Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Ivy Ross and Susan Magsamen: Your Brain on Art Aug 09, 2023

Show notes

Many people think of the arts as entertainment, but Ivy Ross and Susan Magsamen believe activities such as painting, dancing, expressive writing, etc. are more essential to our daily lives than we realize. They say the science of neuroaesthetics has the power to transform traditional medicine and build healthier communities.

Ross and Magsamen offer compelling research that shows how engaging in an art project for as little as 45 minutes can reduce stress and participating in just one art experience per month can extend your life by 10 years.

Learn more about a significant cultural shift in which arts can deliver accessible and proven solutions for the well-being of everyone.

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Dr. Aomawa Shields: Life on Other Planets Aug 08, 2023

Show notes

Is anybody else out there? As a child, Aomawa Shields was always looking at the sky and dreaming of becoming an astronaut. Now an astronomer and astrobiologist at the top of her field, Dr. Shields studies the universe outside our Solar System, researching and uncovering the planets circling distant stars with just the right conditions that could support life.

In order to ultimately achieve her life-long dream Dr. Shields had to overcome discouragement from others, self-doubt, and uncertainty that she belonged. Her complex journey included a period where she left the field and pursued acting professionally.

Hear more as Dr. Shields reflects on her life as an astronomer, classically trained actor, and Black woman in STEM. Additionally, she is the founder and director of Rising Stargirls, a program dedicated to encouraging girls of all colors and backgrounds to learn, explore, and discover the universe using theater, writing and visual art.

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CLIMATE ONE: Youth Activists 15 Years Later Aug 04, 2023

Show notes

From the climate movement’s earliest days, young people have been at the forefront of activism. But the first major international climate conferences took place 30 years ago. The first cohort of youth activists are now adults, some with children of their own. The emotional cost of seeing so little payoff for years spent fighting can be agonizing at any age, but perhaps more so for young people who put so much of themselves into the effort. Many youth activists burned out along the way, frustrated by participating in actions that rarely led to meaningful and lasting change. How do former youth activists now view the work of their younger selves? And what advice do they have for the next generation?

Guests:

Alec Loorz, Writer, Photographer, former youth climate activist

Slater Jewell-Kemker, Director, “Youth Unstoppable;” former youth climate activist

Victoria Loorz, Founder, Center for Wild Spirituality; Author, “Church of the Wild: How Nature Invites Us into the Sacred”

Abrar Anwar, Chief Technology Officer, Rebel Force Tech Solutions; former youth climate activist

Kyle Gracey, Strategy Consultant, Future Matters; former youth climate activist

For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts

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Roar Like A Tiger: The 5 Key Elements of the T.I.G.E.R. Protocol Aug 03, 2023

Show notes

In this interactive program, Harvard-trained physician Dr. Akil Palanisamy will present the T.I.G.E.R. Protocol. Based on the latest science and research, he says the T.I.G.E.R. Protocol addresses the five key drivers of autoimmune and all other chronic diseases, including toxins, the gut microbiome, and diet.

Dr. Palanisamy will teach you holistic strategies incorporating diet, lifestyle and supplement recommendations he says will help you optimize your immune system, reduce inflammation, and feel better than ever before. He will shed light on the epidemic of autoimmune disease, the fastest growing category of disease right now, and discuss how you can prevent and heal these conditions.

MLF ORGANIZER

Patty James

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Jeff Jarvis: The Age of Print and the Internet Aug 02, 2023

Show notes

As a technology, print at its birth was as disruptive as the digital migration of today. Now, as the internet ushers us past print culture, Jeff Jarvis offers an overview of important lessons from the era we leave behind.

Jarvis traces the epoch of print from its fateful beginnings to our digital present. He tracks Western industrialized print to its origins; explores its invention, spread, and evolution; as well as the bureaucracy and censorship that followed. Additionally print gave rise to the idea of the mass—mass media, mass market, mass culture, mass politics, and so on—that came to dominate the public sphere.

Hear more about this complex and compelling history of technology and power and the lasting impact it has today.

MLF ORGANIZER

George Hammond

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Sex and Relationships in the Post-Pandemic Digital Age Aug 01, 2023

Show notes

Sex. Friendship. Love . . . . How have the pandemic and digital life changed these? What has been lost? What will slowly return? And what changes have actually been good for us?

Above all, what can we do to thrive in this new environment? What works well for meeting new people, for maintaining close relationships, and—yes—for finding romance and love in this new world of post-pandemic and digital life?

For more than 75 years, the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University has been a trusted source for scientific knowledge and research on critical issues in sexuality and relationships. They are the American pioneers in studies of human sexual behavior since issuing the groundbreaking Kinsey Reports in 1948 and 1953, and continuing to this day.

Today, we are fortunate that Dr. Justin Garcia, executive director of the Kinsey Institute and scientific advisor to Match.com, can visit with us to discuss what he has learned about this new environment, answer our questions, and help guide us onto a successful path.

Let's explore this brave new world of digital life together in this online discussion.

MLF ORGANIZER

Eric Siegel

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SEA Filmmaker Showcase: Screening and Discussion Jul 31, 2023

Show notes

And our moderator, Toni Wang, is a Shanghai-born independent artist and producer whose background spans IT/consulting, web management, and music. She is a co-host for SEA Creatives, a collective of Southeast Asian filmmakers and artists in Los Angeles and an advocate for AAPI representation in media. In addition to several feature film projects in development, she has helped to produce a handful of short films as well as the indie feature A Great Divide, starring Ken Jeong, which opened the 2023 Bentonville Film Festival. Learn more at toniwang.com.

The Films and Filmmakers

Apartment 605 (length 7:02): Miké is interrupted by the loud sound of the apartment buzzer. Over the course of a conversation with a stranger separated by the building's intercom, we learn of the connection they have with the owner of the apartment, Miké's estranged father.

Full Service (length 10:01): When an Indonesian woman is invited to her cousin's engagement party, she decides to hire an escort to keep her aunties, and their persistent questions about her dating life, off her back.

Astonishing Little Feet (length 8:58): Afong Moy, the first documented Chinese woman to come to the United States, realizes the men who separated her from her family only have interest in profiting off the peculiarities of her bound feet.

Soul Food (length 21:28): A mother and daughter must reconcile the love and hurt in their relationship before time runs out in a place between our world and the next.

This program contains explicit content.

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Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and Joel Christian Gill: Stamped from the Beginning - A Graphic History Jul 30, 2023

Show notes

Racism has persisted throughout history—but so have antiracist efforts to dismantle it.

Award-winning historian Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and comic artist Joel Christian Gill reveal how understanding and improving the world cannot happen without identifying and facing some of the ugly forces that shape it.

Stamped from the Beginning: A Graphic History of Racist Ideas in America is an educational and comprehensive look at how people can learn from the past to work toward a most equitable and antiracist future.

NOTE: This program contains explicit content.

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Adam Schiff: Road to the Senate 2024 Jul 29, 2023

Show notes

Congressman Adam Schiff gained national prominence for his role as the lead prosecutor in President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial. Now, the Los Angeles Democrat is running for the U.S. Senate seat for California long held by Dianne Feinstein, who will not seek re-election.

A former chair of the House Intelligence Committee and member of the select committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol, Schiff says that Californians “need a fighter in the U.S. Senate who has been at the center of the struggle for our democracy and our economy.” He has also pledged to make the environment a centerpiece of his campaign.

Schiff returns to The Commonwealth Club as part of our “Race to the Senate 2024” series of candidate forums. Come meet the candidate in person before you cast your vote for California’s next U.S. senator.

This program contains explicit language.

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CLIMATE ONE: Building a Better Battery Supply Chain with JB Straubel and Aimee Boulanger Jul 28, 2023

Show notes

Batteries are a critical part of the transition away from fossil fuels. From electric vehicles to grid scale storage for wind and solar, demand for batteries is expected to grow 500% by 2030. In order to meet that demand, we’re going to need a lot more batteries. And while companies like JB Straubel’s Redwood Materials are building capacity for recycling, for now that means a lot more mining. How do we build a battery supply chain that meets demand and reduces harm?

This episode is underwritten by ClimateWorks.

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