Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

In 2012, Regina Martínez, a prominent journalist reporting on political corruption and abuse in Mexico, was found brutally murdered in her bathroom. This tragic act of violence sent a clear message: No journalist in Mexico was safe. Troubled by this news, Katherine Corcoran, then leading the Associated Press coverage of Mexico, traveled to Veracruz to uncover the truth about Martínez’s death.

Now Corcoran reveals what she learned during her investigation and recounts her own experiences battling cover-ups, narco-officials, red tape and even threats.

Hear more about this harrowing story as well as the ongoing dangers that journalists encounter everyday around the world.

NOTES

This program is part of The Commonwealth Club's Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.

SPEAKERS

Katherine Corcoran

Former Associated Press Bureau Chief for Mexico and Central America; Author, In the Mouth of the Wolf: A Murder, a Cover-Up, and the True Cost of Silencing the Press 

Janine Zacharia

Carlos Kelly McClatchy Lecturer, Department of Communication, Stanford University

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 November 14th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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Over a 20-year period, methane is 80 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Yet those responsible for releasing methane into the atmosphere often don’t even know how much they themselves are emitting. And methane is only one of many harmful air pollutants that result from our dependence on burning fossil fuels. 

Now, research coalitions, citizen scientists and activists are using a slate of new tools to detect and report emissions. They’re also using many of the same tools to shine a light on exactly how and where other deadly fossil fuel pollutants, like nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter, are affecting community health. Such data could become a critical tool for regulation, leading to greater emissions reductions.  

Guests:

Davida Herzl, Co-founder and CEO, Aclima

Kendra Pinto, Four Corners Indigenous Community Field Advocate, Earthworks 

Gavin McCormick, Co-founder, Climate TRACE

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

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Sara Holtz, a former Fortune 500 vice president, is the author of Advice to My Younger Me: Career Lessons from 100 Successful Women and the host of the highly rated podcast "Advice to My Younger Me." She has interviewed hundreds of successful women about what they wish they had known earlier in their careers, has coached thousands, and has received the American Bar Association’s prestigious Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award in recognition of the impact that her work has had on helping women succeed.

We'll start the program with an overview of the main lessons Holtz has learned from her interviews about the critical steps to career success. Too many women (and men) expect that all they need to do is work hard on assigned tasks and they will be rewarded for their good work with raises and promotions. But that's a bit unrealistic; Holtz says that succeeding at your career requires taking responsibility for how it unfolds, understanding the unwritten rules in your workplace, nurturing and leveraging your career relationships, and taking smart risks.

After a brief presentation by Holtz, the in-person participants will break into small groups to discuss some common career challenges before regrouping for further discussion. There will also be a post-event reception with wine and cheese for more discussion and networking, along with a book signing.

Although this program will be available on live stream, come to the Club for the full experience that includes small groups, meet Sara and your peers, and maybe even have dinner afterward at a nearby restaurant!

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Does mass incarceration make our communities safer? How can we better protect victim rights? What happens inside of prisons? Those are important questions that Lenore Anderson and Bill Keller address in their new books In Their Names and What's Prison For?

Anderson argues that the powerful myth that mass incarceration benefits victims obscures recognition of what most victims actually need to address their trauma. Based on her national reform advocacy work and time as the former chief of policy at the San Francisco District Attorney’s office and former director of public safety for the Oakland mayor, she offers her solutions on how we can close the gap between our public safety systems and crime survivors.

Keller looks at our broken criminal justice system and shares what happens inside prisons and jails, where nearly 2 million Americans are held. He takes us inside to meet men and woman who are making efforts to return back to society and talks about his own experience helping educate inmates at Sing Sing as well as other programs around the country.

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From the beginning of the nation to today, Black women have transformed their pain into progress and have been at the frontlines of many of the nation’s political, social and economic struggles.

In her new book Black Women Will Save the World, April Ryan celebrates the tenacity, power and impact that Black women have had across America. She highlights trailblazing “sheroes” ranging from political leaders like Vice President Kamala Harris and Rep. Maxine Waters, activists like Brittany Packnett Cunningham, and artists like Regina King who fight for fairness and justice.

Ryan also chronicles her own journey from working-class Baltimore to the elite echelons of journalism and speaks candidly about the hurdles she faced in becoming one of the most well-connected members of the Washington press corps.

Ryan notes we are at a moment unlike any other in our nation’s history where we need to acknowledge the presence and unrivaled contributions of Black women. Hear more about how they continue to lead and drive change in our country.

NOTES

This program is part of The Commonwealth Club's Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.

SPEAKERS

April Ryan

White House Correspondent, The Grio; Political Analyst, CNN; Author, Black Women Will Save the World: An Anthem; Twitter @AprilDRyan

In Conversation with Sheryl Davis

Executive Director, San Francisco Human Rights Commission

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 November 14th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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After 25 years of service, U.S. Marine Mac McKinney returned home to Indiana filled with an all-consuming rage and hatred toward the people he had been fighting against overseas.

Still fueled by his desire to fight for his country, McKinney makes a violent plan to bomb the local mosque. But when he comes face to face with the community of Afghan refugees and others of Muslim faith, his plan and life take an unexpected turn.

This documentary film explores the dynamics of patriotism, humanity and redemption. Following the film screening will be a panel discussion with Director Joshua Seftel, Bibi Bahrami and Mac McKinney.  

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Overwhelmed by racial injustice? Outraged by the news? Shocked by ugly events in American history?

If you find yourself asking “what can I do?”—W. Kamau Bell and Kate Schatz have an answer: Do the Work!

Bell and Schatz confront urgent issues on race and identity in America with sharp humor and interactive activities. They challenge us to have hard conversations, think critically, and act effectively about white privilege and Black disenfranchisement.

Hear more as Bell and Schatz offer a unique, hands-on understanding of systemic racism and, more important, how people can dismantle it.

*This podcast contains explicit language

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When federal employees start working for the U.S. Government, each person takes an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic.” During the Trump administration, some employees surprisingly found themselves fighting their own commander-in-chief, creating a resistance movement within the government that created tensions throughout the executive branch and various federal agencies.

Political affairs analyst David Rothkopf chronicles the unprecedented role many in the government felt they were forced to play during this tumultuous time and the consequences they faced for their actions.

Rothkopf focuses on the experiences of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and his brother Yevgeny, Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, Fiona Hill, and others who felt they needed to speak out publicly to protect our country. These once-obscure federal bureaucrats rose to national prominence by choosing to fight for what they believed, and Rothkopf believes their stories of resistance need to be told to truly understand what was really at stake for our country.

SPEAKERS

David Rothkopf

Podcast Host; Visiting Professor, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University; Author, American Resistance: The Inside Story of How the Deep State Saved the Nation; Twitter @djrothkopf

Michael Krasny

Host, "Grey Matter with Michael Krasny"; Former Host, "KQED Forum"—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 November 10th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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How did an Ivy League activist become a global fugitive?

Journalist Bradley Hope chronicles the heart-pounding tale of Adrian Hong, a self-taught operative who tried to bring down the North Korean regime.

In addition to helping asylum-seeking North Koreans escape across the border, Hong and his secret organization Cheollima Civil Defense (later named Free Joseon), began tracking the North Korean government’s activities and its volatile third-generation ruler, Kim Jong-un.

Hear more about the high-stakes events that led Hong to become one of the world’s most unlikely fugitives.

SPEAKERS

Bradley Hope

Co-founder, Project Brazen; Author, The Rebel and the Kingdom: The True Story of the Secret Mission to Overthrow the North Korean Regime

Quentin Hardy

Head of Editorial, Google Cloud—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 November 8th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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We are living through a transformative time in mental health research. There is overwhelming demand for new and safe ways of addressing various states of depression. Dr. Nolan Williams and Stanford University are leaders in cutting-edge research that is generating worldwide attention.

Attend this fascinating program to learn what is currently being done in research settings as well as the breakthrough technology that is in the process of being developed so it can be in every medical setting and available to people who need treatment and support.

At Stanford, Dr. William’s Brain Stimulation Lab developed a now-FDA-cleared, personalized, accelerated neuromodulation treatment known as Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy (SAINT). The innovative SAINT approach is having a very positive impact on the treatment of severe depression. In a double-blind, randomized controlled trial, high doses of magnetic brain stimulation, given on an accelerated timeline and individually targeted, brought rapid remission to 79 percent of trial participants with severe depression compared to people in the sham treatment arm, where 13 percent of the people entered remission.

The SAINT approach provides a novel form of rapid-acting, non-invasive, individually targeted neuromodulation that uses electromagnetic pulses to relieve symptoms of treatment-resistant depression. For the first time, advanced tools for processing MRI-based images of the brain are used to steer a specialized, high-dose pattern of magnetic pulses to induce neurons to fire. The stimulation modifies activity in brain networks related to depression, changing the brain’s circuitry to more effectively treat major depression.

SAINT has additionally been studied in open-label studies. Overall, the therapy has been shown to be effective in the treatment of major depressive disorder, with approximately 80–90 percent of patients achieving remission of depression symptoms following the five-day treatment protocol.

Dr. Williams has been interviewed extensively by the media and has appeared on programs such as "CBS News Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley," "The Today show" on NBC, and on NPR, discussing the benefits of SAINT for relieving symptoms of treatment-resistant depression.  

SPEAKERS

Dr. Nolan Williams

Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; Director of the Stanford Brain Stimulation Lab, Stanford University

Adrea Brier

CNHP, CLC, Integrative Cancer Consultant and Advocate—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 November 8th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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