Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Liz Cheney serves as Wyoming’s lone member of Congress in the U.S. House of Representatives. She was first elected in 2016, on a platform of restoring America’s strength and power in the world, and pursuing conservative solutions to create jobs, cut taxes and regulation as well as expand America’s energy, mining and agriculture industries. She made national headlines earlier this year when she voted to impeach President Trump, saying he "provoked" the January 6 Capitol attack. She has also vowed to fight to keep President Trump out of office if he runs again and has challenged all assertions by Trump and his supporters that the 2020 election was fraudulent and stolen. This led to her removal as chair of the House Republican Conference, the third-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives. She was also recently appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to serve on the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. In a Washington Postopinion column published this past May, Rep. Cheney wrote, “the Republican Party is at a turning point, and Republicans must decide whether we are going to choose truth and fidelity to the Constitution. . . .History is watching. Our children are watching. We must be brave enough to defend the basic principles that underpin and protect our freedom and our democratic process. I am committed to doing that, no matter what the short-term political consequences might be." Join us for a rare in-person and online conversation with congresswoman Cheney about the outlook for American democracy. This program is part of The Commonwealth Club’s Future of Democracy Series, supported by Betsy and Roy Eisenhardt. SPEAKERS Liz Cheney U.S. Congressional Representative (R-Wyoming) In Conversation with Dan Ashley Anchor, ABC 7 News, San Francisco Bay Area; Member, 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 August 17th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Established in 1981, the Council for National Policy has been the leading organization for wealthy, conservative decision makers to consolidate their power. This little-known coalition of elites is the strategic nerve center for fundraising money and mobilizing voters behind the scenes. Critics say that with its membership private and meetings held at an undisclosed location, the Council for National Policy has successfully made game plans and decisions steering the Republican Party in a process virtually unknown to the public. Award-winning author and media analyst Anne Nelson, however, is looking to demystify the elaborate organization. In her new book Shadow Network, Nelson uncovers the key fundamentalists, oligarchs and allies that comprise the powerhouse of the Council for National Policy. She reveals stories about the Koch brothers, radical right-wing organizations, the decline of local journalism, the race for digital engagement, and the fight over the information war. As a research scholar at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, Nelson has focused her work on the role of digital media in aiding underserved populations through health, education and culture. Now, in a time of stark and growing threats to our most valued institutions and democratic freedoms, Nelson looks to illuminate the clouded history behind the political coalition. Join us as Anne Nelson uncovers the conservative process that plays a significant role in shaping political outcomes today. SPEAKERS Anne Nelson Journalist, Author, Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right In Conversation with Kirk Hanson Senior Fellow and Former Executive Director, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 26th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a conversation between Jeffrey Kluger and astronaut Nicole Stott about Kluger's new novel Holdout, which tells the story of a principled astronaut who has to make a spilt-second decision to try to seek justice in the only place she knows how—the International Space Station. Watch life meet art, as Stott brings her experience to bear on Kluger's imagination. Kluger's plot centers around Walli Beckwith, a model astronaut who graduated at the top of her class from the Naval Academy, had a successful career flying fighter jets, and has spent more than 300 days in space. So when she refuses to leave her post aboard the International Space Station following an accident that forces her fellow astronauts to evacuate, her American and Russian colleagues are mystified. For Walli, her decision is all too clear and terrifying to worry about ruining her career. She is stuck in a race against time to save a part of the world that has been forgotten, plus the life of the person she loves most. She will go to any length necessary, using the only tool she has, to accomplish what she knows is right. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities SPEAKERS Jeffrey Kluger Editor at Large, Time Magazine; Emmy Award-Winner, "A Year in Space" Web Series; Film Consultant and Actor, Apollo 13; Author, Holdout In Conversation with Nicole Stott NASA Astronaut, Including more than 100 days Aboard the International Space Station; Aquanaut; Founder, Space for Art Foundation 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 August 5th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeremy Lent returns to The Commonwealth Club to discuss the ideas in his new book, which weaves together the latest scientific findings with age-old philosophical insights to show how some of our most ingrained beliefs about human nature and the world are mistaken. Who am I? Why am I? How should I live? These are some of the oldest questions humans have grappled with. Our modern, high-tech society, having grown up in Darwins' shadow, assumes that humans are hardwired for selfishness, that we are separate from nature and so can exploit it, that we do best when left alone to pursue our own individual goals. Lent argues that the latest scientific research begs to differ, and that those ingrained but faulty beliefs—which got started in the 17th century and have since been updated with ideas like the “selfish gene”—underlie the environmental and social unraveling now threatening our very survival. Lent not only challenges outmoded beliefs, he also invites us to consider a new way of thinking about ourselves and the world that is both intellectually sound and spiritually vibrant. He weaves together the latest research in neuroscience and evolutionary biology with Buddhist, Taoist, and Indigenous wisdom, and shows how these seemingly disparate streams of thought are not only eminently compatible, but are the key to facing the existential problems of the 21st century. SPEAKERS Jeremy Lent Founder and President, The Liology Institute; Author, The Web of Meaning: Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Universe 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 July 14th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Atlantic's Adam Serwer's unique approach to writing—combining political analysis of current events with a strong grasp of the historical antecedents that made those events possible—made him an indispensable writer during the Trump years, particularly for those who disagreed with the politics and approach to governance taken by the 45th president of the United States. Serwer coined the phase "the cruelty is the point" to describe how the Trump administration had made cruelty not merely an unfortunate byproduct of its efforts but the central theme of the MAGA approach toward governance and American civic life. Serwer's new book—a collection of new and old essays—explores the the Trump presidency, the volatile powers it harnessed, and the continuing impact it has on the country's politics and the Republican Party. With his unique approach, Serwer chronicles the Trump administration not as an aberration but as an outgrowth of the inequalities the United States was founded on. He charts he ideological and structural currents behind Trump’s rise and why he remains so potent today. The new essays and previously published works in this book explore white nationalism, myths about migration, the political power of police unions, and the many faces of anti-Semitism. For all the issues he examines, cruelty is the glue, the binding agent of a movement fueled by fear and exclusion. Serwer argues that rather than pretending these four years didn’t happen or dismissing them as a brief moment of madness, we must face what made them possible. Please join us for an important conversation on the legacy of the Trump administration and why Serwer believes we must continue to understand its role in American political life. SPEAKERS Adam Serwer Staff Writer, The Atlantic; Author, The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present and Future of Trump's America In Conversation with Errin Haines Editor at Large, Founding Mother, The 19th; Contributor, MSNBC 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 July 20th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we approach the 20th anniversary of 9/11, what is the lasting influence of Osama bin Laden? CNN national security analyst and New America Vice President for Global Studies Peter Bergen has been called the world's leading expert on bin Laden. In his new book, The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden, Bergen provides the first reevaluation of the man responsible for precipitating America’s long wars with al-Qaeda and its descendants, capturing bin Laden in all the dimensions of his life: as a family man, as a zealot, as a battlefield commander, as a terrorist leader, and as a fugitive. Thanks to exclusive interviews with family members and associates, and documents unearthed only recently, Bergen’s portrait of bin Laden reveals for the first time who he really was and why he continues to inspire a new generation of jihadists. Join a fascinating conversation about the man who set the course of American foreign policy for the 21st century and whose ideological heirs the U.S. continues to battle today. SPEAKERS Peter Bergen Journalist; Documentary Producer; CNN National Security Analyst; Vice president for Global studies & Fellow, New America; Author, The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden In Conversation with Brian Fishman Director, Counterterrorism and Dangerous Organizations, Facebook; Former Researcher, New America; Former Director of Research, Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point 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 August 9th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Worldwide attention turned to India recently following widespread reports about the devastating toll the COVID-19 pandemic was taking there. Join us for a discussion of India, COVID-19, and how the transgender community mobilized globally to save lives. Our special guest are with Parivar: Celebrating 3 years of ParivarBayArea, the only trans-led South Asian queer trans organization in America. Learn of the struggles, erasure faced by South Asian Queer Trans intersectionality and in continuing to build critical programming, including COVID relief efforts globally. SPEAKERS Rachana Mudraboyina Chair, #SITAL (SaveIndianTransALLINDIALives) Project; Director, Human Rights Law Network Anjali Rimi Founder and President, Parivar Bay Area Devesh Radhakrishnan Member, Parivar's Advisory Committee; Facilitator, Roobaroo Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW/KPIX and Podcast; Member, The Commonwealth Club Board of Governors—Co-host John Zipperer Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club of California—Co-host In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on August 5th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Flawed. Furtive. Facebook. In the nearly two decades of the social media platform’s existence, it has both soared into worldwide popularity and plummeted into the depths of conspiracy peddling and hate-mongering. Is this the fate of any globally devoured site, or is it due to miscalculations in programming, or is it the consequence of decisions made at the top by the site’s infamous leaders? Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang, authors of the book An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination, argue that Facebook is doing exactly what it was created to do. From abusing user data and empowering political corruption to creating echo chambers of misinformation, they say Facebook is in the midst of a reckoning—and Frenkel and Kang are in front row seats. Their work, built on intimate connections to the industry and insiders, is a call for accountability from the site’s two mogul leaders who have time and time again shown their willingness to turn a blind eye. At INFORUM Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang will disentangle the many narratives that shroud Facebook and its leaders in mystery. By unpacking the years of manipulation they say Facebook has baked into its platform, they argue that there’s no time like the present to understand the pitfalls the behemoth succumbed to and to prevent history from repeating itself. SPEAKERS Sheera Frenkel Cybersecurity Correspondent, The New York Times; Co-author, An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination Cecilia Kang Technology and Regulatory Policy Correspondent, The New York Times; Co-author, An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination Emily Chang Anchor and Executive Producer, Bloomberg Technology; Author, Brotopia: Breaking Up the Boys' Club of Silicon Valley 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 August 4th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The pixel, the smallest element of a picture, has, with little fanfare, helped push forward the digital revolution to new heights over the past 2 decades. Today, nearly every picture in the world is composed of pixels—cell phone pictures, app interfaces, Mars Rover transmissions, book illustrations, video games—and these digital images drive our understanding of the world around us. But where did pixels come from, and why are they so important? Alvy Ray Smith, the co-founder of Pixar, has a some answers to these increasingly important questions. In his his timely book A Biography of the Pixel, Ray Smith notes that the pixel is the organizing principle of most modern media. Smith's story of the pixel's development—which touches upon technology, entertainment, business and history—begins with Fourier waves, proceeds through Turing machines and ends with the first digital movies from Pixar. For anyone who has watched a video on a cell phone, played a video game, or streamed a television show or movie at home, this important discussion with one of digital media's pioneers who made it all possible is not to be missed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join an important discussion with this veteran congresswoman about her role on the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack and its potential impact, as well as the state of the country and our democracy, the possibilities for bipartisan legislation, and how to handle such crucial issues as the pandemic variants, the economy, gun violence and immigration. Zoe Lofgren has been a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 1995, representing the 19th District of California, encompassing San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley. She currently serves on the House Judiciary Committee, and the House Science, Space and Technology Committee and is a former law professor. Representative Lofgren has most recently been appointed to the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol and has said her goal is to "uncover the truth, protect our democracy, and ensure that such an attack will never happen again.” SPEAKERS Zoe Lofgren U.S. Representative, California's 19th Congressional District Dr. Gloria Duffy President and CEO, The Commonwealth Club of California—Moderato 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 August 4th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In October 2020, California Gov. Newsom announced a plan to protect 30% of his state by 2030. In 2021, the Biden Administration announced its own 30x30 plan, later dubbed America the Beautiful. With 12% of the U.S. already under some form of protection, where will the other 18% come from? In states like Nebraska, nearly all the land is in private hands — and the owners are worried. With increased focus on the climate crisis, it’s easy to think we have enough to worry about without considering species other than our own. But the natural world provides critical resources that counteract the damaging impacts of climate change and sustain all life — including human life. About one million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction. How much land does nature need to survive? Guests: Paula Ehrlich, CEO, E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation Woody Lee, Executive Director, Utah Diné Bikéyah Jennifer Norris, Deputy Secretary for Biodiversity and Habitat, California Natural Resources Agency Catherine Semcer, Research Fellow, Property and Environment Research Center Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalists Terry Greene Sterling and Jude Joffe-Block spent years chronicling the human consequences of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s relentless immigration enforcement in Maricopa County, Arizona. In Driving While Brown, they tell the tale of two opposing movements that redefined Arizona’s political landscape—the restrictionist cause embraced by Arpaio and the Latino-led resistance that rose up against it. Sterling and Joffe-Block reported on Arpaio, his supporters, and his adversaries, including Lydia Guzman, who gathered evidence for a racial-profiling lawsuit that took surprising turns. Guzman joined a coalition determined to stop Arpaio, reform unconstitutional policing, and fight for Latino civil rights. In the process, Arpaio transformed from "America’s Toughest Sheriff," who forced inmates to wear pink underwear, into the nation’s most feared immigration enforcer who ended up receiving President Donald Trump’s first pardon. Join us for an online discussion with the two authors and their investigative reporting, which provided critical insights into the planning and community organizing that helped transform Arizona from a conservative stronghold into a battleground state. SPEAKERS Terry Greene Sterling Affiliated Faculty and Writer-in-Residence, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, Arizona State University; Author, Illegal; Co-Author, Driving While Brown: Sheriff Joe Arpaio Versus the Latino Resistance Jude Joffe-Block Reporter; Co-Author, Driving While Brown: Sheriff Joe Arpaio Versus the Latino Resistance 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 July 29th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every two seconds a girl is married against her will. COVID-19 exacerbated this already massive problem, reversing many gains that had been made in the past decade as schools closed and millions of girls lost their one chance at freedom—an education. Join us for a conversation with three women working to end child marriage. Through their stories, you will hear more about the critical importance of girls’ freedom for families and communities worldwide, and what you can do to help end this unjust and inequitable practice. About the Speakers Sangeeta Lama is an independent Nepali journalist with more than 20 years’ experience in the field. Sangeeta has provided invaluable support to international publications such as National Geographic and The New York Times and has collaborated with Stephanie Sinclair / Too Young to Wed to support families in Kagati village since 2006. She is a board member of Working Women Journalists, an organization committed to strengthening the capacity of female journalists and the role of women in Nepali media. She is the senior vice chair of Sankalpa-Women’s Alliance for Peace Justice and Democracy, an organization committed to strengthening women's rights in Nepal. Stephanie Sinclair is the founding executive director of Too Young to Wed, a nonprofit dedicated to abolishing child marriage. Stephanie is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist known for gaining unique access to the most sensitive gender and human rights issues around the world; she regularly publishes in esteemed outlets, including National Geographic and The New York Times Magazine. Olga Murray is the founder and honorary president of the Nepal Youth Foundation. Born in 1925 in Transylvania, Murray immigrated with her parents and in 1954, became one of the first women to graduate with a law degree from George Washington University. During her 37-year tenure at the California Supreme Court, Murray helped write important decisions in the areas of civil rights, women’s rights and environmental policy. In 1990, she founded the Nepal Youth Foundation to help provide health, shelter, education, and freedom to children and families in Nepal. Lori Barra is the executive director of The Isabel Allende Foundation, a private family foundation, whose mission is to invest in the power of women and girls to secure reproductive rights, economic independence and freedom from violence. Prior to leading the foundation, Lori designed books and magazines in New York and Tokyo and worked for Apple as an art director. Renee Saedi has a deep-rooted passion for social justice, especially human rights and equity for women and girls. She currently serves as the Champions for Equality program manager at Global Fund for Women, where she has worked for more than 9 years. As a feminist fund, Global Fund for Women strengthens gender justice movements to shift power, privilege, and perception and create meaningful change by offering flexible support to a diverse group of partners—more than 5,000 groups across 175 countries so far. MLF ORGANIZER: Ian McCuaig SPEAKERS Lori Barra Executive Director, Isabel Allende Foundation Sangeeta Lama Journalist; Board Member, Working Women Journalists; Senior Vice Chair, Sankalpa-Women’s Alliance for Peace Justice and Democracy Olga Murray Founder and Honorary President, Nepal Youth Foundation Stephanie Sinclair Founding Director, Too Young to Wed Renee Saedi Champions for Equality Program Manager, Global Fund for Women—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 July 28th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon Musk is one of the most influential and controversial tech icons in Silicon Valley. He has talked about forward-thinking projects like mind-uploading and space travel, but by far his most bold and effective vision led to Tesla and the creation of a widely available and affordable electric vehicle. Before Tesla was founded in the early 2000s, electric cars were considered novelties. But as many cars were gas guzzlers, there was a great need for a more sustainable mode of transportation. Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century explores the Tesla phenomenon. Tim Higgins traces its history of a hellish first 15 years, attacks by rivals, pressure from investors and surprises by whistleblowers. As a Wall Street Journal tech and auto reporter, Higgins had a front-row seat for all the drama. He spent almost a decade reporting on the car business from Detroit before he moved to San Francisco and focused his writing more on Apple, Tesla and other tech companies. Power Play is Tesla’s story of power, recklessness, struggle and triumph coming together to change the future. Join us as Tim Higgins discusses Tesla’s rise and what it means for a tech-driven future. SPEAKERS Tim Higgins Automotive and Technology Reporter, The Wall Street Journal; Author Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century In Conversation with Joanna Stern Senior Personal Technology Columnist, The Wall Street Journal Note: This program contains EXPLICIT language 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 August 4th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You might not realize it, but we’re already living through the beginnings of climate chaos. In Arizona, laborers now start their day at 3 a.m., because it’s too hot to work past noon. Chinese investors are snapping up real estate in Canada. Millennials have evacuation plans. Moguls are building bunkers. Retirees in Miami are moving inland. In How to Prepare for Climate Change, bestselling self-help author David Pogue offers deeply researched advice for how the rest of us should start to ready ourselves for the years ahead. Pogue will walk you through what to grow, what to eat, how to build, how to insure, where to invest, how to prepare your children and pets, and even where to consider relocating when the time comes. (He says two areas of the country, in particular, have the requisite cool temperatures, good hospitals, reliable access to water, and resilient infrastructure to serve as climate havens in the years ahead.) He also provides wise tips for managing your anxiety, as well as action plans for riding out every climate catastrophe, from superstorms and wildfires to ticks and epidemics. Join Pogue and renewable energy expert Wei-Tai Kwok for a look at their practical ways to make smart choices for the upheaval ahead. SPEAKERS David Pogue Correspondent, "CBS Sunday Morning"; Author, How to Prepare for Climate Change: A Practical Guide to Surviving the Chaos Wei-Tai Kwok Climate Leader, The Climate Reality Project Ahmad Thomas President & CEO, Silicon Valley Leadership Group—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 August 3rd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If “caught in the middle” was a tightrope, Savala Nolan would be a well-seasoned expert at walking it. The lawyer, speaker, and author has learned to navigate the tedious limbo that is being mixed-race, changing economic status, and a fluctuating body painfully affected by diet culture. In her debut book, Don’t Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender, and the Body, Nolan shares nostalgic, sometimes painful anecdotes from her life that illustrate the resilience and lessons learned from a life lived not in black nor white but in that somewhere in-between. Twelve poignant reflections unravel how injustice lurks around every corner and has done so for generations. But, with such wrong-doing, so too grows defiance, justice, and people like Savala Nolan who relentlessly resist by living with authenticity. Now in her fifth year at the Henderson Center for Social Justice, Nolan holds the title of executive director. She teaches law students and activists about the paramount topics of implicit bias and systemic racism—guiding the minds of tomorrow on how to mend the cracks in our system. At INFORUM, we will become Savala Nolan’s students, learning what authenticity looks like when existing between two distant opposites—many times over. SPEAKERS Savala Nolan Writer; Executive Director, Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice, University of California, Berkeley; Author, Don't Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender, and the Body Christy Harrison MPH, RD, CEDRD, Host, "Food Psych" Podcast; Author, Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating—Moderator Note: This program contains EXPLICIT language 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 July 29th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If there is one thing people have learned over the past 16 months, it is the importance and power of community. Join us for a special conversation with AAPI leaders and elders about anti-Asian racism, homophobia, transphobia, and their life-long activism and advocacy. And come early before the program to enjoy a lunch courtesy of What the Cluck Thai Chicken and Rice. Meet the Speakers Gil Mangaoang was born in San Francisco, California on March 22, 1947. He is the fourth of seven generations in his family to be born in the United States. Through more than four decades he has been active in the fight for social justice and equality in the United States and the Philippines. His memoirs also include his coming out story as a Filipino American gay man. Jasmine Gee has volunteered at film festivals (International, Frameline), music venues (Davies Symphony, Herbst Theater), and street fairs (Folsom, Castro); has worked as an advocate and activist for LGBTQ organizations; served in leadership positions in on the GAPA AdvisoryBoard and the Trans March; is a musician (a clarinetist and a singer in 3 choral groups); contributing author of Transascestors, Volume 1; and is an elder, with Felicia Elizondo, Tamara Ching. Crystal Jang loves being considered a QTAPI “Auntie.” Jang is a third generation San Franciscan and fourth generation Chinese American,. Having discovered she was attracted to girls at the age of 13, Jang has spend the last 6 decades dedicated to pushing the boundaries of API-queer visibility and activism. As a QTAPI elder, Crystal’s current focus is on fostering intergenerational relationships to sustain and strengthen the QTAPI community. She is a co-founder of OASIS (Older Sisters in Solidarity), APIQWTC (Asian Pacific Islander Queer Women & Trans Community, and the RED Envelope Giving Circle. Jang is happiest when she is causing “good trouble.” Randy Kikukawa has been active in the LGBTQ+ community for more than 40 years and is currently music director of the GAPA (GLBTQ+ Asian Pacific Alliance) Men’s Chorus and managing director of the Golden Gate Men’s Chorus. Both choruses are members of the Gay & Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA Choruses). Kitty Tsui is a writer and an activist, a multi-hyphenate lesbian elder. Her groundbreaking book, Words of a Woman Who Breathes Fire, is the first book by a Chinese American lesbian. Her second, Breathless: Erotica, won the Firecracker Alternative Book Award. She has been included in more than 80 anthologies worldwide. Her work has been translated into German, Japanese and Italian. In 2018, her alma mater, San Francisco State University, inducted her into the Alumni Hall of Fame. The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center commissioned her as one of 12 API queer poets to be honored for a poem/video for the digital exhibition, “A Day in the Life of Queer Asian Pacific American.” She is the subject of Nice Chinese Don’t: Kitty Tsui, directed by award-winning filmmaker, Jennifer Abod. Note: This program contains EXPLICIT language SPEAKERS Jasmine Gee Advocate; Activist; Musician Crystal Jang Co-Founder, OASIS (Older Sisters in Solidarity), RED Envelope Giving Circle, and APQWTC (Asian Pacific Islander Queer Women & Trans Community) Randy Kikukawa Music Director, GAPA (GLBTQ+ Asian Pacific Alliance) Men’s Chorus; Managing Director, Golden Gate Men’s Chorus Gil Mangaoang Social Justice and Equality Activist; Author Kitty Tsui Writer; Activist; Author, Words of a Woman Who Breathes Fire Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @msmichellemeow—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 July 30th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is the leader of Belarusian democratic forces, who numerous independent observers say beat the autocratic president Alexander Lukashenko in a presidential election on August 9, 2020. She stepped into the race after her husband was arrested for his presidential aspirations. Mr. Lukashenko has publicly dismissed her as a “housewife,” сlaiming that a woman can't become president. After her forced exile, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya inspired unprecedented peaceful protests around Belarus, some of which numbered hundreds of thousands of people. She has visited more than 20 countries gathering support for a democratic Belarus and continues to advocate for the release of more than 500 political prisoners and peaceful changes through a free and fair election. In the past year, more than 35,000 people have been detained in Belarus, according to the United Nations. Tens of thousands of Belarusians have fled abroad. Ms.Tsikhanouskaya has become a symbol of peaceful struggle for democracy and female leadership. On July 27, President Joe Biden met with Tsihanouskaya, and he issued a statement that "The United States stands with the people of Belarus in their quest for democracy and universal human rights." In 2020, Lithuanian President Nauseda and Norwegian MPs nominated her for the Nobel Peace Prize. She is included in Bloomberg's TOP-50 Most Influential People, Financial Times' Top 12 Most Influential Women, and Politico's Top 28 Most Influential Europeans. In meetings with Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Emmanuel Macron, President Ursula von der Leyen, President Charles Michel, and other world leaders, she has emphasized the need for a braver response to the actions of the Belarusian dictatorship.This week, she has been in the United States, where she met with Secretary of State Tony Blinken as well as others in the U.S. government. Given the level of repressions against citizens and with Moscow supporting Lukashenko, Tsikhanouskaya is using the primary tool available to her in exile: Western support. She has sought more comprehensive sanctions on Belarus’s elites and businesses, to show them that it is “becoming more costly for them to support Lukashenko.” Join a rare conversation with this outspoken advocate for democratic reforms and hear her thoughts on parallels between her struggles and challenges currently facing Americans. SPEAKERS Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya Leader, Belarus Pro-Democracy Movement In Conversation with Dr. Gloria Duffy President and CEO, The Commonwealth Club; Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense under President Clinton 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 July 29th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aging—not cancer or heart disease—is the world’s leading cause of death and suffering. In spite of this, we accept the aging process as inevitable. We come to terms with the fact that our bodies and minds will begin to deteriorate and our risk of disease will rise as we get older. Aging is so deeply ingrained in the human experience that we never stop to ask: is it necessary? Scientists, on the other hand, know that aging is not a biological inevitability. Dr. Andrew Steele's new book Ageless introduces us to the cutting-edge research that is paving the way for a revolution in medicine. It takes us inside the laboratories where scientists are studying every aspect of the body: DNA, mitochondria, stem cells, the immune system, even ‘aging genes’ that have helped animals enjoy a tenfold increase in lifespan—and which could, in the not too distant future, lead to treatments that could forestall our own bodies’ decline. Steele will explain how understanding the scientific implications of aging could lead to the greatest revolution in the history of medicine—one that has the potential to improve billions of lives, save trillions of dollars, and transform the human condition. MLF ORGANIZER: Robert Lee Kilpatrick SPEAKERS Dr. Andrew Steele Ph.D.; Author, Ageless: The New Science of Getting Older Without Getting Old Dr. Robert Lee Kilpatrick Ph.D., Chair, Health & Medicine Member-Led Forum—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on July 15th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Washington State, voters defeated initiatives to put a price on carbon ― twice. Governor Jay Inslee himself then lost his personal bid for the White House. Yet his bold ideas have proven staying power. The state legislature recently passed a carbon cap and invest bill that will reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions 95 percent by 2050. “We’ve got to wake up every morning figuring out ‘how can I disrupt the status quo.’ Because the status quo is deadly, it’s fatal, it will destroy economies and the biology that we exist on,” Inlsee says. Even big oil, which spent tens of missions to defeat the 2018 carbon pricing proposal, seems to be changing its tune, with BP now supporting a price on carbon. How might Washington State be a bellwether for Washington DC? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The year 2020 brought with it a nation riddled with grief as the United States descended into a raging pandemic, steep economic downfall, and unsettling political instability. As half a million perished and millions were left jobless from coronavirus, what was really going on inside the White House? And who was influencing Donald Trump as he refused to concede power after an election he had clearly lost? Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker answer these questions for the American people in I Alone Can Fix It, a gripping exposé of an administration sabotaging its own country. Their sources were in the room as Trump and the key players around him—doctors, generals, senior advisors and family members—continued to prioritize the interests of the president over that of the country. These witnesses saw firsthand Trump’s desire to deploy military force against protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death. They saw his refusal to take coronavirus seriously, even to the point of allowing himself and those around him to be infected. They, along with the rest of the world, saw him spur on what would become the January 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol building. With unparalleled access, Rucker and Leonnig delve into exactly who they say enabled—and who foiled—the president as he desperately held onto his fleeting presidency in his final year in office. Join us as Leonnig and Rucker reveal the inner workings of the 2020 Trump White House. SPEAKERS Carol Leonnig Investigative Reporter, The Washington Post; Co-author, I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year; Twitter @CarolLeonnig (Participating Virtually) Philip Rucker White House Bureau Chief, The Washington Post; Co-author, I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year; Twitter @PhilipRucker (Participating Virtually) In Conversation with Yamiche Alcindor Host, "Washington Week," PBS; Twitter @Yamiche (Participating Virtually) 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 July 26th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

July 1 marks 50 years since the ratification of the 26th Amendment. The lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18 had lasting impacts on the political and cultural landscapes of the 1970s, but even now youth organizing and social activism have a massive influence on American elections, policies and progress. In honor of this historic anniversary, join our panel of youth organizers leading the fight against youth voter suppression and to learn how the 26th Amendment might help provide contemporary solutions. SPEAKERS Thandiwe Abdullah Co-Founder, Black Lives Matter Youth Vanguard Alex Edgar Voting Rights Activist; University of California, Berkeley, Freshman Class of 2025 Divyansh Kaushik Ph.D. student, Carnegie Mellon University; President, Carnegie Mellon University Graduate Student Assembly; Advisory Board Member, Students Learn Students Vote Rainesford Stauffer Freelance Writer; Author, An Ordinary Age—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 July 26th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

School's out for the summer, but come fall, most students will be returning to in-person classrooms across the country. For some students, every day in school is another day of possible bullying by their peers. Join us for a discussion with a young award-winning filmmaker and actor on the impacts of peer bullying through the lens of LGBTQIA+ high school students. Kabir McNeely is an award-winning American actor who grew up in San Francisco. He has drawn international interest through his uniquely expressive and direct acting style. He began his acting career in 2015 when he played a supporting role in Ruth, a student short film. Since then, he has trained extensively with the American Conservatory Theater, where he also performed in their annual main stage production of A Christmas Carol in 2016 and in Urinetown: The Musical. In 2020, he wrote and directed the award-winning short film Blue Girl, in which he also appeared in. Throughout 2021, McNeely has had a steady stream of supporting roles in short films such as Family Story, Blue Girl 2025 and Pink Purple and Blue. He also gave an award-nominated lead performance in the short film Keith. SPEAKERS Kabir McNeely Actor; Writer; Director; Twitter @kabirmcn Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW 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 July 21st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Constitution clearly states that Americans have the right to keep and bear arms, an argument often used to dispute proposed gun control legislation. However, historian Carol Anderson says that deeper analysis of the formation of the Second Amendment reveals ulterior, racialized motives to keep Black people powerless and oppressed. In her new book The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America, Anderson uncovers the history behind the Second Amendment and argues that it was designed to keep African Americans vulnerable and subdued. As a professor of African American Studies at Atlanta's Emory University, Anderson’s research primarily focuses on how racial inequality affects the processes and outcomes of policymaking. In early America, slaves were prohibited from owning, carrying or using a firearm. She says this sentiment remains today as measures to expand and curtail gun ownership are aimed to keep the Black community neutralized and punished. In an era when many are reexamining government policy through a racial lens, Anderson sheds new light on another mysterious dimension of anti-Blackness in the United States. Join us in conversation with Carol Anderson to understand the connection between Blackness, gun ownership and racial equality. SPEAKERS Dr. Carol Anderson Ph.D., Charles Howard Candler Professor of African American Studies, Emory University; Author, The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America In Conversation with Melissa Murray Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law, NYU School of Law; Co-host, "Strict Scrutiny" Podcast 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 July 21st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From clearing land for pasture to building dams, humans have long changed the face of the Earth. But Indian eco-feminist Vandana Shiva is highly critical of how we’ve changed our relationship with the land through industrial monocrop agriculture. She firmly opposes genetically modified crops, and has called seed patents “bio-piracy.” But it’s not just the technology she’s critical of. “I’m critical of the world view of arrogance. The worldview that came with colonialism, the mechanistic mindset of the conquering man being the creator of the earth and creator of the wealth,” Shiva says. Shiva argues for a renewed focus on biodiversity and regenerative agriculture to help solve the climate crisis. Guests: Vandana Shiva, director of the Foundation for Science, Technology & Ecology Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Frankly, We Did Win This Election, authored by The Wall Street Journal’s senior White House reporter Michael Bender, reveals a deeply reported account of Donald J. Trump’s final year as president of the United States—from his first impeachment in January 2020 to his second almost exactly a year later. Bender chronicles Trump and his campaign team as they struggle through an epic convergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ensuing economic collapse, and the civil rights upheaval that unraveled their reelection strategy. Bender’s refined sourcing brings readers within the walls of the White House for the inside story of how Trump lost, drawing a straight line from his presidency to his defeat and ultimately to the deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol building. Bender joined The Wall Street Journal in 2016 and has since published more than 1,100 stories about Trump. He has been recognized for his coverage, receiving both the Gerald R. Ford Foundation Journalism Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency in 2019 as well as the National Press Club award for political analysis in 2020. Join Bender and moderator Maggie Haberman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist from The New York Times, as they go into the exclusive details of how Donald J. Trump lost the 2020 election. Note: This Program contains EXPLICIT language SPEAKERS Michael Bender Senior White House Reporter, The Wall Street Journal; Author, Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost; Twitter @MichaelCBender In Conversation with Maggie Haberman White House Correspondent, The New York Times; Twitter @maggieNYT 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 July 21st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The depths of the Jeffrey Epstein story may never have been known without the work of Florida investigative reporter Julie K. Brown. A reporter for the Miami Herald, Brown and her explosive reporting for the Herald helped bring Epstein to justice (before his death) while exposing the powerful people and broken system that protected him. For many years, billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's penchant for teenage girls was an open secret in the high society of Palm Beach, Florida and Manhattan. Charged in 2008 with soliciting prostitution from minors, Epstein was treated with what critics called unheard-of leniency at the time. The media virtually ignored the failures of the criminal justice system, and Epstein's friends and business partners brushed the allegations aside. But when in 2017 the U.S. attorney who approved Epstein's plea deal, Alexander Acosta, was chosen by President Trump as labor secretary, Brown was compelled to ask questions that other journalists weren't. Despite her editor's skepticism that she could add a new dimension to a known story, Brown determined that her goal would be to track down the victims themselves. Poring over thousands of redacted court documents, traveling across the country and chasing down information in difficult and sometimes dangerous circumstances, Brown tracked down dozens of Epstein's victims, now young women struggling to reclaim their lives after the trauma and shame they had endured. Brown's resulting three-part series in the Miami Herald was one of the most explosive news stories of the decade, revealing how Epstein ran a global sex trafficking pyramid scheme with impunity for years, targeting vulnerable teens, often from fractured homes, and then turning them into recruiters. The outrage led to Epstein's arrest, the disappearance and eventual arrest of his closest accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, and the resignation of Acosta. The financier's mysterious suicide in a New York City jail cell prompted wild speculation about the secrets he took to the grave—and whether his death was intentional or the result of foul play. Brown's new book, Perversion of Justice, builds on her original award-winning series, showing the power of truth, the value of local journalism and the tenacity of one woman in the face of the deep-seated corruption of powerful men. Julie Brown joins us virtually to discuss her role in the Epstein story and what it means for the media and the country. SPEAKERS Julie K. Brown Investigative Reporter, Miami Herald; Author, Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story; (Participating Virtually) Robert Rosenthal Board Member, Center for Investigative Reporting—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 July 22nd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor William Drummond has had an impressive career as an educator and award-winning journalist. This includes stints at The (Louisville) Courier-Journal, where he covered the civil rights movement, and the Los Angeles Times, where he was a local reporter, then bureau chief in New Delhi and Jerusalem and later a Washington correspondent. Drummond was appointed a White House Fellow in 1976 by President Gerald Ford, worked briefly for Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and eventually became associate press secretary to President Jimmy Carter. In 1977 he joined National Public Radio and became the founding editor of "Morning Edition." In 1983, he joined the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, where in addition to teaching students, Drummond twice taught an introductory journalism course pro bono under auspices of the Prison University Project for dozens of inmates at San Quentin Prison. He and moderator Robert Rosenthal, who has visited inmates at San Quentin many times with a program called Guiding Rage into Power and also has had a remarkable career in journalism, will discuss how the prisoner-run newspaper San Quentin News was recalled to life under an enlightened warden and newspaper veterans, including Drummond. They will also discuss how the COVID crisis affected prisoners and prison staff. Drummond told the story of the San Quentin News in his book Prison Truth, revealing how the project helped transform the prison from a "living hell" into an environment to foster positive change in the inmates' lives. One reviewer wrote, "Prison Truth illustrates the power of prison media to eventually humanize the experiences of people inside penitentiary walls and to forge alliances with social justice networks seeking reform." Join us for this important discussion. MLF ORGANIZER Celia Menczel NOTES MLF: Middle East SPEAKERS William Drummond Professor of Journalism, University of California, Berkeley; Author, Prison Truth Robert Rosenthal Board Member: Center for Investigative Reporting 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 July 22nd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why don’t we talk to strangers? What happens when we do? Joe Keohane argues that, if we do, it affects everything from our own health and well-being to the rise and fall of nations. In our cities, even before the pandemic, we stood on silent buses and subway cars, barely acknowledging one another, even as rates of loneliness skyrocketed. Online, we retreat into ideological silos reinforced by algorithms designed to serve us only familiar ideas. In our politics, we are increasingly consumed by the fear of people we’ve never met. But what if strangers—so often blamed for our most pressing political, social, and personal problems—are actually the solution? Keohane takes us on a journey to discover what happens when we bridge the distance between us and people we don’t know. And he finds that, while we are wired to sometimes fear, distrust and even hate strangers, people and societies that have learned to connect with strangers benefit immensely. Digging into a growing body of cutting-edge research on the surprising social and psychological benefits that come from talking to strangers, Keohane shows that even passing interactions can enhance empathy, happiness and cognitive development; ease loneliness and isolation; and root us in the world, deepening our sense of belonging and revealing that talking to strangers isn’t just a way to live. It’s a way to thrive. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities SPEAKERS Joe Keohane Journalist; Author, The Power of Strangers: The Benefits of Connecting in a Suspicious World 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 July 21st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trauma-informed care understands and considers the pervasive nature of trauma and promotes environments of healing and recovery rather than practices and services that may inadvertently re-traumatize. Dr. Darla Dixon is a licensed psychologist currently working as a trauma-informed care coordinator for the California Department of State Hospitals. She has also had the privilege of being socialized by the wraparound program early in her career where she learned and experienced the impact of being trauma-informed. MLF ORGANIZER Patrick O'Reilly NOTES MLF: Psychology SPEAKERS Dr. Darla Dixon Psychologist; Trauma-Informed Care Coordinator, California Department of State Hospitals Patrick O'Reilly Clinical Psychologist; Chair Commonwealth Club Psychology Member-Led Forum—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on June 16th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Composer Benjamin Britten, a central figure of 20th-century British music (Peter Grimes, The Turn of the Screw, Ceremony of Carols) and renowned tenor Peter Pears were together from 1939 until Britten’s death in 1976. During Britten’s lifetime, neither spoke publicly about their relationship or sexuality—homosexuality in England was illegal until its partial decriminalization in 1967. San Francisco-born and -based arts educator, performer, composer and conductor Cole Thomason-Redus presents an illuminating 21st century perspective on their musical partnership and private life. Cole is educational content curator in the Department of Diversity, Equity & Community at San Francisco Opera, where he is host of the weekly online series "Opera Aficionado." Cole has also been director of education for Chanticleer, curator of classical music at Apple, Inc., and classical music analyst for the Music Genome Project at Pandora Media, Inc. MLF ORGANIZER Dr. Anne W. Smith NOTES MLF: Arts SPEAKERS Cole Thomason-Redus Educational Content Curator, Department of Diversity, Equity & Community, San Francisco Opera; Host, "Opera Aficionado"; Upper DivisioDirector, Marin Girls Chorus; Associate Conductor, National Children's Chorus 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 June 29th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The United States is famous for its car culture. But a hundred years ago, pedestrians didn’t want cars to take over the streets — and it took decades of pressure and lobbying by car companies to make them feel otherwise. Today, traffic jams, maintenance and pollution make cars more like the cigarette no one wants to quit. Urban areas have grown up and spread out along ever widening highways with parking spaces required for each new building, further entrenching the car into our lives and choking cities with smog. Public transit holds tremendous possibilities for reducing our transportation emissions while better moving people through cities. But there’s a lot to overcome when trying to change the mobility model in most American cities, starting with the lack of good public transit and the high costs of construction. How can we make good public transportation work in America? Guests: Peter Norton, associate professor of history at the University of Virginia; author of Fighting Traffic and Autonorama Eric Goldwyn, assistant professor at the NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management; co-founder of the Transit Costs Project Amanda Eaken, director of transportation for the Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge at the Natural Resources Defense Council Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The pandemic has hurt many industries throughout the United States. For local news media, the COVID-19 public health emergency was nearly catastrophic. Already threatened with economic demise because of the rise of digital advertising and how consumers use free social media tools to consume news, the pandemic put further financial stresses on local news outlets by impacting advertising from shuttered restaurants, bars and small businesses. All of this came at a time, of course, when local news—with information on the immediate impact of the public health emergency, among other topics—was more important than ever. However, despite the strong challenges for local news outlets, the future may not be so bleak for the industry. Why? A growing number of nonprofit news media ventures are seeking to fill the void for quality local news efforts. Across the country, citizens are increasingly getting local news from new digital ventures focused on a specific region or city. Perhaps most important, philanthropists and major foundations are investing in these new efforts, increasing the chance for sustainability and impact and creating a new future for local news, even at this challenging time. This program will introduce viewers to two nonprofit efforts—MLK50 (covering the intersection of poverty, power and policy in Memphis), and Cityside (with the Bay Area outlets Berkeleyside and The Oaklandside)—as well as to the co-founder of a new venture philanthropy nonprofit, the American Journalism Project, created to make local sites more financially sustainable. Please join us for an important conversation on the future of local news and why the future may be in a new generation of nonprofit news outlets. Wendi C. Thomas and John Thornton will participate virtually; Lance Knobel and David Cohn will be on-stage. SPEAKERS: Lance Knobel, CEO, CItyside Wendi C. Thomas, Editor and Publisher, MLK50: Justice Through Journalism (Participating Virtually) John Thornton, Founder Texas Tribune; Co-Founder American Journalism Project (Participating Virtually) David Cohn, Senior Director, Advance Local; Cofounder of Subtext—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been hosting our live programming via YouTube live stream. We are slowly reopen our building to programs with live guests and live audiences. This hybrid-program was recorded with participants in both our auditorium and via video conference on July 15th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. NOTE: This podcast may contain explicit language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens when a young lesbian editor-in-chief explores her role, the pressures she feels from gender expectations in society, and the challenges one would face in the media world when you don't fit it? Find out in this timely program. Gabrielle Korn is a journalist, digital media expert, and the former editor-in-chief of Nylon Media, an international lifestyle publication focused on emerging culture. Under her editorial leadership, Nylon became a fully digital brand with an ever-growing audience and original, politically-driven, thought-provoking beauty, fashion, music, and entertainment content. She spent three years working on Nylon’s digital presence before her promotion to editor-in-chief, working across platforms and growing traffic. Prior to that, she was an editor at Refinery29, overseeing beauty content during a period of explosive traffic growth and working to expand the brand’s concept of what beauty means to the millennial reader. She graduated from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study in 2011 with a concentration in feminist/queer theory and writing. She lives in Brooklyn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a year of so much hardship and isolation, how do we readjust to a “new normal”? Join Dr. Jessi Gold and Dr. Lucy Kalanithi, host of the new podcast "Gravity," for a deep dive into the varied emotions many of us are currently feeling as the country reopens post-pandemic. From Zoom fatigue to unprocessed mental health challenges—including grief and trauma—there are countless underlying effects of COVID-19 still left unspoken. This program will be an open and safe space to bring those conversations, questions, and fears to the surface. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Helene Wecker will discuss The Hidden Palace, her long-anticipated sequel to her fascinating, debut novel, The Golem and the Jinni , a magical yet historical tale about immigrant New York. The combination of Arabic and Jewish mythology made the novel particularly intriguing to many readers. The Golem and the Jinni was an Amazon Editor Top 20 Pick and received numerous awards, including the Amazon Spotlight Debut, Indie Next Pick, Entertainment Weekly, Audible books, Kirkus Reviews, and others. A Midwest native, Wecker holds a B.A. in English from Carleton College and an M.F.A. in fiction writing from Columbia University. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her husband and children. NOTES MLF: Middle East Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pathways for reducing carbon emissions include electrifying transportation and replacing fossil fuels with wind and solar power. But in this time of national reckoning on racial and economic disparities, there is growing support for a more holistic approach. This view holds that the climate crisis won’t be resolved until we first address the systemic imbalances that have fueled it – racism, capitalism, white supremacy and patriarchy. In their recent book, All We Can Save: Truth, Courage and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, co-editors Katharine Wilkinson and Ayana Elizabeth Johnson bring together the voices of women artists, writers and change-makers who are at the forefront of climate action. “The work that we’re doing is instigating or nurturing a feminist climate renaissance,” says Johnson, “which is what we feel the climate movement so desperately needs right now.” Guests: Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, marine biologist Katharine Wilkinson, Vice President, Project Drawdown Co-editors, All We Can Save:Truth, Courage and Solutions for the Climate Crisis (One World, 2020) Christine Nieves Rodriguez, Co-founder and President, Emerge Puerto Rico. Sherri Mitchell, author, Sacred Instructions: Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change (North Atlantic Books, 2018) Heather McTeer Toney, National Field Director, Moms Clean Air Force Jainey Bavishi, Director, Mayor's Office of Resiliency, New York City Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Involved, caring fathers make a lasting impact on their children's lives. On his "Today Show" “Dads Got This!” series, Craig Melvin explores the inspiring stories of fathers across the nation who are dedicated to making a difference in their kids’ lives. He’s covered fathers who are frontline workers, raising their children alone, and working with children with learning and physical disabilities. Now, in his new book Pops, Craig Melvin investigates his own relationship with his father and how it influences the way he chooses to pursue fatherhood. Addiction, transformation and redemption are the honest truths at the core of Melvin’s story. Craig’s father, Lawrence, was distant and often absent due to work obligations and alcohol addiction, but a fiercely loving mother made sure their family stayed together. In his book, Melvin reveals what makes an inspiring, proactive father as seen through the people in his life—uncles, teachers, mentors—and how their examples set a standard for his own fatherhood journey. A story of journey, understanding and reconciliation, Craig Melvin is exploring the honest truths of fatherhood. Join us as Melvin discusses the joys and challenges of being a father. SPEAKERS Craig Melvin Cohost, NBC’s "Today Show"; Author, Pops: Learning to Be a Son and a Father; Twitter @craigmelvin Brian Watt News Anchor, KQED—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 July 12th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When we think of action on climate change, we usually think of what individuals can do, what governments can do, and maybe what businesses can do. But what about the broader economic levers that affect behaviors? Can we get companies to walk away from billions of dollars they’ve already invested in a fossil fuel-based economy? Insurers are on the front lines of climate disruption; it’s their business to put a price on risk. So how can the financial and insurance sectors create better-aligned incentives for companies, businesses and even governments to get on the ever-narrowing path to net zero carbon emissions before it’s too late? Guests: Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a talk with Nick Cho, known as "Your Korean Dad" on TikTok, where he has attracted more than 2.7 million followers. Nick Cho was born in Seoul, Korea in 1973. He immigrated to the United States in 1975 with his father and mother, eventually settling in the Washington, D.C., suburbs in Northern Virginia, where he and his younger sister, Jennifer, grew up. After a number of different jobs including car sales, music teacher, and assistant to a radio producer for a nationally syndicated comedy radio show, in 2002 he opened a small coffee shop in the nation's capital called "murky coffee." It quickly became renown throughout the country as one of the pioneering cafes for what would be called "third wave coffee." He moved with his wife and partner Trish to San Francisco in 2010, starting a new coffee company with her called Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters. Both Nick and Trish would split time between running the coffee company and traveling the world, being invited as leading industry experts to speak and teach at various venues and events throughout the coffee world. Nick started on TikTok in late 2019, and started posting videos as what would be known as "Your Korean Dad" in April of 2020. His audience has been growing rapidly ever since. Nick has two teenaged daughters. Get yourself set for a great July 4 holiday weekend with an engaging, feel-good program with Your Korean Dad. SPEAKERS Nick Cho Star, "Your Korean Dad," TikTok; Co-Founder, Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters; Twitter @NickCho; TikTok @yourkoreandad Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," 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; Not Cool Enough to Be on TikTok—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 July 1st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since coming to San Francisco in 2000, twin sisters Melonie and Melorra Green have established themselves as leaders and mentors to countless Bay Area artists. Melonie Green and Melorra Green are the co-executive directors of the African American Art & Culture Complex (AAACC) located in San Francisco’s Fillmore/Western Addition neighborhood. Born and raised in Memphis and with speech communication and theatre degrees from Tennessee State University, the twins moved to San Francisco in 2000 to study filmmaking at the Academy of Art University. During their first two decades in the San Francisco Bay Area as young Black queer women, they started their enormous artistic legacy, producing more than 80 exhibitions and 100 public events with their brand of collaboration, creativity, culture and community. They have curated galleries, including the explosive exhibition “The Black Woman is God” at both the African American Art & Culture Complex and SOMArts Cultural Center, “Don’t Shoot: An Opus of the Opulence of Blackness” at MOAD, the AfroSolo “Black Matters” visual arts exhibition at the San Francisco Public Library, and the art in the District 5 Board of Supervisors office for eight years, including under the leadership of now-Mayor London Breed. They have mentored, assisted and influenced thousands of Bay Area artists through public programs and events such as the Fillmore Art Walk, San Francisco Independent Artists’ Week, their weekly radio show on KPOO 89.5 FM, and the 2020 street mural paintings of Black Lives Matter and Trans Lives Matter from Civic Center to the Castro. Under their leadership, AAACC was named Gucci Changemakers 2021, one of 15 organizations in the country. They continue to elevate their promise to inspire and empower Black people to tell their stories and uphold their truths. Join us for a Pride Month talk with the 2021 San Francisco Pride Community Grand Marshalls about the power of art. NOTES This program is generously underwritten by Gilead Sciences Inc. SPEAKERS Melonie Green Co-Executive Director, African American Art & Culture Complex Melorra Green Co-Executive Director, African American Art & Culture Complex 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 June 24th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the past several years, the United States has seemingly become a country divided by facts, "alternative facts," fake news, conspiracy theories and a “cancel culture” fueled by information and disinformation circulating on various social media platforms. Yet while the debate over truth seems to have reached a fevered and dangerous pitch since the disputed presidential election, this battle of what constitutes a factual idea is nothing new, according to well-known political scholar and writer Jonathan Rauch. In Rauch's new book The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth, a senior fellow in the Brookings Institution's Governance Studies program and a contributing writer to The Atlantic makes an impassioned defense of truth for a country often divided, and he notes that the war on reality has existed in the United States since its founding. Rauch's new book is an ambitious investigation into many of the country's biggest social disputes, from rampant lying, propaganda and disinformation; online outrage culture, and trolling, to cancel/callout culture, campus safe spaces, postmodernism and grievance studies; as well as attacks on science and expertise. Rauch weaves these many threads into a larger theory of what is being attacked and, importantly, how to defend it. Anyone following today's most divisive political disputes won't want to miss this important conversation about the importance of reason in an age of illiberalism. SPEAKERS Jonathan Rauch Senior Fellow, Governance Studies Program, Brookings Institution; Author, The Constitution of Knowledge: In Defense of Truth Bruce E. Cain Spence and Cleone Eccles Family Director, The Bill Lane Center for American West; Charles Louis Ducommun Professor in Humanities and Sciences, Professor of Political Science, Stanford University In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on June 29th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The United Nations is built on principles of peacekeeping and human rights, and where leaders work to create a sustainable, equitable world. UN leaders, however, are always meeting challenges in their work; as human problems become more complex, so does the work of the organization. Ban Ki-moon knows these issues firsthand. He served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations from 2007–2016, and he took strong positions on global warming, peacekeeping and human rights. In his new book Resolved: Uniting Nations in a Divided World, Ban Ki-moon recounts his own experiences in a war-torn nation, the lifesaving generosity from the United Nations, and the challenges he faced as a diplomat in the intergovernmental institution. Even when facing resistance, he bravely steered the United Nations through a volatile period that included the Arab Spring, nuclear pursuits in Iran and North Korea, the Ebola epidemic, and brutal new conflicts in Central Africa. He describes his role as “the most impossible job on Earth”—but with a strong belief in collective action and global transformation, he persevered. Join us as Ban Ki-moon candidly assesses the integral parts of the United Nations and offers a bracing analysis of what lies ahead. SPEAKERS Ban Ki-moon Secretary-General of the United Nations (2007-2016); Author, Resolved: Uniting Nations in a Divided World In Conversation with Mina Kim Host, “Forum” on KQED; Twitter @mkimreporter 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 June 22nd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Health-care expert Andy Slavitt has spent his career advocating for the American people through affordable and accessible health care. In 2015, he was nominated by President Barack Obama to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In early 2020, when COVID-19 infections began to appear across the United States, Slavitt was one of the first critics of President Donald Trump’s lack of response to the oncoming pandemic. His new book, Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response, provides a definitive inside account of the United States' failed response to the pandemic. Slavitt describes the fateful decisions that were made in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus and the failures of political leaders to keep Americans healthy. The story he tells is one of a country where bad leadership, political and cultural fractures, and an unwillingness to sustain sacrifice created a complex problem that proved near-impossible to resolve. Join us as leading health-care advisor Andy Slavitt describes what went wrong in America’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and puts forth the solutions that will prevent us from repeating the situation. SPEAKERS Andy Slavitt Former White House Senior Advisor for COVID Response; Host, “In the Bubble” Podcast; Author, Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response; Twitter @ASlavitt In Conversation with Dr. Atul Gawande Endocrine Surgeon, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Professor, Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Twitter @Atul_Gawande 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 June 22nd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In light of President Joe Biden's controversial announcement of his intention to end America's "never ending war" on the 20th anniversary of the 9/ll attacks, our distinguished panel will discuss the past, present and possible promise and complications of ending our longest war in a most troubled region. One of the most concerning results could be ending hard-won women's rights and opportunities. Atta Arghandiwal was an Afghan refugee , a U.S. banker. a consultant in Afghanistan and dedicated to helping refugees there and everywhere. Humaira Ghilzai, a writer, speaker and women’s advocate, co-founded the Afghan Friends Network and instituted the Sister City relationship between Hayward, CA and Ghazni, Afghanistan. MLF ORGANIZER Celia Menczel NOTES MLF: Middle East Speakers Atta Arghandiwal Humanitarian; Author, The Self-Sufficient Global Citizen Humaira Ghilzai Writer; Speaker; Women’s Advocate; Co-Founder, Afghan Friends Network Banafsheh Keynoush Ph.D., Vice Chair, Commonwealth Club Middle East Member-Led Forum—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on June 22nd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For over two decades, carbon offset programs have promised individuals and businesses that they can reduce their overall carbon footprint by paying someone else to reduce their carbon emissions. Yet many programs have been plagued by scandal – like shady accounting and paying forest owners not to cut down trees they weren’t planning to log anyway. A new nonprofit called Climate Vault wants to buy emissions permits from regulated markets and lock them away so other polluters can’t buy and use them. Will this finally be an approach that works? Or are all carbon offset programs just smoke and mirrors? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a discussion of LGBTQIA issues and the impacts on the mental health of our youth who navigated their ways through a global pandemic while fighting for civil rights at the same time. Meet the Speakers David W. Bond is a licensed clinical social worker and board-certified expert in traumatic stress. He is the director of behavioral health at Blue Shield of California, where he leads initiatives to restore, sustain and enhance the behavioral health and wellbeing of California’s Medi-Cal and Medicare beneficiaries. Before joining Blue Shield, he served as vice president of programs at The Trevor Project, the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services for LGBTQ youth. He also previously served as manager of youth development programs at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego. For 12 years, David was a practicing psychotherapist specializing in children and trauma. He has taught and lectured widely on topics of physical and sexual abuse, domestic violence, suicide prevention, clinical and policy considerations for LGBTQ communities, access to care and program evaluation. T. Drake-Smith, aka YSD, is an artist, activist and actor. By day, she is known as T. Drake-Smith—alias Shorty the Youth Coordinator at the Oakland LGBTQ Center. By night, she’s an entertainer you may have seen on "The Lipstick Series," "Sister Hood fo Hip Hop" on Oxygen and in a KTVU sports commercial. Her latest TV roles are on “13 Reasons Why” & "Lipstick Series." YSD is currently working on music and has been performing professionally since 2010. Young Shorty Doowop's song "Let Em Hate” featuring Slim 400 is currently playing on 106.1 KMEL. She has opened up for Big Freedia, Jadakiss, Young M.A, Dej Loaf, Soulja Boy, Iamsu!, Jennifer Holiday, Jim Jones, Trina, Remy Ma and others, and has performed at San Francisco Pride, Atlanta Pride, in Seattle, Sweetheat Miami, New York, LA and London. Her new album “Night & Day” is available on all digital platforms. You can catch her on the new reality show “Studs of LA” and as a host on Lipstick Television. Juan Acosta is an award winning LGBTQ+ mental health advocate who serves on national committees, speaks at conferences and festivals, and is a New York Times bestselling author for a book co-authored with Lady Gaga, Channel Kindness. He drafted a historic LGBTQ+ proclamation for his hometown of Woodland, CA. He currently serves as one of the regional managers for the CalHOPE Warm Line. Acosta's awards include the Governor & First Lady Service Award, The Presidential Service Award, the NAMI Rising Star Award, and the Steinberg Institute Mental Health Champion 2021. SPEAKERS David W. Bond Licensed Clinical Social Worker; Board Certified Expert in Traumatic Streass; Director of Behavioral Health, Blue Shield of California T. Drake-Smith, aka YSD Artist; Activist; Actor; Youth Coordinator, Oakland LGBTQ Center Juan Acosta LGBTQ+ Mental Health Advocate; Co-Author, Channel Kindness Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show" on KBCW/KPIX and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @msmichellemeow—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 June 21st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This July 4, the country will be emerging from the pandemic to celebrate the most patriotic of holidays with friends and family. At The Commonwealth Club, just days before the holiday, we'll be re-opening our doors and cracking open our grills in a special event that celebrates an iconic American food: barbecue! We’ll explore this rich and historic food, particularly the essential role that African Americans have played in the development of the cuisine. Audiences can watch either online or join us in-person! Adrian Miller, author of, Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue, will kick off our event with stories of Black perseverance, culinary innovation, and entrepreneurship in the world of barbecue. His work illustrates that despite cultural marginalization, African Americans have enriched a now-embraced barbecue culture tied strongly to summer holidays and recounts how Black barbecuers, pitmasters and restaurateurs are coming into their own after having helped develop this American cuisine, incorporating techniques first pioneered by Native Americans. Miller is also featured in the new Netflix special "High on the Hog," about African-American food history. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Justin Phillips will interview Miller in the Taube Family Auditorium at our headquarters on the Embarcadero. SPEAKERS Adrian Miller Writer; Certified Barbecue Judge; Attorney; Author, Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue In Conversation with Justin Phillips Columnist, San Francisco Chronicle Welcome by Brenda Wright Senior Vice President & Director of Community Relations (West Region), Wells Fargo & Co.; Member, 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 June 28th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gus Kenworthy writes about Adam Rippon. Graham Norton writes about Armistead Maupin. Tan France does the honors for "Queer Eye," as Mae Martin does for Tim Curry and Elton John does for Divine. Those contributions—and many more—are included in the new book The Queer Bible, an illustrated collection of essays featuring today's queer heroes writing about their queer heroes. Jack Guinness, who edited and contributed an essay to the book, joins us for a look at the LGBTQ community and the individuals who shaped its history. SPEAKERS Jack Guinness Editor, The Queer Bible; Contributing Editor, British GQ; Twitter @Jackguinness Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW/KPIX and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors—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 17th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daisy Khan has devoted much of her life to fighting Islamophobia, increasing public understanding of Islam and breaking down barriers between Muslims and other faiths. Ms. Khan served for 18 years as executive director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement, where she was hailed as a bridge builder for promoting cultural and religious harmony through intra-faith programs such as Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow and inter-faith arts programs. To combat anti-Muslim bias, she created the "Today, I am a Muslim Too" rally involving 100 interfaith organizations. She has also worked to modernize the role of women within Islam. Khan founded The Women's Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE) with the express goal of peace building, gender equality and human dignity. She says that women's leadership is essential to solving societal issues, and that the WISE Shura Council is creating a crucial space for activism that contributes to Muslim women’s struggle for justice. The council issues informed and religiously grounded opinions on controversial issues of particular relevance to Muslim women in their personal, familial and societal lives. By advocating a constructive conception of women’s status, rights and responsibilities, Khan says these opinions function as legitimate alternatives to oppressive religious arguments. Ms. Khan's awards and honors include: the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award, Edinburgh Peace Award, and the Interfaith Center’s Award for Promoting Peace. She's been listed among Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People and was ranked among the “Top Ten Women Faith leaders” by The Huffington Post. Khan plans to follow her 2018 memoir, Born with Wings, with two forthcoming books: 30 Rights of Muslim Women and WISE UP White Supremacy. Come for an important conversation with Daisy Khan about Islam and the advancement of Muslim women. SPEAKERS Daisy Khan Founder, Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE); Co-Founder & Former Exec. Director, American Society of Muslim Advancement (ASMA) ; Author, Born With Wings In Conversation with Sara Abbasi Philanthropist; Provider of Endowment, Sohaib and Sara Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, Stanford University In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on June 16th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices