Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Michael Eric Dyson: Entertaining Race Nov 23, 2021

Show notes

For more than 30 years, Michael Eric Dyson has played a prominent role in the nation as a public intellectual, university professor, cultural critic, social activist and ordained Baptist minister. He has presented a rich and resourceful set of ideas about American history and culture. Now, for the first time, he brings together the various components of his multihued identity and eclectic pursuits.

Entertaining Race: Performing Blackness in America dives into how Black people were forced to entertain white people in slavery, have been forced to entertain the idea of race from the start, and must find entertaining ways to make race an object of national conversation.

Most of this work will be new to readers, a fresh light for many of his long-time fans, and an inspiring introduction for newcomers. Join us as Michael Eric Dyson takes us through his new work, and offers insight into the role of African American culture in American culture.

SPEAKERS

Michael Eric Dyson

Distinguished University Professor of African American & Diaspora Studies, College of Arts & Science, and of Ethics & Society, Divinity School, and NEH Centennial Chair at Vanderbilt University; Author, Entertaining Race: Performing Blackness in America

In Conversation with Lauren Sanders

Journalist

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 November 16th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

QTAPIs: The Personal and the Political Nov 23, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to Hearts and Minds—A QTAPI Community Conversation Series, Session Three: FTAPIs—The Personal and the Political.

Join us for an intergenerational panel discussion of QTAPI (queer and trans Asian Pacific Islander) people discussing and sharing stories of their personal involvement in politics and community organizing.

The Asian and the Pacific Islander communities are not monoliths unto themselves, so no program can possibly speak to the breadth of diversity and uniqueness in those communities. But we will explore certain moments in the panelists' own personal histories and lived experiences as they reflect on questions such as: What got them involved in API and/or LGBTQ issues? Was there a specific moment that moved you to become involved? Who were your mentors? How has your involvement changed from when you started? What is the most rewarding aspect of this work? And more.

SPEAKERS

James Coleman

Member, South San Francisco City Council

Valli Kalei Kanuha

Ph.D., Teaching Professor and Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, University of Washington

Sammie Ablaza Wills

Community Organizer; Outgoing Executive Director, APIENC

Willy Wilkinson

M.P.H., Writer; Public Health Consultant; Cultural Competency Trainer; Author, Born on the Edge of Race and Gender: A Voice for Cultural Competency

Michelle Meow

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly: Monetary Policy in Uncertain Times Nov 23, 2021

Show notes

Mary C. Daly is the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. She returns to The Commonwealth Club for a much-anticipated discussion on how to approach monetary policy amidst the uncertainty of an economy still struggling to overcome the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since taking office in October 2018, Dr. Daly has committed to making the San Francisco Fed a more community-engaged bank that is transparent and responsive to the people it serves. She works to connect economic principles to real-world concerns and concentrates on monetary policy, labor economics, and increasing diversity within the economics field. Dr. Daly began her career with the San Francisco Fed in 1996 as an economist specializing in labor market dynamics and economic inequality. She went on to become the bank’s executive vice president and director of research. She currently serves on advisory boards for the Center for First-generation Student Success and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. She has also served on the advisory boards of the Congressional Budget Office, the Social Security Administration, the Office of Rehabilitation Research and Training, the Institute of Medicine, and the Library of Congress.

Dr. Daly earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, a master’s degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Ph.D. from Syracuse University. She also completed a National Institute of Aging post-doctoral fellowship at Northwestern University. A native of Ballwin, Missouri, Dr. Daly now lives in Oakland, California, with her wife Shelly.

SPEAKERS

Mary C. Daly

President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

Lenny Mendonca

Former Chief Economic and Business Advisor, Director of the Office of Business and Economic Development, State of California; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maryles Casto: My Journey from the Clouds to Silicon Valley CEO Nov 22, 2021

Show notes

In her new book, A Hole in the Clouds, Maryles Casto shares how, as part of the dramatic economic growth of Silicon Valley, she built her travel business from a $1,500 startup to a $200 million company, serving the needs of the tech industry. She describes how advice from key industry pioneers—such as Intel’s Andy Grove and Robert Noyce and V.C.s William Bowes and Irwin Federman—contributed to her perspective on business, and offers invaluable lessons on her strategies that helped the business to thrive despite being in an industry threatened by extinction. She describes how her business success then led her to champion community and cultural organizations.

When Maryles Casto left her family’s sugar plantation in the Philippines in 1959 and moved to the United States as a new bride, she brought with her a love for travel and the stellar customer-service experience she’d gained as a flight attendant for Philippine Airlines. She never imagined she’d be building a business from scratch in an unfamiliar country. But when her husband went back to school, she needed to find a job. She founded Casto Travel soon after, a company she ran for more than four decades.

Join us as Maryles Casto discusses the true story of how she transformed her life from unemployed flight attendant into the CEO of one of the most successful travel companies in the country, and of the many interesting characters she has met along the way!

NOTES

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

SPEAKERS

Maryles Casto

Chairman and CEO, MVC Solutions; Author, A Hole in the Clouds: From Flight Attendant to Silicon Valley CEO

In Conversation with Dr. Gloria Duffy

President and CEO, The Commonwealth Club of California

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 November 15th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CLIMATE ONE: Taking Stock of COP26 Nov 19, 2021

Show notes

In 2015, delegates from 196 nations entered into the legally binding treaty on climate change known as the Paris Agreement, which set a goal of limiting global warming to “well below 2 and preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels.” Yet in August of this year, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a new assessment report that starkly illustrated the world’s collective failure to meet that target. Delegates from across the globe have just met in Glasgow for the international climate summit known as COP26, with the hope of strengthening commitments to keep emissions targets at that 1.5 degree level.

After two weeks of negotiations, presentations and protests in Glasgow, COP26 is a wrap. This week we discuss what was achieved - and what wasn’t - at the summit.

For transcripts and other information, visit: https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts

Guests:

Vanessa Nakate, Ugandan climate activist

Jiang Lin, Adjunct Professor, University of California Berkeley

Albert Cheung, Head of Global Analysis, Bloomberg New Energy Finance

Support our work: climateone.org/donate

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Sharaka Project and the Abraham Accords Nov 18, 2021

Show notes

Our distinguished, diverse panel will discuss the Abraham Accords, which began a new era of cooperation between the broader Middle East region and Israel, and inspired the development of entities such as the Sharaka Project. (Sharaka means "partnership" in Arabic.).

The project was founded by young leaders in order to turn the vision of people-to-people peace into a reality and encourage citizen diplomacy. Sharaka is currently located in Bahrain, Israel, The UAE, the United States and soon will open in Morocco. The panelists will also share their personal stories and cultures that inspire them.

MLF ORGANIZER

Celia Menczel

NOTES

MLF: Middle East

SPEAKERS

Omar Al Busaidi

CEO, Sharaka USA, Fulbright Scholar

Hayvi Bouzo

Journalist; Washington, D.C., Bureau chief, The Orient News

Dan Feferman

Director of Communications and Global Affairs, Sharaka; Fellow, The Jewish People Policy Institute

Chama Mechtaly

Artist; Founder and CEO, Moors and Saints

Banafsheh Keynoush

Ph.D., Vice-Chair, Commonwealth Club Middle East Member-Led 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 November 10th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Roots of Peace in Afghanistan Nov 18, 2021

Show notes

For more than 25 years, Heidi Kuhn, at the helm of Roots of Peace, has been dedicated to cultivating peace and to helping rebuild war-torn countries by turning the scourge of land-mined areas into profitable agricultural land.

For example, in Afghanistan, a country 80-percent dependent on an agricultural economy, her esteemed charity has removed millions of landmines and planted millions of trees and vines, which greatly benefits countless Afghan farmers and their families.

Kuhn will also discuss her recent efforts to help her female employees emigrate and how after the ending of America's "forever" war and despite the unexpected, rapid Taliban takeover, Roots of Peace continues in Afghanistan.

MLF ORGANIZER

Celia Menczel

NOTES

MLF: Middle East, International Relations

SPEAKERS

Heidi Kuhn

Humanitarian; Founder and CEO, Roots of Peace

Atta Arghandiwal

Former Refugee; Author Lost Decency: The Untold Afghan Story

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 November 9th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Black Farming: Food Justice and Land Stewardship Nov 17, 2021

Show notes

Black communities have a long and complicated relationship with American soil. The ongoing call to address systemic racism, patterns of abuse, violence and dispossession have brought back to the mainstream the conversation of BIPOC communities' historical connections to land.

What are the connections between this history and current "food apartheid" (food deserts)? How is the Black farming movement connected to changes in larger food systems and the growth of worker cooperatives? How are people incorporating environmental sustainability into their work? And what can we learn from both the rich history of resistance and current strategies to inform how we resource a world where all people have access to healthy, fresh and locally sourced food?

Join the San Francisco Foundation and The Commonwealth Club of California as Doria Robinson, executive director of Urban Tilth, and Andrea Talley, worker-owner of the Mandela Grocery Cooperative, explore multiple issues and interconnections that surround farming and food access for BIPOC communities. In conversation with Natalie Baszile, noted author of Queen Sugar and We Are Each Other’s Harvest.

SPEAKERS

Doria Robinson

Executive Director, Urban Tilth

Andrea Talley

Worker-Owner, Mandela Grocery Cooperative

Natalie Baszile

Author, Queen Sugar and We Are Each Other's Harvest: Celebrating African American Farmers, Land, and Legacy

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 November 8th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alec Ross: The Raging 2020s and the Fight for Our Future Nov 16, 2021

Show notes

Corporate America and our government both hold the power to shape our daily lives. However, Alex Ross says recently there seems to be a blur between big business and Congress in the “new Gilded Age”. Private companies have become as powerful as countries, leading many to wonder about the implications for everyday people.

In the face of unprecedented global change, New York Times bestselling author Alec Ross proposes a new social contract to restore the balance of power between government, citizens and business in The Raging 2020s: Companies, Countries, People—and the Fight for Our Future.Through interviews with the world’s most influential thinkers and stories of corporate activism and malfeasance, government failure and renewal, and innovative economic and political models, Ross proposes a new social contract―one that resets the equilibrium between corporations, the governing, and the governed.

Join us as Alec Ross takes us through the changing landscape of the relationship between big business, government and people.

SPEAKERS

Alec Ross

Distinguished Visiting Professor, The University of Bologna Business School; Former Senior Advisor for Innovation to the U.S. Secretary of State; Author, The Raging 2020s: Companies, Countries, People—and the Fight for Our Future

In Conversation with DJ Patil

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John McWhorter: The Limits of Antiracism Nov 16, 2021

Show notes

Since the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, Americans have been engaged in a vast discussion on the state of race in America. Like many topics in the country, the issue has become a divisive, tense debate about how the country faces its racist past, the meaning of systemic racism, the role of critical race theory in K–12 schools and universities, and what it means to be "anti-racist" during this challenging moment in American civic life.

Renowned linguist and award-winning writer John McWhorter feels this debate and discussion has been dominated by a "woke mob" that subscribes to theories that are illogical, unreachable and, ultimately, racist in their impact, however unintentional those effects may be. In his book Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America, McWhorter argues that an "illiberal neoracism," disguised as antiracism, is hurting Black communities and weakening the American social fabric.

In Woke Racism, McWhorter reveals the workings of this new progressive approach toward race, from the original sin of “white privilege” to the weaponization of cancel culture to ban heretics. His book sets out to show how efforts that claim to “dismantle racist structures” are actually harming his fellow Black Americans by infantilizing Black people, setting Black students up for failure, and passing policies that disproportionately damage Black communities. Some may call it “antiracism,” but to McWhorter, it features a racial essentialism that’s barely distinguishable from racist arguments of the past.

Please join us for an important discussion on the limits of antiracism with an increasingly visible writer who has a different roadmap to justice that he believes will help, not hurt, Black America.

SPEAKERS

John McWhorter

Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University; Author, Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America

Debra J. Saunders

Fellow, Chapman Center for Citizen Leadership; Columnist, Creators Syndicate—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 November 2nd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices