Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

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Pi Mai: Lao/Thai/Cambodian New Year in the Time of COVID-19 May 01, 2020

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Pi Mai is the Laotian New Year (also known as Songkran). It is a time of renewal. But how are Lao, Thai, and Cambodian celebrants dealing with this holiday during a time of sheltering at home, closed businesses, and a raging pandemic? We'll talk with four community activists about New Years in the age of the coronavirus.

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Rep. Adam Schiff: What America Missed About COVID-19 Apr 30, 2020

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As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across America, leaders and citizens alike across the country are asking the same question: How were we so unprepared? And how should we respond as a nation? Representative Adam Schiff, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, is working on getting answers and ensuring we’re better prepared for the next pandemic. In the last few weeks, Schiff and his congressional colleagues proposed a 9/11-style bipartisan commission to investigate the government’s response, determine if the administration ignored key warning signs, and help oversee how they spend the more than $2 trillion in relief funding. Join Schiff and Mother Jones Editor in Chief Clara Jeffery for a virtual conversation about missed warnings, the government’s response and where we go from here.

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Dr. Harvey Fineberg: Ten Weeks to Crush the Curve Apr 29, 2020

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The president says we are at war with the coronavirus. It’s a war we should fight to win. The economy is in the tank, and anywhere from thousands to more than a million American lives are in jeopardy. Most analyses assume that both the pandemic and the economic setback must play out over a period of many months. However, there is another option, one that simultaneously limits fatalities and gets the economy cranking again in a sustainable way. Dr. Harvey Fineberg believes if we establish six bold steps to mobilize and organize the nation, we can defeat COVID-19 by early June. The aim is not to flatten the curve—the goal is to crush the curve. Learn more about this forceful and focused campaign to eradicate COVID-19 in the United States. Fineberg has held several prominent positions over the course of his career, including dean of the Harvard School of Public Health, provost of Harvard University and president of the Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine).

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Alexis Madrigal: The COVID Tracking Project Apr 29, 2020

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As the COVID-19 crisis grips America and the world, the daily counts of confirmed cases and deaths have become ubiquitous. But these two numbers paint an incomplete picture about how widespread the outbreak truly is. To provide a more detailed scope of the crisis, journalist Alexis Madrigal started the COVID Tracking Project. Madrigal and a team of data and science experts have spent hundreds of hours obtaining, organizing and publishing high-quality data breaking down the test numbers. The data report the number of positive and negative tests done at the national and state levels, as well as pending tests and deaths. Madrigal joins us to break down this important work and how data can help us better understand an invisible enemy.

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COVID-19, Santa Clara County and the Future Apr 27, 2020

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As California nears 25,000 cases of COVID-19, there have now been more than 1,800 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Santa Clara County, with a death toll of over 60. With a population of nearly 2 million, the number of COVID-19-related deaths per 100,000 residents is the highest rate of any of the Bay Area’s five most populous counties. How are Santa Clara's leaders handling this crisis and what steps will they take to handle pandemics in the future? Hear more from Santa Clara County officials. This program is free, though donations are strongly encouraged and appreciated. This program is part of The Commonwealth Club’s virtual series, addressing the myriad impacts of COVID19 on our community and society at large. It is supported by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and collaborative of local funders and donors. We are grateful for their support and hope others will follow their example to support the Club during these uncertain times.

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Asian American Voices on Anti-Asian Violence Apr 26, 2020

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As Americans have grappled with coming to terms with the pandemic and its many effects on their lives—working from home, loss of income or job, homeschooling their children, worries about their own or their loved ones' health—some of them also have to worry about being attacked because of their race. Join us for a timely discussion of the discrimination, verbal abuse and even physical attacks directed at Asian-Americans as the COVID-19 pandemic has spread across the country.

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Born This Way Foundation: Building Kinder Communities, Supporting the Well-Being of Students and Improving Mental Health Resources Apr 26, 2020

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The Commonwealth Club and Born This Way Foundation Invite you to a conversation focused on the intersection of kindness and mental health during these unprecedented times. In this conversation, moderated by Maya Smith, you'll hear from mental health experts, advocates and young people on the many ways the COVID-19 pandemic has uprooted our normality, how we can find ways to spread kindness while also focusing on our mental health.

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CLIMATE ONE: Fossil Fuels in the Ground and in Your Portfolio Apr 25, 2020

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When institutional investors divest from fossil fuel companies does it have more than symbolic impact? Universities, pension funds and other asset managers have hopped on the divest–invest bandwagon. Critics say selling fossil fuel stocks just makes them cheaper for others to buy and doesn’t affect the financial health of oil and gas companies. Supporters say it’s a moral move that also makes financial sense because burning all the carbon on the balance sheets of listed energy companies will destroy human civilization as we know it. What’s the bottom line on divestment? What should you do with your portfolio? Join a conversation about financing the transition to a cleaner economy with Brian Deese, global head of sustainable investing at Black Rock, Lori Keith, portfolio manager at Parnassus Investments, Pratima Rangarajan, CEO of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, and Anne Simpson, director of board governance & strategy at CalPERS.

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Janet Napolitano: COVID-19, California's Universities and National Security Apr 25, 2020

Show notes

Join us for a rare conversation with Janet Napolitano about the societal impact of COVID-19 on universities and the U.C. system in particular, as well as the implications for national security now and in the aftermath of the COVID crisis. Napolitano is the 20th president of the University of California and the first woman to serve in this role. She leads a university system of 10 campuses, five medical centers, three affiliated national laboratories, and a statewide agriculture and natural resources program. She also served as the U.S. secretary of homeland security from 2009 to 2013, as governor of Arizona from 2003 to 2009, as attorney general of Arizona from 1998 to 2003, and as U.S. attorney for the district of Arizona from 1993 to 1997. Napolitano earned a B.S. degree (summa cum laude in political science) from Santa Clara University, where she was the university’s first female valedictorian. She received her law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. Notes This program is generously supported by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and a collaborative of local funders and donors. We are grateful for their support and hope others will follow their example to support the Club during these uncertain times.

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Artificial Intelligence and You: The Future of the Mind Apr 24, 2020

Show notes

It’s 2040, and you stroll into the Center for Mind Design where you can buy a variety of brain enhancements. How far do you want to go? The human calculator promises to give you savant-level mathematical abilities. The Zen garden can make you calmer and more efficient. Or you can buy “merge,” a series of enhancements that allow you to gradually augment and transfer mental functions to the cloud. This might all sound like science fiction, but Susan Schneider, a cognitive scientist and philosopher at the University of Connecticut and the NASA–Blumberg chair of astrobiology at the Library of Congress, says brain microchips and other techniques to integrate humans with artificial intelligence are under development. AI, she says, is revolutionizing the economy and will inevitably go inside the head as corporations attempt to allow us seamless access to our devices. Schneider addresses the implications of AI in our lives and how to ensure the science develops in a way that promotes human flourishing. MLF Organizer: Gerald Harris MLF: Technology & Society

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