Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

In the past decade, narratives of a dystopian climate future have helped connect people with heroes in worlds decimated by climate disruption and industrial expansion. In today’s real-world, scientists are looking to geoengineering and other human innovations to preserve the wellbeing of life on Earth. “What we’re missing is a way to galvanize people to support policies that are actually gonna change,” says Jeff Biggers, founder of The Climate Narrative Project.

So how can climate storytelling help us reckon with our changing environment? Do we need a new climate narrative to help us understand and solve the climate emergency?

Guests:

Jeff Biggers, Founder, The Climate Narrative Project

Elizabeth Kolbert, Staff Writer, The New Yorker

Kim Stanley Robinson, Science Fiction Author

Related Links:

Climate Narrative Project

Resistance: Reclaiming an American Tradition

The Ministry for the Future

Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a virtual conversation with Dan Morain to discuss his recent biography of our new vice president.

Kamala Harris grew up as the older daughter of her mother, a cancer researcher who had emigrated from India when she was 19, and of her father, an economist from Jamaica, who split up with her mother when Kamala was five. Kamala Harris is known as tough, smart, quick-witted, and demanding. She’s a former prosecutor, after all. But she’s also known as reticent when it comes to sharing much about herself, even in her memoirs. Morain fills in the gaps. He has been covering Harris right from the start of her political career—working for the Alameda County District Attorney’s office, where she handled homicides and child molestation cases. Morain also covers her publicly acknowledged relationship with Assembly Speaker Willie Brown when she was 29, which significantly expanded her political network. Morain will take you through Harris’s years as the San Francisco District Attorney, her early support for Barack Obama, her tenure as California's Attorney General, and her election to the U.S. Senate. Morain also analyzes both her failure as a presidential candidate and her success in campaigning for the vice presidential spot on the Biden ticket.

He paints a vivid picture of her values and priorities, the kind of people she brings into her orbit, the sorts of problems she’s good at solving, and the missteps, risks and bold moves she’s made on her way to the top.

MLF ORGANIZER

George Hammond

NOTES

MLF: Humanities

Part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.

SPEAKERS

Dan Morain

Former Reporter, The Los Angeles Times; Former Editor, The Sacramento Bee; Author, Kamala's Way: An American Life

In Conversation with Carla Marinucci

Senior Writer, Politico California Playbook

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, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Worldwide, a loss of faith in government institutions has encouraged citizens of democracy to look for pathways outside of politics to make tangible change. This mistrust of “the system” has spread throughout other social organizations as well; press, corporations, digital platforms are questioned for their ability to hold us together. Now, people are searching for productive outlets to have their voice heard and make positive change.

Ethan Zuckerman, founder of the Institute for Digital Public Infrastructure, is offering a solution. In his new book Mistrust, Zuckerman uses research from political scientists, legal theorists, and activists in the streets to understand why many people started to doubt social institutions and the implications it poses for an uncertain future. He analyzes the relationship he says the public should have with existing institutions and the various ways we can reach a collective goal of an advanced democracy.

Join us as Zuckerman encourages citizens of democracy to use this sentiment of disbelief to fuel their participation in civic life and create an equitable society.

SPEAKERS

Ethan Zuckerman

Founder, Institute for Digital Public Infrastructure, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Author, Mistrust: Why Losing Faith in Institutions Provides the Tools to Transform Them

In Conversation with Kara Swisher

Contributing Opinion Writer and Host of "Sway," The New York Times

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 11th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in early 2019, has had significantly negative consequences for individuals, families and communities around the world, with huge economic and political effects. Short-term strategies have involved sheltering in place and social distancing, rigorous and frequent hand washing, and the disciplined use of masks. We now have reached a stage in the pandemic when vaccines are bring rolled out in the United States and globally, initially for “at risk” populations.

There is much confusion arising from conflicting information about the new vaccines. There are questions related to what we know about the vaccines (and how we know it), and what we don’t know (and how and when we will know more). To address these questions, two leading virologists will be in conversation with the chair of the Health and Medicine Forum at The Commonwealth Club of California. Dr. Melanie Ott and Dr. Warner Greene from Gladstone Institutes talk with Dr. Robert Lee Kilpatrick, to help the public understand COVID-19 vaccine options better.

Meet the Speakers

Melanie Ott, M.D., Ph.D., has been the director of the Gladstone Institute of Virology since 2020, and a senior investigator at Gladstone Institutes. She is also a professor of medicine at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, she pivoted the focus of her team to work on SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Ott is a member of the Association of American Physicians, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. She is also an expert contributor to the COVID Collaborative, a bipartisan group of national experts and institutions that helps shape state and local efforts against the pandemic.

Warner Greene, M.D., Ph.D., is the director of the The Michael Hulton—Gladstone Center for HIV Cure Research, senior investigator, and Nick and Sue Hellmann Distinguished Professor of Translational Medicine at Gladstone Institutes. He is the founding and emeritus director of Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology. Greene is also professor of medicine, microbiology and of immunology at UCSF. He is also a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies and a fellow of the American Academy Arts and Sciences. He also serves as co-director of the UCSF-Gladstone Center for AIDS Research, and he has served as councilor and president of the Association of American Physicians.

Robert Lee Kilpatrick, Ph.D., is the chair of the Health and Medicine Member-Led Forum at The Commonwealth Club of California, general advisor to Berkeley SkyDeck incubator and accelerator, advisor to the Columbia University Master of Science Program in Bioethics, and CEO of Health Innovation for People, Inc. (HIP).

MLF ORGANIZER

Robert Lee Kilpatrick

NOTES

MLF: Health & Medicine

In association with Gladstone Institutes.

SPEAKERS

Warner Greene

M.D., Ph.D., Director, Gladstone Center for HIV Cure Research; Senior Investigator and Nick and Sue Hellmann Distinguished Professor of Translational Medicine at Gladstone Institutes; Professor of Medicine, Microbiology and of Immunology, UCSF

Melanie Ott

M.D., Ph.D., Director, Gladstone Institute of Virology; Senior Investigator, Gladstone Institutes; Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

Robert Lee Kilpatrick

Ph.D. Chair, Health and Medicine MLF; General Advisor, Berkeley SkyDeck incubator and Accelerator; Advisor, Columbia University Master of Science Program in Bioethics; CEO, Health Innovation for People, Inc. (HIP)

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 10th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steve Kettmann, editor of the new book Now What? The Voters Have Spoken—Essays on Life After Trump, asks in the book's forward, "How do we try to rebuild a society that helps people think for themselves a little more often? How do we encourage each other—and ourselves—to understand our neighbors a little better?"

The book features essays from a variety of voices including noted African American journalist Cynthia Tucker and Trump ally turned critic Anthony Scaramucci, who along with Mr. Kettman, join us for this discussion.

What's next for America and what are the possibilities for the country moving forward? Join us for a compelling conversation.

SPEAKERS

Steve Kettmann

Co Founder, Wellstone Center in the Redwoods; Former Reporter, San Francisco Chronicle and Wired; Editor, Now What? The Voters Have Spoken—Essays on Life After Trump

Anthony Scaramucci

Former Trump White House Communications Director; Founder, SkyBridge Capital; Contributor, Now What? The Voters Have Spoken—Essays on Life After Trump

Cynthia Tucker

Pulitzer Prize Winning Syndicated Columnist; Journalist-in-Residence, University of South Alabama; Contributor, Now What? The Voters Have Spoken—Essays on Life After Trump

In Conversation with Roy Eisenhardt

Lecturer, U.C. Berkeley Law School

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 10th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hoover Institution Senior Fellow and Stanford University Political Science Professor Larry Diamond is a renowned expert on democracy around the world. In late November of last year, he penned a New York Times essay that said, "The vulnerability of our democracy today doesn’t come in the form that many feared when Donald Trump was elected in 2016. The good news is that two of the three pillars of American democracy—liberty and the rule of law—endure, even if they have been battered. But the third pillar—free and fair elections—is under far more direct threat than my fellow democracy experts predicted."

Dr. Diamond went on to predict that President Trump "might pressure the Republican legislatures in battleground states, like Pennsylvania and Florida, to award him their state’s electors, even if the formal vote-counting machinery ultimately declares a Biden victory in the state. . . . [S]uch a scenario would be far more dire and polarizing than even the Bush v. Gore nightmare of 2000, with an incumbent president threatening fire and brimstone if the election were not handed to him, while signaling violent right-wing extremists to 'stand by' but perhaps no longer 'stand down.' "

Dr. Diamond says our democratic electoral system, unlike others in the world, "has no comparable standing authority to investigate national-level corruption, and Congress largely investigates and punishes itself." He says that newer democracies have also taken measures to depoliticize their equivalent of a supreme court, including term limits and a broader consensus on court nominees. But, says Dr. Diamond, none of this occurred to America's founders, and while "throughout most of our history, America’s democratic norms have been strong enough and the outcomes have been clear enough to avoid catastrophic conflict over a national election," that might not be true anymore.

Come for an important discussion on what changes may be needed in America's institutions in order to preserve our Democracy.

This program is part of The Commonwealth Club’s Future of Democracy Series, supported by Betsy and Roy Eisenhardt.

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 9th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The American Dream is the notion that every person is entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, regardless of their circumstances at birth. But the reality is that for many Americans, social and economic opportunity are unattainable due to societal structures that block access to resources.

The Great American Lie examines the roots of systemic inequality through a unique gender lens. With America facing widening economic disparities, political polarization, and stagnant social mobility, the film takes audiences on an empathy journey, inspiring a path forward. Presented in collaboration with The Representation Project, this program brings filmmaker, advocate and thought leader Jennifer Siebel Newsom into conversation with a panel of student filmmakers whose work shines a youth lens on social justice and gender equity issues.

SPEAKERS

Angelica Rubio

Student, 12th grade, Merced, CA

Samira Barragan

Student, 11th grade, Santa Fe Springs, CA

TreNisha Shearer

Student, 12th grade, Portland, OR

Jennifer Siebel Newsom

Filmmaker—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 3rd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Experts have warned us that COVID-19 is just one example of climate change-related diseases on the rise. And while climate disruption, environmental health and the current pandemic may seem like three distinct problems, to those in the health and environmental justice field, that’s not the case.

"All of them are connected," says Adrienne Hollis of the Union of Concerned Scientists. "And the underlying cause is systemic racism."

"If you want to address pandemics, and you want to address climate change, you’ve got to focus on equity," agrees Aaron Bernstein of the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. "And the solution, and the great news in some ways, is that these actions you need to take are one and the same."

How are heat, lack of sanitation, and other environmental issues killing Americans in underserved communities? A conversation on what happens when climate, health, and poverty converge.

Guests:

Catherine Coleman Flowers, Founder, Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice; Author, Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret  (The New Press, 2020)

Adrienne Hollis, Senior Climate Justice and Health Scientist, Union of Concerned Scientists

Aaron Bernstein, Interim Director, Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health 

Related Links:

Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret (Catherine Coleman Flowers)

Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice

Mapping Environmental Justice in the Biden-Harris Administration (Center for American Progress)

C-Change – Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Welcome to “Cancer Alley” (ProPublica)

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We enjoy comedy as entertainment—but would we appreciate a zinger during a company meeting? In their new book Humor, Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life, Dr. Jennifer Aaker, a professor at Stanford Business School, and Naomi Bagdonas, a lecturer in management at Stanford, argue that using humor in supposedly serious situations can cultivate creativity, forge stronger relationships and strengthen one’s confidence. Jennifer and Naomi provide a theoretical overview of the benefits of comedy, consulting business leaders, comedians and behavioral scientists to learn more about how being funny “is money.”

Join Jennifer and Naomi at INFORUM to learn more about the benefits of humor in and out of the workplace. This conversation is moderated by comedian and artist Dhaya Lakshminarayanan.

SPEAKERS

Jennifer Aaker

Professor, Stanford Graduate School of Business; Co-Author, Humor, Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life

Naomi Bagdonas

Lecturer, Stanford Graduate School of Business; Co-Author, Humor, Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life

Dhaya Lakshminarayanan

Comedian—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 2nd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Walter Mosley, the author of more than 60 critically acclaimed books, is one of the most admired writers in America. The Commonwealth Club is pleased to welcome Mosley for the first time for a discussion on this new book, Blood Grove, and his long career in writing and the arts. just as America continues its reckoning on race relations.

Last year marked the 30th anniversary of Mosley's legendary Easy Rawlins series, as well as Mosley’s three decade-long exploration of racial inequality, political corruption and the pursuit of justice. In early February, Mosley's infamous detective, Rawlins, is back in Blood Grove, the 15th entry in the mystery series. Readers around the world have followed Easy Rawlins, an unlicensed private investigator turned detective always willing to do what it takes to get things done, in books translated into more than 25 different languages. Mosley's1990 debut novel, Devil in a Blue Dress, was the first in the bestselling mystery series featuring Rawlins and launched Mosley into literary prominence.

Mosley, who was just awarded the National Book Foundation's prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, and the first Black man to win the honor in its 32-year history, has been astutely and profoundly engaging with the politics of race, the realities of being Black in America, and elegantly pushing the boundaries of genre fiction throughout his storied career. Mosley’s books have won numerous awards, including, but not limited to, an Edgar Award for Down the River Unto the Sea, an O. Henry Award, The Mystery Writers of America’s Grand Master Award, a Grammy, several NAACP Image awards, and PEN America’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2020, he was named the recipient of the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement from the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.

This program contains EXPLICIT language

SPEAKERS

Walter Mosley

Author, Blood Grove

Brian Watt

News Anchor, KQED—Moderator

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices