Commonwealth Club Of California Podcast

Before Fiona Hill became a celebrated foreign policy expert and key witness in the 2019 impeachment trial of then-President Donald Trump, she was a coal-miner's daughter from northern England in a town where the last of the coal mines had closed. Her father urged her to get out, saying “There is nothing for you here, pet.” Hill went on to study in Moscow and at Harvard and served under three United States presidents. But in both Russia and the United States, she saw troubling reflections of her hometown and similar populist impulses. Her new book, There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century, draws on her own journey out of poverty and her unique perspective as a policymaker to warn that America is on the brink of socioeconomic collapse and an authoritarian swing that could rival modern Russia. In her powerful and deeply personal account, Hill reveals why expanding opportunity for desperate and forgotten Americans is the only long-term hope for our democracy. Join us as she r

In his new book Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters, popular psychologist and author Steven Pinker explores the concept of collective rationality in society. Today, humanity is reaching new heights of scientific understanding, yet we continue to produce fake news, medical quackery and conspiracy theories. Pinker explains this by rejecting the cynical cliché that humans are simply irrational, arguing instead that the rational pursuit of self-interest, sectarian solidarity, and uplifting mythology can add up to crippling irrationality in a society. Over time, humans have discovered the laws of nature, lengthened and enriched our lives, and set out the benchmarks for rationality itself. But despite our sensible thinking in the low-tech contexts in which we spend most of our lives, he says we often fail to take advantage of the reasoning we’ve discovered over the millennia: logic, critical thinking, probability, correlation and causation, and optimal ways to update beliefs and commit to c

Standard treatment for obesity, based on a law of physics, assumes that all calories are alike, and that to lose weight one must simply “eat less and move more.” However, this prescription rarely works over the long term. According to the Carbohydrate-Insulin Model of obesity, the metabolic condition of fat cells plays a key role in determining body weight. High intakes of processed carbohydrate raise insulin levels and program fat cells to store too many calories, leaving too few for the rest of the body. Consequently, hunger increases, and metabolic rate slows in the body’s attempt to conserve energy. From this perspective, calorie-restricted, low-fat diets amount to symptomatic treatment, destined to fail for most people. Instead, a dietary strategy aiming to lower insulin secretion promises to increase the effectiveness of long-term weight management and chronic disease prevention. David S. Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D., is an endocrinologist and researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital, professor of pediatrics at

Monday, October 11 is 2021 National Coming Out Day. Join us for a screening of the Pixar short film Out plus fascinating conversation with a talented Pixar animator who directed Out and the filmmaker who produced Out. About the Speakers Steven Clay Hunter joined Pixar Animation Studios in 1997 and has worked as an animator on a number of Pixar’s most beloved films, including A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2 and Finding Nemo. He was an animation supervisor on The Incredibles, WALL•E and Brave. Recently, he helped bring to life the characters Hank from Finding Dory (for which he won the 2013 VES award) and Duke Caboom from Toy Story 4. Most recently, Hunter made his directorial debut with the SparkShort Out on Disney+, which was shortlisted for an Oscar Nomination this past year. In addition, Out is nominated for a GLADD award. Prior to coming to Pixar, Hunter worked for Walt Disney Animation on many projects, including Fantasia 2000 and Hercules. He first learned computer animation at Industrial Light & Magic on Casp

From the congressman who led the first impeachment of President Trump, Adam Schiff’s Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could delivers a vital inside account of American democracy in its darkest hour. Prior to the 2016 election, congressman Schiff had been sounding the alarm over the threat posed by a global resurgence of autocracy. As he led the probe into Trump’s Russia- and Ukraine-related abuses of presidential power, he came to the conclusion that the biggest threat to American democracy came from within—arguing that Trump’s presidency has so weakened our institutions and compromised the Republican Party that the danger will remain for years to come. From being a prosecutor to a congressman known for bipartisanship to a liberal lighting rod and archenemy of the president, Adam Schiff tracks his own path to meeting the crisis he argues is severely imperiling America: the dangerous appeal of authoritarianism. Join us as congressman Adam Schiff deepens our understanding of au

Making sense of sound is one of the hardest jobs our brains must do. Our hearing is always on. We can't close our ears the way we close our eyes. And yet we are quite adept at ignoring sounds that are unimportant. Nina Kraus explores what is going on in our brains when we hear a word, a chord, a meow, or a screech, and examines the partnership of sound and brain, showing how the processing of sound drives many of the brain's core functions. Our hearing brain interacts with what we know, with our emotions, with how we think, with our movements, and with all our other senses. Auditory neurons make calculations at one-thousandth of a second. Hearing is the fastest of our senses. Sound also plays an unrecognized role in both healthy and hurting brains. Kraus explores the power of music for healing as well as the destructive power of noise on the nervous system. She traces what happens in the brain when we speak another language, have a language disorder, experience rhythm, listen to birdsong, or suffer a concussi

John Lithgow’s acclaimed acting career has seen him star in shows like “3rd Rock from the Sun” and “The Crown” and films such as Bombshell and The World According to Garp. In his newest collection of satirical poems and illustrations, Lithgow expertly tracks the dark and lyrical stories of 25 “American Scoundrels.” Join us as award-winning actor, author and illustrator John Lithgow presents the stories of both long-forgotten figures and the bad actors of today. SPEAKERS John Lithgow Actor; Author and Illustrator, A Confederacy of Dumptys: Portraits of American Scoundrels in Verse Melissa Caen Attorney; Political Analyst—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 October 7th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In September 2019, Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, filed for bankruptcy to protect itself from 2,600 lawsuits for its role in fueling the U.S. overdose crisis. Author and activist Ryan Hampton served as the co-chair of the official creditors committee that acted as a watchdog during the process—one of only four victims to act as representatives of big insurance companies, hospitals, and pharmacies. Though Hampton originally believed that holding Purdue to account would be enough to right the scales of justice, he soon came to learn that, no matter what the media said, Purdue did not do this alone. Hampton argues they were in fact aided and abetted by the very systems that were supposed to protect Americans. Unsettled: How the Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Failed the Victims of the American Overdose Crisis is Ryan Hampton’s look into what happened behind closed doors—the story of a broken system that failed to protect people over profits, and let millions of lives be destroyed by the opioid crisis. From Purd

Join us for an important intergenerational conversation with LGBTQ Asians and Pacific Islanders and their allies. Our panelists will share QTAPI stories and experiences of the dual pandemics of HIV/AIDS and COVID-19; their histories as Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States; their past and current roles in community organizing and the political process; as well as other issues that are part of the current cultural and political shifts and relevant to the experiences of QTAPI individuals. Meet the Speakers Ignatius Bau was the HIV prevention program coordinator at the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum in the mid-1990s, and served as a member of the President's Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS and advisory groups about HIV/AIDS for the federal Office of Minority Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Institutes for Health. He also has served on the board of directors for the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance Community HIV Project, Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center,

The great creatives throughout history have been those who can ignite their own fire of innovation and ambition, but what is the flint that brings these sparks of creativity to life? And in a time of great uncertainty, why does creativity matter more than ever? As executive director of Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (commonly referred to as the d.school), Sarah Stein Greenberg is an accomplice to dazzling ingenuity. In her debut book, Creative Acts for Curious People, Stein Greenberg taps into her close ties with bold thinkers and confident doers, providing readers with the ultimate mechanisms to get creative juices flowing. Straight from the cognitive toolkits of Google’s chief evangelist or renowned choreographers, Stein Greenberg lays out practices for mindful observation, intuitive connecting and much much more. The more than 80 exercises, while lighthearted, require a thoughtfulness and intentionality meant to give readers their very own eureka moment. At INFORUM, Sarah Stein Greenberg wil

How do we manage our own anxiety around an uncertain climate future – let alone help our children work through their feelings and fears? In his latest book, Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet, internationally renowned Zen Master and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Thich Nhat Hahn argues that addressing the intersection of ecological destruction, rising inequality, racial injustice, and the lasting impacts of a devastating pandemic requires us to strengthen our clarity, compassion, and courage to act.  “The power of zen and the power of mindfulness is that it roots us in the present moment so we can be alert to what is going on, we can be responsive, we can be the master of our mind and awareness in any given situation,” including climate disruption, says Sister True Dedication, contributor and editor of Thich Nhat Hahn’s book. Psychotherapist Leslie Davenport, author of All the Feelings Under the Sun: How to Deal With Climate Change, provides thoughtful, practical exercises to help young readers process their fee

After One Hundred Winters confronts the harsh truth that the United States has thrived on land violently taken away from Indigenous people. Settler historian Margaret Jacobs asks what reconciliation might mean in light of this haunted history. She argues that we have much to gain by learning from our history instead of denying it, even as she lays out the brutal legacy of systemic racial injustice to Indigenous people. Jacobs also explains how early attempts at reconciliation were only successful in further robbing tribal nations of their already reduced land holdings and forcing their children into abusive boarding schools. True reconciliation, she insists, can only emerge through Indigenous leadership and sustained relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people rooted in specific places and histories. In the absence of an official apology and a federal Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a movement for transformative reconciliation is unofficially underway that puts Indigenous land rights, sove

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., has been one of the most visible commentators on the public health crisis. His insights and writings have helped shaped some of the country's understanding of the public health impacts of the pandemic since early in 2020. As the country continues to battle the pandemic—especially the emergent delta variant of the coronavirus—Gottlieb will visit the Club for the first time to discuss his new book, Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic. Gottlieb's new book outlines how the United States must prepare for future pandemics by learning from the mistakes made handling the COVID-19 outbreak, which has caused one of the greatest public health tragedies in American history. Gottlieb outlines his efforts in the early 2000s to develop a “Pandemic Influenza Plan” to ready the United States for the threat of a global pandemic, and how short the country came up when it was time to mount an effective

Leading up to the recent Tokyo Olympics. athletes Annet Negesa of Uganda and Maximila Imali of Kenya both had their Olympic dreams crushed because of rules set by the track and field global governing body, World Athletics. They are just two—of many—elite women athletes who have been told their natural testosterone levels, if not lowered through medication or surgery, disqualify them from competition at the highest levels of sport. Join us for an in-depth conversation about intersex biology and the history of sex testing in women’s athletics ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. About the Speaker In February 2021, Eliza Anyangwe became the editor of As Equals, CNN’s ongoing gender inequality project. She began her career working for nongovernmental organizations Action Against Hunger and then the Pesticide Action Network, where she was Organic Cotton Officer, but has spent more than a decade in media, working for The Guardian, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, and most recently The Correspondent, where she was ma

On July 14, 2021, lesbian feminist Sally Miller Gearhart passed away at the age of 90. In 1973, she had become the first out lesbian to obtain a tenure-track faculty position when she was hired by San Francisco State University, where she helped establish one of the country's first women and gender study programs. In her long life, she was a teacher, feminist, science fiction writer and political activist. Join us for a special program in tribute to her; we will also reveal exclusive clips from a documentary now in production on Sally Gearhart's life. A complimentary lunch will be provided for in-person attendees. Note: This program contains EXPLICIT language SPEAKERS Deborah Craig Documentary Director and Producer, including "A Great Ride" and Sally Jörg Fockele Filmmaker, Executive Producer and Television Director/Producer, including "Queer Eye," Sally Melanie Nathan Executive Director, African Human Rights Coalition Ondine Rarey Filmmaker; Writer and Editor, including A Portrait of Female Desperation and S

Please join us for a lively and intimate discussion on the Judy Chicago: Retrospective exhibit, which is currently showing at San Francisco’s de Young Museum. The discussion is presented by the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco Docent Victoria Kirby. Adding to the conversation will be Debra Reabock, a Bay Area visual artist and photo philanthropist. Judy Chicago is a trailblazer and leader of the feminist art moment. Kirby's talk will explore Chicago’s full body of works, from her early forays into minimalism to her current work that addresses mortality and environmental issues. Judy Chicago: A Retrospective is organized on the heels of the 40th anniversary of the first showing of The Dinner Party in San Francisco and in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the women’s right to vote in the United States. How fitting a tribute to an artist who has spent a lifetime fighting for social justice and female expression. The discussion will be followed by Q&A. Have your questions ready. NOTES MLF: Arts MLF ORGAN

Within the next two decades, Kai-Fu Lee says, artificial intelligence will become the defining development of the 21st century, making aspects of daily human life today virtually unrecognizable. AI will revolutionize medicine and education through human-machine symbioses. It will challenge the social and economic order by creating brand-new forms of communication and generating unprecedented wealth. AI is at its tipping point, and if our society doesn’t prepare for both the exciting and possibly perilous pathways ahead, we will lose the ability to control our collective future. In their new book AI 2041, Kai-Fu Lee, bestselling author and former president of Google China, teams up with Chen Qiufan to create an image of what a world with artificial intelligence will look like in 20 years. In 10 gripping short stories, the authors introduce readers to an array of eye-opening concepts, such as the rogue scientist in Munich who uses AI technologies in a revenge plot that endangers the world. Or the teenage girl i

In the era of big tech, groundbreaking technological innovation has given rise to an increasingly efficient and methodical society. But these advances are not without consequence, as unbounded technological growth demands control over how we work, think, consume and communicate. Our panelists say too many have accepted biased algorithms, job-displacing robots, and surveillance-based capitalism as an inexorable cost of innovation, giving a powerful few the reins over our evolving society. Technologists, the venture capitalists who fund them, and the politicians who allow for this unregulated growth have stepped into the seat of power, often prioritizing technological optimization and efficiency over fundamental human values. System Error, authored by three Stanford professors, offers an alternative to this dystopian vision of a world controlled by big tech. Armed with the combined knowledge of philosopher Rob Reich, a leading thinker at the intersection of technology and ethics, political scientist and former

The transition from President Donald J. Trump to President Joseph R. Biden Jr. is one of the most tumultuous periods in recent American history. Robert Costa and his co-author Bob Woodward have taken on the task of documenting the transition in a never-before-seen way in their new book, Peril. With material ranging from secret orders to transcripts of phone conversations from the Trump and Biden White House, the 2020 campaign, and more, Peril is the story about changes, a first inside look into Biden’s presidency, and the unique challenges that face the new administration. Join Costa he as analyzes this intense period in history as well as the overall landscape of American politics in 2021. SPEAKERS Robert Costa National Political Reporter, The Washington Post; Co-Author, Peril In Conversation with Scott Shafer Senior Editor, KQED’s Politics and Government Desk; Twitter @scottshafer In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program

We’ve experienced yet another summer of record wildfires in the western U.S., endangering lives, displacing communities, and sending unhealthy smoke across the nation.  The science is clear: human-caused climate change is making lands more conducive to burning, and we are increasingly living in flammable landscapes. Forest experts say there are tools to help reduce the risk of catastrophic fires, keep forests alive as valuable carbon sinks and make communities more resilient to megafires. But we may also have to become accustomed to more fire – and smoke – in our lives.  How can we better live with fire, including using it as a tool, rather than always fighting it? For transcripts and other information, visit: https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts  Guests: Stephen Pyne, author, The Pyrocene: How We Created an Age of Fire, and What Happens Next  Susan Husari, member of the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection Chad T. Hanson, author, Smokescreen: Debunking Wildfire Myths to Save Our F