Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Experience an amazing, uplifting and exhilarating program presented by AfroSolo Theatre Company, a sanctuary for Black arts, culture, intellect and entertainment founded by Thomas Robert Simpson.

Our event emcee will be Dr. Brenda Wade, psychologist, television expert, speaker and author.

The performance line-up includes an exciting mix of talented performing artists. African drumming by three master drummers, one being a two-time Grammy winner; a mini concert featuring harpist Destiny Muhammad and soprano Jeannine Anderson performing Black spirituals and classical music, a poetry reading by Devorah Major, San Francisco's first Black poet laureate, and a performance by Brian Freeman about the life of William Leidesdorff, one of San Francisco's leading entrepreneurs.

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Bozoma Saint John is no stranger to adversity, and when her husband Peter died of cancer, she made one big decision: to live life urgently.

In her book The Urgent Life, she shares the highs and lows from her personal life and what she learned from these tragedies to build a life worth living even in times of darkness and brokenness.

She offers a hopeful message about coping with loss and grief and how to live life to the fullest.

Bozoma Saint John is an American businesswoman who started her career at Spike Lee’s advertising agency and has gone on to work at Pepsi, Apple Music, Uber, Endeavor, and most recently was the global chief marketing officer at Netflix.

NOTES

This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.

SPEAKERS

Bozoma Saint John

Author, The Urgent Life: My Story of Love, Loss, and Survival; Twitter @badassboz

In conversation with Gary Vaynerchuk

Entrepreneur; Chairman, VaynerX; CEO, VaynerMedia; Creator and CEO, VeeFriends; Twitter @garyvee

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 February 23rd, 2023 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Not long ago, it was said that “hydrogen is the fuel of the future - and always will be.” Now, with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law tagging $9.5 billion for developing a domestic hydrogen economy, this simplest of all elements is increasingly being discussed as a viable pathway for long-distance trucking, shipping, and hard-to-decarbonize industries like cement and steel. But how clean is clean hydrogen, really? And what will it take to make green hydrogen a cost-competitive option in applications like manufacturing, transportation, and grid-scale energy storage?

Guests:

Julio Friedmann, Chief Scientist, Carbon Direct

Sunita Satyapal, Director, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, DOE 

Alan Krupnick, Senior Fellow, Resources for the Future 

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

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A renowned scientist and environmental advocate looks back on a life that has straddled the worlds of science and politics.

Acclaimed as a public scientist and as a spokesperson on pressing environmental and equity issues, Paul R. Ehrlich reflects on his life, from his love affair with his wife Anne, to his scientific research, public advocacy, and concern for global issues. Interweaving the range of his experiences—as an airplane pilot, a desegregationist, a proud parent—Ehrlich’s offers valuable insights on pressing issues such as biodiversity loss, overpopulation, depletion of resources, and deterioration of the environment. A lifelong advocate for women’s reproductive rights, Ehrlich also helped to debunk scientific bias associating skin color and intelligence and warned some 50 years ago about a possible pandemic and the likely ecological consequences of a nuclear war.

His new book Life: A Journey Through Science and Politics, focuses on the human predicament, including problems of governance and democracy in the 21st century, and insight into the ecological and evolutionary science of our day. It is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding global change, our planet’s wonders, and a scientific approach to the present existential threats to civilization.

Paul Ehrlich is the Bing Professor of Population Studies, Emeritus, and president of the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford University. He has carried out field, laboratory and theoretical research on the dynamics and genetics of insect populations, the evolutionary interactions of plants and herbivores, the behavioral ecology of birds and reef fishes, the effects of crowding on human beings, human cultural evolution, and health problems related to industrialization. He is author and co-author of more than 1,100 scientific papers and articles and more than 40 books. Ehrlich is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society and a Foreign Member of the Royal Society. Among his many other honors is the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Crafoord Prize. He has appeared on more than 1,000 TV and radio programs and was a correspondent for NBC News.

This Program Contains Explicit Language.

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Numbers and mathematics were in use long before Pythagoras was born in the mid-sixth century BC, but few if any suspected that beyond practical use these were keys to unlock doorways to vast hidden knowledge. The discovery made by Pythagoras or his earliest followers—that there is pattern and order hidden behind the apparent variety and confusion of nature and that it is possible to understand it through numbers—was one of the most profound and significant discoveries in the history of human thought.   

Humanities West highlights this fundamental shift by focusing on that initial jolt of intellectual energy, even though most of the details have been lost or distorted, and on three exemplars of the Pythagorean emphasis on math and on logic: Philolaus, Archytas and Plato.    

The Pythagorean intellectual revolution spread by these early pioneers progressed until the advances in math and in detailed observation reached a critical mass, causing one scientific revolution after another—accomplished by scientists such as Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Bacon, Descartes, Newton, Einstein and Heisenberg, who were all influenced by Pythagorean ideas (including the idea of not trusting traditional explanations―even Pythagorean ones).

We know very little about the man Pythagoras and the philosophy he lived by and taught, but the revolutionary influence on human thinking of one great insight, carried forward by such geniuses as Philolaus, Archytas and Plato, has shaped our world ever since. Humanity has only rarely crossed such a threshold.

Kitty Ferguson will speak on "What Do We Really Know about Pythagoras?"; Edward Frenkel will speak on "From Pythagoras to Plato: Philolaus and Archytas"; Joshua Landy will speak on "Plato’s Use of Irony: How does Plato Really Teach us?"

NOTES

A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums.

In association with Humanities West.

SPEAKERS

Kitty Ferguson

Author, The Music of Pythagoras: How an Ancient Brotherhood Cracked the Code of the Universe and Lit the Path from Antiquity to Outer Space, and Pythagoras: His Lives and the Legacy of a Rational Universe

Edward Frenkel

Professor of Mathematics, University of California, Berkeley; Author, Love and Math

Joshua Landy

Andrew B. Hammond Professor of French, Professor of Comparative Literature, co-director of the Literature and Philosophy Initiative, Stanford University; Co-Host, "Philosophy Talk"

George Hammond

Author, Conversations With Socrates—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 February 24th, 2023 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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For 12 years, the Golden State Killer terrorized California, and then mysteriously seemed to disappear. Forty-three years after his crime spree began, Barbara Rae-Venter received an unexpected call from a cold-case investigator taking one last shot at the case before he retired. Intrigued by the challenge, it took Rae-Venter just 63 days to crack the case and identify the serial rapist and murderer.

In her new book I Know Who You Are, Rae-Venter reveals how she went from a retiree researching her family history to hunting for this notorious serial killer. Through her relentless curiosity, she became one of the nation’s leading authorities on investigative genetic genealogy, the most dazzling new crime-fighting weapon to appear in decades.

Hear how she approaches trying to solve cold cases and explains how her methods have changed the course of criminal investigations forever.

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What, exactly, is a philosophy of life? Who needs it, and why? Noted philosopher Massimo Pigliucci will discuss these questions with us by focusing on one of the most influential philosophies of antiquity, stoicism. That philosophy, which underlies much of modern personal growth teaching, is experiencing a comeback in the 21st century for the simple reasons that it resonates with fundamentals of the human condition, and that it works in practice. As Dr. Pigliucci says, "Stoicism isn’t about feats of indifference, but about enduring pain without being overwhelmed, while enjoying pleasures without losing our heads."

We will see how stoicism can offer a compass to navigate life, to set priorities for what is important, and to become better citizens of the world.

Bring your questions to the streaming chat for what will be an enlightening discussion!

MLF ORGANIZER

John Fiegel

SPEAKERS

Prof. Massimo Pigliucci

Ph.D., K.D. Irani Professor of Philosophy, City College of New York; Author; Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science; Fellow, Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

John Fiegel

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 February 16th, 2023 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Shannon K. O’Neil, the Nelson and David Rockefeller senior fellow for Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, joins us to discuss the issues raised in her new book The Globalization Myth: Why Regions Matter. 

Dr. O’Neil will talk about how regionalization, not globalization, has been the biggest economic trend of the last 40 years, and why the United States should embrace deepening regional ties to succeed in an increasingly connected and competitive world.

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Join us for a lively and inspiring evening with longtime friends and fellow activists Danny Glover and Gus Newport. The Rev. Dr. Dorsey Blake will moderate. The three men will share stories from organizing communities for more than 50 years and why they are dedicated to the development of what Martin Luther King, Jr., called The Beloved Community. The three men are dedicated to community development and human rights, topics that have never been more relevant as safety, public health, asset development, and education continue to be priorities in our communities.

This will be a special evening of storytelling for people of all ages. You don't want to miss it!

Glover and Newport were both raised by working class parents who were active in labor unions and in their communities. Because of their parents' and grandparents' strong influences, they became involved in civil rights and community support as well as anti-apartheid and other international peace and human rights organizations.

About the Speakers

Danny Glover is an award-winning actor, starring in many well-known films such as The Color Purple and the first Lethal Weapon. He has also gained respect for his wide-reaching community activism and philanthropic efforts, with a particular emphasis on advocacy for economic justice, and access to health care and education programs in the United States and Africa. Internationally, Glover has served as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Development Program from 1998–2004, focusing on issues of poverty, disease, and economic development in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean, and serves as a UNICEF ambassador. With a degree in economics, his first job out of college was with the Berkeley planning department. His next job was with Model Cities for San Francisco. He has traveled worldwide seeking peace and understanding.

Eugene “Gus” Newport is a social justice activist, grassroots leader, community and economic development consultant, and has worked for several foundations and served on the faculties of MIT, Yale, UC Santa Cruz, U Mass Boston, and Portland State. He was the two-term mayor of Berkeley, CA (1979–1986). During his tenure he served on the advisory board of the U.S. Conference on Apartheid and the Committee on The Question of Palestine. He served as the American representative as vice president on the World Peace Council.

Dorsey Odell Blake has served as presiding minister of The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples (San Francisco) since 1994. Fellowship Church was founded in 1944 as the nation’s first intentionally interracial, interfaith congregation by Dr. Howard Thurman and Dr. Alfred Fisk. Dr. Blake has extensive field ministry experience with interfaith groups addressing justice and peace issues. Recently, Dr. Blake was the keynote speaker at the Nineteenth Annual Daoist Gathering and served as chaplain for the Institute for Religion and Science.

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The lack of affordable housing in the U.S. has contributed to a homelessness crisis and has forced people to move farther away from urban centers. Inevitably, that increases car travel and emissions. One solution is to increase density in areas where jobs and infrastructure exist to accommodate more people. But some aren’t comfortable with the idea of their neighborhoods growing, and building multi-story apartments in urban cores usually costs more per square foot than one or two-story houses where land is cheaper. So how do we address both the need for affordable housing and the climate crisis? 

Guests: 

Scott Wiener, California State Senator

Jennifer Hernandez, Partner, Holland & Knight

Ben Bartlett, Berkeley Vice Mayor

For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org.

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