Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

By Commonwealth Club of California

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What's Commonwealth Club of California Podcast about?

The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Please click the link below and visit our website to learn more about The Commonwealth Club and don't forget to become a member!

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For Sama: A Mother's Tale o...

10.18.2019

For nearly nine years, civil war has raged in Syria. The conflict has created millions of refugees and devastated countless towns and cities. For Sama is a new documentary that tells the story of one woman’s journey through love, motherhood, ...

Commonwealth Club of California Podcast episodes:

10.18.2019 For Sama: A Mother's Tale of Syria's War For nearly nine years, civil war has raged in Syria. The conflict has created millions of refugees and devastated countless towns and cities. For Sama is a new documentary that tells the story of one woman’s journey through love, motherhood, ...
10.18.2019 Tools for Finding and Defeating HIV Join us for a discussion with experts about PrEP and a new tool designed to identify who might be more at risk of HIV infection. Come for a free midday program, as Michelle Meow brings her long-running radio show to ...
10.17.2019 New Yorker Cartoonist Liana Finck Liana Finck’s deeply insightful and delightfully odd work as a cartoonist and illustrator with The New Yorker has earned her a devoted following who look to her columns and cartoons as a refreshing depiction of collective experiences in today’s world. ...
10.16.2019 Scorched Earth: Culture and Climate Under Siege From the Amazon to the Congo to California, our planet’s forests are being decimated. And along with them, the stability of our climate. Why? Because trees are among our most effective weapons against carbon emissions. The Amazon alone is responsible ...
10.16.2019 Susan Rice: Policy, Diplomacy and Things Worth Fighting For Susan Rice, President Obama’s former national security adviser and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is heralded as one of the most influential foreign policy voices of our time. Having dedicated her career to public service, Rice is now a ...
10.14.2019 Jonathan Safran Foer: We Are the Weather Is clinging to habits and cravings destroying our future? An outspoken critic of factory farming and animal-centric diets, Jonathan Safran Foer writes that stopping climate change begins with a close look at what we eat — and don’t eat — ...
10.14.2019 California, Russia and the Future: A Special Event - Segment 3 Segment #3 of 3, 3–3:30 p.m.: Next Generation Connections - Working Together Join a discussion on how our shared history and the unique legacy of Fort Ross State Historic Park can be a platform for cooperation and exchange between Russians ...
10.14.2019 California, Russia and the Future: A Special Event - Segment 1 Segment #1 of 3, How our shared history and the unique legacy of Fort Ross State Historic Park is a platform for cooperation and exchange between Russians and Americans, even amid severe challenges in relations between Washington, D.C. and Moscow. ...
10.14.2019 California, Russia and the Future: A Special Event - Segment 2 Segment #2 of 3, 2—2:30–3 p.m.: Russian America and the Native California Collection at the Kunstkamera This panel will explore historic ties between Native California Indians and Russia by sharing images from a rare collection of Native California artifacts collected ...
10.14.2019 Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan: Monetary Policy and the Economy Robert Kaplan has served as the 13th president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas since September 8, 2015. He also represents the 11th Federal Reserve District on the Federal Open Market Committee in the formulation of U.S. ...
10.12.2019 Lauren Duca: How to Start a Revolution Award-winning journalist Lauren Duca is an unmistakable voice in the middle of a chaotic post-Trump political arena, famously penning the viral Teen Vogue op-ed “Donald Trump is Gaslighting America” just after Trump's election. Since the piece’s publication, she’s risen as ...
10.11.2019 'Daily Show' Co-Creator Lizz Winstead: Vagical Power "Lizz Winstead is a sharp-witted truth-teller"—that was Ms. magazine's judgment of political satirist Lizz Winstead. From creating some of the most groundbreaking media to leading a reproductive rights organization, Winstead has succeeded in changing the media landscape, as well as ...
10.11.2019 NSA’s Jonathan Darby: Spies, Soldiers and Hackers: National Security Threats to the U.S. The National Security Agency (NSA) is both a member of the Defense Department and an Intelligence Community agency. NSA’s expertise is cryptology—making and breaking codes. The agency’s goal is to discover adversaries' secrets, protect U.S. secrets and outmaneuver adversaries in ...
10.09.2019 Protecting Wild Salmon Runs of the Pacific Rim Salmon is the keystone species of the Northern Rim. Their annual migrations support hundreds of species including bears, eagles and whales as well as dozens of indigenous groups and local fishing based economies that provide one of the last healthy ...
10.09.2019 Capitalism Reconsidered: What Business Can Do to Lead the Change Peter Georgescu arrived in this country as a penniless Romanian refugee and rose to prominence as the CEO of Young & Rubicam. It’s an American dream success story that could not play out in today’s economic environment—one that is plagued ...
10.07.2019 Stephen Kinzer: Mind Control and the CIA Stephen Kinzer is the author of nine books, including: The True Flag, The Brothers, Overthrow and All the Shah’s Men. He is also an award-winning foreign correspondent and writes a world affairs column for The Boston Globe. His new book ...
10.03.2019 Chase Jarvis: A Guide to Creativity In a world where creativity is finally being rewarded, award-winning photographer and visionary entrepreneur Chase Jarvis argues that unleashing your creativity is the first step to rediscovering your personal power in life. Known for his collaborations with major brands such ...
10.02.2019 Candace Bushnell: Is There Still Sex in the City? The landscape of sex, love and romance in New York City has undergone dramatic changes in the 20 years since Candace Bushnell published the iconic Sex and the City, which broke down major barriers in cultural representations of single women ...
10.01.2019 An Ecosystem of Hope: Immigrant Entrepreneurs From the kitchen to the mercado and on the Internet, Bay Area Latinx innovators are leading an inclusive economy with strategies targeting immigrants to increase access to affordable financial services and provide support for immigrant entrepreneurs who in turn strengthen ...
10.01.2019 Week to Week Political Roundtable 9/30/19 Welcome to the first Week to Week political roundtable of the Impeachment Era. It’s been far too long since we gathered together for a discussion of the latest political events. We might have been on vacation, but the politicos have ...
10.01.2019 Heavy Weather: Balancing Joy and Despair Nearly half of all Americans are dealing with a new mental stressor: climate anxiety. Whether we get it from the news, the trauma of a natural disaster, or fear of a warming planet, it’s undermining our health and well-being, according ...
10.01.2019 A Tale of Two Cities: Miami and Detroit Climate change is turning one of Miami’s poorest neighborhoods into some of the most desirable real estate around. But there’s only so much Little Haiti to go around. And as hurricanes pummel the coast and rising seas lap at Florida’s ...
09.30.2019 Top Myths About Homelessness If we build homeless housing, won't that just attract more homeless people? I read an article about this cool thing they're doing in Utah; why don't we do that? What about tiny homes? We know the causes of and solutions ...
09.28.2019 Jennifer Eberhardt: Understanding Bias How biased are you? According to Jennifer Eberhardt, we live in a world where unconscious bias and innate prejudices affect our visual perception, attention, memory and behavior. These stereotypes can dramatically influence and impact our education, employment, housing and our ...
09.28.2019 Josh Campbell: The War Against Intelligence In Crossfire Hurricane: Inside Donald Trump’s War on the FBI, CNN analyst and former FBI agent Josh Campbell takes his readers behind the scenes of the FBI during the historic investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia. Campbell argues ...
09.27.2019 'Chosen Fam': Behind the Scenes of Panda Dulce's New Web Series Join us for a discussion of "Chosen Fam," a new web series telling stores of queer people of color in the Bay Area. Kyle Casey Chu (aka Panda Dulce) is a Drag Queen Story Hour (DQSH) core queen who writes ...
09.27.2019 The Education of Brett Kavanaugh - Marin Conversations Last year’s Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh were dominated by allegations of sexual misconduct during Kavanaugh’s past, including during his prep school and college years. While Kavanaugh was ultimately sworn in for a lifetime position on ...
09.27.2019 The Unspeakable Mind: Stories of Trauma and Healing from the Frontlines of PTSD Science Shaili Jain will share nuanced cartography of PTSD, a widely misunderstood yet crushing condition that afflicts millions of Americans. Jain's new book, The Unspeakable Mind, is the definitive guide for a trauma-burdened age. With profound empathy and meticulous research, Jain—a ...
09.25.2019 An Evening with George Takei With an acting career spanning six decades, George Takei is known around the world for his founding role in the acclaimed television series “Star Trek,” in which he played Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the Starship Enterprise. But Takei's story goes ...
09.25.2019 Daniel Handler's Bottle Grove This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. Daniel Handler, best-selling author known for his adult novels and children’s books under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket, returns with a new dark comedy about his ...
09.25.2019 Sacheen Littlefeather and Sivan Alyra Rose: Native Americans in Film and Media Come for an intergenerational conversation on Native American representation in film and media from experienced Apache actress Sacheen Littlefeather to breakout Apache actress Sivan Alyra Rose. Sacheen is known for the protest at the Oscars, in which she represented Marlon ...
09.23.2019 Documentary Filmmakers Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein: College Behind Bars For 30 years, Lynn Novick has been directing and producing landmark documentary films about American culture, history, politics, sports, art and music. With co-director Ken Burns, she has created more than 80 hours of acclaimed programming for PBS, including The ...
09.20.2019 The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Care—and How to Fix It In 2018, health care became the United States’ largest industry, but some would say that its success came at the expense of the American people. Coverage is unaffordable for many, 20 percent of Americans have faced debt collection for medical ...
09.19.2019 S.F. Giants Manager Bruce Bochy: A Final Season Salute This year, Bruce Bochy announced that he would retire at the end of the season. As the 38th San Francisco Giants’ manager, serving in the role since 2006, Bochy has accumulated three World Series championships (2010, 2012 and 2014) and ...
09.18.2019 Ambassador Samantha Power Samantha Power, former President Barack Obama’s U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is widely known as a leading moral voice of her generation. Power has been described by President Obama as one of America’s “foremost thinkers on foreign policy” and ...
09.17.2019 Kevin Bard, President of the Harvey Milk Democratic Club San Bernardino native Kevin Bard earned a Bachelor's and Master's degree in political science from San Francisco State University with a focus on American politics and political theory. His thesis is a biography of his former local supervisor Ed Jew. ...
09.17.2019 S.F. Giants Manager Bruce Bochy: A Final Season Salute This year, Bruce Bochy announced that he would retire at the end of the season. As the 38th San Francisco Giants’ manager, serving in the role since 2006, Bochy has accumulated three World Series championships (2010, 2012 and 2014) and ...
09.15.2019 From Wheels to Wings: Our Flying Car Future Can we beat the traffic by taking to the skies? Sailing over freeways in a flying car, getting to work in minutes instead of hours, has long been the stuff of science fiction. But ambitious startups are on their way ...
09.15.2019 Sean Carroll: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Space-Time Quantum mechanics is the most accurate and far-reaching theory in physics, yet physicists themselves readily admit that they don't understand it. But Caltech physicist and New York Times best-selling author Sean Carroll suggests that we do have a very promising ...
09.13.2019 Life After Liquidity This program is generously supported by First Republic Bank San Francisco’s 2019 IPO (initial public offering) wave has made national headlines, but little has been said to equip employees for the major cultural shifts they will face as their companies ...
09.13.2019 The Vagina Bible: Dr. Jen Gunter and Mary Roach In this age of clickbait, pseudoscience and celebrity-endorsed products, it’s hard to know what’s best for our bodies. Jen Gunter, ob-gyn and the Internet’s go-to doctor, is dedicated to debunking the myths, marketing and misinformation surrounding reproductive health. While much ...
09.12.2019 Reducing the Global Burden of Dementia: The First Effective Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease Everyone knows someone who’s survived cancer. But no one knows anyone who’s survived Alzheimer’s—until now. Alzheimer’s disease is a global pandemic and the third leading cause of death in the United States. Of the 326 million Americans currently living, approximately ...
09.12.2019 Spin Wars and Spy Games: Global Media and Intelligence Gathering As most long-standing news outlets have shuttered their foreign bureaus and print operations, the role of Global News Networks (GNNs) as information collectors and policy influencers has changed. Western GNNs are both untethered to government entities and able to produce ...
09.12.2019 How to Be an Anti-Racist: Ibram X. Kendi The struggle for racial justice is far from over. Inequality is built on many aspects ingrained in our society—history, law and culture. How do we confront this inequality embedded in American life? How can we play an active role in ...
09.11.2019 Mike Isaac: The Battle for Uber Since its launch in 2009, ride-hailing service Uber has undergone major shifts to become a worldwide transportation network despite severe setbacks. Harassment allegations that led to the firing of 20 employees and the resignation of former CEO Travis Kalanick publicly ...
09.10.2019 Neoliberalism and Its Discontents At the end of the Carter administration and throughout the Reagan Revolution, belief in the power of markets became America's preferred economic policy doctrine. President Bill Clinton all but announced the triumph of free markets when he declared that “the ...
09.09.2019 The Conservative Case for Universal Coverage Though it’s not apparent in the media, there is support among conservatives for universal health care coverage. The preferred approach involves the use of market forces to control costs and activation of consumers to bring the benefits of competition to ...
09.07.2019 The Longevity Project The Longevity Project explores the drivers of the length of life. It also examines the quality of life in Mediterranean countries such as Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Croatia, Lebanon, Israel and Tunisia. A goal is to explain how the Mediterranean ...
09.07.2019 Congressman Ted Lieu As national politics face a pivotal transformation in the buildup to the 2020 presidential election, a human rights crisis at the border and multiple environmental issues, how are political leaders responding to the nation’s most pressing issues? Representative Ted Lieu ...
09.06.2019 How Pro Sports Can Be a Player in Climate Americans spend $56 billion attending sporting events each year — but at what cost to the climate? From stadiums packed with energetic fans to food, beer, and waste, athletics can have a big carbon footprint. But sports franchises are learning ...

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