Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

When we think of the people behind the most influential technological advances of our day, we usually imagine the leaders of the industry but forget the armies behind them: coders. Dedicated to the pursuit of higher efficiency, these lovers of logic and puzzles are able to withstand unbelievable amounts of frustration; they are arguably the most quietly influential people on the planet. In his new book, Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World, Clive Thompson argues just that. Through increasingly pervasive artificial intelligence, coders have a larger and larger role to play. Thompson analyzes how embedded this industry is in our lives, questioning the lack of geographic and demographic diversity in the sector while outlining his optimistic view on the opportunities that this age of code can unlock. Join us for a conversation about this frequently misunderstood industry culture and a refreshingly enthusiastic take on its future. Thompson is a freelance journalist and one of the most prominent technology writers. He is a longtime contributor to The New York Times Magazine and a columnist for Wired. ** This Podcast Contains Explicit Language **

Retired Vice Admiral Charles W. Martoglio of the U.S. Navy will discuss America’s greatest security challenge of the 21st century, the increasingly competitive rivalry posed by China and Russia teaming against American interests at home and around the world. He’ll discuss the global security environment, how China and Russia are challenging America, internal challenges faced by Russia and China, and America’s way ahead to ensure its global position in this increasingly dynamic and competitive world. MLF Organizer: Linda Calhoun MLF: International Relations

In her book Sacred Voices: Stories from the Caravan of Women, Mariam Baker shows how we are all connected, and how women can lead the way. Finding herself strongly connected to Islam and Sufism since she was 20 years old, Baker, who grew up Catholic in the United States, conducts workshops all over the world, bridging the divide between Islam and the West. Believing it’s about time the greatness of women’s wisdom is spoken and heard, her lifelong work is devoted to empowering us all, especially women, with the goal of freeing women’s voices throughout the world and amongst all religions. Baker has led a rich and varied life that has helped launch her career as a spiritual teacher, conducting workshops all over the world. A specialist in women's and religious studies, she has spoken throughout the United States and in Canada, Brazil, Germany, Ireland, Russia, Tunisia and Australia. A leader in women’s spirituality since the 1970s, Baker has dedicated herself to uncovering the voices that have been forgotten, shunted aside or deliberately silenced. MLF Organizer: Denise Michaud MLF: Grownups

The Department of Homeland Security seems to appear in the headlines and in the media more and more often. Covering everything from terrorism prevention, law enforcement, disaster recovery and public safety, the department’s goals can often seem self-contradictory and overly politicized, especially today. Few people understand this better than Janet Napolitano, who served as the Secretary of Homeland Security from 2009-2013. In her new book, How Safe Are We? Homeland Security Since 9/11, Napolitano unabashedly acknowledges the shortcomings and challenges facing the Department of Homeland Security today, especially the politicization of border security and our lagging cybersecurity sector. But she also makes a pragmatic and honest case for its successes and explains the ways in which Homeland Security does indeed make us safer. Join us for a discussion that chronicles the evolution of our national security and cuts through the political noise that too often dominates these conversations.

The issues facing black communities are often complicated, nuanced and heavily weighted by centuries of historical injustice. Black Futures Lab, founded by Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza, works to make black people powerful in politics by transforming black communities into constituencies that build power in cities and states. The Black Futures Lab recently completed the largest survey of black people since Reconstruction, with nearly 40,000 respondents from diverse communities across the nation. The survey included questions regarding many defining characteristics, including gender, sexuality, age and other categories, and it dug into several key issues rooted in inequality and to understand better what black communities desire for their futures. Join Garza and other cultural leaders, scholars and experts for a conversation about the inaugural data results and how to use this data to create solutions with lasting impact.

This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. Guy Kawasaki has been a fixture in Silicon Valley and the tech world since he was part of Apple's original Macintosh team in the 1980s. He's widely respected as a source of wisdom about entrepreneurship, venture capital, marketing and business evangelism. But before all that, he was just a middle-class kid in Hawaii, a grandson of Japanese immigrants. Kawaski's new book, Wise Guy, is this unique tech icon's opportunity to share what he has learned throughout his life. In his more than 10 previous best-selling books, Kawasaki has shared business insights that have been taught at business schools across the country and inspired innovators. In this most recent book, Kawsaki takes readers through his surprising journey and focuses on the experiences that have enlightened and inspired him. Guy covers everything from moral values to business skills to parenting. At a time when the tech world is under a microscope and wide swaths of the public are looking for more from their business leaders, Kawasaki's latest book comes at a perfect time, for him and the general public. Please join for a conversation with one of the top tech leaders of our time. Kawasaki is the chief evangelist of Canva, an online graphic design tool. He is a brand ambassador for Mercedes-Benz and an executive fellow of the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. He was the chief evangelist of Apple and a trustee of the Wikimedia Foundation. He is also the author of The Art of the Start 2.0, The Art of Social Media, Enchantment and nine other books. ***This Program Contains Explicit Language***

Celebrate the lunch hour on April Fools’ Day by sitting at the feet of cosmic comic Swami Beyondananda, whose favorite yoga pose is tongue in cheek. Swami will help you laugh lovingly at our human foolishness till the sacred cows come home. And at least one lucky person in the audience will achieve “fool realization" as to why author Marianne Williamson has called Swami the Mark Twain of our times. Come in darkness (to get a good seat), but expect to be enlightened. And BYOF (bring your own friends), because when it comes to laughter, the more the merrier. MLF Organizer: George Hammond MLF: Humanities

One of America's top doctors reveals how artificial intelligence (AI) will empower physicians and revolutionize patient care. Medicine has become inhuman to disastrous effect. The doctor–patient relationship—the heart of medicine—is broken: Doctors are too distracted and overwhelmed to truly connect with their patients, and medical errors and misdiagnoses abound. In his latest book, Deep Medicine, Topol reveals how AI can help. AI has the potential to transform everything doctors do, from note-taking and medical scans to diagnosis and treatment, greatly cutting down the cost of medicine and reducing human mortality. By freeing physicians from the tasks that interfere with human connection, AI will create space for the real healing that takes place between a doctor who can listen and a patient who needs to be heard. MLF Organizer Name: Bill Grant MLF: Health & Medicine

Many Americans are horrified about the dysfunction and abysmal results from Washington, D.C., say Katherine Gehl and Michael Porter, and they argue that they have a realistic approach to changing this. They say our political problems are not due to a single cause but rather to a failure of the nature of the political competition that has been created—a systems problem. Come for a rare visit with two of America’s top business thinkers as they turn their focus to realigning America’s political system through the Gehl Porter politics industry theory. Katherine M. Gehl is a business leader, author and speaker. She was president and CEO of Gehl Foods, a $250 million high-tech food manufacturing company in Wisconsin, where she led a transformational growth strategy and received multiple awards before selling the company in 2015—in part to dedicate more time to political reform. Her career includes roles in the private and public sectors including at Oracle Corporation, Bernstein Investment Research and Management, Mayor Richard M. Daley’s office at the city of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools. In 2018, she co-founded Democracy Found, a Wisconsin-based initiative mobilizing a bipartisan group of leaders to implement electoral innovations in Wisconsin. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame and holds an MA from Catholic University and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Michael E. Porter is an economist, researcher, author, advisor, speaker and teacher. Throughout his lifetime career at Harvard Business School, he has brought economic theory and strategy concepts to bear on many of the most challenging problems facing corporations, economies and societies, including market competition and company strategy, economic development, the environment and health care. He is the author of 19 books and over 130 articles and is the most-cited scholar today in economics and business. Porter graduated from Princeton University and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a doctorate from Harvard’s department of economics.

Despite having the top-selling luxury car in 2018, and a loyal if not rabid customer base, Tesla has been facing major challenges. In August, maverick CEO Elon Musk was slapped with SEC charges over some rather misleading tweets. That move cost him and the company millions in fines and forced Musk to step down as chairman. Other skid-marks for Tesla include production delays, shareholder skittishness and some well-publicized workplace complaints. Host Greg Dalton invites three journalists and Tesla-watchers to assess the health of Tesla, its overall impact on the auto industry and its future as a leader in the green economy.

Some would say that the magic of artificial intelligence, or AI, is that its users are its primary source of power. As we navigate a Facebook page or ask Alexa a question, we provide data inputs at virtually no cost. Others, such as Amy Webb, would argue that this is AI’s most dangerous characteristic. This is because our data contributions are subject to such limited oversight. Webb is the founder of the Future Today Institute, a leading foresight and strategy firm that advises Fortune 500 companies, international nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and government agencies. A clear lover of new experiences, reporting and data, today she is a self-described quantitative futurist. Since future trends are usually present on the fringe of society before they appear in the mainstream, Webb’s line of work uses data-driven models to report on the probabilities of the future. Her latest predictions, as laid out in her book The Big Nine: How Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity, give three scenarios for the future of artificial intelligence—optimistic, pragmatic and catastrophic. For each scenario, she provides practical measures that can be taken to address the most pressing issues. Her lesson in foresight is an important one as AI becomes more powerful and embedded within our everyday lives. Join us for a compelling discussion on the future of artificial intelligence—and what we can do about it.

Join us for the first joint public appearance by the former governor and first lady since leaving office. Here’s a rare opportunity to hear their views on issues impacting the state, the United States and the world, in addition to learning about their unique relationship. Come for an engaging, unabashed and lively conversation, and bring your questions. Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown Jr. served four terms as California’s governor in addition to being the state’s attorney general and mayor of Oakland. He graduated from UC Berkeley and attended Yale Law School. His achievements include: eliminating the state’s multibillion dollar budget deficit, cutting the state’s unemployment rate to a record low, adding nearly three million new jobs, expanding health coverage, and enacting sweeping reforms in the areas of public safety, immigration, workers’ compensation, water, pension, education, housing and economic development. Under Brown, California also established nation-leading targets to protect the environment and fight climate change. Anne Gust Brown married Governor Brown in 2005 and served as unpaid special counsel to the governor. Gust Brown grew up in Michigan and graduated from Stanford University and the University of Michigan Law School. She previously served as general counsel and chief administrative officer at Gap Inc. and helped run a number of Governor Brown’s successful campaigns.

Join Golden Globe-winning actress Taraji P. Henson, director Robin Bissell and producer Dominique Telson for a powerful conversation about the civil rights era and their new film, The Best of Enemies. While the 1960s in the United States were rife with violent racial tensions, Durham, North Carolina is a crucial anchor in the history of the civil rights movement. From hosting the country’s first sit-in to various visits from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, the city is the birthplace of many unsung heroes in the movement, including Ann Atwater. In 1971, civil rights activist Ann Atwater teamed up with an unlikely ally, KKK member C.P. Ellis, after a decade-long feud. Together, they shared a goal to reduce school violence and ensure peaceful desegregation. Atwater’s story and her friendship with Ellis is finally being told for audiences around the world in the upcoming film The Best of Enemies, starring Taraji P. Henson. Henson rose to fame with powerful roles in the television show “Empire” and the films Hidden Figures and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Join Henson, Bissell and Telson at INFORUM as they all discuss the making of the film, Atwater’s incredible life and the immense power of finding a common ground with everyone. ** This Podcast Contains Explicit Language **

At 37 years old, Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg already has a few firsts under his belt. In 2011 and at the age of 29, he was elected mayor of South Bend, IN, making him the youngest mayor of a U.S. city with at least 100,000 residents, and the first openly gay municipal executive in Indiana. In December 2018, he announced his 2020 campaign for the presidency and is now the first millennial and the first openly gay presidential candidate. With fellow politicians like President Barack Obama touting him as the future of the Democratic Party, Buttigieg is seemingly in for an incredible year. Join INFORUM for a conversation with the presidential hopeful, moderated by Mother Jones Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery, as they discuss Buttigieg’s quickly rising star, the importance of representation in American politics, and his desire to be the “fresh start” he feels our country needs.

A 100+ years ago, no one might have imagined putting a dam in a national park. But San Francisco did just that after the 1906 earthquake and fire. Building the O'Shaughnessy Dam was not easy. Some fought the process; others still want to see the dam dismantled. Yet, for more than a 100 years, the dam has been the water center for San Francisco and millions of Californians who rely on pure water and clean energy. But can our Hetch Hetchy water and energy systems survive a changing climate? Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Jim Yager will share his new documentary film, Water from the Wilderness, about the past, present and changing climates and times. MLF ORGANIZER NAME Ann Clark NOTES MLF: Environment & Natural Resources