Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Youth Talks: Students Speak Up About Schools and COVID-19 Aug 17, 2020

Show notes

Students: This program is for you! What do you want to tell or ask adults who are making the decisions that have changed your lives so dramatically over the past few months? Please join us for this free program to share your thoughts, questions, concerns and suggestions. Ever since the coronavirus shut down schools last spring, the national conversation has swirled around questions of whether and how to reopen. And though the new school year is upon us, we seem to be no closer to a resolution. But amidst all of the controversy, one set of voices has been almost entirely left out of the conversation: that of the students themselves. Developed by and for students, this program will be an interactive conversation about issues that are on young people’s minds, such as: What do students think about going to school—or not—in the middle of a pandemic? How have they been managing remote learning? What thoughts or worries do they have about social distancing? How have protests and social unrest affected them? Adults are encouraged to share this rare opportunity with the students in their lives and to listen in on this important conversation.

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Jim Sciutto: America and the World Today Aug 14, 2020

Show notes

Is there really a method to the seemingly chaotic behavior of Donald Trump? Are his outbursts calculated distractions or just involuntary tantrums? What does President Trump hold more precious—the integrity of the nation or his own television ratings? CNN’s Jim Sciutto, sets out to answer these questions. According to Sciutto, President Trump’s foreign policy has not only undermined American values and interests but also emboldened our enemies. Hear more about the changing landscape of our national security.

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Immigration Policies under COVID-19 Aug 14, 2020

Show notes

Immigration has been a hot-button issue for much of the past four years, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, major new restrictions on migration—legal and otherwise—came into force. Attorney Tammy Sumontha will discuss policy changes and their impacts on immigrants and their families. Sumontha, born and raised in Thailand, now practices law in San Diego, focusing on immigrants and U.S. immigration law. She has received several awards for her work, including the Judge Judith Keep Award and the Outstanding Community Service Award. She is the first Thai-born lawyer to be nominated and awarded those honors. Join us for a free program discussing immigration policies and what has changed in this time of global pandemic.

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Dan Pfeiffer: A Plan to Make America a Democracy Again Aug 13, 2020

Show notes

Few people know politics better than “Pod Save America” co-host and best-selling author Dan Pfeiffer. With the 2020 election fast approaching, Pfeiffer offers a candid look at the current state of our political landscape and explains how Democrats can dismantle Trumpist politics and take back the White House. According to Pfeiffer, conservatives have rigged American politics to drown out the voices of the people in favor of the powerful. He argues that without an aggressive response that recognizes who the Republicans are and what they have done, American democracy as we know it won't survive this moment, and a conservative, shrinking, mostly white minority will govern the country for decades. Pfeiffer was one of President Barack Obama’s longest-serving advisers, working on two presidential campaigns and spending six years as White House communications director and senior advisor to the president. Notes: This program contains EXPLICIT language.

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Making Change: Shaun King Aug 13, 2020

Show notes

Recent years have seen the incredibly rapid rise of Black rights movements that take a stand against police violence, a growing criminal justice system, and a widening racial wealth gap. As a journalist, civil rights activist, and co-founder of the Real Justice PAC, Shaun King is no stranger to activism in the face of opposition. King stands out for his long list of public service with past work in community service as an Oprah Winfrey Scholar and teaching in both Atlanta public schools and Atlanta’s juvenile justice system. More recently, he has focused on mobilizing internet campaigns to spread awareness and fundraising efforts around police brutality and criminal justice reform. He builds on the ideas of these movements in his new book, Make Change: How to Fight Injustice, Dismantle Systemic Oppression, and Own Our Future, by bridging the gap between problems that persist in our modern age with solutions that each one of us can help support. Join INFORUM for a special conversation with Shaun King, where he will share more about his journey as an activist and a unique commentary on how to navigate social justice and movement building among the best and worst of political climates.

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Zephyr Teachout: Break Up Big Power Aug 13, 2020

Show notes

Over the past couple of decades, corporations have increased their control of nearly aspect of American life. Big technology platform monopolists like Facebook and Google, and life science companies like Bayer have a greater concentration of wealth and power than we've seen in the United States since the Gilded Age. Critics say that massive, multinational companies are evolving into political entities that often have more influence than actual governments, bending state and federal legislatures to their wills and even creating courts that circumvent the U.S. justice system. The big question for many, of course, is: How can we recover our freedom from these giant companies? Anti-corruption scholar and activist Zephyr Teachout has one answer: Break up the monopolies that are increasingly in control of American democratic institutions and public life. In her new book, Break 'Em Up: Recovering Our Freedom from Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money, Teachout argues that monopolies are the root cause of many of the issues (economic inequality, the environment, partisanship) that today's progressives care most about, and that anti-trust efforts are critical tools to protecting society. In order to build a better future, Teachout believes we must organize and eliminate monopolies from the private sector and create new safeguards that prevent new ones from seizing power. The moderator for this program, noted Columbia Law School professor Tim Wu, discussed some of these issues in a program at The Commonwealth Club last year. Please join us for an important discussion of the dangers of consolidated private power and how we can develop a new path forward for our country . . . before it is too late.

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The Battle for Portland Aug 12, 2020

Show notes

The active presence of federal troops in Portland, Oregon sparked an increase in violence and protests just as the mayor said things had been calming down. Now President Donald Trump is promising to send troops to other large cities, ostensibly to put down the violence but critics say it is an election ploy designed to trigger reaction from protestors and increase support from the president's base. Join us for a conversation with journalist Robert Evans for an on-the-scene report from Portland on the ongoing confrontations in that city—and their implications nationwide. Robert Evans has worked as a conflict journalist in Iraq and Ukraine and reported extensively on far-right extremist groups in the United States. He's particularly interested in the ways terrorist groups recruit, radicalize and communicate through the Internet. This program contains some Explicit language.

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Paul Begala: How Democrats Can Win Again Aug 12, 2020

Show notes

“You’re fired!” was Donald Trump’s iconic catch phrase for years as a reality TV personality. Now, President Trump’s poor approval ratings have led to a 4-year conversation on how to defeat him in November. In his new book You’re Fired, popular political strategist Paul Begala has a reply to this pressing issue for Democrats. Begala picks apart Trump’s politics and outlines how liberals and progressives can unseat the president come November. Begala argues that distraction is President Trump’s superpower. For Democrats to win, Begala says they must make their case to America that President Trump has failed them while also implementing a strong strategy of progressive politics and party unity. Tune in for our conversation with Paul Begala that is sure to be filled with wit and political wisdom.

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Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed Aug 11, 2020

Show notes

The New York Times bestseller Maybe You Should Talk to Someone takes readers into both Lori Gottlieb’s therapy office where she sees patients and her own therapist's office, where she lands after a crisis. But really the book is about the universal human condition. Gottlieb writes about topics that make people think differently about themselves and the world around them: love and loss, meaning and mortality, gender and culture, parents and children, female appearance, regret and redemption, hope and change. In any given year, 30 million Americans sit on a therapist's couch, but there's still stigma around mental health struggles. Gottlieb will talk about this cultural moment in mental health, which factors are contributing to the anxiety/depression/loneliness, what really goes on in a modern-day therapy room (from both sides—as patient and therapist), and what we can do in our daily lives to take control and feel better. MLF ORGANIZER Patty James NOTES This program contains some explicit language MLF: Health & Medicine

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Is It Over Yet? A Special Week to Week Political Roundtable Aug 08, 2020

Show notes

With a pandemic raging, an economy in trouble, racial justice galvanizing protestors nationwide, it's not a bad time to have a political roundtable, right? We'll discuss the latest political news with civility and good humor, and we invite you to be a part of this virtual experience.

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