Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

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

Extreme heat causes more deaths than any other weather-related hazard in the U.S., wreaking quiet havoc on the health and economic well-being of billions of people across the world. But it’s rarely given the same billing or resources as other, more dramatic, natural disasters. Because of racist and discriminatory housing and development practices, extreme heat also disproportionately impacts poorer and minority communities. Recognizing a growing need for local responses to a global problem, the mayors of Miami-Dade, Athens, Greece and Freetown, Sierra Leone recently announced they are appointing the world’s first Chief Heat Officers. How can we prepare for and address the impacts of extreme heat? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The year 2020 brought out the best and the worst of the American people. The year shocked us as we experienced a ruthless pandemic, an inept government response, polarizing protests and an election defaced by conspiracy theories. According to popular American journalist George Packer, these events did not come out of nowhere; they were symptoms of the hazardous conditions directly beneath the surface of the American dream. In his new book Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal, Packer traces the roots of these issues that he says have drastically changed the normative way of American life. Packer investigates what he calls the four different Americas citizens live in: a "Free America" that encourages individuality and corporate submission, a "Smart America" that represents the technological and professional elite, a "Real America" that constitutes the white Christian nationalism of the midlands, and a "Just America" that delineates identity groups that suffer from marginalization. Packer believes that none of these Americas are conducive to achieving an ideal nation. With a background in U.S. foreign policy and American history, Packer uses his knowledge to find a common American identity that prioritizes equality for all and national renewal. Join us as George Packer and moderator Anne-Marie Slaughter envision a better, more equitable American future. George Packer Staff Writer, The Atlantic; Author, Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal In Conversation with Anne-Marie Slaughter CEO, New America In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on February 15th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a virtual discussion with Theodore Johnson, who begins his book When the Stars Begin to Fall by declaring that “Racism is an existential threat to America.” Johnson argues that our society's continuing racism not only contradicts the American Promise enshrined in our Constitution that all men and women are inherently equal, but also continues to corrode our society after a quarter of a millennium. If we cannot overcome it, he says, the United States may continue as a geopolitical powerhouse, but it will fail to make good on the promise that made America unique on Earth, and gave hope to the oppressed throughout the world. Johnson makes a compelling case for a pathway to the national solidarity necessary to mitigate racism. Weaving memories of his own family’s multi-generational experiences with racism, alongside strands of history, Johnson posits that a blueprint for national solidarity can be found in the exceptional citizenship long practiced in Black America. Understanding that racism is a structural crime of the state, he argues that overcoming it requires us to recognize that a color-conscious society―not a color-blind one―is the true fulfillment of the American Promise. Fueled by his ultimate faith in the American project, grounded in his family’s longstanding optimism and his own military service, he offers an urgent call to undertake the process of overcoming what has long seemed intractable. SPEAKERS Theodore Johnson Sr. Fellow, Brennan Center for Justice; Former Commander, U.S. Navy; White House Fellow, Obama Admin.; Speechwriter, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Author, When the Stars Begin to Fall: Overcoming Racism & Renewing the Promise of America Sheryl Davis Executive Director, San Francisco Human Rights Commission—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 15th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the Cold War, America sought to protect as many democracies as possible and stamp out any threat of authoritarianism around the world. Now, 30 years after the breakup of the Soviet Union, political scientists have observed a global rise in authoritarian governments—even in America itself. After the 2016 election of President Donald Trump, Ben Rhodes, a former White House aide and close confidant to President Barack Obama, sought to discover why nations have been opting for populism and tyranny over democracy. In his new book After the Fall: Being American in the World We've Made, Rhodes documents his three years of world travel, speaking with politicians, activists, and dissidents confronting the same nationalism that has been tearing America apart. He says the acceptance of unrestricted capitalism after the Cold War, post-9/11 nationalism, mania for technology and media, and modern racism that Americans refuse to confront have all contributed to our nation’s faltering under authoritarian leadership. With experience managing international conflict, Rhodes is an exemplary scholar in considering the global condition of humanity and how we can once again turn to democracy and equity. Join us for a look at where America has gone wrong and how essential it is to fight for what America is supposed to be. NOTES This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. SPEAKERS Ben Rhodes Former Deputy National Security Advisor to President Obama; Author, After the Fall: Being American in the World We’ve Made; Twitter @brhodes In Conversation with Jennifer Palmieri Former White House Communications Director; Co-Host, "The Circus" on Showtime; Author, She Proclaims: Our Declaration of Independent from a Man’s World; Twitter @jmpalmieri 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 14th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transportation policymakers face two overlapping, once-in-a-generation opportunities: electrifying the nation’s vehicle fleet and re-establishing a stable source of federal and state revenue for transportation. As states and the Biden administration begin a push to rapidly electrify the U.S. fleet for climate reasons, policymakers are under increasing pressure to rethink how states and the federal government fund transportation infrastructure and services. For decades, motor fuel taxes have generated the majority of state and federal funds spent on transportation, even if recently these taxes have been losing their purchasing power. However, a shift to electric vehicles will require a new transportation funding model. The speakers will discuss the challenges and opportunities with such options as mileage fees, carbon taxes, higher vehicle registration fees, or a shift entirely away from user-generated revenue. This program is supported by the Mineta Transportation Institute at San José State University. SPEAKERS Special Guest, The Honorable Pete Buttigieg U.S. Secretary of Transportation Karen Philbrick Ph.D., Executive Director, Mineta Transportation Institute—Program Emcee Opening Remarks: U.S. Senator Alex Padilla U.S. Senator (D-CA); Former California Secretary of State Keynote: Toks Omishakin Director, California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Event Moderator: Therese McMillan Executive Director, Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Ph.D. Director, MTI National Transportation Finance Center Carl Guardino Executive Vice President, Government Affairs and Policy, Bloom Energy Carlos Braceras, P.E. Executive Director, Utah Department of Transportation Dan Sperling, Ph.D. Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California Davis 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 11th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dating in the digital age has never been more complicated. Nancy Jo Sales, a New York Times-bestselling author and journalist, found herself at the center of the addictive and corporate world of online dating after she downloaded Tinder. She wasn’t alone; in a 2015 Vanity Fair article, Sales shared stories from millennials who use dating apps on a near-constant basis, transforming physical attraction into a “free-market economy” that facilitates quick and often temporary attachments. She later directed and released the 2018 HBO documentary Swiped: Hooking Up in the Digital Age, a study of how the algorithms of big tech impact govern our dating lives even if companies claim their addictive effects are incidental. In her new book, Nothing Personal: My Secret Life in the Dating App Inferno, Sales critiques the dating app industry for its calculated ability to warp our senses of self. At INFORUM, she will share her personal experiences and broader observations on how we can and should cope with our deepening relationship to the technology that purportedly brings us closer to that special someone. SPEAKERS Nancy Jo Sales Journalist, Vanity Fair; Author, Nothing Personal: My Secret Life in the Dating App Inferno Myisha Battle Sex and Dating Coach; Founder, Sex for Life, LLC 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 17th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CNN’s Jake Tapper is one of the most respected people in news today. As CNN’s chief Washington anchor and co-host of “State of the Union,” Tapper has sat down with presidents, covered inaugurations, and continues to interview senators, dignitaries and newsmakers week in and week out. In his new novel The Devil May Dance, Tapper continues the story started in his previous bestseller, The Hellfire Club. Taking us into the world of political stars Charlie and Margaret Marder, Tapper re-creates the world of the 1960s, complete with backroom deals and secret societies. In this new journey, they befriend dazzling celebrities like Frank Sinatra and must learn to deal with sinister forces from Hollywood’s stages and the newly founded Church of Scientology. Jake Tapper has covered historical political events such as the inauguration of President Barack Obama and the death of Osama bin Laden. His work has won him several awards, including an Emmy for Outstanding Live Coverage of a Current News Story and the Edward R. Murrow Award. NOTES This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. SPEAKERS Jake Tapper Anchor and Chief Washington Correspondent, CNN; Author, The Devil May Dance In Conversation with Clara Jeffery Editor in Chief, Mother Jones; Twitter@ClaraJeffery 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 10th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From activism to political campaigns to corporate advertising, the power of music and images is undeniable. So how can the arts inspire and advance the climate conversation? For more than three decades, Shepard Fairey’s work has provoked thought and controversy in the art and political spheres. Now, with a public weary of climate charts and apocalyptic images of melting glaciers and emaciated polar bears, we explore how the arts can provoke a more productive conversation with Fairey and Grammy-nominated hip hop artist Mystic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Best-selling author Mark Shaw returns to The Commonwealth Club to discuss his latest book, Collateral Damage, in his ongoing investigative research into the connections between the mysterious deaths of motion picture screen siren Marilyn Monroe, President John F. Kennedy, and "What’s My Line?" TV star and crack investigative reporter Dorothy Kilgallen. Shaw argues that if Robert Kennedy had been prosecuted for what Shaw calls his complicity in the death of Marilyn Monroe in 1962, his campaign against Mafia leaders as attorney general would have been sidetracked, and so there would have been no reason for Bobby’s Mafia enemies to assassinate his brother JFK in 1963. There would also have been no reason for them to kill media icon Dorothy Kilgallen, since it was her explosive investigation into JFK’s death that led to the famous reporter’s death in 1965. Hear the details of Shaw's latest research, and send in your questions during the live-stream discussion. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities SPEAKERS Mark Shaw Author, Collateral Damage: The Mysterious Deaths of Marilyn Monroe and Dorothy Kilgallen and the Ties that Bind them to Robert Kennedy and the JFK Assassination 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 June 10th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In response to high risks of suicide, substance abuse, depression and victimization among LGBTQ adolescents, new emphasis is being placed upon the role that family support plays in reducing LGBTQ children's risks and strengthening their families. in May, the Family Acceptance Project (FAP) at San Francisco State University released a series of eight new Asian-language posters to share critical information from FAP’s peer-reviewed studies and family support work to help prevent suicide and other serious health risks and to promote well-being for AAPI LGBTQ children and youth. Join us for a conversation with FAP's director and two parents of AAPI LGBTQI children. About the Speakers Marsha Aizumi is an author, speaker, educator and advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. She serves on the PFLAG National Board and is co-founder and former president of PFLAG San Gabriel Valley Asian Pacific Islander. She and her son, Aiden, have spoken to more than 250 organizations, corporations and universities around the United States, and Marsha has spoken in China and Japan. She helped to develop the Family Acceptance Project Asian language posters. Marsha and her son, Aiden, co-wrote, Two Spirits, One Heart, a memoir that chronicles her journey with her transgender son from shame, sadness, and fear to pride, joy, gratitude, and hope. Clara Lee is a proud Korean mother of a bisexual/queer son with trans experience. She is the founder of the API Rainbow Parents of PFLAG NYC chapter, which supports LGBTQ individuals and families of Asian heritage, fosters intergenerational dialogue, and addresses culture-specific needs of the Asian and Pacific Islander community. Lee also serves on the board of PFLAG NYC and is a co-founder of Korean American Rainbow Parents, a network of Korean parents and family with LGBTQ loved ones. Caitlin Ryan, Ph.D., ACSW, is a clinical social worker, educator and researcher who has worked on LGBTQ health and mental health for more than 40 years and whose work on LGBTQ health has shaped policy and practice for LGBTQ and gender diverse children and youth. She directs the Family Acceptance Project at San Francisco State University—a research, education, intervention and policy project—that helps ethnically, racially and religiously diverse families to support their LGBTQ children. Dr. Ryan and her team conducted the first research on LGBTQ youth and families and developed the first evidence-based family support model that helps families and caregivers to decrease rejection and health risks and to increase family acceptance to promote well-being for LGBTQ children and youth. This includes developing research-based guidance resources, including FAP’s multilingual Healthy Futures posters and “Best Practice” resources for suicide prevention with LGBTQ youth. SPEAKERS Marsha Aizumi Co-founder and Former President, PFLAG San Gabriel Valley Asian Pacific Islander; Co-Author, Two Spirits, One Heart; Speaker; Advocate Clara Lee Founder, API Rainbow Parents of PFLAG NYC Chapter; Co-founder, Korean American Rainbow Parents Caitlin Ryan Ph.D., ACSW, Clinical Social Worker; Educator; Researcher; Director, Family Acceptance Project, San Francisco State University Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW/KPIX 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 June 10th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Abraham Lincoln announced the end of slavery in 1862, but it wasn’t until two and a half years later on June 19, 1865, that the news finally reached enslaved people in Texas. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Texas native Annette Gordon-Reed chronicles the country’s long road to Juneteenth, recounting both its origins in Texas and the enormous hardships that African Americans have endured from Reconstruction through Jim Crow and beyond. Her new book On Juneteenth provides the context and reminder that the fight for equality is still ongoing in our country. SPEAKERS Annette Gordon-Reed Carl M. Loeb University Professor, Harvard University; Author, On Juneteenth; Twitter @agordonreed In conversation with Judge LaDoris Cordell (Ret); Twitter @judgecordell 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 9th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The way people conceptualize mental illness, and how they talk about it, differs around the world. A new book—Nobody's Normal, by George Washington University Professor of Anthropology Roy Richard Grinker—examines the ways in which culture and historical contexts have shaped our beliefs, stigma and social norms around mental health. In conversation with journalist and Divergent Mind author Jenara Nerenberg, Grinker will share what families, doctors, and everyday people can do to create a more welcoming and accepting society. Through his research in Africa, Asia and the United States, and with stories from hunter gatherers to family physicians, there are lessons to be learned that challenge the very notion of "normal" to begin with. Grinker is also the editor-in-chief of Anthropological Quarterly and the author of Unstrange Minds. MLF ORGANIZER Robert Lee Kilpatrick NOTES MLF: Health & Medicine SPEAKERS Roy Richard Grinker Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology, George Washington University; Editor-in-Chief, Anthropological Quarterly; Author, Nobody's Normal: How Culture Created the Stigma of Mental Illness In Conversation with Jenara Nerenberg Author, Divergent Mind; Journalist, University of California, Berkeley; Founder, The Neurodiversity Project 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 10th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The global COVID-19 pandemic has revealed more clearly the huge health and health-care disparities between groups that are closely linked with social, economic and/or environmental disadvantage. Disparities occur across many dimensions, including race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age, location, gender, disability status, and sexual orientation—what are termed social determinants of health. Many disparities in health are rooted in inequities in the opportunities and resources needed to be as healthy as possible. The term health equity is used widely by professionals to talk about how to eliminate such disparities, but there is no common understanding of what it means. According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, “Health equity means that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. This requires removing obstacles to health such as poverty, discrimination and their consequences, including powerlessness and lack of access to good jobs with fair pay, quality education and housing, safe environments, and health care.” This program will explore how the concept of health equity can help us to understand how to create a society that supports health for all people, and in so doing transforms the health of our nation. MLF ORGANIZER Robert Lee Kilpatrick NOTES MLF: Health & Medicine SPEAKERS Anand Shah M.D., M.S., Vice President of Social Health, Kaiser Permanente Noha Aboelata M.D., Founder and CEO, Roots Community Health Center Cyrell Roberson M.A., Ph.D. Candidate in School Psychology, University of California, Berkeley; Founder, Jubily, Inc. Robert Lee Kilpatrick Ph.D., Chair, Health and Medicine Member-Led Forum, The Commonwealth Club of California; President and CEO, Health Innovation for People, Inc. 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 8th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Understanding the tragic issue of slavery and its ongoing historical impact on the country has been a critical part of America's recent reckoning on race. The Atlantic's Clint Smith has been one of the country's leading writers on this essential but complex topic for the past several years. In one of the most anticipated books of the year, How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America, Smith explores how slavery has been central in shaping our nation's collective history and ourselves. In Smith's first work of nonfiction, the author takes readers through a national tour of monuments and landmarks—those that are honest about the past and those that are not. In this unique way, Smith explores the legacy of slavery and its vivid imprint on centuries of American history. He describes Confederate Army cemeteries, former plantations, modern-day prisons, and other historical sites, showing how our past continually connects with the present, and helping us understand how slavery is remembered and misremembered—and why it matters to all Americans today. In this conversation, Smith will be joined by Brittany Packnett Cunningham, a young emerging leader at the intersection of culture, justice and policy. Brittany serves as an NBC News and MSNBC contributor and host of "Undistracted," an intersectional news and justice podcast. Brittany is the founder and principal of Love & Power Works, a full-service social impact and equity agency. Please join us for this critically important conversation on history, memory and how it connects with the present. SPEAKERS Clint Smith Staff Writer, The Atlantic; Author, How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America Brittany Packnett Cunningham Contributor, NBC News and MSNBC—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 3rd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Colorado River supplies water to more than 40 million people across seven states. Lake Mead has fallen to its lowest level since it was filled in the 1930s, which could trigger the first stage of real water cutbacks. For years, “much of the discussion in the Colorado River Basin has been who gets the next drop,” says journalist Luke Runyon. “The conversation very recently has shifted to who has to use less.” In the midst of long-term drought, warming temperatures and decreasing runoff, water managers are gearing up for the next round of negotiations to divvy up the Colorado River’s supply in the future. Tribal water users are hoping to have a bigger say in those basin-wide negotiations, and to finally correct an historic injustice by ensuring universal access to clean water for tribes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Jen Gunter, the outspoken and digitally savvy Bay Area doctor who has been called "the world's most famous gynecologist" returns to The Commonwealth Club for what should be a fun discussion on her new book, The Menopause Manifesto, with television comedian Samantha Bee. Dr. Gunter, who has made waves with her fierce advocacy of women's health, saw great success with her previous book, The Vagina Bible. The Menopause Manifesto takes on stubborn myths and misunderstandings about menopause in Dr. Gunter's traditional fashion: hard facts, real science, fascinating historical perspective, expert advice, and strong doses of humor. As the book notes, the only thing predictable about menopause is its unpredictability. Factor in widespread misinformation, misogyny, a lack of research, and the culture of shame around women's bodies, and it's no wonder women are unsure what to expect during the menopause transition and beyond. Dr. Gunter believes women (and men) should be educated on what's to come with menopause years in advance of it happening rather than the current practice of leaving people on their own with bothersome symptoms and too much conflicting information. Join us for what is sure to be a frank, funny, and unique discussion! About the Speakers Dr. Jen Gunter is an internationally bestselling author, obstetrician, and gynecologist with more than three decades of experience as a vulvar and vaginal diseases expert. Her New York Times and USA Today bestselling book, The Vagina Bible, has been translated into 19 languages, and The Guardian calls her "the world's most famous—and outspoken—gynecologist." The recipient of the 2020 NAMS Media Award from The North American Menopause Society, she is a columnist for The New York Times and the star of "Jensplaining," a CBC video series that highlights the impact of medical misinformation on women. Samantha Bee is the host of the Emmy Award-winning "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee," the first late-night satire show hosted by a woman. Previously, she was the longest-serving correspondent on "The Daily Show," and she served as co-creator and executive producer of "The Detour." She is the author of the essay collection I Know I Am, But What Are You? and has been featured in Time 100: The Most Influential People. Recently, Bee and "Full Frontal" launched the successful #MailedIt campaign to help save the United States Postal Service and also launched a podcast titled "Full Release." In association with INFORUM and Marin Conversations. This program is part of our Marin Conversations series, spotlighting the thought-leadership of the North Bay, and is presented with support from Relevant Wealth Advisors. SPEAKERS Dr. Jen Gunter M.D., OB/GYN and Pain Medicine Specialist; Author, The Menopause Manifesto; Twitter @DrJenGunter Samantha Bee Comedian; Host, "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee," TBS; Twitter @iamsambee 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 2nd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of President Biden’s first acts in office was to extend the New START Treaty with Russia. Concluded in 2010, the treaty cut the strategic nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia in half. It was set to expire on February 5, 2021, and is now in force for another five years. That treaty—which is holding back a new nuclear arms race between the United States and Russia—was negotiated by Rose Gottemoeller, former U.S. under secretary of state and former deputy secretary general of NATO. But now, what comes next—in arms control and in dealing with Russia? Fueled by petro-rubles, a stronger economy has enabled the Russians to fund a decade of investments in high-tech nuclear and conventional weapons, including cybermeasures targeting the internal information systems of the United States and other countries. How should the United States respond to those threats, and to possible new opportunities for cooperation with Russia? What dangers, and opportunities, are presented by flash-points like the recent Russian military presence on the Ukrainian border? What was it like to negotiate a major nuclear arms control treaty with the Russians, to get Presidents Obama and Medvedev to agree to it, and then negotiate its ratification through the U.S. Senate, at one of the most deeply partisan times in American history? Importantly, how did Republicans and Democrats come together to ratify a treaty to safeguard the future of all Americans? Please join our CEO, Dr. Gloria Duffy, for a conversation with Rose Gottemoeller, on the eve of the first summit meeting between Presidents Biden and Putin. Deputy Secretary General Gottemoeller and Dr. Duffy have worked together on a number of occasions, including on dismantling weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet countries during the Clinton administration. SPEAKERS Rose Gottemoeller Distinguished Lecturer, Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute; Research Fellow, Hoover Institution; Former Deputy Secretary General, NATO; Former Under Secretary of State for Arms Control; Author, Negotiating the New START Treaty 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 June 1st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Nobel laureate Otto Warburg was widely regarded in his day as one of the most important biochemists of the 20th century. As a Jewish homosexual living openly with his male partner, Warburg represented all that the Third Reich abhorred. Yet Hitler and his top advisors dreaded cancer, and protected Warburg in the hope that he could cure it. Apple demonstrates how Warburg's midcentury work may well hold the secret to why cancer became so common in the modern world and how we can reverse the trend. A tale of scientific discovery, personal peril, and the race to end a disastrous disease, Ravenous would be the stuff of the most inventive fiction were it not, in fact, true. MLF ORGANIZER Patty James NOTES MLF: Health & Medicine SPEAKERS Sam Apple Faculty Member, Johns Hopkins University; Writer; Author, Ravenous: Otto Warburg, The Nazis, and the Search for the Cancer-Diet Connection 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 June 1st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the last few decades, San Francisco has experienced radical changes with the influence of Silicon Valley, tech companies and more. Countless articles, blogs and even movies have tried to capture the complex nature of what San Francisco has become, a place millions of people have loved to call home, and yet are compelled to consider leaving. In the new book The End of the Golden Gate, 25 acclaimed writers take on the eternal question: "Should I stay or should I go?" Subjects include: the tech-industry invasion and the evolution, gentrification, and radical cost of living that has transformed San Francisco's most beloved neighborhoods; the lasting imprint of the 1960s counterculture movement; and the fight to preserve the art, music and other creative movements that make San Francisco forever the city of love. Come hear the compelling thoughts of three of the book's contributors: journalist and historian Gary Kamiya; poet, essayist and cultural critic Kimberly Reyes; and writer and musician Daniel Handler, also well known as Lemony Snicket. A percentage of the book proceeds will be given to charities that help those in the bay experiencing homelessness. SPEAKERS Gary Kamiya Journalist; Historian; Contributor, The End of the Golden Gate Kimberly Reyes Poet; Essayist; Cultural Critic; Contributor, The End of the Golden Gate Daniel Handler Writer; Musician; A.K.A. Lemony Snicket: Contributor, The End of the Golden Gate In Conversation with Heather Knight Columnist, San Francisco Chronicle 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 27th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a virtual discussion, live-streamed direct from Berlin, Germany, with Heino Falcke, the German astrophysicist, about his research into the nature of black holes. His new book A Light in the Darkness is the story of how the first photographic evidence of black holes was achieved by Falcke in April 2019, and what its significance for humanity might be. Falcke wrestles with the ways in which black holes force us to confront the boundary where human life ends and the celestial begins. He also ponders why black holes are so difficult for most of us to understand, comparing that to our inability to envisage our own inevitable death. Black holes develop when a massive star dies, and its matter is condensed. That extreme amount of mass contained in a small space generates a gigantic amount of gravitational force, allowing the black hole to suck up everything that comes near, including light. These astronomical wonders are the subject of intense scientific and philosophical theorizing—the journey to a black hole might even be a journey to the end of time itself. Which is why Falcke regards black holes as exquisite representations of fear, death—and, surprisingly, the divine. Empirical and profound, Falcke examines both the physical nature and the spiritual meaning of black holes, which he calls “the epitome of merciless destruction.” MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities SPEAKERS Heino Falcke Professor, Radio Astronomy and Astroparticle Physics, Radboud University Nijmegen; Winner, 2011 Spinoza Prize; Author, A Light in the Darkness: Black Holes, the Universe, and Us 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 May 27th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1968, San Francisco made history when, as a result of the student strike at San Francisco State University, the country’s first ethnic studies department was born. Over the years, community advocates have continued to find inadequacies in educational programs for students, citing a lack of inclusion of instructional materials for the teaching of history and culture regarding diverse population demographics. They also believe the learning and understanding of diverse cultures will help foster understanding and mutual respect between and among people from different ethnic backgrounds. Join us for an in-depth discussion with panelists who will discuss their personal stories about the origins of ethnic studies and their individual advocacy within the movement. Learn how and why they have devoted their efforts to advocate for the programs and hear their visions about how ethnic studies can shape our society’s future. This is one of an occasional series sharing perspectives on the subject of ethnic studies. NOTES Presented in association with the APA Heritage Foundation. This program is made free thanks to the generous support of Gilead Sciences, Inc.. SPEAKERS Ana De Almeida Amaral Student Activist, Stanford University; Advocate, National Equity Project Artnelson Concordia Educator; Coordinator, Santa Barbara Unified School District Ethnic Studies Program; Founding Teacher, San Francisco Unified School District Ethic Studies Program Dr. Taunya Jaco 6th Grade ELA/Social Studies Teacher, San Jose; Board of Directors Member, National Education Association; Secretary, NEA Black Caucus; Chair, Civil Rights in Education Committee, California Teachers Association's State Council Dr. Theresa Montaño Teacher, CSUN; Former Board Director and President, National Council for Higher Education Dr. Samia Shoman Advocate, Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Coalition; Manager of English Learner and Adacemic Support Programs, San Mateo Union High School District; Co-Coordinator, Teach Palestine, Middle East Children Alliance Iza McGawley Student Activist, UC Santa Cruz; Co-Founder, Ethnic Studies Program, High Tech High Dr. Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales Professor, College of Ethnic Studies, San Francisco State University—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 April 29th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Disasters are inherently inevitable in life. We cannot predict the next earthquake, wildfire, financial crisis, war or pandemic, but we can predict how to handle each situation better. Unexpected calamities have happened all throughout human history, yet even in the 21st century we are ill-prepared to recover from them. In the new book Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe, popular historian Niall Ferguson explores the reasoning behind this phenomena and offers solutions on how to handle unforeseen circumstances of mass misfortune. Ferguson has spent his academic career lecturing on the international, financial, and economic history of British and American imperialism. In his new book, Ferguson uses centuries of knowledge to understand the complex pathologies at work that make societies fail in the face of disaster. He offers the lesson he says the West urgently needs to learn if we want to handle the next crisis better and avoid the ultimate doom of irreversible decline. Join us as Niall Ferguson offers an explanation of disaster response and strategies to make us better at handling the next catastrophe we will inevitably face. SPEAKERS Niall Ferguson Milbank Family Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution; Author, Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe; Twitter @nfergus In Conversation with Maya Jasanoff Coolidge Professor of History, Harvard University In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on June 1st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever have a difficult conversation about climate? Pretty much everyone has. Knowing all the facts and figures only goes so far when talking to someone who just doesn’t agree. So how do we break through the barriers? Scientists trained to present information in a one-way lecture format face a particular challenge: they first need to unlearn old habits. “Everybody's trying to figure out ‘how do we move past this idea that just arming people with facts will lead to a better world,’ right, because we’ve just seen that that’s absolutely not true,” says Faith Kearns, author of Getting to the Heart of Science Communication. Kearns argues that we all need to move from an “information deficit” model of communication – where it’s assumed that the audience simply needs more information – to a relational model, where the science communicator does as much listening as talking in order to first find empathy and common ground. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As attacks on Asian Americans repeatedly make the news, there is also a bigger story to tell: What the challenges of the future are, and how Asian Americans will help America be more competitive in this brave new world. Join this insightful discussion with prominent Asian American leaders not only about the history of Asian Americans in the United States, but about what Asian Americans are contributing today, and what all Americans should think about doing as we fight together against modern stereotypes and broken systems, and face current and future challenges. In association with The Committee of 100, Northern California. SPEAKERS Daniel Chao Ph.D., Board Chair, 1990 Institute; Member, Committee of 100; Former Senior Vice President, TerraPower, LLC; Former Chairman, Bechtel, China Dennis Wu Chair, Asia Pacific Islander American Public Affairs, San Francisco; Managing Partner, WuHoover & Co., CPA Advisory Firm; Retired Partner, Deloitte; Past Chair, Commonwealth Club's Board of Governors In Conversation with Evelyn Dilsaver Chair, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 26th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2021, as we begin to emerge from the global COVID-19 pandemic, the country continues to grapple with well-publicized incidents of police violence against Black Americans, a wave of anti-API discrimination and violence, and spreading political and other attacks on the transgender, gender nonconforming and intersex communities. In response to these harrowing realities, The Commonwealth Club and The Transgender District of San Francisco bring together a roundtable of thought leaders from across the nation to speak openly about their unique experiences regarding race and gender identity, in hopes that this summit can provide context, connection and solidarity between three communities that are far too often pitted against each other. Note: This program contains EXPLICIT language SPEAKERS Andy Marra Korean American Trans Woman Activist; Executive Director, Transgender Legal Defense Fund Oluchi Omeoga Transmasculine Advocate and Co-Director of BLMP (Black LGBT Migrants Project) Diamond Stylz Transgender Activist; Host, "Marsha's Plate" Podcast; Executive Director, Black Trans Women Inc. (Houston, Texas) Juniper Yun Korean-American Artist; Program Associate, The Transgender District Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show" on KBCW/KPIX 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 May 25th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bloomberg's Brad Stone is one of the country's leading experts on the global commerce company Amazon. His bestselling book from a decade ago, The Everything Store, gave one of the most detailed pictures of Amazon’s unprecedented growth and its billionaire founder, Jeff Bezos. His coverage in Bloomberg Businessweek has helped shaped our understanding of the internet giant. Since Stone's first book on Amazon was published, the company has expanded to become the most valuable internet company and one of the globe's largest retailers. Its workforce has quintupled in size and its valuation has soared to well over $1 trillion dollars. The company's holdings also include Whole Foods, Prime Video, and Amazon’s cloud computing unit, AWS, which powers many of the country's largest websites. Throughout the pandemic, Amazon became a lifeline for many people and small businesses around the world for home supplies, cleaning products and PPE. Bezos also has a personal ownership of The Washington Post, expanding the Amazon owner's impact. In Stone's new book, Amazon Unbound, the author presents another deeply reported narrative of how a retail upstart became one of the most powerful and feared entities in the global economy. Stone also looks at the evolution of Bezos himself from a geeky start-up guy to leading one of the globe's most influential companies. Please join us for this important event to better understand one of the private sector giants that is shaping modern life, and the company's enigmatic leader who is shaping that vision. SPEAKERS Brad Stone Senior Executive Editor, Global Technology, Bloomberg News; Author, Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire In Conversation with Sarah Frier Technology Reporter, Bloomberg; Author, No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram 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 25th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former congresswoman Jane Harman says America has used the same tactics to solve defense and intelligence issues since the end of the Cold War. She says many of these strategies haven't worked and that the United States has become too self-satisfied as the lone superpower of global politics. Harman further says that many nations no longer defer to America as they once did. In her new book Insanity Defense, Harman chronicles how the United States has failed to confront some of the toughest national security policy issues and discusses what that bodes for our national security. Harman has gained the expertise to discuss security and public policy issues. During her nine terms in Congress, she served on all major security committees, including six years on Armed Services and eight years on Intelligence. She is currently a distinguished fellow and president emerita of the Wilson Center, the nation’s key nonpartisan policy forum for independent research to tackle global issues. Through her work, Harman says she witnessed the unravelling of American politics in her various roles as legislator, exhorter, enabler, dissident and, eventually, outside advisor and commentator. Hear Jane Harman's unabashed thoughts on achievable solutions to bring us to a safer future. SPEAKERS Jane Harman Distinguished Fellow and President Emerita, Wilson Center; Author, Insanity Defense: Why Our Failure to Confront Hard National Security Problems Makes Us Less Safe Melissa Caen Moderator - Political and legal analyst for CBS San Francisco KPIX In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 25th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The COVID-19 global pandemic has shined a bright light on our medical system unlike perhaps any other time in this country's history. For more than a year now, we have seen how the daily work of making important, even life-and-death decisions is frequently made harder by factors and variables outside the control of an individual doctor and patient. Meanwhile, even before the pandemic, hospitals and medical offices faced tremendous budget problems, and big pharmaceutical and insurance companies continued to shape the delivery of medical care in all corners of the country; the pandemic only exacerbated these trends. In a new book, Uncaring, Dr. Robert Pearl—former CEO of The Permanente Medical Group and a Stanford professor—shows how all these stresses have led to a toxic culture in medicine, particularly for physicians. He says doctors resist change, leading to important clerical mistakes. They don't offer equal treatment to all patients. Their competitive work ethic leads to burnout and bad decisions. All these mistakes, he warns, can be and frequently are matters of life and death. As we emerge from the pandemic and engage in a public debate about the appropriate role of government, technology, big pharmaceutical and insurance companies in our health-care system, Pearl believes we have paid little attention to what it actually feels like to be a doctor. If we want to improve medical outcomes for doctors and patients alike, Pearl believes we need to start seeing health-care professionals as the real and flawed human beings they actually are, and real issues they face every day in their professional lives. We look forward to welcoming Dr. Pearl back to The Commonwealth Club for an important conversation on how we can have a safer and healthier health-care system. Moderator Julie Kliger is the digital health transformation leader of the Health Solutions practice at FTI Consulting. She has expertise working with health-care delivery systems, platform-telehealth and bio/med-tech companies to design, optimize and implement new approaches to care delivery, with the goal of improving quality, value and experience of care. Kliger currently serves as a member of the board of directors for a $3 billion health system and chairs the Enterprise-Wide Committee on Quality, Safety and Patient Experience, and is vice chair of the Executive Compensation Committee.​ The views expressed by the moderator are not necessarily the views of FTI Consulting, Inc., its management, its subsidiaries, its affiliates or its other professionals. SPEAKERS Dr. Robert Pearl M.D., Clinical Professor of Plastic Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine; Author, Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors and Patients Julie Kliger MPA, BSN, Senior Managing Director, Health Solutions, FTI Consulting—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 May 26th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the Bay Area, as elsewhere, the coronavirus and its economic fallout have hit hardest the very same people who were on the economic margins before the pandemic, including Black, Latinx, low-wage workers, and immigrant communities (especially undocumented workers). For our region to recover, and thrive, racial equity must be at the forefront of our recovery efforts. In this program, San Francisco Foundation CEO Fred Blackwell will lead a conversation on the central role that racial equity must play in the Bay Area's recovery from COVID-19 for our region to recover and thrive. We'll review key data findings from the Bay Area Equity Atlas on how COVID-19 has impacted different racial and ethnic communities in our region, presented by Senior Associate Jamila Henderson of PolicyLink. Experts and advocates Chris Iglesias of Unity Council and Tomiquia Moss of All Home will help us make meaning of the data and share their perspectives on what is needed to ensure an equitable recovery for all people in the Bay Area, regardless of their race or where they live. NOTES This program is made possible by San Francisco Foundation's Bay Area Leads donors. SPEAKERS Jamila Henderson Senior Associate, PolicyLink Chris Iglesias CEO, The Unity Council Tomiquia Moss Founder and CEO, All Home Fred Blackwell CEO, The San Francisco Foundation—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 18th th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the past several years, questions about the stability of America's democratic system have been raised by experts in many fields, from across the political spectrum. After years of polarization, the United States has become highly divided, and there is a widespread loss of confidence in our very form of government and civic order. A movement for a renewed focus on civics and history education has arisen to address these concerns. Earlier this year, with the launch of the Educating for American Democracy (EAD) initiative, the country has its first significant comprehensive roadmap that states, local school districts, educators and organizations such as the Club can use to transform the teaching of history and civics to meet the needs of America in the 21st century. One of EAD's most significant features is that it recognizes that powerful and effective civics education is everyone's responsibility, not just civics and social studies teachers, and not just schools themselves. It asserts that we need all sectors of society working to together to educate students about American civics and history. This program will speak with several leaders who specifically do not represent traditional social studies, civics or American history teachers about why they believe it is their responsibility to be part of the comprehensive civics education solution. Each has played a role in the development of the important EAD effort. We'll hear from the head of the organization that represents English teachers, the head of an organization that represents all rural schools, and a civics education specialist at a presidential library. This program will also help the Club commemorate the one-year anniversary of the launch of its own civics education effort. In response to the same concerns that drove the development of EAD, The Commonwealth Club recognized that it, as a major civic forum, could play a more significant role in having a citizenry and electorate better appreciate the U.S. form of government and its civic ideals. Our timing could not have been better, as 2020 served as a siren call for the need for improved civics education. The Club launched its civics education efforts on May 11, 2020, when we thought the global pandemic would be the biggest challenge facing our country. Then, after the killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, the country faced massive social protests focused on policing and America's long history of racial discrimination. The year ended with a disputed presidential election that culminated in a violent storming of the U.S. Capitol on the day Congress convened to certify the presidential vote. (The Club hosted a program on American history education that ended just as the crowd broke into the U.S. Capitol). We then reflected on the siege of the U.S. Capitol and its implications for civics education in a program days after the presidential inauguration. As the Club commemorates the first anniversary of its civics education efforts, please join us in an important conversation that urges all of us to be part of addressing America's civics crisis. SPEAKERS Allen Pratt Ed.D., Executive Director, National Rural Education Association Emily Kirkpatrick Executive Director, National Council of Teachers of English Janet Tran Director of The Center for Civics, Education, and Opportunity; Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute Emma Humphries Chief Education Officer, iCivics—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 14th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The stories are horrifying and heart-breaking. An 84-year-old Thai immigrant in San Francisco died after being violently shoved to the ground during his morning walk. In Oakland, a 91-year-old senior was shoved to the pavement from behind. An 89-year-old Chinese woman was slapped and set on fire by two people in Brooklyn, New York. A stranger on the New York subway slashed a 61-year-old Filipino American passenger's face with a box cutter. The only Asian American lawmaker in the Kansas legislature says he was physically threatened in a bar by a patron who accused him of carrying the coronavirus. The advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate says it has received more than 2,800 nationwide reports of hate incidents directed at Asian Americans since the pandemic began. More than 6 million Asian Americans live in California, by far the most in any U.S. state. Of those reports, 1,226 incidents took place in California, and 708 in the Bay Area alone. The majority of incidents in the Bay Area—292—took place in San Francisco, followed by San Jose (58) and Oakland (55). Last week, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly (94 to 1) approved bipartisan legislation aimed at strengthening federal efforts to address hate crimes directed at Asian Americans. What should all of us know about these hate crimes and the steps we each can take to prevent them? Join KQED's Mina Kim; David Mineta, noted mental health advocate and son of former congressman and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta (who was in a Japanese-American internment camp during World War II); business leader Anna Mok; Muhammed Chaudhry, president of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Silicon Valley; and moderator Michelle Meow for a compelling discussion of next steps, based on their personal and professional perspectives. Muhammed Chaudhry Managing Partner, MAC Capital Partners; President, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Silicon Valley Mina Kim Host, "Forum," KQED David Mineta President and CEO, Momentum for Mental Health Anna Mok President and Co-Founder, Ascend; Partner, Deloitte and Touche, LLP; Board Member and Former Board Chair, The Commonwealth Club of California Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show" on KBCW/KPIX and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 19th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices