Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Who are the people bankrolling our political system? Mayer takes us behind the scenes and exposes the powerful group of individuals who are shaping our country. She traces the billions of dollars spent by the Kochs, the Scaifes, the Olins, and the Bradleys and uncovers their influences on policies related to climate change, the economy and more. Mayer also discusses the results of the 2016 election and what the future might entail if these elite billionaires continue to drive decisions at the state and federal levels.

Why are Silicon Valley's nonprofits struggling to meet demand in one of the wealthiest and most sophisticated regions in the world? In addition to national or global causes, why aren’t more Silicon Valley philanthropists directing their dollars toward local organizations and issues? And why hasn’t more entrepreneurial ingenuity been harnessed to solve local problems? A new report, The Giving Code: Silicon Valley Nonprofits and Philanthropy by Alexa Cortés Culwell and Heather McLeod Grant, found that despite a nearly $5 billion boom in philanthropy in Silicon Valley—driven by a 150 percent increase in individual giving from 2008 to 2013—the region's nonprofits are struggling to keep up with growing demand for their services, having less than three months’ cash on hand. The report reveals a shocking prosperity paradox in Silicon Valley with skyrocketing wealth found alongside growing displacement of vulnerable populations and declining quality of life. Even as Silicon Valley boasts more than 76,000 millionaires and billionaires, its middle class is shrinking—nearly 30 percent of residents (roughly 800,000 people) rely on some form of public or private assistance to get by. Our panel, comprised of prominent philanthropists and local nonprofit leaders, will take a deeper look into Silicon Valley’s giving culture.

It's never a dull moment in politics these days, and we'll 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. Join our panelists for informative and engaging commentary on political and other major news, audience discussion of the week’s events, and our live news quiz!

Dr. Dalin will cover the lives, legal careers, judicial legacies, and Jewish background of the eight Jews who have served or who currently serve as justices of the U.S. Supreme Court: Louis D. Brandeis, Benjamin N. Cardozo, Felix Frankfurter, Arthur Goldberg, Abe Fortas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer and Elena Kagan, who was appointed by Barack Obama in 2010. He will also discuss how Woodrow Wilson's historic appointment of Louis D. Brandeis in 1916 began the tradition of a "Jewish Seat" on the Supreme Court, and the role that antisemitism did or did not play in these eight Justices' legal careers and Senate confirmation hearings.

Ben Shapiro has made a name for himself as a prominent young conservative voice in our nation’s political dialogue. At 17, Shapiro became the youngest nationally syndicated columnist in America as a part of the Creators Syndicate. He was the editor-at-large for Breitbart.com; co-founder of TruthRevolt, the media watchdog website; has written several successful books and also started his own law practice. Today, he's the editor-in-chief of DailyWire.com; host of "The Ben Shapiro Show," the number one conservative podcast on iTunes; and has almost half a million Twitter followers, who engage in discussion and debate with him every day. Shapiro is a California native and is a graduate of both UCLA and Harvard Law School. Shapiro is frequently called upon to offer his opinion on controversial political and social issues, on everything from the role of the media in our society to the rise of Black Lives Matter to Jews in the United States. He’s known for his confrontational approach and is never one to back down during a heated exchange. Shapiro welcomes agreement and argument alike, so we hope you’ll join us for an in-depth conversation. Bring your questions!

Americans today worry that social and political divisions threaten our democracy and our futures together, bound by one nation. Bridget Ford will offer valuable historical perspective from the Civil War era, this country’s greatest test of unity and moral purpose. Drawing from her recent book, Bonds of Union, Ford will show how diverse Americans worked to create a stronger, more inclusive nation that prevented the country’s permanent dissolution. Her talk will focus on the establishment of publicly funded schools for all children, and the new Republican Party’s critical involvement in that effort in the 1850s. She will argue that the United States has a longer, deeper history of imagining an inclusive society than we typically imagine, one that stretches back to the decades before the Civil War.

Learn to identify and avoid your unique migraine triggers by looking at the most common triggers: food, odors, additives and deficiencies. All the information provided during this program will relate to safe treatments, which are available without the side effects that often come from taking prescription drugs. For example, you will learn about a histamine-free diet, which resulted in 68 percent of patients having half as many migraines. We will look at other natural treatments, such as: root powder, a single B vitamin, coenzyme Q10 and a medical plant. Taken together, these safe techniques have the potential to reduce migraines from three times a week to once every other month. In this program, Blake will outline some of the many safer, natural remedies for migraine headaches with the goal of helping you to become free from migraine pain. For more information, visit: www.DrSteveBlake.com.

Perhaps the world’s most well-known advocate for the environment, Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and U.N. Messenger of Peace, has for much of her nearly six-decade-long career worked to raise awareness about the importance of protecting our planet. The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) is a global, community conservation organization operating in more than 30 countries worldwide with a strong presence in Africa’s chimpanzee range. JGI’s approach to species conservation improves the lives of people, animals and the environment by honoring their interconnectedness. Goodall spends her time traveling around the world nearly 300 days a year, inspiring and mobilizing people with her twin messages of hope and action. Jeff Horowitz is founder of Avoided Deforestation Partners, a global nonprofit network dedicated to healing the climate by protecting forests, which absorb carbon pollution. He is also a co-executive producer of "Years of Living Dangerously," a National Geographic television series focused on the risks and opportunities of global climate change. In 2014, Horowitz accepted an Emmy for season one of "Years of Living Dangerously." The series was founded by legendary producers James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger and the late Jerry Weintraub. Join us for a conversation about reasons for hope, thoughts about the connection between deforestation and climate change, and the threat to environmental protection coming from Washington, D.C.

Elisabeth Rosenthal will reveal the dark details of the American health-care system. Breaking down the monolithic business into its individual industries—the hospitals, doctors, insurance companies and drug manufacturers—that together constitute our health-care system, Rosenthal will divulge a history of American medicine that’s never been told before. She will also tell patients exactly how they can fight back. After 22 years as a correspondent at The New York Times (where she covered a variety of beats from health care to environment), Rosenthal joined Kaiser Health News last September. She is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Medical School and briefly practiced medicine in a New York City emergency room before converting to journalism.

Technology has made our lives incomparably better, but it is also one of the greatest threats facing humankind. All of the marvelous gadgets we’ve invented are not only thoroughly reinventing us, but they are also doing it in ways in which we have no idea of their full impact. In short, we are undergoing a transformation that affects every aspect of our being—our brains, bodies, institutions and the entire world. Ian Mitroff, currently developing ideas for an upcoming book, will discuss these topics and more. According to Mitroff, we cannot continue to dump the latest technologies on the world without doing a better job of forecasting their negative and positive aspects; we need to do everything we can to mitigate potential negative impacts in order to avoid an immense backlash against technology. Mitroff is a professor emeritus at the University of Southern California where he was the Harold Quinton distinguished professor of business policy at the Marshall School of Business and the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. He is currently a senior investigator for the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Management. He holds a bachelor's of science in engineering physics, a master's in structural engineering, and a Ph.D. in industrial engineering and the philosophy of social systems science from the University of California, Berkeley. He has published 37 books and hundreds of articles and op-eds. He is a regular blogger for The Huffington Post. He lives in Oakland, CA, where he is president of Mitroff Crisis Management. He is generally regarded as one of the principal founders of the crisis management field. Gerald Harris leads the Club's science and technology member-led forum and has over 20 years experience as a strategy consultant for energy and high technology companies.

To the American public, Vicente Fox may be Mexico’s most well-known, modern politician. Prior to becoming president, he received a top management diploma from Harvard Business School and went on to become president of Coca-Cola for Mexico and Latin America. He has most recently made national headlines by telling President Trump that Mexico “will not pay for that [expletive] wall,” and continues to engage President Trump on social media. Fox was the first candidate from an opposition party to be elected president. Currently, he is actively involved in encouraging leadership and creating opportunities for less favored people through his organization Centro Fox. What are the realities and possibilities for the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico? Here’s a rare chance to get a unique perspective from one of Mexico’s most prominent and outspoken thought leaders.

The heart of Krista Tippett’s work on her NPR program and podcast, "On Being," has been to shine a light on people whose insights kindle in us a sense of wonder and courage. She interviews a variety of people, including scientists, poets, activists and theologians from an array of faiths who have all opened themselves up to Tippett's compassionate yet searching conversations. In her latest book, Becoming Wise, Tippett distills the insights she has gleaned from these luminous conversations into a master class about living. Join us for an enlightening discussion about her work and insights into her fiercely hopeful vision of humanity for this century.

David Callahan holds a Ph.D. in politics from Princeton and is the author of seven previous nonfiction books, including The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead and Fortunes of Change: The Rise of the Liberal Rich and the Remaking America. Callahan’s latest investigation focuses on what he calls the secretive world of elite philanthropists—and how they're quietly wielding ever more power to shape American life in ways both good and bad. While media attention focuses on famous philanthropists, such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Charles Koch, Callahan says thousands of donors are at work below the radar promoting a wide range of causes, converting fortunes into influence, with deep impact on government policy. Emmett Carson, president of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, now with $8 billion in assets, has become a major player in Bay Area and national philanthropy, especially for tech givers, and will give his perspective on the philanthropic world. Come hear about a power shift in American society that Callahan says has implications for us all. Labels:

Digital marketing is constantly evolving with incredible advancements in technology, partnerships, acquisitions and new strategic thinking. Ad-blocking, artificial intelligence, programmatic media buying, and big data are constant buzzwords we hear about the marketing landscape. Join this panel of experts across agency, publishing and technology as they discuss the biggest challenges and opportunities ahead for the next year. Mason Garrity has over eight years experience in digital marketing, originally getting hooked at Kayak.com in college. Leading 3Q Digital's consulting and strategy practices, he works with the Bay Area’s most innovative companies and achieves growth goals through performance marketing. Prior to 3Q, Garrity co-founded Noosphere Marketing, an online marketing firm in New York City and received a degree in economics from Pomona College. Nikesh Desai is the co-founder and CEO of InvestingChannel, an interactive media platform that aggregates independent financial news. Prior, Desai co-founded the consultancy Giant Step Strategies and served as VP of business development at TheStreet.com. Ming B. Wu is chief revenue officer of MightyHive. He's also worked as SolarCity's executive vice president of marketing and as president of Accuen. During the mid-2000s, he led Yahoo's $1 billion brand advertising business and managed their monetization organization across $1.7 billion in display advertising in North America, Asia-Pacific and emerging markets.

In his book, Masters of Command: Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, and the Genius of Leadership, Strauss draws lessons from the experiences of history’s greatest generals. Strauss explains that a key component of these leaders’ successes was their ability to inspire loyalty from their troops. They did so by leading by example and, in turn, earned their soldiers’ trust and respect. In this program, Strauss will apply these lessons to today’s executives who strive to outperform competition and create an engaged, high-achieving workforce.