Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The Queenmakers: Women Power Brokers in San Francisco Dec 09, 2019

Show notes

Much has been written about the groundbreaking number of women who were elected into Congress in the last election. What many people may not know, however, is that women in San Francisco and the Bay Area play a pivotal role in creating a narrative at the national level—influencing who runs, where money should go, and, ultimately, who gets elected. Meet the Bay Area’s ultimate power players: the Queenmakers. Notes: In association with San Francisco magazine

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Such a Pretty Girl: A Story of Struggle, Empowerment and Disability Pride Dec 07, 2019

Show notes

“Such a pretty girl.” It was a refrain Nadina LaSpina heard frequently in her native Sicily. What was sometimes added, and what was always implied, was that it’s a shame she was disabled. Having contracted polio as a baby, LaSpina was the frequent target of pity by those who dismissed her life as hopeless. She came to the United States at 13 and spent most of her adolescence in hospitals in a fruitless and painful quest for a cure. Against the political tumult of the 1960s, LaSpina rebelled both personally and politically. She refused to accept both the limitations placed on her by others and the dominant narrative surrounding disability. LaSpina also took to the streets with the then fledgling disability rights movement that has changed both law and perception in the United States. As an activist, LaSpina has been arrested numerous times. She was an important figure in some key struggles, including those that led to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. LaSpina discusses why pity has been one of the most hurtful things she’s had to contend with in her life, that the problem was not her disability but the way she was treated because of it, and that the assumption that to be disabled is to be miserable is itself the most miserable part about being disabled. MLF Organizer: George Hammond MLF: Humanities ** This Podcast Contains Explicit Language **

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Index Funds: Launching the Revolution of Modern Investing Dec 06, 2019

Show notes

Mac McQuown is known as one of the architects of the modern investing system. In the early 1970s, he departed from prevailing Wall Street practices by assembling a team of six future Nobel Laureates to create a new type of investment: the index fund. Join McQuown as he presents an insider’s view of the events that led to the creation of the index fund. Learn what he and his team have created since those early days, other advances that have occurred since and what might be coming next. MLF ORGANIZER Denise Michaud NOTES MLF: Grownups

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The Real Toni Morrison, With Filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders Dec 06, 2019

Show notes

Toni Morrison, who passed away in August, was one of the most celebrated writers of our time. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, the Pulitzer, National Book Critics Circle Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and more. Earlier this year, a new documentary film about Morrison, The Pieces I Am, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film covers the life and impact of Morrison, and it includes interviews with Morrison, Angela Davis, Fran Lebowitz, Peter Sellars, Oprah Winfrey and others. Join us for an engaging conversation with the director of The Pieces I Am, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. A Grammy Award-winning filmmaker, Greenfield-Sanders has achieved critical acclaim photographing world leaders and major cultural figures, including presidents, writers, artists, actors, and musicians. He has produced and directed 13 documentary films, including Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart (which was recognized with a Grammy), The Black List (which earned him an NAACP Image Award), The Latino List, and The Trans List.

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Women In The Workplace 2019 Dec 06, 2019

Show notes

Studies show that we are starting to see real results in the number of women represented in the c-suite, with nearly 45 percent of companies having three or more women in senior roles. While the bright spots are clear, women are still getting stuck, and it is happening even earlier in their careers, at the very first rung along the corporate ladder. The glass ceiling is cracking, but what else needs to be done to move progress forward for a majority of working women? “Women in the Workplace” is an annual report conducted by McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.org, and with 329 companies, representing 13 million people surveyed, it is the largest data set of its kind for women in corporate America. Now in its fifth year, join Alexis Krivkovich, co-author and senior partner at McKinsey & Company, and other corporate leaders and experts as they discuss the 2019 findings. They’ll offer their insights, share key lessons learned along their journey and discuss what needs to be done to fix the broken rung and accelerate progress for all working women.

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Humanity at a Crossroads: New Insights into Technology Risks for Humans and the Planet Dec 05, 2019

Show notes

This program will present the biological and health effects of both natural electromagnetic waves innate to the body and man-made electromagnetic waves from wireless technologies, including discussion about 4G/5G antenna densification. It will also address the mental health and relational impacts of tech overuse and addiction. Importantly, new scientific understanding will be shared by a former telecom industry director of research and development about what is driving the biological effects, that relates to our body being mostly comprised of water. We will learn how wireless radiation instantly changes biology, with system-wide effects. Join us for a provocative program about technology risks to humanity. MLF ORGANIZER Bill Grant NOTES MLF: Health & Medicine, Technology & Society Co-organized by ElectromagneticHealth.org; American Academy of Environmental Medicine; Moms Across America; Ecological Options Network; SafeG; the California Brain Tumor Association; UCOT (Unintended Consequences of Technology); Electromagnetic Safety Alliance; EMF Safety Network; My Street, My Choice!; California Health Coalition Advocacy; Electrosensitive Society; Manhattan Neighbors for Safer Telecommunications; International EMF Alliance

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Joel Selvin: Altamont and the End of the 1960s? Dec 05, 2019

Show notes

As 2019 draws to the close, the media tributes, commemorations, remembrances and explorations related to the 50th anniversary of the 1960s comes to an end. This special program will focus on the 50th anniversary of the Altamont Speedway Free Festival, the traumatic and deadly Rolling Stones concert in the East Bay of San Francisco that is often presented as the symbolic end of the 1960s counterculture. But was it? What is the legacy of Altamont? At the notorious December 6, 1969 concert—held several months after Woodstock took place across the country—one fan was knifed to death, three died in accidents, and many more were beaten and abused before a crowd of well over 300,000. Legendary Bay Area music writer Joel Selvin has written the definitive history of that day. His book Altamont: The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock's Darkest Day explores in-depth that dark day, what led to the mayhem and what that concert means half a century later. Nearly 50 years to the exact day of the Altamont concert, Selvin will sit down with photographer and music journalist Tabitha Soren for a discussion of Altamont and the final event of the 1960s that continues to divide and fascinate the public. Did the counterculture, formed in the Bay Area, end in the chaos of the Altamont concert? Is the mayhem associated with the concert the proper way to remember the 1960s ending? Why was the concert such a disaster and what responsibility did the Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead and others have? Why are we still talking about it? Please join us for a fascinating and timely discussion on a topic and time period that continues to shape the Bay Area's consciousness. ** This Podcast Contains Explicit Language **

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Inside Stonewall: Outloud Dec 05, 2019

Show notes

In their new documentary, Stonewall: Outloud, filmmakers Fenton Baily and Randy Barbato weave together personal accounts and archival material from the night of the Stonewall riots. Narrated by RuPaul and currently streaming on YouTube, the film is a powerful look back at one of the most significant moments in the history of gay rights in the United States. Join us for a discussion with these two filmmakers about sharing new insight into a pivotal LGBTQ event. Come for a free midday program, as Michelle Meow brings her long-running radio show to The Commonwealth Club one day each week. Meet fascinating—and often controversial—people discussing important issues of interest to the LGBTQ community, and have your questions ready.

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Christine Pelosi: The Nancy Pelosi Way Dec 03, 2019

Show notes

Nancy Pelosi (D–CA) is one of the most successful leaders to ever wield the gavel as speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Under her leadership, Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act and are now championing a for the people agenda. People have spent a lifetime studying how Pelosi uses power and negotiation, but no one understands her better than her own daughter Christine Pelosi. In her new book, The Nancy Pelosi Way: Advice on Success, Leadership, and Politics from America’s Most Powerful Woman, Christine Pelosi teaches us the wisdom and advice she learned firsthand from the most powerful woman in American history. She examines how her mother rose through the ranks of government and extracts key lessons in leadership for us to apply to our own lives. Join us for an enlightening conversation with Christine Pelosi as she teaches us important lessons gleaned from an American icon and the woman she knows best.

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California Wildfires: Community and Water Supply Protection Dec 03, 2019

Show notes

Those of us in Northern California have inhaled a lot of wildfire smoke over the past few years. Fueled by a rapidly warming climate, these catastrophic wildfires are burning down our communities, are hard on our physical and mental health, and can play havoc with our water supply. What are communities doing to protect their homes and their water supply? What are drinking water utilities and the state of California doing to address these terrible problems? During our program, we will discuss the actions a large Bay Area water utility is taking to protect the green and build infrastructure that delivers our water. We will hear from the state's forest health lead on the focus of their work. Finally, we will present examples of steps other communities around the West are taking. MLF: Environment & Natural Resources

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