Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Nearly a year after Donald Trump was elected president, what has happened? What has changed? What promises have been kept and not kept? It's Halloween, so we'll have some holiday treats in store — hopefully no tricks. 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!

It has become clear: North Korea not only has nuclear weapons but is also developing intercontinental missiles with the capacity to strike the continental United States. What are the latest facts about North Korea’s weapons and the political situation? How does this crisis affect South Korea, Japan and other countries throughout Asia? How does it affect the United States? What are the possible ethical and policy responses to the current situation? Professor William J. Perry and Professor Jeffrey Lewis, two of the leading American experts on nuclear weapons and related defense policy, and Kathleen Stephens, former U.S. ambassador to South Korea, will address this nuclear crisis and its broader implications.

Should Americans be optimistic or pessimistic about the state of the country heading into 2018? Come hear from one of America’s leading conservative pundits. Steve Forbes is chairman of Forbes Media, which publishes Forbes magazine. Forbes has a circulation of nearly 1 million readers domestically and 5 million worldwide. In both 1996 and 2000, Forbes campaigned vigorously for the Republican nomination for the presidency. Key components to his platform included a flat tax, medical savings accounts, a new Social Security system for working Americans, parental school choice, term limits and a strong national defense. Forbes continues to energetically promote this agenda. Bring your questions.

Recent campaign scandals and celebrity arrests have brought discussions on gender quality and domestic violence to the forefront in the news. But for many Californians, domestic violence is not just a news story. In fact, a staggering 40 percent of female Californians report having been victims of domestic violence in the past. How can we understand this devastating societal issue and seek to address its root causes? Join our discussion as we talk about new studies on domestic violence in California and discuss shocking new findings on racial disparities and perceptions of gender roles.

San Francisco Opera's world premiere of "Girls of the Golden West," set during the 1850s California Gold Rush, was created by the renowned team: composer John Adams and director/librettist Peter Sellars. Sellars and San Francisco Opera general director Matthew Shilvock will discuss the production and its mix of wildness, optimism, greed, violence, humor and racial prejudices in the stories of three Gold Rush women whose lives intersected in a small mining community in the Sierra Nevada mountains in 1850. "Girls of the Golden West" is based on factual events and persons.

Sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our lives. It affects our wellness and longevity, and yet questions about why we sleep and its purpose have only recently been answered. Neuroscientist and sleep expert Matt Walker provides a new understanding of sleep and how it affects our ability to learn, memorize and make logical decisions. Walker also answers a variety of questions about dreaming, sleep patterns, aging and disease prevention.

America today seems divided into increasingly polarized factions. Political parties, industries, activists, nonprofit organizations, and ethnic and religious groups not only disagree vehemently but also doubt one another’s intellect, values and sincerity. It’s hard to imagine reaching consensus on the issues that divide us if we can’t even have civil discourse. Fortunately, there are proven approaches to getting competing players not only to talk but also to reach meaningful agreement. Since 2009, Convergence has convened people and groups with divergent views to build trust, identify solutions and form alliances for action on critical national issues. Using a structured process that typically takes 12–24 months: leading health care experts from all political stripes developed bipartisan pathways forward on the health care debate that currently roils the nation. teachers’ unions, charter school advocates, school administrators and others collaborated on a transformational vision for K-12 education. nutritionists, convenience stores, fast food companies and public health experts agreed on recommendations for encouraging healthy eating among Americans. Convergence president Rob Fersh will discuss the organization’s origins, its impact so far, its “special sauce” for bridging divides, and its vision for a more collaborative, civil and productive society. Fersh is president and founder of Convergence. He brings a 40-year track record addressing major national problems, including forging bipartisan legislation on controversial issues while serving on the staffs of three congressional committees.

Brothers William and Philip Taubman know Russia well. William Taubman’s Khrushchev won the Pulitzer Prize, and his new book, Gorbachev, is already being critically praised as a riveting story of how the leader of “the evil empire” forged a peaceful partnership with the United States. It is also a compelling history of the Soviet Union and Russia. Philip Taubman worked for The New York Times as a reporter and editor for nearly 30 years, specializing in national security issues, including intelligence and defense policies. Come for a unique conversation about Russia then and now and what William Taubman terms “the importance of leaders who understood that the value of power is its ability to create a better world.”

Climate One goes to the front line of climate change - the high Arctic - to hear from the people there how their economies, communities and culture are changing due to global warming.

Founded in 1892, the Sierra Club has evolved into the most effective grassroots environmental advocacy organization in the United States. Over 125 years in action, the Sierra Club started as a group tasked with protecting the Sierra Nevada. The club expanded to work on climate change, environmental justice, gender equity, green jobs and sustainable trade, food and agriculture as well as ecosystems protection and restoration. Over the years, the club has been a major force in efforts to support sustainability and the environment. Most recently, the club has rallied to head off attempts by the Trump administration and others to dismantle years of environmental work, heritage and progress. Join us to celebrate all that the Sierra Club has done and will continue to do to protect the environment, health, safety and future of our people, land, water and air in the United States and around the world.

Socially dangerous views on immigration were once confined to the margins of political discourse. Now, in the wake of refugee crises and terrorist attacks, these sentiments have become politically more acceptable, helping propel Donald Trump to the White House, influence the vote on Brexit and make Marine Le Pen popular in France. Go Back to Where You Came From explains how we got here and why the extreme Right has grown stronger in countries that have historically been defenders of human rights and models of tolerance. By combining narrative history and on-the-ground reporting, including interviews with refugees, alt-right activists, the rising stars of the new Right and the intellectuals who enabled them, Sasha Polakow-Suransky shows how this phenomenon has quickly reshaped the political landscape.

In his profiles of great innovators, biographer Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs, explores how humanism can inspire scientific achievement. With a new biography of Leonardo da Vinci, the original Renaissance man, Isaacson revives a pivotal moment in history in which people felt encouraged to question authority and investigate their surroundings. He explores how da Vinci’s variegated studies of anatomy, mathematics, archaeology, ornithology, botany, geology, weaponry, painting and theater were actually facets of a larger project. Isaacson introduces his readers to da Vinci’s high-flying imagination with vividness and clarity that is sure to inspire the polymath in us all. Isaacson is a professor of history at Tulane University. His work as a historian is rooted in his previous career in journalism as chairman of CNN and editor of Time. Additionally, he served as CEO of the nonprofit Aspen Institute of Humanistic Studies for 14 years. Isaacson also has a distinguished record in government, leading disaster recovery in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and fostering business partnerships between the United States and the Muslim world. Come hear from a writer with both a brilliant, historical mind as well as a progressive, innovative outlook on the world.

When rape allegations against Gabrielle Union’s co-star Nate Parker surfaced a month before the release of the film The Birth of a Nation, Union made headlines when she spoke out about her own experience of being raped as a young woman, and she urged compassion for other survivors of sexual assault. Today, Union is an important and powerful voice for rape survivors, and she advocates against sexual violence while also juggling her work in Hollywood, her many business endeavors and life with her family. In her debut book, We’re Going to Need More Wine, Union shares stories and essays on race, gender, feminism, sexuality, fame, marriage, beauty and more, all with the trademark honesty and humor her fans have loved for years. Join Union and INFORUM and get real over a glass of wine.

In his best-selling, first book, The Lean Startup, entrepreneur Eric Ries laid out a new road map to success for startups of all shapes and sizes, kick-starting a movement that quickly spread across the industry and inspired a generation of entrepreneurs. Now he’s back with his latest, The Startup Way, examining different kinds of companies and organizations beyond the startup and how they can leverage key entrepreneurial tactics and principles to grow and create impact in today’s fast-paced economy. Case studies include icons such as General Electric (GE) and Toyota, tech heavyweights such as Amazon and Facebook, and Silicon Valley darlings such as Airbnb and Twilio. They also include nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and governments. So whether you’re an entrepreneur, a startup employee, a consumer or just plain curious, Ries has insights for you!

Why is it so hard to talk about our own mortality, especially with doctors and people we love? The more death is medicalized, the more a conspiracy of silence seems to reign over these vital discussions. As a culture, we have become far more at ease at talking about how to ward off death than how to prepare for a peaceful one. As a result, many families have distressing end-of-life experiences. They wind up wishing that key conversations had been more realistic—or that they had happened at all. Whether you’re a patient or doctor, spouse or adult child, each of us has different reasons for avoiding this difficult issue. This program will explore how to break the conspiracy of silence and begin to have honest, meaningful and even reassuring conversations about what matters most near life’s end. Katy Butler, a memoirist and investigative reporter, became fascinated by the medical-industrial complex after she witnessed her parents’ deaths—one swift and timely, the other agonizingly prolonged by medical technology. An advocate for medical reform and founder of the Slow Medicine Facebook group, she is currently writing a guide to navigating what she calls a “broken” medical system through old age and chronic illness to death itself. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Wall Street Journal. Dr. Haider Warraich’s experience in internal medicine and cardiology inspires his writing on the convergence of science and medicine, culture and morality, and medical advances and end-of-life care. An expert on the ways that modern medicine has changed death, Warraich has advocated for more truthful conversations between physicians, patients and families. He is a contributor to The New York Times, The Atlantic and The Wall Street Journal. He has appeared on CNN, PBS and FOX as well as BBC Radio and NPR.