Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

For years, abortion advocates have raised alarm bells on the risk of abortion rights being taken away. Today, that possibility has arrived. A tidal wave of anti-abortion bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the country and the fate of Roe v. Wade will be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court mid-year. At this pivotal moment, the leaders from Planned Parenthood and NARAL will speak at this special INFORUM virtual event offering their thoughts on how we got here and what the future holds. NOTES Presented by INFORUM. In association with the Psychology MLF. SPEAKERS Alexis McGill Johnson President and CEO, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund; Twitter @alexismcgill Mini Timmaraju President, NARAL Pro-Choice America; Twitter @mintimm Marisa Lagos Correspondent for California Politics and Government, KQED; Twitter @mlagos—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 February 23rd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are we alone? Avi Loeb, Harvard’s top astronomer, doesn’t seem to think so. He believes that our solar system was recently visited by advanced alien technology from a distant star. In 2017, scientists in Hawaii observed an object soaring through the sky, moving too fast along a strange orbit for Loeb to conclude that it was a regular asteroid. Instead, he suggested the object could be a piece of advanced technology created by a distant alien civilization. In his new book, Extraterrestrial, Loeb takes readers inside the thrilling story of the first interstellar visitor to be spotted in our solar system. He outlines his controversial theory and its profound implications: for science, religion and the future of our species and planet. Loeb challenges readers to aim for the stars—and to think critically about what’s out there, no matter how strange it seems. Join us as Avi Loeb takes us through a sky-bounding and mind-blowing journey of the wonders of space and what could be out there. SPEAKERS Avi Loeb Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science and Former Chair, Harvard University's Department of Astronomy; Author, Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth In Conversation with Brian Hackney Anchor and Meteorologist, CBS5/KPIX 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 22nd, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does racism cost us? Tying together economics and deeply personal stories from across the United States that convey the cost of a broken system, political strategist Heather McGhee roots out the racist policies and politics that she says plague the finances and lives of Americans. In her debut book The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together, she makes her case: racism and a flawed zero-sum structure are at the root of all our dysfunctions. Traversing across the country, McGhee shares both the big picture and individual tales of the cost of playing the zero-sum game. McGhee brings people of all races and creeds to share their accounts of lost homes and lost dreams, owing to the mentality that some must lose for others to win. Indeed, in a system where education is a private commodity and incomes for many Americans have remained stagnant, she says winning is not an option. Yet, there is reason for hope. In combat against this system, McGhee has seen sparks of a “Solidarity Dividend” that transcends racism and demands a win for all. McGhee will set out her vision for a future that moves beyond the zero-sum and into radical compassion to the benefit of all. SPEAKERS Heather McGhee Chair of the Board, Color of Change; Author, The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together; Twitter @hmcghee In Conversation with Lara Bazelon Professor of Law and Director of Criminal Juvenile Justice and Racial Justice Clinical Programs, University of San Francisco 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 25th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fatherhood is far from a one-dimensional experience—often, aspects of our identity such as race and other influential circumstances have influenced how we end up having and raising our children. Shaka Senghor, the New York Times bestselling author of Writing My Wrongs, can attest strongly to this fact: While Senghor's first son was raised during his time in prison, his second was born following his release. These contrasting experiences have not only taught Senghor the nuanced meanings of fatherhood in light of varying tribulations, but lessons that he wished he could’ve known throughout his life’s journey—both as a father and a son. In his new book, Letters to the Sons of Society, Senghor translates wisdom about the meaning of manhood into yet another masterful work of text. He will do the same at INFORUM, conflating his book’s lessons about mental health, healing and masculinity into a must-have conversation designed to leave all men—fathers, sons and beyond—in a much better position to cultivate positive relationships with one another as their lives move forward. NOTES This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. SPEAKERS Shaka Senghor Author, Letters to the Sons of Society: A Father's Invitation to Love, Honesty, and Freedom In Conversation with LaDoris Cordell Judge (Ret); Author, Her Honor: My Life on the Bench . . . What Works, What's Broken, and How to Change It 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 17th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a 20-year time frame, methane is 80 times more damaging to the climate than carbon dioxide. Nationally, 37% of methane emissions come from cows. 17% of all US methane emissions come from food waste rotting in landfills. More than 100 countries, including the US, signed The Global Methane Pledge, promising to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030. In California, a new law went into effect directly addressing the state’s methane emissions from organic waste and dairy farms. The law targets a 40% reduction in the same time frame. That’s ambitious. What effect will this law have on industrial agriculture, and the general population? Guests: Neil Edgar, Executive Director, California Compost Coalition J Jordan, Policy Coordinator, Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability Michael Boccadoro, Executive Director, Dairy Cares Monique Figueiredo, Chief Executive Officer / Founder / Co-Owner, Compostable LA Allen Williams, Understanding Ag Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we celebrate Black History Month, we honor the leadership of Black women from the Bay Area, including congresswoman Barbara Lee and Vice President Kamala Harris. Today, a historic number of Black women are serving on school boards, transit agencies, and city councils—and blazing the trail for the next generation of diverse civic leaders in this region. What’s more, an impressive cohort of Bay Area Black women are running for local and statewide office in the upcoming midterm elections. Join the San Francisco Foundation and The Commonwealth Club of California to learn about the leadership journeys of Black women from the Bay Area who are either serving in or running for public office. Speakers include BART Board Director Lateefah Simon, Emeryville City Councilmember Courtney Welch, California Assembly District 20 candidate Jennifer Esteen, and Oakland mayoral candidate Allyssa Victory. NOTES This program is made possible by San Francisco Foundation's Bay Area Leads donors. SPEAKERS Jennifer Esteen California Assembly District 20 Candidate; Trustee, Alameda Health System Lateefah Simon Board Director, BART Allyssa Victory Oakland Mayoral Candidate; Staff Attorney, Criminal Justice Program, ACLU of Northern California Courtney Cecelia Welch Emeryville City Councilwoman; Director of Policy and Communications, Bay Area Community Land Trust Brandi Howard Chief of Staff, San Francisco Foundation—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 February 17th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amy Zegart is one of America’s leading intelligence experts, but she recognizes that few people understand the world of spying, at a time when it has never been more ubiquitous, particularly using technology. She hopes to change this situation. In Spies, Lies, and Algorithms, Zegart separates fact from fiction on spying and offers an account of the past, present and future of American espionage as it faces a revolution driven by digital technology. Zegart explores the history of U.S. espionage, from George Washington’s Revolutionary War spies to today’s spy satellites; examines how fictional spies are influencing real officials; gives an overview of intelligence basics and life inside America’s intelligence agencies; explains the deadly cognitive biases that can mislead analysts; and explores the complicated issues of traitors, covert action and congressional oversight. Zegart also provides an important description of how technology is empowering new enemies and opportunities, and creating powerful new players, in espionage—including private citizens using their home computers and sophisticated technology available by a click. Zegart will discuss these topics and more when she returns to The Commonwealth Club. Please join us for an important conversation on a critical national security subject that many discuss, but few understand. SPEAKERS Amy Zegart Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies; Morris Arnold and Nona Jean Cox Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Author, Spies, Lies and Algorithms Quentin Hardy Head of Editorial, Google Cloud 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 16th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Michael Dine is renowned in his field of physics. Dine is widely recognized as having made profound contributions to our understanding of matter, time, the Big Bang, and even what might have come before it, and he wants to share it with people like you. His new book This Way to the Universe touches on many emotional, critical points in his extraordinary career while presenting mind-bending physics, such as his answer to the dark matter and dark energy mysteries, as well as the ideas that explain why our universe consists of something rather than nothing. Dine helps to celebrate the astounding, ongoing scientific investigations that have revealed the nature of reality at its smallest, at its largest, and at the scale of our daily lives. Join us as Professor Michael Dine takes us through the exciting world of physics. SPEAKERS Michael Dine Professor of Physics, University of California, Santa Cruz; Author, This Way to the Universe: A Theoretical Physicist's Journey to the Edge of Reality In Conversation with Adam Becker Astrophysicist; Science Writer, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Author, What is Real? The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics; Twitter @FreelanceAstro 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 16th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a new report, McKinsey & Company finds that Latinos increasingly embody the American Dream----from starting more businesses, seeing higher rates of intergenerational mobility, and achieving a larger share of skilled and higher-paid occupations in the past 10 years when compared to previous decades. Yet America’s contribution to that dream is uneven, according to the new McKinsey report, "The Economic State of Latinos in America: The American Dream Deferred." The new McKinsey report finds that Latinos born in the United States enjoy higher wages and intergenerational mobility than foreign-born Latinos—suggesting Latinos may overcome the hurdles to full participation in their adopted country over time. Yet both US- and foreign-born Latinos remain far from equal with non-Latino white Americans. Latino Americans make just 73 cents for every dollar earned by white Americans. They face discrimination when it comes to securing financing to start and scale businesses. Latinos struggle with access to food, housing and other essentials. And their level of household wealth—which directly affects their ability to accumulate and pass on wealth from generation to generation—is just one-fifth that of white Americans. Furthermore, the pandemic continues to have a disproportionate impact on Latinos. McKinsey says there’s no doubt Latinos are slowly being more fully integrated into the U.S. economy. Yet there’s also no doubt there’s a long way to go, especially for first-generation Latino immigrants. Please join us as we discuss this important report with two of its authors and other prominent Latinos, and focus on the opportunity we have to make the U.S. economy more robust for everyone. NOTES This important community program is made free to the public thanks to McKinsey & Co. SPEAKERS Jacqueline Martinez Garcel CEO, Latino Community Foundation Bismarck Lepe President and CEO, Wizeline Lucy Pérez Senior Partner, McKinsey & Co. Bernardo Sichel Partner, McKinsey & Co. Damian Trujillo Reporter, NBC Bay Area—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 February 14th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hailed as the “first freedom,” free speech is one of the bedrocks of democracy. But it is a challenging principle, subject to erosion in times of fear and upheaval. Today, both in democracies and in authoritarian states around the world, it appears to be on the retreat. Jacob Mchangama traces the fascinating legal, political and cultural history of this idea by telling stories of free speech’s many defenders—from the ancient Athenian orator Demosthenes and the ninth-century freethinker al-Rāzī, to the anti-lynching crusader Ida B. Wells and modern-day digital activists. Mchangama describes how the free exchange of ideas underlies all intellectual achievement and has enabled the advancement of both freedom and equality worldwide. Yet the desire to restrict speech is also a constant, and he explores how even its champions can sometimes be led down an authoritarian, restrictive path when the rise of new and contrarian voices challenge power and privilege of all stripes. Mchangama's Free Speech demonstrates how much we have gained from this principle—and how much we stand to lose without it. NOTES MLF: Humanities SPEAKERS Jacob Mchangama Founder and Executive Director, Justitia (Danish think tank); Host, "Clear and Present Danger: A History of Free Speech" Podcast; Author, Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media 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 February 16th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For years, scientists, activists, and politicians have tried to warn the world of the potential catastrophic consequences of dumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere: Think of An Inconvenient Truth in 2006. Or NASA scientist James Hansens’ testimony before the U.S. Senate in 1988, in which he said that “the greenhouse effect has been detected and it is changing our climate now.” Or go all the way back to 1856, when Eunice Newton Foote first warned the world that an atmosphere heavy with carbon dioxide could send global temperatures soaring. Writer and climate campaigner Alice Bell lays out the history of evolving climate science and our forays into different energy technologies in Our Biggest Experiment: An Epic History of the Climate Crisis. Despite our current emissions trajectory, Bell says there’s still reason to hope: “We have been left a lot of opportunities and we still have got some time to seize them.” Guests: Alice Bell, climate campaigner, author, Our Biggest Experiment: An Epic History of the Climate Crisis Meera Subramanian, environmental journalist Katerina Gonzales, climate scientist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When our imaginations speculate about the afterlife that most of us believe in, they are probably less effective (as Sir Thomas Browne pointed out) than two infants still in the womb trying to describe our far more mundane adult human reality. But as Catherine Wolff demonstrates in Beyond, that does not stop us from trying. Over and over again. Autobiographical storytelling is a similar act of our imaginations’ desire to understand reality by editing it vigorously. Join us to discuss how we think about the beyond with Catherine Wolff, and with her husband Tobias Wolff, a master of that autobiographical art. We will delve into the overlapping boundaries of our imaginations, our creativity, our dreams, and what comes next. If anything. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities This program is part of The Commonwealth Club's Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. SPEAKERS Catherine Wolff Former Director, the Arrupe Center for Community-Based Learning, Santa Clara University; Author, Beyond: How Humankind Thinks About Heaven Tobias Wolff Ward W. and Priscilla B. Woods Professor, Emeritus, Department of English, Stanford University; Author, This Boy’s Life and In Pharoah’s Army 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 February 15th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nearly 86 million Americans are immigrants themselves or the children of immigrants. Though many authors have looked at how America changes immigrants, Nancy Foner focuses more on how immigrants have changed America. She reminds us that immigration has long had an important influence on American culture. Today the advantages of immigration continue: rejuvenating our urban centers as well as some rural communities, strengthening the economy, fueling the growth of old industries, spurring the formation of new ones, and refining how Americans perceive race, all while playing a pivotal role in reshaping electoral politics and party alignments. Immigrants affect virtually every facet of American culture, from the music we dance to and the food we eat to the films we watch and the books we read. The impact of immigrants over the past half century has become so much a part of everyday life in America that we sometimes fail to see it. Foner makes sure we don't forget all the positive ways in which immigrants continue to change our country. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities SPEAKERS Nancy Foner Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York; Author, One Quarter of the Nation: Immigration and the Transformation of America 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 February 15th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The most famous and most beautiful tomb in the world was born in the broken heart of Shah Jahan, when his wife Mumtaz Mahal died at 38 giving birth to their 14th child. The riches of the Mughal Empire were poured into this testament to his grief and to his love, as thousands of artisans labored between 1632 and 1643 to construct it, along with multiple other projects, including gardens, palaces and mosques. The expenditure was immense, even by today’s standards. The Taj Mahal and these other marble monuments were intended to serve the deceased and the living as well as the future of the Mughal house. Shah Jahan ruled until 1658, when he became seriously ill and was overthrown by his sons, each wishing to succeed him. He spent the last years of his life imprisoned and as disheartened as King Lear. Join Humanities West in person at The Commonwealth Club, or via live stream, to gain a deeper understanding of the Mughal dynasty that created the Taj Mahal and what went into the construction of one of the most visited architectural wonders in the world—which never fails to impress visitors, no matter how high their expectations were. Fortunately, unlike the Egyptian pyramids, we actually know from Mughal records how and why the Taj Mahal was constructed. The story of the Taj Mahal is indelibly intertwined with the story of Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal Emperor, who ruled a vast empire on the Indian subcontinent from 1628–1658. His many architectural achievements, in addition to the Taj Mahal, were made possible because of his extraordinary wealth. Catherine Asher will focus on the artistic achievement itself: how the Taj Mahal became reality from its inception to its completion, with attention to its remarkable artistic details. She will set this achievement in the context of that time—the previous Mughal artistic developments that had led to the training of so many skilled craftsmen who built not only the Taj Mahal but also the Red Fort and Jama Masjid in Delhi, the Moti Masjid in Agra, and the renovation of Agra Fort (and much more). All this was accomplished during Shah Jahan’s reign. Throughout her discussion she will interweave the Mughals' concept of state with architectural construction. Note: Both speakers will be participating remotely. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities SPEAKERS Catherine Asher Professor Emerita, Department of Art History, University of Minnesota, Specialist in Indian, Muslim and Mughal Dynasty art and architecture; Author, The Architecture of Mughal India 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 February 11th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do "Parks and Recreation" and "The Office" have in common with books that explore philosophical theories like deontology, ubuntu, utilitarianism and more? They’ve all been written by Michael Schur, a television producer and character actor whose mind has made way for the creation of some of today’s most popular shows—including "The Good Place," "Parks and Recreation," and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine." In his new book, How to Be Perfect, Schur shares yet another one of his masterful creations. He explores some of history’s most influential philosophical concepts and gives them various applications, from matters of conversation-starting to problem-solving. At INFORUM, Schur and Nick Offerman—best known for playing Ron Swanson in “Parks and Recreation”—will enlighten us with a new and relatable framework to learn about philosophy and ethics. They’ll tackle large questions—such as, “Can I still enjoy great art if it was created by terrible people?”—in a manner that can be both wise and refreshing everyone. While Schur and Offerman’s discussion of How To Be Perfect might not actually leave us with all the answers necessary to eradicate our imperfections, it will leave us with knowledge that could allows us to become even better people. SPEAKERS Michael Schur Creator, "The Good Place"; Co-creator, "Parks and Recreation" and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine"; Author, How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question In Conversation with Nick Offerman Note: This program contains EXPLICIT language Actor; Author; Humorist; Woodworker 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 8th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"I lost to Amy Schneider, but now I want her to keep winning. I want her to keep breaking records. I'm rooting for her with my whole heart. And as cheesy as it sounds, being a part of Amy's winning streak—even as someone she defeated—is an honor." —"Jeopardy!" contestant Andrea Asuaje Amy Schneider has been breaking records and earned more than $1 million as a contestant on the brainy quiz show "Jeopardy!" She's an engineering manager based in Oakland, California, as well as a transgender woman who has described her identity as "important, but also relatively minor." There's nothing minor about her historic run on one of the most respected game shows in the country, and she's having a major impact on attitudes about the trans community. Come meet Amy Schneider live, in-person, at The Commonwealth Club or watch online as we ask her a few questions of our own. Before the program, join us in the Hormel Lounge for coffee and treats provided by TransClinique. NOTES Thanks to TransClinique for providing coffee and treats for our pre-program reception in the Hormel Loung. TransClinique is a trans-owned and operated gender-affirming virtual clinic that was founded to serve trans and non-binary communities across the country by offering accessible telemedicine and on-demand HRT shipped right to your door. SPEAKERS Amy Schneider Contestant, "Jeopardy!"; Engineering Manager; Twitter @Jeopardamy Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show" on KBCW/KPIX TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @msmichellemeow—Co-Host John Zipperer Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club—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 on February 10th, 2021 at the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The American South has always carved out a unique role in the American civic psyche. Even those who have never lived there can rattle off a list of signifiers from the area: the Civil War, Gone with the Wind, the Ku Klux Klan, plantations, football, barbecue, Jim Crow, slavery. Yet the South is far more complex than much of the country tends to acknowledge, even moreso with an in-migration of people from around the country over the past two decades. In her new book, South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation, Princeton University Professor Imani Perry delves into the true character of the region and shows that the very meaning of America is inextricably linked with the South, and that the country's understanding of its history and culture, particularly as it relates to African-Americans, is the key to understanding the nation as a whole. Perry's book explores a range of personalities and stories from the South, from immigrant communities, contemporary artists, exploitative opportunists, enslaved peoples, unsung heroes, her own ancestors, and her lived experiences. Please join us for illuminating conversation that will center the American South as critical to understanding the future of the United States. NOTES This program contains EXPLICIT language This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. SPEAKERS Imani Perry Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies, Princeton University; Author, South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation In Conversation with Deesha Philyaw Author, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When we hear music, we often experience how the physical flirts with the spiritual in profound and moving ways. Werner contends that this confluence is possible not only in music, but also in your daily personal and work life, and it's easier than you think. In Becoming the Instrument, Werner shares insights and anecdotes from his 40 years of studying, performing and teaching music, including a guide for accessing the spiritual in our everyday existence and applying it to the pursuits we love. Werner shows us how to lift our daily performances to their highest level by being spontaneous, fearless, joyful and disciplined. Whatever you are trying to master, Werner says the key is learning how to slip into "the space," the place beyond the conscious mind that allows us to effortlessly embody whatever we are doing. Entering this sort of flow state might seem esoteric and difficult to achieve, but his easy exercises will allow you to access and achieve mastery, because "mastery is not perfection, or even virtuosity. It is giving oneself love, forgiving one's mistakes, and not allowing earthly evidence to diminish one's view of one's self as a drop in the Ocean of Perfection." NOTES MLF: Humanities This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. SPEAKERS Kenny Werner Pianist and Composer; Artistic Director, Effortless Mastery Institute, Berklee College of Music; Author, Becoming the Instrument: Lessons on Self-Mastery from Music to Life 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 February 3rd, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's one of the most-watched California elections this season. Meet all four candidates seeking to succeed David Chiu representing District 17 in the California State Assembly. David Campos, Matt Haney, Bilal Mahmood and Thea Selby will make their cases to be sent to Sacramento, and we'll ask your questions. About the Speakers David Campos has served as a San Francisco deputy city attorney, eventually serving as the general counsel for the city's school system. He also served as a San Francisco police commissioner, a supervisor representing District 9 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, deputy county executive for the County of Santa Clara and as San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin’s chief of staff. In that role, he oversaw the day-to-day operations of the office, before taking leave during this final stretch of the campaign. Matt Haney is a San Francisco supervisor who has also served as San Francisco Board of Education president, nonprofit founder, advocate, organizer, pro bono tenant attorney, and state legislative aide. He currently represents downtown San Francisco on the Board of Supervisors and serves as the chair of the Budget and Finance Committee. Prior to his election to the Board of Supervisors, Haney was elected twice to the San Francisco Board of Education. Bilal Mahmood is a civil servant and entrepreneur with experience in both the public and private sectors. He has a background as a neuroscientist, created a microlending nonprofit to help people lift themselves out of poverty, served as a policy analyst in the Obama administration, and helped restaurant workers in San Francisco offset lost wages during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thea Selby has been a small business owner for more than 20 years. She is the co-founder of the Lower Haight Merchant and Neighbor Association, served seven years on the City College Board of Trustees, and co-founded Voices for Public Transportation. SPEAKERS David Campos Former Supervisor, San Francisco; Deputy County Executive, County of Santa Clara; Former Chief of Staff, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin Matt Haney Supervisor, San Francisco Bilal Mahmood Former Policy Analyst, Obama Administration; Entrepreneur Thea Selby Co-Founder, Lower Haight Merchant and Neighbor Association; Business Owner Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show" on KBCW/KPIX TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @msmichellemeow—Co-Host John Zipperer Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club—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 February 3rd, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For years, fossil fuel companies have claimed to support climate science and policy. Many have recently pledged to hit net zero emissions by midcentury. Yet behind the scenes they fight those very same policies through industry associations, shadow groups, and lobbying – all while spending vast sums on advertising and PR campaigns touting their climate commitments. This week we focus on the PR and law firms helping fossil fuel companies delay the transition to clean energy while claiming they are on the side of climate protection. Guests: Benjamin Franta, PhD candidate in History of Science, Stanford University. Jamie Henn, founder and director, Fossil Free Media Kathryn Lundstrom, sustainability editor, Adweek Christine Arena, former Executive Vice President, Edelman; founder, Generous Films Michaela Anang, law student, UC Davis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Home” has been many places for Amartya Sen: from Dhaka, in modern Bangladesh, where he grew up; to Calcutta, where he studied economics; to Cambridge, England, where he taught and worked with other influential economists. With characteristic moral clarity, Sen reflects on the cataclysmic events that tore his world asunder, from the Japanese assault on Burma and India to the Bengal famine of 1943, the struggle for Indian independence, and the outbreak of toxic nationalism that accompanied the end of British rule. Still, Sen remains a fearless optimist, continuing even now to work on breaking down barriers between different ethnic groups. Home in the World encompasses penetrating ideas, fascinating people and unusual places, reflecting an empathy for all of humanity that is undeterred by distance and time due to Sen's being at home in the world—anywhere in the world. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by The Bernard Osher Foundation. SPEAKERS Amartya Sen Nobel Laureate, Economics (1998); Professor of Economics and Philosophy, Harvard University; former Master of Trinity College, Cambridge University; Author, Home in the World: A Memoir 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 February 1st, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Commonwealth Club’s Bank of America Walter E. Hoadley Economic Forecast will be held on February 4, at noon. It will feature a macroeconomic update from Stanford University's Michael Boskin, a former chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, and a focused look at inflation from leaders facing the issue on-the-ground in California, including the head of the second largest port in America, as well as the CEO of a global supply chain company. The forecast comes as the COVID-19 pandemic stretches into its second full year, and the U.S. economy is in a murky and confusing state. Growth has returned, yet it has been accompanied by historically high inflation that is impacting many sectors of the economy. Global supply chains have been strongly influenced by unpredictability in both virus waves and labor force participation, and planning for everything from inventory management to labor force participation continues to be in flux. Our annual forecast will focus on what this unpredictability will mean for the economy as a whole, particularly around inflation, and what it means for the American economy, American consumers and American investors in 2022. Join us for this important discussion. NOTES This event is underwritten by Bank of America. SPEAKERS Michael Boskin Ph.D., Professor of Economics and Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Chair, President George H.W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisors Sarah Bohn Vice President and John and Louise Bryson Chair in Policy Research and Senior Fellow, Public Policy Institute of California Dr. Noel Hacegaba Deputy Executive Director, Port of Long Beach, California Hannah Kain President & CEO, ALOM Technologies Mary Huss President and Publisher, San Francisco Business Times; Member, Board of Governors, Commonwealth Club—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 February 4th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The climate crisis seems to be unfolding faster than ever before — with catastrophic floods, winter wildfires, and last summer’s killer heat. It’s becoming increasingly hard to mentally set climate aside as a future problem — it is here, real in our present moment. How do we grapple with the weight of these changes, and process our fear for what is coming for us, and for the next generation? And how do those emotions affect our decisions about whether or not to have children, who in many ways represent an embodied version of our hope for the future? Guests: Daniel Sherrell, Author, Warmth, Coming of Age at the End of Our World Seb Gould, physics teacher Irène Mathieu, pediatrician and poet Virginie Le Masson, co-director of the Centre for Gender and Disaster at University College London Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are few remaining frontiers on our planet. But perhaps the wildest, and least understood, are the world’s oceans: too big to police, and under no clear international authority, these immense regions of treacherous water play host to rampant criminality and exploitation. Join us for a conversation with Ian Urbana, director of The Outlaw Ocean Project, a nonprofit journalism organization based in Washington, D.C., that focuses on environmental and human rights concerns at sea globally. MLF ORGANIZER Andrew Dudley NOTES MLF: People & Nature SPEAKERS Ian Urbina Director, The Outlaw Ocean Project Andrew Dudley Co-Host and Producer, Earth Live; Chair, People & Nature 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 February 1st, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Valarie Kaur, Reyna Grande, and Richard Lui offer their unique perspectives about how the power of kindness, resilience and hope can move us forward as a community. Kaur will discuss how "revolutionary love" can heal our world; Lui will share his experience of how compassion impacts individuals and our community; and Grande will reflect on her own journey crossing the US-Mexico border as a child and the resilience she developed during her life. Each of their stories and experiences provides hope for our collective future and inspiration to become better people in the world. NOTES In partnership with Santa Clara County Office of Education, Santa Clara County Library District, and San Jose Public Library. SPEAKERS Reyna Grande Author, A Dream Called Home: A Memoir Valarie Kaur Founder, Revolutionary Love Project; Author, See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love Richard Lui Journalist, MSNBC/NBC News; Author, Enough About Me: The Unexpected Power of Selflessness In Conversation with Sal Pizarro Columnist, Mercury News 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 January 27th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For nearly five years, NBC News technology correspondent Jacob Ward has reported on the unanticipated consequences of science and technology on our lives. His new book, The Loop: How Technology is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back, builds on this work by exploring the ways artificial intelligence is beginning to curate our choices for us, and how capitalism packages those choices for our unconscious acceptance. The consequences for individuals and our society from this unseen "loop" are tremendous, and growing every day. Artificial intelligence is changing the world as we know it. But the real danger isn't some movie-style robot that's going to enslave us; it's actually our own brains that are being re-shaped by technology, according to Ward. He explores how our brains are constantly making decisions using shortcuts, biases, and hidden processes using technology built to reinforce those very same processes. In short, he says it is a feedback loop—that magnifies our worst instincts so that we have fewer choices, leading to a potentially dangerous future. At this important talk, Ward will discuss how our brains make decisions and how artificial intelligence in such areas of policing, entertainment, parenting, the military and more are shaped by algorithms, and then how patterns of behaviors are shaped further by those very algorithms, creating patterns that organize and manipulate our lives., often without us even knowing it. Please join us as we question the on-going impact of the machines that humans created. SPEAKERS Jacob Ward Technology Correspondent, NBC News; Author, The Loop: How Technology Is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back DJ Patil Former U.S. Chief Data Scientist; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors—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 January 27th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a screening of Writing With Fire followed by a discussion with the filmmakers about their film and the topics raised in it. Into India's cluttered male-dominated news landscape comes Khabar Lahariya (Waves of News), India's only newspaper run by Dalit ("low caste") women. Armed with smartphones, Chief Reporter Meera and her journalists break traditions, be it on the frontlines of India's biggest issues or within the confines of their homes, redefining what it means to be powerful. Join us for a conversation with Suchmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas, the filmmakers behind the documentary Writing With Fire. They will be joining us from India. Learn how they chronicled the astonishing determination of these local reporters—who empowered each other and held responsible the unjust. Reaching new audiences through their growing platform, the women of Khabar Lahariya redefine what it means to be powerful. SPEAKERS Sushmit Ghosh Director and Cinematographer, Writing With Fire; Co-founder, Black Ticket Films Rintu Thomas Director and Producer, Writing With Fire; 2021 Logan Elevate Grantee Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show" on KBCW/KPIX TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @msmichellemeow—Co-Host John Zipperer Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club—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 January 27th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Antitrust enforcement is one of the most pressing issues facing America today. Google reportedly controls 90 percent of the search engine market, and Big Pharma has hiked drug prices up, making health care almost impossible to access for many. Senator Amy Klobuchar is leading the charge against monopolies. As Minnesota's senior senator, she has been a member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights. Antitrust: Taking on Monopoly Power from the Gilded Age to the Digital Age draws from her experience in the Senate, along with history, to give readers a comprehensive view of how monopolies have changed over the years and how the government has adapted to it. Senator Klobuchar explores today's Big Pharma and what she calls its price-gouging, tech, television, content, and agriculture communities and how a marketplace with few players can hurt consumer prices and stifle innovation. Join us as Senator Amy Klobuchar talks about the fascinating history of the antitrust movement, shows us what led to the present moment, and offers achievable solutions to prevent monopolies, promote business competition, and encourage innovation. SPEAKERS Amy Klobuchar U.S Senator (D-MN); Author, Antitrust: Taking on Monopoly Power from the Gilded Age to the Digital Age; Twitter @amyklobuchar In Conversation with Sheera Frenkel Technology Reporter, The New York Times; Co-Author, An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination; Twitter @sheeraf 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 January 26th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eve Rodsky knows more than a thing or two about relationship building, goal setting, and time management. In her newest book, Find Your Unicorn Space: Reclaim Your Creative Life in a Too-Busy World, Rodsky offers an in-depth look at how to identify and prioritize time for activities that will cultivate and unleash creativity in your life. Rodsky reveals what researchers already know: Creativity is not optional but essential—though most of us do need to remind ourselves how (and where) to find it. At INFORUM, she will bring her new book to life with how-to advice and big-picture thinking to reclaim your own “unicorn space.” NOTE: This program contains EXPLICIT language SPEAKERS Eve Rodsky Author, Find Your Unicorn Space: Reclaim Your Creative Life in a Too-Busy World;Twitter @eve_rodksy In Conversation with Minda Harts CEO, The Memo LLC; Professor, NYU Wagner; Host, "Secure the Seat" Podcast; Author, The Memo: What Women of Color Need to Know To Secure a Seat At the Table; Twitter @MindaHarts 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 January 24th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With expanding electrical infrastructure and some jurisdictions beginning to ban gas appliances in new construction, the transition to a clean energy economy is already happening. Understandably, labor unions that represent workers tied to the fossil fuel infrastructure are digging in their heels. While recognizing that climate change is a threat, the Laborers’ International Union of North America and the Utility Workers Union of America are skeptical of promises of a just transition, saying green jobs are typically non-union and pay far less. So how can we transition to a low-carbon economy while protecting good-paying jobs? Guests: Austin Keyser, Assistant to the International President for Government Affairs at International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Yvette Pena-O'Sullivan, Executive Director, Office of the General President, LiUNA Lee Anderson, Director of Government Affairs, Utility Workers Union of America Carol Zabin, Director, Green Economy Program, UC Berkeley Labor Center Norman Rogers, Second Vice President of United Steelworkers, California Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As 2021 came to a close, questions about crime and homelessness in San Francisco dominated headlines locally and nationally. In addition to high-profile smash-and-grab robberies in San Francisco's Union Square and malls outside the city, the publication of Michael Shellenberger's new book, San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities, also drew attention to increasing disorder on San Francisco's streets; the book and its arguments received attention across the political spectrum from media around the World. A Bay Area resident for more than 30 years, Shellenberger says progressive policies are, in good part, the reason for homelessness and crime in San Francisco (and similar cities on the West Coast). From homeless encampments to open-air drug markets and retail robberies, he says progressive leaders have gone beyond merely tolerating these issues and now actively enable them through specific public policy choices by urban lawmakers and district attorneys. Shellenberger believes that urban problems such as homelessness and drug dealing aren't primarily from a lack of housing, money for social programs or other "root causes." Instead, he feels the real problem is an ideology that designates some people, by identity or experience, as victims entitled to destructive behaviors and a hands-off approach to law enforcement that coddles them. The result, he says, is an undermining of the values that make cities, and civilization itself, possible. Please join us as Shellenberger makes one of his first local public appearances to discuss his controversial book and the new crime policies launched in San Francisco. NOTES This program contains EXPLICIT language. This program is supported by the Ken & Jaclyn Broad Family Fund. Complimentary copies of Shellenberger’s San Fransicko will be available to in-person attendees thanks to their support. SPEAKERS Michael Shellenberger Founder and President, Environmental Progress; Author, San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities Melissa Caen Political Analyst; Attorney—Moderator This program was recorded on January 24th, 2022 at the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With deep political divides dominating America's civic culture and affecting how the United States is viewed abroad, civics education is increasingly being seen as a national security issue. Improving K–12 students’ understanding of America’s civic structures—from the Constitution to voting, to clarity about our national security institutions and how they operate within the rule of law—is being seen by national leaders as a way to strengthen the role of the United States in the world, and to protect the country’s national interests. Similar to the push for STEM education funding to address America’s global role in science and technology, many officials now support expanded funding for civics and history education as a way to improve student learning about their civic responsibilities in our participatory democracy. Please join us as we discuss civics education and its role in boosting national resilience at this critical time in American history. NOTES The program is part of the Commonwealth Club's Creating Citizens initiative. Suzanne Spaulding Senior Adviser, Homeland Security, International Security Program Millie Solomon President, The Hastings Center Shawn Healy Senior Director, Policy and Advocacy, iCivics—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 January 24th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In yet another case of reality trumping its popularization as entertainment, Ann Burgess tells the vivid story of her role in the creation of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit (very thinly veiled on the long-running "Criminal Minds" series as its Behavioral Analysis Unit)—a role that transformed the way the FBI studies, profiles, and catches serial killers. With reported cases of sexual assault and homicide rising in the 1970s and 1980s, the FBI created a specialized team—the “Mindhunters”—to track down America's most dangerous criminals. Dr. Burgess's pioneering research on sexual assault and trauma soon caught their attention, and steered her right into the middle of a chilling serial murder investigation in Nebraska. Over the next two decades she helped identify, interview and track down dozens of notoriously violent offenders, including Ed Kemper ("The Co-Ed Killer"), Dennis Rader ("BTK"), Henry Wallace ("The Taco Bell Strangler"), and Jon Barry Simonis ("The Ski-Mask Rapist"). As one of the first women trailblazers at the FBI, Burgess knew she was expected to crack under pressure—to recoil in horror. But she was determined to protect potential victims at any cost. Burgess provides deep insights into the minds of deranged criminals, and of their victims, and paints a revealing portrait of the FBI on the brink of a seismic scientific and cultural reckoning. She also directly confronts the age-old question that plagues every criminal justice system: “What drives someone to kill, and how can we stop them?” MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities SPEAKERS Ann Burgess Professor, Boston College Connell School of Nursing; Forensic and Psychiatric Nurse; Worked with the FBI for over two decades; Author, A Killer By Design: Murderers, Mindhunters, and My Quest to Decipher the Criminal Mind Steven Constantine Co-Author, A Killer By Design: Murderers, Mindhunters, and My Quest to Decipher the Criminal Mind 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 January 20th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In her new documentary In the Same Breath, director Nanfu Wang recounts the origin and spread of the novel coronavirus from the earliest days of the outbreak in Wuhan to its rampage across the United States. In a deeply personal approach, Wang, who was born in China and now lives in the United States, explores the parallel campaigns of misinformation waged by leadership and the devastating impact on citizens of both countries. Emotional first-hand accounts and startling, on-the-ground footage weave a revelatory picture of cover-ups and misinformation while also highlighting the strength and resilience of the health-care workers, activists and family members who risked everything to communicate the truth. Note: This is a discussion about the documentary; this is not a screening of the film. In the Same Breath is currently available on HBO Max. Join us for an online conversation with Nanfu Wang. SPEAKERS Nanfu Wang Director, In the Same Breath and One Child Nation Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @msmichellemeow—Co-Host John Zipperer Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club—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 January 20th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Korea and Japan are two of the most technologically advanced countries on the planet. In September 2021, the Korean National Assembly passed legislation mandating carbon neutrality by 2050, becoming the 14th country to legislate commitments to reduce carbon emissions. Earlier in May 2021, Japan’s parliament passed an amendment to Japan’s framework climate law to legally enshrine the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 previously announced by its prime minister. What are their policies for achieving their goals? How will technology and innovations help achieve their goals? Join us to hear experts from Korea and Japan discuss these important subjects as the world addresses ways to meet their climate change targets. MLF ORGANIZER: Lillian Nakagawa SPEAKERS Dr. Sung Woo Kim Head of the Private Environment & Energy Research Institute, Kim & Chang, Seoul, Korea; member of the Carbon Neutrality Committee under the Presidential Office of the Republic of Korea Dr. Kenji Yamaji President, Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (in Tokyo, Japan) Dr. Stephanie A. Siehr Professor, Environmental and Energy Programs, University of San Francisco; Affiliate, China Energy Group, Energy Technologies Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory—Moderator Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Strategies for rapidly and inexpensively identifying neurological/psychiatric weakness and distortion—combined with genomics and increasingly more sophisticated chemical analyses of blood and other body fluids—now provide us with simple, scalable strategies for delineating specific aspects of preclinical stages of neurological and psychiatric disorders. In parallel, we have an increasing understanding of how to engage the plastic brain in ways that reverse those weaknesses and distortions on a path to neurological normalcy. The word for broadly achieving such renormalization is prevention—or in already diagnosed patients, cure—two goals that up to now have rarely been achieved in brain-targeted medicine. This scientific explosion foretells a rapid transformation from a treatment-based to prevention-based brain medicine era. Dr. Michael Merzenich is an emeritus UCSF professor who is broadly recognized for his seminal research in the science of neuroplasticity, and for his team’s efforts to translate this research into improvements in brain performance and organic brain health in normal and in variously struggling child and adult populations. He also led a UCSF team that developed the modern cochlear implant. Merzenich has published several hundred papers in prestigious scientific journals; been awarded nearly 70 U.S. patents; with UCSF’s permission, co-founded 3 companies focused on the translation of this research for human benefit; and has received many international prizes and awards for his teams’ ground-breaking research. MLF ORGANIZER: Robert Lee Kilpatrick SPEAKERS Dr. Michael Merzenich Ph.D., Professor (Emeritus), UCSF; CSO, Posit Science Robert Lee Kilpatrick Ph.D., Chair, Health & Medicine Member-Led Forum—Moderator Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The year 2020 was one of galvanizing unrest, finally bringing to mainstream attention countless racial and social injustices that have plagued American society for centuries. Many activists have become prominent figures in the historical struggle for equal rights, but not nearly enough of them have gotten this attention. During his virtual visit, the Reverend Al Sharpton, a civil rights leader and politician, will join us to tell their stories. In his new book, Righteous Troublemakers: Untold Stories of the Social Justice Movement in America, Sharpton delves into the everyday lives of extraordinary activists from the past and present. Further, he provides personal details from the frontlines of 2020’s heightened racial activism—offering his readers a nuanced account of the stories many could only follow from device screens. At INFORUM, Sharpton will leave his audience inspired to drive change in the name of truth and justice. SPEAKERS Al Sharpton Host, MSNBC's "PoliticsNation"; Baptist Minister; Author, Righteous Troublemakers: Untold Stories of the Social Justice Movement in America In Conversation with Sheryl Davis Executive Director, San Francisco Human Rights Commission 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 January 19th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Corporate pledges of reaching net zero carbon emissions have quickly become commonplace. Critics argue that such pledges are mere greenwashing, and even if pledges are fulfilled, the balance sheets usually utilize carbon offsets, which can be of questionable quality and accountability. Proponents of corporate net zero pledges say we’ll never get to net zero emissions without corporate action, and pledges represent legitimate ramping up of ambition and commitment. How can consumers, investors and policy leaders distinguish between stalling and increased ambition? Can third party auditors hold companies accountable? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The gap between the rich and the poor has grown dramatically, stock prices are trading far above what many consider justified by actual corporate profits, corporate debt in America is at an all-time high, and this debt is being traded by big banks on Wall Street, leaving them vulnerable—just as they were during the mortgage boom. Middle-class wages have barely budged in a decade, and consumers are buried under credit card debt, car loan debt, and student debt. If you asked most people what forces led to today’s unprecedented income inequality and financial crashes, no one would say the Federal Reserve. However, Christopher Leonard is here to tell you otherwise. In his new book, The Lords of Easy Money, Leonard goes into shocking detail about how quantitative easing is imperiling the American economy through the story of the one man who tried to warn us. He says this will be the first inside story of how we really got here—and why we face a frightening future. Join us as Christopher Leonard takes us through the world of the Federal Reserve, and why you should be alarmed. SPEAKERS Christopher Leonard Business Reporter; Author, The Lords of Easy Money: How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy In Conversation with Lenny Mendonca Former Chief Economic and Business Advisor, State of California; Director Emeritus, McKinsey & Company 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 January 18th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to a very recent report from the U.S. Surgeon General, "the challenges today’s generation of young people face are unprecedented and uniquely hard to navigate. And the effect these challenges have had on their mental health is devastating." The Surgeon General suggests that, as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and start recovering and rebuilding, we have an opportunity to approach the mental health of our children and youth with a more comprehensive, more fulfilling and more inclusive vision. NOTES This program is part of our series on mental health, dedicated in memory of Nancy Friend Pritzker, with support from the John Pritzker Family Fund. SPEAKERS Saun Toy Trotter Director, School-Based Services, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland Nicole Bush Associate Professor, Psychiatry, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences; Lisa and John Pritzker Distinguished Professor of Developmental and Behavioral Health William Martinez Assistant Professor, Psychiatry, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences Petra Steinbuchel Director, Psychiatry, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland Rani Sindledecker 8th-Grade student Katie Albright CEO, Safe & Sound 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 January 13th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us to hear David Bodanis make a fresh, detail-rich argument that the most productive way to lead is to be fair to others. Conventional wisdom is that "nice guys finish last," but maybe that just means that too many nice guys are too conventional. And it probably does not mean that one has to be a bully, schooled in Machiavellian tactics, to succeed. The Art of Fairness reveals how it was fairness, applied with skill, that led the Empire State Building to be constructed in barely a year. And how the same techniques transformed a quiet English debutante into an acclaimed guerrilla fighter. In 10 vivid profiles featuring pilots, presidents, and even the producer of "Game of Thrones," Bodanis demonstrates that the path to greatness doesn't require crushing displays of power or a tyrannical ego. With surprising insights from across history, including the downfall of the very man who popularized the phrase “nice guys finish last,” Bodanis charts a refreshing and sustainable approach to cultivating integrity and influence. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities SPEAKERS David Bodanis Author, The Art of Fairness: The Power of Decency in a World Gone Mean In Conversation with George Hammond Author, Conversations With Socrates Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us to discuss with James Porter our ongoing fascination with Homer—the man and the myth. The poet of the Iliad and the Odyssey was revered as a cultural icon in antiquity and remains millennia later a figure of lasting influence. But his identity is shrouded in questions about who he was, when he lived and whether he was an actual person, a myth or merely a shared idea. Whatever his source, Homer is a cultural invention nearly as distinctive and important as the poems attributed to him. Porter follows the cultural history of the idea of the great poet and of the obsession that is reborn every time Homer is reimagined. Offering novel readings of texts and objects, the idea of Homer is elucidated from its origins to its most recent imaginings in literature, criticism, philosophy, visual art and classical archaeology. Porter explores the many sources of Homer’s mystique and their cultural impact, starting with the first recorded mentions of his name in ancient Greece. NOTES MLF: Humanities This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. SPEAKERS James Porter Irving Stone Professor of Literature, University of California, Berkeley; Author, Homer: The Very Idea 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 January 13th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The conflict between Israelis and the Palestinians is one of the most complex and controversial disputes in the world today. It is a complicated conflict that plays a role in the foreign affairs of many countries around the world, including the United States. Yet many issues related to the conflict are misunderstood by people and groups across the political spectrum, sometimes intentionally, sometimes from just a lack of knowledge. Daniel Sokatch, the head of the New Israel Fund—an organization dedicated to equality and democracy for all Israelis, not just Jews—is often asked to explain these issues as part of his job. In his new book, Can We Talk About Israel? A Guide for the Curious, Confused, and Conflicted, Sokatch offers his own primer on Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian issue. The book provides the long story of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and gives basic explanations for the centuries-long conflict. Sokatch also attempts to explain why Israel (and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) inspires such extreme feelings—why it seems as if Israel is the answer to "what is wrong with the world" for half the people in it, and "what is right with the world" for the other half. As Sokatch asks in his book, is there any other topic about which so many intelligent, educated and sophisticated people express such strongly and passionately held convictions, and about which they actually know so little? This program will offer some background on this often misunderstood and complicated topic. SPEAKERS Daniel Sokatch CEO, New Israel Fund; Author, Can We Talk About Israel? A Guide for the Curious, Confused, and Conflicted Daniel Handler Writer; Musician; a.k.a. Lemony Snicket—Moderator Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kal Penn and Huma Abedin had vastly different journeys into the world of American politics. As a collegiate-level White House intern during Hillary Clinton’s time as the first lady, Abedin never predicted she’d go on to witness some of the most crucial moments in America’s modern political history; including Clinton’s watershed nomination as the first female candidate for president. Penn, too, has both witnessed and shaped political history as a liaison for the Obama administration—something that he, a prominent Hollywood actor who’d experienced countless discriminations in the entertainment industry, never saw coming. While their foray into politics were poles apart, Abedin and Penn do share a similar vision of the American Dream molded by their immigrant families. In their own professional endeavors—from Penn’s shift to politics to Abedin’s powerful tenure as Hillary Clinton’s right-hand woman—they’ve done more than just manifest this dream. Instead, they’ve disrupted it’s very core. Together at INFORUM, Huma Abedin and Kal Penn will bring to life the remarkable experiences they’ve detailed in their new memoirs, Both/And and You Can’t Be Serious, respectively. In doing so, they will provide the audience with more than just powerful insights toward the meaning of the American Dream—instead, they’ll challenge its “one size fits all” narrative in order to reconstruct its meaning for a more inclusive future. SPEAKERS Huma Abedin Former Vice Chairperson, Hillary Clinton 2016 Presidential Campaign; Author, Both/And: A Life in Many Worlds Kal Penn Actor; Former Principal Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement; Author, You Can’t Be Serious 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 9th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The story of January 6, 2021 is one that will go down in the history books. In the 64 days between November 3 and January 6, President Donald Trump and his allies fought to reverse the outcome of the vote. Focusing on six states—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—Trump’s supporters claimed widespread voter fraud. In The Steal: The Attempt to Overturn the 2020 Election and the People Who Stopped It, veteran journalists Mark Bowden and Matthew Teague offer a week-by-week, state-by-state account of the effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Working with a team of researchers and reporters, Bowden and Teague uncover never-before-told accounts from the election officials fighting to do their jobs amid outlandish claims and threats to themselves, their colleagues and their families. They provide an engaging, in-depth report on what happened during those crucial nine weeks and a portrait of the heroic individuals who did their duty and stood firm against the unprecedented, sustained attack on our election system to ensure that every legal vote was counted and the will of the people prevailed. Join us as Mark Bowden and Matthew Teague discuss their research and offer their thoughts and commentary on the events leading up to January 6. SPEAKERS Mark Bowden Contributing Writer, The Atlantic; Co-author, The Steal: The Attempt to Overturn the 2020 Election and the People Who Stopped It Matthew Teague Contributor, National Geographic, The Atlantic, and Esquire; Executive Producer, "Our Friend"; Co-author, The Steal: The Attempt to Overturn the 2020 Election and the People Who Stopped It In Conversation with John Boland President Emeritus, KQED Public Media; 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 via video conference on January 12th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If corporations can be legal persons, why can’t Mother Earth? In 2017, New Zealand granted the Whanganui River the full legal rights of a person. India granted full legal rights to the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, and recognized that the Himalayan Glaciers have a right to exist. In 2019, the city of Toledo passed the Lake Erie Bill of Rights with 61 percent of the vote, but then a year later, a federal judge struck it down. As Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin, an attorney who represented Lake Erie, explains, the problem stems from a 500-year history of Western property law. Our legal system grants rights to property owners, but not to property itself. “If we’re treating ecosystems as property, then ultimately, we as property owners have the right to destroy our property and that fundamentally has to change,” Schromen-Wawrin says. Rebecca Tsosie, a law professor focused on Federal Indian law and Indigenous peoples’ human rights, says there are other rights frameworks to consider. “If we go into Indigenous epistemology, many times it’s a relational universe that comes with mutual responsibility.” Guests: Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin, attorney, formerly with the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund Rebecca Tsosie, Regents Professor of Law at the University of Arizona; Co-Chair, Indigenous Peoples’ Law and Policy Program Carol Van Strum, author of A Bitter Fog, activist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The February 2019 New York Times Magazine reported on Susan Gerbic and her team's successful work exposing psychic medium Thomas John in a sting called Operation Pizza Roll. Throughout the pandemic Gerbic's team (Guerilla Skeptics) researched and exposed multiple mediums operating on Zoom using hot and cold reading to appear to be in communication with the dead; this series of reports was called Operation Lemon Meringue. In April 2021, medium Thomas John scheduled an 8-person Spirit Circle for children ages 5–12, charging $400 per reading. After trying unsuccessfully to get the Spirit Circle cancelled, the Guerilla Skeptics decided to attend and report back on the event. Susan will be discussing what happened in Operation Onion Ring and how they say they once again caught "grief vampire" Thomas John. For more information on the work the Guerilla Skeptics have done concerning various "grief vampires," visit their website. About the Speaker Affectionately called the Wikipediatrician, Susan Gerbic is the founder of Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia (GSoW) and the Monterey County Skeptics, and is a self-proclaimed skeptical junkie. A Skeptical Inquirer contributor Gerbic is a fellow of CSI and winner of the James Randi Foundation award for 2017. In 2018, Susan founded and manages About Time, a nonprofit organization focusing on scientific skepticism and activism. While her particular focus has been “Grief Vampires” (psychics), her activism encompasses all areas of skepticism. You can find out more at AboutTimeProject.org. MLF ORGANIZER Patrick O'Reilly NOTES MLF: Psychology SPEAKERS Susan Gerbic Founder, Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia (GSoW); Founder, Monterey County Skeptics; Founder and Manager, About Time Patrick O'Reilly Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist; Chair, Psychology 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 January 10th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With a significant increase in hate crimes on the streets of America's cities as well as a rise in online hate, America finds itself on a terrifying path, one that could hardly be imagined just several years ago. Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt's current mission is making sure that what has happened in our lifetimes in Europe, the Middle East and Asia does not happen here. In his new book, It Could Happen Here: Why America Is Tipping from Hate to the Unthinkable—And How We Can Stop It, Greenblatt demonstrates how antisemitism, racism, and other insidious forms of intolerance can destroy a society, taking root as quiet prejudices but mutating over time into horrific acts of brutality. His book sounds an alarm, warning that this age-old trend is gathering momentum in the United States—and that violence on an even larger, more catastrophic scale could be around the corner if we don't change our direction. Greenblatt believes a more positive future can awaits us and that society doesn't have to succumb to hatred. Drawing on ADL’s decades of experience in fighting hate through investigative research, education programs, and legislative victories, as well as his own personal story and his background in business and government, Greenblatt offers a bracing primer on how we—as individuals, as organizations, and as a society—can strike back against hate. Please join us for an important conversation with a national leader on the frontlines of fighting prejudice. SPEAKERS Jonathan Greenblatt CEO, Anti-Defamation League; Author, It Could Happen Here: Why America Is Tipping from Hate to the Unthinkable—And How We Can Stop It Roger McNamee Silicon Valley Investor, Author, Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe—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 January 10th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The threat to American democracy and the U.S. electoral system did not end when the U.S. Capitol building was cleared and the presidential vote was certified on January 6, 2021. In fact, because of actions taken in states around the country throughout 2021, the threat today is as serious as it was one year ago, according to one prominent writer. In his new and troubling cover story article for The Atlantic's January/February 2022 issue, journalist Barton Gellman explains that the collapse of America's democratic principles and underpinnings is already underway and that the country is close—closer than most ever thought possible—to losing not only the country's constitutional democracy, but what’s left of America's shared understanding of civic reality. Gellman's new article, “January 6 Was Practice,” builds on an article he wrote before the 2020 election for The Atlantic. That piece, “The Election That Could Break America," focused on the ways that then-President Trump was weakening the norms and structures of American democracy. In many ways, Gellman predicated what would happen on January 6, 2021. What he could not predict is that though the system held one year ago, former President Trump and his supporters would continue their attack on America's electoral system by enacting restrictive new voting laws, removing nonpartisan election administrators in key states, and shifting how elections are administered at the state levels. He says what the country may find in 2024 is that what happened in 2021 was, indeed, just a practice run toward the end of American democracy as it is known, in favor of autocracy. Please join us for a special conversation with Gellman on the one-year anniversary of the January 6, 2021 attack, and hear why he is more concerned than ever about the future of America democracy, and what he sees as the very real threats to the country's constitutional order. SPEAKERS Barton Gellman Investigative Reporter; Writer, The Washington Post; Author, Dark Mirror: Edward Snowden and the American Surveillance State 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 January 6th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Exactly 12 months after a riot at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump, we are going to take a look at what January 6 wrought, how it has affected the first year of Joe Biden's presidency, and what are the prospects for another violent attempt to overturn a democratic election. SPEAKERS Melissa Caen Political Analyst; Attorney Francis Fukuyama Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow, Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law; Director, Ford Dorsey Masters in International Policy, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University; Twitter @FukuyamaFrancis Tim Miller Founder, Light Fuse Communications; Contributor, The Bulwark; Communications Director, Jeb Bush 2016; Founder, America Rising; Twitter @timodc John Zipperer Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club—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 January 6th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices