Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The Black Spy Who Witnessed the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Jan 15, 2024

Show notes

In the famous photograph taken of the balcony of Memphis's Lorraine Motel just moments after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., one man is kneeling down beside King, trying to staunch the blood from his fatal head wound with a borrowed towel. That man, Marrell McCollough, was a representative of the Invaders, an activist group that was in talks with King in the days leading up to the murder. But he was also an undercover Memphis police officer reporting on the activities of the Invaders, which was thought to be possibly dangerous and potentially violent.

When Seletzky found out that her father had been secretly working for the white power structure as a spy, it was so far from her understanding of what it meant to be Black in America, of everything she eventually devoted her life and career to, that she set out to learn what she could about her father’s life, his actions and his motivations. But with that decision came risks. What would she uncover about her father, who went on to a career at the CIA, and did she want to bear the weight of knowing?

Join us for this intimate and heartbreaking story of a Black undercover police officer who witnessed the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and a daughter's quest for the truth about her father.

MLF ORGANIZER: George Hammond

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

This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.

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

John Judis: Where Have All the Democrats Gone? Jan 14, 2024

Show notes

Distinguished political analyst John Judis returns to The Commonwealth Club to share his wake-up call for Democrats, who he feels have lost sight of their core principles, endangering their own political future. For decades, American politics has been plagued by a breakdown between the Democratic and Republican parties, in which victory has inevitably led to defeat and vice versa. Judis says both parties have lost sight of the people at the center of the American electorate, leading to polarization and paralysis. In their book Where Have All the Democrats Gone? The Soul of the Party in the Age of Extremes, Judis and co-author Ruy Teixeira reveal the tectonic changes shaping the country’s current political landscape that many pundits and political scientists have missed.

Judis says that the Democratic Party, once the preserve of small towns as well as big cities, of the industrial working class and the newly immigrated, has abandoned and even actively alienated many of those voters. He issues a clarion call for common sense and common ground, revealing the transformation of American politics and providing his critique of where the Democrats have gone awry and how they can avoid political disaster in the days and years ahead.

MLF ORGANIZER: George Hammond

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.

This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundatio

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

Cutting Edge: Women with Alzheimer's Is on the Rise! Hope Is Here! Jan 13, 2024

Show notes

In this presentation, Dr. Bredesen will provide you steps and tools to minimize and prevent Alzheimer's in your own environment.

Did you know that more women get Alzheimer's than breast cancer?

Do you know the steps to take to protect yourself and your loved ones?

Did you know 65% of adults with Alzheimer's are women and 60% of caregivers are women?

Did you know15+% of women in the US will get Alzheimer's?.

Did you know noticeable symptoms can take 20 years to appear.?

Do you know what the symptoms are?

Exclusive for Commonwealth Club Members: Post-program Conversation with Speaker

After the first part of the program, members are invited to please join us for an intimate private conversation with Dr. Bredesen on Zoom. Club members who register will receive two links—one for the program itself and one for the private members-only post-program conversation with Dr. Bredesen. During that program, members can pose their own questions and delve more deeply into the topic.

To become a member, for as little as $10 a month and have full access to all of our programming and podcasts.

Join here.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Bredesen graduated from Caltech and received his MD from Duke. He served as resident and chief resident in neurology at UCSF, then was a postdoctoral fellow with Nobel laureate Prof. Stanley Prusiner. He was founding president of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. He is respected worldwide as the first to publish his groundbreaking work on the reversal of cognitive decline in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Bredesen authored three New York Times best sellers, and is currently a professor at UCLA.

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

CLIMATE ONE: Pairing Scientists with Community Advocates Jan 12, 2024

Show notes

The climate crisis can feel distant — like it’s someone else’s problem — until your town is flooded, your home is damaged by storms, or you're struggling to pay electricity bills as the summers get hotter. Figuring out the specifics of how a region is vulnerable to climate impacts can be the difference between adaptation or disaster, especially for communities that don’t have a lot of climate or environmental expertise among their members.

Community science — defined as communities and scientists working together to address climate and environmental threats — can protect local communities before disaster strikes.

Guests:

Natasha Udu-gama, Director, Thriving Earth Exchange

Daniel Wildcat, Professor, Haskell Indian Nations University; Rising Voices Steering Committee

Angela M. Chalk, Executive Director, Healthy Community Services

For show notes and related links, visit our website.

This episode was produced in collaboration with the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and features a segment from Contributing Producer Graycen Wheeler.

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

"API Women, Non-binary Filmmakers: Telling Our Own Stories Jan 09, 2024

Show notes

Join host Michelle Meow as our panel discusses the contributions women and non-binary filmmakers have made in film, talking with Liz Sargent, Julia Gouw, and Michelle Sugihara of CAPE (the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment).

See more Michelle Meow Show programs at The Commonwealth Club of California.

This program is generously supported by Nielsen, Alaska Airlines, Julia S. Gouw and Priscilla S Y Lim.

Julia S. Gouw

Priscilla S Y Lim

Our partners for this program:

Community Partners:

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

CLIMATE ONE: REWIND: Youth Activists 15 Years Later Jan 05, 2024

Show notes

From the climate movement’s earliest days, young people have been at the forefront of activism. But the first major international climate conferences took place 30 years ago. The first cohort of youth activists are now adults, some with children of their own. The emotional cost of seeing so little payoff for years spent fighting can be agonizing at any age, but perhaps more so for young people who put so much of themselves into the effort.

Many youth activists burned out along the way, frustrated by participating in actions that rarely led to meaningful and lasting change. How do former youth activists now view the work of their younger selves? And what advice do they have for the next generation?

Guests:

Alec Loorz, Writer, Photographer, former youth climate activist

Slater Jewell-Kemker, Director, “Youth Unstoppable;” former youth climate activist

Victoria Loorz, Founder, Center for Wild Spirituality; Author, “Church of the Wild: How Nature Invites Us into the Sacred”

Abrar Anwar, Chief Technology Officer, Rebel Force Tech Solutions; former youth climate activist

Kyle Gracey, Strategy Consultant, Future Matters; former youth climate activist

For show notes and related links, visit our website.

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

Jason Rantz: What's Killing America Jan 03, 2024

Show notes

Seattle-based conservative radio host and commentator Jason Rantz is a rising star on the right, making frequent appearances on Fox News and "The Ben Shapiro Show." Join us in-person for his first appearance at The Commonwealth Club, where he'll discuss his claims that left-wing policies and "woke" Democrats are ruining America's biggest cities and threatening to spread that ruin to the rest of the country.

Taking aim at "crime, drug addiction, homelessness, left-wing school indoctrination, so-called inclusive housing policies, and outrageous taxes," Rantz says the effects of left-wing policies "always spread, which should alarm Americans regardless of their political leanings."

Hear him for yourself at The Commonwealth Club.

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

FOX's Bret Baier: To Rescue the Constitution Jan 01, 2024

Show notes

Fox News Channel Chief Political Correspondent Bret Baier returns for a Club program exploring the critical role George Washington played in securing the future of the United States.

Baier, author of the new biography To Rescue the Constitution: George Washington and the Fragile American Experiment, focuses on Washington's return from retirement to lead the Constitutional Convention and establish the foundation of American governance.

George Washington rescued the nation and the Constitution three times: first by winning the Revolutionary War, second by presiding over the Constitutional Convention and ushering the Constitution through a fractious ratification process, and third by leading the nation as president in its first years. There is no doubt, says Baier, that the struggling new nation needed to be rescued.

After the victorious war, the states were no more than a loosely knit and contentious confederation, and they were in constant conflict. Setting aside his plan to retire to Mount Vernon, Washington agreed to be a delegate at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. There he was unanimously elected president of the convention. After successfully bringing the Constitution into being, Washington then sacrificed any hope of returning to private life by accepting the election to be the nation’s first president.

Washington was not known for brilliant oratory or prose, but his quiet, steady leadership gave life to the Constitution by showing how it should be enacted.

Join us as Baier explores the dramatic moments when Washington’s leadership brought the nation from the brink of collapse. He says early America was grittier and far more divided than it is often portrayed—one we can see reflected in today’s political conflicts.

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

Is U.S. National Security In Jeopardy? Dec 31, 2023

Show notes

Just Completed: Global Threat Assessment — U.S. Strategic Posture Commissioners’ Report

In October, the U.S. Congressional Strategic Posture Commission released its final report, “America’s Strategic Posture.” The bipartisan group of 12 former officials, appointed by Congress, assessed the international threats facing the United States, reviewing U.S. defense strategy and force structure, including nuclear weapons.

The report concludes that the United States now faces unprecedented threats, from authoritarian regimes that are building up their military forces and behaving aggressively towards their neighbors. Major concerns include the Chinese program to add 1,000 strategic nuclear weapons to their arsenal, Russian behavior in Ukraine and mutual support between Russia and China. The commissioners call for an “all of government” U.S. effort to combat these threats.

What are the greatest threats faced by the United States? How should they be addressed? What does this mean for the U.S. nuclear posture, for our alliances, for defense spending and for arms control and other approaches to reducing risk? What will be the impact of the report? Will its recommendations be implemented?

Join four of the commissioners, including Commission Chair Dr. Madelyn Creedon, and the vice chair, former Arizona Senator Jon Kyle, plus Ambassador Rose Gottemoeller and Dr. Gloria Duffy, for a review and discussion of their year-long evaluation and final report.

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

Brian Stelter: The Epic Saga of Fox News and the Battle for American Democracy Dec 30, 2023

Show notes

In the wake of Fox News' historic $787 million legal settlement with Dominion, investigative journalist Brian Stelter takes a look at how the conservative channel handles truth and misinformation—and its influence on elections.

Stelter, bestselling author of Hoax, an inside look at Fox News, promises an even more revealing take on the channel and how it does business. From panic among its anchors to the handling of misinformation, Stelter goes behind the scenes to show how what ended up on the air got there. With the lawsuits dragging the network’s secrets into the light—such as Tucker Carlson’s passionate hatred for Donald Trump and Sean Hannity’s contempt for his own colleagues—the future of the network, and the Republican Party, hangs in the balance.

Join us for a special online-only talk with Stelter about one of the biggest forces in the news industry today, and how it uses its power in ways that impact us all.

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

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Julia S. Gouw

Priscilla S Y Lim

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected