Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Bringing Back the Bay Lights with Ben Davis Sep 21, 2023

Show notes

The Bay Lights by artist Leo Villareal first went live on March 5, 2013. Exactly one decade later, the beloved artwork went dark. Ben Davis is the driving force behind The Bay Lights and the effort to bring the artwork back with twice the number of LEDs in a radically accessible new configuration. With the project 75 percent funded—and $2.5 million more needed to proceed—Davis will reveal what's next for the historic effort: organizational vulnerability.

Davis is the founder and leader of Illuminate, the art nonprofit behind many of San Francisco's large-scale and iconic public artworks, including lighting The Pink Triangle on Twin Peaks, activation of the Golden Mile on JFK Promenade, the Summer of Love lighting on the Conservatory of Flowers, Grace Light in Grace Cathedral, the revival of the Golden Gate Bandshell, and the series of giant laser art installations across San Francisco this summer.

Davis will also talk about his vision for San Francisco as the City of Awe.

The program talk will be followed by a reception and live music by "KAVIN" on the rooftop. In-kind food donations provided by local SF Hot Cookies and Casa Sanchez.

Community partner: Beyond The Fog Radio

MLF ORGANIZER

Robert Melton

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CLIMATE ONE: The Nuclear Option Sep 15, 2023

Show notes

Fourteen years after receiving its permit, the nation’s first new nuclear reactors in decades just fired up in Georgia. Massive, traditional nuclear reactors like this have faced so many cost overruns and construction delays that the investment market for them all but vanished. Despite a handful of recent technical breakthroughs in fusion power, its promise of virtually limitless power remains just a promise. But could a new wave of small, modular fission reactors bring new carbon-free power onto the market faster and cheaper (and safer?) than traditional nuclear plants in time to help the world decarbonize?

Guests:

Melissa Lott, Senior Research Scholar and the Senior Director of Research at the Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University

Jacopo Buongiorno, TEPCO Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering, MIT

Allison MacFarlane, Director of the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia; Former Chair, Nuclear Regulatory Commission

For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/audio/nuclear-option

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Civics Across the Curriculum: Educating for Democracy Sep 11, 2023

Show notes

In recent years, political and social turbulence have given rise to a new urgency around civics education in the United States. Civic leaders, educators and politicians across the ideological spectrum claim that reviving civics in schools will compensate for decades of neglect and ensure the future of our fragile democracy. But more civics learning doesn’t necessarily mean better civics learning. Even when civics is taught, it is typically relegated to history-social science classes, isolating it from core subjects and offering students limited support to help them understand and act on the real-world issues they see and experience in their everyday lives.

"Civics Across the Curriculum" brings together a panel of educators whose teaching and research offer new possibilities for making civics education relevant and impactful. Rather than treating it as a discrete content area, they use disciplines as varied as math, literature and gender studies to help students investigate and reason about complex civic issues. And they demonstrate that practices such as inquiry, respectful discourse and action projects can be incorporated into every class, infusing a democratic sensibility into all facets of school life and helping students practice the skills they need to engage with meaning and purpose in our diverse society.

As we welcome the new school year, we invite you to join us for an inspiring discussion about one of the highest priorities in education today: preparing young people to uphold our constitutional democracy, now and in the future.

Please come early to enjoy a reception before the program, with complimentary wine, soft drinks, and light snacks.

Dr. Garcia will sign copies of his new book, Civics for the World to Come, after the program.

NOTES

This program is part of The Commonwealth Club’s civics education initiative, Creating Citizens.

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Robert Wachter and Katie Hafner: Creating the Science, Covering the Science Sep 10, 2023

Show notes

Join us for a discussion with journalist Katie Hafner, who covers scientific advances, especially those by women, and her husband, Dr. Robert Wachter of UCSF, who is on the forefront of the digital transformation of health care and has been influential in advancing public understanding of the COVID crisis. Dr. Wachter coined the term “hospitalist” in 1996 and has overseen that medical specialty, the fastest growing specialty in modern medical history. His tweets on COVID-19 have been a trusted source of information on the clinical, public health, and policy issues surrounding the pandemic, garnering more than 500 million views.

Hafner and Wachter are at the center of advancing public understanding of science and health care through various media. We will discuss Hafner’s popular "Lost Women of Science" podcast, her groundbreaking nonfiction books, and her recent switch to fiction with The Boys. We’ll also discuss Dr. Wachter’s perspective on COVID—including lessons learned—as we enter a new phase of the pandemic, how health care will be transformed by digital tools like ChatGPT, and how to communicate about science in the face of uncertainty, political polarization, and misinformation. In addition, they’ll discuss the experience of working and writing together as a married couple, particularly when the pandemic forced them—like so many couples—into the same bubble.

MLF ORGANIZER

George Hammond

NOTES

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.

In Association with Wonderfest.

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CLIMATE ONE: Rethinking Economic Growth, Wealth, and Health Sep 08, 2023

Show notes

Since the industrial revolution, the global north has seen massive economic growth. Yet that growth has been linked to increasing greenhouse gas emissions. We also live on a planet with finite resources, so it's hard to believe that we can continue to consume resources and release emissions and not sail right past our collective climate goals. That’s why some people are starting to rethink perpetual economic growth as the best measure of a healthy economy. But what would an economy focused on metrics other than growth look like?

Guests:

Anuna De Wever, Climate and Social Justice activist

Leigh Phillips, journalist and author of Austerity Ecology & The Collapse-Porn Addicts

Marieke van Doorninck, Director, Kennisland, former Deputy Mayor, Amsterdam

For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/audio/rethinking-economic-growth-wealth-and-health

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Avi Loeb's Search for Extraterrestrial Life Sep 07, 2023

Show notes

Famed astronomer Avi Loeb returns to The Commonwealth Club to answer some of the biggest questions facing humankind: How do we prepare ourselves for interaction with interstellar extraterrestrial life? And can our species itself become interstellar?

Loeb, the longest-serving chair of Harvard's Astronomy Department, shook the scientific community when he theorized that our solar system had been visited by a piece of advanced alien technology from a distant star. The object, dubbed 'Oumuamua, sparked worldwide discussions and arguments, and Loeb was at the center of it all.

Now, in his new book Interstellar, Loeb builds on that original idea and asks, What's next? He gives a call to arms that reimagines the idea of contact with extraterrestrial civilizations. Dismantling our science-fiction-fueled visions of a human and alien life encounter, he provides a blueprint for how such an interaction might actually occur, resetting our cultural understanding and expectation of what it means to identify an extraterrestrial object. From awe-inspiring searches for extraterrestrial technology, to the heated debate of the existence of unidentified aerial phenomena, Loeb provides a thrilling, front-row view of the monumental progress in science and technology currently preparing us for contact. He also lays out the profound implications of becoming—or not becoming—interstellar; in an urgent, eloquent appeal for more proactive engagement with the world beyond ours, he contends why we must seek out other life forms, and in the process, choose who and what we are within the universe.

Tens of thousands of people have viewed Dr. Loeb's 2022 Commonwealth Club program. Don't miss his return engagement as he raises some of the most important questions facing us as humans and argues that scientific curiosity is the key to our survival.

NOTES

In association with the Club's Humanities Forum and Wonderfest.

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Week to Week Political Roundtable: August 30, 2023 Sep 03, 2023

Show notes

Summer's over and fall is about to begin. Come on out to our beautiful headquarters on San Francisco's waterfront for an end-of-summer Week to Week political roundtable!

At Week to Week, we're dedicated to the lively and informed discussion of politics—with a good sense of humor—as a platform for healthy involvement in the issues that drive our society. The Commonwealth Club's Week to Week Political Roundtable and social hour, now in its 12th year, will take a look at the politics of the day—the issues, the people, and the trends affecting our political world.

Come early before the program and enjoy some wine and snacks with others, then grab a seat in the auditorium to hear our panel of political experts discuss the latest developments with knowledge, civility and humor.

NOTES

See other upcoming Week to Week political roundtables, as well as audio and video of past Week to Week programs.

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Mauro F. Guillén: Perennials and the Megatrends Creating a Postgenerational Society Sep 02, 2023

Show notes

In today’s world, the acceleration of megatrends—increasing longevity and the explosion of technology, among many others—is transforming life as we know it.

Leading sociologist and business economist Mauro F. Guillénexplains that a new postgenerational workforce known as “perennials”—individuals who are not pitted against each other either by their age or experience—will level the playing field so everyone has a chance at living a rewarding life.

He argues that outmoded terms like Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z have long been used to pigeonhole us into rigid categories and life stages that artificially prevent people from reaching their full potential.

Join us as Guillén reveals how this generational revolution will impact young people just entering the workforce as well as those who are living and working longer.

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CLIMATE ONE: Fairytales and Fear: Stories Of Our Future Sep 01, 2023

Show notes

Stories are the way we remember, the way we share knowledge, the way we play out possible outcomes. Climate fiction imagines dark or bright futures depending on how we address the climate crisis. And there’s a healthy debate about what kind of stories move more people to act: dark tales of a scary climate future or positive versions of a greener, more just world. “I think that if you want to create change in a democratic society, people have to believe that there is actually a threat,” says author Paolo Bacigalupi.

Telling inclusive fictional stories of climate realities can also help us process the disruptions our world is experiencing, explore avenues for solutions, and become inspired to take our own form of action.

Guests:

Paolo Bacigalupi, author, “The Water Knife”

Denise Baden, Green Stories Project; Professor of Sustainable Business at the University of Southampton; author, “Habitat Man”

Tory Stephens, Climate Fiction Creative Manager, Grist

This episode also features an excerpt of the audio recording of “The Cloud Weaver’s Song,” written by Saul Tanpepper and recorded by Curio.

For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/audio/fairytales-and-fear-stories-our-future

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Andrew Fraknoi: Two Eclipses of the Sun Aug 31, 2023

Show notes

Two eclipses of the sun are coming to North America during the 2023–24 school year—an annular (“ring of fire”) eclipse on October 14, 2023 and a total eclipse on April 8, 2024. People in two narrow paths will have the full eclipse experience each time. Everyone else (an estimated 500 million people, including all of us in the Bay Area) will see a nice partial eclipse, where the moon covers a good part of the sun.

Dr. Andrew Fraknoi will describe how eclipses come to be (and why they are total only on Earth), what scientists learn during eclipses, exactly when and where the eclipses of 2023 and 2024 will be best visible, and how to observe the eclipses and the sun safely.

MLF ORGANIZER

George Hammond

NOTES

In Association with Wonderfest.

Everyone who attends this program in person will receive a free pair of safe-viewing glasses for the eclipse (which enable you to look at the sun without eye damage), courtesy of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Fraknoi photo courtesy the speaker' eclipse images from NASA.

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