Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Taking us to the cutting edge of the new frontier of medicine, a visionary biotechnologist and a pathbreaking researcher show how we can optimize our health in ways that were previously unimaginable. They say we are on the cusp of a major transformation in health care—yet few people know it. At top hospitals and a few innovative health-tech startups, scientists are working closely with patients to...

It’s easy to write off people outside our own ideological bubbles, even when we may have many goals in common. But as the effects of the climate crisis become more apparent, we need leaders from all political and industrial perspectives to work together. In the U.S., climate is a polarizing issue where it’s too easy to assume that one side is working to reduce emissions and the other side is defen...

OpenAI’s question-and-answer chatbot ChatGPT has shaken up Silicon Valley and is already disrupting a wide range of fields and industries, including education. But the potential risks of this new era of artificial intelligence go far beyond students cheating on their term papers. Even OpenAI’s founder warns that “the question of whose values we align these systems to will be one of the most import...

The Indo-Pacific is rapidly becoming the global center of economic dynamism and strategic challenge. Encompassing 40 economies, more than 4 billion people and more than one-third of all economic activity worldwide—what happens in the region will play a critical role in shaping the future of the international order. Recognizing the importance of the Indo-Pacific region to global peace and prosperit...

In late 2022, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory made a long-sought breakthrough, achieving self-sustaining “fusion ignition” for the first time and generating breakeven energy. Supporters see fusion as a game changer for production of unlimited clean energy that can help to address climate change globally.  Please join us for a conversation with Dr. Kimberly Budil, director of L...

The United States Foreign Service is confronting one of the most profound crises in its history. At a time of pandemic, recession and mounting global challenges, our nation’s career diplomats find themselves without the support, funding, training and leadership they need to represent the American people effectively overseas and in Washington, D.C., according to Ambassadors Marc Grossman and Marcie...

What drew a career educator, on the verge of retirement, into state politics? Creating Citizens, The Commonwealth Club’s education initiative, has invited California Secretary of State Shirley Weber to talk with high school students about why their voice matters and how to become civically engaged at a young age. After 40 years as a professor at San Diego State University, Shirley Weber was appoin...

Biden’s policy wins have secured vast amounts of funding for the energy transition, and that money is just beginning to flow, with new programs becoming available to everyday Americans. With hundreds of billions tagged for chip and battery plants, climate smart agriculture, rail, modernizing the electric grid, and tax incentives for citizens to run their homes and cars on electricity, ensuring the...

Join the conversation with the new San Francisco Ballet leadership duo: Artistic Director Tamara Rojo and Executive Director Danielle St. Germain; founder and director of San Francisco Philharmonic Jessica Bejarano; and President of Northern California Women’s Caucus for Art Priscilla Otani. Learn more about what's new and exciting in the art world and what these women's visions are for their arti...

Called “the voice of the resistance” by The New York Times, writer, historian and activist Rebecca Solnit, the author of 20 books on feminism, western and indigenous history, popular power, social change and insurrection, hope and disaster, and most recently Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility, will discuss her view that the future will be decided by whether we act...

Seeking to improve public policy in California, in 1993 a group led by Hewlett-Packard co-founder Bill Hewlett created the Public Policy Institute of California to do independent, nonpartisan research in the public interest. PPIC produces high-quality data to inform leaders and the public, and conducts nationally recognized polls on the preferences and opinions of California voters.  Now PPIC welc...

The January mass shooting in Half Moon Bay brought to light the intolerable conditions in which farmworkers often still live and work. Almost 40 years after Cesar Chavez’s renowned 1984 Commonwealth Club speech, his successor as president of the United Farm Workers Union, Teresa Romero, joins us to discuss the hardships and exploitation agricultural laborers face. She will address the progress ach...

Join us for a conversation with Mabel van Oranje, human rights activist and serial entrepreneur for social change, for a reflection on the global challenges facing women and girls, and the solutions that are possible. Mabel has dedicated her career to ending the practice of child marriage, which impacts 12 million girls every year. That’s a girl every 3 seconds. Her latest venture is VOW for Girls...

Our brains have evolved over millions of years to deal with immediate and direct challenges, but they’re not so great at processing large existential threats, like the climate crisis. Understanding why people behave the way they do could be a critical step in bringing about more meaningful climate action. Despite having the technical ability we need to stay under 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, we...

When a nation's politics get wild and its democratic standards frayed, things can go bad quickly. Just ask Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator who met his fate 2,067 years ago on the Ides of March. At Week to Week, we're dedicated to the lively and informed discussion of politics—with a healthy sense of humor—as a platform for healthy involvement in the issues that drive our society. The Commonwealt...

Ginni Rometty spent nearly 40 years at IBM and was the first woman to become the company's CEO before retiring in 2020. Under her leadership the iconic company reinvented 50 percent of its portfolio, built a $25 billion hybrid cloud business, and expanded in AI and quantum computing. Rometty reveals the personal hurdles, high-stake decisions, and groundbreaking milestones that defined her life and...

Two prolific writers—individually admired, respected and award-winning in their own areas of research—have been married to each other since 1965. Join us to discuss with Arlie and Adam Hochschild the global political and social issues they have investigated, and the major changes in American culture they have witnessed, as we roam through two lifetimes of caring and creative writing in their pursu...

According to the United Nations Development Program, 54 countries, accounting for half the world’s population, face such critical debt burdens that they simply cannot finance climate adaptation and mitigation on their own. Most of these same countries are in the most climate-vulnerable regions in the world, setting them up for compounding disasters. At the same time, every nation on earth is being...

There are endless opinions on the best way to eat for optimal health. Physician, chef and cookbook author Linda Shiue, M.D., will share her inclusive approach to choosing and preparing foods to promote health. With her unique background combining medicine and culinary, Dr. Shiue is emphatic that food can and should be a source of both pleasure and health, as well as a means of connecting to cultur...

MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan is an award-winning journalist who has interviewed everyone from Edward Snowden to former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton. Throughout his career, Hasan hasn’t been one to avoid arguments but relishes them as the lifeblood of democracy and the only surefire way to dispel misinformation and uncover the truth. Join us as Hasan reflects on his career as a journali...

Monday Night Philosophy at The Commonwealth Club celebrates its 14th anniversary by revealing how 20th century scientific knowledge was used to revitalize the power of Pythagorean insights and Platonic ideals. Using ancient Greek principles that promote clear conceptual reasoning, Hammond spent his 20s reorganizing the concepts we all use into a more coherent whole, generating both philosophical w...

Every place we inhabit has its own tapestry of sound, whether you’re hiking through the woods or sitting in a cafe with a friend. And not only are sounds a part of our sensory experience, but they can give us vital information about the health of our ecosystems. As the planet warms and we lose biodiversity, those sounds are changing. The natural world isn’t the only space where the soundscape is c...

The United States prides itself for its maverick soul, but Sathnam Sanghera says it inherited the ambition, brutality and thinking of its empire roots. Sanghera reveals the hidden legacies and modern realities of the British empire and makes the case that to understand America, we must first understand British imperialism. He says the pernicious legacy of imperialism is rooted in our everyday live...

President Bill Clinton once called the border between India and Pakistan the most dangerous place on Earth. The two countries have been at war with each other on four separate occasions with numerous skirmishes in between. In 1948, 1965 and 1999 war was fought over Kashmir, and in 1971 it was over East Pakistan, later Bangladesh. There have been numerous peace talks, but in some cases the talks se...

Experience an amazing, uplifting and exhilarating program presented by AfroSolo Theatre Company, a sanctuary for Black arts, culture, intellect and entertainment founded by Thomas Robert Simpson. Our event emcee will be Dr. Brenda Wade, psychologist, television expert, speaker and author. The performance line-up includes an exciting mix of talented performing artists. African drumming by three mas...