It is hard to believe that February 12, 2025, marks the 21-year anniversary of when then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom sparked a ground-breaking civil rights movement by legalizing same-sex marriage. In doing so, he not only changed our nation’s views on life, love and marriage, but demonstrated the power of how a community can change discriminatory laws in its pursuit for equality. Join us for a timely anniversary celebration and special screening of the award-winning film "Pursuit of Equality." We will take a look back at the pivotal case as many members of the LGBTQ community enter 2025 questioning if their rights are protected under a new administration. Some are asking what it will take to continue the fight for equality.This program contains EXPLICIT language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From hurricanes on the East Coast to wildfires in LA, to floods in Vermont and storms in Texas, communities across the U.S. are facing a growing number of intense and devastating disasters. There are significant disparities in who has the means to evacuate during a disaster and who has the resources to rebuild once the storm has passed. Long after the immediate impact, the challenges continue, with many left to navigate a slow, complex, and often confusing recovery process. As the harsh reality of climate chaos sets in, how can we better integrate community mental health into the disaster recovery process to ensure that emotional and psychological needs are addressed alongside physical rebuilding?Guests:Adrienne Heinz, Clinical Research Psychologist, Stanford University School of MedicineSamantha Montano, Assistant Professor of Emergency Management, Massachusetts Maritime Academy; Author, “Disasterology: Dispatches from The Frontlines of the Climate Crisis”Ralph Hamlett, Alderman, Canton, North Carolina; Professor Emeritus of Political Communications, Brevard CollegeHaley Geller, Photo stylist; Pasadena residentWe’re excited to share two upcoming opportunities to see Climate One Live! On February 25, internationally recognized environmental and civil rights activist Catherine Coleman Flowers will join Climate One for a live conversation about the future of environmental justice. And on March 24, Google’s Chief Sustainability Officer Kate Brandt and Irina Raicu, Director of the Internet Ethics Program at the Markkula Center, will speak with Climate One about the development of sustainably powered artificial intelligence. Tickets to both shows are on sale through our website.Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today for just $5/month.For show notes and related links, visit our website.Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's our anniversary! In February 2012, Week to Week debuted, starting an ongoing community with civil discussions about sometimes heated topics.Join us in-person or online for the latest edition of our Week to Week political roundtable, and get set to talk about new leadership in San Francisco, DOGE and executive orders in Washington, and much more. Come early for a pre-program social hour with wine and light bites, then enjoy and learn as our panel of political experts explains what happened and what to expect, and answers your questions.See other upcoming Week to Week political roundtables, as well as audio and video of past Week to Week programs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Award-winning investigative journalist Charles Piller, known for his incisive reporting in Science Magazine, exposes the murky depths of fraud in Alzheimer's research. He discusses a scandal involving falsified data that undermined significant studies and the role of self-serving entities in this crisis. Piller highlights the emotional toll on families and the ethical quandaries in research, while also presenting a hopeful shift toward innovative methodologies in drug development. His insights aim to ignite a call for accountability and integrity in the fight against Alzheimer’s.

Chris Hayes, an Emmy Award-winning MSNBC host and author of The Siren's Call, dives into the complex world of attention in the digital age. He discusses how 'attention capitalism' reshapes our society and politics, likening it to the labor changes of the 19th century. Hayes critiques the role of tech giants in commodifying our focus and the implications for democracy. He emphasizes the importance of authenticity in broadcasting and collective action to support marginalized communities, while also sparking conversation about societal values and our digital existence.

The crisis of American Christianity has become a crisis for democracy, says award-winning journalist Jonathan Rauch. A lifelong atheist, he is warning that the waning of the church in this country is tied to the waning of our democracy.What happens to American democracy if Christianity is no longer able, or no longer willing, to perform the functions on which our constitutional order depends? In his provocative new book Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy, Rauch reckons candidly with both the shortcomings of secularism and the corrosion of Christianity.Rauch says the mainline church—which he calls “thin Christianity”—isn’t able to inspire and retain believers. Worse, he says a “Church of Fear” has distorted white evangelicalism in ways that violate the tenets of both Jesus and James Madison. What to do? For answers, Rauch looks to a new generation of religious thinkers, as well as to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has placed the Constitution at the heart of its spiritual teachings.Rauch addresses secular Americans who think Christianity can be abandoned, and Christian Americans who blame secular culture for their grievances. The two must work together, he argues, to confront our present crisis. He calls on Christians to recommit to the teachings of their faith that align with Madison, not MAGA, and to understand that liberal democracy, far from being oppressive, is uniquely protective of religious freedom. At the same time, he calls on secular liberals to understand that healthy religious institutions are crucial to the survival of the liberal state.Join us for a special online-only talk about mending the rift in American democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sahil Bloom, author of "The 5 Types of Wealth," shares insights from his transformative journey in redefining success. He explores the five types of wealth—time, social, mental, physical, and financial—that contribute to a fulfilling life. Bloom emphasizes the importance of prioritizing love, intentional parenting, and nurturing deep social connections. He introduces the concept of anti-goals to help listeners identify personal values over societal expectations. Through engaging storytelling and practical wisdom, he inspires listeners to craft their dream lives.

Tension is high this time of year, personally and politically, and award-winning University of Michigan Professor Ethan Kross is in town for a special evening to help explore how emotions work and how we can manage them. An international speaker and bestselling author, his first book, Chatter, helped readers understand how to change the "voice" in our head. And now he returns with his new book, Shift, to help readers understand how emotions form, where they come from, and how we can regulate and master them. From our dinner tables at home to workplace conversations, emotional mastery can feel like a distant goal, but Kross says it's something we should all strive for. How can we learn to harness emotions as sources of powerful information? The term "emotional regulation" has now joined popular terminology, but what does it mean and how can we implement it at any age? Kross is joined by local celebrated psychology reporter Jenara Nerenberg, author of Divergent Mind and the forthcoming Trust Your Mind: Embracing Nuance in a World of Self-Silencing.About the SpeakersEthan Kross, Ph.D., is one of the world’s leading experts on emotion regulation. An award-­winning professor and international bestselling author in the University of Michigan’s top-­ranked Department of Psychology and its Ross School of Business, he is the director of the Emotion and Self-­Control Laboratory. Ethan has participated in policy discussion at the White House, spoken at Ted Talks and SXSW, and consulted with some of the world’s top executives and organizations. He has been interviewed about his research on "CBS Evening News," "Good Morning America," "Anderson Cooper Full Circle," and NPR’s "Morning Edition." His research has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, The New England Journal of Medicine, and Science. His first book, Chatter, has been translated into more than 40 languages.Jenara Nerenberg is the bestselling author of Divergent Mind, hailed as "extraordinary, jaw-dropping" by Library Journal; she is an Aspen Ideas Brave New Idea speaker and the author of a second forthcoming book on the psychology of groupthink. A celebrated writer covering the intersection of psychology and society, Jenara's work has been featured in the UC Berkeley Science Center's Greater Good magazine, Fast Company magazine, CNN, NPR, BBC and elsewhere. Nerenberg speaks widely on social science topics, including at universities, libraries, companies and organizations around the world. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley and the Harvard School of Public Health; she grew up in San Francisco and, as a millennial, can now be found on Instagram.Organizer: Denise Michaud A Grownups Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Phoenicians were the most civilized people of the Near East and the greatest businessmen and conduits of culture of the ancient world (e.g., they gave us all the alphabet). Their expansion westward across the Mediterranean, driven by the trade in metal ore, is told in myth, archaeology, and the accounts of the people they impacted (including the Berbers, Etruscans, Greeks and Romans). The Phoenician settlement at Carthage (modern Tunisia) soon became the most powerful and cultured city of the western Mediterranean, their ships dominating trade routes. Conflict thus became inevitable with the Etruscans, Greeks and Romans, which culminated in the three Punic Wars. In the Second Punic War, Hannibal terrorized the Romans like no other enemy they had ever encountered, but in the end the Romans erased Carthage entirely. Yet Carthage remains eternal: in myth, painting, literature and grand opera.Hannibal, Rome’s NightmarePatrick Hunt will describe how Hannibal, the great Carthaginian general, weaponized nature—making Roman armies cross icy streams, and face fog and dust storms, in his almost two decade war against Rome in Italy starting in 218 BC. Brilliantly defeating multiple Roman legions even when outnumbered, Hannibal’s flexible craftiness and ability to get in the minds of his enemy, by employing a staggering arsenal of tactics, are still admired and emulated in modern warfare. It is likely that Roman legions would never have conquered their empire had Hannibal not first schooled Rome in his methods of professional warfare. Even Machiavelli created his famous dictum “better to be feared than loved” based on Hannibal. So it is fatefully ironic that the general who won so many battles, but could not win the war, only wanted Rome to leave Carthage alone. Hannibal’s policies ultimately failed when the Romans totally obliterated Carthage in 146 BC.Legendary CarthageDouglas Kenning will illustrate how mythology expresses in narrative the varied ways a people understand themselves and their world. In the case of Carthage we began with the Rape of Europa, which led to the stories of Phoenix and Cadmus, which led to the stories of the Phoenician princess Elissa, which led to the story of Dido and Aeneas as told by Virgil. Few mythic cycles were as important as this one in ancient times, being fundamental to any understanding of Carthaginian values and behavior (e.g., Hannibal casting himself as Hercules) and how the Romans viewed their international role and their foreign policy. And for this reason, few mythic cycles are as important across subsequent Western arts, especially painting and music.Organizer: George Hammond The Commonwealth Club of California is a nonprofit public forum; we welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programming.A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums.Commonwealth Club World Affairs is a public forum. Any views expressed in our programs are those of the speakers and not of Commonwealth Club World Affairs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At this moment, the cheapest way to create electricity is by pointing a solar panel at the sun. That’s good news for the climate. It’s also good news for communities who want to take control of their own electricity generation.In the heart of Brooklyn, UPROSE is helping to build a solar project that will be owned by the community, provide jobs, and help residents bring down their energy costs. In Puerto Rico, where hurricanes have devastated the power grid, community members are building solar microgrids to provide reliable electricity as the utility has proven they cannot. Meanwhile in conservative rural Virginia, Energy Right is helping farmers and rural communities adopt solar projects, touting a free market message about energy independence and security. Guests: Elizabeth Yeampierre, Attorney; Executive Director, UPROSE Skyler Zunk, CEO and Founder, Energy Right Arturo Massol-Deyá, Executive Director, Casa Pueblo de AdjuntasWe’re excited to share two upcoming opportunities to see Climate One Live! On February 25, internationally recognized environmental and civil rights activist Catherine Coleman Flowers will join Climate One for a live conversation about the future of environmental justice. And on March 24, Google’s Chief Sustainability Officer Kate Brandt and Irina Raicu, Director of the Internet Ethics Program at the Markkula Center, will speak with Climate One about the development of sustainably powered artificial intelligence. Tickets to both shows are on sale through our website.Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today for just $5/month.For show notes and related links, visit our website.Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices