Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Dying is an unavoidable part of life, yet we all seem to find ways to dodge questions about death and how we’d like to die. Katy Butler, author of the new book The Art of Dying Well, wants to inspire us to meet this fear. Butler offers a practical guide for all aspects of life before dying, including: living with a chronic medical condition, choosing the right doctor, and even when not to call 911. Butler’s guide to living and dying is both reassuring and thoroughly researched. It offers both guides and testimonials to help us all cope and succeed in our last act. Katy Butler is one of the leading advocates for medical reform. Her first book, Knocking on Heaven’s Door: The Path to a Better Way of Death, was a heartfelt and personal memoir of her own parents’ experience with dying. Butler believes that whether you have two weeks or two decades, it is never the wrong time to discuss how to forge a better path to the end of life. Join us as Katy Butler visits INFORUM and answers all of your questions about dying. NOTES In association with End Well Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As California prepares to vote in a presidential primary with huge implications for the 2020 general election, we're assembling a panel of LGBTQI leaders who will share their picks for the Democratic Party's presidential nominee. Some of their choices might surprise you! Join us for a timely, lively and fun evening talking presidential politics and LGBTQI concerns in one of the most momentous elections in modern times. Note: This program contains some Explicit Language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This event is the second in The Commonwealth Club's Thought Leadership series on the future of health, featuring in-depth conversations on the challenges driving physical, mental and social health. Gun violence is one of the most critical health issues of our time. Every day in the United States, health professionals confront the effects of firearm injury in the clinical arena. In emergency rooms, trauma centers, ambulatory offices, and acute care and rehabilitation facilities, health professionals, and the health systems they work within, attempt to heal the wounds that firearms inflict on individuals, their families and their communities. This critical public health issue requires us to move past the politics around gun ownership and develop nonpolitical solutions to this crisis. What can we do right now to prevent gun violence? Join a diverse panel of experts and advocates as they discuss public–private partnership solutions to this growing public health crisis. Together we will explore new ways to build healthy communities safe from firearm-related injuries and death. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California has been at the forefront of America’s climate fight since Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the country’s first major climate law in 2006. The state’s suite of policies for decarbonizing the economy survived industry-funded attacks in court and at the ballot box, and remained largely consistent under Democratic and Republican governors. But a recent report by Next 10, an independent think tank, indicates the state will meet its 2030 goals 30 years late. Is California really the climate leader it’s purported to be? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Barbara Rose Brooker, 83-year-old author, teacher and performer, will talk about her personal experiences with ageism in the Hollywood industry, our anti-age culture and how to promote a generation where age doesn’t count. She will sign copies of her new novel, Love, Sometimes. Join us for this fabulous evening. Brooker, a native San Francisco author of 13 books, is the founder of the first Age March in history. Her new best-selling novel, Love, Sometimes, is about risk, ageism in Hollywood and controversial love and is being made into a TV series, which will air in 2021. Brooker has been on “The Today Show,” Andy Cohen, Sharon Osbourne, and many other local and national shows. She teaches writing to adults over 50 and up at San Francisco State's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI). She is at work on a new book about aging and love and staying on the path of your dreams at any age. MLF Organizer: Denise Michaud MLF: Grownups Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's our birthday—come celebrate with us! Join us to celebrate the Club’s 117th birthday and attend our 8th anniversary Week to Week political roundtable program. To kick the night off, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. we will have sweet treats to sample, popcorn and hot chocolate, and we'll finish with a champagne toast to the Club and to our wonderful members. Following the Club birthday party, we will have our Week to Week program for all to attend. During the program, we will discuss the biggest, most controversial and sometimes the surprising political issues with expert commentary by panelists who are smart, are civil and have a good sense of humor. Our panelists will provide informative and engaging commentary on political and other major news, and we'll have audience discussion of the week’s events, culminating in our live news quiz. It's an evening to celebrate, for members and nonmembers alike to enjoy. ** This Podcast Contains Explicit Language ** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do we build communities that are more resilient than the ones we were raised in? As severe weather hammers cities and spurs more migration, who will pay to shore up infrastructure and secure the border? Experts at the highest levels of U.S. government are now working to uncover the ways that climate could threaten critical infrastructure and reshape the way communities respond to risk. Meanwhile, as damages increase, so do insurance claims, making homeownership nearly impossible in areas with the greatest risk of fires, floods and hurricanes. Pricing that risk and spreading the costs across society will test American democracy and could further exacerbate the growing wealth gap. Join us for a conversation with Alice Hill, senior fellow for climate change policy at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of Building a Resilient Tomorrow: How to Prepare for the Coming Climate Disruption, and Janet Ruiz, strategic communication director at the Insurance Information Institute. Joining remotely is Sherri Goodman, senior fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center and former U.S. deputy under secretary of defense for environmental security. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With a presidential election looming in 2020, what are the progressives in Congress doing to build political power and move their agenda forward? As the elected co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus—representing nearly 40 percent of the House Democratic majority, Representative Pramila Jayapal is on the forefront of the national progressive movement. In February 2019, Jayapal introduced the most comprehensive and progressive Medicare-for-all bill in history and has since secured four hearings on the bill—the first four hearings on Medicare for all in the history of Congress—and the support of more than half of the House Democratic Caucus. Prior to her election to Congress, Jayapal worked for two decades as an advocate for immigrant rights and racial justice and served in the Washington State Senate from 2015–2017. Jayapal serves on the House Judiciary, Budget, and Education and Labor committees and has been an outspoken leader on expanding access to college, fighting for climate justice, taking on corporate greed and holding the administration accountable for its immigration policies. Join us for a conversation with one of the Democratic Party’s rising stars as she discusses the path ahead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ussama Makdisi, who was born in Washington, D.C., spent his early years in Lebanon and earned his Ph.D. at Princeton University. He will discuss his latest book, Age of Coexistence: The Ecumenical Frame and the Making of the Modern Arab World, which has been described as an easily accessible, provocative engagement with existing literature about sectarian, secular, colonialism and Arab nationalists. And, although headlines paint the Middle East as a collection of war-torn countries and extremist groups consumed by sectarian rage, Makdisi shows how people of different faiths have tried to build modern societies that transcend religious and sectarian differences. MLF ORGANIZER Celia Menczel NOTES MLF: Middle East Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most recently, Felicia Marcus was chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, responsible for drinking water, water quality and water rights. Importantly, she led the state board through California's worst drought in modern history. As regional administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 9, she was responsible for environmental issues under the EPA's jurisdiction. In the the nonprofit world, Marcus was the western director for the Natural Resources Defense Council and the executive vice president and chief operating officer for the Trust for Public Land. In her prior work, she was a private and nonprofit sector attorney and organizer in Los Angeles. She has a law degree from New York University and an AB in East Asian studies from Harvard University. Marcus is also known as a devoted whale watcher. Join us to discuss her important environmental work and her outstanding commitment and dedication for the planet, the environment, the present and the future. MLF ORGANIZER Ann Clark NOTES MLF: Environment & Natural Resources Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco’s newest top prosecutor Chesa Boudin first experienced the criminal justice system as a toddler, when his parents were convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. This transformative experience left an indelible mark on Boudin, who has dedicated much of his life to criminal justice reform. After graduating from Yale, becoming a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and earning his J.D. from Yale Law School, Boudin began work at the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office. While he handled over 300 felony cases, Boudin never prosecuted a single case, instead favoring to work directly with victims of crimes and families of prisoners. After a tightly contested race in 2019, Boudin emerged as DA-elect of San Francisco, where he hopes to make significant changes to a broken criminal justice system. With a focus on reducing mass incarceration and recidivism and increasing opportunities for restorative justice, Boudin is part of a larger trend of progressives appointed to top prosecutorial positions in cities that hope to end policies such as cash bail, the war on drugs and racial disparities in sentencing. Bring your questions as newly confirmed DA Chesa Boudin forges a different path for crime, punishment and justice in the city. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the broader #MeToo movement, the political slogan “believe women” has become a rallying cry for the era. First used as a call to end false accusations of deception against women, agenda-setting feminist editors Jessica Valenti and Jaclyn Friedman go beyond the slogan with their new anthology to ask and answer the crucial question: What would happen if we didn't just believe women but acted as though they matter? Building on the success of the #MeToo movement’s demand for accountability—not just discouraging actions generally but naming names—Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change the World is part exposé on misogyny in our culture and part outline for how trusting women creates the foundation for future progress. With essays spanning a call to action by Representative Ayanna Pressley (D–MA) and an interview with #TimesUp activist and Emmy award winner Tatiana Maslany, Valenti and Friedman bring together a powerful group of women whose diverse experiences and thoughtful solutions give us a vision of what a better future could look like. Join Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti at INFORUM this February for an honest discussion on how we might make tomorrow a brighter day in the fight for women’s empowerment. ** This Podcast Contains Explicit Language ** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the effects of aggressive policing and mass incarceration harm historically marginalized communities and tear families apart, how do we define safety? Community leader and lawyer Zach Norris believes in a radical way to shift the conversation about public safety away from fear and punishment and toward growth and support systems for our families and communities. In order to truly be safe, Norris says we have to dismantle the mentality of us versus them and bridge our divides. Norris’s new book, We Keep Us Safe, is a blueprint of how to hold people accountable while still holding them in community. The result reinstates full humanity and agency for everyone who has been dehumanized and traumatized so they can participate fully in life, in society and in the fabric of our democracy. He makes the case that directing resources to stability and well-being, such as health care and housing, education and living-wage jobs, result in real safety. Join us for a powerful conversation with Bay Area leaders Zach Norris and Fred Blackwell NOTES Norris photo by Eurydice Thomas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alzheimer’s disease is a global health problem with more than 5.8 million people living with the disease in the United States alone. The only way to solve that problem is through research, and this talk will focus on the scientific advancements and progress in the field. Tremendous gains have been made in the understanding of the science and basic biology underlying Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and these advances are leading to great strides in prevention, detection, diagnostics and therapeutic interventions. MLF Organizer: Patrick O'Reilly MLF: Psychology Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Border walls and immigration were hot-button issues in the 2016 federal election, and the Trump administration’s evolving policies and practices have been the subject of numerous media stories and segments. Join Julie Small of KQED and Clara Long of Human Rights Watch in a discussion of conditions for asylum seekers on the southern border and what you need to know. MLF ORGANIZER Ian McCuaig NOTES MLF: International Relations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Monday Night Philosophy welcomes back Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward Larson to discuss his joint biography of our two most influential Founding Fathers. Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, though divided by a 26-year age gap and vastly different life experiences, underwent a similarly dramatic transformation from loyal British colonists to American nationalists, and Larson makes a persuasive case that neither one could have succeeded without the other's help. Washington's military skills required Franklin's diplomatic skills to win the Revolutionary War. Their partnership was also key to the success of the Constitutional Convention. In an enlightening and dramatic account of these two men’s intertwined lives, Larson covers from the French and Indian War through the Revolution and Constitutional Convention, and he concludes with Franklin's last political maneuver: forcing the issue of slavery before the new republic’s first Congress. MLF Organizer: George Hammond MLF: Humanities Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Personal data is as important to modern digital businesses as finance and human capital. It is used to record customers’ behavior, predict it and even to manipulate it. But as awareness of these practices grows, is increasing concern among consumers influencing data regulation and regulators on both sides of the Atlantic? U.K. Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham gives her perspective on the global trends in data protection and privacy. Denham will discuss the big data cases her office has looked at—including Facebook, WhatsApp and Cambridge Analytica—and reflect on their international influence from her perspective as chair of her global regulatory community. Denham chairs the Global Privacy Assembly, which brings together digital data protection and privacy commissioners from around the world to share knowledge and build stronger cooperation. Denham will reflect on the recently implemented California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the impact of growing regulation around data protection and privacy, particularly in Silicon Valley. And crucially, she will talk about her office’s newly launched "children’s code," which sets out standards that digital services should meet to protect children’s privacy. Denham became the U.K.’s information commissioner in 2016. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the U.K.’s regulator for data protection and information rights. It enforces the law, both civil and criminal, against organizations that have violated data protection rules. Denham brings an international dimension to her U.K. role from her previous work as information and privacy commissioner for British Columbia and Canada and assistant privacy commissioner of Canada. She is recognized as one of the most influential people in her field, most recently in Politico’s list of 28 people shaping, shaking and stirring Europe. She also chairs the International Conference of Information Commissioners, which works globally to improve access to information rights. In association with the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology/UC Berkeley School of Law Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After witnessing the biggest protests in its history during the middle months of 2019, Hong Kong remains a subject of intense global interest and global concern. In this talk, Jeffrey Wasserstrom, a professor of modern Chinese history at UC Irvine and longtime scholar of social unrest, will use forays into history and comparison to help audience members make sense of Hong Kong's complex present and uncertain future. Wasserstrom’s new book, Vigil: Hong Kong on the Brink, has been described by one reviewer as “. . . essential reading for understanding China’s foreign policies, the legacies of empire and above all the extraordinary politics, society and culture of contemporary Hong Kong.” In addition to his academic writings, Wasserstrom has authored numerous books and articles for the general public. His writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, Financial Times, The Atlantic online edition, The New York Times and other print and online publications. MLF ORGANIZER Lillian Nakagawa NOTES MLF: Asia-Pacific Affairs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the first humans to venture out of Africa 60,000 years ago to the displaced refugees of today, migration has always been a part of human life. And in parts of the world where immediate threats include violence and poverty, climate change probably isn't a driving motivation to leave home. But with erratic weather, extended droughts, and resource scarcity fueling political conflict and pressures on vulnerable rural livelihoods, it's impossible to leave climate out of the conversation. How is climate change fueling the mass movement of humans around the world, and what does that mean for national security and economies? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ezra Klein doesn’t believe America’s political system is broken. He argues that the truth is scarier: It’s working exactly as designed. Over the past 50 years, our partisan identities have merged with our racial, religious, geographic, ideological and cultural identities. According to Klein, this merging has created a toxic system that is tearing at the bonds that hold this country together. In his new book, Why We’re Polarized, Klein shows how and why American politics polarized around identity in the 20th century and what that polarization did to the way we see the world and each other. The book provides a clear framework for understanding everything from Trump’s rise to the Democratic Party’s leftward shift to the politicization of everyday culture. Join us for a conversation around how American politics became a gridlocked system, why we participate in it and what it means for our future. ** This Podcast Contains Explicit Language ** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. implored us to fight racism, poverty and militarism with disciplined nonviolence and radical love. “The choice today is no longer between violence and nonviolence,” he said. “It is either nonviolence or nonexistence.” Tragically, more than a half century after Dr. King’s assassination, we face a resurgence of racist hatred, ubiquitous gun violence, extreme inequality, pervasive homelessness and threats to the human species from global warming and nuclear weapons. How can we rediscover the power of nonviolence to effectively address these grave problems and urgent threats? What role do colleges and universities play to further Dr. King’s legacy of nonviolence? Join the Rev. Paul Fitzgerald and Clarence Jones in a dialogue on nonviolence, social justice, moral vision and higher education today. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laura Huang, a preeminent Harvard Business School professor, says that success is about gaining an edge: that elusive quality that gives you an upper hand and attracts attention and support. Some people seem to naturally have it. She says the rest of us can create our own successes from the challenges and biases we think hold us back, turning them to work in our favor. Huang argues that success is rarely just about the quality of our ideas, credentials and skills, or our effort. Instead, she says achieving success hinges on how well we shape others' perceptions—of our strengths, certainly, but also of our flaws. It's about creating our own edge by confronting the factors that seem like shortcomings and turning them into assets that make others take notice. Come for a fascinating conversation about how to find your unique edge and keep it sharp. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As American society continues to have a growing older population, understanding all aspects of aging is a critical national priority. Perhaps no subject is more important than understanding what happens to our brains as they age and what people can do to enhance cognition as they get older. And there is, perhaps, no better person to explain this all than best-selling neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin, author of the iconic best sellers This Is Your Brain on Music and The Organized Mind. In his latest book, Successful Aging, Levitin turns his keen insights to what happens in our brains as people get older and, based on a rigorous analysis of neuroscientific evidence, what people can do to make the most of their 70s, 80s and 90s. Successful Aging uses research from developmental neuroscience and the psychology of individual differences to show that 60+ years is a unique developmental stage that, like infancy or adolescence, has its own demands and distinct advantages. Levitin looks at the science behind what we all can learn from those who age joyously as well as how to adapt our culture to take full advantage of older people's wisdom and experience. Successful Aging inspires a powerful new approach to how readers think about our final decades and has the potential to revolutionize the way we plan for old age as individuals, family members and citizens within a society where the average life expectancy continues to rise. This event will be hosted at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato, one of the leading research institutions on helping people live longer. In association with the Buck Institute Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Acclaimed New York Times op-ed columnist Nicholas Kristof and entrepreneur Sheryl WuDunn are the Pulitzer Prize-winning authors behind countless best-selling books. In their newest work, Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope, Kristof and WuDunn turn their focus inward to the crisis in working-class America. Kristof, who grew up in rural Oregon, discovered one-quarter of the kids on his school bus growing up died in adulthood from drugs, alcohol, suicide or reckless accidents. While shocking to many, Kristof and WuDunn argue stories like this are representative of everyone from the Dakotas and Oklahoma to New York and Virginia. But along with tragedy, they tell stories of resurgence: recovery from opioid addiction, adults devoting their lives to helping teenagers navigate the reality of poverty and other inspiring journeys. According to Kristof and WuDunn, these accounts provide a picture of working-class families needlessly but profoundly damaged as a result of decades of policy mistakes. Join us for an uplifting and profoundly inspiring conversation with two writers who have devoted their lives to amplifying the voices of people who make the world a better place. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The construction of the 1,776 mile long Transcontinental Railroad is one of the most impressive civil engineering achievements of the 19th century. Begun in 1863 during the Civil War, its construction required the efforts of thousands of workers who conquered demanding terrain and survived harsh construction and weather conditions. Giroux sheds new light on the civil engineers who designed and constructed that marvel, and commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Golden Spike. On May 10, 1869, it was hammered into place, completing the Transcontinental Railroad, which helped knit together the then recently restored Union from its Atlantic coast to its Pacific coast. MLF Organizer: George Hammond MLF: Humanities Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you can't be in Madrid this month to see the exhibit of Sofonisba Anguissola's paintings at the Prado, come to The Commonwealth Club instead to hear all about this fascinating female Renaissance artist. Donna DiGiuseppe will describe why she turned Anguissola's biographical details into a novel, Anguissola's artistic apprenticeship with Bernardino Campi and the difficult process of cataloguing her work, which wasn't always signed. But Anguissola's legacy lives on in Italy, and her direct descendant, Count Ferrante Anguissola D'Altoe, recently wrote that Lady in Ermine captures Anguissola's 16th century, from lavish court life to its treatment of women. The reader roots for Anguissola to achieve her dream to paint the king and overcome the challenges of being a Renaissance woman painter. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our nation’s dependence on fossil fuels has led to climate disruption and inequality. Underserved communities are the ones most harmed by pollution, lack of green space and heat-related illness. Transitioning to clean energy would seem to be the obvious answer. But in the process of trying to right old wrongs, do we risk leaving some communities behind? What does a just transition to a cleaner, greener economy look like? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2020, the United States will conduct its 24th census. Will LGBTQI+ people be counted? Will they even bother to fill out the census forms? The results of the country's every-10-years census are used in everything from apportioning representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives to the provision of social services. Join us for a timely discussion about why the census is important to LGBTQI+ people and how it impacts resources for members of our community. El Censo del 2020 y la Comunidad LGBTQ+ En el 2020, los Estados Unidos llevará a cabo el censo por vigésimocuarta vez. ¿Se contará a las personas LGBTQI+? ¿Se molestarán siquiera en rellenar los formularios del censo? El censo ocurre cada 10 años y los resultados se usan para tomar decisiones importantes, desde cuántos representantes del Congreso recibe cada estado hasta la provisión de servicios sociales. Únete a una conversación oportuna sobre por qué el censo es importante para las personas LGBTQI+ y cómo afecta los recursos disponibles para miembros de nuestra comunidad. Notes In association with the the Office of Transgender Initiatives, the Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs, and the SF LGBT Center; Este evento esta copatrocinado por la Oficina de Iniciativas Transgénero, la Oficina de Participación Cívica y Asuntos de Inmigrantes, y el Centro LGBT de SF como parte de una serie de eventos para la campaña SF Counts. This program is part of a series of events for the SF Counts campaign Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can we live forever? Science journalist, Chip Walter reveals the ground-breaking research and visionaries who are trying to answer that very question. Find out more from Walter and leading rejuvenation, stem cell research and genetic experts who are redefining our understanding of life, aging and mortality. ** This Podcast Contains Explicit Language ** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

American musical theater conjures images of bright lights and big cities, but its lifeblood courses through local and amateur productions around the country. In Beyond Broadway, Stacy Wolf examines the widespread presence and persistence of musical theater in U.S. culture as a live, pleasurable, participatory experience. Wolf traveled from Maine to Hawaii, visiting schools, performance festivals, summer camps, outdoor theaters, community theaters and dinner theaters, where she interviewed over 200 practitioners and spectators, licensors and administrators. Wolf’s talk illuminates musical theater’s enduring power as a joyful activity that touches millions of lives. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker are two of The Washington Post’s leading reporters. Their Pulitzer Prize-winning work covered NSA spying, Secret Service misconduct and Donald Trump’s unprecedented 2016 campaign. Now, Leonnig and Rucker are focusing on the unorthodox Trump presidency. Their new book, A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America, is a fresh report on the Trump presidency. A Very Stable Genius argues that rather than being an accidental creature of chaos, Trump’s first term is a careful and purposeful pattern of disorder. Drawing on in-depth interviews, firsthand witnesses and previously never before seen material, Leonnig and Rucker explored how Trump has shaken up alliances, reinvented the presidency and compromised the integrity of American institutions such as the FBI. Join us for an important conversation as Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker tackle the unique case of the Trump presidency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. Spouses Judy Melinek and T.J. Mitchell write about death but lead a most interesting life. They are the New York Times best-selling co-authors of the memoir Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and The Making of a Medical Examiner as well as the novel First Cut. Melinek studied at Harvard and UCLA, was a medical examiner in San Francisco for nine years, and today works as a forensic pathologist in Oakland and as CEO of PathologyExpert Inc. T.J. Mitchell is a writer with an English degree from Harvard, and he worked in the film industry before becoming a full-time stay-at-home dad to their children. First Cut is the debut novel in their Jessie Teska detective series, centering on San Francisco’s newest medical examiner who uncovers a constellation of deaths that point to an elaborate plot involving nefarious opioid traffickers and flashy tech titans who got rich off Bitcoin. Autopsy means “see for yourself,” and in Melinek and Mitchell's novel, Teska won’t stop until she has seen it all—even if it means the next corpse on the table could be her own. Come for an entertaining conversation with this unique writing team, who are partners in life and work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shouting and shaming, lying and trolling: How did we ever learn to speak to one another the way we do now? In matters political and cultural, public and private, on social media and in major newsrooms, it seems as though over the past few years a bizarre and frightening irrationality has taken hold of our discourse. But what is irrationality, and what is that thing—reason—with which we oppose it? The historical period known as the Enlightenment represented a triumph of reason over the dark forces of irrationality and superstition. And yet some of today's most ardent defenders of the Enlightenment’s legacy—from scientists to artists, from atheists to political theorists—express themselves in ways that often seem suited to zealots and dogmatists. Reasoned political debate has been supplanted by trolling, with the occupants of some of the highest offices in the world reflecting and at times encouraging such discourse. In this conversation at the very beginning of the century’s third decade, on the eve of Brexit and the first presidential primaries if one of America’s most important presidential elections, two experts in the history of modern science and philosophy will apply their work to the mad cacophony of the present moment. How can the intellectual history of the past few centuries help us in our effort to reinvigorate reasoned political and cultural debate? Join them at The Commonwealth Club for an evening that will celebrate and encourage the life of the mind and the power of thinking. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join John O'Grady in a lively and enlightening session where he will address essential questions such as: protecting property rights; planning for care without giving up control of your affairs; passing your values on to the next generation; providing for your loved ones and your favorite causes; documenting your intentions to prevent misunderstandings; and how you can save on tax dollars, professional fees and court costs. John O'Grady is an estate planning attorney who can help you navigate family conflicts about aging, death, taxes, inheritance and property rights while addressing the true underlying conflicts. He leads O'Grady Law Group, a full-service estate planning law firm in San Francisco. MLF Organizer: Denise Michaud MLF: Grownups Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richard Wong is an award-winning director and cinematographer. His newest feature, Come as You Are, premiered at SXSW and will be released by Samuel Goldwyn. His first feature was the critically acclaimed Colma: The Musical, which premiered at Sundance and garnered him nominations for a Spirit Award and a Gotham Award. Wong started his career in production and segued to being a cinematographer, lensing films such as the upcoming immigration drama Saint Judy for director Sean Hanish, starring Michelle Monaghan and Common, Girlfriend's Day with Bob Odenkirk, Spare Parts with George Lopez, Sundance favorite To the Bone for director Marti Noxon, starring Lily Collins and Keanu Reeves, and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan for acclaimed director Wayne Wang. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrea Bernstein is a senior editor at WNYC and co-host of the “Trump, Inc.” podcast. A Peabody and duPont-Columbia award-winning journalist, Bernstein’s new work is an exposé on two families at the pinnacle of American power. American Oligarchs: The Kushners, the Trumps, and the Marriage of Money and Power, is Bernstein’s investigative journey into two emblematic American families—the Kushners and the Trumps. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump enjoy limitless access to the Oval Office, but beyond their marriage, little about the families’ relationship is public knowledge. Throughout American Oligarchs, Bernstein reveals their campaign into the White House by tracing history stretching from the Gilded Age to WWII to the 21st century. Bernstein draws on private interviews, never-before-seen documents and forgotten files in order to expose the families’ accumulated wealth through real estate, manipulation and crime. Bernstein’s American Oligarchs is a serious examination of the half-truths, secrecy and media manipulation weaponized by the Trumps and the Kushners. Join us as she discusses the Trumps, Kushners, and the marriage of money and power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As technology becomes more embedded in our lives, the fear of a big data takeover is becoming even more tangible. Recent headlines, including those reporting on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in racially biased algorithms, “deepfakes” that are indistinguishable from reality and fatal accidents involving self-driving cars, have only contributed to these fears. Many of these stories, however, do not include ways non-tech people can gain agency over their data. As a practicing data scientist and AI developer since 2013, Rumman Chowdhury is no stranger to the problems with tech. However, her optimism about the good it can do—in identifying cancer cells, for example, or helping you clean your apartment—has led her to focus her career on bringing humanity to data and including everyone in the process. Instead of sitting on the sidelines as bystanders to the techpocalypse, Chowdhury encourages both companies and consumers to take an active role in recognizing the real-world problems that perpetuate bad algorithms, instilling a moral compass in our tech. Chowdhury has been recognized as one of Silicon Valley's 40 under 40, one of the BBC's 100 Women and is a fellow at the Royal Society of the Arts. She is currently the global lead for responsible AI at Accenture Applied Intelligence, where she works with c-suite clients to create cutting-edge technical solutions for ethical, explainable and transparent AI. Come calm your fears about our data-driven future with Rumman Chowdhury as she joins INFORUM to break down how we can all work to shape AI for the better. This conversation will be moderated by Moira Weigel, a postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard Society of Fellows and a founding editor of Logic magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On International Holocaust Remembrance Day and on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Avshalom Weinstein, the co-founder of Violins of Hope, will discuss the work of Violins of Hope, a collection of over 70 violins played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust. Weinstein and his father, who are brilliant violin makers and restorers, have devoted 20 years to locating and restoring the lost violins of the Holocaust, as a tribute to those who were lost, including 400 members of his own family. Weinstein, who assists his father in his Tel Aviv studio and has his own workshop in Istanbul, is sponsored by San Francisco's Violins of Hope, an organization which aims to address the root causes of hatred and bigotry and to promote healing and bridge building in response to contemporary issues. MLF ORGANIZER Celia Menczel NOTES MLF: Middle East Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a brand new year of political insight and discussion! We will discuss the biggest, most controversial and sometimes the surprising political issues with expert commentary by panelists who are smart, are civil and have a good sense of humor. Our panelists will provide informative and engaging commentary on political and other major news, and we'll have audience discussion of the week’s events and our live news quiz! And come early before the program for our members social (all attendees welcome). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With an election year looming, trade wars with China and other countries impeding economic progress, health care remaining in flux, housing problems and governmental gridlock continuing on, what does all of this mean for your business, your investments and the overall economy for 2020? Join us for a lively discussion on where the U.S. and global economies are headed and what should be done to keep them on track. NOTES This event is underwritten by Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jackie Fielder is challenging State Senator Scott Wiener in this year's November election. She'll sit down with us to talk about what she would do differently if her campaign is successful. Fielder is a Native American, Mexicana, and queer educator and organizer. She has been involved in the battle against the Dakota Access Pipeline, advocated for a public bank in San Francisco, and campaigned against police policies she saw as dangerous. She was handpicked by Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza to be Garza's successor leading a class on "Race, Women, and Class" at San Francisco State University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1940, Engla Schey, the daughter of Norwegian immigrants, took a job as a low-paid attendant at Anoka State Hospital, one of Minnesota’s seven asylums. She worked among the 12,000 Minnesotans who were called inmates and shamefully locked away under the label “insane.” Susan Bartlett Foote tells of Schey's campaign to reform the deplorable conditions of mental institutions and of the politicians and other civic leaders who made her crusade for forgotten souls a success, breaking the stigma of shame and silence surrounding mental illness, publicizing the painful truth about asylums and building support among citizens. The result was the first modern mental health system, which catapulted Minnesota to national leadership and empowered families of the mentally ill and disabled. Though their vision met resistance, the accomplishments of these early advocates for compassionate care of the mentally ill hold many lessons that resonate to this day, when debates about what to do about the homeless and the mentally ill are chilling reminders of our shameful past. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By combining the latest scientific research and more than 20 years of medical practice, Rachel Carlton Abrams will give you a body roadmap for you to easily find greater health and joy within your body and your life. She will explain how to find and listen to your body’s “yes” as a guide to choosing a life your body will love. She will guide you through exercises that help you listen to your own innate body intelligence—the subtle and not-so-subtle signals that your body uses to communicate with you. When we listen to our body intelligence and enter into the right relationship with ourselves, she says, we have the foundation to cultivate the right relationship with others and with the natural world. Research shows that our personal relationships and our connection to nature have an enormous impact on our health. Lack of connection may increase many health risks, including all chronic diseases (heart disease, diabetes, depression, anxiety and even cancer). Abrams will teach you a method to find your way back to the right relationship with the important people in your life—whether finding the connections you crave or setting the boundaries that keep you safe. You will learn about your deep and abiding connection to the natural world and how you can reimmerse yourself in the healing and calming power of nature. She says we are not separate from nature, and its impact on us is physically and emotionally profound. Abrams has written five books on integrative and holistic approaches to health, relationships and sexuality. She is a much sought-after speaker who integrates the latest science with ancient wisdom to help you heal and finally discover true lasting health. MLF Organizer: Adrea Brier MLF: Health & Medicine This event is the latest in our member-led forums’ Art and Science of Well-Being series. ** This Podcast Contains Explicit Language ** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Higher education today faces a host of challenges, from quality to cost. But too little attention gets paid to a startling fact: Four out of ten students who start college drop out. The situation is particularly dire for black and Latino students, those from poor families, and those who are first in their families to attend college. David Kirp outlines the scale of the problem and shows that it's fixable. We already have the tools to boost graduation rates and shrink the achievement gap. Many college administrators know what has to be done, but the dropout rate still hasn't decreased for decades. Ironically, it's schools like City University of New York and Long Beach State that are making the most progress at getting more students a better education and a diploma. Kirp relies on vivid, on-the-ground reporting, conversations with campus leaders, faculty and students as well as cogent overviews of cutting-edge research to identify institutional reforms. These reforms include using big data to quickly identify at-risk students, getting them the support they need, and applying behavioral strategies (from nudges to mindset changes) that have been proven to work. MLF: Humanities Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Julian Guthrie shares the untold story of four dynamic women, Magdalena Yesil, Mary Jane Elmore, Theresia Gouw and Sonja Hoel Perkins, who helped shape the tech landscape of Silicon Valley. Through grit and ingenuity, these trailblazers rewrote the rules and conquered the challenges of working in a male-dominated venture capital industry. Hear more about their personal stories as we celebrate the achievements and relentless perseverance of these extraordinary women. In association with Santa Clara County Library District, Santa Clara County Office of Education, the San Jose Public Library and DeAnza College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rick Wilson built his career as a star Republican political strategist. But following Donald Trump’s ascendancy during the 2016 campaign, the lifelong conservative became a vocal critic of the new Republican Party. His Twitter feed and columns for The Daily Beast give his followers a hilarious and refreshing take on national politics. In his new book, Running Against the Devil: A Plot to Save America from Trump, Wilson gives Left-leaning and anti-Trump voters a guidebook to win again in 2020. As a conservative strategist against Trump, Wilson critiques what he sees as Democrats’ inability to run the campaign and candidate needed to beat Trump. Wilson analyzes the damage that Trump has done and predicts the prospective damage Trump could bring in the next four years. Drawing on his plethora of political experience, Wilson exposes the tactics that brought Trump to victory in 2016—and the tactics that he will use again in 2020. Throughout Running Against the Devil, Wilson gives Democrats the tools to avoid the impending catastrophe of Trump’s 2020 victory. In this way, Wilson provides essential and much-needed advice for progressives, conservatives and civic participants to change the course of America’s future. ** This Podcast Contains Explicit Language ** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As American society continues to have a growing older population, understanding all aspects of aging is a critical national priority. Perhaps no subject is more important than understanding what happens to our brains as they age and what people can do to enhance cognition as they get older. And there is, perhaps, no better person to explain this all than best-selling neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin, author of the iconic best sellers This Is Your Brain on Music and The Organized Mind. In his latest book, Successful Aging, Levitin turns his keen insights to what happens in our brains as people get older and, based on a rigorous analysis of neuroscientific evidence, what people can do to make the most of their 70s, 80s and 90s. Successful Aging uses research from developmental neuroscience and the psychology of individual differences to show that 60+ years is a unique developmental stage that, like infancy or adolescence, has its own demands and distinct advantages. Levitin looks at the science behind what we all can learn from those who age joyously as well as how to adapt our culture to take full advantage of older people's wisdom and experience. Successful Aging inspires a powerful new approach to how readers think about our final decades and has the potential to revolutionize the way we plan for old age as individuals, family members and citizens within a society where the average life expectancy continues to rise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Three-time NBA champion and two-time MVP Stephen Curry and entrepreneur, host and best-selling author Ayesha Curry want to make sure that everyone has a chance to succeed. That's the mission of their new Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, which focuses on youth in underserved communities and works to ensure every child has access to nutritious food, a quality education, and a healthy and active lifestyle. The Currys join us for a unique Equality Series program, in which they discuss their work, their lives, and their efforts to improve the lives of children in the Bay Area and beyond. Ayesha Curry is a renowned restaurateur, chef, New York Times best-selling author, television host and producer. She has been on Forbes' 30 Under 30 List, one of the faces of Covergirl cosmetics, a frequent guest on "The Rachael Ray Show" and "Good Morning America," a columnist for Woman’s Day magazine, and a popular lifestyle expert in the media. This fall, Curry teamed up with Ellen DeGeneres for a new Ellentube digital series, "Fempire," in which she uses her wisdom and business savvy to help female entrepreneurs of any age achieve the goal of building their own “fempire.” Stephen Curry’s on and off court legacy is marked by transformation and innovation. His nine-year career in the NBA with the Golden State Warriors is marked by many firsts. He was the first person to be named Most Valuable Player by unanimous vote in NBA history and one of a select few to win MVP awards two years in a row. He holds five NBA all-star selections and three NBA championships. Off the court, he is an emerging figure in the tech space with direct investments in companies such as Pinterest and TSM, an eSports organization. He is also the founder of the film and television company Unanimous Media, specializing in faith, family and sports content in tandem with Sony Studios. This is the second program in The Commonwealth Club Equality Series, made possible by the support of Salesforce Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. Acclaimed writer, best-selling author and founder of Salon magazine, David Talbot has brought us masterful and explosive headline-breaking stories for over 25 years with books such as The New York Times best sellers Brothers and The Devil's Chessboard and nationally recognized Season of the Witch. But, over the past year, all of that took a back seat to Talbot’s own personal health struggle following a stroke. Join this renowned journalist and historian for intimate journey through the life-changing year following his stroke, a year that turned his life upside down and ultimately saved him, changing the way he looks at the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part of The Commonwealth Club’s series on mental health, dedicated in memory of Nancy Friend Pritzker, with support from the John Pritzker Family Fund Critics argue that jails and prisons are the most visible evidence of the failing of America’s public mental health system and that the most heartbreaking failures are in the field of juvenile justice. Seventy percent of young people entering the juvenile justice system are said to have a diagnosable mental health need. Advocates argue that detention and correction facilities provide a unique opportunity to intervene and connect children to services and support systems before it is too late. Others argue that community-based, non-incarceration solutions are more effective. With facilities such as San Francisco’s juvenile hall closing by 2021, how can San Francisco and other communities address system-involved youth with mental health issues? What role should and must the justice system play? And how will their decisions impact society at large? Join us for an important panel discussion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices