Commonwealth Club Of California Podcast

With COVID-19 shutting down urban areas, city dwellers from Los Angeles to New Delhi are getting a rare taste of clean air and blue skies. It is a glimpse of what net-zero cities might look like with transformed energy and transportation systems, minus the society-splintering pandemic. However, with a global recession on the horizon, critical programs to improve urban mobility and reduce emissions are on the sidelines. How are major cities like L.A., New York and Amsterdam implementing innovative sustainability projects to become net-zero? Will the recession impact funding for clean energy, infrastructure and bold action to address climate change? Join us with Lauren Faber O’Connor, chief sustainability officer for the city of Los Angeles, and Eva Gladek, founder and CEO of Metabolic, for a conversation on cities reaching for zero in a post-pandemic world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Please join The Commonwealth Club of California and UC Berkeley’s Townsend Center for the Humanities for the second in a series of dialogues on catastrophe, storytelling and the present moment. In “Climate Change and Sacred Groves,” Townsend Center scholar Sugata Ray will meet with visual artist Ranu Mukherjee to investigate the relationship between the natural world and the sacred realm, especially as it has developed in India over the last several centuries of civilization and the rise of the Anthropocene era. In his most recent book, Climate Change and the Art of Devotion, Sugata shows how a site-specific and ecologically grounded theology emerged in northern India in the wake of the Little Ice Age (ca. 1550–1850), an epoch marked by climatic catastrophes across the globe. His interests dovetail in unexpected and compelling ways with Ranu’s visionary and captivating recent work, which positions the banyan tree as a meeting point between ecology and culture. Their conversation will be an opportunity for vie

Filmmaker H.P Mendoza found himself living in Japan when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. He and his partner were given less than a day to uproot themselves and be evacuated to the United States. But Mendoza found himself on "Good Morning America" and on countless social media feeds when a video he made lampooning video conferences went viral. Once he was sheltering-in-place in San Francisco, he made another video, this time a birthday sing-a-long with dozens of his distant sheltering-in-place friends. Join us for this talk with a young filmmaker to learn more about his work, going viral in a good way, and coping with a pandemic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alice Wu's new film The Half of It tells the coming-of-age story of smart but cash-strapped teen Ellie Chu, who agrees to write a love letter for a jock to his crush. Chu doesn't expect to become his friend—or fall for his crush. The film, scheduled for a May 1 release on Netflix, is the second film from writer/producer/director Wu. Join us for a conversation with Alice Wu and the film's star, Leah Lewis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a short 10 years, Instagram has grown from a simple idea for sharing photos to an application with over 1 billion monthly users and company growth that has surpassed many other tech giants. At the same time, this exponential success has been accompanied by a dramatic acquisition by Facebook in 2012 and the Instagram co-founders stepping down in 2018. Award-winning technology reporter Sarah Frier helps bring some clarity to the mysteries surrounding the tech giant in her book No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram. The Bloomberg reporter delivers stories taken from the Instagram influencers and celebrities that have helped drive the app to such rapid growth, the employees and executives who have watched from behind the scenes, and the founders of Instagram themselves who give insight into the growth and change of the service. Join INFORUM as Frier draws from her expertise in technology to navigate through this diverse cast of sources to paint a picture of how Instagram evolved to shape the online experien

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected almost every facet of human life. Schools, businesses and entire industries have effectively shut down overnight, citizens have been asked to stay at home and limit social interaction as long as they can, and essential workers are risking their health every day on the frontlines of this global crisis. Negative emotions like fear, stress, anxiety and depression are inevitable and can overwhelm even the most optimistic of people. What can we do to nurture our happiness during these unprecedented times? Dr. Dacher Keltner joins INFORUM to answer that question. Dr. Keltner is the professor behind the popular course "The Science of Happiness" at UC Berkeley and is the founding director of the Greater Good Science Center where he blends scientific research with human empathy to create a healthier society. Kelter will share stories, tips and resources to help listeners cope with issues like talking to your children about COVID-19, finding connection while social distancing, managin

California was the first state to shelter in place, and the Bay Area began sheltering even earlier. While this appears to have reduced the rate of growth in COVID-19 cases, the nation’s largest state still is severely challenged by the global pandemic. Many hospitals are overcrowded, the numbers of patients in rural areas are increasing, hundreds of Californians have died, and many have lost both their jobs and their health-care coverage. How is the health-care system in the state responding? What are the health and financial implications for individual Californians? Three California health-care leaders whose organizations collectively impact millions of citizens will share what their organizations are doing to tackle the crisis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One day after the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump, the worldwide Women’s March gathered people from all seven continents to send a bold message that women’s rights are human rights. It was one of the largest single-day protests in U.S. history, advocating for women’s rights, immigration reform, racial equality and more. In her new book, We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders, award-winning activist Linda Sarsour chronicles her intersectional experiences growing up as the daughter of immigrant parents, as a Muslim woman unshaken in her faith in a post 9/11 world, as a co-organizer of the Women’s March, and as a leader in the decades-long fight for justice. Join her, in conversation with internationally recognized organizer Alicia Garza, to learn about the power of mobilization and community when fighting for lasting change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

COVID-19 has been a national disaster. The impact has disproportionately affected minority and lower income Americans, who tend to have jobs that can’t be done from home and are less likely to have health-care coverage or access to medical care. That’s true in most crises, but this one is different. Anyone who fails to get tested or treated for COVID-19 risks getting others sick and delays economic recovery for all, regardless of socioeconomic status. How can safety-net hospitals, Medicaid providers, and health plans ensure that all Americans get the tests and health care they need during the pandemic? Will the current sentiment that "We’re all in this together" finally convince the public of the need for universal coverage? CEOs of two safety-net hospitals and the nation’s largest public option health plan will discuss how they’re handling the crisis, what they’re doing to reduce inequities, and the potential impact of the crisis on health care going forward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone

Within weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic has uprooted almost every fabric of American life. Workplaces have moved to remote or closed, cities have shut down, and the country has largely grounded to a halt. In a pivotal election year, more than a dozen states have postponed their primaries, campaigning has moved to the digital world, and individual civil liberties have been curtailed to prevent community spread. What effects will this have on America and the world’s democratic systems? Join our two experts as they break down our changing world. James Fallows has written for The Atlantic for more than 40 years, and his award-winning reporting has taken him through Asia, Europe and across the United States. Kori Schake is the director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, and her distinguished career in government includes working at the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Department of Defense and the National Security Council at the White House. Learn more about your ad choices. Vi

The COVID-19 recession is unfolding at historic speed and depth. New jobless claims reached 10 million in just two weeks, a record pace. Wall Street’s fear gauge closed at an all-time high in mid-March. Environmentally, though, the shutdown has come with some temporary benefits—decreased travel, cleaner water and a plunging demand for oil. But crashing the economy isn’t exactly a climate solution. How will the coronavirus recession reshape the economy and prospects for addressing climate in a post-pandemic world? How does this economic crisis compare to others in history? Join us for a conversation with Kathleen Day, finance lecturer at Johns Hopkins University and author of Broken Bargain: Banks, Bailouts, and the Struggle to Tame Wall Street; Amy Jaffe, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations; and Matt Rogers, senior partner at McKinsey & Company. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The root of the word health is whole. Two medical professionals with long careers in medicine, health and science will talk about a new system called HealthMedicine, which is integrative, holistic, preventative and person-centered. What would it look like to put care back into health care? Building communities that support healthy living is the goal of these two professionals. This is the first program in a series led by the Health & Medicine Member-led Forum of The Commonwealth Club. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pi Mai is the Laotian New Year (also known as Songkran). It is a time of renewal. But how are Lao, Thai, and Cambodian celebrants dealing with this holiday during a time of sheltering at home, closed businesses, and a raging pandemic? We'll talk with four community activists about New Years in the age of the coronavirus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across America, leaders and citizens alike across the country are asking the same question: How were we so unprepared? And how should we respond as a nation? Representative Adam Schiff, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, is working on getting answers and ensuring we’re better prepared for the next pandemic. In the last few weeks, Schiff and his congressional colleagues proposed a 9/11-style bipartisan commission to investigate the government’s response, determine if the administration ignored key warning signs, and help oversee how they spend the more than $2 trillion in relief funding. Join Schiff and Mother Jones Editor in Chief Clara Jeffery for a virtual conversation about missed warnings, the government’s response and where we go from here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The president says we are at war with the coronavirus. It’s a war we should fight to win. The economy is in the tank, and anywhere from thousands to more than a million American lives are in jeopardy. Most analyses assume that both the pandemic and the economic setback must play out over a period of many months. However, there is another option, one that simultaneously limits fatalities and gets the economy cranking again in a sustainable way. Dr. Harvey Fineberg believes if we establish six bold steps to mobilize and organize the nation, we can defeat COVID-19 by early June. The aim is not to flatten the curve—the goal is to crush the curve. Learn more about this forceful and focused campaign to eradicate COVID-19 in the United States. Fineberg has held several prominent positions over the course of his career, including dean of the Harvard School of Public Health, provost of Harvard University and president of the Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine). Learn more about your ad choices

As the COVID-19 crisis grips America and the world, the daily counts of confirmed cases and deaths have become ubiquitous. But these two numbers paint an incomplete picture about how widespread the outbreak truly is. To provide a more detailed scope of the crisis, journalist Alexis Madrigal started the COVID Tracking Project. Madrigal and a team of data and science experts have spent hundreds of hours obtaining, organizing and publishing high-quality data breaking down the test numbers. The data report the number of positive and negative tests done at the national and state levels, as well as pending tests and deaths. Madrigal joins us to break down this important work and how data can help us better understand an invisible enemy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As California nears 25,000 cases of COVID-19, there have now been more than 1,800 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Santa Clara County, with a death toll of over 60. With a population of nearly 2 million, the number of COVID-19-related deaths per 100,000 residents is the highest rate of any of the Bay Area’s five most populous counties. How are Santa Clara's leaders handling this crisis and what steps will they take to handle pandemics in the future? Hear more from Santa Clara County officials. This program is free, though donations are strongly encouraged and appreciated. This program is part of The Commonwealth Club’s virtual series, addressing the myriad impacts of COVID19 on our community and society at large. It is supported by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and collaborative of local funders and donors. We are grateful for their support and hope others will follow their example to support the Club during these uncertain times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Americans have grappled with coming to terms with the pandemic and its many effects on their lives—working from home, loss of income or job, homeschooling their children, worries about their own or their loved ones' health—some of them also have to worry about being attacked because of their race. Join us for a timely discussion of the discrimination, verbal abuse and even physical attacks directed at Asian-Americans as the COVID-19 pandemic has spread across the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Commonwealth Club and Born This Way Foundation Invite you to a conversation focused on the intersection of kindness and mental health during these unprecedented times. In this conversation, moderated by Maya Smith, you'll hear from mental health experts, advocates and young people on the many ways the COVID-19 pandemic has uprooted our normality, how we can find ways to spread kindness while also focusing on our mental health. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When institutional investors divest from fossil fuel companies does it have more than symbolic impact? Universities, pension funds and other asset managers have hopped on the divest–invest bandwagon. Critics say selling fossil fuel stocks just makes them cheaper for others to buy and doesn’t affect the financial health of oil and gas companies. Supporters say it’s a moral move that also makes financial sense because burning all the carbon on the balance sheets of listed energy companies will destroy human civilization as we know it. What’s the bottom line on divestment? What should you do with your portfolio? Join a conversation about financing the transition to a cleaner economy with Brian Deese, global head of sustainable investing at Black Rock, Lori Keith, portfolio manager at Parnassus Investments, Pratima Rangarajan, CEO of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, and Anne Simpson, director of board governance & strategy at CalPERS. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices