Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Located in the geopolitically important Caucasus region of Eastern Europe, Georgia serves as a vital U.S. ally and a gateway for American companies to access Eurasian markets. Georgia, the birthplace of wine, is bordered to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, and to the south by Turkey and Armenia. Georgia regained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and for more than 25...

In late May, millions of Europeans will head to the voting booth for elections that will determine the future of the European Union (EU). As the Brexit controversy deepens and a violent populism rises in several European countries, this year's parliamentary elections will be decisive for the EU’s survival and instrumental in how major powers, including the United States, are affected. Please join...

In a rich and varied career that has included roles as U.S. secretary of state, secretary of the treasury and secretary of labor, George P. Shultz has aided presidents, confronted national and international crises, and argued passionately that the United States has a vital stake in promoting democratic values and institutions. In speeches, articles, congressional testimony and conversations with w...

Join us for this voyage spécial to Paris, with three travel writers who share their love of all things Parisian. They will talk about their own adventures and also read excerpts from a new edition of Vignettes & Postcards from Paris, the award-winning anthology originally created at Shakespeare and Company bookstore. Come enjoy a discussion of Parisian literary and creative culture of the past and...

Have you ever taken an underground sewer tour in San Francisco? Or wandered through a labyrinth where the land meets the sea? Secret San Francisco unlocks these secrets and other little-known stories about our city’s most enduring icons. You’ll find out about the real crookedest street, local windmills and an airport for flying boats. Along the way, you’ll encounter bizarre and often hilarious his...

Four years ago, 21 student plaintiffs sued the U.S. government for violating their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property by failing to act on climate change. On the other side of the world, 15-year-old Greta Thunberg initiated a global youth strike for climate, prompting 1.6 million students in over 120 countries to leave school in protest of adult inaction. Will this global surge i...

In 1953, Robert Cutler—the first person appointed to be national security advisor to the president, and one of the closest aides to new President Dwight Eisenhower—helped put into effect an executive order that destroyed the lives of thousands of federal employees just because they were homosexual. What was not known at the time is that Cutler himself was gay. Come hear Cutler's great-nephew, Pete...

What does it mean to be a journalist in 2019? Scott Pelley, a longtime CBS anchor and "60 Minutes" correspondent, knows better than most. In his new book, Truth Worth Telling: A Reporter’s Search for Meaning in the Stories of Our Times, he reflects on his years of experience, what it means to report the truth, and how this era of fake news and free speech controversies is still the best time to be...

After eight years of Republican control, the blue wave of 2018 put Democrats back in charge of the U.S. House and made Representative Adam Schiff chair of the House Intelligence Committee. With broad power and jurisdiction, Schiff’s committee oversees the nation’s intelligence agencies, from components of the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, Justice, and the CIA. While his investigati...

This week, our in-studio guests will be Brett Andrews of the Positive Resource Center and Sherilyn Adams of Larkin Street Youth. They will discuss the challenges and rewards of working in the nonprofit sector. 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 i...

This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. Adam Savage is a maker. From his elaborate Comic-Con costumes to a 1,000-shot Nerf gun, he has built thousands of projects as a special effects artist and co-host of the hit TV show “MythBusters.” Savage will highlight some of his memorable ideas and shares what inspires him to build, make, invent, explore a...

When Nancy Pelosi first ran for political office at the age of 47, she wasn’t new to politics. From the time she spent helping her father while he served as the mayor of Baltimore, working for Jerry Brown’s presidential campaign or serving as the Democratic Party chair of California, she developed skills that would propel her to the peak of American politics. As the speaker of the U.S. House of Re...

Join us for an evening to recognize community leaders advocating for immigrant rights. Immigration has become the central social issue of our time. A rise in anti-immigrant policies and rhetoric are creating instability for immigrants, including many here legally. Advocates argue that those most in need are being turned away at the border, detained, and their families separated with no clear path...

The speakers will survey the retirement living options available in the Bay Area, from living at home to choosing a communal living option. Learn the key decision points in comparing rental, equity-based options, entry fee communities and assisted living. A spreadsheet answering frequently asked questions will be provided. Subsidized, low-income housing options will not be included in this program...

What does a former advisor to Richard Nixon think about the climate crisis? “This is turning out exactly the way scientists predicted, with one exception: it’s happening faster than they thought,” says David Gergen, who served in four presidential administrations. “The question is what can we do rapidly that would alleviate this and be fair to all.” InsideClimate News reporter Marianne Lavelle cre...

Join us as we discuss the biggest, most controversial and sometimes the surprising political issues with expert commentary by panelists who are smart, are civil and have a good sense of humor. Our panelists will provide informative and engaging commentary on political and other major news, and we'll have audience discussion of the week’s events and our live news quiz! And come early before the pro...

Technology has transformed the often-confusing personal finance landscape. From Bitcoin to mobile pay, digitization has fundamentally changed the rules of spending, saving and investing, and financial guru Alexa von Tobel views these changes as incredible opportunities. Von Tobel’s confusion surrounding her own personal finances as a young professional shaped the trajectory of her career. She drop...

Franca Viola made #MeToo history in 1966. When she was 18, she refused to go along with a centuries-old forcible marriage custom in Sicily. Having endured kidnap and rape, she publicly defied the expectation that she would marry the rapist in order to “restore her broken honor.” A social uproar occurred throughout the island and beyond. Two decades later, with little more than the memory of the ar...

Whether it was the invention of the radio at the beginning of the 20th century or the advent of smartphones in the mid-to-late 2000s, technological revolutions have fundamentally shaped the era with which they are associated. Yet, according to Susan Hockfield, technological advances are only the half of it. It is instead the combination of technological innovation with biological research that are...

For a decade, Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) India program has advanced clean energy and public health solutions while fighting climate change. As India, the world's largest democracy, prepares to vote in its general election, the country’s clean energy future remains a central question. Will India achieve its ambitious climate goals and successfully fight air pollution? What does Indi...

The Green New Deal is shaking up climate politics in Washington. The resolution’s ambitious clean energy goals are championed by several leading Democrats — but are criticized by Republicans for being costly and unrealistic. With an increasing number of Green New Deal alternatives being put forward by Democrats, the pressure is on Republicans to propose an actionable climate plan of their own. Is...

Julia Flynn Siler’s new book, The White Devil’s Daughters: The Fight Against Slavery in San Francisco’s Chinatown, is a revelatory history of the trafficking of young Asian girls—a practice that flourished in San Francisco during the first century of Chinese immigration (1848–1943)—and the "safe house" on the edge of Chinatown that became a refuge for those seeking their freedom. Starting in 1874,...

Annie Jacobsen is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and investigative journalist whose work revolves around government secrets. She has published books on a range of topics, including what really goes on inside Area 51; Operation Paperclip, which brought Nazi scientists to America; and government-funded research projects on extrasensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis. Her latest book delves into one o...

Monday Night Philosophy and almost all physicists agree that quantum mechanics is among humanity's finest scientific achievements. But ask what it means, and the result will be a not-so-scientific brawl. For a century, most physicists have followed Niels Bohr's Copenhagen interpretation and dismissed questions about the reality underlying quantum physics as meaningless. That is why, even though it...

Suicide and mental health are hard subjects—so Crisis Text Line leveraged the power of the data it collects to help their counselors determine the best way to talk about the topics with those in need. The nonprofit, founded in 2013 by CEO Nancy Lublin, has provided a free text-based and human-driven service to support those experiencing mental health stress, gathering data points from more than 75...