Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

The early 1970s were a tumultuous time for the Republican Party—not unlike today. The party was battling national security risks, wrestling with the expansion of civil rights, and dealing with the political fallout of an embattled president. In order to survive, the Republican Party needed someone to guide them. That someone was James A. Baker III. Baker was the right-hand man of presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and a major player in constructing modern conservatism, yet his story has gone largely untold until now. Revered political journalists (and husband and wife) Peter Baker of The New York Times and Susan Glasser of The New Yorker have teamed up to tell the story of the man behind the curtain. In their book The Man Who Ran Washington, they describe that man who pieced the Republican Party back together, leading with vision and a loyalty to the party, but also in service to all Americans. Join us as Baker and Glasser discuss the story of a power broker who influenced America’s future for generations, the current state of politics, and more! NOTES Part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by The Bernard Osher Foundation This program contains EXPLICIT language

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Join us for a virtual conversation with Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Fredrik Logevall, who has written a revealing biography about our iconic, yet still elusive, 35th president. At the time of his assassination in 1963, John F. Kennedy stood at the helm of the greatest power the world had ever seen, a booming American nation that he had steered through some of the most perilous diplomatic standoffs of the Cold War. Born in 1917 to a wealthy Irish American family, JFK developed political ambition at an early age. His meteoric rise to become the youngest elected president helped mythologize him, as did the many hagiographic portrayals of his dazzling charisma. Reports of his extramarital affairs, and disagreements over his political legacy, have also proliferated since his untimely death, but all these accounts fail to capture the full person. Attracted by this gap in our historical knowledge, Logevall spent the last decade searching for the “real” JFK. The result is a two-volume biography that effectively contextualizes JFK amidst the roiling American Century. We will discuss volume one, which covers the first 39 years of his life—from his birth through his decision to run for president—revealing his early relationships, his formative experiences during World War II, his ideas, his writings and his political aspirations. Logevall shows us a more serious, independent-minded Kennedy than we’ve previously known, especially his distinct international sensibility, which developed amid the tumult of mid-century America and the Second World War, preparing JFK for his crucial role in keeping the Cold War cold. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond

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At the recent Global Training in July 2020, former Vice President Al Gore and the Climate Reality Project continued their call to prioritize and center the environmental justice work of communities of color and indigenous communities. In this spirit, we invite you to learn about and engage with Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice's "We Can't Breathe" campaign in San Francisco's Bayview and Hunters Point (BVHP) neighborhoods, a low-income community of color (33.7 percent African American, 30.7 percent Asian, and 24.9 percent Latinx per the 2010 Census) where residents suffer from high rates of asthma and cancer and where radioactive waste and toxic contamination at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard Superfund site and multiple other contaminated sites are located. As one of the lowest-lying points in San Francisco, BVHP will also be first impacted by rising oceans, which have already risen by almost 8 inches as of 2016 and which threaten to create flooding of hazardous and radioactive waste of neighborhoods, transportation infrastructure, and the entire San Francisco Bay, while several hundred new luxury homes have been built next to and possibly on top of radioactive contamination, and 10,000 more homes are planned at the contaminated Shipyard Superfund Site where critics complain that radioactive and toxic cleanup has been marred by fraud and lax standards. Speakers will also discuss the August 25 Car Caravan Protest to San Francisco City Hall for the Bayview Hunters Point Environmental Justice "We Can't Breathe" Campaign. NOTES Co-presented by The Climate Reality Project Bay Area Chapter

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Ken Follett is one of the world's best-loved authors, selling more than 170 million copies of his 31 books. Follett's first bestseller was Eye of the Needle, a spy story set in the Second World War. In 1989, The Pillars of the Earth was published and has since become Follett's most popular novel. It reached number one on bestseller lists around the world and was an Oprah's Book Club pick. Its sequels, World Without End and A Column of Fire, proved equally popular, and the Kingsbridge series has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. Mr. Follett's latest novel, The Evening and the Morning—a prequel to The Pillars of The Earth—takes readers on an epic journey back to the year 997, the end of the Dark Ages. England is facing attacks from the Welsh in the west and the Vikings in the east. Those in power bend justice according to their will, regardless of ordinary people and often in conflict with the king. Without a clear rule of law, chaos reigns. Join us for a rare and intimate conversation with this renowned author whose work certainly provides historical lessons for today. NOTES Part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation

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John Lithgow’s acclaimed acting career has seen him star in shows like "3rd Rock from the Sun" and "The Crown" and films such as Bombshell and The World According to Garp. Now, he’s following up last year’s best-selling book, Dumpty, with a brand-new collection of satirical poems chronicling the age of President Donald Trump. Trumpty Dumpty Wanted a Crown is darker and more hard-hitting than ever. Lithgow writes and draws with wit and fury as he takes readers through another year of shocking events involving Trump and his administration. His uproarious poems and illustrations encompass Trump's impeachment, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter protests, and much more. Join Lithgow as we laugh and pause to remember some of the most defining moments in recent history—as he skewers the reign of “King Dumpty” one stanza at a time.

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Stoicism has found a new audience among those who seek greatness, from athletes to politicians and everyone in between. Its embrace of self-mastery, virtue and indifference to that which we cannot control is as urgent today as it was in the chaos of the Roman Empire. Join Kevin Rose, founder of Digg, for a conversation with number 1 bestselling author Ryan Holiday to learn more about the fascinating lives of the men and women who strove to live by the timeless Stoic virtues of courage, justice, temperance and wisdom.

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Join us for a virtual medical panel discussion about whether the COVID-19 crisis will end up trimming some of the waste out of America's health-care system or changing it more fundamentally. For this 10th Annual Lundberg Institute Lecture, previous TLI lecturers will join Dr. George Lundberg in a reprise of some of the health-care topics covered in the last 10 years, including medical treatment of the dying, Medicare for All, improving the quality of health care and patient safety, decreasing diagnostic and treatment errors, and removing "business ethics" as a model for health-care management. The TLI panel will also compare the health-care platforms of the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities

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The United States is steeped in guns, gun violence―and gun debates. As arguments rage on, one issue has largely been overlooked―Americans who support gun control turn to the police as enforcers of their preferred policies, but the police themselves disproportionately support gun rights over gun control. Who do the police believe should get gun access? When do they pursue aggressive enforcement of gun laws? And what part does race play in all of this? In her book Policing the Second Amendment, Jennifer Carlson argues that rethinking the terms of the gun debate shows how the politics of guns cannot be understood―or changed―without considering how the racial politics of crime affects police attitudes. Examining how organizations such as the National Rifle Association have influenced police perspectives, she describes a troubling paradox of guns today: While color-blind laws grant civilians unprecedented rights to own, carry and use guns, people of color face an all-too-visible system of gun criminalization. Join us as Carlson unravels the complex relationship between the police, gun violence and race.

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Humorist P.J. O’Rourke says Americans have worked ourselves into a state of anger and perplexity, and it’s no surprise, because perplexed and angry is what America has always been about. In his new book, A Cry from the Far Middle, O'Rourke touches on the frustrations of an internet-controlled world in which our refrigerators talk and our phones freeze. He debates the merits of sympathy versus empathy, and makes hilarious observations about the current political environment. Come hear this master satirist's perspective on the absurdity of life.

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“What are you?” That’s a question that has followed Sunny Hostin throughout her life as a half Puerto Rican and half African-American woman. "The View" co-host chronicles her journey from growing up in a South Bronx housing project to becoming an assistant U.S. attorney and Emmy Award-winning legal journalist. Hostin was one of the first national reporters to cover Trayvon Martin’s death. Hostin continues to use her platform to advocate for social justice and give a voice to the marginalized. Hear more on how we can address identity, intolerance and injustice during this pivotal time in our country.

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