Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

The Commonwealth Club and Born This Way Foundation Invite you to a conversation focused on the intersection of kindness and mental health during these unprecedented times. In this conversation, moderated by Maya Smith, you'll hear from mental health experts, advocates and young people on the many ways the COVID-19 pandemic has uprooted our normality, how we can find ways to spread kindness while a...

When institutional investors divest from fossil fuel companies does it have more than symbolic impact? Universities, pension funds and other asset managers have hopped on the divest–invest bandwagon. Critics say selling fossil fuel stocks just makes them cheaper for others to buy and doesn’t affect the financial health of oil and gas companies. Supporters say it’s a moral move that also makes fina...

Join us for a rare conversation with Janet Napolitano about the societal impact of COVID-19 on universities and the U.C. system in particular, as well as the implications for national security now and in the aftermath of the COVID crisis. Napolitano is the 20th president of the University of California and the first woman to serve in this role. She leads a university system of 10 campuses, five me...

It’s 2040, and you stroll into the Center for Mind Design where you can buy a variety of brain enhancements. How far do you want to go? The human calculator promises to give you savant-level mathematical abilities. The Zen garden can make you calmer and more efficient. Or you can buy “merge,” a series of enhancements that allow you to gradually augment and transfer mental functions to the cloud. T...

Join us virtually for a conversation with the engagingly clear Berkeley mathematics professor Edward Frenkel—a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a fellow of the American Mathematical Society, the winner of the Hermann Weyl Prize in mathematical physics, and the author of Love & Math, an international bestseller that has been published in 19 languages. As a starting point for thi...

COVID-19 is challenging the U.S. health-care system in unprecedented ways. Hospitals are staggering under the burden of treating infected patients, doctors struggle to protect themselves while working overtime, and insurers weigh eliminating co-pays for testing and treatment as their expenses skyrocket. Hear top executives from among the country’s largest hospital systems, physician groups and hea...

What can the spread of the coronavirus teach us about the spread of climate change? Both crises have global reach, invisible perpetrators, and require aggressive, early action for containment. But while an infectious disease is acute and deeply personal, the impacts of a changing climate are systemic and vague. Scientists point out that the coronavirus family—which includes COVID-19 and SARS—origi...

Join us for an online conversation with one of the biggest names in science fiction—bestselling author John Scalzi. He has entertained millions of fans with his hugely popular Old Man's War series of books and other novels, earned himself two Hugo awards, and regularly engages and occasionally enrages the science fiction world with his lively blog on whatever.scalzi.com. Scalzi's newest novel, The...

We all face difficulty and pain in life, and whether we are the perpetrators or the victims, we must all inevitably learn how to forgive and open up to healing. New York Times best-selling author Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt has experienced the often slow and thorny journey toward forgiveness, and she knows how the power of personal insight can illuminate the path of forgiveness. In her new book...

The catastrophic, overwhelming challenges we are facing globally are manifesting locally—week by week, day by day, hour by hour. Cities are besieged. Economies are failing. Friends are dying. As the human toll creeps ever higher, it begins to feel as though our very humanity lies in the balance. How can we preserve it? Although the scale of the COVID-19 disaster is unprecedented, it is worth recal...

As the coronavirus spreads rapidly through the population, the United States is racing to provide test kits, develop a vaccine and find treatments. Meanwhile, we’re running dangerously low on supplies, ranging from ventilators and test reagents to gowns and N95 masks. When will we have the test kits we need? Can we develop a vaccine and identify treatments in time to contain the pandemic? Will we...

Join us virtually for a conversation with Robert Hirst about the millions of words Mark Twain wrote but left behind for Hirst and his team to organize. The Mark Twain Project at UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library started with a core collection transferred in 1949 to UC Berkeley by Clara, Mark Twain’s sole surviving daughter. For the last four decades, the ever-growing archive of original and photocopi...

Nuclear power - revive it or allow a slow death? Today, about a hundred nuclear plants provide 20 percent of America’s electricity. Once touted as a modern power source, nuclear fell out of favor after a series of major accidents – most notably those at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima. A handful of the plants that once dotted the landscape have been shuttered because they can’t compete...

Through the adept facilitation of journalist Katie Hafner, the audience will hear directly from four expert panelists from four key service organizations that are helping to connect older adults at risk of social isolation. Village organizations, assisted living communities, phone line support services and senior centers are facing new challenges to support and connect at-risk older adults and dis...

Thanks to the general shut-down and shelter-in-place orders, you're home—now what? We're talking with three TV and media critics about the television shows and movies that are worth your time. What classic movies should you watch? Where can you find them? Which TV series are worth binge viewing? What programs have you overlooked but now have the time to discover and enjoy? Join us for a fun and in...

The vulnerability of certain populations to the coronavirus COVID-19 has been well publicized—everyone knows seniors and people with asthma, diabetes and certain other conditions are in the most danger from the virus. But less well-known is the virus' impact on LGBTQI communities. Join us for a discussion with experts about how this virulent disease impacts this community, and submit your question...

Few individuals are as uniquely qualified to provide insight about the coronavirus pandemic as physician Dr. Margaret Hamburg. She is the past commissioner of Public Health for the city of New York, and also the past commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, having served as the chief U.S. official responsible for approving new drugs. She also sits on the board of the organization Ending P...

Join us virtually for a Monday Night Philosophy conversation with Kitty Ferguson about the life and scientific theories of Stephen Hawking, whom she first met in 1988. That encounter began her mid-life transition from being a professional singer, music teacher and Juilliard graduate to an explainer of difficult scientific concepts and Hawking’s biographer. We will also discuss her nine other books...

Join us virtually for a conversation with Tamim Ansary about the patterns he sees in ancient civilizations and in current cultures derived from those historical developments. The four major rivers along which large-scale human civilizations began—the Nile, the Tigris–Euphrates, the Indus and the Huang He—each had characteristic traits that contributed to the underlying cultural assumptions our anc...

Why does an invisible, life-threatening virus prompt a nationwide emergency, but invisible, life-threatening gases don’t? Experts have been emphasizing the dangers of unchecked climate change for years, underscoring the need for rapid, bold action early-on to avoid the worst impacts. Now health experts are pushing the same level of global mobilization to quell the spread of the novel coronavirus....

In 2005, Andy Warner went to Beirut, Lebanon, for a semester studying literature. Just 21 years old and having recently broken up with his girlfriend, Warner immersed himself in the vibrant and diverse city, quickly befriending a group of LGBT students. Amid their friendships, studying and partying, they also witnessed political assassinations and bombings once again erupting in Beirut. As the cit...

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) presents a discussion on the most pressing challenges to humanitarian assistance in the 21st century. Globally, 70.8 million people are considered forcibly displaced by armed conflict, and over 160 million people need emergency humanitarian assistance. Conflict has replaced natural disasters as the driver of humanitarian need—aid organizati...

Monday Night Philosophy understands that we have explained life to ourselves in ways that have scared us silly for so long that it has become an engrained habit. Ironically, it's a habit we rather enjoy because fear often keeps us more alert than we'd otherwise be. But there are other ways to remain intellectually alert to the nuances of life that are not so debilitating. So tonight, join us via l...

Join us virtually for a conversation about the pervasive impact Enlightenment ideas had on early American culture and how that changed the ways Americans pursued happiness in their New World. Caroline Winterer specializes in early American reactions to scientific ideas and Enlightenment attitudes, which raised new questions about plants, animals and rocks but also about politics and religion. It i...

American health care has seen dramatic changes over the past decade. Obamacare reduced the number of uninsured citizens, but rising prices and deductibles have made care unaffordable for many. Medicaid has become the nation’s largest payer and now pays for half of all long-term care. Now the coronavirus pandemic is challenging the health care system in unprecedented ways. All this is happening wit...