Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

For those of us who love to travel, climate guilt weighs heavily. Civil aviation accounts for about 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and that number is going up. But while electrifying cars and trucks is already well underway, flying planes on anything other than liquid fuels remains devilishly difficult. Despite that difficulty, there are options. Sustainable aviation fuels, or SAFs, hold t...

Before Jason Kander served as the Missouri secretary of state, he served as an Army intelligence officer who spent time stationed in Afghanistan. Later in 2017, President Obama, in his final Oval Office interview, was asked who gave him hope for the future of the country, and Jason Kander was the first name he mentioned. Suddenly, Kander was a national figure. As observers assumed he was preparing...

For nearly six decades, the US government passed no comprehensive climate legislation. Now that’s changed. The Inflation Reduction Act contains approximately $370 billion of investments in clean energy and climate solutions. But not everyone is happy. To get through the Senate, the bill offered carrots to entrenched fossil fuel interests, along with investments in renewable power. Many in disadvan...

Join us for an online discussion of LGBTQIA+ spaces and making changes to accommodate diverse and growing communities. We will also cover GAPA Runway—a night of fashion, glamour and entertainment celebrating the artistry, talents and humanity of the QTAPI community—and how iconic LGBTQIA+ events continue to support and provide services to our community.  Show editorially warning About the SpeakerE...

Written by one of the world’s most distinguished historians of psychiatry, Psychiatry and Its Discontents provides a wide-ranging and critical perspective on the profession that dominates the treatment of mental illness. Andrew Scull traces the rise of the field, the midcentury hegemony of psychoanalytic methods, and the paradigm’s decline with the ascendance of biological and pharmaceutical appro...

Rick Ridgeway estimates he’s spent about five years of his life sleeping in tents, often in the world’s most remote places alongside fellow outdoor adventure luminaries. Ridgeway worked for Patagonia for 15 years and was behind the company’s infamous “Don’t Buy This Jacket” ad campaign, which paradoxically advocated sustainability and increased sales.  Outdoor companies like Patagonia may push for...

COVID-19 illustrated to the nation the need to address disparities that exist in our communities, especially as they relate to mental health. These disparities are chronic, with intergenerational health impacts that also affect employment and create socioeconomic racial inequities. The direct result of all these inequities is that people of color die at a rate 3.6 times higher than that of the ove...

Roberto González will discuss the important work the Human Rights Foundation has done since its inception in 2005, including its project Defund Dictators Too. The HRF is a nonprofit that defends and promotes freedom and justice throughout the world. He will likely include the recent Oslo Freedom Forum. Malaak Jamal will concentrate on HRF's 2022 report, "Framing Justice in Syria." Roberto González...

As the San Francisco Giants gear up after the All-Star break, what can we expect from this team in 2022? It is the 140th season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, its 65th year in San Francisco, and its 23rd at Oracle Park. This is also the third season under manager Gabe Kapler, and perhaps more important, the first season since 2008 without longtime catcher Buster Posey, who retired in...

As the CEO of the California utility giant PG&E, Patti Poppe is charged with navigating the company through massive wildfires, disrupted energy markets, and lingering public distrust of the utility. The company is undergrounding 10,000 miles of electric lines, working with GM and Ford on incorporating power from electric vehicles into homes and the grid, deploying batteries at large power plants,...

Katie Hafner is a technology, health care, and society journalist who wrote on staff for The New York Times for 10 years and remains a frequent contributor. She has also worked at Newsweek and BusinessWeek and has written for many major publications, including The Washington Post and Oprah Magazine. She is the author of five previous works of nonfiction covering a range of topics, including the or...

The Republican Party used to stand for individualism, and according to journalist and author Mark Leibovich, it now largely answers to the whims of one man: former president Donald Trump. Tracing Trump’s ascent to the top of a party that in the early months of his candidacy viewed him with contempt, Leibovich brings answers to the massive question of “what happened?” Mark Leibovich is an award-win...

In the post-2020 world, Americans, having faced the controversies of the 2020 election and the January 6 insurrection, may be tempted to do their best to forget these events and move on — yet to bestselling author Malcolm Nance, this is the worst thing they can do. As the country is experiencing a sharp rise in radicalism and hostility toward democracy, Nance argues that it is more important than...

The Greatest Generation, having faced the Great Depression and fought World War II with a clear goal and responsible leadership, ended up enduring a generational divide with their Baby Boom children, because their continuing trust in American political leadership did not erode as quickly as their children’s did during the 1960s. The Vietnam War’s lies, deaths, destruction and deteriorated goals, a...

Ian Morris returns to The Commonwealth Club for an online discussion of his latest research into the deep history of the human race. In the wake of Brexit, Morris now tackles the 8 millennia history of Britain's relationship to Europe as that relationship keeps changing in the context of a continually globalizing world. When Britain voted to leave the European Union in 2016, the 48 percent who wan...

Along with aviation, the construction industry is one of the hardest to decarbonize sectors in the global economy. Cement and steel production together are responsible for about 15% of global CO2 emissions. But look around our modern world and it’s hard to imagine doing without these materials. Carbon-negative cement has been talked about for years, and innovations in steel production show promise...

UC Davis Professor of Law Mary Ziegler is one of the world’s leading authorities on the U.S. abortion wars and the history of reproductive rights in this country. Since the leak of a draft of a Supreme Court majority opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade and the guaranteed right to an abortion, Ziegler has been one of the most sought-after experts on this issue. Ziegler's timely new book Dollars...

The recent white supremacist shooting in Buffalo that targeted African-Americans renewed attention to the global rise in white nationalistic terrorism. The shooting in Buffalo, which has brought domestic terrorism charges to the alleged assailant, included a digital manifesto that copied and mirrored previous manifestos—infused with racism and anti-Semitism—that accompanied previous terrorist shoo...

Alice Waters is a true Bay Area icon and one of the most influential chefs of her generation.  A long-time food activist, Waters first opened Bay Area local restaurant Chez Panisse in 1971 with the intention of feeding people good food during a time of political turmoil. Customers responded positively to the restaurant and its focus on locally sourced organic ingredients, delectable hand-made dish...

The climate crisis is a growing driver of human migration, exacerbating the misery of already struggling communities. According to the UN Refugee Agency, climate change typically creates internal displacement within countries before it pushes people across national borders. While much of this displacement is involuntary, many with wealth and foresight are able to move before they personally feel t...

From 2000 to 2022, one thing is certain: What it means to be Republican has changed. To former Republican political consultant Tim Miller, the GOP started down a path to disaster in the early 2000s. Lack of strategic decision making within the Republican Party at that time set the stage for Donald Trump to take over the party Miller once loved. He now seeks to answer a simple question: “Why did no...

In a special online program live from Thailand, Matcha Phorn-In will join us for a discussion focused on how vulnerable populations who are "invisible" are impacted by racism, homophobia, transphobia, and gender inequities. Matcha Phorn-In is a lesbian, feminist human rights defender, passionately committed to building peoples' movements to advance human rights and justice. She has 15 years of exp...

We’re on track for yet another summer of record wildfires in the western U.S., endangering lives, displacing communities, and sending unhealthy smoke across the nation.  The science is clear: human-caused climate change is making lands more conducive to burning, and we are increasingly living in flammable landscapes. Forest experts say there are tools to help reduce the risk of catastrophic fires,...

Join us for an in-depth discussion focused on the latest Youth Climate Survey by Blue Shield on how climate change is affecting the mental health of our youth community.  We'll be talking with David W. Bond, who is the director of behavioral health at Blue Shield of California—Promise Health Plan, where he leads initiatives to restore, sustain and enhance the behavioral health and well being of th...

From the Andes to the Himalayas, mountains have an extraordinary power to evoke a sense of the sacred. In the overwhelming wonder and awe that these dramatic features of the landscape awaken, people experience something of deeper significance that imbues their lives with meaning and vitality. Drawing on his extensive research and personal experience as a scholar and climber, Edwin Bernbaum takes u...