Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

In the Syria in which Loubna Mrie was a schoolgirl, loyalty was survival. Curiosity was blasphemy. Dissent was betrayal.

Like any good Alawite girl, every day at school, Loubna Mrie pledged allegiance to Hafez al-Assad. When she complained about memorizing his speeches for class, she was told to shorten her tongue—without the president, her family believed, the Alawites would be persecuted by the Sunni majority, as they had been for centuries before the Assads came to power. A girl’s role was to obey, not to question. Loubna’s father, a mercurial businessman with close ties to the Assad regime, ruled over his wife and daughters with absolute authority. 

Then everything changed in 2011, when the pro-democracy uprisings of the Arab Spring reached Syria. Unable to suppress her curiosity, Loubna attended an anti-government protest. What she witnessed—the courage, the brutality, and the lies that followed—ignited something in her that would not be extinguished. She joined the resistance, risking her life by fearlessly proclaiming her Alawite heritage and, later, as a photojournalist documenting the war for Reuters and other outlets. Her defiance would come at a devastating cost: the loss of loved ones, her community, and ultimately her country. Leaving behind everything she knew, she would have to find a new home within herself.

She recounts all of this in her book Defiance—a finalist for this year's Kirkus Prize. She provides an account of one woman’s fight for freedom—against a father, a dictator, and the weight of inherited belief. From the streets of Aleppo to exile in New York City, it offers an electrifying portrait of moral courage in the face of authoritarianism and violence. Now she comes to San Francisco, where you can hear her describe what it means to wake up, to resist, and to become.

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San Francisco’s District 8, home to the Castro, Noe Valley, Glen Park, Diamond Heights, and the surrounding neighborhoods, will choose a new supervisor this November for the first time since 2018. With Supervisor Rafael Mandelman terming out, voters face a pivotal decision about who will carry the district’s voice to City Hall.

Commonwealth Club World Affairs and the San Francisco Democratic Party present "The Gr8T Debate," a live, one-hour debate featuring candidates Gary McCoy, Michael Nguyen and Darshini Patel. They’ll go head-to-head on the issues that matter most to District 8 residents: housing and affordability, public safety, small business recovery, homelessness and the drug crisis, and preserving the district’s LGBTQ+ history and culture.

Moderated by KQED’s Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos, co-hosts of "Political Breakdown," this is your chance to hear the candidates in their own words, compare their plans side by side, and decide for yourself before you mark your ballot.

Marisa Lagos is a correspondent for KQED’s California Politics and Government Desk and co-hosts the award-winning show and podcast, "Political Breakdown." At KQED, Lagos also conducts reporting, analysis and investigations into state, local and national politics for radio, TV, online and onstage. In 2022, she and co-host Scott Shafer moderated the only gubernatorial debate in California. In 2020, The Washington Post named her one of the top political journalists in California; she was nominated for a Peabody and won several other awards for her work investigating the 2017 California wildfires. She has worked at the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner and Los Angeles Times. A UC Santa Barbara graduate, she lives in San Francisco with her two sons and husband.

Scott Shafer is the senior politics correspondent with the KQED Politics and Government desk. He is co-host of "Political Breakdown," the award-winning radio show and podcast with a personal take on the world of politics. Shafer came to KQED in 1998 to host the statewide "California Report." Prior to that he had extended stints in politics and government. He uses that inside experience at KQED in his, reporting, hosting and analysis for the politics desk. Scott recently completed a 5-part podcast titled "The Speaker," examining Rep. Nancy Pelosi's life and legacy. Previously he collaborated on "Political Breakdown" and on "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown," an eight-part series about the life and extraordinary political career of the former governor. For fun, he plays water polo and swims with the San Francisco Tsunami.

See more  Michelle Meow Show programs at Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California.

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After PG&E pled guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in the 2018 Camp Fire, Patti Poppe was brought on as the utility’s new CEO. Her stated mission: to fix it. 

Now, rising electricity prices, repeated power outages, and the growing impact of climate change have put PG&E in the crosshairs of the public and legislators. Again.

This summer, California lawmakers rejected a bill that would have capped the utility’s liability if their equipment sparks another fire. In response. PG&E announced it would defer roughly $2 billion in capital investments planned for 2027 as it works to strengthen its finances and, in Poppe’s words, “reinvent” the company. That means plans to connect new housing projects, clean energy initiatives, and some technology upgrades may be put on hold.  

In a climate-changed world, is the investor-owned utility model still sustainable? Are utilities putting too much emphasis on profits at the expense of maintenance? And how do utilities across the country balance the needs for affordability, reliability, and climate resilience? 

Guests:

Patti Poppe, CEO, Pacific Gas & Electric

Ryan Reed, Co-Founder, FireGeneration Collaborative

Kyle Trefny, Seasonal wildland firefighter; Co-Founder, FireGeneration Collaborative

For show notes, transcripts, and related links, visit ⁠our episode page.⁠

00:00 – Introduction

03:30 – PG&E CEO on rising costs of electricity

06:50 – Is PG&E beholden to Wall Street instead of Main Street?

10:00 – Why the utility hasn’t put more power lines underground

12:00 – Poppe on how data centers could help normal ratepayers with lower costs

19:00 – Can the grid handle all this new demand from data centers and electrification?

20:45 – Wildfire risk and liability 

27:30 – Customer outrage about power outages, more calls to break up PG&E

30:00 – How much would it cost for San Francisco to buy out PG&E

32:00 – Lightning round

40:00 – Ryan Reed and Kyle Trefny on history of wildfire and fire suppression

45:00 – Reed and Trefny on the work of FireGen Collaborative 

49:00 – “Good fire” versus catastrophic, climate-fueled wildfires

57:00 – Climate One More Thing

On November 5 at 5:30 p.m., join Climate One and the Children & Nature Network for an evening with Richard Louv, author of the internationally bestselling Last Child in the Woods. Tickets are available at ⁠climateone.org/events⁠ 

Support Climate One by going ad-free! Subscribe to Climate One on ⁠Patreon⁠ for exclusive access to all future episodes, free of ads. ⁠Sign up today⁠.

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Peter Ortiz’s path to becoming the most battle-decorated member of America’s first spy agency—and one of the most decorated Marines of World War II—was unlike any other. Born in New York and raised in both California and France, he was a merchant seaman, dude ranch manager, race car driver, lion tamer, circus performer, and Hollywood stuntman and actor. As a teenager, Ortiz ran away from boarding school to join the French Foreign Legion. He fought in North Africa against Saharan tribesmen, and on the front lines against the Germans in 1940, where he was badly wounded and captured. But he repeatedly escaped, one time fleeing a hospital train after assuming the identity of a dead soldier.

Arriving in the United States the day after Pearl Harbor, Ortiz immediately enlisted in the Marine Corps. Since he could speak French like a native, and get by in Arabic, German and Spanish, Ortiz was recruited by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS)—America’s World War II forerunner to the Central Intelligence Agency—for special operations in North Africa and Europe.

In 1944, Ortiz parachuted into France on two top-secret Allied missions. Operating behind enemy lines, he traveled throughout Southeastern France—at times donning his Marine uniform—arming and training the Maquis, blowing up Nazi infrastructure, and aiding downed Allied airmen. Using many secret identities, including fashion designer and minor Vichy government official, he infiltrated Nazi gatherings and funneled intelligence about German positions back to OSS London ahead of D-Day. By the time he escaped across the Pyrenees, he was on the Gestapo’s most wanted list.

Two months after the Normandy landings, Ortiz parachuted back into the French Alps, this time with a team of Americans to drop more than 150 tons of supplies for the Maquis to fight with. When his six-man patrol was surrounded by more than 100 Germans in the village of Centron, Ortiz decided to surrender rather than have the furious Nazis annihilate the French villagers.

Join us to hear Katie Sanders discuss Ortiz’s highly decorated career as a Marine, fighting behind enemy lines during World War II, displaying extraordinary courage, resistance, and self-sacrifice.

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.

Organizer: George Hammond 

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Climate scientist Kate Marvel made headlines this year when she publicly resigned from NASA, drawing coverage from Bloomberg to The New York Times. Marvel says her resignation wasn’t newsworthy on its own. What made it notable is that she was one of more than 10,000 Ph.D. scientists to leave the federal government during President Trump’s second term, part of what she calls a “mass nerd exodus.” 

She is now senior climate scientist at Project Drawdown and author of “Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet.” Marvel argues that scientists need to stop hiding their feelings behind the data. 

“When we pretend we don’t have emotions, that’s not making us more credible, because that’s lying,” she says. “You can feel a whole range of human emotions and still get the numbers right.”

Guests: 

Kate Marvel, Senior climate scientist, Project Drawdown; author, “Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet”

Michael McPhaden, Senior oceanographer, University of Washington

For show notes, transcripts, and related links, visit ⁠ClimateOne.org⁠.

Highlights:

00:00:00 Intro

00:02:24 Kate Marvel on if leaving NASA was newsworthy 

00:08:05 Kate Marvel on why science should be publicly funded 

00:12:18 Kate Marvel on “emergency break” solution 

00:15:01 Kate Marvel on why feelings are a major topic in her book 

00:18:11 Kate Marvel on which emotion was hardest to write about

00:23:06 Kate Marvel on which emotion isn’t discussed enough

00:26:27 Kate Marvel on when she felt wonder 

00:30:36 Kate Marvel on how to talk about climate change

00:33:28 Kate Marvel on why it’s not too late 

00:37:18 Michael McPhaden on this year’s El Niño 

00:39:40 Michael McPhaden on the hurricane season 

00:41:06 Michael McPhaden on the Climate change and El Niño connection

00:46:12 Michael McPhaden on what people should look out for 

******

On October 20 at 6 p.m. join us, in partnership with The Redford Center, for a screening of the short film In Earth We Trust, followed by a conversation with the filmmaker, the film’s central figure, and other faith leaders. Tickets available at ⁠climateone.org/events⁠ 

On November 5 at 5:30 p.m., join Climate One and the Children & Nature Network for an evening with Richard Louv, the internationally bestselling author of Last Child in the Woods. Tickets available at ⁠climateone.org/events⁠ 

Support Climate One by going ad-free! Subscribe to Climate One on ⁠Patreon⁠ for exclusive access to all future episodes, free of ads. ⁠Sign up today⁠.

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

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Miriam Pawel returns to Commonwealth Club World Affairs to discuss the issues raised in her latest book, an epic history of the sweeping social impact of the world’s largest higher education institution, the University of California, and what it can teach us in a time of educational crisis.

Set apart by its founding mission to be an engine of upward mobility, the University of California system is a great American experiment that has endured in spite of fraught battles over access, funding and leadership.

Ever since the Civil War, the university has been at the nexus of nearly every public policy decision and social movement in the Golden State, from affirmative action to immigration to student protests. Pawel narrates the UC’s rise and resilience through the lens of those whose lives it has transformed—in particular, five pioneering graduates whose diverse paths underscore why UC remains, in the words of Berkeley graduate Joan Didion, “California’s best idea of itself.”

At a time of staggering inequality and uncertainty, as higher education faces unprecedented threats, that role has never been more crucial or more difficult. Pawel weaves the history of the inexorably linked school and state in all its drama, significance, and humanity, providing a clear-eyed analysis of the university’s roots with an incisive lesson, and a glimmer of hope, for our future.

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.

ORGANIZERGeorge HammondNOTES

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Note: This podcast contains explicit language.

What should we eat—and why is the answer still so complicated?

Join us for a compelling conversation at the intersection of science, food and health as we explore the evolving landscape of nutrition through the lens of Dr. Christopher Gardner’s forthcoming book, Food Sense: What to Eat and Why. A leading nutrition scientist at Stanford, Dr. Gardner has spent decades studying a wide range of dietary patterns—from Mediterranean to ketogenic to plant-based—seeking clarity on what truly supports long-term health. His work moves beyond rigid dietary camps, focusing instead on evidence, behavior change, and what he calls “unapologetic deliciousness” in the pursuit of better eating.

He will be joined by Dr. Russell Jaffe, a physician-scientist whose decades of work in integrative and functional medicine have centered on inflammation, root causes and whole-person health. Together, they offer both complementary and contrasting perspectives on how we understand diet, disease and the body’s innate capacity for healing.

Moderating the conversation is Kristen Rasmussen, a culinary nutrition and food systems expert whose work bridges traditional foodways, sustainability and modern health. With a deep appreciation for culture, flavor and the power of food to connect us, Rasmussen will guide a discussion that is as practical as it is thought-provoking.

This program invites us to step back from nutrition noise and consider a more nuanced question: not just what we eat, but how, why and in what context. From inflammation and the microbiome to culture, environment and personal choice, this conversation will challenge assumptions and offer fresh insight into how we nourish ourselves—and each other.

About the Speakers

For more than 30 years, Christopher Gardner, Ph.D., the Rehnborg Farquhar Professor of Medicine at Stanford and a nutrition scientist, has been a key faculty member at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, where he leads the Stanford Nutrition Studies Research Group. With a Ph.D. in nutrition science from UC Berkeley, he has led more than 20 human nutrition intervention studies, including trials of Mediterranean, ketogenic, vegan, low-fat and low-carb diets and their effects on cardiometabolic outcomes such as blood lipids, glucose and inflammation.

Dr. Russell Jaffe received his B.S., M.D. and Ph.D. from the Boston University School of Medicine in 1972. He completed residency training in clinical chemistry at the National Institutes of Health (1973–1976), remaining on the permanent senior staff until 1979. He is board certified in clinical pathology and in chemical pathology.

As a physician and scientist who aspired to be comprehensive, objective, empiric and experiential, Dr. Jaffe started his career searching for deeper understanding, wisdom, evidence and insight in mechanisms of health. Through intense curiosity and learned skepticism, Dr. Jaffe sought to debunk the best-known advocates of a variety of health promotion and healing systems. What started as a journey to disprove holistic forms of care became a rich educational experience that transformed Dr. Jaffe into a student and then researcher in such areas a traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, active meditation, homeopathy and manipulative arts.

Moderator Kristen Rasmussen, M.S., R.D.N., is a culinary nutrition and food systems expert with passions that have led her many places – from leading UC Berkeley study-abroad programs on traditional diets and sustainable food systems in Greece to working on public health campaigns and exploring the foodways of Oaxaca, Mexico. Currently Rasmussen acts as associate director of health & sustainability programs for The Center for Food & Beverage Leadership at the Culinary Institute of America.

ORGANIZERPatty James

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In celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, bestselling biographer Walter Isaacson has taken a fascinating deep dive into the creation of one of history’s most powerful sentences: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Drafted by Thomas Jefferson and edited by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, this line lays the foundation for the American Dream and defines the common ground we share as a nation. 
Join us as Isaacson returns to Commonwealth Club World Affairs to unpack the word-by-word genius of the sentence, illuminating the then-radical concepts behind it. He’ll explore not just the power of the words but how, in these polarized times, they can be used to restore an appreciation for our common values.

* Note - this podcast contains explicit language.

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Please join us for a panel discussion: Following the enactment of H.R. 1, which includes significant changes to Medicaid and other federal health-care programs, California and San Francisco are grappling with what these changes will mean for patients, providers and the health-care safety net. 

The San Francisco General Hospital Foundation (SFGHF) is convening this timely conversation at the Commonwealth Club to explore the law’s implications for health-care access, our city’s public hospital Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZSFG), and communities across California. 

Featuring Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and ZSFG CEO Dr. Susan Ehrlich, in a conversation moderated by SFGHF CEO Kim Meredith, the discussion will examine the evolving policy landscape and the challenges and opportunities ahead.

An Arts 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.

Organizer: Robert Melton 

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San Francisco has been connected to Francis of Assisi for over 250 years, when Spanish explorers gave the name San Francisco Bay to the waters east of the Golden Gate. That connection intensified 180 years ago when the town of 600 called Yerba Buena was renamed San Francisco.

Humanities West and the Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco celebrate this civilizational connection to the influential Italian who founded the Order of Friars Minor for priests and brothers and the Order of Saint Clare for cloistered nuns — having been inspired by his earlier membership in the lay organization Brothers and Sisters of Penance (a part of which organization later became the Franciscan Tertiaries). When Francis of Assisi died 800 years ago, on October 3, 1226, he was already famous not only for his contributions to religious thought and practice, but also for his deep respect for the natural world, his “small carbon footprint” lifestyle and his interest in the brotherhood of man.

In his new biography, Augustine Thompson, O.P., has sifted through the surviving evidence for the life of Francis using modern historical methods. In Thompson’s complex yet sympathetic portrait, Francis emerges as a typical thirteenth-century Italian layman, but one who, when faced with unexpected crises in his personal life, made decisions so radical that they challenged his own society—and ours.

Thompson peals away the layers of legend that quickly coalesced around Francis to reveal that Francis never had a unique divine inspiration to provide him with rules for following the teachings of Jesus. Rather, he spent his life reacting to unexpected challenges, before which he often found himself unprepared and uncertain. His famous devotion to poverty is more nuanced than expected, and perhaps not even his principal spiritual concern. Francis's troubled relations with his father, his friendship with Clare of Assisi, his encounter with the Muslim sultan, and his receiving the Stigmata, all help Thompson uncover the man behind the legends.

Sam Dennison has lived and worked in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco for more than 15 years in community with Faithful Fools Street Ministry. Faithful Fools is many things, as all communities are, and everything they do is a celebration of our common humanity. Dennison will reflect on the charism of Francis and Clare and how it informs the Fools' commitment to witnessing and responding to poverty and the struggle for human dignity in a very wealthy city in a very wealthy nation. It's not always an easy thing, but it's never dull — a Foolish and Franciscan way of life, to be sure.

Join us on the 800th anniversary of his death to find the real Francis of Assisi, because once you have a fuller grasp of his personality, it will not be surprising at all that San Francisco is the city whose citizens inspired tens of thousands to wear flowers in their hair, and aspired (even though they failed) to create a Summer of Love.   

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 Humanities West and the Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco.

ORGANIZER George Hammond

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