Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Highly respected, frequently provocative, always challenging, Harvey Rose has survived the drama and intrigues of San Francisco City Hall politics for many years as San Francisco's most highly respected, independent budget and legislative analyst. As part of a valued San Francisco institution, no financial or legislative detail escaped Rose’s attention. In his straightforward talk, Rose will discu...

What's in our food and how it's grown has a profound impact on the health of our communities. Schools and hospitals are an increasingly critical intervention point for food access and long-term food systems shifts. Food and health issues are set against a seemingly paradoxical backdrop: One in eight Californians face hunger because of distribution and incentive problems. At the same time, one in f...

Every breath you take has the power to heal, but learning how to breathe takes practice. In her book Breathwork, established yoga and breathwork teacher Valerie Moselle leads you through a practical program to boost your energy and physical health. This event is the latest in our member-led forums’ Art and Science of Well-Being series. MLF: Health & Medicine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

One young scholar noted his peers weren't represented in his university, and he set out to do something about it. As a queer Latinx person from Kerman, CA, Michael Pina understands the homophobic and racial bias that students can face when applying to different universities and scholarships. So he created Central Valley Scholars as a way to help minority students from his own communities with thei...

Joe Talbot is a fifth-generation San Franciscan who began developing The Last Black Man in San Francisco with his childhood friend and star Jimmie Fails after leaving high school early to pursue film. Talbot, a Sundance Institute fellow, wrote and directed the acclaimed short American Paradise, which was shown at Sundance and SXSW. His feature-length debut was The Last Black Man in San Francisco,...

Carbon offsets have been called everything from a band-aid solution to “the best thing a consumer can do right now.” A new service even offers customers a monthly subscription to offset their carbon footprint. Meanwhile, offset providers are scrutinized for transparency, and purchasers are criticized for using them as a get-out-of-jail-free card. In the race to bring carbon emissions to zero, are...

Senator Jeff Merkley made headlines earlier this year when live video footage of his attempt to enter and inspect a detention center for child immigrants near the border of Texas and Mexico garnered over 1.1 million views in less than a day. An outspoken critic of the controversial treatment of migrant families across the southern border, Merkley is spearheading legislative efforts to establish no...

This event is the latest in our member-led forums’ Art and Science of Well-Being series. Ben Hwang from Profusa will discuss the future of continuous, remote monitoring data using implantable biosensor technology and how it is poised to transform wellness, medical intervention, health care delivery and patient outcomes. Mary Lou Jepsen from Openwater has created a device that can enable us to see...

Joe Koret was an immigrant, businessman and philanthropist. He is credited with helping make San Francisco a center for the design and manufacture of popular style and fashion. Join us for a conversation about an innovative businessman and civic leader whose legacy is still very visible in the Bay Area. This was an audio-only program recorded at The Commonwealth Club. Learn more about your ad choi...

The presentation will address the why, what and how of place-based work. Why addresses how when it comes to your health your zip code is more important than your genetic code. It explores the strength of the relationship between life expectancy and neighborhood. The what focuses on how place gets under the skin and changes our physiology. The presentation also examines the components of the enviro...

More than 50 years after the establishment of the Public Broadcasting Act, which set the foundation for PBS and NPR, the media landscape has changed in ways that advocates for these services never could have imagined. Yet their vision for a noncommercial broadcasting system that takes risks and addresses the needs of the public has endured. Paula Kerger, PBS CEO and president, joins Michael Isip,...

Widely recognized as a pragmatic and independent thinker, Democratic presidential candidate and Colorado Senator Michael Bennet is on the forefront of taking on Washington, D.C.’s dysfunction and building more opportunities for the next generation. In the Senate, Bennet has spearheaded legislative efforts to make education, health care, childcare and housing more affordable and accessible for work...

Our distinguished panel will discuss the contributions and innovations Israel has made worldwide in solving health, environmental and economic problems. Israel has a history of coming to the rescue of other nations after disasters and emergencies. For example, Israel advised California and other areas with water problems. And it was the second country to arrive with medical help after the Haiti di...

Anna Gatmon will share how to experience fulfillment and abundant wellness by stopping the seemingly endless struggle between your spiritual aspirations and daily material consumption. By expanding your awareness to recognize the spiritual essence inherent in the material world around you and by engaging with the material expressions of your spiritual aspirations, you can grow into an expanded, mo...

Tom Steyer doesn’t just want to impeach President Trump, he wants to replace him. Steyer insists that America’s democracy, health-care and climate shortcomings all stem from a warped distribution of money and power. Supporters point to Steyer’s promising rise in early primary state polling, but a crowded Democratic primary has left some Americans asking: Is this the moment for another wealthy, whi...

We're talking about LGBTQ representation in business this week, with our special guest Gina Grahame. Join us as Michelle Meow brings her long-running daily radio show to The Commonwealth Club one day each week. Meet fascinating—and often controversial—people discussing important issues of interest to the LGBTQ community, and have your questions ready. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaph...

Matthew Shilvock, general director of the San Francisco Opera, has announced that San Francisco Opera, which has the largest performing arts organization staff in the Bay Area, has created a department of equity, diversity and inclusion to meet an institutional commitment both within the organization and externally. The department will implement strategies to build organizational capacity, structu...

The World Health Organization states that neurological disorders are one of the greatest threats to public health today. Seventy-six million aging baby boomers, or 29 percent of the population in the United States, are about to push Alzheimer's disease rates sky high. Acupuncture, a form of traditional Chinese medicine, has been proven safe and effective in treating a wide variety of common ailmen...

Nearly 25 percent of America’s electricity now comes from renewables, surpassing coal for the first time. Ten states, and Puerto Rico and Washington DC, have policies in place to run on 100 percent clean power in coming decades. But achieving that goal presents a host of challenges, from updating an aging electricity grid to financing energy innovation to figuring out how to transport and store th...

Jennifer Kahn will update attendees on gene editing and gene drive technologies, which are quickly evolving. She will also discuss their implications for society, extending from their use in areas such as human fertility, agriculture and pharmaceuticals. Recent developments in China, where this technology was used on embryos, has raised concerns globally on the use of these technologies. Kahn is r...

This program is generously supported by The James Irvine Foundation. The private, San Francisco-based foundation has $2.3 billion in assets and makes annual grantmaking of nearly $100 million. The Irvine Foundation’s singular goal is a California where all low-income workers have the power to advance economically. Key industries in California, from restaurant to technology to hospitality, touch ou...

This event is the first in The Commonwealth Club's Thought Leadership series on the future of health, featuring in-depth conversations on the challenges driving physical, mental and social health. Homelessness is one of the most critical health issues of our time. Even the best care isn’t enough to keep people healthy if they do not have a roof over their head. A safe, stable home is necessary to...

FDR's New Deal is widely recognized as a turning point in American history, but David Davenport and Gordon Lloyd go even further, calling it “America’s French Revolution.” Refashioning American government and public policy in ways that have grown to epic proportions today, Roosevelt’s decisions reset the balance of power away from Congress and the states toward a strong executive branch. They also...

Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs has received a lot of attention for his announcement of innovative approaches to dealing with the California city's problems—such as a universal basic income or the Stockton Scholars program. Has he delivered on his promises? Motecuzoma P. Sanchez (pictured) is an activist and journalist who says he works to hold accountable the leaders in Stockton, where he was born a...

In his new book The Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California, author Mark Arax reveals the tumultuous history behind the myth of abundance in the Golden State. LA Times reporter Diana Marcum and water expert Faith Kearns explore the complex intersections between drought, climate change, and life in rural California. Can a decades-old distribution system meet the water needs of the fut...