Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

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An Evening with Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn Feb 05, 2020

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Acclaimed New York Times op-ed columnist Nicholas Kristof and entrepreneur Sheryl WuDunn are the Pulitzer Prize-winning authors behind countless best-selling books. In their newest work, Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope, Kristof and WuDunn turn their focus inward to the crisis in working-class America. Kristof, who grew up in rural Oregon, discovered one-quarter of the kids on his school bus growing up died in adulthood from drugs, alcohol, suicide or reckless accidents. While shocking to many, Kristof and WuDunn argue stories like this are representative of everyone from the Dakotas and Oklahoma to New York and Virginia. But along with tragedy, they tell stories of resurgence: recovery from opioid addiction, adults devoting their lives to helping teenagers navigate the reality of poverty and other inspiring journeys. According to Kristof and WuDunn, these accounts provide a picture of working-class families needlessly but profoundly damaged as a result of decades of policy mistakes. Join us for an uplifting and profoundly inspiring conversation with two writers who have devoted their lives to amplifying the voices of people who make the world a better place.

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Building the Transcontinental Railroad Feb 05, 2020

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The construction of the 1,776 mile long Transcontinental Railroad is one of the most impressive civil engineering achievements of the 19th century. Begun in 1863 during the Civil War, its construction required the efforts of thousands of workers who conquered demanding terrain and survived harsh construction and weather conditions. Giroux sheds new light on the civil engineers who designed and constructed that marvel, and commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Golden Spike. On May 10, 1869, it was hammered into place, completing the Transcontinental Railroad, which helped knit together the then recently restored Union from its Atlantic coast to its Pacific coast. MLF Organizer: George Hammond MLF: Humanities

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Donna DiGiuseppe: Renaissance Artist Sofonisba Anguissola Feb 05, 2020

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If you can't be in Madrid this month to see the exhibit of Sofonisba Anguissola's paintings at the Prado, come to The Commonwealth Club instead to hear all about this fascinating female Renaissance artist. Donna DiGiuseppe will describe why she turned Anguissola's biographical details into a novel, Anguissola's artistic apprenticeship with Bernardino Campi and the difficult process of cataloguing her work, which wasn't always signed. But Anguissola's legacy lives on in Italy, and her direct descendant, Count Ferrante Anguissola D'Altoe, recently wrote that Lady in Ermine captures Anguissola's 16th century, from lavish court life to its treatment of women. The reader roots for Anguissola to achieve her dream to paint the king and overcome the challenges of being a Renaissance woman painter. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities

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CLIMATE ONE: What Is a Just Transition? Feb 03, 2020

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Our nation’s dependence on fossil fuels has led to climate disruption and inequality. Underserved communities are the ones most harmed by pollution, lack of green space and heat-related illness. Transitioning to clean energy would seem to be the obvious answer. But in the process of trying to right old wrongs, do we risk leaving some communities behind? What does a just transition to a cleaner, greener economy look like?

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The 2020 Census and the LGBTQ+ Community Feb 03, 2020

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In 2020, the United States will conduct its 24th census. Will LGBTQI+ people be counted? Will they even bother to fill out the census forms? The results of the country's every-10-years census are used in everything from apportioning representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives to the provision of social services. Join us for a timely discussion about why the census is important to LGBTQI+ people and how it impacts resources for members of our community. El Censo del 2020 y la Comunidad LGBTQ+ En el 2020, los Estados Unidos llevará a cabo el censo por vigésimocuarta vez. ¿Se contará a las personas LGBTQI+? ¿Se molestarán siquiera en rellenar los formularios del censo? El censo ocurre cada 10 años y los resultados se usan para tomar decisiones importantes, desde cuántos representantes del Congreso recibe cada estado hasta la provisión de servicios sociales. Únete a una conversación oportuna sobre por qué el censo es importante para las personas LGBTQI+ y cómo afecta los recursos disponibles para miembros de nuestra comunidad. Notes In association with the the Office of Transgender Initiatives, the Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs, and the SF LGBT Center; Este evento esta copatrocinado por la Oficina de Iniciativas Transgénero, la Oficina de Participación Cívica y Asuntos de Inmigrantes, y el Centro LGBT de SF como parte de una serie de eventos para la campaña SF Counts. This program is part of a series of events for the SF Counts campaign

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Immortality Inc: The Quest to Live Forever Feb 02, 2020

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Can we live forever? Science journalist, Chip Walter reveals the ground-breaking research and visionaries who are trying to answer that very question. Find out more from Walter and leading rejuvenation, stem cell research and genetic experts who are redefining our understanding of life, aging and mortality. ** This Podcast Contains Explicit Language **

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Beyond Broadway: The Pleasure and Promise of Musical Theatre Across America Jan 31, 2020

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American musical theater conjures images of bright lights and big cities, but its lifeblood courses through local and amateur productions around the country. In Beyond Broadway, Stacy Wolf examines the widespread presence and persistence of musical theater in U.S. culture as a live, pleasurable, participatory experience. Wolf traveled from Maine to Hawaii, visiting schools, performance festivals, summer camps, outdoor theaters, community theaters and dinner theaters, where she interviewed over 200 practitioners and spectators, licensors and administrators. Wolf’s talk illuminates musical theater’s enduring power as a joyful activity that touches millions of lives. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities

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Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker: Donald Trump's Testing of America Jan 31, 2020

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Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker are two of The Washington Post’s leading reporters. Their Pulitzer Prize-winning work covered NSA spying, Secret Service misconduct and Donald Trump’s unprecedented 2016 campaign. Now, Leonnig and Rucker are focusing on the unorthodox Trump presidency. Their new book, A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America, is a fresh report on the Trump presidency. A Very Stable Genius argues that rather than being an accidental creature of chaos, Trump’s first term is a careful and purposeful pattern of disorder. Drawing on in-depth interviews, firsthand witnesses and previously never before seen material, Leonnig and Rucker explored how Trump has shaken up alliances, reinvented the presidency and compromised the integrity of American institutions such as the FBI. Join us for an important conversation as Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker tackle the unique case of the Trump presidency.

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Authors Judy Melinek and T.J. Mitchell with Mary Roach Jan 31, 2020

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This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. Spouses Judy Melinek and T.J. Mitchell write about death but lead a most interesting life. They are the New York Times best-selling co-authors of the memoir Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and The Making of a Medical Examiner as well as the novel First Cut. Melinek studied at Harvard and UCLA, was a medical examiner in San Francisco for nine years, and today works as a forensic pathologist in Oakland and as CEO of PathologyExpert Inc. T.J. Mitchell is a writer with an English degree from Harvard, and he worked in the film industry before becoming a full-time stay-at-home dad to their children. First Cut is the debut novel in their Jessie Teska detective series, centering on San Francisco’s newest medical examiner who uncovers a constellation of deaths that point to an elaborate plot involving nefarious opioid traffickers and flashy tech titans who got rich off Bitcoin. Autopsy means “see for yourself,” and in Melinek and Mitchell's novel, Teska won’t stop until she has seen it all—even if it means the next corpse on the table could be her own. Come for an entertaining conversation with this unique writing team, who are partners in life and work.

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Irrational Politics, Unreasonable Culture: Justin Smith and Jessica Riskin Jan 31, 2020

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Shouting and shaming, lying and trolling: How did we ever learn to speak to one another the way we do now? In matters political and cultural, public and private, on social media and in major newsrooms, it seems as though over the past few years a bizarre and frightening irrationality has taken hold of our discourse. But what is irrationality, and what is that thing—reason—with which we oppose it? The historical period known as the Enlightenment represented a triumph of reason over the dark forces of irrationality and superstition. And yet some of today's most ardent defenders of the Enlightenment’s legacy—from scientists to artists, from atheists to political theorists—express themselves in ways that often seem suited to zealots and dogmatists. Reasoned political debate has been supplanted by trolling, with the occupants of some of the highest offices in the world reflecting and at times encouraging such discourse. In this conversation at the very beginning of the century’s third decade, on the eve of Brexit and the first presidential primaries if one of America’s most important presidential elections, two experts in the history of modern science and philosophy will apply their work to the mad cacophony of the present moment. How can the intellectual history of the past few centuries help us in our effort to reinvigorate reasoned political and cultural debate? Join them at The Commonwealth Club for an evening that will celebrate and encourage the life of the mind and the power of thinking.

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