearview AI that claimed it could, with 99 percent accuracy, identify anyone based on just one snapshot of their face. The app could supposedly scan a face and, in just seconds, surface every detail of a person’s online life: their name, social media profiles, friends and family members, home address, and photos that they might not have even known existed. If it was everything it claimed to be, it would be the ultimate surveillance tool, and it would open the door to everything from stalking to totalitarian state control. Could it be true? Hill tracked the improbable rise of Clearview AI and its astounding collection of billions of faces from the internet. Google and Facebook decided that a tool to identify strangers was too radical to release, but Clearview forged ahead, sharing the app with private investors, pitching it to businesses, and offering it to thousands of law enforcement agencies around the world. Join us for a surprising look at the rise of a technological superpower and an urgent warning that, in the absence of vigilance and government regulation, Clearview AI is one of many new technologies that challenge what Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once called “the right to be let alone.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who is the most successful woman ever to compete on "Jeopardy"? Amy Schneider’s impressive 40-game winning streak was accompanied by an even greater prize—the joy of being herself on national television and blazing a trail for openly queer and transgender people around the world. Her new memoir, In the Form of a Question: The Joys and Rewards of a Curious Life explores some of the innumerable topics that have fascinated Amy throughout her life—books and music, Tarot and astrology, popular culture and computers, sex and relationships—but they all share the same purpose: to illustrate, and celebrate, the results of a lifetime spent asking, why? Join Amy as she returns to The Commonwealth Club and shares her singular journey that led to becoming an unlikely icon and hero to millions. NOTES This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. See more Michelle Meow Show programs at The Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jane Fonda has spent the last several decades fighting for Indigenous peoples' rights, economic justice, LGBTQ rights, peace, gender equality and more. Now, she is devoting herself to the climate emergency, beginning with Fire Drill Fridays, the national movement to protest government inaction on climate change she started in October 2019. Now, through the Jane Fonda Climate PAC, she is focused on defeating political allies of the fossil fuel industry. At 85, Fonda continues to fight for the most vulnerable among us, consistently pointing out the intersection between the myriad of causes. What keeps the iconic Jane Fonda going strong? Guest: Jane Fonda, actor, activist For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/audio/jane-fonda-lifetime-activism Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feel like you are always running out of time? What would you do differently with an extra 25 years of longevity to build a fulfilled life? Please join us for a conversation on making the most of our increased longevity and designing lives with greater well-being, meaning and purpose. Dr. Laura Carstensen and Mark T. Johnsen will touch on the multiple facets of building a wealthier life with increased life spans. Health—align health spans to life spans: One-hundred-year lives are quickly becoming commonplace, but healthy long lives require us to consider what we should be doing at all life stages to promote well-being. Career—working more flexible years to provide well-being beyond just financial stability: Having a fulfilling career helps give us a sense of purpose but can also be taxing on us in this fast-paced world, particularly when we have so many obligations to our families, friends and communities. How should we be thinking of education and work in order to foster meaningful and healthy career spans? Building Financial Stability—assessing the risks and rewards of a 100-year life span: Supporting 100-year lives requires creative and flexible roadmaps at all stages of life from early education for children and teaching financial literacy at an early age to re-thinking the safety nets of Medicare and Social Security. Family and Friends—multigenerational families and communities: The energy and curiosity of youth combined with wisdom and life experiences of older generations creates opportunities for families, friends and workplaces to reap the benefits of age diversity. Life Transitions—opportunities to reset: One-hundred-year lives can present multiple transitions, such as retirement, birth of a child, divorce, death of a loved one, and provide us with lifelong learning opportunities and ways to discover and pave a new path, course-correct, and find purpose. MLF ORGANIZER Denise Michaud NOTES A Grownups 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The climate crisis can be difficult to cover in a way that most people can relate to. The mechanism of harm goes from a person's gas car or stove to the Earth's atmosphere and back again in the form of floods and fires. That's why true stories of individuals and families experiencing the fallout of the climate crisis can be so impactful. They help us relate to each other on a more direct level, the way humans naturally do: person to person. Covering Climate Now Journalism Award winners Naomi Klein and Carolyn Beeler bring those stories to light. This episode was produced in collaboration with Covering Climate Now. Guests: Carolyn Beeler, Environment Reporter, Editor, The World Naomi Klein, author, social activist For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/audio/naomi-klein-and-carolyn-beeler-covering-big-ideas-and-personal-stories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bay Lights by artist Leo Villareal first went live on March 5, 2013. Exactly one decade later, the beloved artwork went dark. Ben Davis is the driving force behind The Bay Lights and the effort to bring the artwork back with twice the number of LEDs in a radically accessible new configuration. With the project 75 percent funded—and $2.5 million more needed to proceed—Davis will reveal what's next for the historic effort: organizational vulnerability. Davis is the founder and leader of Illuminate, the art nonprofit behind many of San Francisco's large-scale and iconic public artworks, including lighting The Pink Triangle on Twin Peaks, activation of the Golden Mile on JFK Promenade, the Summer of Love lighting on the Conservatory of Flowers, Grace Light in Grace Cathedral, the revival of the Golden Gate Bandshell, and the series of giant laser art installations across San Francisco this summer. Davis will also talk about his vision for San Francisco as the City of Awe. The program talk will be followed by a reception and live music by "KAVIN" on the rooftop. In-kind food donations provided by local SF Hot Cookies and Casa Sanchez. Community partner: Beyond The Fog Radio MLF ORGANIZER Robert Melton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fourteen years after receiving its permit, the nation’s first new nuclear reactors in decades just fired up in Georgia. Massive, traditional nuclear reactors like this have faced so many cost overruns and construction delays that the investment market for them all but vanished. Despite a handful of recent technical breakthroughs in fusion power, its promise of virtually limitless power remains just a promise. But could a new wave of small, modular fission reactors bring new carbon-free power onto the market faster and cheaper (and safer?) than traditional nuclear plants in time to help the world decarbonize? Guests: Melissa Lott, Senior Research Scholar and the Senior Director of Research at the Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University Jacopo Buongiorno, TEPCO Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering, MIT Allison MacFarlane, Director of the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia; Former Chair, Nuclear Regulatory Commission For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/audio/nuclear-option Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In recent years, political and social turbulence have given rise to a new urgency around civics education in the United States. Civic leaders, educators and politicians across the ideological spectrum claim that reviving civics in schools will compensate for decades of neglect and ensure the future of our fragile democracy. But more civics learning doesn’t necessarily mean better civics learning. Even when civics is taught, it is typically relegated to history-social science classes, isolating it from core subjects and offering students limited support to help them understand and act on the real-world issues they see and experience in their everyday lives. "Civics Across the Curriculum" brings together a panel of educators whose teaching and research offer new possibilities for making civics education relevant and impactful. Rather than treating it as a discrete content area, they use disciplines as varied as math, literature and gender studies to help students investigate and reason about complex civic issues. And they demonstrate that practices such as inquiry, respectful discourse and action projects can be incorporated into every class, infusing a democratic sensibility into all facets of school life and helping students practice the skills they need to engage with meaning and purpose in our diverse society. As we welcome the new school year, we invite you to join us for an inspiring discussion about one of the highest priorities in education today: preparing young people to uphold our constitutional democracy, now and in the future. Please come early to enjoy a reception before the program, with complimentary wine, soft drinks, and light snacks. Dr. Garcia will sign copies of his new book, Civics for the World to Come, after the program. NOTES This program is part of The Commonwealth Club’s civics education initiative, Creating Citizens. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a discussion with journalist Katie Hafner, who covers scientific advances, especially those by women, and her husband, Dr. Robert Wachter of UCSF, who is on the forefront of the digital transformation of health care and has been influential in advancing public understanding of the COVID crisis. Dr. Wachter coined the term “hospitalist” in 1996 and has overseen that medical specialty, the fastest growing specialty in modern medical history. His tweets on COVID-19 have been a trusted source of information on the clinical, public health, and policy issues surrounding the pandemic, garnering more than 500 million views. Hafner and Wachter are at the center of advancing public understanding of science and health care through various media. We will discuss Hafner’s popular "Lost Women of Science" podcast, her groundbreaking nonfiction books, and her recent switch to fiction with The Boys. We’ll also discuss Dr. Wachter’s perspective on COVID—including lessons learned—as we enter a new phase of the pandemic, how health care will be transformed by digital tools like ChatGPT, and how to communicate about science in the face of uncertainty, political polarization, and misinformation. In addition, they’ll discuss the experience of working and writing together as a married couple, particularly when the pandemic forced them—like so many couples—into the same bubble. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES A Humanities 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. In Association with Wonderfest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the industrial revolution, the global north has seen massive economic growth. Yet that growth has been linked to increasing greenhouse gas emissions. We also live on a planet with finite resources, so it's hard to believe that we can continue to consume resources and release emissions and not sail right past our collective climate goals. That’s why some people are starting to rethink perpetual economic growth as the best measure of a healthy economy. But what would an economy focused on metrics other than growth look like? Guests: Anuna De Wever, Climate and Social Justice activist Leigh Phillips, journalist and author of Austerity Ecology & The Collapse-Porn Addicts Marieke van Doorninck, Director, Kennisland, former Deputy Mayor, Amsterdam For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/audio/rethinking-economic-growth-wealth-and-health Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Famed astronomer Avi Loeb returns to The Commonwealth Club to answer some of the biggest questions facing humankind: How do we prepare ourselves for interaction with interstellar extraterrestrial life? And can our species itself become interstellar? Loeb, the longest-serving chair of Harvard's Astronomy Department, shook the scientific community when he theorized that our solar system had been visited by a piece of advanced alien technology from a distant star. The object, dubbed 'Oumuamua, sparked worldwide discussions and arguments, and Loeb was at the center of it all. Now, in his new book Interstellar, Loeb builds on that original idea and asks, What's next? He gives a call to arms that reimagines the idea of contact with extraterrestrial civilizations. Dismantling our science-fiction-fueled visions of a human and alien life encounter, he provides a blueprint for how such an interaction might actually occur, resetting our cultural understanding and expectation of what it means to identify an extraterrestrial object. From awe-inspiring searches for extraterrestrial technology, to the heated debate of the existence of unidentified aerial phenomena, Loeb provides a thrilling, front-row view of the monumental progress in science and technology currently preparing us for contact. He also lays out the profound implications of becoming—or not becoming—interstellar; in an urgent, eloquent appeal for more proactive engagement with the world beyond ours, he contends why we must seek out other life forms, and in the process, choose who and what we are within the universe. Tens of thousands of people have viewed Dr. Loeb's 2022 Commonwealth Club program. Don't miss his return engagement as he raises some of the most important questions facing us as humans and argues that scientific curiosity is the key to our survival. NOTES In association with the Club's Humanities Forum and Wonderfest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Summer's over and fall is about to begin. Come on out to our beautiful headquarters on San Francisco's waterfront for an end-of-summer 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. Come early before the program and enjoy some wine and snacks with others, then grab a seat in the auditorium to hear our panel of political experts discuss the latest developments with knowledge, civility and humor. NOTES See other upcoming Week to Week political roundtables, as well as audio and video of past Week to Week programs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today’s world, the acceleration of megatrends—increasing longevity and the explosion of technology, among many others—is transforming life as we know it. Leading sociologist and business economist Mauro F. Guillén explains that a new postgenerational workforce known as “perennials”—individuals who are not pitted against each other either by their age or experience—will level the playing field so everyone has a chance at living a rewarding life. He argues that outmoded terms like Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z have long been used to pigeonhole us into rigid categories and life stages that artificially prevent people from reaching their full potential. Join us as Guillén reveals how this generational revolution will impact young people just entering the workforce as well as those who are living and working longer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stories are the way we remember, the way we share knowledge, the way we play out possible outcomes. Climate fiction imagines dark or bright futures depending on how we address the climate crisis. And there’s a healthy debate about what kind of stories move more people to act: dark tales of a scary climate future or positive versions of a greener, more just world. “I think that if you want to create change in a democratic society, people have to believe that there is actually a threat,” says author Paolo Bacigalupi. Telling inclusive fictional stories of climate realities can also help us process the disruptions our world is experiencing, explore avenues for solutions, and become inspired to take our own form of action. Guests: Paolo Bacigalupi, author, “The Water Knife” Denise Baden, Green Stories Project; Professor of Sustainable Business at the University of Southampton; author, “Habitat Man” Tory Stephens, Climate Fiction Creative Manager, Grist This episode also features an excerpt of the audio recording of “The Cloud Weaver’s Song,” written by Saul Tanpepper and recorded by Curio. For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/audio/fairytales-and-fear-stories-our-future Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two eclipses of the sun are coming to North America during the 2023–24 school year—an annular (“ring of fire”) eclipse on October 14, 2023 and a total eclipse on April 8, 2024. People in two narrow paths will have the full eclipse experience each time. Everyone else (an estimated 500 million people, including all of us in the Bay Area) will see a nice partial eclipse, where the moon covers a good part of the sun. Dr. Andrew Fraknoi will describe how eclipses come to be (and why they are total only on Earth), what scientists learn during eclipses, exactly when and where the eclipses of 2023 and 2024 will be best visible, and how to observe the eclipses and the sun safely. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES A Humanities 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. In Association with Wonderfest. Everyone who attends this program in person will receive a free pair of safe-viewing glasses for the eclipse (which enable you to look at the sun without eye damage), courtesy of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Fraknoi photo courtesy the speaker' eclipse images from NASA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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