Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health Jun 03, 2022

Show notes

America faces a mental health crisis. Problems with mental health care preceded the pandemic, but over the past two years we've seen these problems grow into a crisis as young people were more likely to die from deaths of despair than from COVID-19.

This presentation describes the path to solve this mental health crisis. Dr. Tom Insel says part of the solution involves fixing the care system—moving from a crisis-driven sick-care system to a comprehensive, continuous health-care system. Innovative technology will be part of this fix. So will innovative policy. But mental health is about more than mental health care. Insel says the path to mental health requires a focus on recovery defined by the 3 P's: people, place and purpose.

Join us as Insel urges that we reframe our approach to mental illness, recognizing that the problem is medical but the solutions are social, environmental and political.

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About the SpeakerTom lnsel, M.D., a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, has been a national leader in mental health research, policy and technology. From 2002–2015, Dr. Insel served as director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). More recently, he led the Mental Health Team at Verily (2015–2017); co-founded Mindstrong Health (2017–2019), a start-up building tools for people with serious mental illness; and served as a special advisor to California Governor Gavin Newsom (2019), helping on behavioral health issues. In 2020, he co-founded Humanest Care, a therapeutic online community for recovery. He currently serves on the boards of Foundation for NIH, Fountain House, Schaeffer Center for Health Policy, and the Steinberg Institute (chairing it from 2019–2022), as well as being an advisor to several mental health start-ups (including Alto Neuroscience, Cerebral, Compass Pathways, Owl Insights, Koa Health, Valera Health). He is the author of Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health (Penguin Random House, 2022). With journalist co-founders, he recently launched

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MindSite News, a nonprofit digital publication focused on mental health issues. Dr. Insel is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and has received numerous national and international awards including honorary degrees in the U.S. and Europe. More info at

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his website.MLF ORGANIZER

Patrick O'Reilly

SPEAKERS

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Tom lnsel

M.D., Psychiatrist; Neuroscientist; Author, Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health

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Patrick O'Reilly

Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist; Assistant Clinical Professor, UC San Francisco; Chair, Member-Led Psychology Forum—Moderator

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 31st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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CLIMATE ONE: Disrupted Energy Markets: Fossil Revival or Renewable Opportunity? Jun 03, 2022

Show notes

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and other economic pressures disrupt global energy markets, even insiders are scrambling to make sense of this moment. Ahead of the midterm elections, the Biden administration has signaled it wants more oil and gas now to ease the pain of surging fuel prices while maintaining support for cutting carbon emissions. Oil and gas aren’t the only commodities affected by market chaos. The supply chain, including for clean energy technology, has also been disrupted. How are surging fossil fuel prices, changes in policy, and supply chain turmoil affecting US climate goals?

Guests:

Kate Larsen, Partner, Rhodium Group

David M. Turk, Deputy Secretary, US Department of Energy

Justin Guay, Director, Global Climate Strategy, Sunrise Project

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Kwame Onwuachi: Recipes From a Young Black Chef Jun 02, 2022

Show notes

Kwame Onwuachi holds countless, monumental accolades. From being the James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef of the year to being dubbed “the most important chef in America” by the San Francisco Chronicle, Onwuachi is an expert restaurateur and chef. Moreover he joyously seeks to flaunt the diversity of American food by bringing to life the dishes of his own America. In his forthcoming book My America: Recipes from a Young Black Chef, Kwame brings the nation and world together, both in his stories and on the plate.

More than 125 recipes accompany Onwuachi’s personal tales and connections to the dishes, creating an intimate cookbook that celebrates the people and flavors of the African Diaspora. The globe-spanning recipes include sumptuous fares such as Trinidadian callaloo and shrimp étouffé. Considering My America opens with a “Spice Blends” section, we readily forecast many flavorsome, powerhouse meals to come.

At Inforum, Kwame Onwuachi will elucidate and familiarize us with the flavors that comprise his America. Alongside these, we’ll get first-hand accounts of the stories that brought these dishes to his table. You will leave hungry for more and know just where to find it.

NOTES

This program is part of The Commonwealth Club's Food Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.

SPEAKERS

Kwame Onwuachi

Chef; Author, My America: Recipes from a Young Black Chef

In Conversation with Michelle Meow

Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW/KPIX TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 19th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Democrats and Rural Voters: How to Rebuild Trust Jun 01, 2022

Show notes

Rural voters.

For the past several years, the voting behaviors, interests, cultures and beliefs of those who live far outside cities have been an obsession for many in the media as well as politicians and political strategists in both parties. Rural voters clearly played a role in the election of former President Trump in 2016, and they are expected to play an outsized role in the 2022 and 2024 elections as American continues to divide into "red" and "blue" areas. The general belief is that Democrats have lost rural voters to Republicans for the foreseeable future. For Maine State Senator Chloe Maxmin, a progressive politician, nothing could be farther from the truth.

As the youngest person ever elected to the Maine senate, Maxmin won successful elections in rural red districts that few thought could be won by a Democrat. She and her campaign manager, Canyon Woodward, saw how, in their view, the Democratic Party has focused for too long on the interests of elite leaders and big donors, forcing the party to abandon the concerns of rural America—jeopardizing, they say, progress on climate justice, racial equity, economic justice and more. In their new book, Dirt Road Revival, Maxmin and Woodward look at how rural American has been left behind and lay out a long-term vision for Democrats to rebuild trust and win campaigns in rural America. Their book shows how progressive values can be translated into a rural context, moving beyond the failed strategies of establishment consultants and utilizing grassroots-movement organizing strategies to effectively engage rural voters.

Maxmin and Woodward will discuss how they believe Democrats can change their current course and win in districts in every area of the country. Please join us for this unique conversation.

SPEAKERS

Chloe Maxmin

Maine State Senator (District 13); Co-Author, Dirt Road Revival: How to Rebuild Rural Politics and Why Our Future Depends On It

Canyon Woodward

Political Strategist; Co-Author, Dirt Road Revival: How to Rebuild Rural Politics and Why Our Future Depends On It

Vikrum Aiyer

Member, Inforum Advisory Board; Former Obama White House Senior Advisor—Moderator

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 18th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Robert Kuttner: FDR's Legacy and President Biden's New Deal Opportunity May 31, 2022

Show notes

When President Joe Biden took office, the problems the new president faced were similar to the challenges faced by another U.S. president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt: decreasing opportunity for the average American, disproportionate power of the mega-wealthy, and a starkly divided political system. To help address these issues nearly a century ago, FDR launched The New Deal, forever changing American society. To longtime political analyst Robert Kuttner, the similarities between 2022 and 1932 means President Biden has a similar opportunity to transform the country through major public investments.

In his latest book, Going Big, Kuttner draws on the striking similarities between the circumstances of FDR and Biden, including the major crossroads of American politics that marked both their terms. With democratic backsliding, deep partisan divides and the ever-growing power of corporate interests, Kuttner says President Biden’s vision for the future will have critical implications for the future of the country—and, just like the New Deal, an army of opposition determined to maintain the status quo.

Join us, as Kuttner explains what is at stake for America in 2022 and the opportunity President Biden has at this unprecedented time in the nation’s history.

MLF ORGANIZER

George Hammond

SPEAKERS

Robert Kuttner

Co-Founder and Co-Editor, The American Prospect; Ida and Meyer Kirstein Chair, Brandeis University; Author, Going Big: FDR's Legacy, Biden's New Deal, and the Struggle to Save Democracy

In Conversation with Arlie Hochschild

Professor Emerita of Sociology, University of California Berkeley

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San Francisco Decides: The District Attorney Recall Election Show editorially warning May 30, 2022

Show notes

As San Francisco decides whether or not to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin on June 7, join us for a nonpartisan forum to hear from both sides on this important choice. Boudin was elected in 2019 on a progressive platform of decarceration and criminal justice reform. While many applaud these efforts, doubts about the effectiveness of Boudin’s policies, coupled with highly-publicized crimes, have dogged Boudin’s office (and city leadership at-large). Increasing fears of disorder in the city and questions about the district attorney’s job performance have led to San Francisco’s second recall election this year.

To break down the Boudin recall, The Commonwealth Club has invited two leading voices with opposing views on this important election.

Lara Bazelon is a professor of law and the director of the Criminal Juvenile Justice and Racial Justice Clinical Programs at the University of San Francisco School of Law. Her writings on the justice system and its shortcomings have appeared in The Atlantic and The New York Times, and she’s been a vocal supporter of the district attorney.

Brooke Jenkins served as assistant district attorney under Boudin until October 2021. She agrees with Boudin’s central tenet that the criminal justice system is racist and needs reform, but she left the office due to what she saw as a prioritization of politics over outcomes and the needs of crime victims and their families. She supports his recall.

SPEAKERS

Lara Bazelon

Professor of Law and Director of Criminal Juvenile Justice and Racial Justice Clinical Programs, University of San Francisco

Brooke Jenkins

Former Assistant District Attorney of San Francisco

Melissa Caen

Attorney; Political Analyst—Moderator

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 17th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future May 29, 2022

Show notes

Can democracy, as we know it, ever work again? This is the question that New York Times political journalists Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns asks after examining the 2020 election and the first year of Joe Biden’s presidency, and going behind the scenes of this 18-month crisis in American democracy.

In their latest book, This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future, Martin and Burns give the account of the events that led to and from the 2020 presidential election in stunning detail. Walking through the coronavirus pandemic, the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol and the political brinkmanship of Biden’s first year in office, Martin and Burns provide in-the-room descriptions of Trump’s assault on the election, the behind the scenes story of how Kamala Harris became Biden’s vice presidential pick, and how the two-party electoral system was strained to its limit.

Join us, as Martin and Burns provide never-before-seen descriptions of the events behind one of American democracy’s most infamous hours.

SPEAKERS

Alexander Burns

National Political Correspondent, The New York Times; Political Analyst, CNN; Co-Author, This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future; Twitter @alexburnsNYT

Jonathan Martin

National Political Correspondent, The New York Times; Political Analyst, CNN; Co-Author, This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future; Twitter @jmartNYT

In Conversation with Willie Brown

Former Mayor of San Francisco

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Let’s Talk Solutions: The Future of Bay Area Housing May 28, 2022

Show notes

We must solve our housing crisis if we are going to build a Bay Area where people of all races and backgrounds can thrive in safe, affordable, and vibrant communities. From homelessness to innovative regional approaches and new zoning flexibilities, the Bay Area has a new set of housing tools that can help us accelerate our efforts. The current inequalities and issues are rooted in policies and practices that we collectively have the power to change.

Join The Commonwealth Club of California and the San Francisco Foundation to learn from a powerful panel of leaders. What makes them optimistic about the future and what will it take to build a better Bay Area? Speakers include: Fred Blackwell, San Francisco Foundation CEO; Tomiquia Moss, All Home CEO and founder; Cindy Chavez, Santa Clara County supervisor, and Dan Sawislak, executive director of Resources for Community Development.

NOTES

This program is supported by the San Francisco Foundation's Bay Area Leads Fund donors.

SPEAKERS

Cindy Chavez

Santa Clara County Supervisor

Tomiquia Moss

All Home, CEO & Founder

Dan Sawislak

Executive Director of Resources for Community Development

Fred Blackwell

CEO, San Francisco Foundation—Moderator

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Bill Gates: How to Prevent the Next Pandemic May 27, 2022

Show notes

Though the COVID-19 pandemic isn't over, it is heading into a new phase, particularly in Western countries such as the United States and throughout Europe. Increasingly, citizens want a return to normal, with fewer restrictions, and are showing willingness to find ways to live with and manage the virus. As government leaders around the world strive to transition their countries to this new normal, they are also starting to talk about what happens next and how we can prevent another pandemic from once again killing millions of people and devastating the global economy. But given the controversies around fighting COVID-19, is this even possible?

Bill Gates believes the answer is yes.

In his new book, How to Prevent the Next Pandemic, Gates lays out what he believes the world can learn from COVID-19 and what can be done to ward off another disaster like it. Relying on the knowledge of the world's foremost experts and his own experience combating fatal diseases with the Gates Foundation, his new book shows us how the nations of the world, working in conjunction with one another and with the private sector, can stop future outbreaks and ultimately save lives.

Join us for an in-depth discussion on what the world can and must do to prevent the next pandemic.

SPEAKERS

Bill Gates

Co-chair, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Author, How to Prevent the Next Pandemic; Twitter @BillGates

In Conversation with DJ Patil

Former U.S. Chief Data Scientist; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @dpatil

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 16th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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CLIMATE ONE: Indigenous Insights on Healing Land and Sky May 27, 2022

Show notes

According to the World Bank, land managed by Indigenous peoples is associated with lower rates of deforestation, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and better biodiversity protection. But in many places, Indigenous people have been displaced from their ancestral lands through outright theft, land grabs, violence and war — sacrificing both indigenous livelihoods and the traditional knowledge that has protected their lands for centuries.

Still, across the U.S. we can find examples of land access, stewardship and ownership being restored to Indigenous people – and more efforts being made to involve tribal nations in conservation and climate resilience.

“Climate change isn't just about protecting the natural world; it’s also about protecting our culture and who we are because we've resisted against so many colonial forces for so long,” says Julia Fay Bernal, director of the Pueblo Action Alliance.

Guests:

Jessica Hernandez, author, Fresh Banana Leaves

Priscilla Hunter, Board Chairwoman, Intertribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council

Sam Hodder, President and CEO, Save the Redwoods League

Julia Fay Bernal, Director, Pueblo Action Alliance

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