Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Nationally, Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee is perhaps best known for being the only member of Congress to vote against war authorization after the Sept. 11 attacks, a decision that led to death threats and hate mail. But her willingness to take tough, progressive stands has endeared her to East Bay voters—who have re-elected her 13 times—and liberal Democrats across the country.

Now, Lee is running to fill retiring California Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat. “We have to ease the burden on the middle class. We have to find a solution to poverty and homelessness. We have to take on the climate crisis. And we have to stop these MAGA extremists who think they can control people’s bodies and dismantle our democracy,” she said when announcing her candidacy. If she succeeds, Lee would be the sole Black female senator and only the third in U.S. history.

Lee returns to The Commonwealth Club as part of our “Race to the Senate 2024” series of candidate forums. Come meet the candidate in person before you cast your vote for California’s next U.S. senator. 

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Come on out for an in-person summertime Week to Week political roundtable.

At Week to Week, we're dedicated to the lively and informed discussion of politics—with a good sense of humor—as a platform for healthy involvement in the issues that drive our society. The Commonwealth Club's Week to Week Political Roundtable and social hour, now in its 12th year, will take a look at the politics of the day—the issues, the people, and the trends affecting our political world.

Join us to hear our panel of political experts discuss the latest developments with knowledge, civility and humor.

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Concordia University Professor of Marketing Dr. Gad Saad is not afraid to make people unhappy, if it makes them rethink their assumptions. For years, he has worn the mantle of the "anti-woke professor" and has shared his thoughts everywhere from Psychology Today to "The Joe Rogan Experience" to "The Saad Truth" on YouTube.

Now he wants to make people happy, and he's sharing his 8 secrets for leading the good life.

In this provocative and surprising new book, The Saad Truth about Happiness, Dr. Saad roams through scientific studies, culls the wisdom of ancient philosophy and religion, and draws on his extraordinary personal experience as a refugee from war-torn Lebanon turned academic celebrity. He shares secrets about resilience, purpose, moderation and more—including what you can learn from your dog about happiness.

Hear more from Dr. Saad, who has become a "de facto global therapist" to an ever-growing audience of hundreds of thousands of people.

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Can you imagine if everything you needed in your everyday life was just a walk or bike ride away? That’s the goal of the 15-minute City, a new name for an old idea. Reducing the need for cars cuts emissions and gets autos off of the roads, which is a boon for safety, air quality and the climate. But, as is often the case, good ideas become a lot more difficult when you have to implement them in real places, with real people, who don’t always share the enthusiasm for the idea. What will it take to make compact, walkable cities a reality in the U.S., where the car is king?

Guests: 

Beth Osborne, Director, Transportation for America

David Miller, Former Mayor of Toronto

Justin Bibb, Mayor of Cleveland

Henry Grabar, Author of Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World.

For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org

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“When heat comes, it’s invisible. It doesn’t bend tree branches or blow hair across your face to let you know it’s arrived. . . . The sun feels like the barrel of a gun pointed at you.” 

The world is waking up to a new reality: wildfires are now seasonal in California, the Northeast is getting less and less snow each winter, and the ice sheets in the Arctic and Antarctica are melting fast. Heat is the first-order threat that drives all other impacts of the climate crisis. As the temperature rises, it is revealing fault lines in our governments, our politics, our economy and our values. Journalist Jeff Goodall says the basic science is not complicated: Stop burning fossil fuels tomorrow, and the global temperature will stop rising tomorrow. Stop burning fossil fuels in 50 years, and the temperature will keep rising for 50 years, making parts of our planet virtually uninhabitable. The hotter it gets, the deeper and wider our fault lines will open.

Goodell's book The Heat Will Kill You First is about the extreme ways in which our planet is already changing. It is about why spring is coming a few weeks earlier and fall is coming a few weeks later—and the impact that will have on everything from our food supply to disease outbreaks. It is about what will happen to our lives and our communities when typical summer days in Chicago or Boston go from 90 degrees Fahrenheit to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. A heatwave, Goodell explains, is a predatory event, one that culls the most vulnerable people; but that is changing—as heatwaves become more intense and more common, they will become more democratic. 

As an award-winning journalist who has been at the forefront of environmental journalism for decades, Goodell might be his most provocative yet, explaining how extreme heat will dramatically change the world as we know it. 

This program contains explicit content.

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Many people think of the arts as entertainment, but Ivy Ross and Susan Magsamen believe activities such as painting, dancing, expressive writing, etc. are more essential to our daily lives than we realize. They say the science of neuroaesthetics has the power to transform traditional medicine and build healthier communities.

Ross and Magsamen offer compelling research that shows how engaging in an art project for as little as 45 minutes can reduce stress and participating in just one art experience per month can extend your life by 10 years.

Learn more about a significant cultural shift in which arts can deliver accessible and proven solutions for the well-being of everyone.

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Is anybody else out there? As a child, Aomawa Shields was always looking at the sky and dreaming of becoming an astronaut. Now an astronomer and astrobiologist at the top of her field, Dr. Shields studies the universe outside our Solar System, researching and uncovering the planets circling distant stars with just the right conditions that could support life.

In order to ultimately achieve her life-long dream Dr. Shields had to overcome discouragement from others, self-doubt, and uncertainty that she belonged. Her complex journey included a period where she left the field and pursued acting professionally.

Hear more as Dr. Shields reflects on her life as an astronomer, classically trained actor, and Black woman in STEM. Additionally, she is the founder and director of Rising Stargirls, a program dedicated to encouraging girls of all colors and backgrounds to learn, explore, and discover the universe using theater, writing and visual art.

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From the climate movement’s earliest days, young people have been at the forefront of activism. But the first major international climate conferences took place 30 years ago. The first cohort of youth activists are now adults, some with children of their own. The emotional cost of seeing so little payoff for years spent fighting can be agonizing at any age, but perhaps more so for young people who put so much of themselves into the effort. Many youth activists burned out along the way, frustrated by participating in actions that rarely led to meaningful and lasting change. How do former youth activists now view the work of their younger selves? And what advice do they have for the next generation?

Guests:

Alec Loorz, Writer, Photographer, former youth climate activist

Slater Jewell-Kemker, Director, “Youth Unstoppable;” former youth climate activist

Victoria Loorz, Founder, Center for Wild Spirituality; Author, “Church of the Wild: How Nature Invites Us into the Sacred” 

Abrar Anwar, Chief Technology Officer, Rebel Force Tech Solutions; former youth climate activist

Kyle Gracey, Strategy Consultant, Future Matters; former youth climate activist

For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts

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In this interactive program, Harvard-trained physician Dr. Akil Palanisamy will present the T.I.G.E.R. Protocol. Based on the latest science and research, he says the T.I.G.E.R. Protocol addresses the five key drivers of autoimmune and all other chronic diseases, including toxins, the gut microbiome, and diet.

Dr. Palanisamy will teach you holistic strategies incorporating diet, lifestyle and supplement recommendations he says will help you optimize your immune system, reduce inflammation, and feel better than ever before. He will shed light on the epidemic of autoimmune disease, the fastest growing category of disease right now, and discuss how you can prevent and heal these conditions.

MLF ORGANIZER

Patty James

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As a technology, print at its birth was as disruptive as the digital migration of today. Now, as the internet ushers us past print culture, Jeff Jarvis offers an overview of important lessons from the era we leave behind.

Jarvis traces the epoch of print from its fateful beginnings to our digital present. He tracks Western industrialized print to its origins; explores its invention, spread, and evolution; as well as the bureaucracy and censorship that followed. Additionally print gave rise to the idea of the mass—mass media, mass market, mass culture, mass politics, and so on—that came to dominate the public sphere.

Hear more about this complex and compelling history of technology and power and the lasting impact it has today.

MLF ORGANIZER

George Hammond

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