Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

The United States is the world’s leader in incarceration. “Tough on crime” attitudes in the 1980s have shaped the policies that criminalize more people in the United States now than ever before. With this carceral approach, the United States must deal with consequences such as overcrowding, prison violence and unnecessary fiscal burdens. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner has spent 30 years learning about America’s carceral system as a civil rights and criminal defense lawyer, and his goal is to transform the system from the inside out.

When he first launched his campaign for district attorney of Philadelphia, progressive Krasner seemed unlikely to win the seat so long-held by “tough on crime” attorneys who helped turn Philly into a city with one of the highest rates of incarceration in the country. But with perseverance to create a radical reform plan, Krasner won the DA election by a margin of nearly 50 percent. In his new book For the People, Krasner takes readers on his lifelong journey through election precincts and courtrooms all the way up to his swearing-in ceremony to see how what he calls our system of injustice was built and how we might dismantle it. ​​​​​​

Join us as Larry Krasner asks us to confront the ills of the criminal justice system and pioneers one of the most important civil rights movements of our time.

SPEAKERS

Larry Krasner

District Attorney, Philadelphia; Author, For the People: A Story of Justice and Power

In Conversation with Lateefah Simon

President, Akonadi Foundation; Member, BART Board of Directors

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 April 28th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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In the US, we’ve become accustomed to climate – like nearly everything else – being politicized. Even when potential solutions might benefit everyone, a zero-sum mentality has taken hold where there’s an “us” and a “them” and progress for them comes at the expense of us. “Racism in our politics and policymaking is distorting our ability to respond to big problems and to advance collective solutions,” says political strategist Heather McGhee. But does it have to be this way? Can we look to the UK and elsewhere for a different model? Is it even possible to make the whole planet a winner?

Guests:

Heather McGhee, Political Strategist & Author, The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together 

Rebecca Willis, Researcher & Author, Too Hot to Handle? The Democratic Challenge of Climate Change

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The New York Times best-selling Bay Area author Jasmin Darznik returns to The Commonwealth Club to discuss her much-anticipated new novel, The Bohemians, a book that imagines the friendship between photographer Dorothea Lange and her Chinese American assistant in 1920s San Francisco.

Darznick's new book captures a glittering and gritty 1920s San Francisco, with a cast of interesting characters, including cameos from such legendary historic figures as Frida Kahlo, Ansel Adams and D.H. Lawrence. The novel is a vivid and absorbing portrait of the past; it also connects with our complicated present, as anti-immigration sentiment, anti-Asian violence, corrupt politicians and a devastating pandemic bring tumult to San Francisco. The book is perfect for anyone who cares about San Francisco history, especially those captivated by Lange's photography. Darznik will be in discussion with Bay Area author Julia Flynn Siler.

Jasmin Darznik's debut novel, Song of a Captive Bird, was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice book and a Los Angeles Times bestseller. Darznik is also the author of The Good Daughter: A Memoir of My Mother’s Hidden Life. Her books have been published in 17 countries and her essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times, among others.

SPEAKERS

Jasmin Darznik

Novelist; Professor; Author, The Bohemians

Julia Flynn Siler

Journalist; Author, The White Devil's Daughters

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

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In 2017, Dr. Shanna Swan published an internationally acclaimed landmark study that sparked great concern about declining human fertility. Join us as this award-winning scientist and reproductive epidemiologist outlines steps individuals and society can take to prevent further impairment by everyday chemicals, which she says are severely impacting our reproductive health and imperiling the future of human and planetary health.

Shanna H. Swan, Ph.D., is a leading. environmental and reproductive epidemiologist and professor of environmental medicine and public health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She has published more than 200 scientific papers, appeared on numerous media outlets, and published a recent book titled, Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts, Altering Male and Female Reproductive Development and Imperiling the Future of the Human Race.

MLF ORGANIZER

Adrea Brier

SPEAKERS

Shanna H. Swan

Ph.D., Professor of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Adrea Brier

CHNP, CLC, Vice Chair, Health and Medicine Member-Led Forum; International Integrative Epigenetic Cancer Consultant and Life Coach—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 April 27th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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The pandemic has raised significant issues of concern for a democratic society, including that of balancing personal freedom against the greater good. How should this issue be most appropriately addressed during a time of pandemic or national emergency? How well is America actually equipped to handle this kind of crisis and how can we best reconcile the protection of individual rights with the need for a national uniformity of effort?

Dr. Frieden is a physician trained in internal medicine, infectious diseases, public health, and epidemiology. He began his public health career in New York City confronting the largest outbreak of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis to occur in the United States. He was then assigned to India, on loan from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he helped scale up a program for effective tuberculosis diagnosis, treatment and monitoring. Asked to return to New York City to become Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s health commissioner, he directed efforts to reduce smoking and other leading causes of death that increased life expectancy by 3 years. As director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Frieden oversaw the work that helped end the 2014 West Africa Ebola epidemic. He now leads Resolve to Save Lives, a $225 million, 5-year initiative of Vital Strategies, working with countries to prevent 100 million deaths and to make the world safer from epidemics. He is also senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Join this important conversation about protecting the rights and health of Americans.

SPEAKERS

Dr. Tom Frieden

M.D., M.P.H., Director, Centers for Disease Control Under President Obama; Health Commissioner, City of New York under Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Current President and CEO, Resolve to Save Lives

In Conversation with Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal

M.D., Editor in Chief, Kaiser Health News; Former Health Correspondent, New York Times; Author, An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back

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 April 22nd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Amid an outcry over anti-Asian violence and harassment, filmmaker and writer Bee Vang turns the spotlight in Hollywood and its role in promulgating anti-Asian ideas.

The son of immigrants, Hmong-American actor and activist Vang starred as Thao Vang Lor in Clint Eastwood's 2008 film Gran Torino and has appeared in "Modern Family" and Comisery. He has performed in independent films and on stage at Brown University, where he received a 2016 liberal arts degree in international politics, media and cultural studies. Vang worked at MSNBC with "The Rachel Maddow Show," at The Economist and at a research institute at Columbia University. After several years working as a print journalist, nonfiction writer and policy researcher, he recently moved to Los Angeles to devote himself to acting, filmmaking and other creative pursuits.

SPEAKERS

Bee Vang

Actor; Journalist, The Economist and "The Rachel Maddow Show"; Policy Researcher

Michelle Meow

Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW/KPIX and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @msmichellemeow—Co-Host

John Zipperer

Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club—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 April 22nd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Everything we were taught to believe about crime, justice, race, and gender needs to be criticized, says Marlon Peterson: We need to recenter humanity in accountability measures; we must allow room for various identities in criminal justice discourse. Formerly incarcerated author and activist Marlon Peterson is one of the many vanguards in changing the world we live in, and he documents it all in his new memoir Bird Uncaged.

Born and raised by Trinidadian parents in Brooklyn, NY, Peterson spent his childhood adjacent to ongoing city violence while simultaneously preaching the good word alongside his father, a devout Jehovah's Witness. His parents immigrated to the United States to achieve the long-desired American Dream, and Peterson too believed it was possible. But in the aftermath of physical and sexual trauma, Peterson made a series of choices that led to his participation in a robbery that resulted in two murders, granting him 10 years in prison at the age of 19. Spending his twenties incarcerated, Peterson completed his Associates Degree in Criminal Justice with Honors and immersed himself in anti-violence activism, education and prison abolition. In Bird Uncaged, Peterson exposes the brutality of incarceration and the hollowness of the American Dream. He encourages us all to reveal and break from the many cages — both physical and metaphorical — created and maintained by American society.

Join us as Marlon Peterson envisions a new world that focuses on healing instead of punishment, an end to mass incarceration, and a new vision of justice.

Note: This program contains EXPLICIT language

SPEAKERS

Marlon Peterson

Host, "Decarcerated" Podcast; Author, Bird Uncaged: An Abolitionist's Freedom Song

In Conversation with Jamilah King

Host, "The Mother Jones Podcast"; Race and Justice Reporter, Mother Jones

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 April 21st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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In more than a decade as a broadcaster and public figure, Michelle Meow has interviewed politicians, activists, medical experts, authors, sports heroes, actors, musicians and more. Millions have seen or heard her broadcasts of San Francisco Pride, as well as her weekly television show and daily podcast. She has discussed everything from LGBTQ equality to racism to adoption. Now she will discuss something different: Herself.

As 2020 wound down, Meow experienced a surprise. She began to lose her hair, handfuls by the minute. After nearly a year of stress from the pandemic, tense political environment, economic uncertainty, and more, she had developed a condition known as alopecia areata, resulting in hair loss. In this special edition of "The Michelle Meow Show," she will discuss her experience—the impact on her mental health, navigating the health-care system during a pandemic, learning about alopecia, buying a wig and the eventual decision to go public with her condition and go bald.

Join us as we turn the tables and interview this veteran interviewer for a can't-miss exploration of mental and physical health in a time of crisis.

SPEAKERS

Michelle Meow

Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW/KPIX and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @msmichellemeow

In Conversation with John Zipperer

Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club

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 April 1st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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This is your Commonwealth Club week in review. Hear what you missed this week, and what we’ve got lined up for you next week.

We’re always adding new programs - check out commonwealthclub.org/online for all of our upcoming events.

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Visit commonwealthclub.org/special, for special rates on memberships.

Thanks for your support and as always - thanks for listening!

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John Boehner spent nearly 25 years in Congress and served as the 53rd speaker of the House. During his time, his responsibility and decision making to preserve the American Dream was driven by the values of economic freedom and individual liberty.

When he announced his resignation, President Obama called to tell the outgoing speaker that he'd miss him. "Mr. President," Boehner replied, "yes you will." In his new memoir, On the House, Boehner recounts his experiences and shares what he learned from his years of public service.

Join us as former House Speaker John Boehner talks honestly about his colorful tales from the halls of power to broaden our perception of Washington’s political landscape.

Note: This program contains EXPLICIT language

SPEAKERS

John Boehner

Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Former Representative (R-Ohio 8th District); Author, On the House: A Washington Memoir; Twitter @SpeakerBoehner

In Conversation with Melissa Caen

Attorney; Author; Political Analyst

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 April 20th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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