Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

When the Hart-Celler Act passed in 1965, opening up U.S. immigration to non-Europeans, it ushered in a whole new era. But even to the first generation of Asian Americans born in the United States after that milestone, it would have been impossible to imagine that sushi and boba would one day be beloved by millions, that a Korean boy band named BTS would be the biggest musical act in the world, that one of the most acclaimed and popular movies of 2018 would be Crazy Rich Asians, or that we would have an Asian American vice president. And that’s not even mentioning the creators, performers, entrepreneurs, execs and influencers who've been making all this happen, behind the scenes and on the screen; or the activists and representatives continuing to fight for equity, building coalitions and defiantly holding space for our voices and concerns. And still: Asian America is just getting started.

Join us for a special program featuring the talented authors of Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now. The timing is great for this intimate, eye-opening and frequently hilarious guided tour through the pop-cultural touchstones and sociopolitical shifts of the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and beyond. Jeff Yang, Phil Yu and Philip Wang chronicle how we arrived at today’s unprecedented diversity of Asian American cultural representation through engaging, interactive infographics (including a step-by-step guide to a night out in K-Town, an atlas that unearths historic Asian American landmarks, a handy “Appreciation or Appropriation?” flowchart, and visual celebrations of both our "founding fathers and mothers" and the nostalgia-inducing personalities of each decade), plus illustrations and graphic essays from major AAPI artists, exclusive roundtables with Asian American cultural icons, and more, anchored by extended insider narratives of each decade by the three co-authors. They provide an informative, lively and inclusive celebration of shared experiences and singular moments, and all the different ways in which we have chosen to come together.

This program is part of The Commonwealth Club's Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.

This program contains EXPLICIT language

SPEAKERS

Jeff Yang

Writer; Editor; Co-Author, Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now

Phil Yu

Founder and Editor, Angry Asian Man; ; Co-Author, Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now

Philip Wang

Co-founder, Wong Fu Productions; Co-Author, Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now

Michelle Meow

Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors—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 March 21st, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Our privacy was not first invaded by J. Edgar Hoover. They’ve been listening in for far longer than that. Wiretapping is nearly as old as electronic communications. Telegraph operators intercepted enemy messages during the Civil War. Law enforcement agencies were listening to private telephone calls as early as 1895. Communications firms have assisted government eavesdropping programs since the early 20th century―and they have spied on their own customers, too. Such breaches of privacy once provoked outrage, but today most Americans have resigned themselves to constant electronic monitoring. How did we get from there to here?

Hochman explores the origins of wiretapping in military campaigns and criminal confidence games, and tracks the use of telephone taps in the U.S. government’s wars on alcohol, communism, terrorism, and crime. At the same time that high-profile eavesdropping scandals fueled public debates about national security, crime control, and the rights and liberties of individuals, wiretapping became a routine surveillance tactic for private businesses and police agencies alike. Hochman traces the long and surprising history of wiretapping and electronic eavesdropping in the United States, and also explains how earlier generations of Americans confronted these threats to our privacy―threats that seem more urgent now than ever.

NOTES

MLF: Humanities

SPEAKERS

Brian Hochman

Director of American Studies and Associate Professor of English, Georgetown University; Author, The Listeners: A History of Wiretapping in the United States

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 March 17th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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The IPCC released its latest report the same day as the U.S. Supreme Court heard the most environmentally significant case in a decade, all while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has rattled global energy markets. It’s a lot to take in all at once. 

Will the disruption of methane gas supplies to Europe give it the extra push it needs to decarbonize, or will some countries always be beholden to untrustworthy partners for the resources they need? What other options exist to power our economies more sustainably in the short and long term?

Guests:

Amy Myers Jaffe, Managing Director, Climate Policy Lab, Tufts University

Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean, Berkeley Law

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The distinguished panel of expert participants represent many of the different facets of the chocolate industry. They will discuss where the industry is today and how it can move into the future as a more ecological, labor friendly, and equitable industry.

NOTES

MLF: International Relations

SPEAKERS

Bill Guyton

Founder and CEO, World Cocoa Foundation; Senior Advisor, Fine Chocolate Industry Association (FCIA)

Sam Mawutor

Senior Advisor on the Cocoa Campaign, Mighty Earth

Tim McCollum

Founder and CEO of Beyond Good

Frank Price

Vice Present, Northern California Peace Corps Association; Shriver Circle Member, National Peace Corps Association; Vice Chair, International Relations Member-Led Forum, The Commonwealth Club of California

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 March 15th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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The January 6 attack on Congress as it met to certify Joe Biden's presidential victory is a day that will live on in infamy, yet for Maryland congressman Jamie Raskin, this was just the next in a sequence of tragic events that changed his life forever. Having lost his son to suicide only days before, and days later leading the ensuing impeachment effort against Trump, Rep. Raskin’s 45-day journey at the start of 2021 is an inspiring epic of strength, tragedy and determination.

In his new memoir, Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy, Raskin recounts that after the tragic loss of his son Tommy, it was Tommy’s values and vision for the country that provided him inspiration to not only weather the challenges of January 6 but to lead the ensuing impeachment trial of Donald Trump for inciting insurrection. Facing division and the tremors of a nation rocked to its core, Rep. Raskin and his nine-member team were able to lead the most bipartisan impeachment trial ever conducted.

Rep. Raskin has served as an elected official in Maryland since 2007 and represented its 8th Congressional District since 2017. A professor of constitutional law at American University Washington College of Law, chair of the House Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and co-chair of the Congressional Freethought Caucus, Raskin has been a leading voice in Congress for executive accountability and electoral integrity.

Please join us as congressman Raskin recounts his moving story of balancing tragic personal loss and appalling political violence simultaneously, and how he found hope to press on in his darkest moment to continue fighting for American democracy.

NOTES

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

SPEAKERS

Jamie Raskin

U.S. Representative (D-MD, 8th District); Author, Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trails of American Democracy; Twitter @RepRaskin

Welcome by: Jim Steyer

Founder, Common Sense Media

Marisa Lagos

Correspondent for California Politics and Government, KQED; Twitter @mlagos—Moderator

This program was recorded live in San Francisco on March 13th, 2022 at the Commonwealth Club of California.

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As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, one truth continues to be proven time and time again: the vaccine is saving lives, and to Pfizer CEO Dr. Albert Bourla, it was the product of one of the most incredible private sector achievements in history. Mobilizing the corporation amid some of the most strenuous conditions experienced in modern times, he had a front row seat to see the years-long process of developing a vaccine played out in nine months in a riveting story of innovation, determination and ingenuity.

Dr. Albert Bourla is chairman and chief executive officer of Pfizer Inc., and was named the top pharmaceutical CEO in America by Institutional Investor in 2020. A Greek immigrant, former veterinarian and child of Holocaust survivors, Dr. Bourla became the head of Pfizer in 2019 and transformed the corporation just before it was put to the test by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his book Moonshot: Inside Pfizer's Nine-Month Race to Make the Impossible Possible, Dr. Bourla describes how the corporation met the unimaginable challenges and pressures to rapidly develop a vaccine using the core values of courage, excellence, equity and joy. Detailing the leadership strategies and innovations he used to guide Pfizer in making unprecedentedly rapid scientific breakthroughs, Dr. Bourla describes the epic journey of their “moonshot.” Facing political, economic and social crises, he explains it wasn’t luck but methodical preparation, strong leadership and a clear vision that brought the vaccine forward, and shares the lessons in management and leadership that he learned.

Join us as Dr. Bourla recounts the unimaginable adversity facing the developers of one of the most impactful medical inventions in recent history, and the ingenuity and wisdom that led them to success.

SPEAKERS

Dr. Albert Bourla

Chairman and CEO, Pfizer; Author, Moonshoot: Inside Pfizer's Nine-Month Race to Make the Impossible Possible; Twitter @AlbertBourla

In Conversation with Raj Mathai

Anchor, NBC Bay Area; Twitter@rajmathai

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 March 9th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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How much do we know about the apps that we use daily? In the case of PayPal, relatively few know the early story of the now-behemoth. Its precarious origins—coming about in the limitless, tumultuous late 1990s and early 2000s meant it was far from a shoo-in. It faced staunch competition, never-before-seen levels of internet fraud, and internal friction that could’ve ruined its path to success.

Nowadays, PayPal is a household name. Its founders are among the best-known names in the tech industry: Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and Max Levchin, among others. Jimmy Soni’s book The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley, details not only the meteoric rise of the company and its founders, but all that came before and made it possible. With privileged access to the internal materials of the company’s early days, Soni paints a picture of what brought together these tech giants and how they dared to dream of cashless currency when few others dared.

Jimmy Soni holds the answer to why this idea, out of the many it rivaled, won against the odds. Soni will bring to life the story of PayPal, highlighting not just the prominent founders but the unsung heroes that built the brick-by-brick success the company now touts.

NOTES

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

SPEAKERS

Jimmy Soni

Author, The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

In Conversation with Katherine Boyle

General Partner, a16z

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 March 9th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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It has been 3 million years since there’s been this much CO2 in the atmosphere. Even if we stop all burning of fossil fuels today, humans have already emitted enough CO2 that we’ll continue experiencing extreme weather events for years to come. Not only do we need to stop emitting greenhouse gasses, but according to the IPCC, we also need to accelerate the removal of CO2. With forests burning faster than we can grow them, nature-based solutions may not be enough. What role might tech-based solutions play? Can they be implemented in a just, equitable way that does not give license for fossil fuel interests to continue business as usual?

Guests: 

Marcius Extavour, VP, Energy & Climate, XPRIZE 

Angela Anderson, Director of Industrial Innovation and Carbon Removal at World Resources Institute

Rachel Glennerster, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Chicago

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Today, most people are familiar with the fascinating world of cryptocurrency, though some of us are more familiar than others. Many people only hear about it in the news and across social media platforms, while some individuals stake their livelihoods on investments in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. According to crypto journalist Laura Shin, the total value of crypto assets today is just shy of $2 trillion. But that’s far from the most interesting aspect of an increasingly prevalent crypto fever.

Shin—"Unchained Podcast" host — will do more than explore the backgrounds of these uniquely decentralized currencies. She’ll hone in on Ethereum, the crypto network whose success has ignited the fire surrounding today’s cryptocurrencies, and the figures who made Ethereum’s success possible. From a child prodigy to a Goldman Sachs exec, the story of Ethereum’s rise is unlike that of any other—and Laura Shin, who previously served as Forbes’ first mainstream reporter of crypto assets, is just the person you’ll want to hear tell it.

SPEAKERS

Laura Shin

Host, "Unchained" Podcast; Author, The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Cryptocurrency Craze; Twitter @laurashin

In Conversation with Kate Clark

Reporter, The Information

This program was recorded live inn San Francisco on March 8th, 2022 at the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Join us in-person and online for a thought-provoking program with author and activist David Crane, as he walks through the surprising statistics and lesser-known history behind California’s state government and how the public can help to elevate the quality of that government. 

California’s state government spends more than $300 billion of state and federal funds every year on public education, health, safety, courts, employment security, homelessness and other services that Crane contends rarely produces satisfactory outcomes for residents. He says that spending per pupil more than doubled over the last decade, yet pupil performance barely changed; spending on Medi-Cal doubled, yet hospital profit margins improved more than public health; and millions of desperate residents were kept waiting for unemployment checks during the pandemic. Crane also argues that the state occasionally enacts policies that favor political cronies at the expense of employment, and as such, the state’s current unemployment rate exceeds the national unemployment rate by more than 60 percent. 

David Crane is an author, activist, professor and president of Govern for California, a network of political action committees that supports California lawmakers who serve the general interest. Formerly a special advisor to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and member of the University of California Board of Regents, Crane has written extensively about state governments, political reform, resistance to special interests and recovering the excellence with which California was once governed. 

NOTES

This program is supported by the Ken & Jaclyn Broad Family Fund.

David Crane

President, Govern for California; Lecturer in Public Policy, Stanford University

Bill Whalen

Virginia Hobbs Carpenter Distinguished Policy Fellow in Journalism, and Research Fellow; Hoover Institution, Stanford University—Moderator

This program was recorded live in San Francisco on February 7th, 2021 at the Commonwealth Club of California.

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