Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Housing, Race and Homelessness: Ending Poverty in the Bay Area Show editorially warning May 26, 2022

Show notes

Ending poverty in the Bay Area will require innovation, partnership, and pro-active, anti-racist strategies. Join us as we come together to outline how we can build a future where everyone has a stable home that enables us to pursue our dreams, raise our families, and build the lives we want to live. In this virtual “fireside chat,” we’ll hear from a variety of voices across the movement to end poverty in the Bay Area, including former Stockton mayor and founder of End Poverty in California (EPIC) Michael Tubbs and All Home CEO Tomiquia Moss, as we explore the ways that housing instability is interconnected with racial inequality, poverty and homelessness.

This virtual event in honor of Affordable Housing Month in May will begin with a chat with former mayor of Stockton Michael Tubbs, moderated by Tomiquia Moss, outlining his five-point platform for ending poverty in California. Then a panel discussion with representatives from broad cross-sector partners will take the conversation from principles and concepts to action items and concrete next steps.

NOTES

This program is convened by the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California (NPH) and co-hosted in partnership with Silicon Valley @ Home, East Bay Housing Organizations, Housing Leadership Council, Generation Housing, the Council of Community Housing Organizations, United Way Bay Area, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI).

SPEAKERS

Cathy Eberhardt

Vice Chair, Oakland Mayor’s Commission on Persons with Disabilities

Melissa Jones

Executive Director, Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative

Michael Tubbs

Founder, End Poverty in California

Courtney Welch

Emeryville City Councilmember

Tomiquia Moss

Founder and CEO, All Home

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 23rd, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Marc Lamont Hill and Todd Brewster: Technology, Social Media and the Fight for Racial Justice May 25, 2022

Show notes

In recent years, an influx of racially motivated attacks against people of color in local communities has made national headlines: and the cases of George Floyd, Breanna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery have sparked international conversations. In today’s age, exposure to racial injustice is more accessible than ever with the rise of video recording and the intimacy of technology. The power to spread information globally, all with the touch of a button, is reshaping the civil rights movement and pushing social justice forward.

Marc Lamont Hill and Todd Brewster are both award-winning journalists and bestselling authors who reveal the common thread between these harrowing incidents. They recognize that technology has irrevocably changed our conversations about race and, in many instances, tipped the levers of power in favor of the historically disadvantaged.

In their newest book, Seen and Unseen: Technology, Social Media, and the Fight for Racial Justice, Hill and Brewster draw on the increasing role of media in the racial justice movement to discover why it took the horrifying footage of the murder of George Floyd—despite a wealth of video evidence of previous police brutality—to trigger outrage. The book is a riveting exploration of how the power of visual media has shifted the narrative on race over the last few years and reignited the fight toward justice.

Join us as co-authors Marc Lamont Hill and Todd Brewster explore the powerful role technology plays as a driver of history, identity, and racial consciousness.

SPEAKERS

Marc Lamont Hill

Host, "BET News" and "Black News Tonight"; Steve Charles Chair in Media, Cities, and Solutions, Temple University; Co-Author, Seen and Unseen: Technology, Social Media, and the Fight for Racial Justice; Twitter @marclamonthill

Todd Brewster

Journalist; Historian; Co-Author, Seen and Unseen: Technology, Social Media, and the Fight for Racial Justice; Twitter @ToddBrewster

In Conversation with LaDoris Cordell

Judge (Ret); Author, Her Honor: My Life on the Bench . . . What Works, What's Broken, and How to Change It

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 11th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Francis Fukuyama: Liberalism and Its Discontents Show editorially warning May 24, 2022

Show notes

When noted political scientist Francis Fukuyama predicted the "end of history," it seemed that the Western form of traditional classical liberalism and democracy—rule of law, equal treatment, individualism, and political freedom—was on the march in countries around the world, and that a new political order would be established around the globe. However, as the Russian attack on Ukraine shows, the battle between autocracy and classic liberalism will continue to shape global relations in the present and the future, and as history it will tell the story of this complicated period in world history.

In his latest book Liberalism and Its Discontents, Fukuyama explains the troubled history of the American realization of classical liberalism here in the United States, and the challenges from both sides of the political spectrum arising in recent decades. With the right demanding economic freedom above all else, and the left making its core ideal the elevation of identity above the universality of humanity, Fukuyama argues that both approaches miss the mark in grasping classical liberalism, and the consequences can be disastrous both at home and around the world.

At this critical time, Fukuyama proposes a bold new defense of classical liberalism, and explains that failing to do so will continue to fragment America’s civil society, and will influence global pushback on democracy itself.

Join us as Fukuyama engages in a critical and timely discussion on classical liberalism, why it remains one of the most influential political ideologies of the past millennium, and why battles around it will determine the path of the 21st century for the United States and the world.

NOTES

This program is presented in collaboration with the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future

SPEAKERS

Francis Fukuyama

Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow, Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies; Author, Liberalism and Its Discontents; Twitter @FukuyamaFrancis

Tim Miller

Founder, Light Fuse Communications; Contributor, The Bulwark; Communications Director, Jeb Bush 2016; Author, Why We Did It (Forthcoming); Twitter @timodc—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 16th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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The Annual Innovate for Good Conference May 22, 2022

Show notes

After a 2-year hiatus, The Commonwealth Club and the University of San Francisco's School of Management are pleased to reinstate the Innovate for Good annual conference, an event where the intersection of business and social good takes center stage. Join us this year as we address the climate crisis.

In an increasingly digital and global economy, our cities and organizations are at a unique inflection point, where the most pressing issue of our time is how we sustain our planet. As was seen during proceedings in Glasgow at COP 26, public and private entities need to urgently accelerate innovations in energy, clean tech, fintech, and technology in order to address climate change in a way that is both economically viable and socially just.

How are businesses finding new ways to innovate for good in this reality? How are companies and governments partnering to innovate and deliver more sustainable solutions that balance human and environmental values?

The Innovate for Good conference is an annual symposium that brings together founders, CEOs, investors, academics, and nonprofit and government leaders who are taking action to shape a more sustainable and just world.

SPEAKERS

Yasmin Eichmann, Former COO of Nest Renew / Director of Energy Product Planning & Operations at Google

Allie Detrio, Chief Strategist of Reimagine Power

Rob Grant, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Social Impact at Cruise

Peter Light, CEO of Lumen Energy

Kate Reimer, Vice President Technology at Redaptive

Vipul Vyas, Cleantech Founder and USF Faculty member

Ravi Mikkelsen, CEO of Atmos Financial

Cathryn Peirce, Co-Founder and CEO at Carbon Zero

James Richards, CEO of Evergrow

Zach Stein, Cofounder of Carbon Collective

Alex Wright-Gladstein, Founder and CEO of Sphere

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 April 29th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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From D.C. to Silicon Valley to Hollywood: Leadership Lessons We Learned Along the Way May 21, 2022

Show notes

In celebration of APA Heritage Month, join us for this special roundtable gathering, in which former Facebook vice president and Ancestry CEO Deb Liu, U.S. Representative Marilyn Strickland, and New York Times best-selling author and filmmaker Abigail Hing Wen will share their remarkable journeys to the top of their respective fields in Silicon Valley, Washington, D.C., and Hollywood. Learn what the journeys of these three Asian American women to leadership roles in business, politics and pop culture can teach us about diversity and leadership in today’s America.

Drawing on their diverse experiences, the trio will explore what it means to be leading change from the inside during this critical time in our nation’s history. Hear their stories of perseverance and of how these powerful women now view their roles and responsibilities as leaders for the next generation.

SPEAKERS

Deb Liu

President and CEO, Ancestry; Author, Take Back Your Power: Ten New Rules for Women at Work (forthcoming); Twitter @debliu_

Marilyn Strickland

U.S. Representative (D-WA, District 10); Twitter @RepStricklandWA

Abigail Hing Wen

Filmmaker; Author, Loveboat, Taipei and Loveboat Reunion; Tech Executive; Twitter @abigailhingwen

Michelle Meow

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

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 13th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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CLIMATE ONE: Coping with Climate through Music May 20, 2022

Show notes

Music and social movements have historically gone hand in hand. Folk music played a unifying role for the labor movements in the United States. Music was central to the protests against the Vietnam War and in favor of Civil Rights. As more people become aware of the climate crisis, music is starting to reflect that. But there is still no one song or artist inspiring climate action the way music catalyzed other movements. Why aren’t more musical artists raising the alarm over the growing climate catastrophe? And for the artists who are, how do they express the anxiety and grief that they and their listeners are experiencing?

Guests:

Tamara Lindeman, Musician, The Weather Station

Jayson Greene, Contributing Editor, Pitchfork

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Inclusion: How Hawaii Protected its Japanese Americans from Mass Incarceration after Pearl Harbor May 20, 2022

Show notes

Following Japanʻs attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States removed 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry from their homes on the West Coast and incarcerated them in remote camps. In Hawai`i, fewer than 2,000 people among the 160,000 were incarcerated. The question is, why not en masse? If people of Japanese ancestry were actually a security threat, as alleged, their large and concentrated numbers and proximity to strategic installations were a reason for removal from Hawai`i. Thus far, historians have only generalized that they made up over one-third of the population and were vital to the economy.

In his new book, Inclusion, How Hawai’i Protected Japanese Americans from Mass Internment, Transformed Itself, and Changed America, author Tom Coffman has written a meticulously researched history of the remarkable individuals from across ethnic groups and civilian, police, FBI and military institutions who came together to spare Hawai`iʻs Japanese community from mass removal and enable their sons to serve America heroically in World War II, inspired by American ideals of democracy and equality. The community, working from the ground up, won the battle for “inclusion” against the exclusionary policies of President Franklin Roosevelt, the U.S. Navy, various generals and the anti-Japanese elements of the press. With a post-war epilogue, it provides a window into the inclusive, multi-ethnic culture of todayʻs Hawai`i.

SPEAKERS

Tom Coffman

Author, Inclusion

In conversation with Robert Handa

Reporter, NBC Bay Area News

Welcome by Dr. Mary G.F. Bitterman

President, The Bernard Osher Foundation; Member of the Board of Governors, Commonwealth Club of California

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Ukraine's Patriotism, Putin's Brutality and World Empathy May 19, 2022

Show notes

In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, great attention has been focused on a part of the world at the nexus of national and ethnic concern. On April 3, Rabbi Daniel Stein and Margalit Ir visited Krakow, Poland, to help Ukrainian refugees. In this special Commonwealth Club program, they will discuss their experience.

Ir, who is the child of Holocaust survivors, emigrated from Israel, which like many other countries has welcomed Ukrainian refugees. Celia Menczel, who sits on the elected council of the Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County, will talk about her family and about Vladimir Putin's autobiography First Person: An Astonishingly Frank Self-Portrait by Russia's President, which was recently mentioned in The Economist.

MLF ORGANIZER

Celia Menczel

SPEAKERS

Margalit Ir

Chair, Repair the World Committee, Congregation B'nai Shalom

Celia Menczel

Chair, Middle East Member-led Forum, The Commonwealth Club of California

Rabbi Daniel Stein

Rabbi, Congregation B'nai Shalom—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 10th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Inside Design with Tony Fadell May 18, 2022

Show notes

Tech gadgets surround us each day, and to entrepreneur and innovator Tony Fadell, each of them has a fascinating story, full of determination and ingenuity, of how they came to be. Having led the teams that developed the iPod, iPhone and Nest Learning Thermostat and drawing from 30 years of experience in the field, Fadell believes that anyone can learn how to be a better business leader by examining the hidden stories behind the devices that make up our lives.

Tony Fadell is an engineer, inventor and author who was responsible for co-designing three of Time magazine’s “50 most influential gadgets of all time.” Having decades of experience at Silicon Valley giants such as Apple and Google, Fadell has authored more than 300 patents and invested in or advised at several hundred start-up companies.

In his latest book, Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making, Fadell retells chapters of his journey from a designer to an executive, using them as case studies to illustrate effective leadership and problem solving in a competitive environment. Fadell provides a captivating, fast-paced encyclopedia of business strategy.

Join us live as Fadell retells the surprising stories behind many of our most familiar products, and the wisdom they have to share.

SPEAKERS

Tony Fadell

Co-inventor, the iPod and iPhone; Founder of Nest Labs; Principal at Future Shape LLC; Author, Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Work; Twitter @tfadell

In Conversation with John Markoff

Former Technology Reporter, The New York Times, Writer-in-Residence, Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence; Author, Whole Earth: The Many Lives of Stewart Brand; Twitter @markoff

Note: This program contains some EXPLICIT language

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Dr. Mary Lamia and Michael Krasny: Understanding Grief May 17, 2022

Show notes

The loss of a loved one can be overwhelming. Grief can impact us tremendously, both mentally and physically. How do we endure grief? Can we simply forget, or "get over it?"

In her new book, Marin County clinical psychologist Dr. Mary Lamia explains the science behind bereavement, from emotion to the persistence of memory, and shows people how to understand and adapt to death as a part of life. The book aims to expand our understanding of bereavement, placing it in alignment with how emotions work. Using numerous case examples and personal vignettes, Dr. Lamia's latest work helps people recognize the ways in which emotions are connected to memories and influence our experiences of loss. Dr. Lamia demonstrates how negative emotional responses experienced in grief often follow experiences with positive emotional memories.

Please join us for a powerful conversation on understanding and overcoming grief.

MLF ORGANIZER

Patrick O'Reilly

SPEAKERS

Dr. Mary Lamia

Clinical Psychologist; Professor, Wright Institute; Author, Grief Isn't Something to Get Over: Finding a Home for Memories and Emotions After Losing a Loved One

Michael Krasny

Former Host, "Forum," KQED

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 101th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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