Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. Max Boot’s latest book, The Road Not Taken, discusses his contention that the Vietnam War could have been avoided if American leaders had listened to a visionary CIA Agent, Edward Lansdale, who called for a focus on hearts and minds, not bombs and body counts. Come hear a fascinating tale of spy craft, bureaucracy and combat. Boot is a military historian and foreign policy analyst who has been called one of the “world’s leading authorities on armed conflict” by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He’s a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, a contributing editor to The Weekly Standard and the Los Angeles Times, a columnist for Foreign Policy, and a regular contributor to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Boot served as an adviser to U.S. commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was also a senior foreign policy adviser to John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2007–08, a defense policy adviser to Mitt Romney’s campaign in 2011–12, and the head of the counterterrorism working group for Marco Rubio’s campaign in 2015-16. Boot was born in Moscow and grew up in Los Angeles. He holds a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley and a master’s degree in history from Yale University.

How are cities coping with political and climatic upheaval? Battles over immigration, sanctuary status, federal funding, and other hot-button issues are creating tension between local and federal government at a time when the impacts of climate change are hitting home. Miami and Houston are recovering from epic storms that were amplified by a climate destabilized by burning fossil fuels. Both cities have dynamic mayors advancing economic recovery in a time when the federal government - aside from disaster relief - is providing less money to cities for infrastructure and other projects that have traditionally facilitated civic development. Miami voters reached into their own pockets to fund $400 million in Miami Forever bonds to deal with rising seas and other climate impacts. Newly-elected Mayor Francis Suarez is now tasked with figuring out how to spend that money to prevent his city from more sunny day flooding. Houston is still waiting for Congress to finalize funds to help Texas recover from Hurricane Harvey, which brought unprecedented rain bombs down on a city that largely has been paved over. What is Mayor Sylvester Turner doing to restore its economy, create jobs and prepare for a volatile future? A Democratic mayor in one of the reddest states in the country, Steve Benjamin blasted Donald Trump for leaving the Paris climate accord and is spearheading a push for cities across the country to run on 100 percent renewable energy. As the new chief of the US Conference of Mayors, how does he think cities can advance a clean energy economy while also addressing housing, jobs, equity, and other pressing concerns.

The once poor, troubled country that struggled to implant a democracy after the fall of General Manuel Noriega in 1989 has come a long way. Direct flights from San Francisco to the isthmus started in 2016, just as the Panama Canal was dramatically expanded. The Panama crossroads has begun to truly rival Miami as the new hub of the Americas, and Panama is about to emerge as one of the countries with the highest per capita income in the region. Yet corruption scandals, unequal economic growth and increasing challenges to democracy across the hemisphere cloud the horizon as the Pacific continues to grow as the center of global commerce. Come join a discussion with Guillermo Cochez, the former ambassador of Panama to the Organization of American States, about the future of this country. MLF Organizer Name Norma Walden Notes MLF: International Relations

Wendy Pearlman has spent years living in the Arab world. She will discuss her latest book, We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria, a fierce and poignant collection of stories based on interviews with hundreds of displaced Syrians. MLF Organizer Name Celia Menczel Notes MLF: Middle East

Monday Night Philosophy explores what we can learn from history in order to preserve and strengthen democracy. In The Future of Democracy, Steve Zolno asks: What is democracy? Where did it come from? Where is it going? He considers whether democracy is a new development or whether it has always been present in human society. Zolno will also discuss: What are the historical trends that have promoted democracy over authoritarian governments? Where and why has democracy been the most and least successful? According to Zolno, our most important political task is clarifying what each of us can do, as politicians or as ordinary citizens, to bring the benefits of democracy more fully into our personal and political lives. Join us for a lively discussion! MLF Organizer Name George Hammond Notes MLF: Humanities

This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. Bill Minutaglio and Steven Davis have written a madcap narrative about Timothy Leary, the High Priest of LSD, who ran a gleeful campaign for California governor against Ronald Reagan but was sentenced to a ten-year prison sentence for possessing two marijuana cigarettes. On the moonlit evening of September 12, 1970, six months into his sentence, the ex-Harvard professor was aided in his escape from prison by the radical Weather Underground. They aimed at sparking a revolution, and President Nixon believed it, obsessing about tracking down Leary, whom he branded "the most dangerous man in America." Based on new primary sources and firsthand interviews, this American thriller takes readers along for the gonzo ride of a lifetime, spanning twenty-eight months of President Nixon's global manhunt for Leary among homegrown radicals, European aristocrats, a Black Panther outpost in Algeria, an international arms dealer, hash-smuggling hippies from the Brotherhood of Eternal Love and secret agents on four continents. MLF Organizer Name George Hammond Notes MLF: Humanities

Silicon Valley has an ugly secret. Behind the million dollar ideas and innovations, women in tech are vastly outnumbered and often face discrimination, sexual harassment and toxic work environments. In this powerful expose, Emily Chang reveals how Silicon Valley got so sexist despite its utopian ideals. Drawing on her deep network of tech insiders, Chang reveals just how hard it is for women to crack the Silicon ceiling and what companies and employees need to do to bring down the “brotopia” culture once and for all. Notes This program is generously supported by Bank of the West.

New research indicates current global conservation targets, which call for preserving 17 percent of land and 10 percent of oceans, are far too low. Instead, targets should be closer to 50 percent for land and 30 percent for oceans. This will protect the diversity of life on Earth and ensure human well-being and survival. Join panelists for this critical discussion on why we need to increase conservation targets in order to save the Earth. MLF Organizer Name Ann Clark Notes MLF: Environment & Natural Resources

As former managing editor of The Washington Post and the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ghost Wars, Steve Coll has spent years studying the forces that have impacted U.S. foreign policy. In his new book, Directorate S, he reveals how the war in Afghanistan was doomed because of the United States’ failure to apprehend the motivations and intentions of Pakistan’s intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Coll says ISI created a special branch, “Directorate S,” which covertly armed, trained and financed the Taliban, frustrating American forces at every turn. Come hear Coll’s startling explanation of how America came to be so badly ensnared in an elaborate, factional and seemingly interminable conflict.

This program is part of our Food Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. Join the brains behind Bay Area-based Dandelion Chocolate, in conversation with maker Adam Savage, as they dig deep into the world of chocolate making and eating. What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day? Todd Masonis, CEO of Dandelion Chocolate, Greg D’Alesandre, chocolate “sourcerer,” and the rest of the Dandelion Chocolate team make some of the best bean-to-bar chocolate around, and their book, Making Chocolate: From Bean to Bar to S’more, unravels the secrets for anyone from hobbyists to professional makers seeking to create delicious, luxurious chocolate in their home kitchen. From the simplest techniques, such as roasting beans on a sheet pan to winnowing away the shells with a hair dryer, to more complex subjects, such as the science and mechanics of making chocolate to the nuts, bolts and ethics of sourcing beans directly, this book follows the cocoa bean from the farm to the factory to the pastry kitchen—and everywhere in between. Talking about chocolate can be torturous unless there’s tasting involved, so join us before and after the program for Dandelion chocolate-making demonstrations and education, chocolate samples, hot chocolate, s’mores, and more! Thanks to in-kind sponsor Fort Point Beer for providing tasty brews to accompany the treats.