Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Join a can’t-miss discussion with American Bar Association (ABA) President William R. “Bill” Bay to hear the latest on how America’s lawyers are responding to Trump administration actions—government moves they say threaten to dismantle constitutionally protected rights to equal justice and the rule of law. Critics say there are many reasons to be afraid; as President Trump attempts to cow law firms via targeted executive orders, legal residents have found themselves detained and deported without due process, and Justice Department investigations have been nixed for political reasons, can lawyers, the courts and citizens rebuff these threats to the legal underpinning of democracy? Bay, a partner with the St. Louis office of national law firm Thompson Coburn LLP, is president of the American Bar Association, the world’s largest voluntary association of lawyers, judges and other legal professionals. He will be in conversation with Ann Ravel, the former chair of the Federal Election Commission, and former chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Hali Lee is redefining philanthropy for the 21st century. Her activism and generosity are exemplary, and this book celebrates the beauty of community giving, and the power of collective action.” ―Ayesha Curry, Sweet July Books Drawing from the experiences of real-life giving circles, philanthropy leader Hali Lee challenges our traditional understanding of giving, showing how everyday people can take back philanthropy from the billionaires and make the world a better place. When you think of philanthropy, what do you envision? Uber wealthy donors? Extravagant galas? In recent decades, philanthropy has come to be seen as something exclusive to those with an abundance of resources. But giving doesn’t have to mean donating millions of dollars. It can be as simple as a group of people who come together to do something good in their community. In The Big We, Hali Lee argues that the future of philanthropy belongs to community action, specifically giving circles―groups of people who come together to pool their resources to make positive change. Born of traditions of generosity rooted in many of our ancestral cultures, giving circles provide a way for us to overcome the feeling many people have of being overwhelmed by the many problems we face by learning, acting, and giving together. Through stories of real giving circles around the country, including her own experience starting the Asian Women Giving Circle, Lee shows us a more expansive vision for the future of philanthropy—one led by people who are refocusing on community, who care about rebuilding the civic space, and who are yearning for connection, purpose and shared vision. These giving circles show not only the immense impact we can have in our own backyards, but also the tremendous scope of change people can achieve through the power of collective action. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To remind us that civilizational alliances are not merely transactional, Robert Edsel tells personal World War II stories from the rural province of Limburg. Before dawn on May 10, 1940, Hitler’s forces invaded the Netherlands, shattering more than 100 years of peace. The Dutch lived through four-and-a-half years of occupation until September 1944, when American forces reached Limburg—the last portion of Europe west of Germany to be liberated by the Allies. Edsel follows 12 main characters over a six-year span, including Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cole, the first member of the 101st Airborne to receive the Medal of Honor; Sergeant Jeff Wiggins of the 960th Quartermaster Service Company, who escaped the poverty and racism of Alabama just to face more indignities; and Frieda van Schäik, a teenager who fell in love with an American soldier. Drawing on letters, diaries, and other historical records, Edsel shows the painful price of freedom, capturing both the horrors of war and the transcendent power of gratitude by revealing the extraordinary measures the Dutch have taken to thank their liberators. A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums and chapters at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Organizer: George Hammond Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's social and political climates feel clouded by fear, distance, polarization and loneliness; why is it that groupthink and conformity seem to rule our neighborhoods, pop culture, friend circles, workplaces and social media feeds? It's time for us to learn how to sit with disagreement, debate better, appreciate our differences, and revel in the diversity of ideas and opinions that reflect our world. Journalist Jenara Nerenberg has not shied away from taking on complex ideas and opinions, first in her bestselling book Divergent Mind about neurological diversity, and now with her second groundbreaking book, Trust Your Mind, which examines viewpoint diversity and encourages us not to shy away from the deepest forms of connection and insight that can come from uncomfortable conversations, independent thinking, and sometimes even loud, productive and healthy arguing. While “conflict” feels like a scary word to some, Nerenberg dives deep into her own life experiences as well as the social science research on the psychology of groupthink to understand why our world is in peril in the face of people feeling too terrified to speak their minds. This challenge is not just limited to politics—the power of critical thinking and exiting groupthink has far-reaching impact on how we communicate with spouses, classmates, colleagues, family members and beyond. By understanding how group identity forms and the dangers of self-silencing, we allow our politics and our reasoning abilities to evolve, which leads to healthier societies. Trust Your Mind has received wide acclaim from Interfaith America's Eboo Patel, social psychologists Kurt Gray and Ethan Kross, former ACLU president Nadine Strossen, and many more. Joining Nerenberg in this special conversation is leading investigative reporter Lee Fang, one of the most daring and sought-after independent journalists of our time. This conversation is not to be missed. About the Speakers Jenara Nerenberg is the bestselling author of Divergent Mind, hailed as “extraordinary, jaw-dropping” by Library Journal; she is an Aspen Ideas Brave New Idea speaker and the author of the new book Trust Your Mind, on the psychology of groupthink. A celebrated writer covering the intersection of psychology and society, Nerenberg's work has been featured in the UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center magazine, Fast Company magazine, CNN, NPR, BBC and elsewhere. Nerenberg speaks widely on social science topics, including at universities, libraries, companies and organizations around the world. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley and the Harvard School of Public Health; Nerenberg grew up in San Francisco and, as a millennial, can now be found on Instagram. Lee Fang is an independent journalist, primarily writing on Substack at leefang.com. He was an investigative reporter for The Intercept. He writes about civil liberties, interest group lobbying, and other public interest issues. A Grownups Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Organizer: Denise Michaud Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a special online program as Jaz Brisack, the leader of the Starbucks and Tesla union movements, shares stories from the front lines to help us learn about the modern labor movement. Brisack, author of Get on the Job and Organize, tells the broader story of the new, nationwide labor movement unfolding in our era of political and social unrest. As one of the new faces of the American labor movement, Brisack argues that while workers often organize when their place of work is toxic, it’s equally important to organize when you love your job. Brisack puts everything into the context of America’s long tradition of labor organizing and shows us others can organize their workplaces, backlash can be expected and how to fight it, and what victory looks like even if the union doesn’t necessarily “win.” Brisack is a union organizer and cofounder of the Inside Organizer School, which trains workers to unionize. After spending one year at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, they got a job as a barista at the Elmwood Starbucks in Buffalo, New York, becoming a founding member of Starbucks Workers United and helping organize the first unionized Starbucks in the United States. As the organizing director for Workers United Upstate New York & Vermont, they also worked with organizing committees at companies ranging from Ben & Jerry’s to Tesla. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author Anne Soon Choi joins us to reveal the life of Dr. Thomas Noguchi, who was known as the "coroner to the stars" in Los Angeles who performed the autopsies of Robert F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe and Natalie Wood. The inspiration for the Jack Klugman TV series "Quincy, M.E.," Noguchi became famous for his big press conferences—which often created more controversy than offered solutions. Join us to learn about Noguchi and never-before-revealed facts about his biggest cases, which took place against the backdrop of Hollywood's infamous celebrity culture and the heated racial politics of the 1960s and 1970s. Anne Soon Choi, Ph.D., author of L.A. Coroner: Thomas Noguchi and Death in Hollywood (Third State Books), is a historian and professor of Asian American Studies and university administrator at California State University, Northridge. Her essay “The Japanese American Citizens League, Los Angeles Politics, and the Thomas Noguchi Case,” on which this book is based, won the 2021 prize for best essay from the Historical Society of Southern California. Choi has previously served on the faculty of Swarthmore College and the University of Kansas and is an Andrew Mellon Fellow and an American Council of Learned Societies Digital Ethnic Studies Fellow. She lives and writes in Los Angeles, California. Our moderator, Helen Zia, is a author, journalist and Fulbright Scholar. Her latest book, Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution, was an NPR best book and shortlisted for a national Pen America award, while her first book, Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People, is a foundational textbook in schools across the country. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Helen’s role in organizing and leading the national Asian American civil rights movement to obtain justice for Vincent Chin and to counter anti-Asian racism is documented in the Academy-award nominated “Who Killed Vincent Chin?” and has been featured on the PBS series "The Asian Americans," "Amanpour & Co.," Lisa Ling's "This is Life," Soledad O'Brien, and other media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Would you stand up against a giant corporation to stop toxic chemicals from harming your town’s water? Could you get policy enacted to cut emissions affecting people living in your state’s “diesel death zone?” How would you launch a global campaign to stop the construction of a new port threatening marine life on your island? Every year, the Goldman Environmental Prize is awarded to six grassroots environmental heroes from around the world at a grand ceremony at the San Francisco Opera House. This year, Climate One was honored to host two of the winners for an intimate conversation. In this episode we also share a conversation with a winner of last year’s Prize. All three are remarkable examples of ordinary people taking extraordinary action to protect the environment and their communities. Guests: Andrea Vidaurre, Cofounder, People's Collective for Environmental Justice Laurene Allen, Cofounder, Merrimack Citizens for Clean Water Carlos Mallo Molina, CEO & Founder Innoceana On June 4, Climate One is hosting a special screening of the documentary “Good Grief: The 10 Steps” to be followed by a climate anxiety workshop. Join us for this intimate conversation about the importance of mental health live at The Commonwealth Club. Tickets are available through our website. Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for an important discussion of the mental health impact on our youth of the fast pace and changing environment—and the volatility and uncertainty—of the post-COVID era. Afterward, stay for our post-program reception. Clara Armstrong is a 16-year-old sophomore who is deeply committed to advocating for youth mental health. Since November 2024, she has been an active member of the Sacramento County Behavioral Health Youth Advisory Board, where she has taken on leadership roles, including planning and leading youth listening sessions. Mav Li is a perpetual learner, currently focused on healing, exploring new hobbies, and transitioning, while based in San Francisco as a barback at Old Skool Cafe. A Harvard early graduate and former quant trader, Mav once represented the United States in chess and earth science during high school. Brihanna Best, 17, is a high school junior, youth leader, and mental health advocate based in San Leandro, California. As a Digital Media Intern at the Best Buy Teen Tech Center, she uses storytelling and creative technology to uplift the voices of her peers and spark conversations around emotional well-being. She is currently enrolled in a Child Development ROP program and aspires to become a child psychologist, with a focus on creating safe, affirming spaces for youth. Anjali Menon is a serial entrepreneur and founder of tbh, a venture-backed mental health platform built to support high school and college students across the country. As CEO of tbh, Anjali works with colleges and K–12 districts around the country to offer virtual coaching, therapy, and basic needs support. Special Intro: Paula Ambrose is a principal at Blue Shield of California, where she leads the company's signature social impact initiative BlueSky and supports corporate giving efforts. With more than 30 years of experience in program management and leadership, across multiple industries and functions, Paula has a proven track record of developing and implementing effective strategies to drive positive change and results. She is passionate about creating a more equitable and just society, and is committed to leveraging her skills and experience to make a lasting impact. Our moderator Zach Gottlieb is a mental health activist, speaker, and the founder of Talk With Zach, a community and platform that aims to change the culture around wellness for the next generation. He is head of partnerships at Crew Dog, a lifestyle collegiate apparel brand, and consults for startups. He attends Stanford University, has spoken in many media forums, and has been published in the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Boston Globe and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mental health care in America has become nothing short of atrocious. Supposed developments in treatment methods and medication remain inaccessible to those who need them most. Countless people seeking treatment are routinely funneled into homelessness and prison while a mental-health epidemic ravages younger generations. It seems obvious that the system is broken, but critics say the tragic truth is that it is actually functioning exactly as intended, providing reliably enormous profits for the entities who now manage mental health care. By taking a step back and examining how and why we developed our health-care system, with mental health care as the worst-case example of a dysfunctional model that has been abandoned by all other developed countries, we can understand our motives and actions, and chart a way out of our mess. About the Speaker Nicholas Rosenlicht, M.D., is clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He is founder of the San Francisco VA mood disorders program, has served on the Human Subjects Committee of the UCSF Human Research Protection Program, and is a member of the UCSF Academy of Medical Educators. He has more than 40 years of clinical, research, administrative, and teaching experience, and is the author of more than 30 peer-reviewed publications. Most recently he is the author of My Brother's Keeper: The Untold Stories Behind the Business of Mental Health—and How to Stop the Abandonment of the Mentally Ill. A Psychology Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. OrganizerPatrick O'Reilly Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There clearly are lessons that we have learned from the Vietnam War that we have applied well to other situations, but there are also lessons that we think we have learned that are far less clear, and could lead to similar outcomes if we are not careful. The Vietnam War certainly cast a pall over America, but much more so over all of Southeast Asia. Back then the enemy was seen as Communism. Now the enemy has transformed into various political movements along the far end of the authoritarian spectrum―whose understandable but deceptive attractiveness during moments of despair has even begun finding many adherents among us. To head off that unfortunate development, join us in asking: Which foreign policies could we adopt that would make the freest end of the spectrum of democratic civilizations more robust, more stable and more desirable? And where does the development and use of military power fit into those foreign policies to achieve our civilizational goals? Humanities West presents a variety of expert opinions on these important issues while reviewing what went wrong, and what went right, during the Vietnam War that ended so abruptly on April 30, 1975. Join us for two nights, on April 30 and May 2, to hear six experts review what we have learned, and what we have not, about the Vietnam War. A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. In association with Humanities West. Organizer: George Hammond Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

About fifty years ago, multiple environmental disasters forced a reckoning with how we care for the Earth. President Richard Nixon signed numerous environmental protection bills into law in the 1970s, including what is considered to be the nation’s green Magna Carta: the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Among many other moves to eliminate or weaken federal environmental regulations and laws, the Trump administration is trying to fundamentally change NEPA, a bedrock rule that requires federal agencies to analyze environmental and cultural impacts of any major development. Critics point out these changes will result in fewer protections for citizens, natural resources and communities. What other regulations are being rolled back and going unnoticed? Guests: Sam Wojcicki, Senior Director, Climate Policy, National Audubon Society Olivia N. Guarna, Climate Justice Fellow, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law Jared Huffman, U.S. Representative (D-CA 2nd District) and Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee On June 4, Climate One is hosting a special screening of the documentary “Good Grief: The 10 Steps” to be followed by a climate anxiety workshop. Join us for this intimate conversation about the importance of mental health live at The Commonwealth Club. Tickets are available through our website. Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a special screening of short films Flight 182 and Zari, both films are grantees and winners of the Julia S. Guow Short Film Challenge for Asian American and Pacific Islander Women and Non-Binary Filmmakers, presented by CAPE. Flight 182 follows a Punjabi father who must choose between caring for his ailing mother in India or protecting his family in Canada amid separatist warnings. In Zari, amidst preparations for her sister’s wedding in India, young American Neelu forges an unexpected connection with Zeyb, a quiet sari store clerk with a secret. Both filmmakers will be with us for a discussion with Michelle Meow and Michelle Sugihara, the executive director of CAPE. See more Michelle Meow Show programs at Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Astrophysicist and science journalist Adam Becker has his eye on the dreams of Silicon Valley’s billionaire elite—and he’s unimpressed. He says Silicon Valley’s “heartless, baseless, and foolish obsessions”—with escaping death, building AI tyrants, and creating limitless growth—pervert public discourse and distract us from real social problems. He argues that tech billionaires have decided that they should determine our futures for us, and that the only good future for humanity is one powered by technology: trillions of humans living in space, functionally immortal, served by superintelligent AIs. In More Everything Forever, Becker investigates what he calls wildly implausible and often profoundly immoral visions of tomorrow—and shows why, in reality, there is no good evidence that they will, or should, come to pass. Nevertheless, these obsessions fuel fears that overwhelm reason—for example, that a rogue AI will exterminate humanity—at the expense of essential work on solving crucial problems like climate change. What’s more, these futuristic visions cloak a hunger for power under dreams of space colonies and digital immortality. The giants of Silicon Valley claim that their ideas are based on science, but Becker says the reality is darker: they come from a jumbled mix of shallow futurism and racist pseudoscience. Adam Becker says that powerful and sinister ideas are alive in Silicon Valley. Now he comes to the heart of the global tech world to challenge us to see how these visions of the future are foolish and dangerous. This program contains EXPLICIT language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There clearly are lessons that we have learned from the Vietnam War that we have applied well to other situations, but there are also lessons that we think we have learned that are far less clear, and could lead to similar outcomes if we are not careful. The Vietnam War certainly cast a pall over America, but much more so over all of Southeast Asia. Back then the enemy was seen as Communism. Now the enemy has transformed into various political movements along the far end of the authoritarian spectrum―whose understandable but deceptive attractiveness during moments of despair has even begun finding many adherents among us. To head off that unfortunate development, join us in asking: Which foreign policies could we adopt that would make the freest end of the spectrum of democratic civilizations more robust, more stable and more desirable? And where does the development and use of military power fit into those foreign policies to achieve our civilizational goals? Humanities West presents a variety of expert opinions on these important issues while reviewing what went wrong, and what went right, during the Vietnam War that ended so abruptly on April 30, 1975. Join us for two nights, on April 30 and May 2, to hear six experts review what we have learned, and what we have not, about the Vietnam War. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Climate progress is stalling at the federal level, making local action more critical than ever. “In an increasingly urbanized world, cities must play the leading role in achieving our climate goals,” says San José Mayor Matt Mahan. But what does that look like in practice? What role can cities play in accelerating the transition to a fully electrified economy across all sectors? And how does he plan to secure funding in uncertain times? This conversation was recorded live as part of SF Climate Week 2025. Guest: Matt Mahan, Mayor of San José Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Come join award-winning journalist Priya David Clemens in conversation with Paul Rice, founder and former CEO of Fair Trade USA, to discuss his critical account of the past, present and future of conscious capitalism—the change it has wrought in the world and the potential it still has to confront our greatest challenges. We all have the power to change the world through the products we buy. This simple premise has driven the growth of the conscious consumer movement for decades. Indeed, what started with a handful of niche sustainability brands has exploded into the mainstream with labels like "organic," "non-GMO," and "fair trade certified" now adorning products in major retailers across the country. Yet the true promise of ethical sourcing and conscious consumerism has not been fully realized. Paul Rice has dedicated his career to helping consumers and businesses embrace the power they have to protect the environment and improve the lives of farmers and workers on the far side of our global supply chains. In Every Purchase Matters, Rice reveals the untold story of the fair-trade movement and its significance for us all. Calling on the close relationships he cultivated over the last 40 years with the pioneers of ethical sourcing—CEOs, activists, grassroots farmer leaders, and consumer advocates—Rice gives voice to the visionaries and practitioners who are making sustainable business the new normal. These protagonists share successes and failures, lessons learned, and their extraordinary impact in communities around the world. Their stories illuminate how sustainability is good not only for people and planet but also for business. Whether you’re a consumer, a business leader, or an investor, Rice offers a rich and persuasive case for conscious capitalism—the change it has brought and the potential it still has to create a more just, equitable, and sustainable world. A Social Impact Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. OrganizerIan McCuaig Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s so easy to spiral into a climate doom loop. But solutions to the crisis are out there! Even as federal action stalls, states, local organizers and innovators across the U.S. are charging ahead with climate progress. What responsibility does the media have in elevating the solutions that exist and are working? And how can artists help reframe the climate conversation and shift the narrative from foregone conclusion to a reimagining of what’s possible? This episode features conversations recorded live during SF Climate Week — with Jonathan Foley, executive director of Project Drawdown, Nikhil Swaminathan, CEO of Grist, and author and artist Jenny Odell — all exploring how solutions-focused storytelling today can help shape the future we dare to imagine tomorrow. Guests: Jonathan Foley, Executive Director, Project Drawdown Nikhil Swaminathan, CEO, Grist Jenny Odell, Artist; Author, “Saving Time,” “How to Do Nothing” Mina Kim, Co-host of Forum, KQED Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for the late-April edition of our Week to Week political roundtable, as we check in on the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s first 100 days in his second term. We'll share some insight into the people, trends and topics driving the political news of the day. Politics is a joint project; come early for a pre-program social hour with wine and light bites, then enjoy and learn as our panel of political experts—including Tim Anaya, Melissa Caen and Dan Schnur—explains what happened and what to expect, and answers your questions. See other upcoming Week to Week political roundtables, as well as audio and video of past Week to Week programs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rep. Jared Huffman has represented California’s 2nd District — from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border — for over a decade. During that time, he has championed climate issues and fought to protect California’s public lands, prevent offshore drilling, pushed for financial institutions to divest from fossil fuels, and introduced legislation to tackle plastic pollution. Now, turmoil in the federal government is putting all those protections at risk. Advocating for climate action is pretty challenging when terms like "climate change” are being erased from government websites. How can Rep. Huffman advance his climate agenda when those who hold the most power are going hard in another direction? This conversation was recorded live as part of SF Climate Week 2025. Guest: Rep. Jared Huffman, U.S. Representative (D-CA 2nd District) and Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2007, economist Jens Ludwig moved to the South Side of Chicago to research two big questions: Why does gun violence happen? And is there anything we can do about it? Almost two decades later, the answers aren’t what he expected. Unforgiving Places is Ludwig’s revelatory portrait of gun violence in America’s most famously maligned city. Ludwig says his research disproves the popular narrative that shootings are the calculated acts of malicious or desperate people; he says it shows most shootings actually grow out of a more fleeting source: interpersonal conflict, especially arguments. By examining why some arguments turn tragic while others don't, Ludwig says gun violence is more circumstantial—and more solvable—than our traditional approaches lead us to believe. Drawing on decades of research and Ludwig’s immersive fieldwork in Chicago, including “countless hours spent in schools, parks, playgrounds, housing developments, courtrooms, jails, police stations, police cars, and lots and lots of McDonald'ses,” Ludwig joins us with San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott to discuss his work in behavioral economics. As Ludwig says, progress on gun violence doesn’t require America to solve every other social problem first; it only requires that we find ways to intervene in the places and the 10-minute windows where human behaviors predictably go haywire. This program contains EXPLICIT language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The inaugural California Youth Agenda Conference is a convening designed by and for young people about climate change, mental health education, and reproductive rights. These issues were identified as being of top concern by 200 students throughout California who responded to our Youth Issues Survey in the fall of 2024. Led by our Youth Advisory Committee, this half-day conference will feature inspirational keynote speakers, interactive sessions with expert panelists, and opportunities for students to network and collaborate. We will also be hosting an Action Lounge that will feature organizations and groups focused on youth empowerment, climate change, reproductive rights, and mental health education. Students will have the opportunity to learn more about the important work these groups are doing and how they can get involved during lunch and break times! Keynote speakers:Brianna Mullen, Founder of Education Justice AcademyChris Badillo, Program Director of Education Justice Academy Break-out roomsPowering Change: Renewable Energy & Climate Action Mina Fedor, YAC member, Junior at The College Preparatory School (Moderator) Finn Does, organizer, environmental educator, and student at UC Berkeley June Choi, PhD candidate in Earth System Science at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability Embracing Vulnerability: Building Emotional Strength Mimi Tuden, YAC member, Junior at Berkeley High School (Moderator) Chris Medina, Associate Marriage and Family Therapist at Camphortree Healing Collective Antonio Hernandez, President of the Antioch Unified School District Board of Education Breaking Barriers: Ensuring Access to Reproductive Health Charley Matthews, YAC member, Junior at Miramonte High School (Moderator) Stacy Cross, CEO of Planned Parenthood, Mar Monte Yevanit Reschechtko, Senior Associate Communications Director at Ibis Reproductive Health Please note that this event is for high school and middle school students. For any questions, please reach out via email. This program is part of Creating Citizens, the civics education initiative at Commonwealth Club World Affairs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As cities strive for safer streets and greener mobility, they face mounting challenges to navigating an increasingly complex global landscape. Political shifts are reshaping climate policies, market access, and the very definition of autonomy, as industry and government become more entwined. What does this mean for the future of urban transportation? The 2025 Autonomous Vehicles & the City Symposium brings together top innovators, policymakers, and urban planners to unpack these pressing issues. This year’s symposium will focus on vision zero and data – going beyond the technical aspects of AVs—to examine how they intersect with climate goals and public transit to create greener, more connected communities. Opening Keynote by Kristin White, Google Transportation Industry Executive, ex-USDOT FHWA Administrator Hosted by the University of San Francisco School of Management. In partnership with The Commonwealth Club of California. For full program, please visit: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/archive/video/2025-autonomous-vehicles-city-symposium Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us, as we remember the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war, to hear the novelist and poet Quế Mai in conversation with Craig McNamara, whose father was Robert McNamara, the secretary of defense under both JFK and LBJ during the Vietnam war. Quế Mai will discuss her poetry, the long-lasting impact of war on the Vietnamese, and how Vietnam has continued to change politically after the war. She will also focus on Vietnamese literary culture, its poetry and proverbs, and the various Vietnamese “ways of life” that have survived the violent chaos of several decades of war. Having experienced the hardships of rural life first-hand in the 1970s and 1980s, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai has used her literary skills to travel the world with her stories. The Color of Peace, her new book of poetry, can be read as a travelogue of the route one can take to forgiveness, appreciation and extending one’s love for one’s own people and homelands to all of humanity. Vietnam, with its more than 4,000 years of history and culture and its poetry-loving people, remains the passionate center of The Color of Peace. When read in the light of her international bestselling novels, The Mountains Sing and Dust Child, which have been translated into 27 languages, it provides her readers with a unique understanding of Vietnam’s past and present and a glimpse into its future. Organizer: George Hammond A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bestselling author, popular commentator, and former litigator Elie Mystal has long been critical of the U.S. Constitution. Now he focuses his ire on 10 laws that he says are causing way too much misery to millions. In Bad Law, Mystal brings his trademark legal acumen and passionate snark to a takedown of 10 of what he considers the most egregiously awful laws on the books today. These are pieces of legislation that are making life worse rather than better for Americans and should be repealed completely. On topics ranging from abortion and immigration to voting rights and religious freedom, he says Americans have chosen rules to live by that do not reflect the will of most of the people. With respect to the decision to make a law that effectively grants immunity to gun manufacturers, for example, Mystal writes, “We live in the most violent, wealthy country on earth not in spite of the law; we live in a first-person-shooter video game because of the law.” But, as the man Samantha Bee calls “irrepressible and righteously indignant” and Matt Levine of Bloomberg Opinion calls “the funniest lawyer in America,” points out, these laws do not come to us from on high; we write them, and we can and should unwrite them. Don’t miss Mystal at Commonwealth Club World Affairs as he visits all the hot-button topics in the country today. This program contains EXPLICIT language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Summer is coming soon, and for many that means vacation. While traveling far and wide can be an amazing experience, the carbon cost of traveling is significant. But what if we could rekindle a sense of awe in our own neighborhoods? After years of extreme expeditions all over the world, adventurer Alastair Humphreys spent a year exploring the detailed local map around his home. His new book “Local” is an ode to slowing down, as well as a rallying cry to protect the wild places on our doorstep. Guest: Alastair Humphreys, Author; Adventurer This episode also features field reporting from producers Austin Colón and Megan Biscieglia. Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can a new class-based approach to college admissions produce economic and racial diversity alike—and greater fairness? For decades America’s colleges and universities have been working to increase racial diversity. But Richard Kahlenberg argues that they have been using the wrong approach. He makes the case that class disadvantage, rather than race, should be the determining factor for how a broader array of people “get in.” While elite universities claim to be on the side of social justice, the dirty secret of higher education is that the perennial focus on racial diversity has provided cover for an admissions system that mostly benefits the wealthy and shuts out talented working-class students. Kahlenberg says that by fixing the class bias in college admissions we can begin to rectify America’s skyrocketing economic inequality and class antagonism, giving more people a better place at the table as they move through life and more opportunity to “swim in the river of power.” Kahlenberg, author of the new book Class Matters, has long worked with prominent civil rights leaders on housing and school integration. But his recognition of class inequality in American higher education led to his making a controversial decision to go over to the “other side” and provide research and testimony in cases that helped lead to the controversial Supreme Court decision of 2023 that ended racial preferences. That conservative ruling could, Kahlenberg says, paradoxically have a progressive policy outcome by cutting a new path for economic and racial diversity alike—and greater fairness. This program is supported by the Ken & Jaclyn Broad Family Fund. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Secretary of State Shirley Weber had been a lifelong educator. For 40 years she had been a professor at San Diego State University, having been named a professor emerita of Africana studies and served as the president of the National Council for Black Studies. And then, in the fall of 2011, Weber decided to run for office. Secretary Weber served first in the California State Assembly for nearly a decade, before Governor Gavin Newsom appointed her to the position of secretary of state of California. So, why did a career educator decide to run for office? Secretary Weber, in conversation with Creating Citizens’ Griffith Swidler, talks to an audience of Sacramento high school students about her path into politics. Weber details her upbringing, the people who influenced her, and how young people can lead us toward a less polarized America. This program is part of Commonwealth Club World Affairs’ civics education initiative, Creating Citizens. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the essential role of educators in sustaining our society and economy. As families navigated the challenges of work and caregiving, teachers emerged as critical support systems, ensuring students continued learning amid unprecedented disruptions. From maintaining safe classrooms to addressing academic and emotional needs, educators have been at the forefront of our collective recovery. Join us for an engaging panel discussion at Commonwealth Club World Affairs, featuring education and policy experts who will examine the urgent need for universal access to quality education and its broader economic and democratic implications. The conversation will explore key lessons from the pandemic and outline a path toward a more equitable and resilient education system. About the Panelists Jenny Lam: Former San Francisco Board of Education commissioner and director of policy, communications, and strategic partnerships at the San Francisco Department of Early Childhood. Lam has led citywide education initiatives, including expanding childcare, mental health services in schools, and Free City College, ensuring equitable access to education resources. Tracey Mitchell: Educator, author, and former executive director of education for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Mitchell has developed culturally relevant curricula and after-school programs, emphasizing student success and equity in education policy. Dr. Vanessa Marrero: Executive director of Parents for Public Schools of San Francisco and a leader in education equity and policy. Marrero has extensive experience in K–12 education, community engagement, and strategic enrollment, ensuring families have access to quality public schools. Christina Jenq, Ph.D.: Labor economist specializing in education’s economic impact. Jenq’s research focuses on gender inequality, political economy, and workforce development, offering critical insights into how education shapes economic mobility. The discussion will be moderated by Virginia Cheung, former school board candidate and former director at Wu Yee Children’s Services, who brings deep expertise in early childhood education and policy. This thought-provoking session will provide valuable perspectives on transforming education to strengthen our economy and democracy. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from leading voices shaping the future of education policy. Organizer: Virginia Cheung A Social Impact Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In researching her new book World Eaters, Catherine Bracy interviewed founders, fund managers, contract and temp workers in the gig economy, and limited partners across the landscape. She says she learned that the current VC model is not a good fit for the majority of start-ups—and yet, there are too few options for early stage funding outside of VC dollars. While there are some alternative paths for sustainable, responsible growth, without the help of regulators, there is not much motivation to drive investors from the roulette table that is venture capital. Join us as Bracy takes our stage and offers her urgent and illuminating perspective into how the most pernicious aspects of the venture capital ethos reaches all areas of our lives, into everything from health care to food to entertainment to the labor market, and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Certain to be controversial, Bracy’s tale is an eye-opening account of the ways that the values of contemporary venture capital hurt founders, consumers, and the market. Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is a nonprofit public forum; we welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programming. Commonwealth Club World Affairs is a public forum. Any views expressed in our programs are those of the speakers and not of Commonwealth Club World Affairs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since its creation under President Richard Nixon in 1970, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has worked to reduce pollution and toxic exposures to ensure that Americans have clean air, clean water and clean soil. The EPA has also sought to reduce emissions to address climate change. Now that the Trump administration is in power, the EPA is being threatened with a 65% reduction in their budget. In addition to EPA cuts, the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is making cuts left and right in an effort to trim $1 trillion from the federal budget. The combination of DOGE and Trump’s executive orders — plus the threatened cuts to the EPA and the federal spending freezes — have put thousands of jobs, and clean energy and climate related projects, in limbo. This could have a devastating impact on the national public health and safety standards we now take for granted, and will undermine our ability to address the climate crisis. How far do these cuts go? What is real and what is bluster? What would a country with a severely limited EPA look like? Guests: Gina McCarthy, Former Administrator, EPA Umair Irfan, Reporter, Vox This episode also includes a news feature reported by April Ehrlich of Oregon Public Broadcasting. Next week, Climate One is hosting a series of live conversations as part of SF Climate Week 2025! Tickets for all four of our events, featuring leaders such as Jenny Odell, San José Mayor Matt Mahan, Rep. Jared Huffman, Abby Reyes, Margaret Gordon and two of this year's Goldman Prize winners are on sale now through the official SF Climate Week event calendar. Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Songkran is a festival from Southeast Asia marking the new year and celebrating making a fresh start. This special program includes a program discussion hosted by Michelle Meow featuring conversations on cultural heritage, community impact, and empowerment initiatives; cultural performances, including traditional dances, live music, and storytelling sessions; a traditional water blessing ceremony; and delicious authentic Southeast Asian cuisine prepared by local chefs. About the Speakers Kesinee Angkustsiri Yip has been helping companies, organizations, and executives manage their reputations for more than two decades. An award-winning communications strategist recognized by the International Association of Business Communications, she co- founded Creative Catalyst (www.creativecatalystworks.com) to address culture and connection challenges—the things AI does not—by bringing improv into the workplace. While improv can be funny, it’s not just for the theater. Improv techniques can help entrepreneurs and leaders as well as customer-facing, sales, HR, and DEI teams reduce anxiety, cultivate safe spaces, and encourage creativity. Her book, “Yes, and...” for Success: Improv Secrets to Supercharge Professional Creativity and Connection is out on Amazon and available at Bay Area bookstores. Kesinee has performed at BATS Improv and has led workshops and trainings in the United States and abroad. Kesinee is on the Board of the Asian Women’s Shelter in San Francisco (www.sfaws.org) and is active with the LEAD-LISA Startup Incubator (www.gsb-lead-lisa.com). She earned a BA from Stanford University and an MBA in Marketing and Strategic Planning from Rice University. Maly Phommavong is based in Sacramento and has been in the interpreting field since 2015. In 1987, she arrived in the United States at age 13 as a child of refugees with a family of 12. She graduated with a Master’s Degree in Criminology from CSU of Fresno in 2000, and worked as a deputy probation officer for Contra Costa County in 2002. She retired early from the Probation Department in 2015, and began working as a registered court interpreter for the California Judicial Court. Maly has been involved in grass-roots advocacy and volunteered in nonprofit organizations for decades. In 2015, She began her online presence through conducting live community discussions covering various issues affecting the community in the Lao language catering to non-English speaking members. Her videos have reached the Laotian audience worldwide. Kenya Prach is a survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocide who escaped to Thailand refugee camps before finding a second chance in the United States. Arriving with no knowledge of English and few opportunities, Kenya faced immense challenges, from being unable to attend high school or community college to being turned away from work. However, a kind gesture from an African American homeless man helped guide him toward education and a new life. A Cambodian-born martial artist, Kenya is known for his expertise in Kbach-Kun-Boran-Khmer (Bokator) and Muay Thai kickboxing. Despite enduring the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime, he pursued martial arts in Thailand and later excelled in boxing in the United States. With a deep understanding of hardship and compassion, Kenya has dedicated his life to helping others, particularly in the fight against human trafficking and advocating for human rights. He believes that true wealth lies not in material possessions but in kindness, care and love. Through his work and his book Black Stone Hands, Kenya seeks to give a voice to the voiceless and inspire others to make a difference by uplifting those in need. See more Michelle Meow Show programs at Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California. Our thanks for the generous support of The Bamboo Organization for making this program possible. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us to celebrate National Poetry Month with Red Hen Press’s poetic publisher, Kate Gale, and Red Hen Press poets Kim Dower, Francisco Aragón and Kim Addonizio, who will each be reading their poems that have electrified the literary world. Francisco Aragón, the director of Letras Latinas, is a gay Latino poet, the author of After Ruben. Kim Dower’s new book What She Wants explores obsession and desire. And Library Journal has written that “if Kim Addonizio were an opera, the audience would never stop throwing flowers at her feet.” Michelle Meow will delve into this “living poets society” to demonstrate the talent that makes independent publisher Red Hen Press and its poets so successful. Organizer: George Hammond A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. See more Michelle Meow Show programs at Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California. This program contains EXPLICIT language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While opening day fever is still in the air, join us at noon to hear the inside story of pitching in the big leagues from Jeremy Affeldt, who pitched seven of his 14 major league seasons for the San Francisco Giants (2009–2015). How do major league pitchers prepare for their jobs? How do all the pieces (physical, mental, strategic, managerial, team chemistry, coaching and more) fit together? Affeldt will be in conversation with Leland Faust and will explore the realities and dispel the myths of the sport. Organizer: George Hammond Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NBC News anchor and correspondent Vicky Nguyen has a story to tell of her family’s daring escape from communist Vietnam and her unlikely journey from refugee to reporter—a story told with laughter and fierce love. Starting in 1975, Vietnam’s “boat people”—desperate families seeking freedom—fled the Communist government and violence in their country any way they could, usually by boat across the South China Sea. Vicky Nguyen and her family were among them. Attacked at sea by pirates before reaching a refugee camp in Malaysia, the Nguyen family survived on rations and waited months until they were sponsored to go to America. But deciding to leave and start a new life in a new country is half the story; figuring out how to be American is the other. Join us as Nguyen recounts the story from her memoir Boat Baby of growing up in America with unconventional Vietnamese parents who didn’t always know how to bridge the cultural gaps. It’s a childhood filled with misadventures and misunderstandings, from almost stabbing the neighborhood racist with a butter knife to getting caught stealing Cosmo in the hope of learning "Do You Really Think You Know Everything About Sex?" In the face of prejudice, Nguyen parents taught her to be gritty and resilient, skills Vicky used as she combatted stereotyping throughout her career, fending off the question “Aren’t you Connie Chung?” to become a leading Asian American journalist on television. Funny, nostalgic, and poignant, her story is a testament to the messy glue that bonds a family, and is an optimistic story full of heart that illuminates the promise of what America can be. Nguyen grew up in Eugene, Reno, San Jose, and Santa Rosa. She attended the University of San Francisco and spent over a decade at NBC Bay Area. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite spending billions of dollars to combat homelessness, California has the largest and fastest-growing homeless population in the United States. To explain this result, some have blamed wasteful collusion between government and nonprofits to enrich themselves without ever intending to end homelessness. However, Carrie Sager says this over-simplistic conspiracy not only ignores the very real problems in the government and nonprofit sectors, but actively sabotages efforts to resolve them. Carrie Sager is the chief operating officer of Homeward Bound of Marin, the primary provider of emergency shelter and one of the largest providers of permanent supportive housing in Marin County. In her previous role as senior homelessness program coordinator for Marin County Health and Human Services, she worked with local nonprofits and city and county governments to create a coordinated system of care to house the most vulnerable people experiencing homelessness in Marin. She is one of the chief architects of Marin's homeless system of care. Prior to working in Marin, Carrie worked for HomeBase, a nonprofit law firm that works with cities and counties to implement responses to homelessness, where she worked primarily in Solano and Sacramento Counties. She has a J.D. from American University Washington College of Law. Organizer: Patrick O'Reilly A Psychology Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than 3 billion people rely on seafood as a primary source of animal protein. But waters are warming, and fish are moving. Are those fish, and the communities that have relied on them for centuries, in trouble? We go around the world, from the rocky shores of New England to the picturesque island of Niue, to investigate how three popular fish are doing. Along the way, we meet people who are protecting and regrowing these fish populations in different ways and learn about their challenges and successes. This episode features reporting by Barbara Moran at WBUR, which was produced as part of the Pulitzer Center's StoryReach U.S. Fellowship. Columbia University’s Duy Linh Tu contributed to the reporting. Guests: Tessa M. Hill, Oceanographer and Professor, Earth and Planetary Sciences, UC Davis Mona Ainu’u, Minister for the Ministry of Natural Resources, Niue Jenn Caselle, Research Biologist, Marine Science Institute, UC Santa Barbara Climate One is hosting a series of live conversations as part of SF Climate Week 2025! Tickets for all four of our events, featuring leaders such as Jenny Odell, San José Mayor Matt Mahan, Rep. Jared Huffman, Abby Reyes, Margaret Gordon and two of this year's Goldman Prize winners are on sale now through the official SF Climate Week event calendar. Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It is one thing to study the fall of democracy, another to have it hit your homeland—and yet another to raise children as it happens. Join Sarah Kendzior as she shares one family’s journey to the most beautiful, fascinating, and bizarre places in the United States during one of its most tumultuous eras. As Kendzior worked as a journalist chronicling political turmoil, she became determined that her young children see America before it’s too late. So Kendzior, her husband, and the kids hit the road—again and again. Starting from Missouri, the family drove across America in every direction as cataclysmic events—the rise of autocracy, political and technological chaos, and the pandemic—reshaped American life. They explore Route 66, national parks, historical sites, and Americana icons as Kendzior contemplated love for country in a broken heartland. Together, the family watches the landscape of the United States—physical, environmental, social, political—transform through the car window. She told the tale of her epic car trips in The Last American Road Trip, calling it one mother’s promise to her children that their country will be there for them in the future—even though at times she struggles to believe it herself. Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is a nonprofit public forum; we welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programming. Commonwealth Club World Affairs is a public forum. Any views expressed in our programs are those of the speakers and not of Commonwealth Club World Affairs. This program contains EXPLICIT language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On October 28, 2015, Jeanne Carstensen was reporting as a foreign correspondent covering the Syrian refugee crisis in Europe when she witnessed a devastating boat accident. After nearly a decade of research and investigation, Carstensen recounts the events of that day, with firsthand accounts from not only the desperate refugees, but also the heroic islanders who did their best to help. Of her book A Greek Tragedy: One Day, A Deadly Shipwreck, and the Human Cost of the Refugee Crisis, she says, “I wrote this book because I believe we need to pay attention to the human impacts of our migration policies. Increasingly, we are militarizing boarders, building more fences, and criminalizing those who try to help. I hope A Greek Tragedy will serve to wake us up; my hope is that we will not turn away.” Organizer: Frank Price An International Relations Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. This program contains EXPLICIT language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a richly informative exploration of the central role of muscle in human life and health. Michael Joseph Gross, author of the new book Stronger, will share his urgent call for each of us to recognize muscle as “the vital, inextricable and effective partner of the soul.” Gross draws on everything from the battlefields of the Trojan War in Homer’s Iliad, where muscles enter the scene of world literature; to the all-but-forgotten Victorian-era gyms on both sides of the Atlantic, where women build strength and muscle by lifting heavy weights; to a retirement home in Boston, where a young doctor makes the astonishing discovery that frail 90-year-olds can experience the same relative gains of strength and muscle as 30-year-olds if they lift weights. These surprising tales play out against a background of clashing worldviews, an age-old competition between athletic trainers and medical doctors to define our understanding and experience of muscle. In this conflict, muscle got typecast: Simplistic binaries of brain-versus-brawn created a persistent prejudice against muscle, and against weight training, the type of exercise that best builds muscular strength and power. Come hear how Gross looks at muscle and weight training in a whole new light. He’ll be in conversation with Guy Raz for a discussion about how all of us, from elite powerlifters to people who have never played sports at all, can learn to lift weights in ways that yield life's ultimate prize: the ability to act upon the world in the ways that we wish. If you have symptoms of illness (coughing, fever, etc.), we ask that you either stay home or wear a mask. Our front desk has complimentary masks for members and guests who would like one. Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is a nonprofit public forum; we welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programming. In Association with Wonderfest. Commonwealth Club World Affairs is a public forum. Any views expressed in our programs are those of the speakers and not of Commonwealth Club World Affairs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a previous Climate One episode, we discussed the good, the bad, and the ugly impacts of artificial intelligence. But AI isn’t going away. Humans rarely give up a nifty new tool unless something better comes along. AI’s share of energy consumption is enormous, and the Department of Energy estimates that data center energy demands will double or even triple in just the next three years. Demand on fresh water is at least as big and isn’t talked about nearly enough. So, what can we do to reduce AI’s impact? Plenty of researchers have ideas — from site selection to energy efficiency to using zero-carbon sources of energy. But what will incentivize the AI corporations to take any of those actions? This episode is supported by Climate One Steward Noel Perry and Next 10. Episode Guests: KeShaun Pearson, Executive Director, Memphis Community Against Pollution Kate Brandt, Chief Sustainability Officer, Google Irina Raicu, Director of the Internet Ethics Program at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University Climate One is once again hosting a series of live conversations as part of SF Climate Week 2025! Tickets for all four of our events, featuring leaders such as Jenny Odell, San José Mayor Matt Mahan, Rep. Jared Huffman, Abby Reyes, Margaret Gordon and two of this year's Goldman Prize winners are on sale now through the official SF Climate Week event calendar. Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The energy transition is a monumental task, still in its early stages, with only about 10 percent of the necessary low-emissions technologies deployed to meet 2050 targets, according to the McKinsey Global Institute. As the world strives to reduce carbon dioxide emissions while meeting growing global energy demand, significant challenges lie ahead. Join us as we explore the complexities of transforming the global energy infrastructure, and also the opportunities for innovation that lie ahead. Industry leaders will share insights on the progress being made and the critical steps needed to scale low-emission technologies while ensuring energy access and equity worldwide. Don’t miss this forward-looking discussion on the physical, technical and financial hurdles that must be overcome to achieve a sustainable energy future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For Peter Som, nothing is quite as satisfying as the moment when everyone is gathered around the table and platters of food are set down for everyone to dig into together. Now culinary creator and lifestyle expert Som releases Family Style, a cookbook of 100 recipes with unique and creative flavor combinations, paying homage to his identity, heritage and family. He’s got powerfully flavorful recipes for breakfasts, dinners, desserts and more—all unfussy, comforting and creative. Perfect, he says, for an everyday meal at home, yet sophisticated, elegant and visually stunning to impress any guest. At the heart of each of the 100 recipes in Family Style are imaginative and personally unique flavor combinations. There are beloved nods to his grandma’s Cantonese flavor profiles, his mom’s deep love of French food, his Bay Area upbringing, and desserts that are “not too sweet”—the highest compliment in his family—and more, with recipes including: Burnt Miso Cinnamon Toast, Crispy Deviled Tea Eggs, Radicchio and Fennel Salad with Creamy Miso Maple Vinaigrette, Roasted Carrots with Gochujang Honey Butter, Cacio e Pepe Sticky Rice with Egg, Hoisin Honey Roast Chicken, Char Siu Bacon Cheeseburger, Chickpea Bourguignon, and Lychee Lime Pavlova. Join us to hear from this entertainment and lifestyle authority whose brand of effortless sophistication stems from his many years helming his own award-winning fashion brand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This evening, Vince Hall will give an overview of food policy, his work with Feeding America navigating the complexities of solving hunger in America with healthy, nutritious foods, while explaining how policy affects the quality and quantity of food on your plate. Mr. Hall will be joined by Jennifer Steele, who will tell us how food policy affects her work with Meals on Wheels. They will work together explaining how food policy affects the ingredients used to make the appetizers you will be sampling this evening. About the Speakers As chief government relations officer at Feeding America, the largest charity working to end hunger in the United States, Vince Hall leads the development and execution of Feeding America’s public policy, legislative, and advocacy strategies to empower communities and improve food security. He helps lead efforts to end hunger by advocating for policy changes, supporting advocacy capacity across the network, increasing neighbor enrollment in public benefits, and building partnerships that amplify our collective voice. Jennifer Steele is the CEO of Meals on Wheels of San Francisco. This organization ensures that older adults in the region have home-delivered meals and services that help them live with grace and independence in their homes. Steele has dedicated her professional career to advocating for those who can’t advocate for themselves. Before joining Meals on Wheels, she worked in food insecurity and hunger relief both domestically and internationally. Organizer: Patty James A Nutrition, Food & Wellness Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s no secret that President Trump is not a fan of wind energy. As a matter of fact, he signed an executive order on his first day back in office that paused leasing for any new or renewed offshore wind energy projects and required the re-evaluation of all wind projects. This has thrown uncertainty into the entire industry, which already had supply chain and local opposition issues even before the new administration took office. Meanwhile, wind projects — especially offshore — have seen a decade-long boom in Europe, where the U.S. is already 15 years behind. Will the hostile policy from the Trump administration end the wind industry in this country? This episode features reporting from Ben Berke of The Public’s Radio. Guests: Clare Fieseler, Reporter, Canary Media Jed Welder, Owner, Trinity Farms Barbara Kates-Garnick, Professor of Practice, The Fletcher School, Tufts University Climate One is once again hosting a series of live conversations as part of SF Climate Week 2025! Tickets for all four of our events, featuring leaders such as Jenny Odell, San José Mayor Matt Mahan, Rep. Jared Huffman, Abby Reyes, Margaret Gordon and two of this year's Goldman Prize winners are on sale now through the official SF Climate Week event calendar. Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

March is International Women’s Month! Celebrate with the Arts Member-led Forum of Commonwealth Club World Affairs and the Northern California Women’s Caucus for Art (NCWCA) panel of women leaders in the arts. When women empower women, a cycle of support and inspiration is created that leads to personal growth, societal progress—and a better future for humanity. Moderated by Debra Reabock, arts leaders Debbie Chinn, Vera Maslova, Sawyer Rose and Anne W. Smith share their unique, often bold "just do it” adventures and achievements. By sharing their varied “womanly ways” to lift each other up, break barriers, transform communities and industries, and challenge stereotypes, women empowering women paves the way for future generations to make our fractious world a better place. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gold turned a sleepy Mexican outpost into what we now know as San Francisco. In just a few short years, thousands of migrants from every part of the globe made the treacherous journey to California, seeking not just wealth but a chance to begin anew. Alexander P. Crittenden was one such pioneer who saw in San Francisco limitless opportunities for reinvention. Ever in debt and with a wife and 14 children to support, A.P. found that the city’s laissez faire attitudes suited him just fine—particularly when it came to his relationship with Laura Fair. Laura too had come to San Francisco seeking a clean slate, but A.P. and Laura soon began a years-long adulterous affair, with most San Franciscans happy to turn a blind eye. But as the city began to shed its rough-and-tumble past, and embrace the dictates of Victorian respectability, so too did Laura Fair. When A.P. once again broke his oft-repeated promise to divorce his wife and marry Laura, she decided to take fate into her own hands. Shortly before dusk on November 3, 1870, just as the ferryboat El Capitan was pulling away from its slip into San Francisco Bay, Laura Fair shot A.P. Crittenden point-blank in the chest. “I did it and I don’t deny it,” she said when arrested shortly thereafter. “He ruined both myself and my daughter.” Fair’s murder trial was covered by every news outlet in the country. One of the first to involve an insanity defense, the trial shone an early spotlight on controversial social issues like the role of women, the sanctity of the family, and the range of acceptable expressions of gender—all topics of burning interest to Americans still searching for moral consensus after the Civil War. Trespassers at the Golden Gate author Gary Krist introduces us to a full cast of characters—including a secretly wealthy Black housekeeper, an enterprising Chinese brothel madam, and a French rabble-rouser who refused to dress in sufficiently “feminine” clothing. Their stories, along with those of familiar figures like Mark Twain and Susan B. Anthony, bring to life San Francisco’s Gilded-Age society. Organizer: George Hammond A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us live for a journey into the world of carbon, the most versatile element on the planet. Your tour guide is New York Times bestselling author Paul Hawken. Carbon is the only element that animates the entirety of the living world. Though comprising a tiny fraction of Earth’s composition, our planet is lifeless without it. Yet it is maligned as the driver of climate change, scorned as an errant element blamed for the possible demise of civilization. In his new book Carbon, Paul Hawken looks at the flow of life through the lens of carbon. Embracing a panoramic view of carbon’s omnipresence, he explores how this ubiquitous and essential element extends into every aperture of existence and shapes the entire fabric of life. Hawken charts a course across our planetary history, guiding us into the realms of plants, animals, insects, fungi, food and farms to offer a new narrative for embracing carbon’s life-giving power and its possibilities for the future of human endeavor. Hawken will illuminate the subtle connections between carbon and our collective human experience and ask us to see nature, carbon and ourselves as exquisitely intertwined—inseparably connected. This program contains EXPLICIT language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joan Didion opened The White Album (1979) with what would become an iconic line: “We tell ourselves stories in order to live.” Today this phrase is deployed inspirationally, printed on T-shirts and posters, and used as a battle cry for artists and writers. But Didion had something much less rosy in mind: our tendency to manufacture delusions to ward away our anxieties whenever society seems to be spinning off its axis. And nowhere was this collective hallucination more effectively crafted than in Hollywood. Alissa Wilkinson examines Joan Didion’s influence through the lens of American myth-making. As a young girl, Didion was infatuated with John Wayne and his on-screen bravado, and was fascinated by her California pioneer ancestry and the infamous Donner Party. The mythos that preoccupied her early years continued to influence her work as a magazine writer and film critic in New York, offering glimmers of the many stories Didion told herself that would eventually unravel. Wilkinson traces Didion’s journey from New York to her arrival in Hollywood as a screenwriter at the twilight of the old studio system. Didion became embroiled in the glitz and glamor of the Los Angeles elite, where she acutely observed―and denounced―how the nation’s fears and dreams were sensationalized on screen. Meanwhile, she paid the bills writing movie scripts like A Star Is Born, while her books propelled her to personal fame. Join us to hear Wilkinson dissect the cinematic motifs and machinations that informed Didion’s writing, detail Hollywood’s addictive grasp on the American imagination, and delve into Didion’s legacy, whose impact will be felt for generations. Organizer: George Hammond A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Catherine Coleman Flowers has dedicated her life to fighting for the most vulnerable communities — people who have been deprived of the basic civil right to a clean, safe and sustainable environment. When she was first on Climate One in 2021, Flowers talked about growing up in Lowndes County, Alabama, and working to stem the raw sewage contaminating homes and drinking water in her county and beyond. In recognition of this work she was granted a MacArthur “Genius Award.” Now, she picks up the story, discussing her awareness of racialized disinvestment in the South, the work of the inaugural White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council and the impact of unfettered fossil fuel production nationwide. Guests: Catherine Coleman Flowers, Founder, Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice (CREEJ) Justin J. Pearson, State Representative, Tennessee General Assembly On Monday, Google’s Chief Sustainability Officer Kate Brandt and Irina Raicu, Director of the Internet Ethics Program at the Markkula Center, will speak with Climate One about the development of sustainably powered artificial intelligence. Tickets are on sale through our website. And on April 22 and 24, Climate One will once again be hosting a series of SF Climate Week events at The Commonwealth Club! Join us for conversations with environmental luminaries such as Margaret Gordon, Jenny Odell, Project Drawdown, Grist, and Abby Reyes. Tickets are on sale now. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for "Art of Survival," a vibrant celebration of Black culture and resilience—an evening of music, art and culture. This program acknowledges and honors the rich history of perseverance within the Black community through a captivating blend of poetry, song, visual arts and engaging discussions. Experience the powerful expressions of survival as talented artists and performers share their work, highlighting themes of strength, hope, and cultural identity. The session will feature stirring poetry that reflects personal and collective narratives, soul-stirring songs that uplift the spirit, and visual arts that document the diversity of the Black experience. A panel discussion will follow, bringing together thought leaders and creators to explore the artistic representation of survival in Black culture and the ongoing journey toward empowerment and equity. Join us in celebrating the artistry and resilience that has defined Black history, and discover how creativity serves as a vital tool for connection, healing and survival. This event promises to inspire and uplift, inviting everyone to reflect on the indomitable spirit of the Black community throughout history and beyond. Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is a nonprofit public forum; we welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programming. See more Michelle Meow Show programs at Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California. Community partner: Commonwealth Club World Affairs is a public forum. Any views expressed in our programs are those of the speakers and not of Commonwealth Club World Affairs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices