It's the beginning of the season of caucuses and primaries, as we get ready to pick our next president. And that's just one of the many things we'll be tracking all year, starting with this kickoff program.
As usual with Week to Week, our panelists will discuss the latest political developments in an informed, civil (and fun) manner. And come early before the program for our social hour for some wine and light bites and an opportunity to talk with other Club members and friends.
Join us for a whole new year of lively political discussion at Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California.
See other upcoming Week to Week political roundtables, as well as audio and video of past Week to Week programs.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Week to Week Political Roundtable: The Race Is On

The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's largest public affairs forum. The nonpartisan and nonprofit Club produces and distributes programs featuring diverse viewpoints from thought leaders on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast — the oldest in the U.S., since 1924 — is carried on hundreds of stations. Our website features audio and video of our programs. This podcast feed is usually updated multiple times each week.

News

Politics

Government

“The will of the people,” Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1801, “is the only legitimate foundation of any government.” But that foundation is crumbling.
Join us as journalist Ari Berman describes what he calls a decades-long effort by reactionary white conservatives to undermine democracy and entrench their power―and the movement to stop them.
The mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, represented an extreme form of the central danger facing American democracy today: a blatant disregard for the will of the majority. But this crisis didn’t begin or end with Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Through voter suppression, election subversion, gerrymandering, dark money, the takeover of the courts, and the whitewashing of history, Berman says reactionary white conservatives have strategically entrenched power in the face of a massive demographic and political shift. He has followed these efforts, chronicling how a wide range of antidemocratic tactics interact with profound structural inequalities in institutions like the Electoral College, the Senate, and the Supreme Court to threaten the survival of representative government in America.
Some counter-majoritarian measures were deliberately built into the Constitution, but Berman says they have metastasized to a degree that the Founding Fathers could never have anticipated, undermining the very notion of “a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Don’t miss his talk on the long history of the conflict between white supremacy and multiracial democracy that has reached a fever pitch today―while also telling the inspiring story of resistance to these regressive efforts.


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

Ari Berman: Minority Rule and Resisting the Right-Wing Attack on Democracy

Plastics are everywhere. And while we’ve known for a long time that plastics and our environment aren’t a good mix, it's becoming apparent that they’re massive climate polluters too. The production of plastics alone produces about 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. After what is often a single use, the resulting waste continues releasing the greenhouse gasses ethylene and methane as it breaks apart. 
Yet, as petrochemical companies pay lip service ending fuel production, they are pouring resources into plastics production. How do we wrap up our reliance on plastics?
Guests: 
Diane Wilson, Founder and Director, San Antonio Bay Waterkeeper
Jane Patton, U.S. Fossil Economy Campaign Manager, Center for International Environmental Law 
Susannah Scott, Professor of Chemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara 
Alexis Jackson, Ocean Policy and Plastics Lead, California Chapter, The Nature Conservancy 
It's time for our annual spring appeal! At Climate One, we believe in the power of open conversations to drive positive change. Through our thought-provoking discussions and interviews, we strive not only to raise awareness of climate issues and solutions, but to also empower individuals — like each of our valued listeners — to take tangible steps toward a more sustainable future. 
You can show your support for Climate One by contributing to our spring fundraising campaign.
For show notes and related links, visit our website.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CLIMATE ONE: Big Plastic: The New Big Oil

As usual with Week to Week, our panelists will discuss the latest political developments in an informed, civil (and fun) manner. 
See other upcoming Week to Week political roundtables, as well as audio and video of past Week to Week programs.

This program contains EXPLICIT content.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Week to Week Political Roundtable: February 22, 2024

The Philippines has traditionally been seen as a gateway to Southeast Asia and a strong ally of the United States in the Pacific. The country’s natural beauty and endowment have attracted many to its shores but have brought opportunities and challenges to the nation as well.
Learn about its continued march toward economic development and as an archipelagic nation in a sea of warring interests, as we engage Philippine Consul General in San Francisco Neil Ferrer in a discussion.
MLF ORGANIZER: Kalidip Choudhury
 
An Asia-Pacific Affairs Member-led Forum program. Forums and chapters 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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Philippines–U.S. Relations: Evolving Opportunities and Challenges

After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on most measures. Why?
In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt says the “play-based childhood” began to decline in the 1980s, and it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the “phone-based childhood” in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this “great rewiring of childhood” has interfered with children’s social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. He explains why social media damages girls more than boys and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies.
Most important, Haidt offers a clear call to action. Join us as he describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Week to Week Political Roundtable: The Race Is On

Download our free app to listen on your phone