Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Private Tour of the Liberty Ship SS Jeremiah O’Brien Apr 22, 2026

Show notes

Join us at the North End of Pier 35 for a private tour of the SS Jeremiah O’Brien. See what Rosie the Riveter and Wendy the Welder helped create, and hear about the ship’s fascinating history and the details of keeping a war machine’s supply chains open and effective. Experience the ship as she was in 1943, tour her historic decks, and explore her engine room (powered by a functioning triple-expansion steam engine similar to the one used on the Titanic—and which was filmed in action by James Cameron for use in his 1997 movie).

The Liberty Ship SS Jeremiah O’Brien, permanently docked at Pier 35, is a living museum of the Bay Area’s crucial role in the massive production efforts required to equip the WWII Allies and keep them supplied under adverse wartime circumstances.

Launched on June 19, 1943, from the New England Shipbuilding Corporation in South Portland, Maine, the SS Jeremiah O’Brien is one of the last survivors of the 2,710 Liberty ships that were built—and the only one that remains completely unaltered and fully operational. She carried troops and supplies across dangerous wartime seas, completing seven voyages to destinations as far-flung as Northern Ireland, India, Australia, and South America. She also made 11 crossings to the Normandy beachhead during the D-Day landings—a critical component of the largest seaborne invasion in history.

In 1994, she journeyed through the Panama Canal and across the Atlantic Ocean to take part in the 50th anniversary of D-Day. She was the only Liberty ship— and the only vessel from the original invasion fleet—to return to the beaches of Normandy. Her voyage, widely celebrated in Europe and the United States, cemented her status as a symbol of courage, endurance and historical fidelity.

And every year she still sails a few times on the Bay—always for May Memorial Cruise and for Fleet Week.

A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums.

In association with the Liberty Ship SS Jeremiah O’Brien Foundation

Organizer: George Hammond

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

Nancy Pelosi Reflects on 40 Years on Congress Apr 21, 2026

Show notes

When House of Representatives Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi announced her retirement last year, USA Today called her “the most powerful woman in the history of the United States.” The first woman to become speaker and one of the most consequential legislators of her era, Pelosi has represented San Francisco for nearly four decades.

First elected to Congress in 1987, Pelosi has described her journey as going from “kitchen to Congress, housewife to House Speaker.” She says she was first driven to run for office out of concern over child poverty. Among the proudest achievements she cites are shepherding passage of the Affordable Care Act and passing the American Rescue Plan Act in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She also points to her leadership on climate issues, including the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022— the largest climate investment in American history.

In this Commonwealth Club World Affairs program, Pelosi will reflect on her career, the turning points that defined her leadership, and the future of American democracy. From her years in Washington’s power centers to the upheavals of recent political history, she joins us to talk about her legacy and her view of the road ahead—including this year’s midterm elections and 2028 presidential race.

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

Mix, Mingle & Be Moved: An Evening with San Francisco Poet Laureate Genny Lim, Musicians Chris Trinidad and Pianist Unpil Baek Apr 21, 2026

Show notes

The star of the evening is Genny Lim, San Francisco’s current poet laureate—an acclaimed poet, playwright and performer whose work reflects the rhythms, struggles and resilience of the city we call home. Appointed poet laureate in 2024 by London Breed, Lim is the city’s first Chinese American poet laureate. Drawing inspiration from her upbringing in Chinatown and North Beach, her poetry invites us to listen more deeply—to one another and to San Francisco itself.

The evening will also feature remarks from Commonwealth Club World Affairs Board Member Claudine Cheng, with a moderated conversation led by Dion Lim, former ABC7 news anchor.

Enjoy an intimate evening featuring:

A live poetry experience with Genny
Lim is accompanied by musicians Chris Trinidad, known for jazz, Latin, and experimental music, and Unpil Baek, a Bay Area-based pianist anchored in improvisation and cross-genre collaboration
Reflections on poetry as connection, healing and civic voice
Time to mingle with fellow members over light refreshments

Come for the poetry. Stay for the conversation.

Join us for an evening designed to inspire, connect and remind us why shared cultural experiences matter.

No-host bar and lite bites.

An Arts Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums.

Organizer: Robert Melton

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

CLIMATE ONE: Two Stories That Prove Change Is Possible Apr 17, 2026

Show notes

We are living through a time where big positive change seems unachievable, but there are two instances from the recent past that prove change is possible. For over a century, Indigenous people along the Klamath River fought to protect their way of life, and the salmon they depend on. Their persistence helped remove four dams and restore hundreds of miles of river. In Los Angeles, decades of science, activism, and policy turned toxic smog into cleaner air.

Both stories reveal that progress takes persistence, coalition-building, and time. But when communities push and institutions respond, meaningful change is possible.

Guests:

Amy Bowers Cordalis, Yurok Tribe member, Author, The Water Remembers

Ann Carlson, Professor of Environmental Law, UCLA; Author, Smog and Sunshine: The Surprising Story of How Los Angeles Cleaned Up Its Air

For show notes and related links, visit ⁠https://www.climateone.org/podcasts⁠

Highlights:

00:00 – Intro

02:26 – Amy Bowers Cordalis on the river and salmon

06:63 – Amy Bowers Cordalis on Uncle Ray

12:53 – Amy Bowers Cordalis on witnessing the effects of the dams

16:04 – Amy Bowers Cordalis on the lowest salmon run

2218 – Amy Bowers Cordalis on getting to destroy the dams

28:18 – Amy Bowers Cordalis on seeing the river come back to life

34:13 – Ann Carlson on the state of LA air

37:58 – Ann Carlson on the first steps towards cleaning the air

40:14 – Ann Carlson on getting from pineapples to smog

44:27 – Ann Carlson on the Mothers of East LA

52:40 – Ann Carlson on why it the book is important now

**********

Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on ⁠Patreon⁠, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today at ⁠patreon.com/ClimateOne⁠.

Ad sales by ⁠Multitude⁠. Contact them for ad inquiries at ⁠multitude.productions/ads⁠

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

CLIMATE ONE: Press Start: Video Games and the Climate Crisis Apr 10, 2026

Show notes

About half the global population spends some amount of their leisure time playing games, whether it’s a board game after dinner with friends or online role-playing experience through an alternate world. While many video and board games have long incorporated elements we can imagine in a climate-altered future — such as resource scarcity, conflict, and survival — some in the industry are working to shift players’ mindsets towards protecting nature and reducing their own climate impacts in the process.

Daybreak is a cooperative board game about stopping climate change. Cities: Skylines lets players do urban planning with climate-friendly policies such as offering free public transportation or implementing congestion pricing. And the UN’s Environment Programme is backing the Playing for Planet Alliance, which awards games that spark engagement while delivering an environmental message. How can games encourage people to explore climate realities and possible futures in a way that allows greater engagement, rather than anxiety and despair?

Guests:

Jacob Geller, Author; Video Essayist

Laura Carter, CEO and Founder, TreesPlease Games

Sam Barratt, Chief of Youth, Education and Advocacy, UN Environment Programme

For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/podcasts

Highlights:

00:00 – Intro

00:30 – Kousha and Ariana play a video game

05:00 – Jacob Geller on video games and climate themes

11:00 – World-building games that employ climate solutions and strategies

21:30 – Laura Carter on her early love of games and environmental issues

26:00 – LongLeaf Valley and storytelling in games

33:30 – Why build tree-planting into the gameplay

40:00 – Sam Barratt on why video games medium is so critical for engagement

46:30 – Playing for the Planet Alliance and Green Games Jam

52:00 – Why it’s important for games industry to decarbonize

58:00 – Climate One More Thing

**********

Ad sales by ⁠Multitude⁠. Contact them for ad inquiries at ⁠multitude.productions/ads⁠

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

Dr. Ibram X Kendi: The Origins of Our Authoritarian Age Apr 10, 2026

Show notes

What is “great replacement theory” and how did it come to be a powerful fuel for right-wing nationalist groups in the United States and around the world?

When white marchers in Charlottesville, Virginia, chanted “You will not replace us,” it was probably the first time most Americans had heard the phrase. But a string of mass shooters around the world—in Oslo and Christchurch, Buffalo, El Paso, and Pittsburgh—all claimed their crimes were a defense against “white genocide.” These incidents only scratch the surface of this ascendant idea: Popular and ruling politicians in every region of the world have been expressing some version of great replacement theory, eroding democratic norms in the name of preventing demographic change and claiming to restore national greatness.

Variations on the theory have been around for centuries, but it was given this name by a French novelist in 2011 who believed Black and Brown immigrants were “invading” Europe, brought there by shadowy elites to “replace” Europe’s white population. Politicians and theorists—in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Chile, Hungary, Australia and elsewhere—repackaged the conspiracy as a story of “globalists” welcoming “migrant criminals” and diversity initiatives to take away the jobs, cultures, electoral power, and the very lives of white people. Over time, great replacement theory has expanded the threatened categories to include citizens, men, Jews, Christians, heterosexuals, and ethnic majorities in various countries. All are targeted with the message that they are under an existential attack that only a strongman can prevent.

Ibram X. Kendi, author of the new book Chain of Ideas, returns to the Club to explore the roots of great replacement theory and its various mutations around the world. He says the controversial theory has brought humanity into this authoritarian age, but we can free ourselves from it. Come find out how.

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

Gov. Josh Shapiro: Where We Keep the Light Apr 09, 2026

Show notes

Join us in-person or online to hear a grounded and intimate portrait of life by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.

His new book, Where We Keep the Light, is the story of public service and personal faith. From an early age, Josh Shapiro learned and practiced the power of showing up, listening and executing, to make people’s lives a little better. Shapiro relates powerful stories about his family, his faith, and what matters to Americans tired of all the divisiveness and distrust in our leaders.

Reflecting on what he’s learned by knocking on doors, serving his community, and tackling the tough problems that no one wanted to touch in new and different ways, Shapiro reminds us that government can be a force for good, that conventional wisdom is rarely wise, and there’s more that unites Americans than divides us.

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

Taeku Lee: The Billionaire Backlash Apr 08, 2026

Show notes

How can corporate scandals—from Enron to the Facebook privacy controversy—change the way the world works for the better?
Political scientists Pepper Culpepper and Taeku Lee have drawn on a decade of research on policymaking and public opinion to show how scandals can ignite a public with few political outlets for their discontent. Scandals don’t simply dominate news cycles: they can provoke us to demand better policy, spurring governments to adopt rules that protect us from massive corporations run amok.

They say that today it is giant companies, not governments, that run the world. Businesses launch rockets into space, control satellite communication, and develop era-defining AI technologies. But around the globe, these corporate titans are facing increasing public hostility. Tech giants are accused of promoting misinformation, undermining democracy and violating our privacy. Big banks, reeling since the financial crisis of 2008, continue to face major scandals. Drawing on real-life examples such as the powdered milk scandal that rocked France, the VW scandal in Germany, the Goldman Sachs scandal in the United States, Cambridge Analytica in Britain and Samsung in South Korea, Culpepper and Lee say these scandals are not just symptoms of a careless corporate elite, they are opportunities for real political change.
They explore all of this in their book The Billionaire Backlash, and Taeku Lee comes to Commonwealth Club World Affairs to reveal their take on how the shared anger of citizens can be channeled into a backlash that has the potential to reinvigorate our failing democracies. One corporate scandal at a time.

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

When Justice Isn’t Enough, With D.A. Brooke Jenkins and Dion Lim Apr 06, 2026

Show notes

Join Emmy Award–winning journalist Dion Lim and San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins for a timely conversation on justice, accountability and community impact.

They will examine two tragic cases—Grandma Yik Oi Huang and Grandpa Vicha, elderly members of the Asian American community who were fatally attacked. While the legal outcomes differed, both cases deeply affected the community.

What does justice truly look like when vulnerable lives are lost to senseless violence?

This forum will explore not only the courtroom outcomes but also the lasting emotional and societal impact—inviting community members and advocates into a thoughtful dialogue about justice in practice and what it means for those most affected.

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

CLIMATE ONE: Benji Backer: Nature is Nonpartisan Apr 03, 2026

Show notes

In a moment when nearly everything feels polarized, Benji Backer is trying to carve out a different path, one where caring about the natural world isn’t a partisan issue. As the founder of Nature Is Nonpartisan, he’s bringing together voices from across the political spectrum who might disagree on climate policy, but still share a desire to preserve public lands, wildlife, and the outdoors.

Can conservation still serve as common ground in a divided country? What does it take to make environmentalism resonate beyond traditional audiences? Is a bipartisan movement possible in today’s political climate?

Guests:

Benji Backer, Founder and CEO, Nature is Nonpartisan

Skyler Zunk, Founder and CEO, Energy Right

For show notes, transcript, and related links, visit ⁠ClimateOne.org/podcasts⁠.

Highlights:

00:00 – Intro

03:30 – Benji Backer on his relationship with nature

05:54 – Benji Backer on how Nature is Nonpartisan came to be

09:29 – Benji Backer on making conservation culturally relevant

16:44 – Benji Backer on the hard work of moving policy forward

21:19 – Benji Backer on why political leanings are labeled on staff page

24:16 – Benji Backer on bringing more people into the tent