Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

For Leslie Absher, secrecy is just another member of the family. Throughout childhood, her father's shadowy government job was ill-defined, her mother's mental health stayed off limits—even her queer identity remained hidden from her family and unacknowledged by Leslie herself. In Spy Daughter, Queer Girl, Absher pursues the truth: of her family, her identity, and her father's role in Greece's CIA-backed junta. As a guide, Absher brings readers to the shade of plane trees in Greece, to queer discos in Boston, and to tense diner meals with her aging CIA father. As a memoirist, Absher renders a lifetime of hazy, shapeshifting truths in high-definition vibrance. Infused with a journalist's tenacity and a daughter's open heart, this book recounts a decades' long process of discovery and the reason why the facts should matter to us all. About the SpeakerLeslie Absher is a journalist and personal essay writer. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Salon, Ms., Greek Reporter, and San Francisco magazine. Her father joined the CIA when she was a baby and shortly after her family moved to Athens, Greece. Just in time for a coup. She spent years trying to learn what her Cold War father's role was in that event. Her memoir Spy Daughter, Queer Girl is about growing up with a spy and the cost of keeping secrets.She received a master's in education from Harvard, taught G.E.D. to high school dropouts, and currently teaches study skills and writing to middle school and high school students. She lives in Oakland with her comic book writer/artist wife.www.leslieabsher.com NOTES This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. SPEAKERS Leslie Absher Journalist; Author, Spy Daughter, Queer Girl; Twitter @leslieabsher Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors—Co-host John Zipperer Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club of California—Co-host In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on November 3rd, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Providing nutritious, safe and affordable food in the face of the Earth’s changing climate is an urgent global challenge. How can we produce enough food for everyone at the same time as improving our relationship with our environment? And can what we eat contribute to a more sustainable future for communities on the West Coast, across North America and around the world? Join the conversation with Peter Dhillon, chairman of Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc., and Steve Banwart, dean for global development at the University of Leeds, as they explore how we begin to tackle the tensions between climate change and food supply. They’ll discuss how fostering closer collaboration and partnership between researchers, food producers, policymakers, communities and businesses worldwide will help us find pathways toward a radically different global food system—one that works with nature and adapts to our changing climate. They’ll also delve into how we challenge assumptions to break new ground in developing climate-smart, socially just solutions that will create a positive future for our people and planet. As the first Canadian chairman of Ocean Spray, Peter Dhillon has experienced first hand what it takes to build a global plant-based cooperative that remains closely connected to first nation, indigenous and immigrant communities. As chair of the the British Columbia Food Security Task Force, he was also instrumental in providing recommendations to the Canadian government on agricultural development needed in the province, which relies heavily on imported produce from California. Professor Steve Banwart is the dean for global development at the University of Leeds, and also the director of the Global Food and Environment Institute, which brings together leading scientists, engineers and social scientists working with universities, alumni, farmers and citizens around the world to find new solutions to enhance the future habitability of our planet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What are the issues and opportunities for cities as autonomous vehicles hit the road? How can we plan for and accommodate new forms of transport and smart city infrastructure that serves the public good? Join us on November 7 as a part of the 6th international Autonomous Vehicles and the City symposium. We will feature international discussions on the different ways that new platforms are being used to serve diverse populations and help global cities meet climate goals. Join conversations with leaders from the following organizations and more: Motional, Nissan, Aurora, Smartcar, San Francisco County Transportation Authority, Cruise, Zoox, and Populus. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on November 7th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us to explore the history of how, where and why we bury our dead. Melville will take us on a lively, wide-ranging tour of the history of famous American cemeteries—places that have mirrored passing eras but have also shaped them. Cemeteries gave birth to landscape architecture and famous parks, as well as influenced architectural styles. They’ve inspired and motivated some of our greatest poets and authors—Emerson, Whitman, Dickinson. They’ve also been used as political tools to shift the country’s discourse and as important symbols of the United States's ambition and geographical reach. But cemeteries are changing and starting to fade away in the 21st century. Burying embalmed bodies is incredibly toxic, and although cremations are now even more popular than burials, they’re not great for the environment either. A summer job cutting grass at his hometown cemetery inspired Melville to explore every issue surrounding cemeteries—history, sustainability, land use, and more—but above all to think about what it really means to memorialize the lives of those we love. SPEAKERS Greg Melville Journalist; Magazine Editor; Navy Veteran; English and Writing Teacher, United States Naval Academy; Author, Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of America's Cemeteries In Conversation with George Hammond Author, Conversations With Socrates In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on November 2nd, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 27th UN convention on climate change, known as COP27, is now underway in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. When Climate One spoke with Egyptian Ambassador Wael Aboulmagd in October, he argued that progress at this year’s summit would be more rapid than in past years, because this year, the focus is on implementation rather than negotiation. And for the first time, loss and damage — what richer nations owe poorer ones for the climate impacts their emissions have caused — is on the agenda. How will these issues play out during the conference? Are countries increasing their ambition as promised, and keeping the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees alive? Climate One brings us interviews with those on the ground pushing for meaningful change in Egypt. Guests: Preety Bhandari, Senior Advisor, Global Climate Program and the Finance Center, World Resources Institute Claire Stockwell, Senior Climate Policy Analyst, Climate Analytics David Munene, Programs Manager, Catholic Youth Network for Environmental Sustainability in Africa 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

During the depths of the pandemic, one of the most important companies in America was Grubhub. The online food delivery service was a lifesaver for residents sheltering in place and for restaurants struggling to make revenue. But where did this company come from? The story of how Grubhub was founded and what its founder, Mike Evans, learned along the way is a story important for anyone who cares about our new tech economy, particularly in the Bay Area, and what it is doing to those who start these companies. In his new memoir, Hangry: A Startup Journey, Evans reveals the inside story of how a pizza craving turned into a hobby, and then became a business that ultimately grew into a multi-billion dollar behemoth that changed the way we eat across the country. Evans story is an interesting one with lessons for entrepreneurs of all kinds. He learned on the fly as he grew a massive business from his apartment. Along the way, he worked 80-hour weeks, almost lost his marriage, raised hundreds of millions of dollars, and even merged with another company.Then Evans surprised everyone by walking away from it all to bike across the country in search of life balance. Please join us as Evans takes us on a funny journey about starting and growing a company that changed the fabric of our lives and what he learned about business, himself and the world along the way. NOTES This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. SPEAKERS Mike Evans Founder, Grubhub; Author, Hangry: A Startup Journey Vikrum Aiyer Member, Inforum Advisory Board; Former Vice President of Public Policy, Postmates—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on November 2nd, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After two and a half years of struggle, San Francisco's downtown stands at a crossroads. Employees have increasingly returned to offices—with overall attendance at offices reaching 50 percent on some days—streets are busier, tourism is increasing, and corporations have returned to hosting major events and attending conventions in and around the Moscone Center. Yet is it enough to return San Francisco's financial center to the heights of the activity it experienced pre-pandemic? This program will seek to answer these questions and explore what city leaders are doing to enliven and boost activity in San Francisco's downtown core. In its first program on this important topic, The Commonwealth Club has invited key San Francisco stakeholders with a direct stake in addressing the problems to discuss practical and tangible solutions to continue to bring downtown San Francisco back to life. The program will look at the Downtown SF Partnership's new public realm plan, the efforts of San Francisco's Office of Economic and Workforce Development on the issue, and possible local and state legislative responses to the crisis. Will these efforts be enough to help return people to downtown, and boost large and small businesses that continue to struggle? Please join us for an important conversation on the future of downtown San Francisco. The moderator, Kevin Truong, is a reporter at the San Francisco Standard covering small business policy and the economic recovery. SPEAKERS Laura Crescimano Co-Founder and Principal, Sitelab Wade Rose President, Advance SF Robbie Silver Executive Director, San Francisco Downtown Community Benefit District (Downtown SF Partnership) Kate Sofis Executive Director, Office of Economic and Workforce Development Kevin Truong Reporter, San Francisco Standard In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on November 1st, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Long a fringe part of the American political landscape, conspiracy theories are now mainstream: 147 members of Congress voted in favor of objections to the 2020 presidential election based on an unproven theory about a rigged electoral process promoted, in part, by followers of the mysterious QAnon community, itself a network of believers of a wide-ranging conspiracy involving pedophilia among elected officials and other civic and business leaders. But these are only the latest examples of a long history of conspiracies that have gained adherents in society. In his timely new book, Conspiracy, Michael Shermer, founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, discusses what makes conspiracies so appealing to segments of the population. Shermer finds that conspiracy theories cut across gender, age, race, income, education level, occupational status―and even political affiliation. One reason that people believe these conspiracies, Shermer argues, is that enough of them are real that we should be constructively conspiratorial: elections have been rigged, medical professionals have intentionally harmed patients in their care, your government does lie to you, and, tragically, some adults do conspire to sexually abuse children. But Shermer reveals that other factors are also in play: anxiety and a sense of loss of control play a role in conspiratorial cognition patterns, as do certain personality traits. Join us for Dr. Shermer's discussion in our continuing series on false narratives. It is for anyone concerned about the future direction of American politics, as well as anyone who has watched friends or family fall into patterns of conspiratorial thinking. MLF ORGANIZER Eric Siegel SPEAKERS Michael Shermer Publisher, Skeptic Magazine; Executive Director, The Skeptics Society; Author, Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational Eric Siegel Chair, Personal Growth Member-led Forum, The Commonwealth Club of California—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on November 1st, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Financial Times columnist and CNN global economic analyst Rana Foroohar offers a deep look at the vulnerabilities of globalization. She makes the case that the reign of globalization as we’ve known it is over and the rise of local, regional and homegrown business is now at hand. She says that for decades, the neoliberal economic philosophy of prioritizing efficiency over resilience and profits over local prosperity has produced massive inequality, persistent economic insecurity, and distrust in our institutions. Place-based economics and a wave of technological innovations now make it possible to keep operations, investment and wealth closer to home, wherever that may be. With the pendulum of history swinging back, Foroohar explores both the challenges and the possibilities of this new era, and how she says it can usher in a more equitable and prosperous future. NOTES This program is generously supported by the Jackson Square Partners Foundation. SPEAKERS Rana Foroohar Global Business Columnist and Associate Editor, Financial Times; Global Economic Analyst, CNN; Author, Homecoming: The Path to Prosperity in a Post-Global World; Twitter @RanaForoohar In Conversation with Kirk Hanson Senior Fellow and Former Executive Director, The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University; Member, The Commonwealth Club Silicon Valley Advisory Council In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on October 24th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 1970s, the United States faced stagflation: high rates of inflation combined with stagnant employment and growth. Global economist Nouriel Roubini predicts we are heading toward another Great Stagflation that will be difficult to recover from. Is it too late to avoid this economic catastrophe? Financial and geopolitical certainties that we once took for granted have disappeared, and Roubini says we are now facing a period of severe instability, conflict and chaos. He offers a sobering analysis of 10 "megathreats" that are interconnected, immense in scale, and bearing down on us. Hear more as Roubini predicts what is likely to unfold if we don’t reverse course and act now. SPEAKERS Nouriel Roubini Professor of Economics, New York University’s Stern School of Business; Author, MegaThreats: Ten Dangerous Trends That Imperil Our Future, And How to Survive Them; Twitter @Nouriel In Conversation with Barry Eichengreen George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Professor of Economics and Political Science, University of California, Berkeley In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on October 18th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been a big year for U.S. climate policy. Three major pieces of legislation: the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act have all become law, ushering in the largest commitment of federal money toward the climate crisis to date. In a bipartisan vote, the Senate also finally ratified the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which will help phase out some of the most potent greenhouse gasses. Gina McCarthy has helped shepherd these achievements in her former role as White House Climate Advisor, and joins us to discuss her time leading climate action under President Biden. We also feature a special interview about the Biden administration’s climate priorities between Vice President Kamala Harris and the hosts of the podcast A Matter of Degrees, Katharine Wilkinson and Leah Stokes. Guests: Kamala Harris, Vice President, United States Gina McCarthy, former U.S. White House National Climate Advisor, former U.S. EPA Administrator Guest Hosts: Katharine Wilkinson, Co-host, A Matter of Degrees, Co-Founder and Executive Director of The All We Can Save Project Leah Stokes, Co-host, A Matter of Degrees, Associate Professor of Environmental Politics, UC Santa Barbara For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This November, San Francisco voters are being asked to vote on a number of ballot measures, local and statewide. One of those local measures is Proposition D, which aims to spur the development of affordable housing in a city that was recognized by the state government as having "the longest timelines in the state for advancing housing projects, . . . among the highest housing and construction costs, and [the state] has received more complaints about San Francisco than any other local jurisdiction." To discuss Proposition D and its plan for removing bureaucratic roadblocks, we'll hear from Maureen Sedonaen, the CEO of Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco, and State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco). Join us in-person or online for a timely program to help you decide what choices you want to make when you fill out your ballot. NOTES See more Michelle Meow Show programs at The Commonwealth Club of California. SPEAKERS Maureen Sedonaen CEO, Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco Scott Wiener State Senator (D-San Francisco) John Zipperer Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club of California; Former Senior Editor, Affordable Housing Finance and Apartment Finance Today Magazines—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on October 18th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In his new book Bridge to the Sun coming out on September 27, 2022, Bruce Henderson, master storyteller, historian and New York Times best-selling author, tells a gripping true tale of the courage of the Japanese-American U.S. Army soldiers who fought in the Pacific theater, while many of their families back home in America were incarcerated behind barbed wire in camps by the U.S. government. Their contribution is one of the last, great untold stories of World War II, kept hidden for decades. The story of the larger, all-Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team soldiers who were sent to fight in Europe has been covered in many books and media. After Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. military was desperate to find Americans who spoke Japanese to serve in the secret Military Intelligence Service (MIS) in the Pacific war. They soon turned to the Nisei—first-generation U.S. citizens whose parents were immigrants from Japan. Eager to prove their loyalty to America, several thousand Nisei—many volunteering from the camps in which they were incarcerated—were selected by the Army for top-secret training, then were rushed to the Pacific theater. Highly valued as expert translators and interrogators, these Japanese American soldiers operated in elite intelligence teams alongside Army infantrymen and Marines on the front lines of the Pacific war, from Iwo Jima to Burma, from the Solomons to Okinawa. Henderson reveals, in riveting detail, the harrowing untold story of the Nisei and their major contributions in the war of the Pacific, through six Japanese American soldiers. After the war, these soldiers became translators and interrogators for war crime trials, and later helped to rebuild Japan as a modern democracy and a pivotal U.S. ally. SPEAKERS Bruce Henderson Author, Bridge to the Sun In conversation with Garrett Hongo Poet; Writer In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on October 17th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the recent appointments of Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, the balance on the U.S. Supreme Court has shifted fundamentally toward the conservatives, and a series of precedent-breaking decisions issued during the 2022 session confirms it. The implications of the Dodd decision alone are far reaching for individual rights, not to mention those cases that focus on the government’s ability to regulate policy in areas like immigration, the environment, the separation of church and state, and gun safety. In many respects, the court majority's ideological shift to an originalist approach to constitutional interpretation has upset the balance of power and redrawn the traditional lines separating the three branches of government in our democracy. As the court opens its fall session, Dean Chemerinsky will discuss the new justices and these recent decisions as well as upcoming cases before the court which address critical issues like affirmative action and the independence of state legislatures. He will shed light on how the changing role of the Supreme Court might affect the future of our democracy. He will also discuss Chemerinsky’s new book, Worse than Nothing: The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism. NOTES This program is part of an ongoing series on the Future of Democracy. SPEAKERS Erwin Chemerinsky Dean, University of California Berkeley School of Law Roy Eisenhardt Lecturer, University of California Berkeley School of Law—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on October 13th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ruha Benjamin has been called one of the country's most insightful scholars on issues related to race, technology and justice. In her new book, Viral Justice, Benjamin explores—in a very personal way—two social issues that have received extensive attention over the past two years: police violence and the pandemic of COVID-19. For Prof. Benjamin, these two issues existed in tandem for a reason: they are both public health crises that festered and continue to fester because they are both built on unjust systems. Benjamin examines the converging plagues of COVID-19 and police violence, mapping the multiple routes through which racism gets under the skin. Recounting her personal experiences and those of her family, Benjamin illuminates the devastating impact of the chronic stress of racism, the trauma caused by mass imprisonment, and the vast inequities of our nation’s health-care system. As she channels her own life story, she also offers a passionate, inspiring, and practical vision of how seemingly minor decisions and habits could spread virally and have exponentially positive effects. Join us as Professor Benjamin re-envisions the significance of individual actions and explains how we can build a more just world―one small change at a time. About the SpeakersRuha Benjamin is a professor of African American studies at Princeton University, founding director of the Ida B. Wells JUST Data Lab, and author of three books, Viral Justice (2022), Race After Technology (2019), and People’s Science (2013), and editor of Captivating Technology (2019). She graduated from Spelman College with a BA in Sociology & Anthropology and received her MA and PhD degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Shabnam Koirala-Azad is the first female dean of the USF School of Education, and in 2018 was recognized as one of the Most Influential Women in the Bay Area. For more than a decade as a faculty member in the School of Education and as department chair for the Department of International and Multicultural Education, she added a strong global education component to the curriculum and co-founded the first degree program in Human Rights Education in the United States. As a leader, she is nationally recognized for her ability to infuse principles of justice and equity in her leadership practices. MLF ORGANIZER Gerald Harris NOTES A Technology & Society 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 is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. In association with Inforum. SPEAKERS Introduction by Gerald Harris Chair, Technology & Society Member-led Forum, The Commonwealth Club of California Ruha Benjamin Professor of African American Studies, Princeton University; Director, Ida B. Wells Just Data Lab; Author, Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want Shabnam Koirala-Azad Dean, University of San Francisco School of Education—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on October 19th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. 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

Reza Aslan is a leading expert in world religions and his bestselling books have touched on a range of issues related to history, extremism and spirituality. His latest work, An American Martyr in Persia, challenges us to look at how seriously we take our ideals of constitutional democracy and whose freedom do we support. Aslan illuminates these issues by exploring the real-story of Howard Baskerville, a 22-year-old Christian missionary from South Dakota who traveled to Persia (modern-day Iran) in 1907 for a two-year stint teaching English and preaching the gospel. Baskerville arrived in the midst of a democratic revolution led by a group of brilliant young firebrands committed to transforming their country into a fully self-determining, constitutional monarchy, one with free elections and an independent parliament. In death, Baskerville became a martyr who spurred the revolutionaries to remove the shah from power, signing a new constitution and rebuilding parliament in Tehran. At this critical time when many people are questioning it, Aslan's new work offers a powerful parable about the universal ideals of democracy―and to what degree Americans are willing to support those ideals in a foreign land, Iran, a country frequently demonized and misunderstood in the West. Aslan along with Ray Suarez will explore how one person can still make a difference when freedom is at stake. NOTES In association with World Affairs. SPEAKERS Reza Aslan Author, An American Martyr in Persia: The Epic Life and Tragic Death of Howard Baskerville; Twitter @rezaaslan In Conversation with Ray Suarez Host, "World Affairs" on KQED In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on October 24th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who is Donald Trump? In her highly anticipated new book, Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman chronicles his life from his rise in New York City to the White House. Join us as Haberman discusses what she learned during interviews with hundreds of sources as well as numerous interviews over the years with Donald Trump himself, a man she says is both a complicated and often contradictory historical figure who pushed American democracy to the brink. This is an important political event you won’t want to miss. SPEAKERS Maggie Haberman Senior Political Reporter, The New York Times; Author, Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America; Twitter @maggieNYT (Haberman will be participating remotely) In Conversation with Tim Miller Writer-at-large, The Bulwark; Author, Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell; Twitter @timodc In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on February 18th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the last several years, the COVID-19 global pandemic has helped illustrate to the nation that we are only as healthy as those who are most vulnerable among us. Disparities impacting a person’s health ultimately also impact the health of our larger society. Many of these disparities have deeply rooted causes that stem from unjust policies and programs across the country. This session in our Humankindness and Health Justice series will focus on social justice as a form of health justice, addressing these deeply rooted issues and beliefs that created downstream impacts on the health of our communities. Join us for a conversation on ways to start identifying and ending challenges that foster disparities in our communities. The conversation will feature the Honorable Willie L. Brown, Jr. former California assembly speaker, mayor of San Francisco, and long-time social justice advocate. Also joining in on the conversation is Dawn Porter, award-winning and Emmy-nominated social justice documentarian. Moderating the discussion will be Janet Reilly, co-founder and board president of Clinic by the Bay, a free, volunteer-powered health clinic for the working uninsured in San Francisco and San Mateo counties. NOTES This program is part of the Humankindness & Health Justice series, generously underwritten by CommonSpirit Health Foundation. SPEAKERS Willie L. Brown, Jr. Former California Assembly Speaker, Mayor of San Francisco Dawn Porter Emmy-Nominated Social Justice Advocate Janet Reilly Co-Founder and Board President, Clinic by the Bay In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on October 19th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam Hochschild returns to The Commonwealth Club with his revelatory new account of a pivotal but neglected period in American history: World War I and its stormy aftermath, when bloodshed and repression on the home front nearly doomed American democracy. The nation was on the brink. Angry mobs burned Black churches to the ground and chased down pacifists and immigrants. Well over a thousand men and women were jailed solely for what they had written or said, even in private. An astonishing 250,000 people joined a nationwide vigilante group—sponsored by the Department of Justice. This was America during and after the Great War: a brief but appalling era blighted by torture, censorship, and killings. Hochschild brings to life this troubled period, which stretched from 1917 to 1921, through the interwoven tales of some well-known characters, like the sphinxlike Woodrow Wilson and the ambitious young bureaucrat J. Edgar Hoover, and of other less-familiar characters, like the fiery antiwar advocate Kate Richards O’Hare and the outspoken Leo Wendell, a labor radical who was frequently arrested and wholly trusted by his comrades—but who was in fact Hoover’s star undercover agent. A groundbreaking work of narrative history, American Midnight recalls these horrifying yet inspiring four years, when some brave Americans strove to keep their fractured country democratic, while ruthless others stimulated toxic currents of racism, nativism, red-baiting and contempt for the rule of law—poisons that all feel ominously familiar today. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond SPEAKERS Adam Hochschild Historian; Lecturer, Graduate School of Journalism, University of California Berkeley; Author, American Midnight: The Great War, A Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis In Conversation with George Hammond Author, Conversations With Socrates In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on October 13th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last year, drug-related overdoses killed more people than COVID-19 in San Francisco, and Mayor London Breed declared a state of emergency in the Tenderloin. Fentanyl and COVID-19 have only fueled our overdose crisis. While addressing this might seem overwhelming, we can respond in practical and evidence-based ways. Come learn how we can address this crisis with solutions that might surprise you from San Francisco General Hospital's Addiction Care Team director. How can M&Ms help stem the crisis? What is a patient navigator? How do we change the experience of people who use drugs in the hospital? Dr. Marlene Martin will address these issues. Our speaker, Dr. Marlene Martin, M.D., is an associate professor of clinical medicine at UCSF and a hospitalist at San Francisco General Hospital. Dr. Martin is the director of addiction initiatives for the UCSF Latinx Center of Excellence and founded and directs the Addiction Care Team (ACT), an interprofessional consultation service that provides compassionate person-centered care focused on harm reduction, evidence-based treatment, and linkage to care for emergency department and hospitalized patients with unhealthy substance use. Dr. Martin is passionate about improving health-care systems and reducing inequities for people with substance use disorders and Latinx individuals through innovation and interprofessional collaborations, including community partnerships. MLF ORGANIZER Patrick O'Reilly SPEAKERS Marlene Martin Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, UCSF; Hospitalist, San Francisco General Hospital; Director of Addiction Initiatives, UCSF Latinx Center of Excellence; Founder and Director, Addiction Care Team (ACT) Patrick O'Reilly Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist; Assistant Clinical Professor, UC San Francisco; Chair, Member-Led Psychology Forum—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded Live on October 11th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Women are breaking through the tired and hurtful stereotypes of aging to better reflect who they are, how they live, and what they want as they age. Who hasn't heard the stereotypes about women of a "certain age?" That's the age when women become invisible, irrelevant, undesirable, asexual, unhinged, dried-up, hormonal messes. It's when women quickly slide into fragility and become forgetful, passive, weak, feeble, debilitated, disabled, dependent and depressed. Or so the story goes. Not only are those outdated narratives sexist and ageist, they are also damaging to women's physical, emotional, financial, romantic and sexual health. It's time to change them. In Not too Old for That, Vicki Larson helps change the narrative about being a woman at midlife and older. She questions what we've been told aging would be like and encourages us to instead ask ourselves, What do we want it to be like? And how can we get there? She says the key is to be curious, open-minded, and intentional about the ways we are becoming our future selves. We have an opportunity to create new narratives of aging as a woman, ones that value women at all stages of life, not just youth, and it starts with us. Once the stereotypes that have held women back are broken down, she says women can move past them and rather than feel helpless as the years add up, they can discover and tap into just how much agency they have. She believes that not only will her approach help to create a less ageist, less sexist, more-inclusive future, it will release our daughters and all young women from a similar future. About the SpeakerVicki Larson is a longtime award-winning editor, writer and columnist at the Marin Independent Journal. She is author of Not Too Old for That: How Women are Changing the Story of Aging and co-author of The New I Do: Reshaping Marriage for Skeptics, Realists and Rebels, named a Best Book of 2014 by PopSugar. A resident of Marin County, her writing can be found in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Aeon and AARP's The Ethel, among other publications. MLF ORGANIZER Denise Michaud NOTES A Grownups Member-Led Forum (MLF) 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. SPEAKERS Vicki Larson Journalist; Author Eric Siegel Chair, Personal Growth Member-led Forum, The Commonwealth Club of California—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded live on October11th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for an online conversation with the author of a striking and remarkable literary memoir about one family’s transformation, with almost all of them embracing their queer identities. It might sound like a sitcom plot, but for Jessi Hempel, it's a true story. Jessi Hempel was raised in a picture-perfect, middle-class American family. But the truth was far from perfect. Her lawyer-father was constantly away from home, traveling for work, while her stay-at-home mother became increasingly lonely and erratic. Growing up, Jessi and her two siblings struggled to make sense of their family, their world, their changing bodies, and the emotional turmoil each was experiencing. By the time Jessi reached adulthood, everyone in her family had come out: Jessi as gay, her sister as bisexual, her father as gay, her brother as transgender, and her mother as a survivor of a traumatic experience with an alleged serial killer. Yet coming out was just the beginning, starting a chain reaction of other personal revelations and reckonings that caused each of them to question their place in the world in new and ultimately liberating ways. Don't miss this timely talk. About the SpeakerJessi Hempel is a senior editor at large at LinkedIn and host of the Webby-nominated podcast "Hello Monday." For almost 20 years, she has been writing and editing features and cover stories about the most important people and companies in technology. Most recently, she was the head of editorial for Backchannel and a senior writer at Wired. Earlier in her career, she was a senior writer for Fortune, where she co-chaired Fortune’s Aspen tech conference. Before that, Hempel wrote for BusinessWeek, and Time Asia. She has appeared on CNN, PBS, MSNBC, Fox, and CNBC, addressing the culture and business of technology. Hempel is a graduate of Brown University and received a Master’s in Journalism from U.C. Berkeley. She lives in Brooklyn. NOTES This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. SPEAKERS Jessi Hempel Author, The Family Outing; Twitter @jessiwrites Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors—Co-host John Zipperer Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club of California—Co-host In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on October 13th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twenty of the world’s richest countries – mostly in the Global North – are responsible for 80 percent of the carbon pollution that’s driving extreme weather and supercharging natural disasters. Yet poorer countries in the Global South are experiencing climate-induced disasters first and worst. Wealthier and whiter countries in the Global North are being hit by climate disruption as well, but they also have more resources to adapt. We talk with two award-winning journalists, one from each hemisphere, about covering climate change in their part of the world and bridging the disconnect that exists between North and South. Guests: Lauren Sommer, Reporter, NPR Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson, Reporter for The Guardian, Host of An Impossible Choice. For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From microwaves to missiles, smartphones to the stock market, our world is increasingly dependent on microchip technology. According to Chris Miller, microchips are the new oil, a critical resource that defines the current state of military, economic and geopolitical power. At the heart of the decades-long battle over control of this technology are the United States and China, two superpowers engaging in a war that puts America’s economic prosperity at risk. In Chip War, Miller provides a comprehensive analysis of the semiconductor chip and its impact on national security and international economics. Tracing the global history of microchips, he recounts the fascinating events that enabled the United States to perfect the chip design, and the role that faster chips played in America’s Cold War victory over the Soviet Union. As Miller reveals, the United States once dominated advancements in microchips, but now, China is investing billions into a chip-building initiative to bridge the gap, leading to a power competition that will define the world’s geopolitical future. Join us as Miller explains the high stakes history of the computer chip and ongoing battle between the United States and China that is shaping the modern world. NOTES In association with the Asia Pacific Affairs member-led forum. This program is generously supported by the Jackson Square Partners Foundation. SPEAKERS Chris Miller Author, The Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology In Conversation with Niall Ferguson Milbank Family Senior Fellow, the Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Senior Faculty Fellow, the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on October 16th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since 18th century and pre-Constitution America, libraries have been a public space, a central repository where books could be borrowed, read and returned—a long defended democratic ideal of the public library. The nonprofit Internet Archive, founded in 1996, was built to be both the library of the Internet and the library on the Internet—a grand repository of knowledge. Its mission: universal access to all knowledge through the networked reach of the Internet, which allows the Archive to serve as a loc­­­al library for users with a browser anywhere. During the global COVID pandemic closures of public libraries and schools in 2020, the Internet Archive created the National Emergency Library to provide digitized books to students and the public. This changed the one book/one person model of lending. Subsequent lawsuits and responses have led to current federal court cases, led by major publishers, contending that controlled digital lending means “willful mass copyright infringement.” Countersuits filed and championed by the Archive propose that such an argument presents “obstacles to the free flow of information” and the guarantee of pubic library lending access.To explore these issues, join us for a conversation with Brewster Kahle, the founder and digital librarian of the Internet Archive, which now preserves more than 99 unique petabytes of data—the books, web pages, music, television and software of our cultural heritage, working with more than 950 library and university partners to create a digital library accessible to all. Kahle created the Internet's first publishing system, called the Wide Area Information Server, later selling the company to AOL. He also co-founded Alexa Internet, which helps catalog the web; he sold it to Amazon.com. The Archive's Wayback machine is one of the most popular Internet websites. MLF ORGANIZER Anne W. Smith SPEAKERS Brewster Kahle Founder and Digital Librarian, Internet Archive; Twitter @brewster_kahle Anne W. Smith Co-Chair, Arts Member-Led Forum, The Commonwealth Club of California—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on October 6th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The new Netflix miniseries Dahmer—Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is one of the streaming service's most popular hits all around the world, telling the horrific story of the serial killer who preyed upon young men from 1978 to 1991. Join us for a discussion of how racism and xenophobia played a role in the Jeffrey Dahmer case. Some of his victims might be alive today if police had listened to Glenda Cleveland, the neighbor who tried to warn police about Dahmer. We'll also explore representation, authenticity, and why it matters in telling traumatic stories. About the SpeakersNicole Childress: Nicole was with her cousin Sandra Smith, who is the daughter of the late Glenda Cleveland, when they found one of Jeffery Dahmer's victims. They called police—who then returned the victim back to Dahmer. Childress, a.k.a. Cola Styles, is the CEO of Beauty Intellect and the author of Cola Styles: The Good, Bad & Ugly. She calls herself a true expert on faith, hair, hair composition, hair maintenance and creativity. She is the proud mother of three kids and grandmother of eight. She says "passions, patience, and knowing GOD, has kept me sane in my journey of good, bad and ugly." Khetphet (KEM-pet) Phagnasay (Pah-YAH-sy) goes by the nickname KP; he is a Lao-American actor, director, producer and stuntman who has a recurring role as Sounthone Sinthasomphone, father of a victim, in the Netflix Dahmer series. He has also worked on God is an Astronaut, Demon Fighter, Street of Hope, Hollywood Road Trip, and many more productions. He has an extensive experience on stage portraying the king in The king and I, Song Liliang in M.Butterfly, Puck in Midsummer Night, Dr. Sun Yet Sen in Sun Yat Sen: The Mouth of a Dragon, and other roles. He has travelled oversea to Japan, Taiwan, and mainland China as a performer. KP was born in Laos in 1971came to the United States as a refugee in 1980s, as the result of the Vietnam War conflict. He grew up in Oswego, Ilinois, and then Waianae, Hawai'i, before settling in Clovis/Fresno, California. He earned his B.A. in Theatre Arts from California State University, Fresno, and continued his higher education in Asian theatre focusing on acting from University of Hawaii, Manoa. SPEAKERS Nicole Childress a.k.a. Cola Styles, CEO, Beauty Intellect; Author, Cola Styles: The Good, Bad & Ugly KP Phagnasay Actor, Dahmer—Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (Netflix); Director; Producer; Stuntman Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors—Co-host John Zipperer Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club of California—Co-host In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on October 6th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Poland is rapidly becoming the linchpin of the Western effort to defend Ukraine and deter Russia. The Polish-Ukrainian border, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February, is a hub of activity. With refugees from Ukraine flowing back and forth and military equipment being transferred in to help the Ukrainian war effort along with aid for Ukraine's people, Poland has taken a leadership role in Europe and the West, stepping up to both welcome its neighbors and help defend them against Russia's aggression. As the war drags on into fall, The Commonwealth Club of California is honored to welcome His Excellency Marek Magierowski, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Republic of Poland to the United States, to discuss the current situation on Poland's border with Ukraine and the strategic considerations for Poland, the EU, and the NATO alliance. Ambassador Magierowski was appointed to Washington, D.C., in November 2021 after previously serving as Poland's ambassador to Israel and in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as undersecretary of state for economic cooperation with the Americas and Asia. NOTES Sponsored by Taube Philanthropies. SPEAKERS Marek Magierowski Ambassador of Poland to the United States Abraham D. Sofaer George P. Shultz Distinguished Scholar and Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institution In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via Live on October 6th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Humanities West presents a performance, and an elucidation, of Mozart’s String Quintet in G minor, K. 516, composed in Vienna in 1787. It is widely considered to be among Mozart's greatest and most tragic works. But the Quintet is not only “tragic”; it is a “tragedy” in the mode of the ancient Greeks: the enactment of the story of a hero who meets a catastrophic fate. Mozart scholar Steve Machtinger will demonstrate how Mozart imbued the work with musical symbols that convey its tragic narrative. The program will include a live performance by the Hatzfeld Quintet of all four movements of Mozart’s String Quintet in G minor. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond SPEAKERS Steve Machtinger Attorney; Violist; Independent Mozart Scholar Musical performance by the Hatzfeld Quintet: Monika Gruber and Emanuela Nikiforova, Violins; Steve Machtinger and Jennifer Sills, Violas; and Louella Hasbun, Cello George Hammond Author, Conversations With Socrates In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded Live on September 23rd, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Young people's voices are an integral part of our democracy. Yet Gen Z and Millennial voters consistently turn out at lower rates than older generations. To inspire youth civic engagement, the Associated Students of the University of California Vote Coalition, Berkeley Women in Politics, and The Commonwealth Club have proudly launched a first-of-its kind partnership: the Creating Citizens Speaker Series at UC Berkeley. This speaker series will give UC Berkeley students and community members the opportunity to listen to and ask questions of leading minds in politics, media and education as they learn how to become better, more involved citizens. As the home of decades of activism and civic engagement, Berkeley is the perfect environment for this dialogue to occur. Our inaugural program will feature California Attorney General Rob Bonta, plus a panel of impressive political thinkers discussing the importance of voting and civic engagement, particularly in 2022. Accomplished individuals from across the political spectrum, our speakers will come together to inspire the next generation of voters and citizen leaders. Together, they will take attendees on a journey through our electoral process and provide key takeaways from their experiences in politics. We look forward to welcoming community members and students from around the Bay Area to participate in this riveting conversation and to join us for future programs in the Creating Citizens Speaker Series. SPEAKERS Rob Bonta Attorney General of the State of California Duf Sundheim Member, U.S. Federal Court’s Advance Mediation Practice Group; former Chair, California Republican Party Lisa García Bedolla Vice Provost for Graduate Studies, Dean of the Graduate Division, and Professor, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley Alex Edgar Director, University of California, Berkeley ASUC Vote Coalition In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded Live on October 4th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Paris Agreement requires every country to declare their own nationally determined contributions, or NDCs, for reducing emissions. Last year at COP26 in Glasgow, it became clear that even the updated targets would – at best – limit warming to 2.4°C, almost a full degree above the 1.5° goal. But even more important than goals or promises is how every country turns policy into reality. This year’s COP27, hosted by the Arab Republic of Egypt, is being framed as “the implementation COP,” where the stated goal is to move from negotiations to action. In this special episode, Climate One Host Greg Dalton speaks one-on-one with Egyptian Ambassador and Special Representative of the COP27 President, Wael Aboulmagd, about how Egypt plans to close the gap between promises and implementation. Guest: Wael Aboulmagd, Egyptian Ambassador, Special Representative of the COP27 President For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For decades, scientists and activists have called for action to slow the pace of global warming. The political process has struggled and largely failed to keep up with the growing climate crisis. But through annual summits known as the United Nations Conference of the Parties, or COP, countries have finally started to commit to reducing their emissions. At last year’s climate summit, nations that make up about two thirds of the global economy committed to reducing emissions enough to try to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees celsius. At this year’s 27th COP in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, central questions will focus on how to pay for climate adaptation and mitigation. And, since the world’s 20 biggest economies are responsible for 80% of all climate disrupting emissions, how much money do those nations owe poorer countries suffering from a problem they didn’t create? Guests: Jonathan Pershing, Former Special Envoy for Climate Change, U.S. Department of State Omnia El Omrani, COP 27 Youth Envoy Ambassador Wael Aboulmagd, Special Representative of the COP27 President Contributing Producer: Rabiya Jaffery 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

For visionary businessman and AOL founder Steve Case, great entrepreneurs can be found anywhere and can thrive with the proper support and investment. At a time when America's economy is undergoing fundamental shifts on several fronts, entrepreneurs are obviously essential to America's future. Back in 2014, Case helped the country prepare for this moment with the launch of Rise of the Rest, an effort to inspire entrepreneurs across the country to build successful startups. Case reviews the impact of his effort, and how communities large and small nationwide are reinventing the American landscape. Case explores entrepreneurial efforts in 43 cities across the country, where individuals from all walks of life are building groundbreaking companies, renewing communities, and creating new jobs. Through these inspirational, close-up stories, Case uncovers a path toward a more innovative and inclusive America. Join us as Case explains how startup communities can bring people together around a shared future and redefine the American dream at this critical moment in the country's history. SPEAKERS Steve Case Chairman and CEO, Revolution; Author, The Rise of the Rest: How Entrepreneurs in Surprising Places are Building the New American Dream; Twitter @SteveCase In Conversation with Lenny Mendonca Former Chief Economic and Business Advisor, State of California; Twitter @Lenny_Mendonca In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on October 4th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Women and girls all over the world are using intelligence, creativity, energy, and courage to help stop global warming. Paola Gianturco and her 12-year-old granddaughter Avery Sangster set out to chronicle their stories, interviewing and photographing women politicians, corporate executives, scholars, heads of grassroots groups, and presidents of organizations that are all dedicated to combating global warming. These women leaders are based in 10 countries: the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Tanzania, Australia, Sri Lanka, India, and Hong Kong. Learn more about what women around the world are doing through the book co-authored by this granddaughter-grandmother team, COOL: Women Leaders Reversing Global Warming. Tackling global warming takes all ages. Paola, Avery and the leaders in their book demonstrate that when the generations listen to one another, change is possible. We invite young people and adults to come, learn together, and be inspired to take action in your own communities. SPEAKERS Paola Gianturco Author; Photographer Avery Sangster 6th Grade Student; Co-author Carla Thorson Vice President of Programs, The Commonwealth Club of California In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 29th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s students have grown up in a political culture of polarization that has exacerbated public distrust. In this environment, how can educators teach young people to engage with controversial issues in such a way that schools do not become partisan institutions? Diana Hess and Paula McAvoy propose that teachers should not shy away from political controversy. Instead, they should see their job as helping students develop the skills and dispositions of deliberation by practicing speaking and listening with civility, backing up ideas with evidence and information, and considering how one’s own views affect others. Further, because classrooms are “unusual political spaces” in which young people hone their political and social identities, Hess and McAvoy argue that students deserve the opportunity to puzzle about the issues they are inheriting in a way that models good thinking and reasoning. It is these experiences that best prepare future citizens to answer the vital question, “How should we live together?” Teaching these habits of political friendship upholds the civic ideal of our democracy and offers hope that over time, goodwill can transform a distrustful political sphere. This back-to-school event is for everyone who is concerned about democracy and the preservation of open discussion in education; teachers are especially encouraged to attend. It will take place online and in person; we will welcome our speakers virtually and moderator Milton Reynolds will join a live audience in our building on The Embarcadero. NOTES In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 27th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just how dangerous are memes? The power of memes has grown and is now a weapon used to push disinformation, spread ideologies, and deepen partisanship. They are fueling a cultural war that continues to accelerate and intensify. Joan Donovan and Emily Dreyfuss recount how “Stop the Steal” went from online to real life. They reveal startling secrets from the digital war rooms and the troubling developments led by conspiracists and extremists to upend our country’s democracy. As the battle continues, learn more about what could be at stake for the future of our country Note: This program contains EXPLICIT language SPEAKERS Joan Donovan Research Director, Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center; Co-author, Meme Wars: The Untold Story of the Online Battles Upending Democracy in America Emily Dreyfuss Journalist; Co-author, Meme Wars: The Untold Story of the Online Battles Upending Democracy in America In Conversation with Lauren Goode Senior Editor, Wired In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded live on October 3rd, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this third part of our series on conspiracy theories and other false narratives, we'll look at actions society can take to defend itself. We'll focus on what journalists and educators can do, what technology companies can do, and what government and individuals can do. Our speaker, Dr. Samuel Woolley, will discuss media literacy, technologies for quick detection and management of false narratives, the role of governmental regulation, and actions we can take as individuals. MLF ORGANIZER Eric Siegel SPEAKERS Dr. Samuel Woolley Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Program Director of the Propaganda Research Lab, University of Texas-Austin; Author, The Reality Game: How the Next Wave of Technology Will Break the Truth, Computational Propaganda, and numerous academic and popular articles Eric Siegel Chair, Personal Growth Member-led Forum, The Commonwealth Club of California—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 29th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California State Senator Brian Dahle is the Republican candidate for governor. He is making his first visit to The Commonwealth Club to discuss his proposals and plans for leading the largest state in the country. A longtime advocate of building a better business climate in California, Brian Dahle was the California Chamber of Commerce’s top-rated senator for pro-business votes in 2021 and has a 100 percent rating from the National Federation of Independent Business. He was chosen by his peers in 2017 to be the Assembly Republican leader, leading the caucus until after the 2018 elections, when he stepped down as leader to run in a special election to fill a vacant seat in the 1st Senate District. Before joining the legislature, Dahle served on the Lassen County Board of Supervisors for 16 years. Please join us as Senator Dahle explains his commitment to California and his plans to address a range of key state issues, including cost of living, crime, homelessness, water, education, energy independence, wildfires, housing, drugs and more. SPEAKERS Brian Dahle State Senator (R-District 1); Republican Candidate for California Governor Melissa Caen Political Journalist; Attorney In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded on September 22nd, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why do you fall in love with some music, and not with other music? And why do those you love sometimes fall in love with music you don't? Susan Rogers, a record-producer–turned–brain-scientist, explains why, taking us on a journey into the science and the soul of music that reveals why your favorite songs move you. Rogers also shares her personal story—she began as an audio tech in Los Angeles, broke through as Prince’s chief engineer for Purple Rain, and then continued to create other number 1 hits to become one of the most successful female record producers ever. Rogers, currently a professor of cognitive neuroscience, raises musical self-awareness. She explains that we each possess a unique “listener profile” based on our brain’s natural response to the seven key dimensions of a song. Are you someone who prefers lyrics or melody? Do you like music “above the neck” (intellectually stimulating), or “below the neck” (instinctual and rhythmic)? Whether your taste is esoteric or mainstream, Rogers will guide you to recognize your own musical personality and to describe your own unique taste. Like most of us, Rogers is not a musician, but demonstrates how all of us can be musical simply by being active, passionate listeners. Rogers also will take us behind the scenes of record-making, using her insider status to illuminate the music of Prince, Frank Sinatra, Kanye West, Lana Del Rey and many other artists. She shares records that changed her life, contrasts them with those that appeal to others, and encourages you to think about the records that define your own identity. Join us and then refresh your playlists, deepen your connection to your favorite artists, and change the way you listen to music. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond and Anne W. Smith NOTES This program is part of The Commonwealth Club's Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. SPEAKERS Susan Rogers Director, Berklee Music Perception and Cognition Laboratory; Record Producer; Author, This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You In Conversation with John Boland President Emeritus, KQED; Vice Chair, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded live on October 5th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the US midterm elections looming, the window for enacting meaningful climate policy may be closing. November’s elections will determine which party controls Congress, and that will have far reaching implications for the planet. Historically, the midterms have been bad news for the party in control of the White House, but the Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act may have changed that calculus. Where do voters stand going into the midterms, and how does climate factor into their decisions? Guests: Nathaniel Stinnett, Founder & Executive Director, Environmental Voter Project Chelsea Henderson, Director of Editorial Content, RepublicEN Jean Chemnick, Climate Reporter, E&E News For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It would be difficult to overstate the influence on American television of director James Burrows. Co-creator of Cheers, he also directed 237 of the long-running show's 275 episodes. He directed every episode of Will & Grace, the groundbreaking show that turned gay characters and storylines into must-see TV. He also directed 75 episodes of Taxi, 32 episodes of Frasier, 15 episodes of Friends, and multiple episodes of Phyllis, The Bob Newhart Show, NewsRadio, and many others. His sitcom work all began with an episode of another pathbreaking series, The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the early 1970s. Altogether, he has directed more than 1,000 episodes of American comedy television. In his new memoir, Directed by James Burrows, he's sharing stories from his legendary career working on the most successful and influential sitcoms of the past half century. Join us for this online program to hear how James Burrows shaped popular, high-quality comedy TV in America. NOTES This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. SPEAKERS James Burrows Director; Co-creator, Cheers; Author, Directed by James Burrows Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors—Co-host John Zipperer Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club of California—Co-host In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 27th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do we really understand the reach and impact that social media has on our lives? We all have a vague sense that social media can be bad for our minds, for our children, and for our democracies. Yet that doesn't stop us from constantly using it. New York Times investigative reporter Max Fisher looks at how Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social networks drive everyday users to extreme opinions and, increasingly, extreme actions. Fisher tracks the evolution of free speech to hate speech and its spillover into violence—that first festered in far-off locales to their dark culmination in America during the pandemic, the 2020 election, and the Capitol insurrection. He also addresses the cultural shift in which people are polarized not by beliefs based on facts, but by misinformation, outrage and fear. Hear more about the influence that social media has and how it isn’t just changing our lives, but the world. SPEAKERS Max Fisher International Reporter and Columnist, The New York Times; Author, The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World; Twitter @Max_Fisher In conversation with DJ Patil Former U.S. Chief Data Scientist; Member, The Commonwealth Club of California Board of Governors; Twitter @dpatil In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 22nd, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jann Wenner has had an outsized impact on Bay Area history, music, popular culture and the world of magazines. In 1967, with the founding of Rolling Stone magazine in San Francisco, Wenner not only created the "bible of the counterculture," he helped catalyze a generation of young people into a force that would go on to transform the politics and lifestyles of much of the country. In his deeply personal new memoir, Like a Rolling Stone, Wenner vividly describes an epoch of cultural change that swept America and beyond, and the role his magazine played in it. His book goes on to explore not only his own work, but the lives of Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Bono and Bruce Springsteen. He also discusses the role he played in the careers of Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe and Annie Leibovitz. After leaving San Francisco for New York, Wenner's journey took him to the Oval Office with groundbreaking interviews with Bill Clinton and Barak Obama, leaders to whom Wenner's publication gave its historic, full-throated backing. Wenner also had his magazine focus on the Dalai Lama, Greta Thunberg, and others he felt should be seen and heard in the pages of Rolling Stone, because of their potential impact on American culture. It is not surprising that many have called him "the greatest magazine editor of his generation." Please join us as Wenner makes a rare visit to The Commonwealth Club to discuss his life and the impact he has made on America. NOTES This program is generously supported by Relevant Wealth. This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. SPEAKERS Jann Wenner Founder, Rolling Stone Magazine; Member, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Paul Liberatore Music Columnist, Marin Independent Journal In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded on September 21st, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Decades of cuts to local government amidst rising concentrations of poverty have wreaked havoc on communities left behind by the modern economy. Some of these discarded places are rural. Others are big cities, small cities, or historic suburbs. Some vote blue, others red. Mostly, their governments are just broke. Stanford Law School Professor Michelle Wilde Anderson says that 40 years after the anti-tax revolution began protecting wealthy taxpayers and their cities, high-poverty cities and counties have run out of services to cut, properties to sell, bills to defer, and risky loans to take. In The Fight to Save the Town, Anderson traveled to four blue-collar communities that are poor, broke, and progressing—Stockton, California; Josephine County, Oregon; Lawrence, Massachusetts; and Detroit, Michigan. She shares how networks of local leaders and residents are coming together to face this crisis head on and working toward innovative solutions to deal with pressing issues, including gun violence, housing and unemployment. Hear more about the fight to save our communities at the local level and create wealth equity for all. SPEAKERS Michelle Wilde Anderson Professor of Property, Local Government, and Environment Justice, Stanford Law School; Author, The Fight to Save the Town: Reimagining Discarded America In Conversation with Pamela Karlan Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Professor of Public Interest Law and a Founder and Co-director of the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, Stanford Law School. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 19th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From its chaotic beginning to the violent finale, the Trump presidency was filled with moments ranging from the unthinkable to the deadly serious. That has continued until these past several weeks, and the man at the center of all of this could announce he is running for president again. That makes understanding his presidency even more important today. Veteran journalists Peter Baker and Susan Glasser chart the ambitious and lasting history of the Trump presidency, drawing on unprecedented access to key players from President Trump himself to cabinet officers, military generals, and more. Based on these exclusive interviews, Baker and Glasser reveal moments both tense and comical, from how close the United States got to nuclear war with North Korea to whether Trump asked Japan’s prime minister to nominate him for a Nobel Prize. They also explore the moral choices confronting those around Trump—how they justified working for him and where they drew their lines. Join us as Peter Baker and Susan Glasser return to the Club to discuss Donald Trump's presidency and what a second term could mean for the country. SPEAKERS Peter Baker Chief White House Correspondent, The New York Times; Co-author, The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021; Twitter @peterbakernyt Susan Glasser Staff Writer, The New Yorker; Co-author, The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021; Twitter @sbg1 In Conversation with Adam Lashinsky Journalist; Author; Twitter @adamlashinsky In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded Live on September 20th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From 41BC to September 2022, the persona of Cleopatra has been modeled as an archetype of female power and beauty. Yet—as with most tellings of history—her story has been mostly written by men who never knew her. Providing another context, in concurrence with John Adams’ Antony and Cleopatra premiere, San Francisco Opera’s Diversity, Equity and Community department presents a panel of women arts leaders to ask and answer: In the struggle for equal rights, who is Cleopatra? [mis]judged, [mis]treated and [mis]portrayed? Join us as our Women in Arts panel forcefully addresses these questions. Moderated by singer and stage director Erin Neff, the panel includes Antony and Cleopatra’s Director Elkhanah Pulitzer, and African-American Shakespeare Company Founder and Executive Director Sherri Young, along with other noted Bay Area female art makers and historians. MLF ORGANIZER Anne W. Smith SPEAKERS Rita Lucarelli Associate Professor of Egyptology, University of California, Berkeley Elkhanah Pulitzer Director, Antony and Cleopatra 2022, San Francisco Opera Sherri Young Founder and Executive Director, African-American Shakespeare Company Erin Neff Speaker; Singer; Stage Director; Voice Instructor—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 20th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In recent years, hundreds of thousands of people in high-risk disaster areas across the US have been dropped from their insurance policies, leaving them both physically and financially vulnerable. At the same time, premiums have sky-rocketed, making insuring homes and businesses out of reach for many. And federal insurance and relief programs have come under scrutiny for payouts that contribute to inequality. The insurance industry wasn’t set up to account for climate change, which is increasing the frequency, scale and severity of disaster claims. From flooding in Appalachia to fires in the Pacific Northwest to hurricanes wreaking havoc from Puerto Rico to Nova Scotia, we’ve seen frequent and fierce weather take lives and devastate communities. As more people and property face loss due to extreme weather events, who will pay to protect and rebuild communities? And what policies are being constructed to help the insurance industry stay afloat? Guests: Junia Howell, Urban Sociologist, University of Illinois Chicago Simon Young, Senior Director, Climate and Resilience Hub, Willis Towers Watson Carolyn Kousky, Associate Vice President for Economics and Policy, Environmental Defense Fund; author of Understanding Disaster Insurance: New Tools for a More Resilient Future Umair Irfan, Climate and Covid Reporter, VOX Eric Letvin, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Mitigation, FEMA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Physics offers deep insights into the workings of the universe that many find mysterious, complex and confusing. Theoretical physicist and "Mindscape" podcast host Sean Carroll breaks down some of the most mind-boggling concepts in his newest book The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Space, Time, and Motion. Join us for an online discussion to learn more about the wonders of modern physics and the multidimensional landscape it covers—from black holes to quantum mechanics and more. NOTES In association with Wonderfest. SPEAKERS Sean Carroll Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy, John Hopkins University; Fractal Faculty and External Professor, Santa Fe Institute; Host, "Mindscape" Podcast; Author, The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Space, Time, and Motion; Twitter @seanmcarroll In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 20th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What’s the last video you watched on YouTube? Across the world, people view more than a billion hours of video on YouTube every day. This digital platform created the attention economy that forever changed how we consume information and entertainment. Everyone knows YouTube. And yet virtually no one knows how it really works. Mark Bergen’s Like, Comment, Subscribe reveals the inside story of YouTube’s revolutionary technology and business model. Bergen offers a deep account of how the company upended media, culture, industry and democracy and unleashed an addiction machine that forever changed the world. SPEAKERS Mark Bergen Technology Journalist; Author, Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube's Chaotic Rise to World Domination; Twitter @mhbergen Emily Chang Host, Bloomberg Technology and Studio 1.0; Twitter @emilychangtv Shishir Mehrotra Co-founder and CEO, Coda In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 19th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Iuliia Mendel got the call telling her she had been hired to work for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, she had no idea what was to come. Mendel had a front row seat to many of the key events and meetings between President Zelenskyy, Vladimir Putin, and other European leaders preceding the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. She saw firsthand President Zelenskyy’s efforts to transform Ukraine into a vibrant and prosperous European democracy. As the war in Ukraine continues, Mendel shares what’s at stake not only for her homeland but the rest of the world. NOTES This is an online-only program; pre-register to receive a link to the live-stream event. Copies of The Fight of Our Lives are available for purchase at checkout (U.S. domestic shipping only). This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. SPEAKERS Iuliia Mendel Former Press Secretary and Spokesperson for Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (2019-2021); Author, The Fight of Our Lives: My Time with Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s Battle for Democracy, and What It Means for the World; Twitter @IuliiaMendel In Conversation with Steven Pifer Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine; Fellow, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 17th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices