Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

San Francisco is changing at warp speed. Famously home to artists and activists, and known as the birthplace of the Beats, the Black Panthers and the LGBTQ movement, in recent decades the Bay Area has been reshaped by Silicon Valley, the engine of the new American economy. The richer the region gets, the more unequal and less diverse it becomes, and cracks in the city’s facade―rapid gentrification, an epidemic of evictions, rising crime, atrophied public institutions―have started to show. Inspired by Studs Terkel’s classic works of oral history, writer and filmmaker Cary McClelland spent several years interviewing people at the epicenter of the recent change, including venture capitalists, coders, politicians, protesters as well as native sons and daughters to the city’s newest arrivals. The crisp and vivid stories of Silicon City’s diverse cast capture San Francisco as never before. MLF ORGANIZER NAME George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities

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Bret Easton Ellis, the best-selling novelist and screenwriter of the darkly incisive American Psycho and other hugely popular novels, is diving into nonfiction for the first time with his provocatively titled new book White, which blends his personal perspective in the entertainment industry and his sharp cultural insight into our digital age, simultaneously defining and defending the concept of freedom of speech. While Ellis eschews the label provocateur, he remains outspoken in his frustration with identity politics and political correctness. In Ellis’ words, “Everyone feels muzzled now, and it comes down to how much you can take. Can I talk about what I’m feeling and say my opinion? You get to a point where there’s a break, a fissure, and you either decide to go through it and be yourself, or you decide to hide.” Beyond his literary career, Ellis also expounds at length on film, books, music, culture and politics on “The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast,” and his Twitter feed is often feisty—agree or disagree with him, Ellis gets you thinking. Join Ellis live at INFORUM as he reflects on the state of political discourse in the United States and shares his unique perspective as an unfiltered and often polarizing cultural commentator. ***This program contains explicit language***

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William J. Burns is widely acknowledged as a diplomatic legend, with the experience to match. He spearheaded talks that resulted in the elimination of Libya’s illicit weapons program, served as the U.S. ambassador to Russia and, most famously, initiated the opening of back channels that led to the historic Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action regarding Iran’s nuclear program. He is only the second career diplomat to hold the office of deputy secretary of state. After serving under Hillary Clinton, he was widely acknowledged to be on Clinton's short list for secretary of state. Burns is known for being trusted by politicians on both sides of the aisle for his no-nonsense, can-do attitude. In his new book, The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for Its Renewal, Burns tells the story of a lifetime. From the aftermath of 9/11, the Iran nuclear deal and everything in between, Burns gives us a glimpse into the inner workings of the State Department under five separate presidencies. Join us for an insider’s account of the last three decades of American diplomacy—and the lessons to be learned from them. This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.

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Plastics are a ubiquitous, inescapable part of daily life. They have many seemingly irreplaceable, inexpensive and convenient uses. But there is a dark side to some of them that goes far beyond the painful photographs of albatross chick tummies stuffed with discarded cigarette lighters or turtle necks strangled by six pack rings. Some of them are exceedingly hazardous to life, even at what appear to be low doses. Much of the hazard arises because they contain chemicals that interfere with hormone signaling: endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). By hacking the hormone signaling systems that control fetal development, they can set in motion physiological processes that can lead to a wide array of diseases and disabilities. Intense study of EDCs began in the 1990s. Since then, millions of dollars have been invested in this scientific field, yielding thousands of research papers. Pete Myers will lay out the core central themes that have emerged in this field over the last two decades: low doses matter a lot; what begins in the womb does not stay in the womb; the tools we have used to test for safety of plastics have been based upon false assumptions and continue to use outdated methods; and exposure is ubiquitous. We now know enough about how EDCs cause damage, however, to help chemists design safer chemicals. This last point positions chemists to grab market share in rising consumer demand for inherently safer materials. As that effort grows, it should be possible to slow if not reverse today’s epidemics of endocrine-related diseases, such as prostate and breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, obesity, infertility and brain disorders. MLF Organizer: Patty James MLF: Health & Medicine

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Religion has always been something that both unites and divides us humans. To Reza Aslan, it seems that we focus more and more on the differences. Many people would be surprised to learn how much collaboration there was between the major religions at the time of their development, and how many similarities there are as a result. Aslan, a renowned scholar of religious history, delves into this in his book God: A Human History. He focuses on the remarkably cohesive attempt to understand the divine in human terms—nearly every religious tradition, as Aslan writes, conceives of God as “a divine version of ourselves.” But this projection is not without consequences. As conceptions of God take on those qualities of virtue in human nature—compassion, a desire for justice—the divine also exhibits our greed and inclination toward violence. Having published best-selling books on the future of Islam, the life of Jesus Christ and religious extremism in a globalizing world, Aslan is especially prepared to answer these questions. No matter your religious beliefs, join us for a conversation that is sure to challenge your own conception of the divine and how it has shaped our world today.

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Coming into power in 2000, Vladimir Putin had a message: Russia must be “lifted off its knees.” He spent the next 19 years implementing this vision—removing constraints on presidential power, rolling back civil society and reforging an ideological state that he markets domestically as “great Russia.” Has his strategy to reverse territory losses and status left Russians in a better place—and at what price? As American democracy struggles with encroaching authoritarianism, Russia, the country that has succumbed to it, offers a cautionary tale. Anastasia Edel came of age in the last decades of the Soviet Union and was witness to Gorbachev’s perestroika, collapse of the USSR and Russia’s wild transition to capitalism. A recipient of the British government’s Chevening award, Edel studied in England and moved permanently to the United States in 1997. Edel is a contributor to The New York Times, The New York Review of Books and Project Syndicate. Visit her at: www.anastasiaedel.com. MLF Organizer: Norma Walden In association with Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, UC Berkeley

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This is the third annual panel about how the Trump presidency is affecting the Middle East. Some experts continue to believe that Trump is destabilizing the region with his impulsive decisions and dangerous rhetoric and actions, while others believe that he is making America safer. Our distinguished panel will continue the conversation. MLF ORGANIZER NAME Celia Menczel NOTES MLF: Middle East

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This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. Despite the almost constant streams of media reporting on the White House, very few people know what really goes on in the West Wing. Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to the president in the Obama administration, is one of those people. From the day she interviewed a young Michelle Robinson in July 1991 to the night of January 20, 2017, when the first family departed the White House, Jarrett has been a trusted confidante and a close friend of the Obama family. In her book, Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward, Jarrett shares her story of growing up with American parents in the town of Shiraz, Iran, living in Chicago during the civil rights movement and ultimately finding her voice in public service. She led the Obama administration’s criminal justice reforms, advocated for women’s rights and political empowerment, and fought to improve the lives of working families. Join us for a conversation with the woman The New York Times called the “ultimate Obama insider.” She will share her unique perspective into the inner workings of the White House and the inspiring story of how she got there.

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Foursome is the spirited account of the intense relationship among four artists whose strong personalities, passionate feelings and aesthetic ideals drew them together, pulled them apart and profoundly influenced 20th-century art. In 1921, Alfred Stieglitz, the most influential figure in early 20th-century photography, celebrated the success of his latest New York City exhibition, whose centerpiece was a series of nude portraits of the young Georgia O'Keeffe (soon to be his wife). It was also a turning point for both O'Keeffe and Rebecca Salsbury, the fiancée of Stieglitz's protégé at the time, Paul Strand. In the years that followed, O'Keeffe and Stieglitz became the preeminent couple in American modern art, spurring each other's creativity. Observing that relationship led Salsbury to encourage new artistic possibilities for Strand and to rethink her own potential as an artist. In fact, it was Salsbury, the least known of the four, who was the main thread that wove the two couples' lives together. Carolyn Burke mines this foursome's correspondence to reveal how each inspired, provoked and unsettled the others while pursuing their own artistic innovations. MLF ORGANIZER NAME George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities

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