Commonwealth Club Of California Podcast

California has been at the forefront of America’s climate fight since Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the country’s first major climate law in 2006. The state’s suite of policies for decarbonizing the economy survived industry-funded attacks in court and at the ballot box, and remained largely consistent under Democratic and Republican governors. But a recent report by Next 10, an independent think tank, indicates the state will meet its 2030 goals 30 years late. Is California really the climate leader it’s purported to be? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Barbara Rose Brooker, 83-year-old author, teacher and performer, will talk about her personal experiences with ageism in the Hollywood industry, our anti-age culture and how to promote a generation where age doesn’t count. She will sign copies of her new novel, Love, Sometimes. Join us for this fabulous evening. Brooker, a native San Francisco author of 13 books, is the founder of the first Age March in history. Her new best-selling novel, Love, Sometimes, is about risk, ageism in Hollywood and controversial love and is being made into a TV series, which will air in 2021. Brooker has been on “The Today Show,” Andy Cohen, Sharon Osbourne, and many other local and national shows. She teaches writing to adults over 50 and up at San Francisco State's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI). She is at work on a new book about aging and love and staying on the path of your dreams at any age. MLF Organizer: Denise Michaud MLF: Grownups Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's our birthday—come celebrate with us! Join us to celebrate the Club’s 117th birthday and attend our 8th anniversary Week to Week political roundtable program. To kick the night off, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. we will have sweet treats to sample, popcorn and hot chocolate, and we'll finish with a champagne toast to the Club and to our wonderful members. Following the Club birthday party, we will have our Week to Week program for all to attend. During the program, we will discuss the biggest, most controversial and sometimes the surprising political issues with expert commentary by panelists who are smart, are civil and have a good sense of humor. Our panelists will provide informative and engaging commentary on political and other major news, and we'll have audience discussion of the week’s events, culminating in our live news quiz. It's an evening to celebrate, for members and nonmembers alike to enjoy. ** This Podcast Contains Explicit Language ** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do we build communities that are more resilient than the ones we were raised in? As severe weather hammers cities and spurs more migration, who will pay to shore up infrastructure and secure the border? Experts at the highest levels of U.S. government are now working to uncover the ways that climate could threaten critical infrastructure and reshape the way communities respond to risk. Meanwhile, as damages increase, so do insurance claims, making homeownership nearly impossible in areas with the greatest risk of fires, floods and hurricanes. Pricing that risk and spreading the costs across society will test American democracy and could further exacerbate the growing wealth gap. Join us for a conversation with Alice Hill, senior fellow for climate change policy at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of Building a Resilient Tomorrow: How to Prepare for the Coming Climate Disruption, and Janet Ruiz, strategic communication director at the Insurance Information Institute. Joining remotely is Sherri G

With a presidential election looming in 2020, what are the progressives in Congress doing to build political power and move their agenda forward? As the elected co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus—representing nearly 40 percent of the House Democratic majority, Representative Pramila Jayapal is on the forefront of the national progressive movement. In February 2019, Jayapal introduced the most comprehensive and progressive Medicare-for-all bill in history and has since secured four hearings on the bill—the first four hearings on Medicare for all in the history of Congress—and the support of more than half of the House Democratic Caucus. Prior to her election to Congress, Jayapal worked for two decades as an advocate for immigrant rights and racial justice and served in the Washington State Senate from 2015–2017. Jayapal serves on the House Judiciary, Budget, and Education and Labor committees and has been an outspoken leader on expanding access to college, fighting for climate justice, taking on

Ussama Makdisi, who was born in Washington, D.C., spent his early years in Lebanon and earned his Ph.D. at Princeton University. He will discuss his latest book, Age of Coexistence: The Ecumenical Frame and the Making of the Modern Arab World, which has been described as an easily accessible, provocative engagement with existing literature about sectarian, secular, colonialism and Arab nationalists. And, although headlines paint the Middle East as a collection of war-torn countries and extremist groups consumed by sectarian rage, Makdisi shows how people of different faiths have tried to build modern societies that transcend religious and sectarian differences. MLF ORGANIZER Celia Menczel NOTES MLF: Middle East Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most recently, Felicia Marcus was chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, responsible for drinking water, water quality and water rights. Importantly, she led the state board through California's worst drought in modern history. As regional administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 9, she was responsible for environmental issues under the EPA's jurisdiction. In the the nonprofit world, Marcus was the western director for the Natural Resources Defense Council and the executive vice president and chief operating officer for the Trust for Public Land. In her prior work, she was a private and nonprofit sector attorney and organizer in Los Angeles. She has a law degree from New York University and an AB in East Asian studies from Harvard University. Marcus is also known as a devoted whale watcher. Join us to discuss her important environmental work and her outstanding commitment and dedication for the planet, the environment, the present and the future. MLF ORGANIZE

San Francisco’s newest top prosecutor Chesa Boudin first experienced the criminal justice system as a toddler, when his parents were convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. This transformative experience left an indelible mark on Boudin, who has dedicated much of his life to criminal justice reform. After graduating from Yale, becoming a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and earning his J.D. from Yale Law School, Boudin began work at the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office. While he handled over 300 felony cases, Boudin never prosecuted a single case, instead favoring to work directly with victims of crimes and families of prisoners. After a tightly contested race in 2019, Boudin emerged as DA-elect of San Francisco, where he hopes to make significant changes to a broken criminal justice system. With a focus on reducing mass incarceration and recidivism and increasing opportunities for restorative justice, Boudin is part of a larger trend of progressives appointed to top prosecutorial positions in citi

With the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the broader #MeToo movement, the political slogan “believe women” has become a rallying cry for the era. First used as a call to end false accusations of deception against women, agenda-setting feminist editors Jessica Valenti and Jaclyn Friedman go beyond the slogan with their new anthology to ask and answer the crucial question: What would happen if we didn't just believe women but acted as though they matter? Building on the success of the #MeToo movement’s demand for accountability—not just discouraging actions generally but naming names—Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change the World is part exposé on misogyny in our culture and part outline for how trusting women creates the foundation for future progress. With essays spanning a call to action by Representative Ayanna Pressley (D–MA) and an interview with #TimesUp activist and Emmy award winner Tatiana Maslany, Valenti and Friedman bring together a powerful group of women whose diverse

As the effects of aggressive policing and mass incarceration harm historically marginalized communities and tear families apart, how do we define safety? Community leader and lawyer Zach Norris believes in a radical way to shift the conversation about public safety away from fear and punishment and toward growth and support systems for our families and communities. In order to truly be safe, Norris says we have to dismantle the mentality of us versus them and bridge our divides. Norris’s new book, We Keep Us Safe, is a blueprint of how to hold people accountable while still holding them in community. The result reinstates full humanity and agency for everyone who has been dehumanized and traumatized so they can participate fully in life, in society and in the fabric of our democracy. He makes the case that directing resources to stability and well-being, such as health care and housing, education and living-wage jobs, result in real safety. Join us for a powerful conversation with Bay Area leaders Zach Norris

Alzheimer’s disease is a global health problem with more than 5.8 million people living with the disease in the United States alone. The only way to solve that problem is through research, and this talk will focus on the scientific advancements and progress in the field. Tremendous gains have been made in the understanding of the science and basic biology underlying Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and these advances are leading to great strides in prevention, detection, diagnostics and therapeutic interventions. MLF Organizer: Patrick O'Reilly MLF: Psychology Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Border walls and immigration were hot-button issues in the 2016 federal election, and the Trump administration’s evolving policies and practices have been the subject of numerous media stories and segments. Join Julie Small of KQED and Clara Long of Human Rights Watch in a discussion of conditions for asylum seekers on the southern border and what you need to know. MLF ORGANIZER Ian McCuaig NOTES MLF: International Relations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Monday Night Philosophy welcomes back Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward Larson to discuss his joint biography of our two most influential Founding Fathers. Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, though divided by a 26-year age gap and vastly different life experiences, underwent a similarly dramatic transformation from loyal British colonists to American nationalists, and Larson makes a persuasive case that neither one could have succeeded without the other's help. Washington's military skills required Franklin's diplomatic skills to win the Revolutionary War. Their partnership was also key to the success of the Constitutional Convention. In an enlightening and dramatic account of these two men’s intertwined lives, Larson covers from the French and Indian War through the Revolution and Constitutional Convention, and he concludes with Franklin's last political maneuver: forcing the issue of slavery before the new republic’s first Congress. MLF Organizer: George Hammond MLF: Humanities Learn more about

Personal data is as important to modern digital businesses as finance and human capital. It is used to record customers’ behavior, predict it and even to manipulate it. But as awareness of these practices grows, is increasing concern among consumers influencing data regulation and regulators on both sides of the Atlantic? U.K. Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham gives her perspective on the global trends in data protection and privacy. Denham will discuss the big data cases her office has looked at—including Facebook, WhatsApp and Cambridge Analytica—and reflect on their international influence from her perspective as chair of her global regulatory community. Denham chairs the Global Privacy Assembly, which brings together digital data protection and privacy commissioners from around the world to share knowledge and build stronger cooperation. Denham will reflect on the recently implemented California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the impact of growing regulation around data protection and privacy, pa

After witnessing the biggest protests in its history during the middle months of 2019, Hong Kong remains a subject of intense global interest and global concern. In this talk, Jeffrey Wasserstrom, a professor of modern Chinese history at UC Irvine and longtime scholar of social unrest, will use forays into history and comparison to help audience members make sense of Hong Kong's complex present and uncertain future. Wasserstrom’s new book, Vigil: Hong Kong on the Brink, has been described by one reviewer as “. . . essential reading for understanding China’s foreign policies, the legacies of empire and above all the extraordinary politics, society and culture of contemporary Hong Kong.” In addition to his academic writings, Wasserstrom has authored numerous books and articles for the general public. His writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, Financial Times, The Atlantic online edition, The New York Times and other print and online publications. MLF ORGANIZER Lillian

From the first humans to venture out of Africa 60,000 years ago to the displaced refugees of today, migration has always been a part of human life. And in parts of the world where immediate threats include violence and poverty, climate change probably isn't a driving motivation to leave home. But with erratic weather, extended droughts, and resource scarcity fueling political conflict and pressures on vulnerable rural livelihoods, it's impossible to leave climate out of the conversation. How is climate change fueling the mass movement of humans around the world, and what does that mean for national security and economies? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ezra Klein doesn’t believe America’s political system is broken. He argues that the truth is scarier: It’s working exactly as designed. Over the past 50 years, our partisan identities have merged with our racial, religious, geographic, ideological and cultural identities. According to Klein, this merging has created a toxic system that is tearing at the bonds that hold this country together. In his new book, Why We’re Polarized, Klein shows how and why American politics polarized around identity in the 20th century and what that polarization did to the way we see the world and each other. The book provides a clear framework for understanding everything from Trump’s rise to the Democratic Party’s leftward shift to the politicization of everyday culture. Join us for a conversation around how American politics became a gridlocked system, why we participate in it and what it means for our future. ** This Podcast Contains Explicit Language ** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. implored us to fight racism, poverty and militarism with disciplined nonviolence and radical love. “The choice today is no longer between violence and nonviolence,” he said. “It is either nonviolence or nonexistence.” Tragically, more than a half century after Dr. King’s assassination, we face a resurgence of racist hatred, ubiquitous gun violence, extreme inequality, pervasive homelessness and threats to the human species from global warming and nuclear weapons. How can we rediscover the power of nonviolence to effectively address these grave problems and urgent threats? What role do colleges and universities play to further Dr. King’s legacy of nonviolence? Join the Rev. Paul Fitzgerald and Clarence Jones in a dialogue on nonviolence, social justice, moral vision and higher education today. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond NOTES MLF: Humanities Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laura Huang, a preeminent Harvard Business School professor, says that success is about gaining an edge: that elusive quality that gives you an upper hand and attracts attention and support. Some people seem to naturally have it. She says the rest of us can create our own successes from the challenges and biases we think hold us back, turning them to work in our favor. Huang argues that success is rarely just about the quality of our ideas, credentials and skills, or our effort. Instead, she says achieving success hinges on how well we shape others' perceptions—of our strengths, certainly, but also of our flaws. It's about creating our own edge by confronting the factors that seem like shortcomings and turning them into assets that make others take notice. Come for a fascinating conversation about how to find your unique edge and keep it sharp. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As American society continues to have a growing older population, understanding all aspects of aging is a critical national priority. Perhaps no subject is more important than understanding what happens to our brains as they age and what people can do to enhance cognition as they get older. And there is, perhaps, no better person to explain this all than best-selling neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin, author of the iconic best sellers This Is Your Brain on Music and The Organized Mind. In his latest book, Successful Aging, Levitin turns his keen insights to what happens in our brains as people get older and, based on a rigorous analysis of neuroscientific evidence, what people can do to make the most of their 70s, 80s and 90s. Successful Aging uses research from developmental neuroscience and the psychology of individual differences to show that 60+ years is a unique developmental stage that, like infancy or adolescence, has its own demands and distinct advantages. Levitin looks at the science behind what we a