Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

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Jeanne Carstensen: The Human Cost of the Migration Crisis Apr 09, 2025

Show notes

On October 28, 2015, Jeanne Carstensen was reporting as a foreign correspondent covering the Syrian refugee crisis in Europe when she witnessed a devastating boat accident. After nearly a decade of research and investigation, Carstensen recounts the events of that day, with firsthand accounts from not only the desperate refugees, but also the heroic islanders who did their best to help.

Of her book A Greek Tragedy: One Day, A Deadly Shipwreck, and the Human Cost of the Refugee Crisis, she says, “I wrote this book because I believe we need to pay attention to the human impacts of our migration policies. Increasingly, we are militarizing boarders, building more fences, and criminalizing those who try to help. I hope A Greek Tragedy will serve to wake us up; my hope is that we will not turn away.”

Organizer: Frank Price

An International Relations Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums.

This program contains EXPLICIT language.

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Michael Joseph Gross with Guy Raz: The Untold Story of Muscle In Our Lives Apr 06, 2025

Show notes

Join us for a richly informative exploration of the central role of muscle in human life and health. Michael Joseph Gross, author of the new book Stronger, will share his urgent call for each of us to recognize muscle as “the vital, inextricable and effective partner of the soul.”

Gross draws on everything from the battlefields of the Trojan War in Homer’s Iliad, where muscles enter the scene of world literature; to the all-but-forgotten Victorian-era gyms on both sides of the Atlantic, where women build strength and muscle by lifting heavy weights; to a retirement home in Boston, where a young doctor makes the astonishing discovery that frail 90-year-olds can experience the same relative gains of strength and muscle as 30-year-olds if they lift weights.

These surprising tales play out against a background of clashing worldviews, an age-old competition between athletic trainers and medical doctors to define our understanding and experience of muscle. In this conflict, muscle got typecast: Simplistic binaries of brain-versus-brawn created a persistent prejudice against muscle, and against weight training, the type of exercise that best builds muscular strength and power.

Come hear how Gross looks at muscle and weight training in a whole new light. He’ll be in conversation with Guy Raz for a discussion about how all of us, from elite powerlifters to people who have never played sports at all, can learn to lift weights in ways that yield life's ultimate prize: the ability to act upon the world in the ways that we wish.

If you have symptoms of illness (coughing, fever, etc.), we ask that you either stay home or wear a mask. Our front desk has complimentary masks for members and guests who would like one.

Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is a nonprofit public forum; we welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programming.

In Association with Wonderfest.

Commonwealth Club World Affairs is a public forum. Any views expressed in our programs are those of the speakers and not of Commonwealth Club World Affairs.

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CLIMATE ONE: AI’s Power Demands: Do We Really Have the Energy for This? Apr 04, 2025

Show notes

In a previous Climate One episode, we discussed the good, the bad, and the ugly impacts of artificial intelligence. But AI isn’t going away. Humans rarely give up a nifty new tool unless something better comes along. AI’s share of energy consumption is enormous, and the Department of Energy estimates that data center energy demands will double or even triple in just the next three years. Demand on fresh water is at least as big and isn’t talked about nearly enough. So, what can we do to reduce AI’s impact?

Plenty of researchers have ideas — from site selection to energy efficiency to using zero-carbon sources of energy. But what will incentivize the AI corporations to take any of those actions?

This episode is supported by Climate One Steward Noel Perry and Next 10.

Episode Guests:

KeShaun Pearson, Executive Director, Memphis Community Against Pollution

Kate Brandt, Chief Sustainability Officer, Google

Irina Raicu, Director of the Internet Ethics Program at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University

Climate One is once again hosting a series of live conversations as part of SF Climate Week 2025! Tickets for all four of our events, featuring leaders such as Jenny Odell, San José Mayor Matt Mahan, Rep. Jared Huffman, Abby Reyes, Margaret Gordon and two of this year's Goldman Prize winners are on sale now through the official SF Climate Week event calendar.

Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today.

For show notes and related links, visit our website.

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The Energy Transition Challenge Mar 31, 2025

Show notes

The energy transition is a monumental task, still in its early stages, with only about 10 percent of the necessary low-emissions technologies deployed to meet 2050 targets, according to the McKinsey Global Institute.

As the world strives to reduce carbon dioxide emissions while meeting growing global energy demand, significant challenges lie ahead. Join us as we explore the complexities of transforming the global energy infrastructure, and also the opportunities for innovation that lie ahead.

Industry leaders will share insights on the progress being made and the critical steps needed to scale low-emission technologies while ensuring energy access and equity worldwide. Don’t miss this forward-looking discussion on the physical, technical and financial hurdles that must be overcome to achieve a sustainable energy future.

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Peter Som: Family Style Mar 30, 2025

Show notes

For Peter Som, nothing is quite as satisfying as the moment when everyone is gathered around the table and platters of food are set down for everyone to dig into together. Now culinary creator and lifestyle expert Som releases Family Style, a cookbook of 100 recipes with unique and creative flavor combinations, paying homage to his identity, heritage and family.

He’s got powerfully flavorful recipes for breakfasts, dinners, desserts and more—all unfussy, comforting and creative. Perfect, he says, for an everyday meal at home, yet sophisticated, elegant and visually stunning to impress any guest.

At the heart of each of the 100 recipes in Family Style are imaginative and personally unique flavor combinations. There are beloved nods to his grandma’s Cantonese flavor profiles, his mom’s deep love of French food, his Bay Area upbringing, and desserts that are “not too sweet”—the highest compliment in his family—and more, with recipes including: Burnt Miso Cinnamon Toast, Crispy Deviled Tea Eggs, Radicchio and Fennel Salad with Creamy Miso Maple Vinaigrette, Roasted Carrots with Gochujang Honey Butter, Cacio e Pepe Sticky Rice with Egg, Hoisin Honey Roast Chicken, Char Siu Bacon Cheeseburger, Chickpea Bourguignon, and Lychee Lime Pavlova.

Join us to hear from this entertainment and lifestyle authority whose brand of effortless sophistication stems from his many years helming his own award-winning fashion brand.

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What’s for Dinner? How Food Policy Affects What Is on Your Plate. Appetizers Provided by Michelin Star Chef Richard Crocker. Mar 29, 2025

Show notes

This evening, Vince Hall will give an overview of food policy, his work with Feeding America navigating the complexities of solving hunger in America with healthy, nutritious foods, while explaining how policy affects the quality and quantity of food on your plate.

Mr. Hall will be joined by Jennifer Steele, who will tell us how food policy affects her work with Meals on Wheels. They will work together explaining how food policy affects the ingredients used to make the appetizers you will be sampling this evening.

About the Speakers

As chief government relations officer at Feeding America, the largest charity working to end hunger in the United States, Vince Hall leads the development and execution of Feeding America’s public policy, legislative, and advocacy strategies to empower communities and improve food security. He helps lead efforts to end hunger by advocating for policy changes, supporting advocacy capacity across the network, increasing neighbor enrollment in public benefits, and building partnerships that amplify our collective voice.

Jennifer Steele is the CEO of Meals on Wheels of San Francisco. This organization ensures that older adults in the region have home-delivered meals and services that help them live with grace and independence in their homes. Steele has dedicated her professional career to advocating for those who can’t advocate for themselves. Before joining Meals on Wheels, she worked in food insecurity and hunger relief both domestically and internationally.

Organizer: Patty James

A Nutrition, Food & Wellness Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums.

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CLIMATE ONE: Trump Breaks Wind? Mar 28, 2025

Show notes

It’s no secret that President Trump is not a fan of wind energy. As a matter of fact, he signed an executive order on his first day back in office that paused leasing for any new or renewed offshore wind energy projects and required the re-evaluation of all wind projects. This has thrown uncertainty into the entire industry, which already had supply chain and local opposition issues even before the new administration took office.

Meanwhile, wind projects — especially offshore — have seen a decade-long boom in Europe, where the U.S. is already 15 years behind. Will the hostile policy from the Trump administration end the wind industry in this country?

This episode features reporting from Ben Berke of The Public’s Radio.

Guests:

Clare Fieseler, Reporter, Canary Media

Jed Welder, Owner, Trinity Farms

Barbara Kates-Garnick, Professor of Practice, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

Climate One is once again hosting a series of live conversations as part of SF Climate Week 2025!

Tickets for all four of our events, featuring leaders such as Jenny Odell, San José Mayor Matt Mahan, Rep. Jared Huffman, Abby Reyes, Margaret Gordon and two of this year's Goldman Prize winners are on sale now through the official SF Climate Week event calendar.

For show notes and related links, visit our website.

Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Women Empowering Women Mar 26, 2025

Show notes

March is International Women’s Month!

Celebrate with the Arts Member-led Forum of Commonwealth Club World Affairs and the Northern California Women’s Caucus for Art (NCWCA) panel of women leaders in the arts.

When women empower women, a cycle of support and inspiration is created that leads to personal growth, societal progress—and a better future for humanity.

Moderated by Debra Reabock, arts leaders Debbie Chinn, Vera Maslova, Sawyer Rose and Anne W. Smith share their unique, often bold "just do it” adventures and achievements. By sharing their varied “womanly ways” to lift each other up, break barriers, transform communities and industries, and challenge stereotypes, women empowering women paves the way for future generations to make our fractious world a better place.

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Gary Krist: Love, Murder, and Madness in Gilded-Age San Francisco Mar 25, 2025

Show notes

Gold turned a sleepy Mexican outpost into what we now know as San Francisco. In just a few short years, thousands of migrants from every part of the globe made the treacherous journey to California, seeking not just wealth but a chance to begin anew.

Alexander P. Crittenden was one such pioneer who saw in San Francisco limitless opportunities for reinvention. Ever in debt and with a wife and 14 children to support, A.P. found that the city’s laissez faire attitudes suited him just fine—particularly when it came to his relationship with Laura Fair. Laura too had come to San Francisco seeking a clean slate, but A.P. and Laura soon began a years-long adulterous affair, with most San Franciscans happy to turn a blind eye. But as the city began to shed its rough-and-tumble past, and embrace the dictates of Victorian respectability, so too did Laura Fair. When A.P. once again broke his oft-repeated promise to divorce his wife and marry Laura, she decided to take fate into her own hands. Shortly before dusk on November 3, 1870, just as the ferryboat El Capitan was pulling away from its slip into San Francisco Bay, Laura Fair shot A.P. Crittenden point-blank in the chest. “I did it and I don’t deny it,” she said when arrested shortly thereafter. “He ruined both myself and my daughter.”

Fair’s murder trial was covered by every news outlet in the country. One of the first to involve an insanity defense, the trial shone an early spotlight on controversial social issues like the role of women, the sanctity of the family, and the range of acceptable expressions of gender—all topics of burning interest to Americans still searching for moral consensus after the Civil War. Trespassers at the Golden Gate author Gary Krist introduces us to a full cast of characters—including a secretly wealthy Black housekeeper, an enterprising Chinese brothel madam, and a French rabble-rouser who refused to dress in sufficiently “feminine” clothing. Their stories, along with those of familiar figures like Mark Twain and Susan B. Anthony, bring to life San Francisco’s Gilded-Age society.

Organizer: George Hammond

A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums.

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Paul Hawken: Carbon, Climate, and Humanity Mar 24, 2025

Show notes

Join us live for a journey into the world of carbon, the most versatile element on the planet. Your tour guide is New York Times bestselling author Paul Hawken.

Carbon is the only element that animates the entirety of the living world. Though comprising a tiny fraction of Earth’s composition, our planet is lifeless without it. Yet it is maligned as the driver of climate change, scorned as an errant element blamed for the possible demise of civilization.

In his new book Carbon, Paul Hawken looks at the flow of life through the lens of carbon. Embracing a panoramic view of carbon’s omnipresence, he explores how this ubiquitous and essential element extends into every aperture of existence and shapes the entire fabric of life. Hawken charts a course across our planetary history, guiding us into the realms of plants, animals, insects, fungi, food and farms to offer a new narrative for embracing carbon’s life-giving power and its possibilities for the future of human endeavor.

Hawken will illuminate the subtle connections between carbon and our collective human experience and ask us to see nature, carbon and ourselves as exquisitely intertwined—inseparably connected.

This program contains EXPLICIT language.

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