Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

In the wake of Charlottesville, what is the role of politicians? Citizens? The media? Business? That's worth a conversation, and we'll do it. 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!

It’s crunch time as Tesla begins production of its Model 3 sedan this summer and races toward its goal of making 500,000 cars a year. Morgan Stanley says that production level won’t be reached until 2024. Still, the stock market considers Tesla a tech company with a value higher than Ford and General Motors, both of which produce far more cars and generate higher profits. But exorbitant valuation brings intense scrutiny, and cracks are starting to show in Tesla’s shiny exterior. Consumer Reports recently downgraded the Tesla Model S rating due to concerns about its emergency brake. Controversy is also swirling around how often Tesla’s factory workers get injured and how often its cars are involved in crashes. Ashlee Vance wrote Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, a best-selling biography on Elon Musk. It stands as the definitive profile of the genius driving Tesla, SpaceX and Hyperloop. Join us for a conversation about the enigmatic man and his efforts to change and save the world.

What if you could get healthy by simply changing your home environment? Every day, we’re exposed to hundreds of untested chemicals: additives in food, endocrine disruptors in soap and shampoo, fumes in household cleaners. These chemicals comprise your “body burden” and can exacerbate allergies, asthma, fatigue, cough, headache and more serious health conditions. Beth Greer had been living what she considered a healthy lifestyle when a medical crisis prompted her to reevaluate everything—from the food she ate to the personal-care products she used and the environment she lived in. She eliminated a sizable tumor in her chest without drugs or surgery by making small but powerful lifestyle shifts. Greer, now one of the foremost experts on sustainable and toxin-free living, will share bite-sized wisdom she learned on her path back to health and give you a greater awareness of what goes in you, on you and surrounds you in order to radically improve your health and vitality. You will leave with simple, affordable ways to • make safe, healthy product choices. • understand vague and misleading food, personal care and cleaning labels. • detect and eliminate electromagnetic radiation from cell phones, laptops and Wi-Fi. As a consultant and speaker, Greer assists individuals and organizations in creating toxin-free, holistic homes and work environments as well as lifestyles that improve health, mood and performance. As an award-winning journalist, Greer was recently named one of the Top 50 Health and Environmental Journalists to Follow in 2016. Her best-selling book, Super Natural Home, was endorsed by Deepak Chopra and Ralph Nader. In addition to experiencing firsthand the powerful benefits of holistic, toxin-free living, Greer found powerful holistic approaches that helped her teenage daughter overcome ADHD and addiction to drugs and alcohol. Greer is the host of “Kids in Crisis” radio show, where she interviews leading medical experts and treatment professionals. She is also the former president of the Learning Annex. Some of her clients include: Google, LinkedIn, NBC, NPR, Rodale Wellness, Martha Stewart Living, Health, Prevention and CNN. Learn more at BethGreer.com.

Though it’s routinely claimed that producing new foods through genetic engineering is no riskier than traditional breeding—and that questioning the safety is tantamount to denying the reality of climate change—many experts assert that the facts do not support such claims; and according to the analysis in Steven Druker’s book, the claims rely on multiple misrepresentations. The Royal Society of Canada and several other scientific institutions have stated that bioengineering entails higher health risks, and several studies in peer-reviewed journals have detected harm to animals that consumed GMOs. The hazards are especially striking in light of the lessons from computer science about the unavoidable risks of altering human-engineered information systems that are much simpler and far better comprehended than bioinformation systems. Come discuss this topic with author and attorney Steven Druker. Steven M. Druker is a public interest attorney who initiated a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that revealed the agency had covered up its own scientists’ warnings about the risks of genetically engineered foods and then misrepresented the facts. He has served on the food safety panels at conferences conducted by the National Research Council and the FDA; spoken at numerous universities, including Harvard, Columbia and Cornell; and met with government officials worldwide, including the heads of food safety for the U.K., Canada, France, Ireland and Australia. Druker received his law degree from UC Berkeley, where he was elected to both the California Law Review and the Order of the Coif (the legal honor society). In her foreword to Altered Genes, Twisted Truth, Dr. Jane Goodall calls the book "one of the most important books of the last 50 years."

In a climate of seemingly unprecedented polarization, can Republicans in California make a comeback? It may seem daunting, but as the mayor of California’s second most populous city, Kevin Faulconer strives to appeal to all. Elected 36th mayor of San Diego in 2014 after a highly publicized special election, Faulconer easily won reelection in 2016. He has focused on improving infrastructure, reducing homelessness and creating neighborhood safety initiatives. He has joined Democrats with a strong commitment to environmental protection and a pathway to citizenship for immigrants, which have put him in direct opposition to the Trump administration and other Republicans on the national stage. Will Kevin Faulconer popularize his brand of Republicanism in California? What is next for the mayor of San Diego in his second term? Faulconer has maintained his desire to stay in the city, but Republicans in California are eager to put forward strong candidates for the gubernatorial race in 2018. Bring your questions as one of California’s rising stars joins us at The Commonwealth Club for a conversation on the new face of California Republicanism.

At a time when science appears to be under attack, Dawkins issues a passionate defense, insisting facts, empirical evidence and reason take center stage. With growing threats of irrationality and hostility, his plea for a return to sanity couldn’t be more timely or urgent. Come hear more from the legendary biologist and provocateur as he challenges faulty logic, bad science and climate change deniers.

Finding Fibonacci is Devlin's compelling quest to tell the story of the medieval mathematician Leonardo of Pisa, more popularly known as Fibonacci. Although he is most famous for the Fibonacci numbers (which he did not invent), Fibonacci's greatest contribution was as an expositor of mathematical ideas at a level ordinary people could understand. In 1202, Liber Abbaci ("The Book of Calculation") introduced the western world to modern arithmetic. Yet Fibonacci was long forgotten after his death, and it was not until the 1960s that his achievements were finally recognized. Devlin describes his quest's highs and lows, false starts and disappointments, tragedies and unexpected turns, hilarious episodes, and occasional lucky breaks, bringing together the threads of Fibonacci's astonishing (and previously vanishing) part in the revival of science, technology and commerce.

The outrage over the senseless killings of black men and women at the hands of law enforcement has led to a renewed conversation about race in America, where black people are more likely than whites to be arrested for minor crimes, to be dealt harsher sentences and to be more unfairly impacted by their criminal records. Yet the criminal justice system is staffed by thousands of black police officers, judges, corrections officers and prosecutors. Forman examines the tragic roots of the war on crime, showing how tougher laws and harsher responses were proposed by the nation’s first black mayors, police chiefs and city council members. When poverty, crime, drug addiction and violence were on the rise, their stringent law-and-order tactics were seen as necessary to protect and heal these communities. In heartbreaking detail, Forman reveals how incremental steps taken in the name of the civil rights movement gradually eroded the rights and opportunities of the very people they were meant to help.

Last summer, the British public surprised almost everyone by voting to leave the European Union. No one knows how that will turn out; however, this program puts the possibilities into perspective by looking at the history as a whole, reviewing the 8,000 years since rising sea levels physically separated the British Isles from the European continent. Most of the challenges facing Britain in the 2010s are neither new nor uniquely British. Looking at these challenges over the long term reveals some surprising patterns that offer hints about the fate of the Western world in the 21st century.

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!

Voting in America has never been easy, and Jason Kander has made it his personal and political mission to change that. Recently, Kander launched Let America Vote, a political organization dedicated to leading the fight for voting rights. Specifically, Let America Vote focuses on combating state and national laws that it believes are intended to disproportionately disenfranchise people based on their race, ethnicity, gender, age or income. The organization ensures that there are political consequences for elected officials who defend prohibitive voting laws. Kander was elected Missouri secretary of state in 2012 at the age of 31, making him the first millennial in the nation to be elected to statewide office. He became interested in public service after he returned from a tour of duty as an Army intelligence officer in Afghanistan and recognized the need for more resources for America’s veterans and their families. After serving in the Missouri House and narrowly losing his 2016 bid for U.S. Senate in Missouri in the state’s most expensive Senate race in history, he gained traction on the national political stage as a promising up-and-comer for the Democratic Party. Kander will be in conversation with California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, a rising star in California’s political scene, who previously served in the California State Senate and who was the youngest person and the first Latino elected president of Los Angeles City Council. During his tenure as secretary of state, Padilla has expanded access to voter registration for California’s 16-, 17-year-olds and is currently working to improve California’s voter tools and technology. Join INFORUM, Kander and Secretary Padilla for a conversation about the vital role of civic engagement in our democracy and the need to ensure that all eligible citizens are able to exercise their constitutional right to cast their ballot.

All health-care systems must strike a delicate balance between cost, quality and access. Though Obamacare focused largely on increasing access to coverage and spreading the cost of illness across the entire population, Trumpcare tips the balance largely in favor of reducing federal spending, at the risk of destabilizing insurance markets and increasing costs for older and sicker individuals. What would it take to create a health-care system that would provide future generations with accessible, affordable care? Can this be done while also covering the sick and the underserved? Join the conversation with a panel of government, policy and legal experts.

A decade after AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH brought climate change into the heart of popular culture, comes the riveting and rousing follow-up that shows just how close we are to a real energy revolution. Former Vice President Al Gore continues his tireless fight traveling around the world training an army of climate champions and influencing international climate policy. Cameras follow him behind the scenes – in moments both private and public, funny and poignant – as he pursues the inspirational idea that while the stakes have never been higher, the perils of climate change can be overcome with human ingenuity and passion. Join us for a rare conversation with Vice President Al Gore and the directors, Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk, about the path forward and their new film AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER. #BeInconvenient Twitter: @AITruthFilm Facebook: @AnInconvenientTruth Instagram: @AnInconvenientTruth

Contemporary democratic politics faces exorbitant stakes on a broad range of issues: from existential threats such as global climate change, pandemic disease and growing dangers to human health from toxic pollutants; through major social issues like the erosion of wages and standards of living, increasing inequality and stalled social mobility, a scarcity of jobs that deliver security and dignity, and the ever-more frayed social safety-net; to on-going security and humanitarian challenges (North Korea, South Sudan, Russia, Syria, refugee crises, cyber-crime and cyber–warfare, etc.). Yet in a season of toxic elections, democratic politics seems no match for these stakes and instead have grown increasingly fractious and dysfunctional. In these circumstances, many people argue that it is imperative that we redouble our efforts to determine why American democracy has become so deeply disfigured. In this lecture, we will consider two central themes: the concomitant rise in inequality in American society and a decline of responsiveness in American national government to all but the most affluent; and the threat posed by an increasingly fractured and toxic informational ecosystem to the very idea of public opinion. Focusing on these twin threats to democratic accountability and self-rule allows us to situate current events in a deeper analytic perspective informed by recent work in economics, sociology, media studies and political philosophy.

On Monday, August 21, 2017, an eclipse of the sun will be visible throughout the U.S. and all of North America. People in a narrow path from Oregon to South Carolina will see a spectacular total eclipse, the first in the continental U.S. in 38 years. The moon will briefly cover the sun completely, and day will turn into night. Everyone else (an estimated 500 million people, including those in the Bay Area) will see a partial eclipse, where the moon covers a good portion of the sun. Special glasses or viewing techniques are needed to look at the sun safely during a partial eclipse. (Sunglasses are not enough.) Astronomer Andrew Fraknoi will describe how eclipses work, why they are one of nature’s most spectacular sights, exactly when and where the eclipse of 2017 will be visible, and how to observe the eclipse of the sun safely. He’ll also cover historic discoveries made during eclipses, citizen science projects planned for the 2017 eclipse, and concerns about gridlock and lack of public services in the eclipse’s path. Fraknoi is co-leader of a project that will distribute 2 million eclipse glasses (and eclipse information) through public libraries in the U.S. Fraknoi serves on the 2017 Eclipse Task Force of the American Astronomical Society and has been training teachers and librarians to act as guides for the public as the August eclipse approaches. The International Astronomical Union has named Asteroid 4859 after Fraknoi in honor of his contributions to the public understanding of science. Following his retirement from Foothill College this summer, he will teach noncredit courses for adults at San Francisco State and the University of San Francisco. He is also the co-author of a new children’s book about eclipses, When the Sun Goes Dark.