Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Michael Krasny has been telling Jewish jokes since his bar mitvah, and it’s been said that he knows more of them than anyone on the planet. He has now put together a compendium of Jewish jokes that packs the punches with hilarious riff after riff and also offers a window into Jewish culture. Let There Be Laughter borrows from traditional humor and such Jewish comedy legends and new voices as Jackie Mason, Mel Brooks, Joan Rivers, Larry David, Sarah Silverman, Jerry Seinfeld and Amy Schumer. With his background as a scholar and public radio host, Krasny also delves deeply into the themes, topics and form of Jewish humor: chauvinism undercut by irony and self-mockery, the fear of losing cultural identity through assimilation, the importance of vocal inflection in joke-telling, and calls to communal memory, including the use of Yiddish. Above all, come ready to laugh a lot.

Here’s a chance to meet one of the world’s most renowned scientific thinkers. Sir Roger Penrose, colleague of Stephen Hawking and acclaimed theoretical physicist, will separate fiction from reality when it comes to physics and discuss the fact-based truths of the universe. In his provocative new book, Penrose argues that fashion, faith, and fantasy, while sometimes productive and even essential in physics, may be leading today's researchers astray in three of the field's most important areas—string theory, quantum mechanics and cosmology. Arguing that string theory has veered away from physical reality by positing six extra hidden dimensions, Penrose cautions that the fashionable nature of a theory can cloud our judgment of its plausibility. In the case of quantum mechanics, its stunning success in explaining the atomic universe has led to an uncritical faith that it must also apply to reasonably massive objects, and Penrose responds with suggestions for possible changes in quantum theory. Turning to cosmology, he argues that most of the current fantastical ideas about the origins of the universe cannot be true, but that an even wilder reality may lie behind them. Penrose even describes how fashion, faith, and fantasy have ironically also shaped his own work. Come for a discussion that will illuminate physics and its significance to all of us.

For decades, drivers everywhere have dreamed of having a car that drives itself. Now that autonomous vehicles are here, what are the implications in the Bay Area and beyond? From Tesla and Uber to Lyft and Google, autonomous vehicles seem to be everywhere in 2016. Will we all be passengers in our own cars soon? What about the future of public transportation? Join our panel of experts to discuss the possibilities, challenges and what lies ahead for autonomous vehicles.

Until recently, almost nothing was known about the values and preferences of most Africans. Afrobarometer has changed this—by interviewing nearly a quarter of a million ordinary citizens across 36 countries in all regions of Africa since 1999. As a result, we can now make important, and often surprising, generalizations about what Africans think. Gyimah-Boadi will share insights from Afrobarometer as well as its progress and challenges in making public opinion data a pillar of African policy-making, building African capacity for high-quality opinion surveys, and sustaining this vital project of “giving voice to the people” in Africa.

Denver has run every phase of training for the U.S. Navy SEALs and led special-forces missions in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. He starred in the 2012 hit film Act of Valor, based on real-life SEAL missions, and most recently served as a mentor coach on Fox’s "American Grit." Denver shares his insights and experiences and addresses what it means to be a hero, why we fight and what can be learned from the battlefield.

Tech titan Paul English, founder of Kayak.com, and his biographer, Tracy Kidder, will talk with "Good Morning America" tech reporter Becky Worley. Paul English is an unconventional genius who has created a culture of innovation in all of his entrepreneurial projects. He is known as “the Pied Piper of Geeks” who encourages his teams to think creatively, make fast decisions and take risks. Paul has combined his computer science skills and playful practicality to improve travel, public health and education—and intends to give away all his money! Paul’s life work is the subject of Tracy Kidder’s new book, A Truck Full of Money. Kidder, the “master of the nonfiction narrative,” has been covering the tech business since he wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning Soul of a New Machine in 1981 that described the emerging world of high-tech corporate America. He has also profiled public health pioneer Dr. Paul Farmer in the bestselling book Mountains Beyond Mountains, about his work trying to solve the dual global health crises of tuberculosis and AIDS. Come participate in this spicy discussion of tech, entrepreneurship and a whole new way to think about materialism and social responsibility.

The clean energy revolution has the power to transform our planet and our communities. Current massive solar cost reductions mean that solar energy will be able to deliver health and economic benefits to everyone, including low-income and impoverished areas. Solar has the power to lower utility bills for every American, including 22 million low-income families, enabling them to invest dollars in their living and in their futures rather than in ever-rising energy bills. Advocates say that harnessing local sunshine will create good jobs and a pathway for everyone, including poor communities and families. Join our distinguished panel in a discussion of promise, progress and challenges to build a new solar economy available for all our planet and all our people.

In the midst of an unpredictable presidential election, get insight from a veteran political figure who knows Washington inside and out. Time magazine named Reich one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the 20th century. He is a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause. Come hear his provocative thoughts on the presidential election and the future of America.

Facebook has vowed that it will not attempt to influence the outcome of an election. But as veteran Silicon Valley journalist Scott Allan Morrison shows us in his debut thriller Terms of Use, social media companies can manipulate voters, and there are no laws to prevent them from doing so. Join Scott as he discusses his novel, Internet privacy and social media’s growing influence over our personal lives and our political system

The author of The New York Times bestseller Broken Open returns with a visceral and profound memoir of two sisters who, in the face of a bone marrow transplant—one the donor and one the recipient—begin a quest for acceptance, authenticity, and most of all, love. Throughout her life, Elizabeth Lesser has sought understanding about what it means to be true to oneself and, at the same time, truly connected to the ones we love. But when her sister Maggie needs a bone marrow transplant to save her life, and Lesser learns that she is the perfect match, she faces a far more immediate and complex question about what it really means to love—honestly, generously, and authentically. They leave the bone marrow transplant up to the doctors, but take on what Lesser calls a "soul marrow transplant," examining their family history, having difficult conversations, examining old assumptions, and offering forgiveness until all that is left is love for each other’s true selves. Their process—before, during, and after the transplant—encourages them to take risks of authenticity in other aspects their lives.