Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

In August of 2017, white nationalists marched through the University of Virginia in Charlottesville to protest the removal of Confederate Army leader Robert E. Lee’s statue through a series of racist and anti-Semitic chants. The Unite the Right rally turned deadly when confronted by counter-protesters, in which a self-identified white supremacist drove his car into a crowd of people opposing the n...

Dan Pfeiffer was one of President Obama’s longest-serving advisers and closest confidantes, working on his historic campaign and spending six years in the White House as communications director and senior adviser to the president. As a co-host of the wildly popular podcast “Pod Save America,” Pfeiffer is one of the most visible progressive voices today. In his best-selling book Yes We (Still) Can,...

A prize-winning writer for the San Francisco Chronicle in the tumultuous 1970s, Duffy Jennings covered the Patty Hearst kidnapping, the Zodiac and Zebra serial murders, and the City Hall assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. Jennings also covered major fires, gangland crime, labor union strife, city government news and more. In Reporter’s Note Book, Jennings weaves the...

This event is the latest in our member-led forums’ Art and Science of Well-Being series. While the conditions in Central America produce caravans and others seeking safety, the rights of asylum seekers are continuously under attack. Come learn about the roots of the problem—why people are fleeing, the mental health consequences and the difficult yet lifesaving process of seeking asylum. This prese...

This event is the latest in our member-led forums’ Art and Science of Well-Being series. Lee Holden is a renowned instructor in Qi Gong, meditation and Tai Chi. He Has worked to bring the ancient Taoist teachings to the West. Lee offers simple techniques to enhance well-being. MLF ORGANIZER NAME Robert Kilpatrick NOTES MLF: Health & Medicine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adc...

This event is the latest in our member-led forums’ Art and Science of Well-Being series. Louise Aronson has received numerous awards for her medical work, teaching, educational research and writing. In Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life, Aronson urges a large-scale shift in society and medicine’s attitudes toward aging and offers a powerful roadmap for how we all...

Today’s solutions for addressing climate change are doable, but daunting: decrease global meat consumption, improve family planning, shut down coal-fired power plants, or expand solar energy – where to start? How do we best allocate resources, prioritize policies, and design economic tradeoffs as we move forward? What are the most impactful steps we can take individually and collectively to reduce...

When sex and technology cross paths, we see a combination of curiosity and censorship, sexism and empowerment, but most importantly, knowledge and pleasure. The intersection between sex and technology goes beyond sex toys—from smart vibrators to apps for your phone that allow you to track and learn from your own experiences—sex tech’s innovation plays a major factor in the future of women’s health...

From ancient conjurers to quick-handed con artists to Las Vegas illusionists, magicians throughout the ages have been expertly manipulating human attention and perception to dazzle and delight us. The phenomena of cognitive and sensory illusions are responsible for the “magic” of a magic trick, but how and why? Come meet neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley and magician Robert Strong as they team up to de...

China’s rise as a technology innovator is challenging the world by working hard, innovating fast and going global. A new book by Rebecca A. Fannin, Tech Titans of China, delves into the Chinese technology sector and its influence and implications worldwide, in tech sectors and beyond. The book is the go-to guide for those seeking to understand China’s grand tech ambitions, who the players are and...

It's the night of the next Democratic presidential candidates debate, and we're all set to watch and comment on that and other political news. Doors will open at 5 p.m., and we will show the debate on the big screen in our auditorium. Then at 6:30, we'll switch over to our panelists, who will discuss the biggest, most controversial and sometimes the surprising political issues with expert commenta...

How do we cope with the inevitability of death? How can we make better decisions for ourselves and our families? B.J. Miller and journalist Shoshana Berger visit INFORUM to answer the questions about death we’re all afraid to ask with their new book: A Beginner’s Guide to the End: Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death. Berger and Miller offer step-by-step instructions on managing the e...

Dr. Keynoush is the author of the book Saudi Arabia and Iran: Friends or Foes? and the editor of a forthcoming book Iran's Interregional Dynamics in the Near East. She was recently a visiting scholar at Princeton University and a visiting fellow at the King Faisal Center in Saudi Arabia. She has translated at diplomatic meetings, and for United Nations secretary generals, U.S. congressional leader...

This event is the latest in our member-led forums’ Art and Science of Well-Being series. Bees, butterflies, bats, birds and other insects are important actors in maintaining a healthy environment. The health of the environment directly influences human well-being. The quality of the food we eat, the air we breathe and the water we drink profoundly affect how we feel. Research shows that having acc...

No one wants to overeat. And certainly no one wants to overeat for years, become overweight, and end up with a high risk of diabetes or heart disease—yet two thirds of Americans do precisely that. Why does our behavior betray our best intentions to eat healthy foods in moderation? The reason is that our appetites and food choices are led astray by ancient, instinctive brain circuits that play by t...

This week's special guest: Carole Migden. Carole Migden is a former California state senator (and former state assemblymember, and former San Francisco supervisor and much more) who has worked her entire career to assist underrepresented demographics. Join us as Michelle Meow brings her long-running daily radio show to The Commonwealth Club one day each week. Meet fascinating—and often controversi...

Over the past several years, there has been a noticeable uptick in anti-Semitic rhetoric and incidents from college campuses in the United States to terrorist attacks against Jews throughout Europe and, in 2018 and 2019, the tragic hate crimes at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and Poway Synagogue outside San Diego. Marin County has also not been immune, with anti-Semitic symbols found in...

With the Green New Deal, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's vision challenges her own party to go further and faster on climate action than ever before. Her co-sponsor, Sen. Ed Markey, has spent 40 years in Congress and has similar experience pushing for bold climate action. Meanwhile, Rep. Matt Gaetz vigorously supports President Trump – except when it comes to climate and extreme weather, which hav...

Dr. Cornel West says his passion is to keep alive the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.—a legacy of telling the truth and bearing witness to love and justice. In addition to his posts at Harvard and Princeton, West has taught at Union Theological Seminary, Yale and the University of Paris. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his master’s and doctorate in p...

Cyber warfare is at the intersection of innovation and danger. It can be comical, like the malware which blasted AC/DC’s song “Thunderstruck” at full blast in the middle of the night in Iranian nuclear facilities. It can also be catastrophic, like EternalBlue, the 2017 cyber battle that closed hospitals in Britain and froze shipping crates in Germany in midair. Richard Clarke, former U.S. national...

Where is America headed? Veteran political analyst David Gergen offers his insights to the polarized state of politics and what we can expect as we head into our next presidential election. Gergen has the unique perspective of serving as a White House adviser to four U.S. presidents from both parties: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Join us for an engaging conversation...

How do we go about feeding a planet that’s hotter, drier, and more crowded than ever? From a remote-controlled organic farm in Shanghai to famine-stricken parts of Ethiopia, innovators are seeking to reinvent the global food system to be more productive and nutritious. Does this mean the end of animal meat? Can a clean, climate-resilient food system be built to distribute calories in a way that is...

Dr. Jason Flatt, assistant professor at the UCSF School of Nursing's Institute for Health & Aging, will discuss some of the new research findings he presented at the July 2019 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Los Angeles. Past research has shown an increased likelihood of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease for individuals with self-reported memory problems, including up to three ti...

What Do We Know About the Moon? July 20, 2019 is the 50th anniversary of humanity’s first steps on the surface of the moon. In that time, the Apollo missions, a fleet of robotic probes and observations from Earth have taught us a lot about Earth’s surprising satellite. In this nontechnical talk, Andrew Fraknoi, who is sometimes called the Bay Area’s public astronomer, will look at the past, presen...

From millennial "womxn's" happiness to midlife career empowerment, ambitious working women climb succeed professionally not only by mastering their careers but also by simultaneously outsmarting gender bias, ageism and societal expectations that hold us back on the job and in life. Bring your lunch (if you like) and listen to experts discuss the surprising research and insights on how age and gene...