Commonwealth Club Of California Podcast

Just two weeks after the Capitol attack that resulted in five deaths, delayed the official counting of the Electoral College votes, and led to the second impeachment of a president of the United States for the first time in American history, a new president has been inaugurated in a Washington, D.C. that was on near lockdown due to the threat of domestic terrorism. Education leaders, civic advocates and public officials recognize that one of the most important ways the country can respond to this challenging moment is through an embrace of civics education, along with a significant boost in efforts that enable all U.S. citizens to understand the civic structures of the country, as well as the roles and responsibilities of its citizens and its elected officials. Just days after the Capitol attack, the Washington, D.C.-based The Hill published a powerful editorial about the urgent need for a renewed push for civics education. In it, Lauren Leader and Mark K. Updegrove noted, . . . Like the surprise attack on Pe

As a driver of global health, prosperity and planetary sustainability, science pervades all realms of human activity. The COVID pandemic of the past year and the prospect of its eventual resolution have put science (and scientists) at the forefront of an international cultural conversation. Yet communicating facts and credible research is a tricky task in a world awash in social media, anti-scientific agendas, political forces and biases of every kind. MLF ORGANIZER Robert Lee Kilpatrick NOTES MLF: Health & Medicine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told filmmaker Jennifer Callahan, "If I left the house without a bag, I’d go right back inside to get it." In "Making the Case," the late justice shares her thoughts—not on the law, but on daily objects from her own life, on some of her handbags. The film enables the viewer to get to know the great RBG in a most relatable way. Join us for an unexpected look into the thinking of a legal legend. Please note: This is not a screening of the short film "Making the Case." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the January 6 attack on Capitol Hill, Representative Eric Swalwell has been outspoken about the action he believes Congress should take to curb further assaults on our democracy, emphasizing the need for the president’s resignation or impeachment. The representative from California’s 15th district does not shy away from voicing his opinion on the important issues, and in this time of great uncertainty, Rep. Swalwell maintains his support for direct action against those who perpetrated the attack on himself and fellow members of Congress. As the House of Representative introduces articles of impeachment against President Trump, join Rep. Swalwell at INFORUM to hear about what it was like inside Capitol Hill on January 6, his hopes for the Biden administration, and what he expects for a post-Trump political landscape. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist Annie Jacobsen is well known for her best sellers The Pentagon's Brain, Area 51 and Operation Paperclip. In her latest book, First Platoon, she investigates "warfare, good and evil in the age of biometrics, the technology that would allow the government to identify anyone, anywhere, at any time." Come for a discussion about the Pentagon's abilities to utilize iris scans, fingerprint scans, voice patterning, detection by odor, gait, and more to track human patterns, as well as the ethical questions raised by what Ms. Jacobsen calls "a burgeoning surveillance state." This is a story that starts off close and goes very big. The initial part of the story might sound familiar at first: It is about a platoon of mostly 19-year-old boys sent to Afghanistan, and an experience that ends abruptly in catastrophe. Their part of the story folds into the next: Inexorably linked to those soldiers and never comprehensively reported before is the U.S. Department of Defense’s quest to build the world’s most powerful

How do we find our way to a society focused on the common good instead of greed and selfishness? Does our “socially responsible” corporation structure allow us to have other values besides profit? Our panel—Joel Bakan, Jennifer Abbot, Elizabeth Davis and Kevin McGarry—will guide us to examine these issues. Joel Bakan’s book “the New Corporation” and Jennifer Abbot and Joel’s film by the same name, calls out what they call the corporate takeover of society. From gatherings of corporate elites in Davos, to climate change and spiraling inequality, the rise of authoritarian leaders to COVID and racial injustice, our panel of media activists and academics looks at corporations’ devastating power and the systemic changes required. Countering this is a groundswell of resistance worldwide as people take to the streets in pursuit of justice and the planet’s future. The members of our panel examine how a “just recovery” means addressing the three crises: climate, COVID and capitalism. The panel will look beyond the old

Hopes and expectations are high for President Biden’s first weeks in office. His recovery plans promise to take on COVID-19, a battered economy, and a rapid clean energy transition in a way that doesn’t leave communities behind. But Navajo Nation, which until recently was home to the largest coal-fired power plant in the U.S., has been left out of economic and energy plans for a long time. “The community that has been the provider is the one that has the most homes that don't have access to electricity,” notes Wahleah Johns, Co-Founder and Director of Native Renewables. Can the incoming administration improve energy access for all Americans while phasing out fossil fuels? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Discover the political history behind the Apollo program. Ever since July 1969, Neil Armstrong's first step on the Moon has represented the pinnacle of American space exploration and a grand scientific achievement. Yet Teasel Muir-Harmony argues its primary purpose wasn't advancing science. Rather, it was part of a political strategy to build a global coalition of "freedom" against "tyranny." Starting with JFK's 1961 decision to send astronauts to the Moon, Project Apollo was central to American foreign policy. From that perspective, the critical event did not just take place on the lunar surface; it took place in homes, public squares, palaces, and schools around the world, as Apollo captured global attention like never before. In the Moon landing's afterglow, the Apollo astronauts and President Richard Nixon traveled the world to amplify the sense of participation and global unity shared by the billions who had followed the flight. Drawing on a rich array of untapped archives and firsthand interviews with A

As the president of the Democratic political action committee EMILY’s List since 2010, Stephanie Schriock has led the charge to elect female Democratic candidates across America. In the 2018 midterm elections, under Schriock’s leadership, EMILY’s List ran female candidates who flipped enough seats to win a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives. In her new book with Christina Reynolds, Run to Win: Lessons in Leadership for Women Changing the World, Schriock provides guidance for women looking to break into male-dominated spaces, whether that be in politics or otherwise. Join Schriock at INFORUM to learn more about how women can become changemakers in their communities, whether it's at the local, state or federal level. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn about the making of a timely new documentary that reveals a side of the coronavirus pandemic often unseen by most people. Pandemic19 is a short documentary film that captures the story of three doctors in the United States fighting COVID-19 from pre-to-post surge, told through their own reflective, humanizing voices, while the chaos of the pandemic spreads outside the frame of their video confessions. Pandemic19 sidesteps the salacious news headlines by focusing on the personal video journals of three doctors as they prepare for the “calm before the storm” and share their direct experiences with COVID-19 patients. As the days unfold, the doctors check-in and record their changing impressions: fears, hopes, challenges, and triumphs—laying bare their unfiltered and subjective feelings. Join us for a conversation with Dr. Virginia Brady and Pandemic19 directors Yung Chang and Annie Katsure Rollins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Incoming President Biden faces an unimaginable set of challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, a gutted economy and a nation reeling from the recent capital attack. With all of that and more on his plate, what of Biden’s plans to fight climate change? “This President-elect has shown that he is absolutely committed to addressing the issue of climate,” says former EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman. “Because it affects everything.” Advancing a bipartisan climate agenda will be a hard sell. But in his nearly four decades in the Senate, Biden has made friends and earned respect from his Republican peers. “That isn’t gonna fix everything, of course not,” admits former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. But if you start with that...there are enough Republicans in the Senate who will respond to that.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rep. Jackie Speier has survived violence twice. Once in 1978, when she was a young aide to Rep. Leo Ryan and was shot and left for dead on the tarmac of an airport in Guyana after her boss was murdered trying to help members of the People’s Temple cult escape. And again last week, when she was in the House chamber in the U.S. Capitol when it was attacked. Join Rep. Speier and retired Santa Clara County Judge LaDoris Cordell for a timely and frank behind-the-scenes look at the attack on the U.S. Capitol and its implications. What is the state of the country and of American democracy following the events of the past week? What will America look like after January 20? Can the divisions in the country be healed? Congresswoman Speier has served in Congress since 2008. California’s 14th Congressional District stretches from San Francisco through San Mateo County to East Palo Alto. Representative Speier serves on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House C

Questioning science, funding vocal climate denial groups, and encouraging the focus on personal carbon footprints are corporate America’s preferred tools for shifting the responsibility for action on climate from industry to the individual. “Companies that are very much pro-climate action, that are acting in their own operations, are mostly silent on public policy,” says Bill Weihl, former Sustainability Director at Facebook. But with more workers holding their employers accountable and the start of a departure from shareholder-first capitalism, is the role of the corporation shifting? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a virtual conversation about the art of conversation with Fred Dust. Conversations are one of our most fundamental means of communicating with each other. At their best, they are unconstrained, authentic and open—two or more people sharing thoughts and ideas in ways that bridge our individual experiences to achieve a common goal. At their worst, they foster misunderstanding and frustration, and obscure our real intentions. How often do you walk away from a conversation feeling really heard? That it moved the people in it forward in some important way? If not very often, you’re not alone. After years of trying to broker communications between colleagues and clients, Dust redesigned his art of conversation by using intention and purpose, but remaining artful and playful. In this discussion, he codifies what he learned and outlines the commitment, creative listening, clarity, and context required to be more deliberate and purposeful in making conversations work. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES MLF

In a time of racial reckoning, a new film looks at a very personal attempt to address racial injustices in this country. Ashes to Ashes is an endearing portrait of Winfred Rembert, an avid Star Wars fan and master leather-work artist who survived an attempted lynching in 1967. This moving short documentary showcases the incredible friendship he has forged with Dr. Shirley Jackson Whitaker, as she creates and establishes an interactive art exhibit to memorialize the more than 4,000 African Americans who were lynched during the Jim Crow era. Join us for a discussion with Dr. Whitaker, Winifred Rembert, and the film's director, Taylor Rees. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To many observers, QAnon is, for lack of a better word, dangerous. They say it is dangerous to our political life, because it spreads disinformation which makes it more difficult for citizens to make informed decisions about who to vote for and what policies to support; it is also dangerous to the mental health of people who buy into the conspiracy theories, because it creates a cult-like environment, one in which people stop thinking for themselves and instead hero-worship President Donald Trump; finally, it is dangerous to the physical welfare of non-QAnon followers, because members of QAnon have been linked to violence. Matthew Rozsa is a staff writer at Salon, where he has covered everything from politics and economics to science and culture. Prior to his career at Salon, Mr. Rozsa worked for a number of media outlets, including Mic, Quartz, The Daily Dot, The Good Men Project and MSNBC. He graduated from Bard College with a B.A. in history and from Rutgers University-Newark with an M.A. in history. He is

Summers for the Tsegie-Samuelsson family were spent in Smögen, Sweden catching crayfish, lobsters and mackerel to serve with local and fresh ingredients at the dinner table. These meals were influenced by Ethiopian cuisine, creating an East African culinary experience with Swedish ingredients. These artistic and cultural influences continue to play a pivotal role in Marcus Samuelsson's cooking. Chef Marcus Samuelsson, author of the new book The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food, takes us into a deeper journey of food, culture, and origin to appreciate the complexity of Black culinary arts. The deliciousness of modern Black cooking is only enhanced by chefs’ reclamation of Black culinary traditions, a collective desire to fight implicit bias, and an ability to energize young, creative cooks. Black meals are often categorized under the monolithic label of “soul food,” but Samuelsson reminds us that soul food flavors have influences tracing back to the African continent, the Caribbean, all over the

As the Trump presidency comes to an end, many questions have been raised about its impact and legacy on a range of policy issues and priorities for the country. The future of American history education, particularly for K–12 students, is one area where the impact could be felt for years. Responding to recent controversies such as The New York Times’s "1619 Project" and widespread calls to remove Confederate monuments, President Trump issued an executive order establishing a new “1776 Commission” to promote “patriotic education” in schools. Whether or not the Biden administration continues the commission, the focus on what should be taught about America’s founding and heritage, how constitutional issues and historical topics such as slavery should be conveyed to students, and how to teach the full and complex story of our constitutional democracy will remain a significant educational debate for years to come. This program will look at the state of this debate from a range of perspectives and discuss the future

Join us for the first Week to Week political roundtable of 2021, as we gather online for a program on the same day that Georgia holds its runoff election for two crucial U.S. Senate seats. We'll discuss the Georgia race, plus the incoming administration, the outgoing administration, the latest from Sacramento and elsewhere with our usual mix of expert insight and a dose of good-natured humor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Jessica Zitter is a national advocate for transforming the way people die in America. She is Harvard- and UCSF-trained to practice the unusual combination of critical and palliative care medicine and works as an attending physician at a public hospital in Oakland. Join us for a special one-hour program featuring "Caregiver: A Love Story," Dr. Zitter's new short documentary about the family caregiver burden. More than one in five Americans care for a loved one in need, and are facing serious physical, financial, and emotional consequences. The COVID-19 pandemic has given us all a window into this rising public health crisis, as increasing numbers of people suddenly became caregivers and those who were already doing this work become increasingly isolated and overwhelmed. After the 24-minute film, we will be joined by Dr. Zitter, co-director and producer of the film, for a discussion and Q&A facilitated by Mark Zitter. We will learn more about the issue of family caregiver burden, and get taken "behind-the-s