Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

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, the trends affecting our political world.

SPEAKERS

Joe Garofoli

Senior Political Writer, San Francisco Chronicle; Host, “It’s All Political on Fifth and Mission” Podcast; Twitter: @joegarofoli

Marisa Lagos

Politics Correspondent, KQED News

John Zipperer

Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club of California—Host

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 24th, 2023 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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As the formal COVID-19 emergency comes to an end nationally and locally, a growing number of reports and investigative bodies are beginning to explore what went wrong and right with the country’s response to the COVID crisis. One of the most important is the COVID Crisis Group (CCG), a team of 34 experts and scholars that has tried to lay the groundwork for a National Commission on the Covid Pandemic. It is led by Phillip Zelikow, who was the executive director of the 9/11 Commission.

With no national commission in sight, in late April, the CCG will release its first major investigative report, "Lessons from the Covid War," a nonpartisan and plainspoken look at the key choices made during the pandemic, what worked, what didn’t and what we could do better next time. The comprehensive investigative report tells the story of how America’s scientific knowledge has far outpaced the country’s ability to apply it in a crisis. The report shows how Americans can come together, learn hard truths, build on what worked, and prepare for global emergencies to come.

Several high-profile local contributors to the report will speak on their new report and what else needs to be done to understand one of the greatest domestic crises the United States has faced in decades. These include Dr. Charity Dean, CEO, founder, and chairman of The Public Health Company; Dr. Robert Rodriguez, professor of clinical emergency medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital; Dr. David A. Relman, Thomas C. and Joan M. Merigan Professor in Medicine, and professor of microbiology & immunology, and senior fellow of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University; and our moderator, Dr. Emily Silverman, internal medicine physician and assistant volunteer professor of medicine, UCSF, and creator of The Nocturnists.

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Climate change is set to transform global agriculture, causing problems like flooding and new pests in some areas, while extending growing seasons in others. And the wine industry is no exception. Look no further than Napa and Sonoma, where vineyards are grappling with drought and wildfires. Meanwhile, bubbly makers in southern England are looking to benefit from the rising temperatures. 

Join us as Brian Freedman, author of the new book Crushed, looks at what global warming could mean for your favorite bottle of wine. He’ll be joined in conversation by winemakers from Larkmead, Iron Horse, and Kutch wineries, who will share firsthand experiences of how they are adapting to climate change. Join us for the conversation on the future of wine, and for a special wine tasting curated by our speakers.

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Hollywood has been slow to include climate in its stories. Executives fear it won’t sell – that it’s too overwhelming or depressing. Apple TV+ has just released the series Extrapolations, which revolves entirely around the climate crisis. But it’s an outlier. We ask writer, producer and director Scott Z. Burns – who also worked on the films Contagion and Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth – and Anna Jane Joyner of the climate story consultancy Good Energy about why climate doesn’t play a more prominent role in scripted entertainment. 

Guests:

Scott Z. Burns, Writer, Director, Producer

Anna Jane Joyner, Founder and CEO, Good Energy

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

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“Passing the Torch” will unite two current California leaders with two students who are positioned to be future leaders, for a thought-provoking conversation about identity, age and citizenship in an ever-changing California. This event will feature the vice chair of the California Democratic Party, Betty Yee, and interim executive director of Emerge California, Libby Schaaf, plus two incredible UC Berkeley student activists, Issabella Romo, a Latina organizer fighting back against attempts to silence minority communities in Florida, and Owen Knapper Jr., an African American activist working to make higher education more accessible to BIPOC and nontraditional students. The speakers will dive into how their backgrounds shaped them into the leaders they are today and their thoughts on the future of California, and the discussion will provide space for advice to flow both ways from this intergenerational panel.

This event is part of the Creating Citizens Speaker Series at UC Berkeley, a partnership between The Commonwealth Club, the Associated Students of the University of California Vote Coalition, and the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement. The series gives UC Berkeley students and community members opportunities to listen to and ask questions of leading minds in politics, media and education as they learn how to become better, more involved citizens.

NOTES

This program is part of The Commonwealth Club’s civics education initiative, Creating Citizens.

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Thousands of renewable energy projects are ready to be built and start producing fossil-free power, but they’re stuck in a long limbo for one essential piece of the puzzle: getting connected to the grid. A slow and inefficient federal permitting process and insufficient transmission capability are prohibiting renewable energy projects from going online. To make matters even more difficult, the U.S. lacks a centralized grid. That means adding layers of complexity to an already slow process. The Biden administration is focused on streamlining the permitting process, boosting funding and helping navigate this new energy future. What will it take to modernize our multiple grids?

Guests:

Pat Wood III, CEO, Hunt Energy Network

Jennifer Gardner, Vice Chair, Western Energy Imbalance Market

José Zayas, Executive Vice President of Policy and Programs, American Council on Renewable Energy

L. Michelle Moore, CEO, Groundswell

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

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A sample of Californians was asked to react to transformative policy reforms for the future. Hear what they had to say and what it could mean for you and our state. 

California 100, in partnership with Stanford University's Deliberative Democracy Lab (DDL), housed at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, and the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy, embarked on an effort to ask Californians directly to react to big, bold policy proposals that could dramatically transform the state’s trajectory in the years and decades ahead. 

Using previous Deliberative Polls® conducted by Stanford DDL as inspiration, “California Considers: Policy Deliberations for Our Long Term Success” was designed to center the experiences and perspectives of real Californians from every walk of life to test how significant changes in policy might improve the quality of life for all residents. Participants were given a pre-survey, participated in deliberations with one another, then asked for their final opinions about various policy ideas. These results will be released in tandem with this discussion.

Please join us for an important discussion on California's future.

NOTES

The program is supported by California 100.

SPEAKERS

Angela Glover Blackwell

Founder in Residence, PolicyLink

 Maria Echaveste

President and CEO, Opportunity Institute

Lenny Mendonca

Former Chief Economic and Business Advisor, the State of California; Member, Board of Governors, The Commonwealth Club of California

Karthick Ramakrishnan

Executive Director, California 100; Professor, Public Policy, University of California, Riverside—Moderator

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on April 14th, 2023 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Anxiety disorders are among the most common forms of mental illness in the world, and anxiety can have debilitating effects in our work and in our lives.

Podcast host and self-proclaimed "anxious achiever" Morra Aarons-Mele has made it her mission to normalize anxiety and leadership. She argues that anxiety is built into the very nature of leadership and should be harnessed into a force for good. 

Hear more on figuring out your own anxiety profile and how to turn stress and worries into a source of strength for yourself and those around you.

This program contains EXPLICIT language

SPEAKERS

Morra Aarons-Mele

Host, "The Anxious Achiever" Podcast; Author, The Anxious Achiever: Turn Your Biggest Fears into Your Leadership Superpower; Twitter @morraam

In Conversation with Jose Antonio Vargas

Founder, Define American; Twitter @joseiswriting

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on April 12th, 2023 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Known worldwide as a legendary financier, philanthropist, medical research innovator and public health advocate, Michael Milken will detail his inspiring crusade to accelerate cures and treatments so more people around the world can live longer, healthier and more meaningful lives.

Milken believes a multitude of health advancements are within reach, including slowing the aging process, cleaning early-stage cancers, eliminating many birth defects through gene editing, and multiple virus protection by a single vaccine.

Hear more as Milken shares what he believes the future of health will look like.

NOTES

This program is generously supported by the Jackson Square Partners Foundation.

SPEAKERS

Michael Milken

Co Founder, The Milken Family Foundation; Chairman, The Milken Institute; Author, Faster Cures: Accelerating the Future of Health

In Conversation with Lanhee Chen

David and Diane Steffy Fellow in American Public Policy Studies, Hoover Institution; Twitter @lanheechen

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on April 14th, 2023 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass discusses his new book The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens, in which he argues that the very idea of citizenship must be revised and expanded.

Haass introduces 10 obligations that are essential for healing our divisions and safeguarding the country’s future. Through an expert blend of civics, history and political analysis, this book illuminates how Americans can rediscover and recover the attitudes and behaviors that have contributed so much to this country’s success over the centuries.

A Discussion with Michael Krasny

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