Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Our country is deeply divided. As we face crucial issues with the potential to impact millions of lives, we cannot afford increasing alienation. Sharon Strand Ellison will show us how making simple changes in voice tone, body language, phrasing and intention can defuse defensiveness, often instantly, even in high-conflict situations. The skills participants learn can be used immediately, exponentially enhancing our conflict resolution and creative problem-solving abilities, at home and in community, as well as transforming antiquated methods of political debate on a national and global scale. MLF ORGANIZER NAME Eric Siegel

Our in-studio guest this week: Evan Low Evan Low was elected to the California State Assembly in November 2014 to represent District 28. At the age of 31, Assemblymember Low became the youngest Asian American legislator elected to the Assembly in state history. Low chairs the Business and Professions Committee as well as the California Legislative LGBT Caucus. In 2015, together with Assemblymember Ian Calderon (D-Whittier), he launched the first-in-the-state California Legislative Technology & Innovation Caucus. In 2010, Low also made history by becoming the youngest openly LGBT mayor in the country at the age of 26. While serving on Campbell's City Council, he helped balance the city budget without eliminating vital services and increase government transparency by streaming city council meetings online. Join us as Michelle Meow brings her long-running daily radio show to The Commonwealth Club one day each week. Meet fascinating—and often controversial—people discussing important issues of interest to the LGBTQ community, and have your questions ready.

Production of animal protein is producing vast amounts of climate-eating gases. But a new generation of companies are creating innovative food products that mimic meat and have much smaller environmental impacts. Some of this mock meat is derived from plants with ingredients designed to replicate the taste and pleasure of chomping into a beef hamburger. Others are growing meat cells that come from a laboratory and not a cow. Will those options wean enough people from burgers and chicken wings to go mainstream?

Before he made his mark as one of the most recognized staffers in the Trump administration, former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer built a decades-long career in Republican politics. Spicer witnessed and shaped the inner workings of Washington, D.C., from every vantage point—as a House of Representatives communicator, assistant at the Office of the United States Trade Representative, Republican National Committee chief strategist, top advisor to presidential campaigns, and, of course, as White House spokesperson for President Donald Trump. Few in Washington are as well equipped as Spicer to pull back the curtain and dissect what’s really happening in the nation’s capital. Join Spicer for a rare conversation as he takes us behind the scenes of his turbulent tenure as President Trump's press secretary, shedding new light on the headline-grabbing controversies of the Trump administration's first year.

Transgender rights are increasingly under threat. The president began his administration by rescinding new federal protections for transgender students in public schools, followed by a ban on transgender individuals from serving "in any capacity" in the U.S. armed forces via twitter. A new HHS Conscience and Religious Freedom Division is expected to offer greater protections for health care workers who do not wish to treat transgender patients. How do these assaults on transgender civil rights affect the mental health and well-being of trans individuals? Find out how Tri-City Health Center, a community clinic on the front lines of transgender care in the age of Trump, addresses these and other issues in Alameda County. Tiffany Woods is a program manager for Transgender Services at a FQHC clinic in Fremont, where she ensures the trans community has access to affirming, responsive health care, including HIV prevention/care. Her program, TransVision, is a nationally and internationally recognized primary health and HIV program for transgender/gender non-conforming people at Tri-City Health Center serving Alameda County. TransVision is the first comprehensive health and social services program for transgender/gender non-conforming people in Alameda County. In 2014, she was selected to the Trans 100 List—an annual list of 100 Transgender Individuals Making a Difference in the USA. MLF ORGANIZER NAME Patrick O'Reilly NOTES MLF: Psychology

This event is the latest in our member-led forums’ Crisis in Our Country summer series. Theatre Bay Area aims to unite, strengthen, promote and advance the theater community in the San Francisco Bay Area with the premise that the performing arts are an essential public good. This panel of leaders discuss why and how arts makers are critical to a healthy and truly democratic society—providing clarity and hope about public issues in today's anxious, shifting global environments. American Conservatory Theatre is internationally recognized for its groundbreaking productions of classical works and bold explorations of contemporary playwriting. Marin Theatre Company creates groundbreaking, nationally recognized, socially relevant plays with a focus on new works for the American stage. CalShakes redefines classical theater to engage with our contemporary moment so we might learn about ourselves and each other in the fullness of our world. Golden Thread Productions is the first American theater company devoted to the Middle East, celebrating the multiplicity of its perspectives and identities. MLF ORGANIZER NAME Anne W. Smith NOTES MLF: Arts

It's time for a free-for-members summertime Week to Week political roundtable and social hour! We will 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). 2 FREE DRINK TICKETS:Each Week to Week attendee will get 2 free drink tickets for a glass of wine or a soft drink during our member social.

It's a special Wednesday edition of The Michelle Meow Show at the Commonwealth Club. Our in-studio guest this week: Kimberly Reed Kimberly Reed’s work has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, NPR, The Moth, and in Details magazine. One of Filmmaker magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film,” she directed/produced Prodigal Sons, a “whiplash doc that heralds an exciting talent” (SF Weekly). Prodigal Sons (First Run Features, Sundance Channel) premiered at Telluride, landed on many Best of the Year lists, screened at more than 100 film festivals, and garnered 14 Audience and Jury awards, including the Fipresci Prize. Ms. Reed was recognized as one of Out magazine’s “Out 100,” and as Towleroad’s “Best LGBT Character of the Film Year.” She also produced/edited/wrote Paul Goodman Changed My Life (Zeitgeist Films) and produced The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (Netflix). With a background in journalism, her work in broader artistic fields has also been acclaimed. She was published in the New York Times bestselling The Moth—50 True Stories, and has co-authored three operas, including As One, the most frequently produced American opera in decades. Join us as Michelle Meow brings her long-running daily radio show to The Commonwealth Club one day each week. Meet fascinating—and often controversial—people discussing important issues of interest to the LGBTQ community, and have your questions ready.

Can changing our consciousness hold off the climate apocalypse? When we think about the enormity of climate change and what it’s doing to our planet, it’s easy to get overwhelmed, even shut down, by despair. But is despair such a bad place to be? Or could it be the one thing that finally spurs us to action? A conversation about climate change, spirituality and the human condition in unsettling times.

The Internet has drastically transformed our lives—it permeates every corner of our society and is only growing more influential. The pervasive exposure of our personal information has made us more vulnerable than ever. Former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff argues that nothing undermines our freedom more than losing control of information about ourselves. He believes our laws must also join the Information Age, and that technology can be used as the ultimate protection of our freedoms. From 2005 to 2009, Chertoff served as the second U.S. secretary of homeland security, leading efforts to stop terrorism inside American borders. Now, he has shifted his security focus to the cyber front. Chertoff argues that it’s not just a simple loss of privacy that is at stake but our ability to make personal choices without fear of coercion. Join us for a conversation about cyber issues plaguing our world, and how governments, companies and individuals must work together to protect our personal data in the Information Age.