Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

After recognizing the need for better-designed personal care products for people of color, Tristan Walker, a former entrepreneur-in-residence at Andreessen Horowitz and director of business development at Foursquare, struck out on his own and launched Walker & Company Brands, Inc. Now, Walker & Company is an emerging leader in the field of product design, and his company's wares are being met with both critical acclaim from health and beauty industry heavyweights and financial backing from celebrities like John Legend and Magic Johnson. Join INFORUM, Tristan Walker and design industry guru John Maeda for an insightful discussion about how companies like Walker & Company Brands are finding success and redefining product design by making products that are both visually appealing and highly effective available to the masses.

Since retiring from professional basketball as the NBA's all-time leading scorer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has become a lauded observer of culture and society, a New York Times bestselling author, and a regular contributor to The Washington Post, Time magazine and Time.com. At a pivotal time in our history and in the midst of a presidential race that threatens to divide us, Mr. Abdul-Jabbar will give his take on the origins of bias and inequality that remain a stubborn part of America, 240 years after its founding document declared that all Americans are created equal. He contends that many Americans, out of fear and sometimes ignorance, make too many false assumptions about fellow citizens who aren’t like them. Join Mr. Abdul-Jabbar for an unabashed and important conversation on how America can be a more unified country.

We see the sad lives of the homeless in our beautiful city, and our hearts sink. But is there an answer? In different ways, our three panelists have given a great deal of attention to the problem. They will share their observations and possible remedies.

California and the University of California are leaders in confronting one of the world's most complex and daunting issues: climate change. Three distinguished UC professors from across the university system will discuss how the UC and the state of California lead and plan to continue leading the world on a path to a sustainable environmental future.

The South China Sea is where China’s rising ambitions are colliding with the United States’ global role. This strategic competition is interacting in dangerous and unpredictable ways with tensions about the fate of the atolls and islands that dot the sea: the Spratly islands, the Paracels and Scarborough Shoal. Bill Hayton will explain the — sometimes bizarre — origins of the various claims and suggest how they might be resolved. Hayton’s The South China Sea was named as one of The Economist's books of the year in 2014. He has worked for BBC News since 1998 and was the BBC's reporter in Vietnam in 2006-07. He spent 2013 embedded with Myanmar's state broadcaster working on media reform. He is also an associate fellow with the Asia Program of Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London. He has given presentations about South China Sea and Southeast Asian issues for think-tanks and government institutions in the UK, United States, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam. His written work has been published in The Economist, the South China Morning Post, The Diplomat and The National Interest.

What's the Big Idea? Possible Solutions to Our Biggest Problems. Imagine you are emperor of the United States of America. With a wave of your hand, you can enact any policy you want. A policy that would: - remove people's employment fears - remove our health-care fears - eliminate terrorism - make the U.S.'s $20 trillion dollar debt vanish - even solve the Palestinian/Israeli crisis. Marty Nemko, Time contributor, KALW-FM (San Francisco public radio station) host, U.C. Berkeley Ph.D. specializing in the evaluation of innovation, and author of What’s the Big Idea? 39 Reinventions for a Better Society, will share his provocative ideas and leave plenty of time for Q&A so you can react to those ideas and share your own!

On June 21st, in unison with labor and environmental groups, PG&E announced that it will be closing Diablo Canyon Power Plant by 2025. The press release cited California’s evolving energy policy which will be significantly reducing the need for electricity produced by the last remaining nuclear plant in the state. However, despite the support of environmental groups such as Friends of the Earth and the NRDC, there are many who claim more GHGs–rather then less–will be released from the closing, questioning where the energy will come from to replace the nearly 18,000 GWh produced at Diablo Canyon. Will closing the Diablo Canyon Power Plant raise or lower California’s carbon pollution? Is it a deal with the devil or bold leadership?

While much of the Western world worries about the economic and human costs of an aging population, Dr. Caro argues that there is room for optimism—and that by harnessing the power of technology and the untapped wisdom of the older adult population, we can improve the quality of life as we age, expand the capabilities of caregivers, and perhaps even make the process of aging less costly.

Peter is Arwen's father, and together they travel and perform acoustic shows featuring original music written by both of them as well as classic Moby Grape compositions. Peter and Arwen Lewis will discuss how music, from the perspectives of both the composer and the audience, has been used throughout history to "escape" from adversity. They will talk about the healing components of music and how music allows people to connect with each other. Peter and Arwen will also perform songs composed by Alexander "Skip" Spence and songs written by Peter and Arwen. The presentation will include their own personal experiences with the healing components of music; they also will talk about the process of composing and how this takes the composer into an alternative reality. There will be live music during their presentation, including wonderful Moby Grape songs, and this presentation will be a treat not to be missed. Labels:

Is the election rigged? Come find out. We'll start our program with a special feature tonight: Political analyst Melissa Caen will begin with a short 10-minute presentation on the claim that the election is or can be rigged. Then we'll explore 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!