Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Latest Episodes:

E.J. Dionne Jr. and Miles Rapoport: The Case for Universal Voting Apr 14, 2022

Show notes

Voting has been a hot topic of discussion in election years, as have been the barriers many Americans face when trying to participate in elections. According to E.J. Dionne Jr. and Miles Rapoport, it is time for the United States to take a major leap forward and recognize voting as both a fundamental civil right and a solemn civic duty required of every eligible U.S. citizen.

Americans are required to pay taxes, serve on juries, get their kids vaccinated, get driver’s licenses, and sometimes go to war for their country. So why not ask—or require—every American to vote?

In 100% Democracy, E.J. Dionne Jr. and Miles Rapoport argue that universal participation in our elections should be a cornerstone of our system. It would be the surest way to protect against voter suppression and the active disenfranchisement of a large share of our citizens. And it would create a system true to the Declaration of Independence’s aspirations by calling for a government based on the consent of all of the governed.

Join us as E.J. Dionne Jr. and Miles Rapoport discuss their 100% Democracy along with offering their insight on all things voting in the United States.

SPEAKERS

E.J. Dionne, Jr.

Columnist, The Washington Post; Co-Author, 100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting

Miles Rapoport

Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School; Co-Author, 100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting

In Conversation with Melissa Caen

Political Analyst; Attorney

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded live in San Francisco on April 5th, 2022 at the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Arthur C. Brooks: Finding Success, Happiness and Purpose Later in Life Apr 13, 2022

Show notes

The question of how to be happy in mid-life consumes many adults as they age. For Arthur C. Brooks, the former president of the American Enterprise Institute and the author of 11 books, the search for true life success after age 50 became an opportunity for a personal life transformation that he believes others can be inspired by and follow.

In his new book, From Strength to Strength, Brooks describes embarking on a seven-year journey to discover how to transform his future from one of disappointment over waning abilities into an opportunity for progress. The result for him? A practical roadmap for the rest of his life. Brooks's journey starts with the somewhat mistaken assumption that the more successful we are, the less susceptible we become to the sense of professional and social irrelevance that often accompanies aging. Brooks soon finds the truth is that the greater our achievements and our attachment to them, the more we notice our decline, and the more painful it is when it occurs.

Brooks's unique outlook draws on social science, philosophy, biography, theology, and eastern wisdom, as well as dozens of interviews with everyday men and women. In it, Brooks shows us that true life success is well within our reach. By refocusing on certain priorities and habits that anyone can learn, such as deep wisdom, detachment from empty rewards, connection and service to others, and spiritual progress, we can set ourselves up for increased happiness.

Please join us for a discussion about how you, too, can go from strength to strength.

MLF ORGANIZER

Denise Michaud

NOTES

MLF: Grownups

SPEAKERS

Arthur Brooks

Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School; Author, From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life

In Conversation with Tully Friedman

Co-Founder, FFL Partners and Hellman & Friedman

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded live in San Francisco on April 4th, 2022 at the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Caring for Aging Parents: Challenges, Choices and Lessons Learned Apr 13, 2022

Show notes

Dave Iverson was a 59-year-old KQED broadcast journalist and filmmaker when he decided to do something he’d never imagined. He moved back into his childhood home when his 95-year-old mom could no longer care for herself. Dave’s new memoir Winter Stars: An Elderly Mother, An Aging Son and Life’s Final Journey is the story of their 10-year caregiving journey, lasting until his mother’s passing at the age of 105. It’s a book Michael J. Fox calls “A gift—a modern classic of frontier literature documenting the uncertain journey into the country of caregiving.”

In this special Commonwealth Club presentation, KQED’s Scott Shafer will interview Dave about his new book and our growing eldercare crisis. Someone turns 65 every eight seconds in this country, and the pandemic’s ongoing toll on nursing home residents has prompted more people to consider caring for an aging parent at home. Yet what lies ahead when someone makes that choice?

Join Scott Shafer and Dave Iverson for an intimate, unvarnished conversation about the challenges, choices and unexpected rewards of caring for someone during life’s final journey.

Our moderator will be award-winning journalist Scott Shafer. Shafer is senior editor of the California Politics and Government Desk at KQED, where he leads the politics team’s coverage of the state. He is also co-host of the weekly radio program and podcast series "Political Breakdown." Shafer has covered stories for National Public Radio programs, including "All Things Considered," "Morning Edition," "Weekend Edition Saturday" and "Weekend Edition Sunday." He collaborated on and hosted "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown," an eight-part series about the life and political career of the former California governor. He previously hosted "The California Report."

MLF ORGANIZER

Denise Michaud

NOTES

MLF: Grownups

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

SPEAKERS

Dave Iverson

Writer; Documentary Film Producer and Director; Retired Broadcast Journalist; Author, Winter Stars: An Elderly Mother, An Aging Son and Life’s Final Journey

In Conversation with Scott Shafer

Senior Editor, Politics and Government Desk, KQED; Co-Host, "Political Breakdown" Podcast

This program was recorded live in San Francisco on March 31st, 2022 at the Commonwealth Club of California.

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The Art of the Fair Deal: Securing Space for the Arts in San Francisco Apr 12, 2022

Show notes

How can small nonprofit art organizations afford the cost of living in the Bay Area? Innovators in the field have been working for nearly a decade to solve this problem.

Join CounterPulse’s Julie Phelps and CAST’s Moy Eng at The Commonwealth Club for a conversation moderated by Michelle Meow. As CounterPulse poises itself to buy its building in the Tenderloin from CAST later this year, learn how they’ve worked together in piloting a new real estate model that could be applied throughout the city and around the world to keep artists and creatives rooted in their communities amidst economic upheaval.

SPEAKERS

Moy Eng

CEO, Community Arts Stabilization Trust

Julie Phelps

Artistic and Executive Director, CounterPulse

Michelle Meow

Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show" on KBCW/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 Live in San Francisco on March 31st, 2022 at the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Jane McGonigal: How to See the Future Coming Apr 10, 2022

Show notes

In the fickle age of COVID-19, it is harder than ever to have assuredness, and confidence. A solution? "Radical imagination"—and with it the power to transform our present and see our future. Game-designer turned author Jane McGonical, wants to give people the key to unlock their imagination potential and in doing so design their own futures with limitless possibilities and creative certainty.

In her newest book, Imaginable, McGonigal coaxes audiences to dive into the unimaginable as a way to problem solve, future-plan, and find transformative fulfillment. She uses psychological research to embolden readers and make real the possibilities that are unfathomable—but not for long.

At INFORUM, the renowned future forecaster will invite audiences into her mind and lay out the daring vision necessary to give life to a book about imagination. McGonigal answers the age-old question, “How do we learn to feel at peace with the unknown?” and teaches how mental, imagination training can reduce anxiety and boost tenacity.

SPEAKERS

Jane McGonigal

Future Forecaster; Game Designer; Author, Imaginable: How to See the Future Coming and Feel Ready for Anything—Even Things that Seem Impossible Today; Twitter Twitter @avantgame

In Conversation with Roy Bahat

Head, Bloomberg Beta; Twitter @roybahat

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 March 30th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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CLIMATE ONE: Can We Get Clean Energy Without Dirty Mines? Apr 09, 2022

Show notes

Global sales of electric vehicles more than doubled in 2021. Projections for this year are for another huge gain as more automakers introduce more models with increasing range. This is all good news for transitioning to a clean energy economy. But sourcing the materials needed for clean energy might not be so clean. Mining is the leading industrial polluter in the U.S., but the climate crisis demands a transition to technologies that require raw materials to be extracted. How can the world get the minerals it needs to mitigate the climate crisis without creating other ecological disasters in the process?

Guests:

Morgan Bazilian, Director, Payne Institute, Colorado School of Mines

Payal Sampat, Mining Program Director, Earthworks

Maureen Penjueli, Coordinator, Pacific Network on Globalisation

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The Art of Disability Culture Apr 09, 2022

Show notes

Despite the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and small signs of progress here and there, artists with disabilities still face discrimination and prejudice in the arts arena. Disability culture is still marginalized, and access features are not always offered as standard practice in exhibitions.

Join us as we tease out some of these issues and why they matter, with an accessible introduction to disability culture and a dynamic conversation between photographers Nolan Trowe and Anthony Tusler. We’ll consider how representation and visibility is integral to their work, and how their work also advocates for a more radically inclusive and accessible arts and culture landscape.

MLF ORGANIZER

Robert Melton

NOTES

MLF: Arts

SPEAKERS

Nolan Ryan Trowe

Photographer; Writer, Focuses on Stories Around Disability

Anthony Tusler

Writer; Photographer; Consultant; Trainer; Advocate on Disability Issues

Fran Osborne

Museum Consultant; Specialist in Accessible Exhibitions; Independent Curator and Lecturer, Museum Studies Program at San Francisco State University—Moderator

Robert Melton

Freelance Curator; Community Events Arts Organizer; Co-Chair, Arts Member-Led Forum, The Commonwealth Club of California—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 March 29th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Humankindness and Health Justice: Creating a More Equitable World Apr 08, 2022

Show notes

Health justice is one of the most important yet complicated issues facing American society. Environmental factors, policies and even systems create societal disparities that affect a person's ability to achieve their best possible health.

To ensure justice and equity in health, advocates say the country needs to address community-specific disparities, dismantle systems, and end policies that drive poor health outcomes. One way to start this important justice work is to dramatically increase access to education and overall literacy. Efforts such as addressing the increasing economic fragmentation of education, divisions of income along racial lines, and providing pathways to financial literacy serve as a foundational element in the overall health justice work ahead. Failure to address this separation and fragmentation could make health justice for our nation an elusive goal.

To address this often-overlooked connection between financial literacy and health justice, The Commonwealth Club of California and CommonSpirit Health are pleased to bring together Mellody Hobson, a highly prominent financial executive who is president and co-CEO of Ariel Investments and chair of the board of directors of Starbucks Corporation, and Lloyd Dean, CommonSpirit Health CEO and a nationally recognized leader in health care and and recognized voice for health justice.

Please join us for this rare conversation between two leading voices in health care and business about addressing health justice.

NOTES

This program is part of the Humankindness & Health Justice series, generously underwritten by CommonSpirit Health Foundation.

SPEAKERS

Mellody Hobson

President and co-CEO, Ariel Investments; Chair of the Board of Directors, Starbucks Corporation

Lloyd Dean

CEO, CommonSpirit Health—Moderator

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Alan Dershowitz on the Human Rights Tragedy in Ukraine Apr 07, 2022

Show notes

The Ukrainian people are paying a high price for the massive and costly resistance they are putting up to Russian aggression. Refugees fleeing Ukraine already number in excess of 2 million and counting. Many are Ukrainian Jews. Those who are unable to leave or are engaged in the fight to slow the advance of Russian forces are subject to increasingly indiscriminate bombing and the threat of using more extreme military weaponry. Reports of targeting and killing civilians, including the bombing of hospitals and schools, raise serious questions about human rights violations and war crimes.

We invite acclaimed attorney, civil liberties defender and constitutional scholar Alan Dershowitz to discuss the actions of Russian forces in Ukraine and the potential case against Russia’s military leaders and in particular President Vladimir Putin. Are there legal avenues to pursue in the International Criminal Court or other international bodies, and how might such cases be brought?

What other avenues might we explore to tackle this human rights tragedy unfolding on multiple fronts? At this critical moment, Ukraine’s President Zelensky is standing up and defending his country and his people. Professor Dershowitz recently has made the case that Zelensky should be recognized immediately on the international stage for his commitment. As an emeritus professor of public law, Dershowitz will be nominating President Zelensky for this year's Nobel Peace Prize and urging the Committee to award it now. As Rabbi Hillel once said: "If not now, when?”

Please join Alan Dershowitz, New York Times bestselling author and Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law Emeritus at Harvard Law School, in conversation with Dan Ashley, news anchor at ABC7 KGO Bay Area, about Ukraine as well as other key civil liberties and human rights issues.

SPEAKERS

Alan Dershowitz

Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law Emeritus, Harvard Law School

In Conversation with Dan Ashley

News Anchor/Reporter, ABC7 News, KGO-TV Bay Area

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 March 25th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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George Hammond: More Confidence than You Can Imagine Apr 06, 2022

Show notes

It is hard for most of us to even imagine the confidence Socrates had. Or that Alexander or Mozart had. Much less live it. It is much easier, though, for us to imagine a top saleswoman’s confidence, even if we are inclined to blame it all on her over-praising mother. But there are patterns in the emotion we call confidence that make it clear this is not an unsolvable mystery—patterns that explain both the ephemeral confidence that leads to sales success and the seemingly unshakeable confidence that leads to political, military, artistic, scientific and intellectual high-end achievements.

But even when the elements of this emotion are parsed (it is caused by perceiving oneself as virtuous), it is still not immediately obvious how to achieve it in daily life, due to the subtleties of both the process of perceiving oneself and the definition of virtue (using the ancient understanding of virtue as strength or skillfulness). George Hammond will clarify those subtleties so that you can shift how you perceive yourself sufficiently to immediately feel more confident. And to understand how to keep that trend going by shedding the habitual thinking patterns that usually undermine confidence—until you have developed more confidence than you can currently imagine.

MLF ORGANIZER

George Hammond

SPEAKERS

George Hammond

Author, Conversations With Socrates

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