Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Each year, Climate One gives an award to a natural or social scientist for excellence in science communication. This year’s recipient of the Stephen H. Schneider Award is marine biologist Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, co-founder of the Urban Ocean Lab and co-creator of the All We Can Save project. 

“What gets me out of bed in the morning, what makes this work of communicating about climate science and policy so important, is that we have such a huge spectrum of possible futures available to us. And which one we get depends on what we do,” Johnson says.

This episode also features past award winner and noted climate historian Naomi Oreskes discussing sexism in the sciences and the ongoing disinformation campaigns perpetrated by fossil fuel companies.

For transcripts and other information, visit: https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts 

Guests:

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, marine biologist, writer

Naomi Oreskes, Professor, History of Science, Harvard University

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Southeastern Virginia currently experiences the fastest rate of sea level rise on the Atlantic seaboard, and that’s only projected to accelerate. For many neighborhoods, it’s not a question of if they will go underwater, but when. On the west coast, between $8 billion and $10 billion of existing property in California is likely to be underwater by 2050, with an additional $6 billion to $10 billion at risk during high tides. Increasingly, local and regional governments are considering – and starting – buyouts of flood-prone properties. 

How will we manage the homes, farms, naval bases and infrastructure destined to go under water? How do federal and private insurance programs hamper or help moves away from climate-disrupted regions? And what are the equity issues with managed retreat?

For transcripts and other information, visit: https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts 

Guests:

Sam Turken, reporter, “At A Crossroads” series for WHRO 

Amy Chester, Managing Director, Rebuild By Design

Kia Javanmardian, Senior Partner, McKinsey and Company

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As we begin to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic, we look forward to a discussion with long-time San Francisco Bay Area community leaders. These community leaders are leading community-based organizations that are spearheading the way regarding social justice and uplifting our diverse communities.

Join us in-person or online as we discuss how they are helping people survive and thrive, even during a worldwide health crisis. Learn more about them and the amazing community work they have continued to do throughout the pandemic, as well as how others can support and uplift our own communities.

After the program, please enjoy some light bites and drinks courtesy of the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good at the University of San Francisco

In partnership with the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good at the University of San Francisco. The McCarthy Center is dedicated to inspiring and preparing students at USF to pursue lives and careers of ethical public service. It supports programs, curriculum and research that inform public policy and nurture purposeful lives.

SPEAKERS

Rudy Corpuz Jr.

Founder and Executive Director, United Playaz

Susana Rojas

Executive Director, Calle 24 Latino Cultural District

Jacqueline Flin

Executive Director, APRI

James Spingola

Member, Juvenile Probation Commission of the City and County of San Francisco

Michelle Meow

Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show" on KBCW/KPIX TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @msmichellemeow—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 December 14th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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In the second Commonwealth Club showcase of The Adachi Project, members of the San Francisco Public Defender's Office and its partners from Even/Odd Films and Compound will present their short film "From Inside" to amplify the voices and experiences of people who were inside San Francisco County Jail during the early days of the pandemic.

The Young Women's Freedom Center will also join the discussion about the trial delays that are keeping hundreds of people in jail past their deadlines, the ongoing conditions in the jails, and the impact that the prolonged pandemic is having on the accused, their families and justice in San Francisco.

SPEAKERS

Julia Arroyo

Managing Director, Young Women’s Freedom Center

Santhosh Daniel

Founding Partner, The Adachi Project; Writer; Producer; Creative Communications Strategist; Founder, Compound; Co-Founder, First Kitchen Media

Mohammad Gorjestani

Founding Partner, The Adachi Project; Filmmaker; Creative Director; Founder, Even/Odd

Carolyn Ji Jong Goossen

San Francisco Policy Director, San Francisco Public Defender’s Office

Michelle Meow

Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show" on KBCW/KPIX TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @msmichellemeow—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 December 13th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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A recent poll shows that in 2021, for the first time, a majority of Americans personally felt the effects of climate change. But has that growing awareness translated into action? 

This week, Climate One hosts Greg Dalton and Ariana Brocious review the top climate stories of the year – from Joe Biden’s climate agenda to the extreme weather events so many experienced, to the recent international climate summit in Glasgow, to the passage and signing of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal. This special episode features excerpts from some of Climate One’s most profound interviews of 2021, including conversations with such luminaries as Jay Inslee, Mark Carney, and Katharine Hayhoe.

For transcripts and other information, visit: https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts 

Guests:

Kathy Baughman-McLeod, Senior Vice President and Director, Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center

Jay Inslee, Governor, State of Washington

Carla Frisch, Principal Deputy Director, Office of Policy, U.S. Department of Energy

Sasha Mackler, Executive Director, The Energy Project, Bipartisan Policy Center

Beth Osborne, Director, Transportation for America

Rich Thau, Moderator, The Swing Voter Project

Jiang Lin, Adjunct Professor, University of California Berkeley

Albert Cheung, Head of Global Analysis, Bloomberg New Energy Finance

Amanda Machado, Writer and Social Justice Facilitator

Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance

Katharine Hayhoe, Climate Scientist

Sister True Dedication, Thich Nhat Hanh student

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Despite California’s leadership role in the technology industry, the digital divide continues to impact many Golden State communities as it has since the rise of the internet over two decades ago. While some progress has been made on the issue over the past decade, the digital divide continues to separate the haves and have-nots, and many people still do not understand the magnitude of the problem, particularly as it relates to the availability of high-speed internet access in low-income households and rural areas.

Although the divide has long been troubling, the issue became particularly dire during the pandemic. Throughout 2020, the impact of the digital divide on the educational system, in particular, became more glaringly obvious. As schools shifted to an online learning format, many students struggled—not just academically, but also due to the lack of broadband access to the internet at home and/or to a suitable device. In addition,. the digital divide also impacted basic activities of daily living for adults, such as grocery shopping, or telehealth doctor appointments. Those without high-speed access suffered more than those with this access.

Funding for digital inclusion efforts have been included in recent federal and state legislative efforts, including the recent infrastructure package signed by President Biden. What is the view from the ground on the digital divide, including grassroots efforts to address this issue? What else can be done to address this ongoing problem in a region where the computer industry was born? This program will look at these topics with several California leaders working on the issue.

NOTES

This program is supported by AT&T.

SPEAKERS

Lorena Chavez

Director of Government Affairs and Advocacy, Digital Equity Coalition; Trustee, East Side Union High School District Trustee

Evan Marwell

Founder and CEO, EducationSuperHighway

Jessica Denson

Director, Communications, Connected Nation, Inc.—Moderator

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As one of the most prominent drag performers today, Alaska is no stranger to fame. But Alaska’s story is more than her success as both a runner-up and winner in two different seasons of "RuPaul’s Drag Race," as well as her high-profile relationship and the equally public breakup that ended it. In her new book—My Name’s Yours, What’s Alaska?—Alaska goes beneath her glamorous surface to reveal a never-before told account of her unique life story. From humble beginnings as a small-town kid studying at theater school to her larger-than-life vibrance as one of drag’s most influential stars, Alaska’s perseverance over her struggles regarding the expression and discovery of her queerness is an inspiring story for the LGBTQIA+ community and beyond.

At INFORUM, Alaska will bring the journey detailed in her new visual memoir to life. In doing so, she will provide motivation and representation for those belonging to communities who are too often unheard and underrepresented in the media and in popular culture. Whether you’re a die-hard RuPaul fan or an ally of the LGBTQIA+ community looking to hear more of their important stories, Alaska’s discussion here at INFORUM is sure to leave you with new understandings of what it means to embrace your identity and let it thrive.

NOTE: This program contains EXPLICIT language.

SPEAKERS

Alaska

Season two winner, "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars"; Author, My Name’s Yours, What’s Alaska?: A Memoir

In Conversation with Honey Mahogany

Chair, San Francisco Democratic Party; Co-Founder, Compton's Transgender Cultural District; Season Five Contestant, “RuPaul's Drag Race”

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 February 13th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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China is rapidly connecting Hong Kong, Macao and nine cities in Guangdong Province into a regional finance, technology, manufacturing and tourism hub of 86 million people. Over the next decade, this Greater Bay Area (GBA) will mature into a global showcase for China’s economic model, “One Country-Two Systems” integration, and Belt and Road development strategy.

GBA hopes to partner with comparable regions worldwide, including the San Francisco Bay Area, in areas such as clean energy, health care, mobility and fintech. A new report by the Bay Area Council and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council assesses the commercial opportunities and political obstacles amid U.S.-China tensions. Join the sponsors of the report for a deeper dive into the report's findings.

About the Speakers

Sean Randolph is senior director of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, where he served as president & CEO from 1998-2015, and manages its science affiliate the Bay Area Science and Innovation Consortium (BASIC). Randolph previously served as director of international trade for the state of California, and prior to that as international director general of the Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC), a 1,000-member Asia-Pacific business organization. His professional career includes extensive experience in the U.S. Government, where he served on congressional staffs, on the White House staff, and in senior positions at the departments of State and Energy. Dr. Randolph holds a JD from the Georgetown University Law Center, a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts and Harvard Universities), a B.S.F.S. from Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, and studied at the London School of Economics.

Louis Chan is principal economist for the Global Research Team of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. As the head of the Global Research Team, Louis provides leadership and direction for research on market developments in the Americas and Europe. To provide a macro view for SMEs to formulate export strategies, Louis and his team monitor and evaluate the performance, changing trends and competitiveness of Hong Kong’s trading, manufacturing and service sector, at the industry-specific levels. To facilitate SMEs’ sales efforts, they also keep a close eye on the emerging business opportunities, consumption and sourcing trends, as well as regulatory changes in the Americas, Europe and Central Asia.

Moderator Scott Rozelle holds the Helen Farnsworth Endowed Professorship at Stanford University and is senior fellow and professor in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. Dr. Rozelle's research focuses on the economics of poverty—with an emphasis on the economics of education and health. Dr. Rozelle is the co-director of the Rural Education Action Project and is an adjunct professor in 8 Chinese universities. In 2008, Dr. Rozelle was awarded the Friendship Award—the highest honor that can be endowed on a foreign citizen—by Premiere Wen Jiabao.

MLF ORGANIZER

Lillian Nakagawa

NOTES

MLF: Asia-Pacific Affairs

SPEAKERS

Louis Chan

Principal Economist (Global Research Team), Hong Kong Trade Development Council

Sean Randolph

Senior Director, Bay Area Council Economic Institute

Scott Rozelle

Helen Farnsworth Professor, Stanford University, and Senior Fellow and Professor, the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies—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 December 9th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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The Trump family is one of the most talked about families in the United States. Donald Trump's presidency elevated that and helped put them on an international stage that brought the family to the forefront of the world. Over the last half decade, journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner David Cay Johnston has provided the American people with fascinating insight into the financial world of one of America's most influential families.

Johnston talks about the financial life of the Trump Family in his new piece of work, The Big Cheat: How Donald Trump Fleeced America and Enriched Himself and His Family. This new book details the aspects of the Trump family's finances during the four years Donald Trump spent in office, leaving no details out, to give you the complete picture.

Join us as David Cay Johnston offers an inside look into the financial world of the Trump family.

SPEAKERS

David Cay Johnston

Co-Founder, DCReport.org; Author, The Big Cheat: How Donald Trump Fleeced America and Enriched Himself and His Family; Twitter @DavidCayJ

In Conversation with Mitch Jeserich

Host, "Letters and Politics," KPFA Radio

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

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This forum will explain how the assets of seniors and people with disabilities are often drained in order to pay the fees of a variety of attorneys in probate conservatorship proceedings.

With vague or nonexistent rules and a lack of accountability, judges are making ad hoc and often arbitrary orders requiring conservatees and proposed conservatees to pay unreasonable or excessive legal fees. Not only are they required to pay the fees of lawyers appointed to represent them, they are forced to pay the fees of lawyers representing other parties in the case: petitioner, temporary conservator, guardian ad litem, objector, public guardian, or permanent conservator.

Judges in conservatorship cases are supposed to be conserving the assets of adults who find themselves entangled in these proceedings. Courts know how to conserve assets when they want to or are required to. For example, there are strict procurement rules to follow when courts plan to spend money from the judicial branch budget. Specific guidelines must be followed. Competitive bidding is often required. But the culture of conservation does not exist when judges are spending the money of elderly and often vulnerable adults. The attorneys who are supposed to defend these adults in conservatorship proceedings are often silent when their colleagues in the probate bar are seeking to have the conservatee pay for their fees.

The panelists in this forum will explain how they witnessed or experienced this “fee for all” depleting the assets of a conservatee. The moderator will explain how the Funding and Fees Project of Spectrum Institute plans to tackle this problem with a thorough study of what has been happening in local courts throughout the state. The project will issue a report and recommendations on how to tame this asset-eating beast. The forum will encourage viewers to make a donation to Spectrum Institute to help fund the research and report. The report will document how the current “fee for all” is unconstitutional and will propose specific new protections to preserve the assets of conservatees just as judges protect judicial assets and budgets. What’s good for judges should be good for conservatees: real protection and asset preservation. The report will also urge attorneys for conservatees to raise more objections to fees and file appeals

MLF ORGANIZER

Denise Michaud

NOTES

MLF: Grownups

SPEAKERS

Roz Alexander-Kasparik

Was only allowed to be conservator for her fiancé David Rector after the court depleted David’s assets with payments of fees to the conservator and attorney

Sharon Holmes

Saw Theresa Jankowski suffer “legalized extortion” when lawyers wanted hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees in exchange for a dismissal of her conservatorship case

Dr. Gloria Duffy

CEO, The Commonwealth Club of California; published “Courts should not be a vehicle for elder financial abuse” based on experience with her mother’s conservatorship

Evan Nelson

Attorney; saw Catherine Dubro’s assets being drained when at one point the five attorneys were being paid from her estate, while Catherine herself had no attorney

Debra Bookout

Lead attorney of the Guardianship advocacy program, Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada; they do not charge fees to clients and they challenge unreasonable fees from other attorneys

Thomas F. Coleman

Legal Director, Spectrum Institute; leads a team studying the “Fee for All” problem in conservatorships and will write a report with major reform proposals—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 December 8th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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