Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Neda Toloui-Semnani—They Said They Wanted Revolution: The Memoir of My Iranian Parents Mar 24, 2022

Show notes

Neda Toloui-Semnani is the daughter of Iranian revolutionaries, activists, immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Her parents left the United States in 1979 to join the revolution in Iran—a decision that changed the course of Neda’s life. She experienced profound personal loss due to her parents’ choices and conflict over whether these decisions that impacted her life were worthy costs of the revolution that took place.

In her new book, They Said They Wanted Revolution, Toloui-Semnani, an Emmy-award-winning writer and producer, looks back at her family’s tragic experience with the Iranian Revolution. She pieces together the past in search of familial identity as the child of two risk-taking political activists. She untangles decades of history to discover her family’s legacy during her journey of self-discovery.

Join us for a moving program that explores the costs of righteous activism across generations, and how the Iranian Revolution continues to impact the United States and Iran even decades later.

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

SPEAKERS

Neda Toloui-Semnani

Senior Writer, Vice News Tonight; Author, They Said They Wanted Revolution: A Memoir of My Parents

Sasha Khokha

Host, "The California Report," KQED—Moderator

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 23rd, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Reshma Saujani: Confronting the "Big Lie" of Corporate Feminism Mar 23, 2022

Show notes

Women have been sold a mistruth—roll up your sleeves, smash the glass ceiling, and you too can have it all. Critics say the unspoken realities in this agreement are that many women must also do the majority of household work, childcare, and bear the burden of keeping this endless task list running in their minds. However, the inequity in unpaid work isn’t news to anyone. It is well-rooted and widespread, benefiting a system that has always been designed for the benefit of men.

Flash to 2021, when women left or were pushed out of the workforce en masse resulting in the lowest proportion of women in the labor force since the late 1980s. This downturn was matched by a decline in women’s mental health and financial independence.

Author, activist and lawyer Reshma Saujani is calling on corporations and their leaders to make vital changes to this toxic and worsening situation. Her rallying call: It’s time to pay up. Her forthcoming book Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work outlines her four-step action plan to realize this change and serves as a field guide for women, empowering them to demand what they deserve.

Join us at INFORUM welcoming Saujani as she paints a picture of the future she sees for women.

This program contains EXPLICIT language

SPEAKERS

Reshma Saujani

Founder, Girls Who Code and the Marshall Plan for Mom; Author, Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work (and Why It's Different Than You Think)

Ina Fried

Chief Technology Correspondent, Axios—Moderator

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 22nd, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Jeff Yang, Phil Yu and Philip Wang: Rise—A Pop History of Asian America Mar 22, 2022

Show notes

When the Hart-Celler Act passed in 1965, opening up U.S. immigration to non-Europeans, it ushered in a whole new era. But even to the first generation of Asian Americans born in the United States after that milestone, it would have been impossible to imagine that sushi and boba would one day be beloved by millions, that a Korean boy band named BTS would be the biggest musical act in the world, that one of the most acclaimed and popular movies of 2018 would be Crazy Rich Asians, or that we would have an Asian American vice president. And that’s not even mentioning the creators, performers, entrepreneurs, execs and influencers who've been making all this happen, behind the scenes and on the screen; or the activists and representatives continuing to fight for equity, building coalitions and defiantly holding space for our voices and concerns. And still: Asian America is just getting started.

Join us for a special program featuring the talented authors of Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now. The timing is great for this intimate, eye-opening and frequently hilarious guided tour through the pop-cultural touchstones and sociopolitical shifts of the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and beyond. Jeff Yang, Phil Yu and Philip Wang chronicle how we arrived at today’s unprecedented diversity of Asian American cultural representation through engaging, interactive infographics (including a step-by-step guide to a night out in K-Town, an atlas that unearths historic Asian American landmarks, a handy “Appreciation or Appropriation?” flowchart, and visual celebrations of both our "founding fathers and mothers" and the nostalgia-inducing personalities of each decade), plus illustrations and graphic essays from major AAPI artists, exclusive roundtables with Asian American cultural icons, and more, anchored by extended insider narratives of each decade by the three co-authors. They provide an informative, lively and inclusive celebration of shared experiences and singular moments, and all the different ways in which we have chosen to come together.

This program is part of The Commonwealth Club's Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.

This program contains EXPLICIT language

SPEAKERS

Jeff Yang

Writer; Editor; Co-Author, Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now

Phil Yu

Founder and Editor, Angry Asian Man; ; Co-Author, Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now

Philip Wang

Co-founder, Wong Fu Productions; Co-Author, Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now

Michelle Meow

Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors—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 21st, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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A History of Wiretapping in the United States Mar 18, 2022

Show notes

Our privacy was not first invaded by J. Edgar Hoover. They’ve been listening in for far longer than that. Wiretapping is nearly as old as electronic communications. Telegraph operators intercepted enemy messages during the Civil War. Law enforcement agencies were listening to private telephone calls as early as 1895. Communications firms have assisted government eavesdropping programs since the early 20th century―and they have spied on their own customers, too. Such breaches of privacy once provoked outrage, but today most Americans have resigned themselves to constant electronic monitoring. How did we get from there to here?

Hochman explores the origins of wiretapping in military campaigns and criminal confidence games, and tracks the use of telephone taps in the U.S. government’s wars on alcohol, communism, terrorism, and crime. At the same time that high-profile eavesdropping scandals fueled public debates about national security, crime control, and the rights and liberties of individuals, wiretapping became a routine surveillance tactic for private businesses and police agencies alike. Hochman traces the long and surprising history of wiretapping and electronic eavesdropping in the United States, and also explains how earlier generations of Americans confronted these threats to our privacy―threats that seem more urgent now than ever.

NOTES

MLF: Humanities

SPEAKERS

Brian Hochman

Director of American Studies and Associate Professor of English, Georgetown University; Author, The Listeners: A History of Wiretapping in the United States

In Conversation with George Hammond

Author, Conversations With Socrates

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 17th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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CLIMATE ONE: Playing With Fire: Russia, Ukraine and the Geopolitics of Energy Mar 18, 2022

Show notes

The IPCC released its latest report the same day as the U.S. Supreme Court heard the most environmentally significant case in a decade, all while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has rattled global energy markets. It’s a lot to take in all at once.

Will the disruption of methane gas supplies to Europe give it the extra push it needs to decarbonize, or will some countries always be beholden to untrustworthy partners for the resources they need? What other options exist to power our economies more sustainably in the short and long term?

Guests:

Amy Myers Jaffe, Managing Director, Climate Policy Lab, Tufts University

Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean, Berkeley Law

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Chocolate and the Future Mar 17, 2022

Show notes

The distinguished panel of expert participants represent many of the different facets of the chocolate industry. They will discuss where the industry is today and how it can move into the future as a more ecological, labor friendly, and equitable industry.

NOTES

MLF: International Relations

SPEAKERS

Bill Guyton

Founder and CEO, World Cocoa Foundation; Senior Advisor, Fine Chocolate Industry Association (FCIA)

Sam Mawutor

Senior Advisor on the Cocoa Campaign, Mighty Earth

Tim McCollum

Founder and CEO of Beyond Good

Frank Price

Vice Present, Northern California Peace Corps Association; Shriver Circle Member, National Peace Corps Association; Vice Chair, International Relations Member-Led Forum, The Commonwealth Club of California

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 15th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Rep. Jamie Raskin: Trauma, Truth and the Trials of American Democracy Mar 16, 2022

Show notes

The January 6 attack on Congress as it met to certify Joe Biden's presidential victory is a day that will live on in infamy, yet for Maryland congressman Jamie Raskin, this was just the next in a sequence of tragic events that changed his life forever. Having lost his son to suicide only days before, and days later leading the ensuing impeachment effort against Trump, Rep. Raskin’s 45-day journey at the start of 2021 is an inspiring epic of strength, tragedy and determination.

In his new memoir, Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy, Raskin recounts that after the tragic loss of his son Tommy, it was Tommy’s values and vision for the country that provided him inspiration to not only weather the challenges of January 6 but to lead the ensuing impeachment trial of Donald Trump for inciting insurrection. Facing division and the tremors of a nation rocked to its core, Rep. Raskin and his nine-member team were able to lead the most bipartisan impeachment trial ever conducted.

Rep. Raskin has served as an elected official in Maryland since 2007 and represented its 8th Congressional District since 2017. A professor of constitutional law at American University Washington College of Law, chair of the House Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and co-chair of the Congressional Freethought Caucus, Raskin has been a leading voice in Congress for executive accountability and electoral integrity.

Please join us as congressman Raskin recounts his moving story of balancing tragic personal loss and appalling political violence simultaneously, and how he found hope to press on in his darkest moment to continue fighting for American democracy.

NOTES

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

SPEAKERS

Jamie Raskin

U.S. Representative (D-MD, 8th District); Author, Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trails of American Democracy; Twitter @RepRaskin

Welcome by: Jim Steyer

Founder, Common Sense Media

Marisa Lagos

Correspondent for California Politics and Government, KQED; Twitter @mlagos—Moderator

This program was recorded live in San Francisco on March 13th, 2022 at the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Dr. Albert Bourla: Pfizer Chairman and CEO Mar 15, 2022

Show notes

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, one truth continues to be proven time and time again: the vaccine is saving lives, and to Pfizer CEO Dr. Albert Bourla, it was the product of one of the most incredible private sector achievements in history. Mobilizing the corporation amid some of the most strenuous conditions experienced in modern times, he had a front row seat to see the years-long process of developing a vaccine played out in nine months in a riveting story of innovation, determination and ingenuity.

Dr. Albert Bourla is chairman and chief executive officer of Pfizer Inc., and was named the top pharmaceutical CEO in America by Institutional Investor in 2020. A Greek immigrant, former veterinarian and child of Holocaust survivors, Dr. Bourla became the head of Pfizer in 2019 and transformed the corporation just before it was put to the test by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his book Moonshot: Inside Pfizer's Nine-Month Race to Make the Impossible Possible, Dr. Bourla describes how the corporation met the unimaginable challenges and pressures to rapidly develop a vaccine using the core values of courage, excellence, equity and joy. Detailing the leadership strategies and innovations he used to guide Pfizer in making unprecedentedly rapid scientific breakthroughs, Dr. Bourla describes the epic journey of their “moonshot.” Facing political, economic and social crises, he explains it wasn’t luck but methodical preparation, strong leadership and a clear vision that brought the vaccine forward, and shares the lessons in management and leadership that he learned.

Join us as Dr. Bourla recounts the unimaginable adversity facing the developers of one of the most impactful medical inventions in recent history, and the ingenuity and wisdom that led them to success.

SPEAKERS

Dr. Albert Bourla

Chairman and CEO, Pfizer; Author, Moonshoot: Inside Pfizer's Nine-Month Race to Make the Impossible Possible; Twitter @AlbertBourla

In Conversation with Raj Mathai

Anchor, NBC Bay Area; Twitter@rajmathai

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 9th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Jimmy Soni: The Inside Story of PayPal Mar 11, 2022

Show notes

How much do we know about the apps that we use daily? In the case of PayPal, relatively few know the early story of the now-behemoth. Its precarious origins—coming about in the limitless, tumultuous late 1990s and early 2000s meant it was far from a shoo-in. It faced staunch competition, never-before-seen levels of internet fraud, and internal friction that could’ve ruined its path to success.

Nowadays, PayPal is a household name. Its founders are among the best-known names in the tech industry: Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and Max Levchin, among others. Jimmy Soni’s book The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley, details not only the meteoric rise of the company and its founders, but all that came before and made it possible. With privileged access to the internal materials of the company’s early days, Soni paints a picture of what brought together these tech giants and how they dared to dream of cashless currency when few others dared.

Jimmy Soni holds the answer to why this idea, out of the many it rivaled, won against the odds. Soni will bring to life the story of PayPal, highlighting not just the prominent founders but the unsung heroes that built the brick-by-brick success the company now touts.

NOTES

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

SPEAKERS

Jimmy Soni

Author, The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

In Conversation with Katherine Boyle

General Partner, a16z

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CLIMATE ONE: Turning Air into Stone: Tech-Based Carbon Removal Mar 11, 2022

Show notes

It has been 3 million years since there’s been this much CO2 in the atmosphere. Even if we stop all burning of fossil fuels today, humans have already emitted enough CO2 that we’ll continue experiencing extreme weather events for years to come. Not only do we need to stop emitting greenhouse gasses, but according to the IPCC, we also need to accelerate the removal of CO2. With forests burning faster than we can grow them, nature-based solutions may not be enough. What role might tech-based solutions play? Can they be implemented in a just, equitable way that does not give license for fossil fuel interests to continue business as usual?

Guests:

Marcius Extavour, VP, Energy & Climate, XPRIZE

Angela Anderson, Director of Industrial Innovation and Carbon Removal at World Resources Institute

Rachel Glennerster, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Chicago

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