Commonwealth Club Of California Podcast

Jennifer Doudna has changed the life-science field. In 1987, she and her collaborators created CRISPR, an easy-to-use tool that can edit DNA, and opened a brave new world of medical miracles. Conversely, the invention of CRISPR raised many moral questions. With the device, scientists can now detect and destroy DNA, hypothetically making humans less susceptible to viruses, preventing depression, enhancing individual height or muscles or IQ. In his new book The Code Breaker, famed biographer Walter Isaacson follows Doudna from when she first learned what “the double helix” is all the way to her winning the 2020 Nobel Prize. Driven by a passion to understand how nature works and to turn discoveries into inventions, Doudna has become a leader in the scientific field, often wrestling with the moral issues that arise from her discovery. Join us as Walter Isaacson traces a thrilling detective tale that involves the most profound wonders of nature, from the origins of life to the future of our species. NOTES Want to

Join us for a discussion of women in politics, paths to success, making a difference, and how female leaders are shaping the future.  Meet the Speakers Malia M. Cohen serves as a member of the California State Board of Equalization (BOE), California’s elected tax commission. She was elected to the BOE in November 2018, served as Chair in 2019, and is the first African-American woman to serve on the Board. As the BOE Board Member for District 2, she represents 10 million constituents living in all or parts of 23 counties extending from Del Norte County in the north to Santa Barbara County in the south. In January 2019, her BOE Board Member colleagues unanimously selected her to serve as Chair of the Board. A strong advocate for social justice and inclusion, Board Member Cohen pledges to ensure that the views of all who come before the Board of Equalization are considered carefully, with respect, civility, and courtesy. Fiona Ma, CPA, is California’s 34th state treasurer. She was elected on November 6, 2018 wi

What has the impact of the pandemic been on the environment? What happens when there is a confluence of climate change, racial tensions and a pandemic? Yarnold and Mackenzie will discuss the ways we can be more connected to the environment during this time with special guest Tiwari. In Partnership with Santa Clara County Office of Education, Santa Clara County Library District, and San Jose Public Library. SPEAKERS David Yarnold President, National Audubon Society Andrea Mackenzie General Manager, Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority Vayun Tiwari Youth Winner of the 2020 National Audubon Society’s National Photography Award Sal Pizarro Columnist, Mercury News—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 March 18th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of shelter-in-place orders in the Bay Area, life for millions has changed drastically throughout the region. Among the most significant changes to date has been in the innovation and tech economy, which has super-charged the region's employment and housing markets. Over the past year, many of the region's top companies have announced new work-from-home policies that will outlast the pandemic. Meanwhile, many start up companies have folded and many tech employees have left the city itself, if not the region. The Bay Area tech and innovation economy has gone through challenges before, but is this time different? And what will these changes mean for the region's economy. Please join us for the first of several conversations on the future of the economy of San Francisco after the COVID-19 pandemic. SPEAKERS Jennifer Stojkovic Executive Director, sf.citi Ahmad Thomas CEO, Silicon Valley Leadership Group Sean Randolph Senior Director, Bay Area Econ

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused myriad changes, but one of special significance has been the little-publicized flow of aid to the United States from China-based Americans, Chinese organizations and citizens, and even the Chinese government itself. This has taken the form of donations of personal protective equipment (PPE), cash and valuable services. Diverse organizations such as MedShare International, Flexport.org and the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai have entered into agreements and partnerships to benefit U.S.-based hospitals, such as San Francisco’s own Chinese Hospital. Join us for a discussion with representatives of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai (AmCham Shanghai), Chinese Hospital, Flexport.org, MedShare International and San Francisco State University; the program will be moderated by KPIX's Betty Yu. Meet the Speakers David Basmajian is senior advisor for public affairs at Takeda Pharmaceuticals and served as a member of the Board of Governors at the American Chamber of Co

African Americans currently make up 5 percent of San Francisco's population but also comprise nearly 40 percent of its homeless residents. African Americans are also reported to have the city's highest mortality rates and lowest median household incomes, along with a disproportionately high percentage of police use-of-force incidents. To improve these conditions, based on recommendations from a community engagement process led by the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Board of Supervisors President Shamann Walton have proposed a budget that will enact "transformative change" and spur investment in the AfrIcan-American community. The budget will redirect $120 million from law enforcement agencies and into programs that support the city’s Black community. These funds would go toward initiatives expanding mental health and wellness and reducing homelessness in the Black community; supporting education, youth development and economic opportunities; and developing a plan to

Join us for a virtual discussion with Fatima Shaik about New Orleans' vibrant and singular French-speaking Creole culture. Statistics show that for the first four decades of the 19th century, almost half of the city’s Black people were free. This compares to only 14 percent nationwide prior to 1865. In the face of an oppressive white society, though, members of the Société d'Economie et d'Assistance Mutuelle built a community and held it together throughout the era of slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Jim Crow terrorism. Shaik reconstructs the Economy Hall culture by following Ludger Boguille, and his family and friends, through landmark events—from the Haitian Revolution to the birth of jazz—that helped shape New Orleans and the United States. Based on a century's worth of handwritten journals, which Shaik's father rescued from a trash hauler's pickup truck, the story that emerges from those journals' pages reveals one of the most important multiethnic, intellectual communities in the U.S. South: e

Anti-Asian crimes have spiked since the pandemic started, with more than 3,000 incidents occurring all across the country. What is behind this increase in hate crimes, what is being done about it, and what still needs to be done to stop it? Join us for a discussion with three Asian American leaders about addressing anti-Asian violence in America. Nikki Fortunato Bas is president of the Oakland City Council and represents District 2, one of the most diverse districts in the city. Since taking office in 2019, she led the passage of the strongest COVID-19 eviction moratorium in the state of California and a COVID-19 grocery worker hazard pay $5 wage bonus covering 2,000 workers in Oakland’s largest grocery stores. Russell Jeung is a professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University. In 2020, Dr. Jeung launched Stop AAPI Hate, a project of Chinese for Affirmative Action, the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council, and San Francisco State Asian American Studies. It tracks COVID-19 related d

Guests: Céline Cousteau, Explorer and Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim, Director, An Inconvenient Truth; Founder, Concordia Studio  Cristina Mittermeier, National Geographic Photographer; Co-Founder, SeaLegacy While IPCC risk assessments and emission projections can help us understand climate change, they don’t exactly inspire the imagination or provoke a personal response to the crisis. But a growing league of storytellers is using photographs, films and the human experience to breathe life into the cerebral science of climate change and conservation. So how can films, photographs, and the human experience convey the urgency of the climate story?  “15 years ago we needed to convince people that it was real,” notes director and producer Davis Guggenheim, “and then we need to convince people that humans are causing it. And then you want to convince people that this is the most urgent story of our time.” Guggenheim’s documentaries include He Named Me Malala, Waiting for Superman, and a certain Academy award-winning

This is your Commonwealth Club week in review. Hear what you missed this week, and what we’ve got lined up for you next week. We’re always adding new programs - check out commonwealthclub.org/online for all of our upcoming events. If you haven’t already - please consider becoming a member of the Club. Enjoy exclusive discounts and access to special programs all while knowing your contributions directly support our many public programs and civic initiatives. Visit commonwealthclub.org/special, for special rates on memberships. Thanks for your support and as always - thanks for listening! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the world concludes a a full year under the COVID-19 pandemic, many people and communities around the globe have felt a sense of doom and unrest. In the United States particularly, political and social divisions fueled a sense of societal darkness and sadness. However, there are signs of hope, particularly among a group of prominent spiritual and religious leaders, poets and thinkers, singers and writers brought together by Tim Shriver, longtime chairman of the Special Olympics. At the start of 2020, despite the challenging times, Shriver saw an opportunity for those hungry for community to answer a call to heal, a call to hope, a call to unite. He asked monks and nuns, artists and activists, nurses and doctors, ex-presidents and ex-cons to come together to share messages of inspiration, transformation and love. The result? His new book, The Call to Unite—featuring stories and insights from Bishop TD Jakes, Elizabeth Gilbert, Van Jones, Amy Grant, Dr. Rheeda Walker, Pastor Rick Warren, Rev. Jacqui Lewis, J

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, equity issues have shaped our understanding of the pandemic and its disparate impacts. Since early 2020, African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans have been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus, shining a light on a range of socio-eonomic issues and disparities in housing, employment and access to public health services. Now, as the Bay Area begins to slowly re-open with the increasing availability of vaccines, the region is facing challenges in ensuring that vaccination rollout efforts are equitable. Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, has been a significant voice on COVID equity issues regionally and nationally throughout the pandemic. She is currently working to ensure that shots reach not only the most impacted communities, but that leaders address what caused the stark pandemic inequities to begin with. Please join us for an importa

Dr. Choucair will describe the Biden administration's national vaccination campaign to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The challenges ahead are enormous, but Dr Choucair is known as an innovator, and his previous work has set him up to handle this project. He is used to planning for large numbers of people. Prior to joining the administration, Dr. Choucair served as senior vice president and chief health officer at Kaiser Permanente. He oversaw the organization’s efforts focused on addressing the social health of its 12.2 million members and the 68 million people who live in the communities it serves. This work included the creation of the nation’s largest social health network to meet the housing, food and transportation needs of its members. He also managed Kaiser Permanente’s community health portfolio, including $3.4 billion dedicated to supporting medical financial assistance and charitable care as well as grants and community health initiatives. Before his time at Kaiser Permanente, D

Join us for a virtual discussion with law professors Michael Heller and James Salzman to discuss the hidden set of rules that reveals how things become "mine"—the favorite word of every two-year-old. As adults, of course, the idea of ownership feels natural, whether we are buying a cup of coffee or a house. But who controls the space behind your airplane seat: your reclining self or the squished laptop user seated behind you? And why is plagiarism wrong, but it's okay to knock-off a recipe or a dress design? After a snowstorm, why does a chair in the street hold your parking space in Chicago, but in New York you lose both the space and the chair? Heller and Salzman explain these puzzles and many more using six simple stories that almost everyone uses to claim almost everything. And although choosing which story to use is often based on our most obvious legal rights, we can always pick a different story to use. This is true not just for airplane seats, but also for battles over digital privacy, climate change 

In his debut novel, renowned China expert Orville Schell delves into the complexities of people whose lives have been historically upended by the tumult of political change, the pain of migration, and the separations of the Cold War that made it impossible to live in both worlds. In moving from non-fiction to fiction, Schell's sweeping historical novel takes us on a journey from the rise of Mao Zedong in 1949 to the Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989, as a classical musician and his son are swept away by a relentless series of devastating events. Through their lives, we follow the fault line between the United States and China—a divide that at times has been narrow and easily crossed, while at other times perilously wide. At a time when the U.S.-China divide is once again widening, Schell’s fictional characters speak volumes about the agonies of separation that may yet again become a reality. Join a unique discussion on U.S.-China relations (focusing on culture, music, religion and art as well as policy) with

On March 16, 2020, the leaders of the Bay Area announced a regional stay-at-home order that transformed life for millions in the Bay Area. At the time, it was one of the largest and most visible public actions taken to address the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Other regions soon followed. Exactly one year later, the Bay Area, California and United States are finally emerging from a public health crisis that has led to over 500,00 deaths and transformed life throughout the country. With vaccine supply increasing, the end of the pandemic is finally in sight. Andy Slavitt, the new White House senior advisor on COVID-19, has been at the center of the fight against the pandemic since early 2020. Last year, he informally advised leading Republicans as well as Democrats across the country on effective strategies against COVOD-19. Early on, Slavitt teamed with former FDA chief Scott Gottlieb to propose a $46.5 billion plan for COVID-19 contact tracing and isolation and was lead author of an early open lette

In Always Home: A Daughter’s Recipes and Stories, Fanny Singer, daughter of food icon and activist Alice Waters, chronicles her unique world of food, wine and travel. Singer shares the story of her own culinary coming of age and reveals the dynamic relationship between a mother and daughter through connecting, recipes and, cooking. SPEAKERS Fanny Singer Author, Always Home: A Daughter’s Recipes & Stories Alice Waters Chef, Chez Panisse Carolyn Jung Food Writer; Author, East Bay Cooks—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 March 11th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Experts widely report that mental health treatment in Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) communities is severely lacking. Cultural differences and misunderstandings lead to diagnostic problems and hesitancy to seek treatment. The National Alliance on Mental Illness found that Black adults are more likely to report persistent symptoms of emotional distress than white adults, yet only one in three Black Americans who needs support gets it. Latinx, Asian and Indigenous people similarly have poor access to quality mental health services. BIPOC youth are more likely to end up in the criminal justice system, with their needs untreated. And the age of COVID has amplified the depth of these disparities and the ongoing systematic inequities for people of color. How can medical professionals, government and the private sector work together in this challenging time to improve conditions and treatment as well as eliminate stigma for those needing care? UCSF Psychiatry Chief Dr. Lisa Fortuna will moderate and addr

This is your Commonwealth Club week in review. Hear what you missed this week, and what we’ve got lined up for you next week. We’re always adding new programs - check out commonwealthclub.org/online for all of our upcoming events. If you haven’t already - please consider becoming a member of the Club. Enjoy exclusive discounts and access to special programs all while knowing your contributions directly support our many public programs and civic initiatives. Visit commonwealthclub.org/special, for special rates on memberships. Thanks for your support and as always - thanks for listening! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

True to his campaign promise, President Biden dove right into the climate crisis on Day One, signing a stack of executive orders that signaled his determination. But how effective are they?  “Executive orders, I think, are often very splashy when they're introduced, and they get a lot of attention,” notes Axios reporter Ben Gemen. “I think the better way to look at an executive order is sort of firing a starting gun for an extraordinarily long race.” But while he faces certain blowback from Republicans in Congress, there are signs that when it comes to conservative thought, the wind may be changing. What can the Biden Administration accomplish using existing authority? How much will conservatives and businesses step in and step up on climate? Guests: Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL), Chair of House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Rich Powell, Executive Director, ClearPath Ben Geman, Energy Reporter, Axios Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices