Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future May 29, 2022

Show notes

Can democracy, as we know it, ever work again? This is the question that New York Times political journalists Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns asks after examining the 2020 election and the first year of Joe Biden’s presidency, and going behind the scenes of this 18-month crisis in American democracy.

In their latest book, This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future, Martin and Burns give the account of the events that led to and from the 2020 presidential election in stunning detail. Walking through the coronavirus pandemic, the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol and the political brinkmanship of Biden’s first year in office, Martin and Burns provide in-the-room descriptions of Trump’s assault on the election, the behind the scenes story of how Kamala Harris became Biden’s vice presidential pick, and how the two-party electoral system was strained to its limit.

Join us, as Martin and Burns provide never-before-seen descriptions of the events behind one of American democracy’s most infamous hours.

SPEAKERS

Alexander Burns

National Political Correspondent, The New York Times; Political Analyst, CNN; Co-Author, This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future; Twitter @alexburnsNYT

Jonathan Martin

National Political Correspondent, The New York Times; Political Analyst, CNN; Co-Author, This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future; Twitter @jmartNYT

In Conversation with Willie Brown

Former Mayor of San Francisco

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 17th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Let’s Talk Solutions: The Future of Bay Area Housing May 28, 2022

Show notes

We must solve our housing crisis if we are going to build a Bay Area where people of all races and backgrounds can thrive in safe, affordable, and vibrant communities. From homelessness to innovative regional approaches and new zoning flexibilities, the Bay Area has a new set of housing tools that can help us accelerate our efforts. The current inequalities and issues are rooted in policies and practices that we collectively have the power to change.

Join The Commonwealth Club of California and the San Francisco Foundation to learn from a powerful panel of leaders. What makes them optimistic about the future and what will it take to build a better Bay Area? Speakers include: Fred Blackwell, San Francisco Foundation CEO; Tomiquia Moss, All Home CEO and founder; Cindy Chavez, Santa Clara County supervisor, and Dan Sawislak, executive director of Resources for Community Development.

NOTES

This program is supported by the San Francisco Foundation's Bay Area Leads Fund donors.

SPEAKERS

Cindy Chavez

Santa Clara County Supervisor

Tomiquia Moss

All Home, CEO & Founder

Dan Sawislak

Executive Director of Resources for Community Development

Fred Blackwell

CEO, San Francisco Foundation—Moderator

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Bill Gates: How to Prevent the Next Pandemic May 27, 2022

Show notes

Though the COVID-19 pandemic isn't over, it is heading into a new phase, particularly in Western countries such as the United States and throughout Europe. Increasingly, citizens want a return to normal, with fewer restrictions, and are showing willingness to find ways to live with and manage the virus. As government leaders around the world strive to transition their countries to this new normal, they are also starting to talk about what happens next and how we can prevent another pandemic from once again killing millions of people and devastating the global economy. But given the controversies around fighting COVID-19, is this even possible?

Bill Gates believes the answer is yes.

In his new book, How to Prevent the Next Pandemic, Gates lays out what he believes the world can learn from COVID-19 and what can be done to ward off another disaster like it. Relying on the knowledge of the world's foremost experts and his own experience combating fatal diseases with the Gates Foundation, his new book shows us how the nations of the world, working in conjunction with one another and with the private sector, can stop future outbreaks and ultimately save lives.

Join us for an in-depth discussion on what the world can and must do to prevent the next pandemic.

SPEAKERS

Bill Gates

Co-chair, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Author, How to Prevent the Next Pandemic; Twitter @BillGates

In Conversation with DJ Patil

Former U.S. Chief Data Scientist; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @dpatil

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 16th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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CLIMATE ONE: Indigenous Insights on Healing Land and Sky May 27, 2022

Show notes

According to the World Bank, land managed by Indigenous peoples is associated with lower rates of deforestation, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and better biodiversity protection. But in many places, Indigenous people have been displaced from their ancestral lands through outright theft, land grabs, violence and war — sacrificing both indigenous livelihoods and the traditional knowledge that has protected their lands for centuries.

Still, across the U.S. we can find examples of land access, stewardship and ownership being restored to Indigenous people – and more efforts being made to involve tribal nations in conservation and climate resilience.

“Climate change isn't just about protecting the natural world; it’s also about protecting our culture and who we are because we've resisted against so many colonial forces for so long,” says Julia Fay Bernal, director of the Pueblo Action Alliance.

Guests:

Jessica Hernandez, author, Fresh Banana Leaves

Priscilla Hunter, Board Chairwoman, Intertribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council

Sam Hodder, President and CEO, Save the Redwoods League

Julia Fay Bernal, Director, Pueblo Action Alliance

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Housing, Race and Homelessness: Ending Poverty in the Bay Area Show editorially warning May 26, 2022

Show notes

Ending poverty in the Bay Area will require innovation, partnership, and pro-active, anti-racist strategies. Join us as we come together to outline how we can build a future where everyone has a stable home that enables us to pursue our dreams, raise our families, and build the lives we want to live. In this virtual “fireside chat,” we’ll hear from a variety of voices across the movement to end poverty in the Bay Area, including former Stockton mayor and founder of End Poverty in California (EPIC) Michael Tubbs and All Home CEO Tomiquia Moss, as we explore the ways that housing instability is interconnected with racial inequality, poverty and homelessness.

This virtual event in honor of Affordable Housing Month in May will begin with a chat with former mayor of Stockton Michael Tubbs, moderated by Tomiquia Moss, outlining his five-point platform for ending poverty in California. Then a panel discussion with representatives from broad cross-sector partners will take the conversation from principles and concepts to action items and concrete next steps.

NOTES

This program is convened by the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California (NPH) and co-hosted in partnership with Silicon Valley @ Home, East Bay Housing Organizations, Housing Leadership Council, Generation Housing, the Council of Community Housing Organizations, United Way Bay Area, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI).

SPEAKERS

Cathy Eberhardt

Vice Chair, Oakland Mayor’s Commission on Persons with Disabilities

Melissa Jones

Executive Director, Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative

Michael Tubbs

Founder, End Poverty in California

Courtney Welch

Emeryville City Councilmember

Tomiquia Moss

Founder and CEO, All Home

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 23rd, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Marc Lamont Hill and Todd Brewster: Technology, Social Media and the Fight for Racial Justice May 25, 2022

Show notes

In recent years, an influx of racially motivated attacks against people of color in local communities has made national headlines: and the cases of George Floyd, Breanna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery have sparked international conversations. In today’s age, exposure to racial injustice is more accessible than ever with the rise of video recording and the intimacy of technology. The power to spread information globally, all with the touch of a button, is reshaping the civil rights movement and pushing social justice forward.

Marc Lamont Hill and Todd Brewster are both award-winning journalists and bestselling authors who reveal the common thread between these harrowing incidents. They recognize that technology has irrevocably changed our conversations about race and, in many instances, tipped the levers of power in favor of the historically disadvantaged.

In their newest book, Seen and Unseen: Technology, Social Media, and the Fight for Racial Justice, Hill and Brewster draw on the increasing role of media in the racial justice movement to discover why it took the horrifying footage of the murder of George Floyd—despite a wealth of video evidence of previous police brutality—to trigger outrage. The book is a riveting exploration of how the power of visual media has shifted the narrative on race over the last few years and reignited the fight toward justice.

Join us as co-authors Marc Lamont Hill and Todd Brewster explore the powerful role technology plays as a driver of history, identity, and racial consciousness.

SPEAKERS

Marc Lamont Hill

Host, "BET News" and "Black News Tonight"; Steve Charles Chair in Media, Cities, and Solutions, Temple University; Co-Author, Seen and Unseen: Technology, Social Media, and the Fight for Racial Justice; Twitter @marclamonthill

Todd Brewster

Journalist; Historian; Co-Author, Seen and Unseen: Technology, Social Media, and the Fight for Racial Justice; Twitter @ToddBrewster

In Conversation with LaDoris Cordell

Judge (Ret); Author, Her Honor: My Life on the Bench . . . What Works, What's Broken, and How to Change It

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 11th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Francis Fukuyama: Liberalism and Its Discontents Show editorially warning May 24, 2022

Show notes

When noted political scientist Francis Fukuyama predicted the "end of history," it seemed that the Western form of traditional classical liberalism and democracy—rule of law, equal treatment, individualism, and political freedom—was on the march in countries around the world, and that a new political order would be established around the globe. However, as the Russian attack on Ukraine shows, the battle between autocracy and classic liberalism will continue to shape global relations in the present and the future, and as history it will tell the story of this complicated period in world history.

In his latest book Liberalism and Its Discontents, Fukuyama explains the troubled history of the American realization of classical liberalism here in the United States, and the challenges from both sides of the political spectrum arising in recent decades. With the right demanding economic freedom above all else, and the left making its core ideal the elevation of identity above the universality of humanity, Fukuyama argues that both approaches miss the mark in grasping classical liberalism, and the consequences can be disastrous both at home and around the world.

At this critical time, Fukuyama proposes a bold new defense of classical liberalism, and explains that failing to do so will continue to fragment America’s civil society, and will influence global pushback on democracy itself.

Join us as Fukuyama engages in a critical and timely discussion on classical liberalism, why it remains one of the most influential political ideologies of the past millennium, and why battles around it will determine the path of the 21st century for the United States and the world.

NOTES

This program is presented in collaboration with the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future

SPEAKERS

Francis Fukuyama

Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow, Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies; Author, Liberalism and Its Discontents; Twitter @FukuyamaFrancis

Tim Miller

Founder, Light Fuse Communications; Contributor, The Bulwark; Communications Director, Jeb Bush 2016; Author, Why We Did It (Forthcoming); Twitter @timodc—Moderator

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The Annual Innovate for Good Conference May 22, 2022

Show notes

After a 2-year hiatus, The Commonwealth Club and the University of San Francisco's School of Management are pleased to reinstate the Innovate for Good annual conference, an event where the intersection of business and social good takes center stage. Join us this year as we address the climate crisis.

In an increasingly digital and global economy, our cities and organizations are at a unique inflection point, where the most pressing issue of our time is how we sustain our planet. As was seen during proceedings in Glasgow at COP 26, public and private entities need to urgently accelerate innovations in energy, clean tech, fintech, and technology in order to address climate change in a way that is both economically viable and socially just.

How are businesses finding new ways to innovate for good in this reality? How are companies and governments partnering to innovate and deliver more sustainable solutions that balance human and environmental values?

The Innovate for Good conference is an annual symposium that brings together founders, CEOs, investors, academics, and nonprofit and government leaders who are taking action to shape a more sustainable and just world.

SPEAKERS

Yasmin Eichmann, Former COO of Nest Renew / Director of Energy Product Planning & Operations at Google

Allie Detrio, Chief Strategist of Reimagine Power

Rob Grant, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Social Impact at Cruise

Peter Light, CEO of Lumen Energy

Kate Reimer, Vice President Technology at Redaptive

Vipul Vyas, Cleantech Founder and USF Faculty member

Ravi Mikkelsen, CEO of Atmos Financial

Cathryn Peirce, Co-Founder and CEO at Carbon Zero

James Richards, CEO of Evergrow

Zach Stein, Cofounder of Carbon Collective

Alex Wright-Gladstein, Founder and CEO of Sphere

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on April 29th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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From D.C. to Silicon Valley to Hollywood: Leadership Lessons We Learned Along the Way May 21, 2022

Show notes

In celebration of APA Heritage Month, join us for this special roundtable gathering, in which former Facebook vice president and Ancestry CEO Deb Liu, U.S. Representative Marilyn Strickland, and New York Times best-selling author and filmmaker Abigail Hing Wen will share their remarkable journeys to the top of their respective fields in Silicon Valley, Washington, D.C., and Hollywood. Learn what the journeys of these three Asian American women to leadership roles in business, politics and pop culture can teach us about diversity and leadership in today’s America.

Drawing on their diverse experiences, the trio will explore what it means to be leading change from the inside during this critical time in our nation’s history. Hear their stories of perseverance and of how these powerful women now view their roles and responsibilities as leaders for the next generation.

SPEAKERS

Deb Liu

President and CEO, Ancestry; Author, Take Back Your Power: Ten New Rules for Women at Work (forthcoming); Twitter @debliu_

Marilyn Strickland

U.S. Representative (D-WA, District 10); Twitter @RepStricklandWA

Abigail Hing Wen

Filmmaker; Author, Loveboat, Taipei and Loveboat Reunion; Tech Executive; Twitter @abigailhingwen

Michelle Meow

Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW TV, KPIX TV, and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @msmichellemeow—Host

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 13th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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CLIMATE ONE: Coping with Climate through Music May 20, 2022

Show notes

Music and social movements have historically gone hand in hand. Folk music played a unifying role for the labor movements in the United States. Music was central to the protests against the Vietnam War and in favor of Civil Rights. As more people become aware of the climate crisis, music is starting to reflect that. But there is still no one song or artist inspiring climate action the way music catalyzed other movements. Why aren’t more musical artists raising the alarm over the growing climate catastrophe? And for the artists who are, how do they express the anxiety and grief that they and their listeners are experiencing?

Guests:

Tamara Lindeman, Musician, The Weather Station

Jayson Greene, Contributing Editor, Pitchfork

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