Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Mary Trump: The Reckoning Oct 05, 2021

Show notes

With her first book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man, trained clinical psychologist Mary L. Trump focused a spotlight on their family's complex history to explain how her uncle became a historically disruptive national figure. The book was a international bestseller, appearing in the midst of a heated presidential election and providing deep insight into the nation's 45th president.

Now in The Reckoning: Our Nation's Trauma and Finding a Way to Heal, Mary Trump examines America's national trauma, rooted in our history but dramatically exacerbated by the impact of current events and the Trump administration's divisive policies. She says that our failure to acknowledge this, let alone root it out, has allowed it to metastasize. Whether the trauma manifests itself in rising levels of rage and hatred, or hopelessness and apathy, the stress of living in a country people feel they no longer recognize has affected millions. It’s a collective PTSD that a new leader alone cannot fix.

Mary Trump explores how our current trauma is the logical outcome of the stories we tell ourselves, the myths we embrace, and the lies we perpetuate. Trauma shapes us in ways we may not be aware of, and will always do so unless we face what has happened to us, what we’ve done to ourselves, what we’ve done to each other. She says an enormous amount of healing must be done to rebuild our faith in leadership, and our hope for this nation, and it starts with the reckoning.

Mary L. Trump holds a Ph.D. from the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University, and has taught graduate courses in trauma, psychopathology and developmental psychology.

SPEAKERS

Mary Trump

Psychologist; Author, The Reckoning

In Conversation with Molly Jong-Fast

Editor at Large, The Daily Beast

Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker

Journalists; Authors

In Conversation with Yamiche Alcindor

Host, "Washington Week," PBS

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 September 26th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Mary Roach's Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law Oct 05, 2021

Show notes

Mary Roach wants to let us in on a secret: The greatest number of repeat criminal offenders are outside, all around us, and you’ve probably even seen some today—animals. It has only been three centuries since animals had to stand trial for their misconduct, in a court of law, with legal representation. Yes, really.

In her newest book, Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law, the science enthusiast turned writer deep-dives into human-animal conflict. As human land consumption creeps further into the natural habitats of these so-called troublemakers, it becomes more pressing to realize a symbiotic coexistence. The question becomes: Who is in the wrong, animals living according to their instincts or the humans that increasingly police them? To answer this question, Roach trots the globe from the Himalayas to Vatican City making friends with rats and foes with a macaque. Ultimately she reaches the conclusion that there is true, untamed hope for working with rather than against our critter counterparts.

At INFORUM Roach will regale us with stories as wild as they are true, such as her foray into rat-bait taste testing. Further she will serve as our safari-guide in the conversation of how to bring outdoor and indoor worlds together safely and justly at a time when this work is needed most. This conversation is moderated by Kara Platoni, Wired's science editor

SPEAKERS

Mary Roach

Author, Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law

Kara Platoni

Science Editor, Wired—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 September 21st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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CLIMATE ONE: Katharine Hayhoe on Hope and Healing Oct 01, 2021

Show notes

Despite her identity as an evangelical, climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe doesn't accept global warming on faith; she crunches the data, analyzes the models, and helps engineers, city managers and ecologists quantify the impacts. In her new book, Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World, Hayhoe argues that when it comes to changing hearts and minds, facts are only one part of the equation.

“The biggest problem we have is not the people who willfully decide to reject 200 years of basic science,” she says. “The bigger problem is the number of people who say, ‘it's real’ but they don’t think it matters to them.”

Hayhoe says we need to find shared values with others to drive conversations and collective action on climate disruption.

Guest:

Katharine Hayhoe, climate scientist and chief scientist, The Nature Conservancy; author, Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World

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“Asian for All”—How to Be a 21st Century Museum Sep 29, 2021

Show notes

The mass movements of summer 2020 brought together millions and compelled museums across the country to confront their own legacies with urgency and openness. Director of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco Jay Xu will share how the museum navigated these challenges while endeavoring to transform the 55-year-old museum into a 21st century experience accessible and welcoming to all.

Through an ever-growing contemporary art collection, investment in accessible digital technologies, a new pavilion helping to reenergize Civic Center, and an expansive look at what it means to be a culturally specific museum during a surge in anti-Asian racism, Xu will talk about his team’s efforts to inspire and connect audiences from around the world—with art as well as with each other. The discussion will be moderated by Deborah Clearwaters, director of education and interpretation at the Asian Art Museum.

NOTES

MLF: Asia-Pacific Affairs

SPEAKERS

Dr. Jay Xu

Barbara Bass Bakar Director & CEO, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco

Deborah Clearwaters

Director of Education and Interpretation, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco—Moderator

Introduction by Jim Brown

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 February 11th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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A New Era of Experiential Medicine: From Video Games to Psychedelics Sep 28, 2021

Show notes

A fundamental challenge of our health-care system is the enhancement of cognition for millions of people who suffer from psychiatric and neurological conditions. Despite 70 years of global effort in attempting to identify molecules deliverable as pills to accomplish this goal, we have largely failed to deliver truly effective, accessible and low-side-effect treatments for cognitive impairments associated with medical conditions, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, ADHD and dementia.

It is important to be aware that for thousands of years we humans have been creating experiences to enhance the quality of our lives and support our mental health. However, this approach has largely been marginalized as “alternative” and has not been embraced within the core of mainstream medicine. Dr. Adam Gazzaley will describe his mission to develop and validate experiences as medicine by integrating neuroscience-guided design, invention and experimentation. In this talk, he will discuss his invention of a closed-loop video game that has now become the first FDA-cleared video game for any medical condition, and the first digital treatment for ADHD. He will share how the next generation of experiential medicine will incorporate advances in artificial intelligence, sensory immersion, virtual reality, multimodal physiological recordings and noninvasive electrical brain stimulation. He will conclude with a deep dive into his newest undertakings to explore the intricacies and possibilities of one of man’s oldest experiential medicines—psychedelics.

Dr. Adam Gazzaley obtained an M.D. and Ph.D. in neuroscience at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, completed neurology residency at the University of Pennsylvania and postdoctoral training in cognitive neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley. He is currently the David Dolby Distinguished Professor of Neurology, Physiology and Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco and the founder and executive director of Neuroscape, a translational neuroscience center at UCSF engaged in technology creation and scientific research.

MLF ORGANIZER

Patty James

NOTES

MLF: Health & Medicine

SPEAKERS

Dr. Adam Gazzaley

M.D., Ph.D., David Dolby Distinguished Professor of Neurology, Physiology and Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco; Founder and Executive Director, Neuroscape

Patty James

M.S., N.C. Nutritionist; Chef; Author—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 September 22nd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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A Conversation with Peter Coyote Sep 28, 2021

Show notes

Peter Coyote has acted in more than 130 films (including E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Cross Creek, Jagged Edge,Patch Adams, Erin Brockovich, and Hemingway & Gellhorn), is an Emmy Award-winning narrator of more than 200 documentaries (including, for Ken Burns, The West, The National Parks, Prohibition, The Dust Bowl, The Roosevelts, The Vietnam War, The Mayo Clinic, and Country Music), and is a political activist, singer/songwriter and a Buddhist priest.

He has also penned two memoirs. He is the author of the new book of poetry, Tongue of a Crow, and a forthcoming December book, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Meet Buddha: Masks, Meditation, and Improvised Play to Induce Liberated States, in which he "reveals how to use masks, meditation, and improvisation to free yourself from overthinking, self-doubt, and fixed ideas of who you think you are."

Join a fascinating conversation with Peter Coyote about his amazing life, career, and the lessons he's learned along the way.

NOTES

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

SPEAKERS

Peter Coyote

Actor; Political Activist; Author, Tongue of a Crow and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Meet Buddha: Masks, Meditation, and Improvised Play to Induce Liberated States (forthcoming)

In conversation with John Boland

President Emeritus, KQED; 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 September 2st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Innovative Connection: Mexico and Silicon Valley Sep 28, 2021

Show notes

When Americans think about Mexico, many things may come to mind—complexities around immigration, perhaps, or travel involving beaches and food. Technology and innovation are probably not on that list, but increasingly a new reality is taking hold across Mexico: a growing technology and innovation sector with strong links to Silicon Valley and Bay Area investors, entrepreneurs and companies.

Mexico’s young venture capital industry is growing rapidly. From $55 million in 2010, annual investment has grown to more than $1 billion. Softbank’s $5 billion Innovation Fund, created several years ago to invest in Latin America, was a turning point that put Mexico on the global venture map. Now the country boasts unicorns and fast-growing startups. More are on the way, supported by universities, accelerators and by large tech and startup conferences in cities such as Guadalajara and Monterrey.

The roots of Mexico’s economic and cultural ties with the Bay Area run exceptionally deep, dating to Spain’s settlement of California during the 1700s. Linked by history, culture and family, the two economies have grown in parallel but on very different paths. A turning point came in 1994 with North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which stimulated a wave of investment in manufacturing by U.S. and California companies in Mexico. More recently, a small but rapidly growing technology and innovation revolution has been taking place south of the border.

Please join us to learn more about the growing ties between Silicon Valley and the Bay Area and Mexico's growing technology and innovation sectors.

This program is based on the new Bay Area Council Economic Institute report, "Southern Connection: Innovation Clusters in Mexico and the Bridge to Silicon Valley."

SPEAKERS

Remedios Gómez Arnau

Cónsul General, Consulado General de México en San Francisco

Andy Tsao

Managing Director, Silicon Valley Bank

Lynne Bairstow

Managing Partner, MITA Ventures

Maritza Diaz

CEO, ITJuana

Sean Randolph

Senior Director, Bay Area Economic Institute--Moderator

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The Afghan Tragedy Sep 28, 2021

Show notes

Our distinguished panelists will give an overview of the present situation in Afghanistan following U.S. withdrawal and how quickly the Taliban took power. They will also explore how we might help our Afghan allies and others fleeing to the United States.

Humaira Ghilzai, who instituted the Sister City relationship between Hayward, CA and Ghazni, Afghanistan, is a dedicated woman's advocate and Afghan cultural advisor. She will talk about how we might help Afghan women threatened with the loss of rights and freedoms. Ami Dodson is a JFCS East Bay volunteer services manager who has been helping to to resettle Afghan refugees in the SF Bay Area. JCSF works with HIAS, a global Jewish nonprofit, which protects and assists refugees of all faiths and ethnicities. Steve Miska was a White House director for Iraq on the National Security Council, and during combat tours, he led a team that created an underground railroad from Baghdad to the United States for military interpreters.

MLF ORGANIZER

Celia Menczel

NOTES

MLF: Middle East

SPEAKERS

Ami Dodson

JFCS East Bay (Jewish Family and Community Services)

Humaira Ghilzai

Co-founder, Afghan Friends Network

Steve Miska

Colonel (ret.), U.S. Army; Author, Baghdad Underground Railroad

Atta Arghandiwal

Former Refugee; Humanitarian; Author, Lost Decency: The Untold Afghan Story—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 September 20th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Fear of a Black Universe Sep 27, 2021

Show notes

Join us for a conversation with cosmologist Stephon Alexander, who argues that great physics requires one to think outside the mainstream—to improvise and to rely on intuition. His approach has led him to three principles that shape all theories of the universe: the principle of invariance, the quantum principle, and the principle of emergence.

Alexander uses these three principles to explore some of physics' greatest mysteries, from what happened before the Big Bang to how the universe makes consciousness possible. Drawing on his experience as a Black physicist, Alexander makes a powerful case for diversifying our scientific communities because—after successfully incorporating a piece of life-changing advice that, in order to discover real physics, he needed to stop memorizing and start taking risks—Alexander has concluded that making further progress in physics probably requires embracing the excluded, listening to the unheard, and being unafraid of being wrong.

MLF ORGANIZER

George Hammond

NOTES

MLF: Humanities

SPEAKERS

Stephon Alexander

Professor of Physics, Brown University; Jazz Musician; Author, Fear of a Black Universe: An Outsider's Guide to the Future of Physics

In Conversation with George Hammond

Author, Conversations With Socrates

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 September 24th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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CLIMATE ONE: Preparing for Disasters We Don’t Want to Think About Sep 24, 2021

Show notes

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed structural weaknesses and inequities that existed long before 2020. Like COVID-19, climate change is another “threat multiplier,” with the power to disrupt many of our social systems.

In her new book, The Fight for Climate After COVID-19, Alice Hill says we need to adapt our thinking and our policies to combat the ever-increasing threat of climate change. Especially when we see more compound disasters – like a wildfire followed by a mudslide.

“We need to come together to understand the risks, understand the vulnerabilities and then start making decisions with the support and the aid of the federal government to have better outcomes,” Hill says.

What changes can we make now to better prepare for future risks and climate disasters?

Guests:

Alice Hill, author, The Fight for Climate After COVID-19, Senior Fellow for Climate Change Policy, Council on Foreign Relations

Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Thomas P. Bostick, Former Commanding General, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Francis Suarez, Mayor of Miami

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