Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Women have been sold a mistruth—roll up your sleeves, smash the glass ceiling, and you too can have it all. Critics say the unspoken realities in this agreement are that many women must also do the majority of household work, childcare, and bear the burden of keeping this endless task list running in their minds. However, the inequity in unpaid work isn’t news to anyone. It is well-rooted and widespread, benefiting a system that has always been designed for the benefit of men. Flash to 2021, when women left or were pushed out of the workforce en masse resulting in the lowest proportion of women in the labor force since the late 1980s. This downturn was matched by a decline in women’s mental health and financial independence. Author, activist and lawyer Reshma Saujani is calling on corporations and their leaders to make vital changes to this toxic and worsening situation. Her rallying call: It’s time to pay up. Her forthcoming book Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work outlines her four-step action plan to realize this change and serves as a field guide for women, empowering them to demand what they deserve. Join us at INFORUM welcoming Saujani as she paints a picture of the future she sees for women. This program contains EXPLICIT language SPEAKERS Reshma Saujani Founder, Girls Who Code and the Marshall Plan for Mom; Author, Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work (and Why It's Different Than You Think) Ina Fried Chief Technology Correspondent, Axios—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 March 22nd, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the Hart-Celler Act passed in 1965, opening up U.S. immigration to non-Europeans, it ushered in a whole new era. But even to the first generation of Asian Americans born in the United States after that milestone, it would have been impossible to imagine that sushi and boba would one day be beloved by millions, that a Korean boy band named BTS would be the biggest musical act in the world, that one of the most acclaimed and popular movies of 2018 would be Crazy Rich Asians, or that we would have an Asian American vice president. And that’s not even mentioning the creators, performers, entrepreneurs, execs and influencers who've been making all this happen, behind the scenes and on the screen; or the activists and representatives continuing to fight for equity, building coalitions and defiantly holding space for our voices and concerns. And still: Asian America is just getting started. Join us for a special program featuring the talented authors of Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now. The timing is great for this intimate, eye-opening and frequently hilarious guided tour through the pop-cultural touchstones and sociopolitical shifts of the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and beyond. Jeff Yang, Phil Yu and Philip Wang chronicle how we arrived at today’s unprecedented diversity of Asian American cultural representation through engaging, interactive infographics (including a step-by-step guide to a night out in K-Town, an atlas that unearths historic Asian American landmarks, a handy “Appreciation or Appropriation?” flowchart, and visual celebrations of both our "founding fathers and mothers" and the nostalgia-inducing personalities of each decade), plus illustrations and graphic essays from major AAPI artists, exclusive roundtables with Asian American cultural icons, and more, anchored by extended insider narratives of each decade by the three co-authors. They provide an informative, lively and inclusive celebration of shared experiences and singular moments, and all the different ways in which we have chosen to come together. This program is part of The Commonwealth Club's Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. This program contains EXPLICIT language SPEAKERS Jeff Yang Writer; Editor; Co-Author, Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now Phil Yu Founder and Editor, Angry Asian Man; ; Co-Author, Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now Philip Wang Co-founder, Wong Fu Productions; Co-Author, Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors—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 March 21st, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our privacy was not first invaded by J. Edgar Hoover. They’ve been listening in for far longer than that. Wiretapping is nearly as old as electronic communications. Telegraph operators intercepted enemy messages during the Civil War. Law enforcement agencies were listening to private telephone calls as early as 1895. Communications firms have assisted government eavesdropping programs since the early 20th century―and they have spied on their own customers, too. Such breaches of privacy once provoked outrage, but today most Americans have resigned themselves to constant electronic monitoring. How did we get from there to here? Hochman explores the origins of wiretapping in military campaigns and criminal confidence games, and tracks the use of telephone taps in the U.S. government’s wars on alcohol, communism, terrorism, and crime. At the same time that high-profile eavesdropping scandals fueled public debates about national security, crime control, and the rights and liberties of individuals, wiretapping became a routine surveillance tactic for private businesses and police agencies alike. Hochman traces the long and surprising history of wiretapping and electronic eavesdropping in the United States, and also explains how earlier generations of Americans confronted these threats to our privacy―threats that seem more urgent now than ever. NOTES MLF: Humanities SPEAKERS Brian Hochman Director of American Studies and Associate Professor of English, Georgetown University; Author, The Listeners: A History of Wiretapping in the United States 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 March 17th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The IPCC released its latest report the same day as the U.S. Supreme Court heard the most environmentally significant case in a decade, all while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has rattled global energy markets. It’s a lot to take in all at once. Will the disruption of methane gas supplies to Europe give it the extra push it needs to decarbonize, or will some countries always be beholden to untrustworthy partners for the resources they need? What other options exist to power our economies more sustainably in the short and long term? Guests: Amy Myers Jaffe, Managing Director, Climate Policy Lab, Tufts University Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean, Berkeley Law Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The distinguished panel of expert participants represent many of the different facets of the chocolate industry. They will discuss where the industry is today and how it can move into the future as a more ecological, labor friendly, and equitable industry. NOTES MLF: International Relations SPEAKERS Bill Guyton Founder and CEO, World Cocoa Foundation; Senior Advisor, Fine Chocolate Industry Association (FCIA) Sam Mawutor Senior Advisor on the Cocoa Campaign, Mighty Earth Tim McCollum Founder and CEO of Beyond Good Frank Price Vice Present, Northern California Peace Corps Association; Shriver Circle Member, National Peace Corps Association; Vice Chair, International Relations Member-Led Forum, 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 March 15th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The January 6 attack on Congress as it met to certify Joe Biden's presidential victory is a day that will live on in infamy, yet for Maryland congressman Jamie Raskin, this was just the next in a sequence of tragic events that changed his life forever. Having lost his son to suicide only days before, and days later leading the ensuing impeachment effort against Trump, Rep. Raskin’s 45-day journey at the start of 2021 is an inspiring epic of strength, tragedy and determination. In his new memoir, Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy, Raskin recounts that after the tragic loss of his son Tommy, it was Tommy’s values and vision for the country that provided him inspiration to not only weather the challenges of January 6 but to lead the ensuing impeachment trial of Donald Trump for inciting insurrection. Facing division and the tremors of a nation rocked to its core, Rep. Raskin and his nine-member team were able to lead the most bipartisan impeachment trial ever conducted. Rep. Raskin has served as an elected official in Maryland since 2007 and represented its 8th Congressional District since 2017. A professor of constitutional law at American University Washington College of Law, chair of the House Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and co-chair of the Congressional Freethought Caucus, Raskin has been a leading voice in Congress for executive accountability and electoral integrity. Please join us as congressman Raskin recounts his moving story of balancing tragic personal loss and appalling political violence simultaneously, and how he found hope to press on in his darkest moment to continue fighting for American democracy. NOTES This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation SPEAKERS Jamie Raskin U.S. Representative (D-MD, 8th District); Author, Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trails of American Democracy; Twitter @RepRaskin Welcome by: Jim Steyer Founder, Common Sense Media Marisa Lagos Correspondent for California Politics and Government, KQED; Twitter @mlagos—Moderator This program was recorded live in San Francisco on March 13th, 2022 at the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, one truth continues to be proven time and time again: the vaccine is saving lives, and to Pfizer CEO Dr. Albert Bourla, it was the product of one of the most incredible private sector achievements in history. Mobilizing the corporation amid some of the most strenuous conditions experienced in modern times, he had a front row seat to see the years-long process of developing a vaccine played out in nine months in a riveting story of innovation, determination and ingenuity. Dr. Albert Bourla is chairman and chief executive officer of Pfizer Inc., and was named the top pharmaceutical CEO in America by Institutional Investor in 2020. A Greek immigrant, former veterinarian and child of Holocaust survivors, Dr. Bourla became the head of Pfizer in 2019 and transformed the corporation just before it was put to the test by the COVID-19 pandemic. In his book Moonshot: Inside Pfizer's Nine-Month Race to Make the Impossible Possible, Dr. Bourla describes how the corporation met the unimaginable challenges and pressures to rapidly develop a vaccine using the core values of courage, excellence, equity and joy. Detailing the leadership strategies and innovations he used to guide Pfizer in making unprecedentedly rapid scientific breakthroughs, Dr. Bourla describes the epic journey of their “moonshot.” Facing political, economic and social crises, he explains it wasn’t luck but methodical preparation, strong leadership and a clear vision that brought the vaccine forward, and shares the lessons in management and leadership that he learned. Join us as Dr. Bourla recounts the unimaginable adversity facing the developers of one of the most impactful medical inventions in recent history, and the ingenuity and wisdom that led them to success. SPEAKERS Dr. Albert Bourla Chairman and CEO, Pfizer; Author, Moonshoot: Inside Pfizer's Nine-Month Race to Make the Impossible Possible; Twitter @AlbertBourla In Conversation with Raj Mathai Anchor, NBC Bay Area; Twitter@rajmathai 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 March 9th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How much do we know about the apps that we use daily? In the case of PayPal, relatively few know the early story of the now-behemoth. Its precarious origins—coming about in the limitless, tumultuous late 1990s and early 2000s meant it was far from a shoo-in. It faced staunch competition, never-before-seen levels of internet fraud, and internal friction that could’ve ruined its path to success. Nowadays, PayPal is a household name. Its founders are among the best-known names in the tech industry: Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and Max Levchin, among others. Jimmy Soni’s book The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley, details not only the meteoric rise of the company and its founders, but all that came before and made it possible. With privileged access to the internal materials of the company’s early days, Soni paints a picture of what brought together these tech giants and how they dared to dream of cashless currency when few others dared. Jimmy Soni holds the answer to why this idea, out of the many it rivaled, won against the odds. Soni will bring to life the story of PayPal, highlighting not just the prominent founders but the unsung heroes that built the brick-by-brick success the company now touts. NOTES This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. SPEAKERS Jimmy Soni Author, The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley In Conversation with Katherine Boyle General Partner, a16z 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 March 9th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It has been 3 million years since there’s been this much CO2 in the atmosphere. Even if we stop all burning of fossil fuels today, humans have already emitted enough CO2 that we’ll continue experiencing extreme weather events for years to come. Not only do we need to stop emitting greenhouse gasses, but according to the IPCC, we also need to accelerate the removal of CO2. With forests burning faster than we can grow them, nature-based solutions may not be enough. What role might tech-based solutions play? Can they be implemented in a just, equitable way that does not give license for fossil fuel interests to continue business as usual? Guests: Marcius Extavour, VP, Energy & Climate, XPRIZE Angela Anderson, Director of Industrial Innovation and Carbon Removal at World Resources Institute Rachel Glennerster, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Chicago Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, most people are familiar with the fascinating world of cryptocurrency, though some of us are more familiar than others. Many people only hear about it in the news and across social media platforms, while some individuals stake their livelihoods on investments in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. According to crypto journalist Laura Shin, the total value of crypto assets today is just shy of $2 trillion. But that’s far from the most interesting aspect of an increasingly prevalent crypto fever. Shin—"Unchained Podcast" host — will do more than explore the backgrounds of these uniquely decentralized currencies. She’ll hone in on Ethereum, the crypto network whose success has ignited the fire surrounding today’s cryptocurrencies, and the figures who made Ethereum’s success possible. From a child prodigy to a Goldman Sachs exec, the story of Ethereum’s rise is unlike that of any other—and Laura Shin, who previously served as Forbes’ first mainstream reporter of crypto assets, is just the person you’ll want to hear tell it. SPEAKERS Laura Shin Host, "Unchained" Podcast; Author, The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Cryptocurrency Craze; Twitter @laurashin In Conversation with Kate Clark Reporter, The Information This program was recorded live inn San Francisco on March 8th, 2022 at the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us in-person and online for a thought-provoking program with author and activist David Crane, as he walks through the surprising statistics and lesser-known history behind California’s state government and how the public can help to elevate the quality of that government. California’s state government spends more than $300 billion of state and federal funds every year on public education, health, safety, courts, employment security, homelessness and other services that Crane contends rarely produces satisfactory outcomes for residents. He says that spending per pupil more than doubled over the last decade, yet pupil performance barely changed; spending on Medi-Cal doubled, yet hospital profit margins improved more than public health; and millions of desperate residents were kept waiting for unemployment checks during the pandemic. Crane also argues that the state occasionally enacts policies that favor political cronies at the expense of employment, and as such, the state’s current unemployment rate exceeds the national unemployment rate by more than 60 percent. David Crane is an author, activist, professor and president of Govern for California, a network of political action committees that supports California lawmakers who serve the general interest. Formerly a special advisor to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and member of the University of California Board of Regents, Crane has written extensively about state governments, political reform, resistance to special interests and recovering the excellence with which California was once governed. NOTES This program is supported by the Ken & Jaclyn Broad Family Fund. David Crane President, Govern for California; Lecturer in Public Policy, Stanford University Bill Whalen Virginia Hobbs Carpenter Distinguished Policy Fellow in Journalism, and Research Fellow; Hoover Institution, Stanford University—Moderator This program was recorded live in San Francisco on February 7th, 2021 at the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For Matthew Shilvock, general director of San Francisco Opera, being a part of last year's reemergence of the Opera onstage at the War Memorial Building, was to "experience the world in hyperreality" and reclaim the magic of nightly "emotional synergy with 3,000 strangers." He will present the newly announced centennial roster; 2022 is "a celebratory season full of bold possibility, of new productions, new operas"—including Asian artists' reimagining of Madam Butterfly's notorious stereotypes that "honors the culture it represents and challenges its shortcomings." We will be, Shilvock believes, "part of something quite extraordinary" as we turn the page on a second century and reclaim the bold ideals on which San Francisco Opera was founded.'" MLF ORGANIZER Dr. Anne W. Smith NOTES MLF: Arts SPEAKERS Matthew Shilvock General Director, San Francisco Opera 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 March 2nd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s economy is painted by headlines as hectic, turbulent and uncertain—reports of massive debt, fluctuating interest rates, and widespread money printing abound. Yet to legendary investor and acclaimed financial innovator Ray Dalio, this is all part of a pattern—one that has been occurring repeatedly throughout the past 500 years of global economic history. Ray Dalio is the founder, co-chief investment officer, and chairman for Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund by assets, as well as a leading expert in investment philosophy, corporate management and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Principles. In his latest book, Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order, Dalio provides insights from more than half a century of studying the history of the world economy and its ties to the rising and falling of great powers—and how they fit into a “Big Cycle” that has persisted and is at work in the present day. His findings are that the times ahead will be unlike any we've faced in our lifetime, and he gives practical advice on how to prepare for what’s next. Join us as Dalio walks through 5 centuries of economic conditions, political shifts and major shifts in the wealth and power of nations, highlighting hidden patterns and providing insight to safely navigate the times to come. NOTES This program is generously supported by the Jackson Square Partners Foundation. SPEAKERS Ray Dalio Founder, Co-Chief Investment Officer and Chairman, Bridgewater Associates; Author, Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail; Twitter @RayDalio In Conversation with Michael Moritz Partner, Sequoia Capital 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 March 1st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Russian forces advance into Ukraine from the north, south and east and lay siege to Kyiv and other major cities, join The Commonwealth Club for an in-depth briefing on the current situation and what may happen in the coming days or weeks. What led Russian President Putin to resort to a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and will the Ukrainians be able to hold back the forces arrayed against them? What is Putin’s endgame, and what are the risks to the NATO alliance and neighboring states if the conflict were to escalate? The battle currently unfolding within Ukraine’s borders is the largest military action in Europe since the end of World War II, and the ensuing refugee crisis from the growing exodus of Ukrainians into neighboring Poland and Romania threatens to destabilize Europe and the NATO alliance, and draw in other nations. It is not only a threat of conventional war, but there are also increasing risks of cyberwarfare, threats to the global economy and the potential of nuclear escalation. In the midst of this evolving crisis, we turn to the experts. Steven Pifer served as ambassador to Ukraine and is a seasoned policy analyst of Russia and Ukraine. Rose Gottemoeller is an expert on the NATO alliance as well as nuclear threats. Gloria Duffy served as deputy assistant secretary of defense, and is an expert in arms control and U.S.-Russian and U.S.-Ukrainian relations. Moderating the conversation will be Carla Thorson, the new vice president of programs at the Commonwealth Club who worked previously as a Russian and East European analyst at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the RAND Corporation. NOTES In association with World Affairs. SPEAKERS Dr. Gloria Duffy Former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense; President and CEO, The Commonwealth Club of California Rose Gottemoeller Former Deputy Secretary General, NATO; Lecturer, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University Steven Pifer Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine; Fellow, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University Dr. Carla Thorson Former Russian Analyst, RFE/RL and RAND Corporation; Vice President of Programs, 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 March 3rd, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Humans must dramatically rein in greenhouse gas emissions in order to slow the planetary warming caused by centuries of fossil fuel combustion. But even if we accomplish that through major reforms to our power supply, food systems, industrial industries and more, we still need to remove huge amounts of carbon already in the atmosphere to stave off the worst impacts of climate disruption. This is no easy task. We need to explore every option – both nature-based solutions and tech solutions. In a two-part series, we look at both categories. First up, the natural mechanisms for carbon capture and storage, from forests to peat bogs to kelp beds. Guests: Ugbaad Kosar, Deputy Director of Policy, Carbon180 Edward Struzik, author, Swamplands: Tundra Beavers, Quaking Bogs and the Improbable World of Peat Bren Smith, Co-Executive Director and Owner, Thimble Island Ocean Farm Benjamin Preston, Senior Policy Researcher, RAND Corporation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elie Mystal is no stranger to telling people the truth and how it is. As a commentator and lawyer, Mystal is familiar with law and the power that comes with knowing how to use your words in a powerful way. In his first book, Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution, he does just that. He offers an easily digestible argument primer, offered so that progressives like him can tell the Republicans in their lives why they might be wrong. Mystal brings his trademark humor, snark, and legal expertise to topics as crucial to our politics as gerrymandering and voter suppression, and argues legal concepts such as the right to privacy and substantive due process are under threat from the conservative courts. Join us as Elie Mystal makes his case with humor and a sharp sense of humor. SPEAKERS Elie Mystal Justice Correspondent, The Nation; Author, Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution; Twitter @ElieNYC In Conversation with Melissa Murray Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law, NYU School of Law; Co-host, "Strict Scrutiny" Podcast; Twitter @ProfMMurray 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 March 1st, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Women’s History Month at The Commonwealth Club kicks off early, with an exciting and multifaceted event What is the state of sports in terms of equity and diversity? What are the most relevant accomplishments, challenges and urgent matters to tackle to make sports equal and accessible? Host and LGBTQ leader Michelle Meow will lead a special discussion featuring prominent local sports leaders. Co-presented with Michelle Meow Show. SPEAKERS Christina Kahrl Sports Editor, San Francisco Chronicle Hannah Gordon Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel, San Francisco 49ers (Participating Remotely) 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 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

Wajahat Ali is an acclaimed journalist and lawyer whose writings cover the intersection of social justice, politics and race. His first book, Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American, details his Bay Area upbringing, his early career as a lawyer, and how he become one of the foremost and funniest public intellectuals in America as a middle-aged dad. Ali tackles the dangers of Islamophobia, white supremacy and chocolate hummus, peppering personal stories with astute insights into national security, immigration and pop culture. Join him and Krista Tippett, host of the acclaimed “On Being” program, to learn how we can all help cultivate a more compassionate, inclusive and delicious America. NOTES This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. SPEAKERS Wajahat Ali Columnist, The Daily Beast; Author, Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American In Conversation with Krista Tippett Host, "On Being" 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

In January, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Beyer announced his retirement from the high court. This set the stage for the fulfillment of a historic promise President Biden made on the 2020 campaign trail to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court. Please join us for a candid conversation between Black women political and justice leaders as we deep-dive into what led us to this moment, how this nomination reflects the progress of our community and what it means to the African American community. SPEAKERS Aimee Allison Founder, She the People Diana Becton Contra Costa County District Attorney LaDoris Cordell (Ret) Judge; Author, Her Honor Jotoka Eaddy Founder, #WinWithBlackWomen Carolyn Wysinger Education Coordinator, 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 25th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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