Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Brooks and Cavanaugh brought together more than 30 of today’s top military and strategic experts, including generals, policy advisors, seasoned diplomats, counterinsurgency strategists, science fiction writers, war journalists and ground‑level military officers, to explain the strategy and the art of war by way of the Star Wars films. They provide a relatable, outside‑the‑box way to simplify and clarify the complexities of modern military conflict. Brooks makes the case for planet building on the forest moon of Endor to offer a unique way to understand our own sustained engagement in war-ravaged societies such as Afghanistan. They share how counterinsurgency waged by Darth Vader against the Rebellion sheds light on the logic behind past military incursions in Iraq. In addition to holding a position at West Point, Brooks is also a senior resident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Art of Future Warfare project and the author of World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War; and Cavanaugh is a U.S. Army strategist with assignments ranging from the Pentagon to Korea and Iraq to Army Space and Missile Defense Command. Come for a fascinating look at the relevance of a galaxy far, far away to military actions on Earth in 2018.

This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. The Obama years were a historic moment in American history. For nearly ten years, Ben Rhodes was at the center of everything that happened—first as a speechwriter, then as deputy national security advisor and a close presidential aide and confidant. From the early days on the campaign trail to the final hours in the Oval Office, Rhodes captures Obama’s historic presidency in his book The World as It Is. Rhodes witnessed the the Arab Spring and later the Osama bin Laden raid in the Situation Room. He was there when the administration reached a nuclear agreement with Iran and also when they led secret negotiations with the Cuban government to normalize relations. Join us for the full story of Rhodes’ partnership—and, ultimately, friendship—with a man who also happened to be a historic president of the United States. NOTES Author photo by Natalie Moser

We will be talking with Ali Marrero-Calderon, who will be honored at the SF Pride parade for her lifetime of commitment and involvement in the community. Born in Puerto Rico in 1948, Marrero-Calderon moved with her military family to Oakland when she was 15 years old. "I always knew I was a 'queer child from the age of seven," Marrero-Calderon tells us. "I came back to the Bay Area in 1969, when the gay revolution took off in this country. In the '70s I worked for gay rights, fighting against the Briggs Initiative. I was the only lesbian working with the Butterfly Brigade—a group of gay men—patrolling the Castro on the weekends making sure that the anti-gay violence was addressed by the DA's office. I was the only Puerto Rican dyke I knew in the Bay Area. In 1974 I was a member of GENTE, the first lesbian-of-color organization in the West. I was a member of the GALA—Gay Latino Alliance; I was one of two lesbians in the group when it started. I was also a member of Mujerio—a Latina Lesbian organization. I was involved with the Pride Parade as a safety supervisor and [working with the] main stage—back then it was the only stage—'til 1990. I worked with Shanti Project in the early days of the AIDS epidemic, providing services for men living and dying with the virus. I was with Dykes on Bikes since 1976 and became its first emeritus member. I was and continue to be a member of Michfest, the Womyn’s Music Festival." Marrero-Calderon was recognized by Astrea for her work with OLOC (Old Lesbians Organizing for Change) and says she is "a proud Boricua (Puerto Rican Dyke) and love representing my community." We'll also talk with Jewelle Gomez. Gomez was born in Boston where she was raised by her great grandmother. She graduated from Northeastern University and then from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York. She worked at WGBH-TV in the 1960s on the staff of one of the first weekly Black television shows, "Say Brother," then in New York on the pilot shows for "The Electric Company." She has taught creative writing and popular culture at institutions of higher learning from San Francisco State University to Hunter College (NYC). She is the author of seven books, including the double Lambda Literary Award-winning vampire novel, The Gilda Stories, whose 25th anniversary edition was recently published by City Lights Books. She’s written for numerous publications including The New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Village Voice, Ms magazine, Black Scholar, The Advocate and the Bay Times. She’s playwright in residence at New Conservatory Theatre Center, which produced “Waiting for Giovanni,” her play about James Baldwin, and “Leaving the Blues,” about singer/songwriter Alberta Hunter. Her next play, “Unpacking in Ptown,” will open New Conservatory’s 40th anniversary season in 2021. She was the recipient of a National Endowment on the Arts Fellowship in Literature and two California Arts Council Artist in Residence grants. In 2017 she received the Barbary Coast Trailblazer Award from LitQuake. She was on the founding boards of Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the Astraea Lesbian Foundation, and the Open Meadows Foundation. She was previously the director of grants at the San Francisco Arts Commission and Horizons LGBT Foundation; and the director of the Poetry Center and American Poetry Archives (SFSU). Until recently she was the president of the San Francisco Public Library Commission. 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.

Forty years ago, China enacted the one-child policy, only recently relaxed. Among many other unintended consequences, it resulted in both an enormous gender imbalance — with a predicted 20 million more men than women of marriage age by 2020 — and China’s first generations of only-daughters. Given the resources normally reserved for boys, these girls were pushed to study, excel in college and succeed in careers, as if they were sons. Now living in an economic powerhouse, enough of these women have decided to postpone marriage — or not marry at all — to spawn a label: "leftovers." Unprecedentedly well-educated and goal-oriented, they struggle to find partners in a society where gender roles have not evolved as vigorously as society itself, and where new professional opportunities have made women less willing to compromise their careers or concede to marriage for the sake of being wed. Further complicating their search for a mate, the vast majority of China’s single men reside in and are tied to the rural areas where they were raised. This makes them geographically, economically and educationally incompatible with city-dwelling “leftovers,” who also face difficulty in partnering with urban men, given the urban men’s general preference for more dutiful, domesticated wives. Part critique of China’s paternalistic ideals, part playful portrait of the romantic travails of China’s trailblazing women and their well-meaning parents who are anxious to see their daughters snuggled into traditional wedlock, Roseann Lake’s focuses on the lives of four individual women against a backdrop of colorful anecdotes, hundreds of interviews and rigorous historical and demographic research to show how these "leftovers" are the linchpin to China’s future. MLF ORGANIZER NAME Lillian Nakagawa NOTES MLF: Asia-Pacific Affairs

Are GMOs the answer to our planet’s food shortage? Or are they jeopardizing our health, crops and climate by creating a destructive cycle of Roundup resistance? Like many issues these days, it depends on who you believe. Supporters of genetically modified organisms say that altering the DNA of corn and other crops is just another tool in the farmers’ toolbox - an innovation that will help feed a world whose food production has been disrupted by climate change.

In a world that often seems beset by turmoil, come for an important discussion of how ongoing dialogue can significantly reduce violent confrontation and aid desperate populations. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide. A nongovernmental organization, the center has helped to improve life for people in more than 80 countries by resolving conflicts and advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity. Hrair Balian leads the Carter Center’s conflict resolution efforts, which are underway in Israel-Palestine, where the Center supports a 2-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; in Liberia, to advance access to justice in a post-war setting, paying special attention to the needs of marginalized populations; in Syria ,where the center is working toward a political solution to the catastrophic war by exploring governance and constitutional reform options; and in Europe and the United States to prevent the rise of violent extremism. Balian joined The Carter Center in 2008 as director of the Conflict Resolution Program. He also served as an adjunct professor at Emory University Law School from 2008 to 2017, teaching an advanced international negotiations seminar. Since 1991, Balian has worked in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, the independent states emerging from the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, and Africa, serving in intergovernmental organizations (the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) and nongovernmental organizations (International Crisis Group and others). Balian received his Juris Doctor degree from Golden Gate University in San Francisco.

Celebrated science journalist Carl Zimmer helps unravel some of the deepest mysteries surrounding our genetic blueprint and the traits that appear in generation after generation. Through the years and technological advancements we’ve learned that heredity isn’t just about genes that pass from parent to child. It continues within our own bodies, as a single cell gives rise to trillions of cells that make up our bodies. Drawing on scientific research and his own experiences with his two daughters, Zimmer offers a fascinating new way to understanding heredity and who we really are.

Katrina Lake became the youngest female founder and CEO to take a company public when her online personal styling company, Stitch Fix, completed its IPO in November of 2017. Lest that not be a big enough splash on the generally male-dominated business world, she did so on stage at the NASDAQ with her young son casually resting on her hip, setting the tone for a next generation of women leaders in tech. Lake started Stitch Fix in Harvard Business School, and often faced skepticism from a mostly male venture capital world as she pitched the concept of the data-driven fashion company targeted at women. Seven years after Katrina received her first term sheet, Stitch Fix is valued at more than $2 billion, and has shipped millions of ‘Fixes’: boxes of clothes and accessories personalized for clients using a unique combination of algorithms and human stylists. Beyond its success with customers and investors, Stitch Fix’s workforce is 86 percent female, and the company also focuses on representation in its leadership, maintaining a 50/50 split of men and women on its board. Stitch Fix was named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies of 2018, and Lake has been recognized as a Forbes 40 Under 40 recipient, as well as numerous other accolades. Join INFORUM for a dynamic conversation with Katrina Lake about life as an entrepreneur, being a female CEO, and the future of style and technology.

Dr. Thomas Seyfried, a professor at Boston College, will present surprising information that shakes the whole foundation of cancer treatment research. His own research reveals that cancer can be considered a single disease with a common pathophysiological mechanism involving dysfunction of mitochondria. The gene mutations observed in various cancers and all other recognized cancer hallmarks are considered downstream effects, and not causes, of the initial disturbance of cellular energy metabolism. Learn how to empower yourself to more healthily address the causes, with the goal of healthily treating and preventing cancer….without chemicals, drugs and side effects. Dr. Seyfriend states that “cancer cell growth and progression can be managed by following a whole-body” approaches. Dr. Thomas Seyfried is a trailblazer in the arena of conquering cancer. His groundbreaking book, Cancer As A Metabolic Disease, shook the foundations of the ways cancer causes and treatment are viewed. MLF ORGANIZER NAME Adrea Brier NOTES MLF: Health & Medicine

Don't miss this behind-the-scenes peek into what is going to happen over the next decade as the nation grapples with health care costs, quality and access. Speakers will discuss how public policies and politics, incentive changes for doctors and hospitals, new entrants, and new technologies like artificial intelligence are likely to emerge and evolve and how these trends are going to impact healthcare for patients. Kocher served in the Obama administration and is a partner at Venrock and focuses on health care IT and services investments. Mendonca is a senior partner emeritus from the Washington D.C. and San Francisco offices of McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm. He is a lecturer at the Stanford Business School and serves on the Board of Governors of The Commonwealth Club. MLF ORGANIZER NAME Bill Grant NOTES MLF: Health & Medicine