Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Leading up to the recent Tokyo Olympics. athletes Annet Negesa of Uganda and Maximila Imali of Kenya both had their Olympic dreams crushed because of rules set by the track and field global governing body, World Athletics. They are just two—of many—elite women athletes who have been told their natural testosterone levels, if not lowered through medication or surgery, disqualify them from competition at the highest levels of sport. Join us for an in-depth conversation about intersex biology and the history of sex testing in women’s athletics ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. About the Speaker In February 2021, Eliza Anyangwe became the editor of As Equals, CNN’s ongoing gender inequality project. She began her career working for nongovernmental organizations Action Against Hunger and then the Pesticide Action Network, where she was Organic Cotton Officer, but has spent more than a decade in media, working for The Guardian, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, and most recently The Correspondent, where she was managing editor. The Guardian Opinion series she commissioned and wrote for, a "Week in Africa," was longlisted for a One World Media award. In 2016, Eliza founded The Nzinga Effect, a media project focused on telling the stories of African and Afro-descendant women, and delivered that work through partnerships with organizations such as The Serpentine Galleries and The British Council. In 2018 she was awarded a development reporting grant by the European Journalism Centre to tell stories about the African women breaking taboos and carving out space to talk about sex and sexuality. Eliza has written for The Independent, Financial Times, Al Jazeera and Open Democracy; has appeared on broadcast programs, including "Newsnight," "BBC World Service," PRI’s "The World," and the podcast "Our Body Politic"; and has spoken at events, among them SXSW, D&AD Festival, The Google News Initiative Summit, the International Journalism Festival, Africa Utopia, The Web We Want Festival and the Next Einstein Forum. Eliza is a contributing author to Africa’s Media Image in the 21st Century, published by Routledge. SPEAKERS Eliza Anyangwe Journalist; Editor, As Equals, CNN Gender Inequality Project; Twitter @elizatalks; Instagram @Elizatookthis Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @msmichellemeow—Co-Host John Zipperer Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club—Co-Host In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on October 4th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On July 14, 2021, lesbian feminist Sally Miller Gearhart passed away at the age of 90. In 1973, she had become the first out lesbian to obtain a tenure-track faculty position when she was hired by San Francisco State University, where she helped establish one of the country's first women and gender study programs. In her long life, she was a teacher, feminist, science fiction writer and political activist. Join us for a special program in tribute to her; we will also reveal exclusive clips from a documentary now in production on Sally Gearhart's life. A complimentary lunch will be provided for in-person attendees. Note: This program contains EXPLICIT language SPEAKERS Deborah Craig Documentary Director and Producer, including "A Great Ride" and Sally Jörg Fockele Filmmaker, Executive Producer and Television Director/Producer, including "Queer Eye," Sally Melanie Nathan Executive Director, African Human Rights Coalition Ondine Rarey Filmmaker; Writer and Editor, including A Portrait of Female Desperation and Sally Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show" on KBCW 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 September 30th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Please join us for a lively and intimate discussion on the Judy Chicago: Retrospective exhibit, which is currently showing at San Francisco’s de Young Museum. The discussion is presented by the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco Docent Victoria Kirby. Adding to the conversation will be Debra Reabock, a Bay Area visual artist and photo philanthropist. Judy Chicago is a trailblazer and leader of the feminist art moment. Kirby's talk will explore Chicago’s full body of works, from her early forays into minimalism to her current work that addresses mortality and environmental issues. Judy Chicago: A Retrospective is organized on the heels of the 40th anniversary of the first showing of The Dinner Party in San Francisco and in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the women’s right to vote in the United States. How fitting a tribute to an artist who has spent a lifetime fighting for social justice and female expression. The discussion will be followed by Q&A. Have your questions ready. NOTES MLF: Arts MLF ORGANIZER Robert Melton SPEAKERS Victoria Kirby Docent, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco Debra Reabock Visual Artists; Photo Philanthropist Robert Melton Co-chair, Arts Member-Led Forum; Curator, Farmer Gallery—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 28th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Within the next two decades, Kai-Fu Lee says, artificial intelligence will become the defining development of the 21st century, making aspects of daily human life today virtually unrecognizable. AI will revolutionize medicine and education through human-machine symbioses. It will challenge the social and economic order by creating brand-new forms of communication and generating unprecedented wealth. AI is at its tipping point, and if our society doesn’t prepare for both the exciting and possibly perilous pathways ahead, we will lose the ability to control our collective future. In their new book AI 2041, Kai-Fu Lee, bestselling author and former president of Google China, teams up with Chen Qiufan to create an image of what a world with artificial intelligence will look like in 20 years. In 10 gripping short stories, the authors introduce readers to an array of eye-opening concepts, such as the rogue scientist in Munich who uses AI technologies in a revenge plot that endangers the world. Or the teenage girl in Mumbai who rebels when AI’s crunching of big data gets in the way of romance. Through these stories, Lee and Qiufan draw on the ominous possibilities of autonomous weapons and human bias in smart technology as well as the incredible liberating power of artificial intelligence and its unprecedented ability to strengthen societal connections. Kai-Fu Lee is the CEO of Beijing-based Sinovation Ventures and the co-chair of the Artificial Intelligence Council at the World Economic Forum. Formerly the president of Google China, Lee was also a senior executive at Microsoft, SGI and Apple. Join us as Kai-Fu Lee delves into the intriguing future of artificial intelligence. SPEAKERS Kai-Fu Lee Ph.D., CEO, Sinovation Ventures; Co-author, AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future In Conversation with Rumman Chowdhury Ph.D., CEO and Founder, Parity AI n response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 28th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the era of big tech, groundbreaking technological innovation has given rise to an increasingly efficient and methodical society. But these advances are not without consequence, as unbounded technological growth demands control over how we work, think, consume and communicate. Our panelists say too many have accepted biased algorithms, job-displacing robots, and surveillance-based capitalism as an inexorable cost of innovation, giving a powerful few the reins over our evolving society. Technologists, the venture capitalists who fund them, and the politicians who allow for this unregulated growth have stepped into the seat of power, often prioritizing technological optimization and efficiency over fundamental human values. System Error, authored by three Stanford professors, offers an alternative to this dystopian vision of a world controlled by big tech. Armed with the combined knowledge of philosopher Rob Reich, a leading thinker at the intersection of technology and ethics, political scientist and former Obama staffer Jeremy Weinstein, as well as the director of Stanford’s undergraduate computer science program Mehran Sahami, System Error reveals how big tech can be held to account for the power it wields over our society. Join us as professors Reich, Weinstein and Sahami uncover the gripping reality of big tech and explain how we can chart a new path forward to control technology before it controls us. About the Speakers Rob Reich is the director of Stanford University’s Center for Ethics in Society; co-director of the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, and associate director of its new Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence; and co-author of System Error:Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot. Mehran Sahami is a professor of computer science at Stanford University; former senior research scientist at Google; and co-author of System Error:Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot. Jeremy M. Weinstein is a professor of political science at Stanford University; former deputy to the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former director for development and democracy on the White House National Security Council staff during the Obama Administration; and co-author of System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot. SPEAKERS Rob Reich Director, Stanford University’s Center for Ethics in Society; Co-author, System Error:Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot Mehran Sahami Professor of Computer Science, Stanford University; Co-author, System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot Jeremy M. Weinstein Professor of Political Science, Stanford University; Co-author, System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot Levi Sumagaysay Tech Reporter, MarketWatch—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 27th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The transition from President Donald J. Trump to President Joseph R. Biden Jr. is one of the most tumultuous periods in recent American history. Robert Costa and his co-author Bob Woodward have taken on the task of documenting the transition in a never-before-seen way in their new book, Peril. With material ranging from secret orders to transcripts of phone conversations from the Trump and Biden White House, the 2020 campaign, and more, Peril is the story about changes, a first inside look into Biden’s presidency, and the unique challenges that face the new administration. Join Costa he as analyzes this intense period in history as well as the overall landscape of American politics in 2021. SPEAKERS Robert Costa National Political Reporter, The Washington Post; Co-Author, Peril In Conversation with Scott Shafer Senior Editor, KQED’s Politics and Government Desk; Twitter @scottshafer In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on October 7th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve experienced yet another summer of record wildfires in the western U.S., endangering lives, displacing communities, and sending unhealthy smoke across the nation. The science is clear: human-caused climate change is making lands more conducive to burning, and we are increasingly living in flammable landscapes. Forest experts say there are tools to help reduce the risk of catastrophic fires, keep forests alive as valuable carbon sinks and make communities more resilient to megafires. But we may also have to become accustomed to more fire – and smoke – in our lives. How can we better live with fire, including using it as a tool, rather than always fighting it? For transcripts and other information, visit: https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts Guests: Stephen Pyne, author, The Pyrocene: How We Created an Age of Fire, and What Happens Next Susan Husari, member of the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection Chad T. Hanson, author, Smokescreen: Debunking Wildfire Myths to Save Our Forests and Our Climate Jaime Lowe, author, Breathing Fire: Female Inmate Firefighters on the Front Lines of California’s Wildfires Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The best venture capitalists look around corners, and at Top Tech Trends, some of the best VCs will share what they see. The event will be highlighted by a lively panel discussion with investors from Bessemer, Greylock, HSBC Ventures and Mayfield offering their top picks for below-the-radar trends. We'll also hear from one of the most provocative tech investors in the business: Cathie Wood of Ark Invest, with her 1 million Twitter followers and bullish views on the future of technology. NOTES In partnership with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group Foundation's California Center for Innovation. SPEAKERS Ore Adeyemi Managing Director and Global Head, HSBC Invest Navin Chaddha Managing Director, Mayfield Byron Deeter Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners Sarah Guo General Partner, Greylock Cathie Wood CEO/Chief Investment Officer, ARK Invest Candy Cheng Senior Correspondent, Insider—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 29th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What has caused the recent international resurgence of xenophobia? Looking for clues, psychiatrist and historian George Makari started out in search of the idea’s origins. He discovered that while the fear and hatred of strangers may be ancient, the notion of a dangerous bias called "xenophobia" arose not that long ago. Coined by late-nineteenth-century doctors and political commentators, and popularized by an eccentric stenographer, xenophobia emerged as a popular cultural concept alongside Western nationalism, colonialism, mass migration, and genocide. Makari chronicles the concept’s rise, from its popularization and perverse misuse to its spread as an ethical principle in the wake of the Holocaust, and then on to its sudden reappearance in the twenty-first century. He investigates xenophobia’s evolution through writers like Joseph Conrad, Albert Camus and Richard Wright, and innovators like Walter Lippmann, Sigmund Freud, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and Frantz Fanon. Weaving together history, philosophy and psychology, Makari also offers insights into related ideas such as the conditioned response, the stereotype, projection, the authoritarian personality, the other, and institutional bias. Makari offers a unifying paradigm for comprehending more clearly how xenophobia, other irrational anxieties and contests over identity sweep through cultures and lead to the dangerous divisions so prevalent today. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities SPEAKERS George Makari Director, DeWitt Wallace Institute; Professor of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College; Author, Of Fear and Strangers: A History of Xenophobia 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 September 29th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Black Lives Matter and Stop AAPI Hate movements, among others, have brought international attention to widespread social injustices that have been ignored by society for far too long. As a result, many individuals have been inspired to make positive changes toward a safer and more inclusive world. But pursuing equity and justice can be a complex and confusing undertaking. Good intentions do not necessarily lead to good outcomes. Inspiration can easily be derailed by feelings of confusion, the trap of performative allyship, and misguided attempts to take action. When it comes to helping instead of harming, the hardest part can often be figuring out where to begin. Michelle MiJung Kim will unpack hot button issues—cancel culture, inclusive language, representation, and more—in a way that is accessible to people regardless of their current understanding of inclusive practices. Join us for an in-depth conversation Michelle MiJung Kim, followed by a book signing for her new tome, The Wake Up: Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change. SPEAKERS Michelle Mijung Kim Author, The Wake Up; Co-founder and CEO, Awaken 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 September 28th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is the secret sauce behind The Commonwealth Club’s 500-plus annual programs? George Dobbins has led the Club’s programming effort for more than 22 years, responsible for the production of more than 9,000 forums. Sadly for the Club, he will retire on September 30, 2021. Dobbins has seen all the trends in public issues and public debate over the past two decades. He has dealt with myriad politicians, kings, princes, scientists and celebrities, recently ranging from Dr. Anthony Fauci to Rep. Liz Cheney. He has handled it all with diplomacy, tact and inspired leadership. Please join us on September 28 at 12:30 p.m., in-person at the Club or online, as Club CEO Gloria Duffy debriefs George Dobbins on his role of the past 22 years, and he tells a few behind-the-scenes stories that will both keep us laughing and underline the wisdom and care with which he has handled his important position. SPEAKERS George Dobbins Vice President of Programs, The Commonwealth Club of California In Conversation with Dr. Gloria Duffy President and CEO, The Commonwealth Club of California In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 28th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the past two decades, no industry has had a greater impact on the world than the tech industry, born and bred in California's Silicon Valley. And perhaps few individuals have done more to shape Silicon Valley than the enigmatic tech investor and entrepreneur, Peter Thiel. The billionaire venture capitalist and tech leader has been a behind-the-scenes operator influencing the tech industry and countless aspects of our contemporary way of life, from the technologies we use every day to the delicate power balance between Silicon Valley, Wall Street and Washington, particularly during the Trump administration. But despite his power, no public figure might be quite so mysterious as Thiel. In the first major biography of Thiel, reporter Max Chafkin traces the trajectory of Thiel's singular life and worldview, from his upbringing as the child of immigrant parents and years at Stanford as a burgeoning conservative thinker to his founding of PayPal and Palantir, early investments in Facebook and SpaceX, and relationships with fellow tech titans Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and Eric Schmidt. Chafkin's book, The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power, explores the extent to which Thiel has sought to have influence far beyond California's tech industry, including funding the lawsuit that destroyed the blog Gawker and supporting conservative political candidates, including Donald Trump in 2016. To understand Silicon Valley and its impact, particularly on American political and civic life, an understanding of Thiel is a critical piece of the puzzle. Please join us for an important discussion on this critical player in the tech industry and American life. The discussion will be led by Brad Stone, best known for chronicling another enigmatic tech mogul, Amazon's Jeff Bezos. SPEAKERS Max Chafkin Features Editor and Technology Reporter, Bloomberg Businessweek; Author, The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power Brad Stone Senior Executive Editor, Global Technology, Bloomberg News; Author, Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 27th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A celebrated revolution brought freedom to a group of enslaved people in northern India. Or did it? Join us for a conversation with Dr. Laura Murphy, who will join us live from the United Kingdom to talk about the fascinating story of Freedomville, a town founded by slaves in India. Millions of people today are still enslaved, and nearly 8 million of them live in India, more than anywhere else. Murphy reveals the story of a small group of enslaved villagers in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh who founded their own town of Azad Nagar―Freedomville―after staging a rebellion against their slaveholders. International organizations championed it as a non-violent "silent revolution" that inspired other villagers to fight for their own freedom. But Murphy, a leading scholar of contemporary global slavery who spent years researching and teaching about Freedomville, found that there was something troubling about Azad Nagar's success. Freedomville's enormous struggle to gain and maintain liberty shows us how realistic radical change is, and how a global construction boom is deepening and broadening the alienation of impoverished people around the world. About the Speaker Laura T. Murphy is professor of human rights and contemporary slavery at the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK. She is the author of The New Slave Narrative: The Battle over Representations of Contemporary Slavery, Survivors of Slavery: Modern-Day Slave Narratives and Metaphor and the Slave Trade in Western African Literature. Her work has been funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the British Academy, the National Humanities Center, and the Department of Justice. SPEAKERS Laura Murphy Professor of Human Rights and Contemporary Slavery, Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice, Sheffield Hallam University (UK); Author, Freedomville: The Story of a 21st-Century Slave Revolt; Twitter @LauraTMurphy 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 September 23rd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With her first book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man, trained clinical psychologist Mary L. Trump focused a spotlight on their family's complex history to explain how her uncle became a historically disruptive national figure. The book was a international bestseller, appearing in the midst of a heated presidential election and providing deep insight into the nation's 45th president. Now in The Reckoning: Our Nation's Trauma and Finding a Way to Heal, Mary Trump examines America's national trauma, rooted in our history but dramatically exacerbated by the impact of current events and the Trump administration's divisive policies. She says that our failure to acknowledge this, let alone root it out, has allowed it to metastasize. Whether the trauma manifests itself in rising levels of rage and hatred, or hopelessness and apathy, the stress of living in a country people feel they no longer recognize has affected millions. It’s a collective PTSD that a new leader alone cannot fix. Mary Trump explores how our current trauma is the logical outcome of the stories we tell ourselves, the myths we embrace, and the lies we perpetuate. Trauma shapes us in ways we may not be aware of, and will always do so unless we face what has happened to us, what we’ve done to ourselves, what we’ve done to each other. She says an enormous amount of healing must be done to rebuild our faith in leadership, and our hope for this nation, and it starts with the reckoning. Mary L. Trump holds a Ph.D. from the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University, and has taught graduate courses in trauma, psychopathology and developmental psychology. SPEAKERS Mary Trump Psychologist; Author, The Reckoning In Conversation with Molly Jong-Fast Editor at Large, The Daily Beast Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker Journalists; Authors In Conversation with Yamiche Alcindor Host, "Washington Week," PBS In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 26th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mary Roach wants to let us in on a secret: The greatest number of repeat criminal offenders are outside, all around us, and you’ve probably even seen some today—animals. It has only been three centuries since animals had to stand trial for their misconduct, in a court of law, with legal representation. Yes, really. In her newest book, Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law, the science enthusiast turned writer deep-dives into human-animal conflict. As human land consumption creeps further into the natural habitats of these so-called troublemakers, it becomes more pressing to realize a symbiotic coexistence. The question becomes: Who is in the wrong, animals living according to their instincts or the humans that increasingly police them? To answer this question, Roach trots the globe from the Himalayas to Vatican City making friends with rats and foes with a macaque. Ultimately she reaches the conclusion that there is true, untamed hope for working with rather than against our critter counterparts. At INFORUM Roach will regale us with stories as wild as they are true, such as her foray into rat-bait taste testing. Further she will serve as our safari-guide in the conversation of how to bring outdoor and indoor worlds together safely and justly at a time when this work is needed most. This conversation is moderated by Kara Platoni, Wired's science editor SPEAKERS Mary Roach Author, Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law Kara Platoni Science Editor, Wired—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 21st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite her identity as an evangelical, climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe doesn't accept global warming on faith; she crunches the data, analyzes the models, and helps engineers, city managers and ecologists quantify the impacts. In her new book, Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World, Hayhoe argues that when it comes to changing hearts and minds, facts are only one part of the equation. “The biggest problem we have is not the people who willfully decide to reject 200 years of basic science,” she says. “The bigger problem is the number of people who say, ‘it's real’ but they don’t think it matters to them.” Hayhoe says we need to find shared values with others to drive conversations and collective action on climate disruption. Guest: Katharine Hayhoe, climate scientist and chief scientist, The Nature Conservancy; author, Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The mass movements of summer 2020 brought together millions and compelled museums across the country to confront their own legacies with urgency and openness. Director of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco Jay Xu will share how the museum navigated these challenges while endeavoring to transform the 55-year-old museum into a 21st century experience accessible and welcoming to all. Through an ever-growing contemporary art collection, investment in accessible digital technologies, a new pavilion helping to reenergize Civic Center, and an expansive look at what it means to be a culturally specific museum during a surge in anti-Asian racism, Xu will talk about his team’s efforts to inspire and connect audiences from around the world—with art as well as with each other. The discussion will be moderated by Deborah Clearwaters, director of education and interpretation at the Asian Art Museum. NOTES MLF: Asia-Pacific Affairs SPEAKERS Dr. Jay Xu Barbara Bass Bakar Director & CEO, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco Deborah Clearwaters Director of Education and Interpretation, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco—Moderator Introduction by Jim Brown 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, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A fundamental challenge of our health-care system is the enhancement of cognition for millions of people who suffer from psychiatric and neurological conditions. Despite 70 years of global effort in attempting to identify molecules deliverable as pills to accomplish this goal, we have largely failed to deliver truly effective, accessible and low-side-effect treatments for cognitive impairments associated with medical conditions, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, ADHD and dementia. It is important to be aware that for thousands of years we humans have been creating experiences to enhance the quality of our lives and support our mental health. However, this approach has largely been marginalized as “alternative” and has not been embraced within the core of mainstream medicine. Dr. Adam Gazzaley will describe his mission to develop and validate experiences as medicine by integrating neuroscience-guided design, invention and experimentation. In this talk, he will discuss his invention of a closed-loop video game that has now become the first FDA-cleared video game for any medical condition, and the first digital treatment for ADHD. He will share how the next generation of experiential medicine will incorporate advances in artificial intelligence, sensory immersion, virtual reality, multimodal physiological recordings and noninvasive electrical brain stimulation. He will conclude with a deep dive into his newest undertakings to explore the intricacies and possibilities of one of man’s oldest experiential medicines—psychedelics. Dr. Adam Gazzaley obtained an M.D. and Ph.D. in neuroscience at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, completed neurology residency at the University of Pennsylvania and postdoctoral training in cognitive neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley. He is currently the David Dolby Distinguished Professor of Neurology, Physiology and Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco and the founder and executive director of Neuroscape, a translational neuroscience center at UCSF engaged in technology creation and scientific research. MLF ORGANIZER Patty James NOTES MLF: Health & Medicine SPEAKERS Dr. Adam Gazzaley M.D., Ph.D., David Dolby Distinguished Professor of Neurology, Physiology and Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco; Founder and Executive Director, Neuroscape Patty James M.S., N.C. Nutritionist; Chef; Author—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 22nd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Peter Coyote has acted in more than 130 films (including E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Cross Creek, Jagged Edge,Patch Adams, Erin Brockovich, and Hemingway & Gellhorn), is an Emmy Award-winning narrator of more than 200 documentaries (including, for Ken Burns, The West, The National Parks, Prohibition, The Dust Bowl, The Roosevelts, The Vietnam War, The Mayo Clinic, and Country Music), and is a political activist, singer/songwriter and a Buddhist priest. He has also penned two memoirs. He is the author of the new book of poetry, Tongue of a Crow, and a forthcoming December book, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Meet Buddha: Masks, Meditation, and Improvised Play to Induce Liberated States, in which he "reveals how to use masks, meditation, and improvisation to free yourself from overthinking, self-doubt, and fixed ideas of who you think you are." Join a fascinating conversation with Peter Coyote about his amazing life, career, and the lessons he's learned along the way. NOTES This program is part of The Commonwealth Club's Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. SPEAKERS Peter Coyote Actor; Political Activist; Author, Tongue of a Crow and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Meet Buddha: Masks, Meditation, and Improvised Play to Induce Liberated States (forthcoming) In conversation with John Boland President Emeritus, KQED; 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 September 2st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Americans think about Mexico, many things may come to mind—complexities around immigration, perhaps, or travel involving beaches and food. Technology and innovation are probably not on that list, but increasingly a new reality is taking hold across Mexico: a growing technology and innovation sector with strong links to Silicon Valley and Bay Area investors, entrepreneurs and companies. Mexico’s young venture capital industry is growing rapidly. From $55 million in 2010, annual investment has grown to more than $1 billion. Softbank’s $5 billion Innovation Fund, created several years ago to invest in Latin America, was a turning point that put Mexico on the global venture map. Now the country boasts unicorns and fast-growing startups. More are on the way, supported by universities, accelerators and by large tech and startup conferences in cities such as Guadalajara and Monterrey. The roots of Mexico’s economic and cultural ties with the Bay Area run exceptionally deep, dating to Spain’s settlement of California during the 1700s. Linked by history, culture and family, the two economies have grown in parallel but on very different paths. A turning point came in 1994 with North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which stimulated a wave of investment in manufacturing by U.S. and California companies in Mexico. More recently, a small but rapidly growing technology and innovation revolution has been taking place south of the border. Please join us to learn more about the growing ties between Silicon Valley and the Bay Area and Mexico's growing technology and innovation sectors. This program is based on the new Bay Area Council Economic Institute report, "Southern Connection: Innovation Clusters in Mexico and the Bridge to Silicon Valley." SPEAKERS Remedios Gómez Arnau Cónsul General, Consulado General de México en San Francisco Andy Tsao Managing Director, Silicon Valley Bank Lynne Bairstow Managing Partner, MITA Ventures Maritza Diaz CEO, ITJuana Sean Randolph Senior Director, Bay Area Economic Institute--Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 21st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our distinguished panelists will give an overview of the present situation in Afghanistan following U.S. withdrawal and how quickly the Taliban took power. They will also explore how we might help our Afghan allies and others fleeing to the United States. Humaira Ghilzai, who instituted the Sister City relationship between Hayward, CA and Ghazni, Afghanistan, is a dedicated woman's advocate and Afghan cultural advisor. She will talk about how we might help Afghan women threatened with the loss of rights and freedoms. Ami Dodson is a JFCS East Bay volunteer services manager who has been helping to to resettle Afghan refugees in the SF Bay Area. JCSF works with HIAS, a global Jewish nonprofit, which protects and assists refugees of all faiths and ethnicities. Steve Miska was a White House director for Iraq on the National Security Council, and during combat tours, he led a team that created an underground railroad from Baghdad to the United States for military interpreters. MLF ORGANIZER Celia Menczel NOTES MLF: Middle East SPEAKERS Ami Dodson JFCS East Bay (Jewish Family and Community Services) Humaira Ghilzai Co-founder, Afghan Friends Network Steve Miska Colonel (ret.), U.S. Army; Author, Baghdad Underground Railroad Atta Arghandiwal Former Refugee; Humanitarian; Author, Lost Decency: The Untold Afghan Story—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 20th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a conversation with cosmologist Stephon Alexander, who argues that great physics requires one to think outside the mainstream—to improvise and to rely on intuition. His approach has led him to three principles that shape all theories of the universe: the principle of invariance, the quantum principle, and the principle of emergence. Alexander uses these three principles to explore some of physics' greatest mysteries, from what happened before the Big Bang to how the universe makes consciousness possible. Drawing on his experience as a Black physicist, Alexander makes a powerful case for diversifying our scientific communities because—after successfully incorporating a piece of life-changing advice that, in order to discover real physics, he needed to stop memorizing and start taking risks—Alexander has concluded that making further progress in physics probably requires embracing the excluded, listening to the unheard, and being unafraid of being wrong. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities SPEAKERS Stephon Alexander Professor of Physics, Brown University; Jazz Musician; Author, Fear of a Black Universe: An Outsider's Guide to the Future of Physics 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 September 24th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed structural weaknesses and inequities that existed long before 2020. Like COVID-19, climate change is another “threat multiplier,” with the power to disrupt many of our social systems. In her new book, The Fight for Climate After COVID-19, Alice Hill says we need to adapt our thinking and our policies to combat the ever-increasing threat of climate change. Especially when we see more compound disasters – like a wildfire followed by a mudslide. “We need to come together to understand the risks, understand the vulnerabilities and then start making decisions with the support and the aid of the federal government to have better outcomes,” Hill says. What changes can we make now to better prepare for future risks and climate disasters? Guests: Alice Hill, author, The Fight for Climate After COVID-19, Senior Fellow for Climate Change Policy, Council on Foreign Relations Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Thomas P. Bostick, Former Commanding General, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Francis Suarez, Mayor of Miami Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now making appearances on the film festival circuit, "Boy Culture: The Series" is a follow-up to the 2006's Boy Culture—the movie of the novel by the same name first published in the mid-1990s. In six brand-new 15-minute episodes, the series tells the story of X, portrayed by Derek Magyar, his roommate Andrew (Darryl Stephens), and their struggles. Join us for an exclusive conversation with Matthew Rettenmund, author of the book and the series, for a look at tackling controversial topics, filmmaking during a pandemic, his career as an LGBTQ author, crowdfunding a budget, and much more. Besides Boy Culture, Rettenmund is the author of Encyclopedia Madonnica, Blind Items: A (Love) Story and MLVC 60. He has forgotten more information about Madonna than most of us will ever know. He was also the founder and longtime editor of Popstar! magazine, and he blogs regularly at boyculture.com. Note: This program contains EXPLICIT language. SPEAKERS Matthew Rettenmund Author, Boy Culture, Blind Items & Encyclopedia Madonnica 20; Blogger, Boyculture.com; Twitter @mattrett John Zipperer Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club of California—Co-host 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 September 16th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pulitzer Prize-winner George F. Will has been one of this country’s leading columnists since 1974 and, as The Wall Street Journal once called him, “perhaps the most powerful journalist in America.” In his new collection titled American Happiness and Discontents: The Unruly Torrent, 2008–2020, Will offers an in-depth account of a remarkably chaotic 13 years in our nation’s experience through his analysis of an impressively vast array of topics. In this stirring examination, George Will reveals the ways in which expertise, reason and manners are continually under attack in our institutions, courts, political arenas and social venues. Will covers topics including his perspective on American socialists, anti-capitalist conservatives, drug policy, the criminal justice system, climatology and the coronavirus. Join us as we delve into this stunning account of American politics and culture from one of the preeminent columnists and intellectuals of our time. SPEAKERS George F. Will Columnist, The Washington Post; Author, American Happiness and Discontents: The Unruly Torrent, 2008-2020 In Conversation with Jonathan V. Last Editor, The Bulwark In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 17th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Film and television director Barry Sonnenfeld has outrageous and hilarious stories to tell—from his idiosyncratic upbringing in New York City to his breaking into film as a cinematographer with the Coen brothers to his unexpected career as the director behind such huge film franchises as The Addams Family and Men in Black and beloved work such as Get Shorty, Pushing Daises and A Series of Unfortunate Events. Barry Sonnenfeld's philosophy is, "Regret the Past. Fear the Present. Dread the Future." Will Smith once joked that he wanted to take Sonnenfeld to Philadelphia public schools and say, "If this guy could end up as a successful film director on big budget films, anyone can." Come for an engaging conversation that will inspire anyone who thinks they can't succeed in life because of a rough beginning. SPEAKERS Barry Sonnenfeld Director, Men in Black, Addams Family, Get Shorty; Author, Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother: Memoirs of a Neurotic Filmmaker In Conversation with John Boland President Emeritus, KQED; 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 July 21st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In his new book Say It Loud, acclaimed Harvard Law Professor Randall Kennedy chronicles his reactions over the past quarter-century to arguments, events and people that have compelled him to put pen to paper. Three beliefs that are sometimes in tension with one another infuse these pages. First, Professor Kennedy says a massive amount of cruel racial injustice continues to beset the United States, an ugly reality that Kennedy says has become alarmingly obvious with the ascendancy of Donald J. Trump and the various political, cultural and social pathologies that he and many of his followers display and reinforce. Second, Kennedy observes there is much about which to be inspired when surveying the African American journey from slavery to freedom to engagement in practically every aspect of life in the United States. Third, he says an openness to complexity, paradox and irony should attend any serious investigation of human affairs. Join a compelling conversation with this acclaimed legal scholar and public intellectual about what the past 25 years tell us about the future of race relations in America. SPEAKERS Randall Kennedy Michael R. Klein Professor, Harvard Law School; Author, Say It Loud In Conversation with Sheryl Davis Executive Director, San Francisco Human Rights Commission In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 15th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prior to the COVID–19 pandemic, many cities, particularly in the United States, were experiencing somewhat of a renaissance. Population was increasing, abandoned areas were being redeveloped into walkable neighborhoods, crime was dropping, and public spaces were engaging both a new generation of citizens and an older cohort who had moved to cities for the first time. In many ways, cities were fulfilling the vision of renowned urban economist Edward Glaeser as places that were the healthiest, greenest and richest (in both cultural and economic terms) places to live, and as areas that were rich in creativity and innovation. The 18 months since March 2020 have tremendously challenged this rosy view of cities, and today cities like San Francisco stand at an unexpected crossroads. During the global coronavirus crisis, cities grew silent as many office workers worked from home—if they could work at all. The normal forms of socializing ground to a halt. Theaters and restaurants were quiet, and cultural arts organizations scaled back public programming. Things were supposed to return to normal for cities this fall, but the delta variant of the coronavirus has raised new questions about urban life: How permanent are these changes? Advances in digital technology mean that many people can opt out of city life as never before. Will they? Are we on the brink of an unexpected, post-urban world? In their new book, Glaeser and his Harvard colleague David Cutler explore the future of cities. Though they believe city life will survive overall, individual cities face terrible risks, and a wave of urban failure could pose a threat not only to urban residents of particular cities but to all of those who rely on them. Glaeser and Cutler examine the evolution that is under way and describe the possible urban futures that lie before us: What will distinguish the cities that will flourish once again from the ones that won’t? The authors discuss San Francisco in the book and how COVID-19 allowed for wealthy citizens to flee the city in search of more space to do remote work. Please join us for an important conversation on the future of cities, and what it means for the future of the country. SPEAKERS Edward Glaeser Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics, Harvard University; Co-author, Survival of the City: Living and Thriving in an Age of Isolation David Cutler Otto Eckstein Professor of Applied Economics, Harvard University. Co-author, Survival of the City: Living and Thriving in an Age of Isolation Alicia John-Baptiste President and CEO, SPUR—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 14th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transforming your life can be easier than you think. In his New York Times best selling book, Tiny Habits: The Small Changes that Change Everything, a world-renowned expert on habit formation shares his groundbreaking methods for the first time in print. A behavior scientist at Stanford University, BJ Fogg combines his academic research with his massive real-world experience (he has personally coached more than 40,000 people) to create a book full of new insights about how he says behavior really works. With true stories and concise examples, Fogg shares his systematic approach to design for lasting change using his simple and effective methods, including his trademarked Tiny Habits Method. No willpower required. You might be pleasantly surprised to learn about a major theme in this book: People change best by feeling good, not by feeling bad. In this talk, Fogg will explain how to tap into the precise emotion that will build new habits and ultimately transform your life. A lively speaker and an award-winning teacher, Fogg’s playful approach will surprise you—in the best way. You’ll discover why this landmark book is on so many reading lists. MLF ORGANIZER Patty James NOTES MLF: Health & Medicine SPEAKERS Dr. BJ Fogg Ph.D., Behavior Scientist; Director of Research and innovation, Behavior Design Lab, Stanford University Patty James Chair, Health & Medicine Member-Led Forum, The 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 September 14th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On August 27, 2010, three CIA officers met with then-CIA Director Leon Panetta. Their secret session revealed a courier with deep Al Qaeda ties who had been tracked to a three-story, heavily protected fortress at the end of a dead end street in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Without ever having to say the name bin Laden, there exists a mutual understanding that finally, after nearly a decade, they may have just found the world’s most wanted man. In Countdown bin Laden, celebrated journalist and anchor of "Fox News Sunday" Chris Wallace delivers a thrilling account of the final 8 months of intelligence gathering, national security strategizing, and meticulous military planning that leads to the climactic mission when SEAL Team Six closes in on its target. Wallace reveals new information collected from in-depth interviews with more than a dozen central figures—including Leon Panetta, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and the special operator who killed bin Laden. Personal accounts from families who fell victim to 9/11 and relatives of SEAL Team Six are brought to life in Wallace’s narrative, published on the 20th anniversary of the most consequential terrorist attack in American history. Join us as Chris Wallace brings us fresh reporting about the race to apprehend and bring to justice the architect of 9/11. SPEAKERS Chris Wallace Anchor, "Fox News Sunday"; Author, Countdown bin Laden: The Untold Story of the 247-Day Hunt to Bring the Mastermind of 9/11 to Justice 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 September 14th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The COVID-19 pandemic has killed millions, infected hundreds of millions, and laid bare the deep vulnerabilities and inequalities of our interconnected world. The ensuing economic collapse was the worst since the Great Depression, undoing more than two decades of progress in reducing extreme poverty. Tensions between the United States and China boiled over, and the worldwide contest between democracy and authoritarianism deepened. At a time when this global crisis required a truly collective response, international cooperation had almost entirely broken down, with key world leaders hardly on speaking terms. In Thomas Wright and Colin Kahl’s Aftershocks: Pandemic Politics and the End of the Old International Order, the two national security experts offer a definitive account of the global impact of COVID-19, the political shock waves it will have on the United States, and myriad ways in which the crisis exposed the limitations of the old world order. This comprehensive account of the year 2020 draws on interviews with officials around the world and extensive research to tell the story of how nationalism and major power rivalries constrained the response to the worst pandemic in a century. Co-author Thomas Wright is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a contributing writer at The Atlantic. He has written several extensively researched pieces analyzing Donald Trump’s foreign policy. Join us as Thomas Wright delves into his latest analysis of one of the strangest and most consequential years on record. SPEAKERS Thomas Wright Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution; Co-author, Aftershocks: Pandemic Politics and the End of the Old International Order In Conversation with Edward Luce Associate Editor, Financial Times In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 13th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a revolutionary new vision of human biology and the scientific breakthroughs that will transform our lives. Professor Daniel M. Davis shows how radical new possibilities are becoming realities thanks to the visionary efforts of scientists who are revealing the invisible and secret universe within each of us. Focusing on six important frontiers, Davis describes what we are learning about cells, the development of the fetus, the body's immune system, the brain, the microbiome, and the genome — areas of human biology that are usually understood in isolation. Bringing them together, Davis offers a new vision of the human body as a biological wonder of dizzying complexity and possibility. SPEAKERS Daniel M. Davis Ph.D., Professor of Immunology, University of Manchester (UK); Author, The Secret Body. How the New Science of The Human Body Is Changing the Way We Live; The Beautiful Cure and The Compatibility Gene Robert Lee Kilpatrick Ph.D., Chair, Health & Medicine Member-Led Forum, Commonwealth Club of California—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 17th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This September marks the 50th anniversary of the seminal work Diet for a Small Planet, in which Frances Moore Lappé argued that cattle constitute “a protein factory in reverse.” Lappé’s book inspired countless people to adopt vegetarian diets for environmental reasons. But in the last 50 years the industrial food systems in America have only grown bigger and more concentrated, and – as the Lappés would argue – more powerful. Together with her daughter Anna Lappé, author of Diet for a Hot Planet, the two now focus on the intersections between democracy, environment, food, and justice. “It's really important that we understand that in order to change our food environment, we need to really work to get money out of politics, and we really need to work on how to take on that kind of consolidated power in the industry,” Anna Lappé says. Guests: Frances Moore Lappé, author, Diet for a Small Planet Anna Lappé, author, Diet for a Hot Planet Analena Hope Hassberg, Associate Professor, Ethnic and Women's Studies Department, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Ruth Richardson, Executive Director, Global Alliance for the Future of Food Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

COVID-19 has disrupted many of our lives, with impacts ranging from job loss to housing changes, physical health issues to mental health challenges. At the same time, drug use has increased since the pandemic first struck and has deeply affected many LGBTQ people. Join us for an important discussion on the impact of drugs and the search for healthy ways of coping with the pandemic and life's other challenges. SPEAKERS Kristen Marshall Associate Director of San Francisco Programs, National Harm Reduction Coalition Wayne Rafus Manager of Contingency Management, 6th Street Harm Reduction Center Sister Roma Member, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence; Entertainer; Activist Juniper Yun Artist, Director of Cultural Affairs, The Transgender District in San Francisco Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW TV 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 September 9th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Unlike the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan had near-unanimous public support at the time. Their goals were straightforward: defeat Al-Qaeda and prevent a repeat of 9/11. But after the Taliban was ousted from power, U.S. officials lost sight of their original objectives as the military became mired in an unwinnable guerrilla conflict in a country it did not understand. Washington Post reporter Craig Whitlock brings us The Afghanistan Papers, which, similarly to the Pentagon Papers after Vietnam, contains startling revelations from people who played a direct role in the war, certain to change the public’s understanding of the conflict. From leaders in the White House and Pentagon to soldiers and aid workers on the front lines, many are candidly admitting that the U.S. government’s strategies were a mess, that the nation-building project was a colossal failure, and that drugs and corruption gained a stronghold over their allies in the Afghan government. Whitlock’s account is based on interviews with more than 1,000 people who knew that the U.S. government was presenting a distorted, and sometimes entirely fabricated, version of the facts on the ground—all upheld by three presidents unwilling to admit failure. Join us for this timely event with Craig Whitlock as he reveals the alarming truth behind the longest war in American history, forcing us to reckon with what went so horribly wrong in Afghanistan. SPEAKERS Craig Whitlock Investigative Reporter, The Washington Post; Author The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War In Conversation with Mitch Jeserich Host, "Letters and Politics," KPFA Radio In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 8th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Americans today face a deeply divided nation beset with political dysfunction. It is here in the United States where identity is questioned, equality is fought for, and history is debated. How can we face the past and simultaneously envision a new future? In her new book Renewal, lawyer and foreign policy analyst Anne-Marie Slaughter encourages self-reflection and growth to change the way individuals and institutions lead and learn. Slaughter’s years of government service, particularly as the former director of policy planning for the U.S. Department of State, has prepared her for understanding how identity and values shape the crisis America now faces. Through personal reflections and insights on the latest research in the social sciences, Slaughter will explain how to understand how our country must accept its past, renew, and face the future. Renewal highlights a story of crisis and change that can help us find renewed honesty and purpose in our personal and political lives. Join us as Anne-Marie Slaughter offers honesty and hope in this essential reading for change makers of tomorrow. SPEAKERS Anne-Marie Slaughter CEO, New America; Author, Renewal: From Crisis to Transformation in Our Lives, Work, and Politics In Conversation with Lenny Mendonca Former Chief Economic and Business Advisor, State of California; Director Emeritus, McKinsey & Company In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 8th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the country reflects on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, join us for a special 90-minute conversation focused on the state of homeland security today and looking ahead. Homeland security is a term that has evolved over the past two decades since the deadly terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. At first, it was a subject primarily focused on protecting the country from international terrorism, including Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda, then ISIS, as well as affiliated terrorist organizations. Over the past several years and culminating on January 6 earlier this year, the phrase has also expanded to include domestic extremism and threats from within the United States. A high-level panel featuring former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napoliano, ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero and Hoover Institution Senior Fellow and cybersecurity expert Dr. Amy Zegart will discuss a range of issues related to homeland security, including civil liberties and technology. The program will explore our changing understanding of homeland security, what we have learned about keeping the country safe over the past 20 years, and what the trade-offs have been for the country’s citizens and the country itself. SPEAKERS Janet Napolitano Professor of Public Policy, Director of the Center for Security in Politics, and Former President, University of California; U.S Homeland Security Secretary Under President Obama; Former Governor, Arizona Anthony Romero Executive Director, American Civil Liberties Union Amy Zegart Sr. Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies; Morris Arnold & Nona Jean Cox Sr. Fellow, Hoover Institution; Professor, by courtesy, of Political Science, Stanford University; Author, Spies, Lies, and Algorithms (forthcoming) Dina Temple-Raston Senior Correspondent, The Record by Recorded Future; Former National Security & Investigations Correspondent, National Public Radio—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 10th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Travel and tourism make up one of California’s most important and powerful industries. Every day before the pandemic of 2020, travelers injected hundreds of millions of dollars into communities across the Golden State, infusing hundreds of billions of dollars into the state’s economy. In 2019, this spending generated $12.2 billion in local and state tax revenue and supported 1.2 million jobs for Californians. That all changed when the pandemic spread in March 2020, and the tourism industry largely shut down, hitting cities like San Francisco particularly hard. The industry recovery began to take shape earlier in 2021. However, just as the pandemic was receding and the tourism economy was starting to recover, the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus has again negatively impacted the tourism economy, slowing chances of a full recovery any time soon and raising questions about the future of the industry and, most important, the workers who rely on it for employment. These issues are particularly challenging in the Bay Area, as it is significantly impacted by shifts in tourism to San Francisco. As one of the most challenging periods in the state's tourism history continues, we are pleased to be joined by two of the state's top tourism leaders, as well as tourism workers directly impacted by the changes brought about by the pandemic, to discuss the future of the industry in the fifth-largest economy in the world, The discussion will touch upon why the tourism economy is so important to the California economy, why travel and tourism is so significant to all Californians, and what we all can do to support the industry and its workers during this challenging time. NOTES This program is funded by a grant from The California Wellness Foundation (Cal Wellness). The foundation’s mission is to improve the health of Californians. Cal Wellness is dedicated to promoting equity through advocacy and access. SPEAKERS Caroline Beteta President & CEO, Visit California Joe D'Alessandro President and CEO, SF Travel Daniela Puccinelli Director of Event Management, The Westin St. Francis San Francisco on Union Square Spud Hilton Former Travel Editor, San Francisco Chronicle; Editor, Where Traveler Magazine, San Francisco Bay Area Edition In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 10th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Water is essential for life, and throughout history we have sought to control and make use of it. As Giulio Boccaletti explores in his new book, Water: A Biography, that relationship with water has underpinned human civilization, forming an integral part of society, government and land use systems. But despite its essential nature, access to water has never been equal or entirely fair. Climate disruption will further destabilize the systems we’ve built to control water in our environment – even as it remains a public good without fair and equal public access. What can 10,000 years of history teach us about how we should handle water in our current and future climate? Guests: Giulio Boccaletti, Author, Water: A Biography Sara Aminzadeh, Vice President of Partnerships, U.S. Water Alliance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Extraction: Art on the Edge of the Abyss is a special project of the Codex Foundation. Extraction is a multimedia, multi-venue, cross-border art intervention focused on the suicidal consumption of the planet’s natural resources, which the artists say is the most pressing environmental issue of our time, encompassing all others, including climate change. Extraction is an international "art ruckus" for 2021! Peter Koch's intervention includes a multimedia focus on dual aspects of Northern California and his native state of Montana and the impact of Extraction. The project is culminating in a constellation of nearly 50 overlapping exhibitions, performances, installations, site-specific work, land art, street art, publications, poetry readings and cross-media events throughout 2021 and beyond. NOTES MLF: Arts SPEAKERS Peter Koch Peter Koch Printers Sam Pelts Coordinator, Extraction Project Dr. 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 August 31st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As with many aspects of American life, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacted BIPOC communities. For Black businesses, this meant closing their doors and for Black workers, either being laid off or made to work in unsafe conditions. In a system where Black workers are proportionally overrepresented in low-wage work and sharply underrepresented in executive positions, this negative impact is exacerbated. However discouraging this reality is, it serves as a call to action to close the wide, possibly widening, racial gap. At INFORUM, a panel of experts on the economic state of Black America will provide insight on what a path to equal and just recovery looks like, expanding upon research by McKinsey & Company. Further, juxtaposing the current reality with the prosperity offered by a better future, they will drive home the need to make change, and do so quickly. SPEAKERS Shelley Stewart III Partner, McKinsey & Company; Co-author, "The economic state of Black America: What is and what could be" Michael Chui Partner, McKinsey Global Institute; Co-author, "The economic state of Black America: What is and what could be" Dr. Kristen E. Broady Ph.D., Fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program, The Brookings Institution Jeffery Wallace CEO and President, LeadersUp Jennifer Ablan U.S. Assistant Managing Editor, Financial Times—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 27th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us as we discover and learn how these four dynamic returned women Peace Corps volunteers crafted their careers to become important leaders. We will also find out what hurdles they had to overcome and how they became influential and creative leaders. Their stories are valuable for all to hear, and we can all learn from their experiences. Lisa Curtis is the founder and CEO of Kuli Kuli, the leading brand pioneering the sustainably sourced superfood moringa. Kuli Kuli works with farmers in the developing world to access the nutritional power and economic opportunities of moringa. Curtis began working on Kuli Kuli while serving in the Peace Corps in Niger and has grown it into a multi-million dollar social enterprise. Previously, Lisa wrote political briefings for President Obama in the White House, served as a United Nations Environment Programme Youth Advisor, and worked at an impact investment firm in India. The moderator for today's program is Frank Price, the vice president of the Northern California Peace Corps Association and Shriver Circle Member of the National Peace Corps Association. Price served in the Peace Corps in Côte d'Ivoire. He is currently president of the Stewardship of the Commons Foundation MLF ORGANIZER Frank Price NOTES MLF: International Relations SPEAKERS Lisa Curtis Founder & CEO of Kuli Kuli; Served in Niger Karen DeWitt Journalist; Digital Newsroom Director, School of Global Journalism and Communication, Morgan State University; Served in Ethiopia Nalini Elkins CEO and Founder of Inside Products, Inc.; Served in Togo Rahama Wright Founder and CEO of Shea Yeleen Health and Beauty; Served in Ghana Frank Price Vice President, Northern California Peace Corps Association; Shriver Circle Member, National Peace Corps Association; Served in Côte d'Ivoire 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 26th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.C. Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky is one of the country's most respected constitutional scholars. In his new book Presumed Guilty, he says that the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the perpetuation of racist policing by presuming that suspects, especially people of color, are guilty before being charged. Dean Chemerinsky argues that the fact that police are nine times more likely to kill Black men than other Americans is no accident but rather the result of an elaborate body of doctrines. He says the pro-defendant Warren Court was a only brief historical aberration and that this more liberal era ended with Nixon’s presidency and the ascendance of conservative justices, whose rulings have permitted stops and frisks, limited suits to reform police departments, and even abetted the use of chokeholds. Come hear Dean Chemerinsky's thoughts on necessary steps to create a more robust court system that will enhance civil rights. SPEAKERS Erwin Chemerinsky Dean, University of California, Berkeley, Law School; Author, Presumed Guilty: How the Supreme Court Empowered the Police and Subverted Civil Rights In conversation with Brian Watt KQED News Anchor 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 30th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Everyone’s someone’s somebody.” That’s the tagline of Miracle Messages, a nonprofit organization tackling homelessness by rekindling relationships and reconstructing support systems. Inspired by his Uncle Mark, CEO Kevin Adler launched Miracle Messages in 2014. Growing up, Kevin watched his beloved and loyal uncle, who suffered from schizophrenia, battle homelessness on-and-off for 30 years. When Mark passed away at the age of 50, Kevin’s family ensured that Mark’s life would never be forgotten within their own family. However, Kevin realized that while his uncle was lucky to have a family to remember and support him, thousands of others living on the streets were not connected to their family members or friends. Kevin and Miracle Messages volunteers offer homeless individuals a chance to reconnect with their family members and friends. Through Miracle Message’s reunion service, they have helped reunite over 425 people experiencing homelessness with support systems from which they have been separated, sometimes for decades. Dozens of reunions have resulted in individuals moving off the streets. Miracle Messages’ buddy system has also connected members of the homeless population with volunteers who offer companionship and support through calls and text messages. They provide cell phones so homeless individuals can stay in touch, and are experimenting on a small scale with universal basic income for those who are homeless. Our CEO, Dr. Gloria Duffy, will join Kevin for a conversation addressing how homelessness can be addressed on the individual and familial level. This topic is deeply personal for Gloria, as it is for Kevin, since a family member of hers has battled homelessness. Over the past 15 years, Gloria and her family have developed a system that supports her relative with a home and other basic needs. Please join us as Kevin and Gloria reimagine how we fight homelessness, and learn how Miracle Messages has reunited hundreds of families. SPEAKERS Kevin F. Adler Founder and CEO, Miracle Messages; Social Entrepreneur; Sociologist In Conversation with Dr. Gloria Duffy President and CEO, 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 August 30th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is your Commonwealth Club week in review. Hear what you missed this week, and what we’ve got lined up for you next week. We’re always adding new programs - check out commonwealthclub.org/online for all of our upcoming events. If you haven’t already - please consider becoming a member of the Club. Enjoy exclusive discounts and access to special programs all while knowing your contributions directly support our many public programs and civic initiatives. Visit commonwealthclub.org/special, for special rates on memberships. Thanks for your support and as always - thanks for listening! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hundreds of people have been arrested in Minnesota in ongoing protests against Line 3, a pipeline that will move Canadian tar sands oil, and which could be operational as soon as this month. Pipeline advocates, like Mike Fernandez of Enbridge (Line 3’s builder), argue that as long as people are still using oil, we need a way to transport it — and pipelines are the safest, least carbon-intensive means of doing so. Opponents, like Sierra Club’s Kelly Sheehan Martin, argue that oil companies bolster markets for oil and gas as a way to justify continued profits from building pipelines and extracting oil. Sheehan Martin argues that to seriously address the climate crisis, we need to keep the oil in the ground, and listen to the voices of those worried about harm to waterways and tribal lands. Why have oil pipelines become such a point of contention in the environmental movement? And what can all sides agree on to work toward the same less-carbon-reliant future? Guests: Mike Fernandez, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability, Enbridge Daniel Raimi, Fellow, Resources for the Future Kelly Sheehan Martin, Senior Director of Energy Campaigns, Sierra Club Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"I Love New York." "Keep Portland Weird." "Virginia Is For Lovers." "Don’t Mess with Texas." We all know them. We all say them—but how do we sum up the Bay Area? The Bay offers the world culture, diversity, natural beauty, innovation and commitment to progress. Yet the Bay wrestles with persistent housing challenges and news stories about the “Bay Area exodus.” Layer on the COVID-19 pandemic, and it's no surprise that regional pride and confidence in the Bay Area is taking a hit. But this moment of unprecedented crisis can be a turning point for the Bay Area. Join a panel of Bay Area locals and legends who will discuss how The Bay shaped who they have become, why they call this region home, and different solutions to rebuilding and strengthening the Bay Area. This panel will wrestle with how we can not only recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, but create the vibrant, equitable region that we all aspire to live in. NOTES In partnership with Tipping Point Community. SPEAKERS Sam Cobbs CEO, Tipping Point Community Heather Knight Columnist, San Francisco Chronicle Ned Segal Chief Financial Officer, Twitter Lenny Mendonca Former Chief Economic and Business Advisor, State 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 August 25th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you gotten the feeling that this pandemic has also been spreading an epidemic of irrationality? From insisting that climate change is a hoax to believing that vaccinations cause autism, many are willing to reject outright even a solid scientific consensus. And though it may be somewhat amusing to hear COVID-19 being blamed on 5G networks, chemtrails or Bill Gates's insatiable greed, the amusement stops when bad thinking leads to bad acting, such as the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol. Nadler and Shapiro argue that the best antidotes for such bad thinking and acting are the insights and practical skills of philosophy. Their engaging tour through the basic principles of logic, argument, evidence and probability can make anyone a more reasonable and responsible citizen. They also demonstrate how you can spot and avoid flawed arguments and unreliable information; determine whether evidence supports or contradicts an idea; distinguish between merely believing something and knowing it; and much more. In doing so, they reveal how epistemology (which addresses the nature of belief and knowledge) and ethics (the study of moral principles for governing behavior) can reduce bad thinking and bad acting. Ironically, it turns out that the millennia-old advice to know thyself, to aim at leading a good, rational and examined life, remains just as relevant today—that is, if you personally desire to overcome the current version of our seemingly endless human predicament. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities SPEAKERS Steven Nadler William H. Hay II Professor of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin–Madison; Director, Institute for Research in the Humanities; Co-Author, When Bad Thinking Happens to Good People Lawrence Shapiro Professor of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin–Madison; Co-Author, When Bad Thinking Happens to Good People 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 September 1st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A conservatorship, also known as a guardianship in most states, is the court-ordered assignment of the responsibility for care and the conservation of the estate of an incapacitated person to a third party. The probate court system, where these orders originate in California, has been highlighted in the media for decades for dysfunction that can provide a safe haven for predatory and parasitic attorneys. Too often, vulnerable adults under the “protection of the court” are not protected. Unscrupulous conservators and guardians protected by influential attorneys neglect and exploit the very people they claim to safeguard. The Britney Spears case exposed to the world what thousands of people nationwide each year are experiencing; the deceitful side of conservatorship. Meet four dedicated activists who are counseling victims and their loved ones, and demanding state and federal reforms to prevent abuse. They will speak about who the victims are and how estate trafficking and fraudulent adult guardianships and conservatorships occur. They will also explain important steps you can take to protect yourself or a loved one. What is needed for California and federal legislation to reform the system? Our experts will explore how the #FreeBritney movement will likely end. MLF ORGANIZER Denise Michaud NOTES MLF: Grownups SPEAKERS Rick Black Executive Director, CEAR (Charlotte, NC) Thomas Coleman Attorney; Executive Director and Founder, Spectrum Institute (Palm Springs, CA) Lisa MacCarley Attorney; Founder, Bettys Hope Leanne Simmons Human Rights Advocate; Entertainment Industry Professional; Co-manager, @FreeBritneyLA Dr. Gloria Duffy President and CEO, 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 August 30th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join John Hagel III and Alison Levine as they share their fear-busting methods for combating today’s uncertainty. Digital business disruption, the emergence of epidemics, and engaging social movements are changing the world before our eyes. Our panel will share their experiences in negotiating extreme environments. Levine led the American Women’s Everest Expedition, and Hagel is engaged in rapidly changing business environments as a business strategist. They will show us how to manage risk more fully in our own lives. Their methods and experiences can inspire us to become more confident in following our own dreams to succeed. Following our program, we will have a rooftop reception and book signing. MLF ORGANIZER Elizabeth Carney NOTES MLF: Business & Leadership SPEAKERS John Hagel III Business Strategist and Founder, Deloitte's Center for the Edge; Entrepreneur; Author, Journey Beyond Fear Alison Levine Team Captain, first American Women's Everest Expedition; Speaker; Author, On the Edge Elizabeth Carney Entrepreneur; Chair, Business and Leadership 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 August 26th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices