Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

The recent white supremacist shooting in Buffalo that targeted African-Americans renewed attention to the global rise in white nationalistic terrorism. The shooting in Buffalo, which has brought domestic terrorism charges to the alleged assailant, included a digital manifesto that copied and mirrored previous manifestos—infused with racism and anti-Semitism—that accompanied previous terrorist shootings in New Zealand, Norway and the United States. The increasing numbers of these incidents and their similarities are signs of a growing but diffuse white power movement that is alarming terrorism experts globally. One of those most concerned is Dr. Daniel Byman, an author, professor and leading global counter-terrorism expert.

Byman's new book Spreading Hate: The Global Rise of White Supremacist Terrorism draws upon vast amounts of research and years of experiencing analyzing the spread of the global phenomenon of white supremacy and white power. Explaining that after 9/11 pushed white supremacist terrorism to a secondary category of concern of security authorities, Bymam says this allowed the movement to spread, grow and influence followers around the world. He warns that in addition to undermining faith in Western democracy, worsening political tensions and wildly spreading conspiracies across social media, this movement will continue to grow and metastasize without authoritative action to stop it. He calls for a new era of international intelligence cooperation, crackdowns on technology companies and aggressive global law enforcement to reduce the urgent threat from this decentralized and often poorly understood movement.

Join us as Dr. Byman explains the historical rise of the white power movement, and what steps can be taken to reducing this increasingly lethal global threat.

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 July 13th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Alice Waters is a true Bay Area icon and one of the most influential chefs of her generation. 

A long-time food activist, Waters first opened Bay Area local restaurant Chez Panisse in 1971 with the intention of feeding people good food during a time of political turmoil. Customers responded positively to the restaurant and its focus on locally sourced organic ingredients, delectable hand-made dishes, and wonderfully mastered hospitality. 

In pioneering a revolutionary approach to food preparation and service, Waters determined that the rise of fast food, frozen meals, and prepackaged ingredients were increasingly overshadowing the human qualities of eating and cooking. In her recent book We Are What We Eat, Waters urges us to take up the mantle of slow food culture. She writes this book as a declaration of action against fast food values and a working theory about what we can do to change the course. 

From years of working with regional farmers, Waters learned about the dangers of pesticides; the plight of fieldworkers; and the social, economic and environmental threats posed by industrial farming and food distribution. Thus she says every decision we make about what we put in our mouths affects our bodies and the world at large. By eating in a “slow way,” the philosophy at the core of her life’s work, Waters says we can be empowered to prioritize and nurture a different kind of culture, one that champions values such as biodiversity, seasonality, stewardship and pleasure in work.

Join us as Alice Waters teaches us how to change our relationship with food to unlock a radical reconsideration of how each of us cooks and eats.

SPEAKERS

Alice Waters

Chef; Founder and Owner, Chez Panisse; Author, We Are What We Eat: A Slow Food Manifesto; Twitter@AliceWaters

In Conversation with William Rosenzweig

Faculty Co-Chair, Berkeley Haas Center for Responsible Business

Program Chair: Deborah Alvarez-Rodriguez

CEO, La Cocina; Member, The Commonwealth Club of California Board of Governors

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded on July 12th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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The climate crisis is a growing driver of human migration, exacerbating the misery of already struggling communities. According to the UN Refugee Agency, climate change typically creates internal displacement within countries before it pushes people across national borders. While much of this displacement is involuntary, many with wealth and foresight are able to move before they personally feel the most devastating effects. How well are governments prepared to handle an influx of people driven from their homes – and support those who are left behind? 

Guests:

Abrahm Lustgarten,  Senior Reporter at ProPublica

Colette Pichon Battle, Esq., Co-Executive Director, Taproot Earth 

Kayly Ober, Senior Advocate and Program Manager, Climate Displacement Program, Refugees International

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From 2000 to 2022, one thing is certain: What it means to be Republican has changed. To former Republican political consultant Tim Miller, the GOP started down a path to disaster in the early 2000s. Lack of strategic decision making within the Republican Party at that time set the stage for Donald Trump to take over the party Miller once loved. He now seeks to answer a simple question: “Why did normal people go along with the worst of Trumpism?”

Tim Miller is an author, activist and consultant who has held many positions within Republican campaigns. He has served as co-founder and political director for the advocacy group Republican Voters Against Trump and director of communications for Jed Bush’s 2016 presidential campaign. During his time in the Republican Party, he served in a variety of positions, including co-founder and executive director of the opposition research firm America Rising and “forensic analyst” for Mitt Romney’s failed 2012 presidential campaign.

In his new book Why We Did It, Miller cuts through the past two decades of political shifts, compromises and decisions made by the GOP that he says set it on a collision course with Trumpism and led to the events of January 6. Giving an honest look at his own work in the Republican Party, Miller uses raw interviews, forgotten history and personal accounts in a biting, darkly satirical retelling of the transformation of the GOP, leading up to his eventual departure from the party in November 2020.

Join us as Miller recounts the roadmap of how we got here, and what the story of one of the greatest party shifts in American history can tell us about the future of the nation.

SPEAKERS

Tim Miller

Writer-at-large, The Bulwark; Political Analyst, MSNBC; Host, "Not My Party" on Snapchat; Communications Director, Jeb Bush 2016; Author, Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell; Twitter @timodc

In Conversation with Dan Pfeiffer

Co-host, "Pod Save America"; Author, Battling the Big Lie: How Fox, Facebook, and the MAGA Media Are Destroying America; Twitter @danpfeiffer

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded on July 11th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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In a special online program live from Thailand, Matcha Phorn-In will join us for a discussion focused on how vulnerable populations who are "invisible" are impacted by racism, homophobia, transphobia, and gender inequities.

Matcha Phorn-In is a lesbian, feminist human rights defender, passionately committed to building peoples' movements to advance human rights and justice. She has 15 years of experiences working to empower youth and people from the most marginalized communities, including LGBTQ, Indigenous, ethnic minorities, young women and girls, the stateless, undocumented refugees, and more. 

She is the founder and executive director of the Aangsan Anakot Yawachon Development Project. Matcha Phorn-In has also served as president of the board of directors of APWLD (Asia-Pacific Forum on Weomen, Law and Development), a member of the board of directors for Internation Femily Equality Day, and president of the board of directors for ILGA ASIA Foundation.

SPEAKERS

Matcha Phorn-In

Executive Director, Sangsan Anakot Yaowachon

Michelle Meow

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

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

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We’re on track for yet another summer of record wildfires in the western U.S., endangering lives, displacing communities, and sending unhealthy smoke across the nation. 

The science is clear: human-caused climate change is making lands more conducive to burning, and we are increasingly living in flammable landscapes. Forest experts say there are tools to help reduce the risk of catastrophic fires, keep forests alive as valuable carbon sinks and make communities more resilient to megafires. But we may also have to become accustomed to more fire – and smoke – in our lives. 

How can we better live with fire, including using it as a tool, rather than always fighting it?

This week, we also take a deep dive into the recent Supreme Court case West Virginia v. EPA with Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of Berkeley Law.

Guests:

Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean, Berkeley Law 

Stephen Pyne, author, The Pyrocene: How We Created an Age of Fire, and What Happens Next 

Susan Husari, member of the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection

Chad T. Hanson, author, Smokescreen: Debunking Wildfire Myths to Save Our Forests and Our Climate

Jaime Lowe, author, Breathing Fire: Female Inmate Firefighters on the Front Lines of California’s Wildfires

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Join us for an in-depth discussion focused on the latest Youth Climate Survey by Blue Shield on how climate change is affecting the mental health of our youth community. 

We'll be talking with David W. Bond, who is the director of behavioral health at Blue Shield of California—Promise Health Plan, where he leads initiatives to restore, sustain and enhance the behavioral health and well being of the state's Medi-Cal and Medicare beneficiaries; Joel Castro, a recent San Diego high school graduate and activist; and Maya Gomez, a Whitney High School incoming senior and a student representative for the Mind Out Loud program.

Join us for this timely talk!

NOTES

This program is generously supported by Blue Shield of California.

SPEAKERS

Introduction by Antoinette Mayer

Senior Director of Corporate Citizenship, Blue Shield of California

David W. Bond

Director of Behavioral Health, Blue Shield of California—Promise Health Plan; Licensed Clinical Social Worker; Board Certified Expert in Traumatic Stress

Joel Castro

Incoming Freshman, University of California, Berkeley; President, Cesar Chavez Service Club

Maya Gomez

Student Representative, Mind Out Loud; Incoming Senior, Whitney High School

Michelle Meow

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

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 June 27th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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From the Andes to the Himalayas, mountains have an extraordinary power to evoke a sense of the sacred. In the overwhelming wonder and awe that these dramatic features of the landscape awaken, people experience something of deeper significance that imbues their lives with meaning and vitality.

Drawing on his extensive research and personal experience as a scholar and climber, Edwin Bernbaum takes us on a fascinating journey exploring the role of mountains in the mythologies, religions, history, literature and art of cultures around the world. He delves deeply into the spiritual dimensions of mountaineering and the implications of sacred mountains for environmental and cultural preservation; he also shows how the contemplation of sacred mountains can transform everyday life, even in cities far from the peaks themselves.

Join us for an online talk with Edwin Bernbaum.

MLF ORGANIZER

George Hammond

SPEAKERS

Edwin Bernbaum

Mountaineer; Scholar of Comparative Religion and Mythology; Author, Sacred Mountains of the World

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 June 28th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Service is fundamental to who we are as Americans and how we meet our local and national challenges. For nearly 30 years, AmeriCorps has connected people of all ages and backgrounds together to tackle the country's most pressing problems. Today, from fighting the pandemic and responding to disasters, to boosting student success and tackling climate change, national service is seen as a proven solution that can unite Americans in strengthening their communities. 

AmeriCorps CEO Michael D. Smith knows firsthand how service can transform lives and communities. Born into poverty, Smith was nurtured by a group of mentors and coaches who lifted his sights to what was possible and instilled an insatiable appetite for service and civic engagement. He has dedicated his career to social justice and public service in underserved communities. Nominated by President Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in December 2021, Smith leads AmeriCorps in engaging more than 250,000 Americans in results-driven service at 40,000 locations across the country. 

On his first trip to the West Coast since taking the agency’s helm, Smith will address this unprecedented moment of need and opportunity and how AmeriCorps works with nonprofit organizations, philanthropy, and the private sector to increase the impact of service and build a more just and equitable future for us all. Please join us for an important and uplifting conversation.

SPEAKERS

Michael D. Smith

CEO, AmeriCorps

Josh Fryday 

Chief Service Officer, State of California—Moderator

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 June 29th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Since Darwin, evolutionary biology has been “all about the boys,” with the males of the species being the drivers of change and females simply passively devoted to them, zoologist Lucy Cooke argues. Rather than conforming with this male-dominated view of a male-dominated field, Cooke instead seeks to humorously reinvent the narrative—and show just how fierce, dangerous and hilarious the queens of the animal kingdom can be.

Lucy Cooke is a British zoologist and an author, director and television producer. She is a graduate of the University of Oxford, where she was tutored by Richard Dawkins. A trailblazer in the field of evolutionary biology, Cooke’s works have included multiple BBC films and documentaries and has published numerous books on various members of the animal kingdom.

In her latest book, Bitch: On the Female of the Species, Cooke gives a new look at the females of the species—from same-sex albatross couples raising chicks, to murderous mother meerkats and the titanic battle of the sexes waged by ducks. In her words, “This isn’t your grandfather’s evolutionary biology,” dispelling myths and showing just how ravishing the kingdom’s queens can be.

Join us live in San Francisco as Cooke breaks down the gender stereotypes of zoology, and provides striking accounts that prove females can be just as dynamic as any male.

SPEAKERS

Lucy Cooke

Zoologist; Author, Bitch: On the Female of the Species; Twitter @mslucycooke

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 June 21st, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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