Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Innovative Connection: Mexico and Silicon Valley Sep 28, 2021

Show notes

When Americans think about Mexico, many things may come to mind—complexities around immigration, perhaps, or travel involving beaches and food. Technology and innovation are probably not on that list, but increasingly a new reality is taking hold across Mexico: a growing technology and innovation sector with strong links to Silicon Valley and Bay Area investors, entrepreneurs and companies.

Mexico’s young venture capital industry is growing rapidly. From $55 million in 2010, annual investment has grown to more than $1 billion. Softbank’s $5 billion Innovation Fund, created several years ago to invest in Latin America, was a turning point that put Mexico on the global venture map. Now the country boasts unicorns and fast-growing startups. More are on the way, supported by universities, accelerators and by large tech and startup conferences in cities such as Guadalajara and Monterrey.

The roots of Mexico’s economic and cultural ties with the Bay Area run exceptionally deep, dating to Spain’s settlement of California during the 1700s. Linked by history, culture and family, the two economies have grown in parallel but on very different paths. A turning point came in 1994 with North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which stimulated a wave of investment in manufacturing by U.S. and California companies in Mexico. More recently, a small but rapidly growing technology and innovation revolution has been taking place south of the border.

Please join us to learn more about the growing ties between Silicon Valley and the Bay Area and Mexico's growing technology and innovation sectors.

This program is based on the new Bay Area Council Economic Institute report, "Southern Connection: Innovation Clusters in Mexico and the Bridge to Silicon Valley."

SPEAKERS

Remedios Gómez Arnau

Cónsul General, Consulado General de México en San Francisco

Andy Tsao

Managing Director, Silicon Valley Bank

Lynne Bairstow

Managing Partner, MITA Ventures

Maritza Diaz

CEO, ITJuana

Sean Randolph

Senior Director, Bay Area Economic Institute--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 September 21st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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The Afghan Tragedy Sep 28, 2021

Show notes

Our distinguished panelists will give an overview of the present situation in Afghanistan following U.S. withdrawal and how quickly the Taliban took power. They will also explore how we might help our Afghan allies and others fleeing to the United States.

Humaira Ghilzai, who instituted the Sister City relationship between Hayward, CA and Ghazni, Afghanistan, is a dedicated woman's advocate and Afghan cultural advisor. She will talk about how we might help Afghan women threatened with the loss of rights and freedoms. Ami Dodson is a JFCS East Bay volunteer services manager who has been helping to to resettle Afghan refugees in the SF Bay Area. JCSF works with HIAS, a global Jewish nonprofit, which protects and assists refugees of all faiths and ethnicities. Steve Miska was a White House director for Iraq on the National Security Council, and during combat tours, he led a team that created an underground railroad from Baghdad to the United States for military interpreters.

MLF ORGANIZER

Celia Menczel

NOTES

MLF: Middle East

SPEAKERS

Ami Dodson

JFCS East Bay (Jewish Family and Community Services)

Humaira Ghilzai

Co-founder, Afghan Friends Network

Steve Miska

Colonel (ret.), U.S. Army; Author, Baghdad Underground Railroad

Atta Arghandiwal

Former Refugee; Humanitarian; Author, Lost Decency: The Untold Afghan Story—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 September 20th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Fear of a Black Universe Sep 27, 2021

Show notes

Join us for a conversation with cosmologist Stephon Alexander, who argues that great physics requires one to think outside the mainstream—to improvise and to rely on intuition. His approach has led him to three principles that shape all theories of the universe: the principle of invariance, the quantum principle, and the principle of emergence.

Alexander uses these three principles to explore some of physics' greatest mysteries, from what happened before the Big Bang to how the universe makes consciousness possible. Drawing on his experience as a Black physicist, Alexander makes a powerful case for diversifying our scientific communities because—after successfully incorporating a piece of life-changing advice that, in order to discover real physics, he needed to stop memorizing and start taking risks—Alexander has concluded that making further progress in physics probably requires embracing the excluded, listening to the unheard, and being unafraid of being wrong.

MLF ORGANIZER

George Hammond

NOTES

MLF: Humanities

SPEAKERS

Stephon Alexander

Professor of Physics, Brown University; Jazz Musician; Author, Fear of a Black Universe: An Outsider's Guide to the Future of Physics

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 September 24th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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CLIMATE ONE: Preparing for Disasters We Don’t Want to Think About Sep 24, 2021

Show notes

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed structural weaknesses and inequities that existed long before 2020. Like COVID-19, climate change is another “threat multiplier,” with the power to disrupt many of our social systems.

In her new book, The Fight for Climate After COVID-19, Alice Hill says we need to adapt our thinking and our policies to combat the ever-increasing threat of climate change. Especially when we see more compound disasters – like a wildfire followed by a mudslide.

“We need to come together to understand the risks, understand the vulnerabilities and then start making decisions with the support and the aid of the federal government to have better outcomes,” Hill says.

What changes can we make now to better prepare for future risks and climate disasters?

Guests:

Alice Hill, author, The Fight for Climate After COVID-19, Senior Fellow for Climate Change Policy, Council on Foreign Relations

Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Thomas P. Bostick, Former Commanding General, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Francis Suarez, Mayor of Miami

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Matthew Rettenmund: Chronicler of 'Boy Culture' Sep 22, 2021

Show notes

Now making appearances on the film festival circuit, "Boy Culture: The Series" is a follow-up to the 2006's Boy Culture—the movie of the novel by the same name first published in the mid-1990s. In six brand-new 15-minute episodes, the series tells the story of X, portrayed by Derek Magyar, his roommate Andrew (Darryl Stephens), and their struggles.

Join us for an exclusive conversation with Matthew Rettenmund, author of the book and the series, for a look at tackling controversial topics, filmmaking during a pandemic, his career as an LGBTQ author, crowdfunding a budget, and much more.

Besides Boy Culture, Rettenmund is the author of Encyclopedia Madonnica, Blind Items: A (Love) Story and MLVC 60. He has forgotten more information about Madonna than most of us will ever know. He was also the founder and longtime editor of Popstar! magazine, and he blogs regularly at boyculture.com.

Note: This program contains EXPLICIT language.

SPEAKERS

Matthew Rettenmund

Author, Boy Culture, Blind Items & Encyclopedia Madonnica 20; Blogger, Boyculture.com; Twitter @mattrett

John Zipperer

Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club of California—Co-host

Michelle Meow

Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show" on KBCW/KPIX TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @msmichellemeow—Co-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 September 16th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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George Will: American Happiness and Discontents Sep 22, 2021

Show notes

Pulitzer Prize-winner George F. Will has been one of this country’s leading columnists since 1974 and, as The Wall Street Journal once called him, “perhaps the most powerful journalist in America.” In his new collection titled American Happiness and Discontents: The Unruly Torrent, 2008–2020, Will offers an in-depth account of a remarkably chaotic 13 years in our nation’s experience through his analysis of an impressively vast array of topics.

In this stirring examination, George Will reveals the ways in which expertise, reason and manners are continually under attack in our institutions, courts, political arenas and social venues. Will covers topics including his perspective on American socialists, anti-capitalist conservatives, drug policy, the criminal justice system, climatology and the coronavirus.

Join us as we delve into this stunning account of American politics and culture from one of the preeminent columnists and intellectuals of our time.

SPEAKERS

George F. Will

Columnist, The Washington Post; Author, American Happiness and Discontents: The Unruly Torrent, 2008-2020

In Conversation with Jonathan V. Last

Editor, The Bulwark

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 September 17th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Director Barry Sonnenfeld: Tales from a Neurotic Filmmaker Sep 22, 2021

Show notes

Film and television director Barry Sonnenfeld has outrageous and hilarious stories to tell—from his idiosyncratic upbringing in New York City to his breaking into film as a cinematographer with the Coen brothers to his unexpected career as the director behind such huge film franchises as The Addams Family and Men in Black and beloved work such as Get Shorty, Pushing Daises and A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Barry Sonnenfeld's philosophy is, "Regret the Past. Fear the Present. Dread the Future." Will Smith once joked that he wanted to take Sonnenfeld to Philadelphia public schools and say, "If this guy could end up as a successful film director on big budget films, anyone can."

Come for an engaging conversation that will inspire anyone who thinks they can't succeed in life because of a rough beginning.

SPEAKERS

Barry Sonnenfeld

Director, Men in Black, Addams Family, Get Shorty; Author, Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother: Memoirs of a Neurotic Filmmaker

In Conversation with John Boland

President Emeritus, KQED; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors

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 July 21st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Harvard Law Professor Randall Kennedy: Race Relations in America Sep 21, 2021

Show notes

In his new book Say It Loud, acclaimed Harvard Law Professor Randall Kennedy chronicles his reactions over the past quarter-century to arguments, events and people that have compelled him to put pen to paper.

Three beliefs that are sometimes in tension with one another infuse these pages. First, Professor Kennedy says a massive amount of cruel racial injustice continues to beset the United States, an ugly reality that Kennedy says has become alarmingly obvious with the ascendancy of Donald J. Trump and the various political, cultural and social pathologies that he and many of his followers display and reinforce. Second, Kennedy observes there is much about which to be inspired when surveying the African American journey from slavery to freedom to engagement in practically every aspect of life in the United States. Third, he says an openness to complexity, paradox and irony should attend any serious investigation of human affairs.

Join a compelling conversation with this acclaimed legal scholar and public intellectual about what the past 25 years tell us about the future of race relations in America.

SPEAKERS

Randall Kennedy

Michael R. Klein Professor, Harvard Law School; Author, Say It Loud

In Conversation with Sheryl Davis

Executive Director, San Francisco Human Rights Commission

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 September 15th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Survival of the City, with Edward Glaeser and David Cutler Sep 21, 2021

Show notes

Prior to the COVID–19 pandemic, many cities, particularly in the United States, were experiencing somewhat of a renaissance. Population was increasing, abandoned areas were being redeveloped into walkable neighborhoods, crime was dropping, and public spaces were engaging both a new generation of citizens and an older cohort who had moved to cities for the first time. In many ways, cities were fulfilling the vision of renowned urban economist Edward Glaeser as places that were the healthiest, greenest and richest (in both cultural and economic terms) places to live, and as areas that were rich in creativity and innovation.

The 18 months since March 2020 have tremendously challenged this rosy view of cities, and today cities like San Francisco stand at an unexpected crossroads. During the global coronavirus crisis, cities grew silent as many office workers worked from home—if they could work at all. The normal forms of socializing ground to a halt. Theaters and restaurants were quiet, and cultural arts organizations scaled back public programming. Things were supposed to return to normal for cities this fall, but the delta variant of the coronavirus has raised new questions about urban life: How permanent are these changes? Advances in digital technology mean that many people can opt out of city life as never before. Will they? Are we on the brink of an unexpected, post-urban world?

In their new book, Glaeser and his Harvard colleague David Cutler explore the future of cities. Though they believe city life will survive overall, individual cities face terrible risks, and a wave of urban failure could pose a threat not only to urban residents of particular cities but to all of those who rely on them. Glaeser and Cutler examine the evolution that is under way and describe the possible urban futures that lie before us: What will distinguish the cities that will flourish once again from the ones that won’t? The authors discuss San Francisco in the book and how COVID-19 allowed for wealthy citizens to flee the city in search of more space to do remote work.

Please join us for an important conversation on the future of cities, and what it means for the future of the country.

SPEAKERS

Edward Glaeser

Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics, Harvard University; Co-author, Survival of the City: Living and Thriving in an Age of Isolation

David Cutler

Otto Eckstein Professor of Applied Economics, Harvard University. Co-author, Survival of the City: Living and Thriving in an Age of Isolation

Alicia John-Baptiste

President and CEO, SPUR—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 September 14th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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The Lasting Impact of Tiny Habits. No Willpower Needed Sep 21, 2021

Show notes

Transforming your life can be easier than you think. In his New York Times best selling book, Tiny Habits: The Small Changes that Change Everything, a world-renowned expert on habit formation shares his groundbreaking methods for the first time in print.

A behavior scientist at Stanford University, BJ Fogg combines his academic research with his massive real-world experience (he has personally coached more than 40,000 people) to create a book full of new insights about how he says behavior really works. With true stories and concise examples, Fogg shares his systematic approach to design for lasting change using his simple and effective methods, including his trademarked Tiny Habits Method. No willpower required. You might be pleasantly surprised to learn about a major theme in this book: People change best by feeling good, not by feeling bad.

In this talk, Fogg will explain how to tap into the precise emotion that will build new habits and ultimately transform your life. A lively speaker and an award-winning teacher, Fogg’s playful approach will surprise you—in the best way. You’ll discover why this landmark book is on so many reading lists.

MLF ORGANIZER

Patty James

NOTES

MLF: Health & Medicine

SPEAKERS

Dr. BJ Fogg

Ph.D., Behavior Scientist; Director of Research and innovation, Behavior Design Lab, Stanford University

Patty James

Chair, Health & Medicine Member-Led Forum, The Commonwealth Club—Moderator

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