Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Steve Phillips: How We Can Secure a Multiracial Democracy Nov 17, 2022

Show notes

As America faces another election as a deeply divided country, Steve Phillips has strong views on what the United States needs to do to strengthen its multiracial democracy. For Phillips, understanding why the country is so divided requires recognizing that many of our divisions are historic in nature, resulting in a contest between democracy and white supremacy that is still left unresolved after the Civil War.

In his new book, How We Win the Civil War, Phillips pulls no punches on what he thinks the country must do to bridge its divides, particularly around issues related to race. Phillips advocates for increasing voter participation, ending what he says are racist immigration policies, and reviving the Great Society programs of the 1960s—all of them geared toward strengthening a new multiracial democracy and ridding our politics of white supremacy.

Join us for a powerful conversation on race, history, politics and finally overcoming our divisions.

SPEAKERS

Steve Phillips

Podcast Host, Founder, "Democracy in Color"; Author, How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good; Twitter @StevePtweets

In Conversation with Angela Glover Blackwell

Founder in Residence, PolicyLink

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 November 3rd, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Leslie Absher: Spy Daughter, Queer Girl Nov 16, 2022

Show notes

For Leslie Absher, secrecy is just another member of the family. Throughout childhood, her father's shadowy government job was ill-defined, her mother's mental health stayed off limits—even her queer identity remained hidden from her family and unacknowledged by Leslie herself.

In Spy Daughter, Queer Girl, Absher pursues the truth: of her family, her identity, and her father's role in Greece's CIA-backed junta. As a guide, Absher brings readers to the shade of plane trees in Greece, to queer discos in Boston, and to tense diner meals with her aging CIA father. As a memoirist, Absher renders a lifetime of hazy, shapeshifting truths in high-definition vibrance.

Infused with a journalist's tenacity and a daughter's open heart, this book recounts a decades' long process of discovery and the reason why the facts should matter to us all.

About the SpeakerLeslie Absher is a journalist and personal essay writer. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Salon, Ms., Greek Reporter, and San Francisco magazine. Her father joined the CIA when she was a baby and shortly after her family moved to Athens, Greece. Just in time for a coup. She spent years trying to learn what her Cold War father's role was in that event. Her memoir Spy Daughter, Queer Girl is about growing up with a spy and the cost of keeping secrets.She received a master's in education from Harvard, taught G.E.D. to high school dropouts, and currently teaches study skills and writing to middle school and high school students. She lives in Oakland with her comic book writer/artist wife.www.leslieabsher.com

NOTES

This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.

SPEAKERS

Leslie Absher

Journalist; Author, Spy Daughter, Queer Girl; Twitter @leslieabsher

Michelle Meow

Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors—Co-host

John Zipperer

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

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Can We Eat Our Way Out of Climate Change? Nov 16, 2022

Show notes

Providing nutritious, safe and affordable food in the face of the Earth’s changing climate is an urgent global challenge. How can we produce enough food for everyone at the same time as improving our relationship with our environment? And can what we eat contribute to a more sustainable future for communities on the West Coast, across North America and around the world?

Join the conversation with Peter Dhillon, chairman of Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc., and Steve Banwart, dean for global development at the University of Leeds, as they explore how we begin to tackle the tensions between climate change and food supply.

They’ll discuss how fostering closer collaboration and partnership between researchers, food producers, policymakers, communities and businesses worldwide will help us find pathways toward a radically different global food system—one that works with nature and adapts to our changing climate. They’ll also delve into how we challenge assumptions to break new ground in developing climate-smart, socially just solutions that will create a positive future for our people and planet.

As the first Canadian chairman of Ocean Spray, Peter Dhillon has experienced first hand what it takes to build a global plant-based cooperative that remains closely connected to first nation, indigenous and immigrant communities. As chair of the the British Columbia Food Security Task Force, he was also instrumental in providing recommendations to the Canadian government on agricultural development needed in the province, which relies heavily on imported produce from California.

Professor Steve Banwart is the dean for global development at the University of Leeds, and also the director of the Global Food and Environment Institute, which brings together leading scientists, engineers and social scientists working with universities, alumni, farmers and citizens around the world to find new solutions to enhance the future habitability of our planet.

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Autonomous Vehicles and the City 2022 Nov 15, 2022

Show notes

What are the issues and opportunities for cities as autonomous vehicles hit the road? How can we plan for and accommodate new forms of transport and smart city infrastructure that serves the public good?

Join us on November 7 as a part of the 6th international Autonomous Vehicles and the City symposium. We will feature international discussions on the different ways that new platforms are being used to serve diverse populations and help global cities meet climate goals.

Join conversations with leaders from the following organizations and more: Motional, Nissan, Aurora, Smartcar, San Francisco County Transportation Authority, Cruise, Zoox, and Populus.

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 November 7th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Over My Dead Body: A Lively Tour of Famous American Cemeteries Nov 12, 2022

Show notes

Join us to explore the history of how, where and why we bury our dead. Melville will take us on a lively, wide-ranging tour of the history of famous American cemeteries—places that have mirrored passing eras but have also shaped them. Cemeteries gave birth to landscape architecture and famous parks, as well as influenced architectural styles. They’ve inspired and motivated some of our greatest poets and authors—Emerson, Whitman, Dickinson. They’ve also been used as political tools to shift the country’s discourse and as important symbols of the United States's ambition and geographical reach. But cemeteries are changing and starting to fade away in the 21st century. Burying embalmed bodies is incredibly toxic, and although cremations are now even more popular than burials, they’re not great for the environment either.

A summer job cutting grass at his hometown cemetery inspired Melville to explore every issue surrounding cemeteries—history, sustainability, land use, and more—but above all to think about what it really means to memorialize the lives of those we love.

SPEAKERS

Greg Melville

Journalist; Magazine Editor; Navy Veteran; English and Writing Teacher, United States Naval Academy; Author, Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of America's Cemeteries

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 November 2nd, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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CLIMATE ONE: On the Ground at COP27: Tallying Payments and Progress Nov 11, 2022

Show notes

The 27th UN convention on climate change, known as COP27, is now underway in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. When Climate One spoke with Egyptian Ambassador Wael Aboulmagd in October, he argued that progress at this year’s summit would be more rapid than in past years, because this year, the focus is on implementation rather than negotiation. And for the first time, loss and damage — what richer nations owe poorer ones for the climate impacts their emissions have caused — is on the agenda. How will these issues play out during the conference? Are countries increasing their ambition as promised, and keeping the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees alive? Climate One brings us interviews with those on the ground pushing for meaningful change in Egypt.

Guests:

Preety Bhandari, Senior Advisor, Global Climate Program and the Finance Center, World Resources Institute

Claire Stockwell, Senior Climate Policy Analyst, Climate Analytics

David Munene, Programs Manager, Catholic Youth Network for Environmental Sustainability in Africa

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

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Grubhub Founder Mike Evans: A Startup Journey and What Came Next Nov 10, 2022

Show notes

During the depths of the pandemic, one of the most important companies in America was Grubhub. The online food delivery service was a lifesaver for residents sheltering in place and for restaurants struggling to make revenue. But where did this company come from? The story of how Grubhub was founded and what its founder, Mike Evans, learned along the way is a story important for anyone who cares about our new tech economy, particularly in the Bay Area, and what it is doing to those who start these companies.

In his new memoir, Hangry: A Startup Journey, Evans reveals the inside story of how a pizza craving turned into a hobby, and then became a business that ultimately grew into a multi-billion dollar behemoth that changed the way we eat across the country. Evans story is an interesting one with lessons for entrepreneurs of all kinds. He learned on the fly as he grew a massive business from his apartment. Along the way, he worked 80-hour weeks, almost lost his marriage, raised hundreds of millions of dollars, and even merged with another company.Then Evans surprised everyone by walking away from it all to bike across the country in search of life balance.

Please join us as Evans takes us on a funny journey about starting and growing a company that changed the fabric of our lives and what he learned about business, himself and the world along the way.

NOTES

This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.

SPEAKERS

Mike Evans

Founder, Grubhub; Author, Hangry: A Startup Journey

Vikrum Aiyer

Member, Inforum Advisory Board; Former Vice President of Public Policy, Postmates—Moderator

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The Future of Downtown San Francisco Nov 09, 2022

Show notes

After two and a half years of struggle, San Francisco's downtown stands at a crossroads. Employees have increasingly returned to offices—with overall attendance at offices reaching 50 percent on some days—streets are busier, tourism is increasing, and corporations have returned to hosting major events and attending conventions in and around the Moscone Center. Yet is it enough to return San Francisco's financial center to the heights of the activity it experienced pre-pandemic? This program will seek to answer these questions and explore what city leaders are doing to enliven and boost activity in San Francisco's downtown core.

In its first program on this important topic, The Commonwealth Club has invited key San Francisco stakeholders with a direct stake in addressing the problems to discuss practical and tangible solutions to continue to bring downtown San Francisco back to life. The program will look at the Downtown SF Partnership's new public realm plan, the efforts of San Francisco's Office of Economic and Workforce Development on the issue, and possible local and state legislative responses to the crisis.

Will these efforts be enough to help return people to downtown, and boost large and small businesses that continue to struggle? Please join us for an important conversation on the future of downtown San Francisco.

The moderator, Kevin Truong, is a reporter at the San Francisco Standard covering small business policy and the economic recovery.

SPEAKERS

Laura Crescimano

Co-Founder and Principal, Sitelab

Wade Rose

President, Advance SF

Robbie Silver

Executive Director, San Francisco Downtown Community Benefit District (Downtown SF Partnership)

Kate Sofis

Executive Director, Office of Economic and Workforce Development

Kevin Truong

Reporter, San Francisco Standard

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 November 1st, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Michael Shermer: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational Nov 08, 2022

Show notes

Long a fringe part of the American political landscape, conspiracy theories are now mainstream: 147 members of Congress voted in favor of objections to the 2020 presidential election based on an unproven theory about a rigged electoral process promoted, in part, by followers of the mysterious QAnon community, itself a network of believers of a wide-ranging conspiracy involving pedophilia among elected officials and other civic and business leaders. But these are only the latest examples of a long history of conspiracies that have gained adherents in society. In his timely new book, Conspiracy, Michael Shermer, founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, discusses what makes conspiracies so appealing to segments of the population.

Shermer finds that conspiracy theories cut across gender, age, race, income, education level, occupational status―and even political affiliation. One reason that people believe these conspiracies, Shermer argues, is that enough of them are real that we should be constructively conspiratorial: elections have been rigged, medical professionals have intentionally harmed patients in their care, your government does lie to you, and, tragically, some adults do conspire to sexually abuse children. But Shermer reveals that other factors are also in play: anxiety and a sense of loss of control play a role in conspiratorial cognition patterns, as do certain personality traits.

Join us for Dr. Shermer's discussion in our continuing series on false narratives. It is for anyone concerned about the future direction of American politics, as well as anyone who has watched friends or family fall into patterns of conspiratorial thinking.

MLF ORGANIZER

Eric Siegel

SPEAKERS

Michael Shermer

Publisher, Skeptic Magazine; Executive Director, The Skeptics Society; Author, Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational

Eric Siegel

Chair, Personal Growth Member-led Forum, The Commonwealth Club of California—Moderator

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Rana Foroohar: The Path to Prosperity in a Post-Global World Nov 05, 2022

Show notes

Financial Times columnist and CNN global economic analyst Rana Foroohar offers a deep look at the vulnerabilities of globalization. She makes the case that the reign of globalization as we’ve known it is over and the rise of local, regional and homegrown business is now at hand.

She says that for decades, the neoliberal economic philosophy of prioritizing efficiency over resilience and profits over local prosperity has produced massive inequality, persistent economic insecurity, and distrust in our institutions. Place-based economics and a wave of technological innovations now make it possible to keep operations, investment and wealth closer to home, wherever that may be.

With the pendulum of history swinging back, Foroohar explores both the challenges and the possibilities of this new era, and how she says it can usher in a more equitable and prosperous future.

NOTES

This program is generously supported by the Jackson Square Partners Foundation.

SPEAKERS

Rana Foroohar

Global Business Columnist and Associate Editor, Financial Times; Global Economic Analyst, CNN; Author, Homecoming: The Path to Prosperity in a Post-Global World; Twitter @RanaForoohar

In Conversation with Kirk Hanson

Senior Fellow and Former Executive Director, The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University; Member, The Commonwealth Club Silicon Valley Advisory Council

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 October 24th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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