Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

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HRH The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex: Generation Z—Trailblazers Oct 27, 2020

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Join us for a lively discussion on Generation Z and its response to these times. The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award engages with more than 1.1 million young people aged 14–24 globally, helping them find their purpose, passion and place in the world. His Royal Highness The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex KG GCVO, chair to the global movement, will engage in a conversation with recent Princeton valedictorian and Award holder Nicholas Johnson on Gen Z. Through the lens of what is occurring globally, and here in the United States, the two will discuss current challenges facing Gen Z and their collective response. Nicholas Johnson, haling from Montreal, Canada, is pursuing Ph.D. studies in operations research at MIT. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering Science Degree in operations research and financial engineering, with minors in computer science, statistics and machine learning, and applied and computational mathematics from Princeton University. He is the valedictorian of Princeton’s class of 2020 and the first Black valedictorian in the university’s history. His undergraduate thesis focused on developing high-performance, efficient algorithms to solve a network-based optimization problem that models a community-based preventative health intervention designed to curb the prevalence of obesity in Canada. The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award is a flexible and proven youth development program for 14–24 year-olds that complements formal classroom learning and focuses on challenging real-world experiences that build character, resilience and self-confidence. Founded in 1956 by its namesake HRH The Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, the Award methodology has stood the test of time. Youth undertaking the Award put a holistic emphasis on community service, skill-building and physical activity. Boasting millions of alumni from more than 130 countries and territories, and more than 8,000 alumni in the United States, the Award opened its national office just 4 years ago. As it continues to resonate worldwide, the Award is the largest global youth achievement program. As today's young people face the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 as well as calls to address racial injustice, the Award is dedicated to ensuring that young people will have what they need for the future . . . to benefit from great non-formal education and learning. This program from The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award USA is supported by: Salesforce (lead sponsor) Hellman & Friedman

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Hong Kong, China and the United States: Live with Joshua Wong Oct 27, 2020

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Twenty-three years after Britain's handover of Hong Kong to China, the government in Beijing has begun to deepen its control over the politics of the special administrative region. Despite mass protests and muted criticism from the West, Beijing's communist government has put into place rules constraining democracy and free speech. Joshua Wong was born just one year before the handover. He came onto the political scene in 2011 aged 14, when he founded Scholarism and successfully protested against the enforcement of Chinese National Education in Hong Kong. He has been arrested numerous times for his protesting and activism and has served more than 100 days in jail. He has been named by Time, Fortune, Prospect and Forbes as one of the world’s most influential leaders. In 2018 he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his leading role in Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement. He is the former secretary-general of Demosistō. He has been the subject of two documentaries, including the Netflix original, Joshua: Teenager vs Superpower. Wong joins us live from Hong Kong for a discussion of the students hoping to save democracy in Hong Kong and the Thai students who are looking to the Hong Kong activists for tactics in their own protests for reforming their political system.

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The Full Plate with Ayesha Curry Oct 27, 2020

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Many of us are cooking at home more often than ever before, but we still struggle to find new, quick recipes. Ayesha Curry knows this better than most—she’s a veteran cookbook author and working mother with limited time to make meals. But she also knows that finding balance between work and family life starts with gathering around the table to enjoy a home-cooked meal. In her new book, The Full Plate: Flavor-Filled, Easy Recipes for Families with No Time and a Lot to Do, Ayesha shares 100 recipes that take less than an hour to complete. Whether you’re looking for delicious pork chops or the perfect spicy margarita, Ayesha has it covered. Join us for a fun program as Ayesha discusses how she developed the recipes, how parents can provide family-friendly meals in a time crunch, and how we can all become better home cooks. This conversation will be moderated by San Francisco Chronicle food writer Justin Phillips. NOTES Co-hosted by INFORUM Part of our Food Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation

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The Campus Color Line Oct 27, 2020

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Join us for a virtual conversation with Professor Eddie Cole, whose research has revealed how closely intertwined some of America’s most pressing civil rights issues―desegregation, equal educational and employment opportunities, housing discrimination, and free speech―have been with higher education institutions. Cole supplements the common knowledge about the roles that college students and other activists played in the fight for and against civil rights by covering the roles played by the nation’s college presidents. Based on archival research conducted at universities and colleges across the United States, Cole focuses on the period between 1948 and 1968, during which college presidents strategically, yet often silently, initiated and shaped racial policies inside and outside of the educational sphere. With courage and hope, as well as with malice and cruelty, college presidents positioned themselves―sometimes precariously―amid conflicting interests and demands. Black college presidents challenged racist policies as their students demonstrated in the streets against segregation, while presidents of major universities lobbied for urban renewal programs that displaced black communities near their campuses. Some presidents amended campus speech practices to accommodate white supremacist speakers, even as other academic leaders developed the nation’s first affirmative action programs in higher education. Cole illuminates how the legacy of these academic leaders continues to influence the unfinished struggle for black freedom and racial equity in education and in society.

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CLIMATE ONE: Steve Schmidt and Varshini Prakash on Disrupting Climate Politics Oct 25, 2020

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Hard as it is to remember, there was a time when Democrats and Republicans weren’t all that far apart on climate change. As recently as 2008, both presidential candidates Obama and McCain supported a cap and trade system, including mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and oil refineries. Now, pushing a climate plan forward requires reaching out to some disenfranchised, divided, and deeply distrustful Americans. Can real talk on climate and COVID-19 ever reach Trump’s America? With the rise of the youth climate movement demanding bolder action, will legacy Democratic leaders be able to maintain power and influence?

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Sean Spicer, Former White House Press Secretary Oct 23, 2020

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Since leaving his role as White House press secretary in 2017, Sean Spicer has launched a successful talk show and written a best-selling book. Now, he’s focusing on the hardened state of politics in America. In his new book, Leading America, Spicer argues that too many look at the world as a zero sum game—either you're with them 100 percent, or you're the enemy. Whether you're in politics, media, academia, or entertainment, he says it's the same story. The former White House press secretary and communications director analyzes our current political moment through the lens of politics and culture and argues that everyone can and should take a stand to uphold their rights and values.

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo: Leadership During An American Crisis Oct 23, 2020

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When COVID-19 besieged the United States, New York State emerged as the global “ground zero” for a deadly contagion that threatened the lives and livelihoods of millions. Quickly, Governor Andrew Cuomo provided the leadership to address the threat, becoming a standard-bearer of the organized response the country desperately needed. With infection rates spiking and more people dying every day, the systems and functions necessary to combat the pandemic in New York—and America—did not exist. So Cuomo undertook the impossible. He unified people to rise to the challenge and was relentless in his pursuit of scientific facts and data. He quelled fear while implementing an extraordinary plan for flattening the curve of infection. In his new book, American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic, Gov. Cuomo tells the riveting story of how he took charge in the fight against COVID-19, offering hard-won lessons in leadership and his vision for the path forward as the country continues to face the deadly pandemic. Taking readers beyond his candid daily briefings, Gov. Cuomo’s new book provides a dramatic, day-by-day account of the catastrophe as it unfolded, providing an inside look at an unprecedented historical moment. In his own voice, Gov. Cuomo chronicles the ingenuity and sacrifice required of so many to fight the pandemic, sharing the decision-making that shaped his policy as well as his frank accounting and assessment of his interactions with the federal government, the White House, and other state and local political and health officials. Please join us for an intimate discussion on Gov. Cuomo’s view of what real leadership requires: clear communication, compassion for others, and a commitment to truth-telling—no matter how frightening the facts may be. It is a program you don’t want to miss as the country continues to face a challenging fight against COVID-19.

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Barry Lynn: The People vs. Concentrated Power Oct 22, 2020

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Over the past few decades, U.S. corporations have increased their economic and political power. Yet critics say Americans are only now awakening to the grave domestic threat this concentrated private sector power presents to our country. Open Market Institute Executive Director Barry Lynn says that monopolies today control almost every corner of the American economy with a concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the few. The result, says Lynn, is also a stripping away of our liberty and freedoms to work, live and communicate how people want, instead of how companies want. Nowhere is this more clear than in the rise of online monopolists such as Google, Facebook and Amazon―designed to gather our most intimate secrets and use them to manipulate our personal and group actions. Not only have these giant corporations captured the ability to manage how we share news and ideas with one another, Lynn says they increasingly enjoy the power to shape how we move and play, and speak and think. Please join us for an important discussion of monopoly power with two people at the cutting edge of fighting back against it. Barry Lynn, head of the Open Markets Institute and longtime critic of unbounded capitalism, is the author of the new book Liberty from All Masters: The New American Autocracy vs. the Will of the People, a treatise against America’s new monopolies. Roger McNamee has emerged as one of the most articulate critics of social media companies and how their design and business models pose serious dangers to people, our economy and our society. In 2019, McNamee spoke at the Club about these issues.

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Vote by Design: Igniting Voter Agency in Generation Z Oct 22, 2020

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Vote by Design is an award-winning voter literacy project incubated at Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school) that reimagines civic education and voter literacy through the lens of design. Vote by Design’s free workshop is nonpartisan, issue-agnostic and designed to provide first-time voters with what one teacher called “the driver’s test of voting” and another said it offered "lifelong skills every student should learn.” To date, Vote by Design has been offered to more than 1,000 students across the United States, from the deep red state of Montana to the deep South of Georgia and across California. One student shared, “I thought it was hopeless, but now I feel like I have a way to productively engage.” Another said, “I used to think what my parents thought, and now I think for myself." Vote by Design partnered with Citizen Film, the celebrated Bay Area documentary studio, to capture the student experience as they develop their capacity to be deliberative, informed, lifelong participants in the democratic process. Join Lisa Kay Solomon of Vote by Design and Sam Ball of Citizen Film as they premiere film clips and share insights from young voters’ dialogues with one another about what they want for their shared future. You can’t help but leave inspired and hopeful from what you learn! MLF ORGANIZER Gerald Harris NOTES MLF: Technology & Society

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Theodore Voorhees: Kennedy and Khrushchev Play the Double Game Over Berlin and Cuba Oct 22, 2020

Show notes

SPEAKERS

Theodore Voorhees, Jr.
Senior Counsel, Covington & Burling LLP; Author, The Silent Guns of Two Octobers: Kennedy and Khrushchev Play the Double Game

In Conversation With George Hammond
Author, Conversations With Socrates

In response to the Coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak, this program took place and was recorded live via video conference, for an online audience only, and was live-streamed by The Commonwealth Club of California from San Francisco on October 12th, 2020.

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