Commonwealth Club Of California Podcast

This is a special episode of On shifting Ground is made available from the Club's newly merged sister organization, World Affairs of Northern California. We're thrilled to now offer thousands of podcast episodes on important current events, critical global issues and the inside scoop from thought-leaders located around the world on our three podcast channels. Each of our media departments also distributes radio programs heard across the country each week. World Affairs Climate One The Commonwealth Club of California About this episode: As the war on Gaza continues with no end in sight, two peace activists – one Palestinian and one Israeli – are already charting a non-violent path forward. Ray Suarez sits down with Luxembourg Peace Prize laureates, Ali Abu Awwad, founding leader of the Taghyeer (Change) Palestinian National Nonviolence movement, and Dr. Gershon Baskin, the Middle East director of the International Communities Organization, to learn why they maintain hope for a peaceful, two-state solution

If you have trouble sleeping, you’re not alone: 50–70 million people in the United States struggle with ongoing sleep disorders. What many of us don’t realize is that poor sleep can impact your health in many ways. Insomnia is defined as a lack of sleep and includes common symptoms like trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking up frequently. Multiple factors can cause insomnia, yet many people don’t yet realize how wearable technology can give them insights into their sleep. Lifestyle factors such as proper nutrition and exercise are imperative as well to obtain a good night's sleep. This lecture will describe optimal sleep and discuss the relationship between sleep and alcohol, depression and weight gain. Eric Pifer, M.D., will explain how new technology collects sleep measurements at home and uses it with integrative therapies to promote restorative sleep. Find out how to optimize sleep through wearable tech that can measure sleep quality, physical activity, and heart rate variability. Use data col

Join Rob Mintz, chief curator at the Asian Art Museum, and Laura Allen, the museum's Senior Curator of Japanese Art for an engaging conversation about Murakami's blockbuster exhibition Unfamiliar People: The Swelling of Monsterized Human Ego. The show, four years in the making, takes anime and manga to new heights. This is Takashi Murakami's first solo exhibition in San Francisco. The exhibit is not only a commentary on our society, it's a nuanced examination of human behavior within an extraordinary artistic framework. Laura Allen has known Murakami since the Fall of 2019, when she visited the artist in his Tokyo studio. Together with Rob Mintz, she'll provide insight into Murakami's personality, both as an artist as well as a social scientist. She'll also talk about her collaboration with Murakami; discuss the many pitfalls she encountered along the way as well as what finally convinced him to create this extraordinary exhibit and display it at the Asian Art Museum. About the Speaker Dr. Laura W. Allen is 

Conceived in the Gilded Age, the Ferry Building opened in 1898 as San Francisco’s portal to the world―the terminus of the transcontinental railway and a showcase of civic ambition. In silent films and World’s Fair postcards, nothing said “San Francisco” more than its soaring clocktower. But as architectural critic John King reminds us, the rise of the automobile and double-deck freeways severed the city from its beloved structure. King recounts the rise and fall and rebirth of the Ferry Building, introducing the colorful figures who fought to preserve its character, and the city’s soul, from architect Arthur Page Brown and legendary columnist Herb Caen to poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Senator Dianne Feinstein. A microcosm of the changing American waterfront, the saga of the Ferry Building explores the tensions of tourism and development―and the threat that the expected sea level rise poses to a landmark that in the 21st century remains as vital as ever. MLF ORGANIZER: George Hammond A Humanities Member-led F

Mass produced. Industrially farmed. Corporate owned. Ordinary. To Food & Wine editor Ray Isle, those words describe much of today's wine. He says the way that a wine is made, and who made it, can make a huge difference when you drink it—and that information matters much more than knowing it scored 90 points in some competition. Or that it tastes like blueberries. Or it has "hints of violets and black pepper." Isle aims to help readers choose more delicious, interesting and environmentally friendly wines without breaking the bank. He examined several hundred independently owned wineries around the world, from France to Oregon to southern Chile, and says that a glass of wine can express the place it comes from and capture the essence of the person who made it. He focuses on wines people can afford, rather than $500 rarities, and he'll help you learn where and how to find the most interesting bottles available today. In this special December program, join us for a discussion with Isle followed by a delicious—and

Ben Santer has spent decades researching and identifying the human fingerprints on the climate system changes we’re now all seeing. He was lead author on the historic 1995 conclusion of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which proclaimed that “the balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate.” That was the first time the IPCC authoritatively stated humans are causing climate change. At the time, Stephen Schneider told Ben Santer that the sentence he wrote would change the world. Santer’s foundational work also laid the groundwork for the expanding field of attribution science, which enables activists and lawyers to ascribe proportionate blame to specific polluters in lawsuits demanding damages for climate-disrupting emissions. Climate One is delighted to present the 2023 Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication to atmospheric scientist Ben Santer. Guests: Ben Santer, Fowler Distinguished Scholar in Residence, Woods Hole; Visiting Res

In 1964, Ronald Reagan told Americans it was “a time for choosing.” Sixty years later, Republicans have their own choice to make: Are they tired of winning? Perhaps no one has changed the Republican Party in the modern era as much as Ronald Reagan and one of his successors in office, Donald Trump. But Trump's post-presidency has been as filled with controversy and chaos as his time in the White House.  Journalist Jonathan Karl has known Trump since his days as a New York Post reporter in the 1990s, and he covered every day of Trump's administration as ABC News's chief White House correspondent. Now he follows up his bestselling book Betrayal with Tired of Winning: Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party. Karl tracks Trump's improbable journey from defeated former president to the dominant force, yet again, in the Republican Party.  Karl says that from his exile in Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump has become more extreme, vengeful and divorced from reality than he was on January 6, 2021. His meddling damaged t

Sam Lebovic demonstrates how The Espionage Act, passed in 1917 to punish the critics of American participation in World War I, gave rise over time to a vast American security state designed to keep its citizens in the dark. When Americans began to balk at the act’s restrictions on political dissidents and the press, the government turned its focus toward keeping its own secrets under wraps. The resulting system for classifying information is shrouded in secrecy, absurdly cautious, and staggeringly costly, preventing ordinary Americans from learning what their country is doing in their name, both at home and abroad.   Shedding new light on the bloated governmental security apparatus that’s weighing our democracy down, Lebovic sets out in detail the history of America’s ever-increasing drift toward secrecy—and the staggering human and political costs that has had on our society.  Join us online for an in-depth look at this far-reaching law. MLF ORGANIZER: George Hammond A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Fo

It's that time of year again when we gather together to remember the year that was, share expectations for the year ahead, and celebrate. We'll start our evening with Michelle Meow interviewing the two Jeffs—Jeff Yang, author of the new book The Golden Screen: The Movies That Made Asian America (which features a foreword by Michelle Yeoh and an afterword by Jon M. Chu), and Jeff Chang, author and editor of numerous books, including the forthcoming Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America. After that, we'll head to our beautiful second-floor lounge for some food, drink, music and togetherness.  Reserve your ticket early and join us in-person for our once-a-year tradition at The Commonwealth Club's bayfront home! See more  Michelle Meow Show programs at Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been a year of weather extremes — again. But there’s also been cause for  renewed hope about our climate future. On the heels of this year’s international climate conference held in the oil-rich Middle East, Climate One hosts Greg Dalton and Ariana Brocious review major climate stories of the year, both lows and highs. This special episode features excerpts from some of Climate One’s most surprising, moving and compelling interviews of 2023, including conversations with luminaries Rev. Lennox Yearwood and Rebecca Solnit, White House Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi, climate activist Nalleli Cobo and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker. A previous version of this episode incorrectly stated that the COP28 agreement includes a transition from fossil fuels this decade. While the deal calls for the transition to happen in “a just, orderly and equitable manner,” it does not include a timeframe. We regret the error. Guests:  Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., CEO, Hip Hop Caucus  Kathy Baughman-McLeod, Director, Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller

The new government of Thailand's prime minister, Srettha Thavisin, has pledged to be a leader on LGBTQ rights. What are their plans? To find out, "Michelle Meow Show" producer and host Michelle Meow met with Prime Minister Thavisin when he was in San Francisco for meetings this fall of APEC. See more  Michelle Meow Show programs at Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To many of us, it might seem like recent developments in artificial intelligence emerged out of nowhere to pose unprecedented threats to humanity. But to Dr. Joy Buolamwini, a trailblazer in AI research, this moment has been a long time in the making. Dr. Buolamwini has spent decades pondering the many implications of an AI-powered world—all the potential benefits, detriments, and injustices.  But Dr. Buolamwini hasn’t simply explored the potential for harm by AI; she has researched and identified real-world AI harm that has already been done by some of the world’s largest tech companies. In graduate school, she led groundbreaking research at MIT’s Future Factory that exposed widespread racial and gender bias in AI services from tech giants like Microsoft, IBM, and Apple. In her upcoming book, Unmasking AI, Dr. Buolamwini takes readers through the remarkable journey of how she uncovered what she calls “the coded gaze”—the evidence of encoded discrimination and exclusion in tech products—and how she galvanized

During the height of the Cold War, a group of small-town young men would lead their underdog hockey team from the little country of Czechoslovakia against the mighty Soviet Union, the juggernaut in their sport and the superpower in their neighborhood. As they battled on the ice, the young players would keep their people’s quest for freedom alive, and forge a way to fight back against the authoritarian forces that sought to crush them. Join us as University of California, Davis, political science professor Ethan Scheiner, whose research focused on the intersection of politics and sports, discusses what he found out while researching and writing his new book Freedom to Win: A Cold War Story of the Courageous Hockey Team That Fought the Soviets for the Soul of Its People—and Olympic Gold.  From the sudden invasion of Czechoslovakia by an armada of tanks and 500,000 Warsaw Pact soldiers, to a hockey victory over the Soviets that inspired half a million furious citizens to take to the streets in an attempt to dest

One of the most controversial topics today is the issue of gender and the related matters of identity, language and law. Schuyler Bailar's story of becoming the first openly transgender athlete to compete on an NCAA Division 1 team in any sport appeared everywhere from "60 Minutes" to "The Ellen Show" to The Washington Post. In an effort to explain the issues surrounding gender identity and how it's discussed, Bailar has written He/She/They. His approach is to use storytelling and the art of conversation to give us the fundamental language and context of gender so that we can meet people where they are and pave the way to understanding, acceptance, and inclusion.  Join us for an in-depth talk about the issues driving laws  in dozens of states and being discussed across the country.  This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Milton Friedman and John Maynard Keynes were the most influential economists of the 20th century in capitalist countries. But it was Friedman’s work that was instrumental in the definitive turn toward free markets that defined the 1980s, as his defenses of freedom and capitalism resonated with audiences around the world. So it’s no wonder that the final decades of the last century have sometimes been called “the Age of Friedman”—or that some analysts have sought to hold him responsible for both the rising prosperity and the social ills of recent decades. Jennifer Burns, in Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative, the first full biography to employ archival sources, tells Friedman’s extraordinary story with the nuance it deserves. She provides lucid and lively context for his groundbreaking work on everything from why dentists earn less than doctors, to the vital importance of the money supply, to inflation and the limits of government planning and stimulus. She traces Friedman’s longstanding collaborations wit

This week, we’re reporting from Dubai, where the 28th UN climate change conference (COP28) is now underway. Ever since the Paris Agreement was signed at COP21, the central issue has remained the same: How do the nations of the world keep global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels?  This year marks the first “global stocktake,” where the data on how well we’re collectively doing on meeting the Paris targets are front and center. Across the board, countries are failing. How much will this harsh dose of reality affect the negotiations? Perhaps more importantly, how does what happens at these international summits affect the people most at risk for flooding and extreme heat? Guests: Claire Stockwell, Senior Climate Policy Analyst, Climate Analytics Nisreen Elsaim, Sudanese Climate Activist; Former Chair, UN Secretary General’s Youth Advisory Group Abigael Kima, Host and Producer, Hali Hewa Podcast Chautuileo Tranamil, Co-Founder, Indigenous Liberation and Aralez Myrna Cunningham, Cha

Where did AI come from? Who created it, why, and where can it lead? Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly developing into a world-changer, affecting every industry and being used by hundreds of millions of people—even when they're unaware they're interacting with an artificial intelligence. And we're only at the early stages of AI's growth. Join us for an in-depth talk with Dr. Fei-Fei Li, whom Wired called "one of a tiny group of scientists―a group perhaps small enough to fit around a kitchen table―who are responsible for AI’s recent remarkable advances.” Dr. Li came to America as an immigrant, enduring a shift from Chinese middle class to American poverty. But a tough upbringing did not stop her from becoming a leading mind in the next big technological development. Fei-Fei’s adolescent knack for physics endured and positioned her to make a crucial contribution to the breakthrough we now call AI, placing her at the center of a global transformation. Over the last decades, her work has brought her face-to-

As cities across the country grapple with a persistent homelessness crisis, a leading advocate offers a compassionate look at the problem, the people, and the possible solutions—including what you can do to help.  Kevin Adler returns to The Commonwealth Club to provide an urgent look at homelessness in America, showing us what we lose—in ourselves and as a society—when we choose to walk past and ignore our neighbors in shelters, insecure housing, or on the streets.  Adler is the co-author of When We Walk By, which argues that we have sacrificed our humanity by ignoring, downplaying, and refusing to address the homelessness problem. The authors offer an evidence-based people-first approach and community-driven solutions, and they lay out some practical steps that individuals can take to address homelessness. Kevin Adler is an award-winning social entrepreneur, nonprofit leader, and author. Since 2014, he has served as the founder and CEO of Miracle Messages, a nonprofit organization that helps people experienc

From one of the world’s most innovative designers comes a fiercely passionate manifesto on why so many places have become miserable and boring and how we can make them better for everyone. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear directly from the author, Thomas Heatherwick, in conversation with Enrique Landa, developer of Power Station. Together, they will explore how to bring more beauty and humanity to our built environment. Drawing on 30 years’ experience in making memorable objects and buildings, Heatherwick offers both an informed critique of the inhumanity in most of today’s contemporary building design, and a rousing call for action. Humanize visits landmarks and cityscapes around the world to articulate how places can either sap the life out of us or nourish our senses and our psyche. Design is not superficial: it has an impact on economics, climate change, our mental and physical wellbeing—even the peace and cohesion of our societies. This event is presented by Heatherwick Studio in association wit

From classical philosophers like Epictetus, to great 20th century thinkers like Martin Luther King Jr., to her own experience working in the federal government during a particularly politically fraught era, Alexandra Hudson examines how civility―a respect for the personhood and dignity of others―transcends political disagreements. Respecting someone means valuing them enough to tell them when you think they are wrong. It’s easy to look at the divided state of the world and blame our leaders, the media, or our education system. Hudson says that instead, we should focus on what we can control: ourselves. She argues that includes living tolerantly with others despite deep differences, but still rigorously protesting wrongs and debating issues rather than silencing disagreements. Since a robust public discourse is essential to a truly civil society, and since respecting others means telling hard truths, if enough of us decide to change ourselves, we might be able to change the world we live in too. And that is th