Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

The Tubman Command is an impeccably researched historical novel that brings to light the bravery and brilliance of American icon Harriet Tubman. It’s May 1863. Outgeneraled and outgunned, a demoralized Union Army has pulled back with massive losses at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Fort Sumter, hated symbol of the Rebellion, taunts the American Navy with its artillery and underwater mines. In Beaufort, South Carolina, a female spy, code named “Moses,” is hatching a spectacular plan. Hunted by Confederates, revered by slaves, a bounty on her head, Tubman plots an expedition behind enemy lines to liberate hundreds of bondsmen and recruit them as soldiers. Gen. David Hunter places her in charge of a team of black scouts, even though he is skeptical of what one woman can accomplish. The Tubman Command tells the story of Tubman at the height of her powers, when she devises the largest plantation raid of the Civil War. This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. MLF Organizer: George Hammond MLF: Humanities

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Join Dustin Lance Black, influential LGBTQ+ activist and the Academy Award-winning screenwriter behind Milk, as he reveals his unexpectedly conservative origins in his new memoir, Mama’s Boy: A Story from Our Americas, providing personal and philosophical insight into the complicated divide between red and blue America. Black’s memoir chronicles his coming of age in a military, Mormon household in Texas and moving to more liberal California after his mother’s remarriage. Finding himself at odds with the religious and political atmosphere of his family and his community’s condemnation of his sexuality, Black kept his identity a secret. He ultimately found release and professional success in the arts and reveals that throughout his often difficult childhood, he and his mother always managed to share a powerful bond of support. When Black played an instrumental role in the overturning of California’s antigay marriage Proposition 8, she was next to him despite a lifetime of opposition. Join Dustin Lance Black live at INFORUM as he reflects on his personal journey to self-acceptance and success and shares his unique perspective on bridging the many divides in our country today. This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. ** This Podcast Contains Explicit Language **

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The stigma and discrimination surrounding mental illness is deeply rooted in American culture and society. Bring Change to Mind (BC2M) is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging dialogue about mental health and to raising awareness, understanding and empathy. Award-winning actor and advocate Glenn Close co-founded Bring Change to Mind in 2010 after her sister Jessie Close was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and her nephew Calen Pick was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. Science and evidence-based programs are essential to achieving the work of BC2M. The organization’s seven public service announcements have provided stigma-reducing messaging to more than four billion individuals. By mobilizing deeply engaged change agents, especially youth, to collectively talk about mental health, BC2M is able to encourage healthy help seeking behavior, greater resilience and self-care techniques. It is transforming feelings of isolation and despair into feelings of community and hope. The organization’s peer-led high school clubs, operating in 16 states, are a great example of how youth can, and will, change the perspectives on mental illness in our lifetime. Join Glenn Close and other BC2M leaders for a conversation about the power of advocacy, science and youth leadership to reduce stigma and creative positive change in the world of mental health. Notes Part of our series on mental health, dedicated in memory of Nancy Friend Pritzker, with support from the John Pritzker Family Fund

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Today’s kids are caught up in one of the largest mass migrations in human history: the movement indoors. The majority of modern Americans now spend much of their lives penned in by walls, staring at screens. Increasingly, we don’t touch, look at or even speak to each other, connecting instead through apps. When we do get together, it’s for a quick coffee or play date, because who has time for anything else? At home, children see Mom and Dad thumbing away nonstop on their devices and follow suit. The result: Our youth are suffering from a rise in health problems, heightened social pressures and a frightening set of new addictions around technology. For the editors of Outside, this dynamic represents a national crisis. Last fall, the 42-year-old magazine’s cover story, “Rewilding the American Child,” called on parents to set their kids free—from screens, from schedules, from the kind of ever-present supervision that hinders full maturation. In a collection of essays and how-to articles that was nominated for a National Magazine Award, Outside argued that today’s children desperately need opportunities to roam without adults around, play games with no winners or rules, and engage the natural world on their own terms. This program, moderated by Outside’s Marin-based executive editor Michael Roberts, will bring these topics and more to life through the experiences of two leading figures in the movement to get children—and their parents—to spend more time outdoors. Award-winning science journalist Florence Williams, author of The Nature Fix, will speak about the efforts to restore the kinds of outdoor rites of passage—your first hunt, your fist fish, your first solo walk in the wilderness—that used to mark the steps on the journey to adulthood. Nooshin Razani, a pediatrician and the founder of the of the Center for Nature and Health, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland will talk about the growing trend for physicians to prescribe nature to their patients as well as her own pioneering work in helping lower-income communities access the exceptional public lands in the Bay Area. This conversation is part of an extended series of discussions that The Commonwealth Club will present in Marin over the course of 2019 on an expanded notion of health. Future conversations will address political and democratic health, China and trade health, and creativity and physical health.

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Former San Francisco Mayor Brown will give his annual lecture on national and regional political trends in 2019. A two-term mayor of San Francisco, legendary speaker of the California State Assembly and widely regarded as one of the most influential African-American politicians of the late 20th century, Brown has been at the center of California politics, government and civic life for five decades.

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A Conversation About War, Diplomacy and Presidential Decision-Making Brett McGurk has just joined Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute. He resigned from his special envoy post this past December when President Trump announced a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria without any process or deliberation. McGurk had served as President Trump’s envoy to defeat ISIS for the past two years, helping to oversee a global campaign with a coalition of 75 countries and 4 international organizations. He was appointed to the post by President Barack Obama in 2015 and was retained in this role by the Trump administration. McGurk has had nearly two decades of diplomatic service, particularly in the Middle East, across Democratic and Republican administrations. He was presented the Distinguished Honor Award by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Distinguished Service Award by Secretary of State John Kerry for exceptional service overseas. From October 2014 to January 2016, McGurk led 14 months of secret negotiations with Iran that led to a prisoner swap and the return home of six Americans, including journalist Jason Rezaian. Before joining the Bush administration’s national security team, McGurk served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and was at the Supreme Court during the September 11, 2001 attacks, an experience that led to his practice of foreign affairs at the highest levels in Washington, D.C. and on the front lines. Come for a rare visit about his experiences as a seasoned diplomat as well as his thoughts on the direction of U.S. foreign policy and the intertwining of policy and politics.

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The Mueller report continues to reverberate throughout the Trump administration and Congress, fueling renewed arguments over impeachment. Meanwhile, the administration is digging in its heels in the face of numerous investigations by House Democrats. And here at home, are things any quieter? Not on the political scene, where local and state officials are grappling with everything from vaccination bills to hot-button housing legislation. What will be the big issues when we gather on May 6 for our next political roundtable? Come find out. Join us as we discuss the biggest, most controversial and sometimes the surprising political issues with expert commentary by panelists who are smart, are civil and have a good sense of humor. Our panelists will provide informative and engaging commentary on political and other major news, and we'll have audience discussion of the week’s events and our live news quiz! And come early before the program to meet other smart and engaged individuals and discuss the news over snacks and wine at our members social (open to all attendees).

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Based on a careful study of Homer's the Odyssey, and her research on women's lives in Bronze Age Greece, Patti Trimble has written a suite of spoken poems on the women of the Odyssey. In this presentation of poetic/musical excerpts, Penelope speaks monologues on her life in the palace, weaving and thinking in her room, responding to Rumor's messages about Odysseus and his return. A poetic chorus, supported by song and music, tells the mythical–historical origins of Homer's female archetypes and monsters. Trimble uses the evolution of her imagined Penelope to weave poetic imagery onto the loom of her research from academic texts and ancient Greek writings MLF Organizer: George Hammond MLF: Humanities

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Composer Jake Heggie, conductor Nicole Paiement and dramaturg Clifford Cranna share insights into the creation of Heggie’s "If I Were You,” a Faustian story that delves into issues of identity and a quest for one’s place in the world that are at once timeless and very relevant to the world today. As the hero, Fabian becomes a wealthy older man, a young handsome brute and eventually a young woman. The opera deals with issues of age, power, sexual politics and gender identity. Commissioned by the renowned Merola Opera Program, the world premiere of "If I Were You” is on August 2019 at Herbst Theatre. MLF Organizer: Anne W. Smith MLF: Arts

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