Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Don't take your eyes off the ball now; we're going head-first into the second 100 days of the Trump Era. It's never a dull moment in politics these days, and we'll 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. Join our panelists for informative and engaging commentary on political and other major news, audience discussion of the week’s events, and our live news quiz!

The Committee for Economic Development of the Conference Board (CED) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, business-led public policy organization that delivers analysis and solutions to our nation’s most critical issues. In the 75 years since its inception in 1942, CED has addressed national priorities that promote sustained economic growth and development aimed at benefitting all Americans. These activities have encompassed the Marshall Plan in the late 1940s, education reform in the past three decades and campaign finance reform since 2000. CED's research findings are coupled with multipronged outreach efforts throughout the country and abroad, achieving tangible impact at the local, state and national levels. With a new administration and Congress in office, and an ever-changing world anxious about its future, join a high-level conversation on how to ensure business and policy leaders can generate prosperity for all and make capitalism sustainable for generations to come.

Will the rapid arrival of robotic cars lead to the blissful end of traffic? Or will autonomous cars merely put drivers out of work and clog our streets more than ever before? No one knows for sure if the utopian vision or the dystopian vision will arrive at your front door. What is clear is that the convergence of automobiles and information technology promises one of the biggest industrial and cultural disruptions we have ever seen. It is also happening faster than even the most rabid boosters expected. Will that upheaval help or hurt the need to move away from oil and other fossil fuels to protect the climate that supports our economy? Join us for a conversation about the electrified revolution in personal mobility.

The importance of local, national and international people of diversity throughout the world and the environmental movement is critical to maintaining and building safe and healthy environments for our planet. How will the tone set by the current administration impact efforts to build greater involvement and representation of women, people of color and others? How can we build on and impact the diversity in our country to mobilize issues that affect us all? Highly distinguished Natural Resources Defense Council experts will discuss these critical issues and explore strategies to protect and improve health and well-being for people now and for generations to come.

Eighty percent of people living with Alzheimer's disease lack insight into their condition. They do not realize that they need help, and they subsequently refuse care. In this presentation, you will learn about the growing prevalence of Alzheimer's disease, the different stages of Alzheimer's, why family members refuse care and why past attempts to get family members to accept care have failed. You will also learn a step-by-step approach to getting the people you love to accept the care they need.

What’s real and what’s not? Join us for this special community forum to learn more about the policies, politics and current events that affect the United States and our overall understanding of Muslims and the Islam religion.

Imagine a place where you can anonymously purchase drugs, hire hit men, and acquire forged passports counterfeit cash, guns, grenades and poisons. Journalist Nick Bilton has written about politics and power struggles behind the founding of Twitter. Now he turns his investigative journalism to the story of Ross Ulbricht, the notorious and enigmatic founder of a drug empire and the Silk Road website. Bilton will divulge Ulbricht's rise and fall and what Ulbricht's story reveals about the clash of a libertarian-leaning web, where everything is decentralized, against the old world of government, law and order. He will also discuss what this could ultimately mean for all of us.

Samin Nosrat has taught everyone how to cook—professional chefs, children and even Michael Pollan—by mastering just four important elements: salt, fat, acid and heat. In this program, Nosrat will share her kitchen philosophy of making meals delicious by enhancing, balancing and adding texture and flavor. Hear the hows and whys of what good cooking can be. Nosrat trained under Alice Waters at Chez Panisse and has been called “the next Julia Child” by NPR’s All Things Considered. MacNaughton is a renowned illustrator and contributed 150 images and infographics to the book.

Monday Night Philosophy investigates the accepted myth of the “American Enlightenment,” which suggests that the rejection of monarchy and establishment of a new republic in the U.S. in the 18th century was the realization of utopian philosophies born in the intellectual salons of Europe, which radiated outward to the New World. Winterer argues that this national mythology of a unitary, patriotic era of Enlightenment in America was created during the Cold War to shield against the threat of totalitarianism, and Americans in the 1700s were influenced by European models in far more complex ways than commonly thought. Winterer explores which of our ideas and ideals are truly rooted in the 18th century and which are inventions and mystifications of more recent times.

Christopher de Bellaigue, who has covered the Middle East since 1996, will discuss his latest book, The Islamic Enlightenment, which discusses Islamic history as it relates to the modern world. De Bellaigue posits that, contrary to popular opinion, remarkable men and women from across the Muslim world have welcomed modern ideals and practices.