Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

The COVID-19 global pandemic has shined a bright light on our medical system unlike perhaps any other time in this country's history. For more than a year now, we have seen how the daily work of making important, even life-and-death decisions is frequently made harder by factors and variables outside the control of an individual doctor and patient. Meanwhile, even before the pandemic, hospitals and medical offices faced tremendous budget problems, and big pharmaceutical and insurance companies continued to shape the delivery of medical care in all corners of the country; the pandemic only exacerbated these trends.In a new book, Uncaring, Dr. Robert Pearl—former CEO of The Permanente Medical Group and a Stanford professor—shows how all these stresses have led to a toxic culture in medicine, particularly for physicians. He says doctors resist change, leading to important clerical mistakes. They don't offer equal treatment to all patients. Their competitive work ethic leads to burnout and bad decisions. All these mistakes, he warns, can be and frequently are matters of life and death.As we emerge from the pandemic and engage in a public debate about the appropriate role of government, technology, big pharmaceutical and insurance companies in our health-care system, Pearl believes we have paid little attention to what it actually feels like to be a doctor. If we want to improve medical outcomes for doctors and patients alike, Pearl believes we need to start seeing health-care professionals as the real and flawed human beings they actually are, and real issues they face every day in their professional lives.We look forward to welcoming Dr. Pearl back to The Commonwealth Club for an important conversation on how we can have a safer and healthier health-care system.Moderator Julie Kliger is the digital health transformation leader of the Health Solutions practice at FTI Consulting. She has expertise working with health-care delivery systems, platform-telehealth and bio/med-tech companies to design, optimize and implement new approaches to care delivery, with the goal of improving quality, value and experience of care. Kliger currently serves as a member of the board of directors for a $3 billion health system and chairs the Enterprise-Wide Committee on Quality, Safety and Patient Experience, and is vice chair of the Executive Compensation Committee.​ The views expressed by the moderator are not necessarily the views of FTI Consulting, Inc., its management, its subsidiaries, its affiliates or its other professionals.SPEAKERSDr. Robert PearlM.D., Clinical Professor of Plastic Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine; Author, Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors and PatientsJulie KligerMPA, BSN, Senior Managing Director, Health Solutions, FTI Consulting—ModeratorIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 26th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the Bay Area, as elsewhere, the coronavirus and its economic fallout have hit hardest the very same people who were on the economic margins before the pandemic, including Black, Latinx, low-wage workers, and immigrant communities (especially undocumented workers). For our region to recover, and thrive, racial equity must be at the forefront of our recovery efforts.In this program, San Francisco Foundation CEO Fred Blackwell will lead a conversation on the central role that racial equity must play in the Bay Area's recovery from COVID-19 for our region to recover and thrive. We'll review key data findings from the Bay Area Equity Atlas on how COVID-19 has impacted different racial and ethnic communities in our region, presented by Senior Associate Jamila Henderson of PolicyLink. Experts and advocates Chris Iglesias of Unity Council and Tomiquia Moss of All Home will help us make meaning of the data and share their perspectives on what is needed to ensure an equitable recovery for all people in the Bay Area, regardless of their race or where they live.NOTESThis program is made possible by San Francisco Foundation's Bay Area Leads donors.SPEAKERSJamila HendersonSenior Associate, PolicyLinkChris IglesiasCEO, The Unity CouncilTomiquia MossFounder and CEO, All HomeFred BlackwellCEO, The San Francisco Foundation—ModeratorIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 18th th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the past several years, questions about the stability of America's democratic system have been raised by experts in many fields, from across the political spectrum. After years of polarization, the United States has become highly divided, and there is a widespread loss of confidence in our very form of government and civic order. A movement for a renewed focus on civics and history education has arisen to address these concerns.Earlier this year, with the launch of the Educating for American Democracy (EAD) initiative, the country has its first significant comprehensive roadmap that states, local school districts, educators and organizations such as the Club can use to transform the teaching of history and civics to meet the needs of America in the 21st century. One of EAD's most significant features is that it recognizes that powerful and effective civics education is everyone's responsibility, not just civics and social studies teachers, and not just schools themselves. It asserts that we need all sectors of society working to together to educate students about American civics and history.This program will speak with several leaders who specifically do not represent traditional social studies, civics or American history teachers about why they believe it is their responsibility to be part of the comprehensive civics education solution. Each has played a role in the development of the important EAD effort. We'll hear from the head of the organization that represents English teachers, the head of an organization that represents all rural schools, and a civics education specialist at a presidential library.This program will also help the Club commemorate the one-year anniversary of the launch of its own civics education effort. In response to the same concerns that drove the development of EAD, The Commonwealth Club recognized that it, as a major civic forum, could play a more significant role in having a citizenry and electorate better appreciate the U.S. form of government and its civic ideals. Our timing could not have been better, as 2020 served as a siren call for the need for improved civics education. The Club launched its civics education efforts on May 11, 2020, when we thought the global pandemic would be the biggest challenge facing our country. Then, after the killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, the country faced massive social protests focused on policing and America's long history of racial discrimination. The year ended with a disputed presidential election that culminated in a violent storming of the U.S. Capitol on the day Congress convened to certify the presidential vote. (The Club hosted a program on American history education that ended just as the crowd broke into the U.S. Capitol). We then reflected on the siege of the U.S. Capitol and its implications for civics education in a program days after the presidential inauguration.As the Club commemorates the first anniversary of its civics education efforts, please join us in an important conversation that urges all of us to be part of addressing America's civics crisis.SPEAKERSAllen PrattEd.D., Executive Director, National Rural Education AssociationEmily KirkpatrickExecutive Director, National Council of Teachers of EnglishJanet TranDirector of The Center for Civics, Education, and Opportunity; Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and InstituteEmma HumphriesChief Education Officer, iCivics—ModeratorIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 14th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The stories are horrifying and heart-breaking. An 84-year-old Thai immigrant in San Francisco died after being violently shoved to the ground during his morning walk. In Oakland, a 91-year-old senior was shoved to the pavement from behind. An 89-year-old Chinese woman was slapped and set on fire by two people in Brooklyn, New York. A stranger on the New York subway slashed a 61-year-old Filipino American passenger's face with a box cutter. The only Asian American lawmaker in the Kansas legislature says he was physically threatened in a bar by a patron who accused him of carrying the coronavirus.The advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate says it has received more than 2,800 nationwide reports of hate incidents directed at Asian Americans since the pandemic began. More than 6 million Asian Americans live in California, by far the most in any U.S. state. Of those reports, 1,226 incidents took place in California, and 708 in the Bay Area alone. The majority of incidents in the Bay Area—292—took place in San Francisco, followed by San Jose (58) and Oakland (55). Last week, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly (94 to 1) approved bipartisan legislation aimed at strengthening federal efforts to address hate crimes directed at Asian Americans.What should all of us know about these hate crimes and the steps we each can take to prevent them? Join KQED's Mina Kim; David Mineta, noted mental health advocate and son of former congressman and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta (who was in a Japanese-American internment camp during World War II); business leader Anna Mok;  Muhammed Chaudhry, president of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Silicon Valley; and moderator Michelle Meow for a compelling discussion of next steps, based on their personal and professional perspectives.Muhammed ChaudhryManaging Partner, MAC Capital Partners; President, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Silicon ValleyMina KimHost, "Forum," KQEDDavid MinetaPresident and CEO, Momentum for Mental HealthAnna MokPresident and Co-Founder, Ascend; Partner, Deloitte and Touche, LLP; Board Member and Former Board Chair, The Commonwealth Club of CaliforniaMichelle MeowProducer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show" on KBCW/KPIX and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors—ModeratorIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 19th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for an exploration of a side of the Vietnam War that is little known in the United States. Learn about the unexploded ordnances left behind after the United States withdrew from the war, and hear about the "Secret War" in which people from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam fought alongside American troops.Meet the SpeakersSera Koulabdara serves as executive director of Legacies of War, the only international educational and advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. Legacies of War is working to address the impact of conflict in Laos during the Vietnam War-era, including removal of unexploded ordnance (UXO) and survivor assistance. Prior to this role, Sera was a long-time volunteer and served on Legacies’ board for four years in multiple leadership positions, including vice chair. Under Sera’s leadership, U.S. funding for UXO clearance in Laos reached $40 million for 2021—the highest level in history—and the Legacies of War Recognition and UXO Removal Act was introduced by Senator Tammy Baldwin. If approved, this historic bill will recognize the people of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam who fought alongside American troops during the Vietnam War and authorizes landmark funding of $100 million for five years divided among the three countries of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.Khao Insixiengmay is a former Royal Lao Army Colonel who received military training in Laos, France and in the United States. He was recruited by the CIA and fought in Military Region 3 for six years, and fought all over Laos.David Phommavong is a father, husband and son of a Secret War veteran, the late Keosond Phommavong of SGU Scorpion Unit. He is the co founder of Laotian American National Voice (LAN-V), co-chair of LAN-V Secret War Veteran’s Benefit, and Lao Global Heritage Alliance Board of Director. Phommavong is an advocate and a community activist. He and his wife have a private charity, Nourish Lao Children, through which they provide financial and educational support to impoverished children in Lao PDR.Thomas Leo Briggs is retired from the U.S. federal government after 32 years of service. He spent three years in the U.S. Army with one year in Vietnam as a military police platoon leader, three years in the Drug Enforcement Administration as a special agent, and 26 years in the CIA as an operations officer. He entered duty with the CIA in 1969. His first assignment was as a special operations case officer in Laos from 1970 to 1972. During that assignment, he directed all small team special operations in Military Region IV in southern Laos. He published a book in 2009, Cash on Delivery: CIA Special Operations During the Secret War in Laos, which describes his experiences fighting the Secret War in cooperation with the Royal Lao Government against the North Vietnamese Army invaders of the Kingdom of Laos.SPEAKERSSera KoulabdaraExecutive Director, Legacies of WarKhao InsixiengmayFormer Royal Lao Army ColonelDavid PhommavongCo-Founder, Laotian American National Voice (LAN-V); Co-Chair, LAN-V Secret War Veteran's Benefit; Member, Lao Global Heritage Alliance Board of DirectorsThomas Leo BriggsFormer Operations Officer, CIA; Former Special Agent, Drug Enforcement Administration; Former Military Police Platoon Leader, U.S. ArmyMichelle MeowProducer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW/KPIX and Podcast; Member, The Commonwealth Club Board of Governors—HostIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 20th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We'll begin our program sharing war stories from Lao veterans who fought in the secret war. We'll also discuss AB1393, an effort to include Lao history and cultural studies in CA's K-12 curriculum, starting a fish sauce business, and "nung pee"—Lao horror films with the only female film director in Laos.The evening will end with a special performance by Lookthung/Morlam Esan singer Tookta. Meet the SpeakersLao Secret War Veterans:David Phommavong is a father, husband and the son of a Secret War veteran, the late Keoson Phommavong of SGU Scorpion Unit. Co Founder of Laotian American National Voice (LAN-V), Co Chair of LAN-V Secret War Veteran’s Benefit, and Lao Global Heritage Alliance Board of Director. David is an advocate and a community activist. David and his wife have a private charity Nourish Lao Children where they provide financial / educational support to impoverished children in Lao PDR.Chantho Vorasarn, former Royal LAO Armed Forces Major (1972), 11 year POW (1975-1986) after US pull out from VN and communist took over Laos. Fled to to Thailand in 1986 and resettled in the USA in August 1987 (St.Petersburg, FL). Retired High School Teacher in 2013 and presently residing in Pinellas Park Florida as Chairman of the Board of Director of the LAO Arts and Cultural Foundation of Florida, Inc. and Associate Director of the United Royal LAO Armed Forces & Special Guerrillas Units Veterans, Inc. (URLAF&SGU). Vice Chair of Laotian American National Voice, Secret War Veteran’s Benefits Subcommittee.Medd Rattana married two children, three grand children. Residence,Dallas Texas. Retired from Insurance & Financial services. Graduated, Saint-Cyr (French Military Academy). Ex Royal Lao Army Major. Infantry battalion and GM(brigade) commander. Liaison Officer @ US Allied Officer’s Training School. Graduate: Us Army Airborne-Ranger Course. Advanced Artillery’s Officers School. Current Chairman,BD Lao American Senior Mutual Assistance,Inc. Past chairman BD Wat Lao Siri Buddhavas of Dallas. Vice Chair of Laotian American National Voice, Secret War Veteran’s Benefits Subcommittee.Khambang Sibounheaung joined the Royal Army in 1960. In 1961 he was recruited into the Secret War, where he was wounded twice, captured and spent 8 months in hard prison 1964. He immigrated to USA in December 1975, where he spent 4 years teaching World Cultural, worked 15 Years worked for Metro Government in Nashville as Court Officer, spent 11 Years With Tennessee Military Department as LTC TNSG As a Battalions Commander, and 5 years with NUSC as Major General. He was promoted to Lieutenant General in 2013 By Admiral Carlos Martinez. He is a member of the RLA Committees since 2006.Additional SpeakersAlex Sirivath - Founder & CEO of Sirivath Corporation (Ninja Foods)Bobbie Oudinarath - Founding member and the Communications Director for Lao Advocacy Organization of San Diego (LAOSD)Tookta - MusicianIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on April 16th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Ralph Moss details the origin of cancer immunotherapy and how it disappeared for almost 100 years. Recently, it has been rediscovered and has become one of the most widely used cancer treatments. Inducing fever with compounds of killed viruses, immunotherapy triggers the human immune system to identify and destroy cancer cells. Immunotherapy generally provides a higher quality of life during treatment, while being less harmful than most conventional cancer treatments available today.Ralph Moss, Ph.D., has been writing about alternative and complementary cancer treatments since the 1970s. At the National Institutes of Health, he co-founded what became the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. He has produced 4 films, 12 books, a podcast, and 38 diagnosis-based "Moss Reports" for cancer.MLF ORGANIZERAdrea BrierNOTESMLF: Health & MedicineSPEAKERSRalph MossPh.D., Co-founder, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health; Author; FilmmakerAdrea BrierCHNP, CLC, Vice Chair, Health and Medicine Member-Led Forum; International Integrative Epigenetic Cancer Consultant and Life Coach—ModeratorIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 25th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the final things Abraham Lincoln did on the day of his death was approve legislation that created what would become the Secret Service. Originally created to suppress counterfeit currency, the Secret Service has since become the primary agency to protect prominent politicians and their families. Following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, the Secret Service was whipped into shape. The agency transformed into a proud, elite unit that would redeem themselves again two decades later by successfully thwarting an assassination attempt against President Ronald Reagan.Now, in the 21st century, the Secret Service is better defined by its failure to avert break-ins at the White House, armed gunmen firing at government buildings, a massive prostitution scandal in Cartagena, and many other instances of negligence. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Carol Leonnig has been covering the Secret Service since 2000, and her new book, Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service, exposes the triumphs and failures of the Secret Service, documenting a broken agency in desperate need of reform. Through interviews with whistleblowers, current agents and former agents, Leonnig reveals what she says is the Secret Service’s toxic work culture, outdated training techniques and deep resentment among the ranks with the agency's leadership.Join us as Carol Leonnig unmasks the rise and fall of the Secret Service, and puts out a much-needed call for the agency’s improvement and action.SPEAKERSCarol LeonnigInvestigative Reporter, The Washington Post; Author, Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret ServiceIn Conversation with Marisa LagosCorrespondent for California Politics and Government, KQED; Twitter @mlagosIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 20th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If corporations can be legal persons, why can’t Mother Earth? In 2017, New Zealand granted the Whanganui River the full legal rights of a person. India also recently granted full legal rights to the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, and recognized that the Himalayan Glaciers have a right to exist. In 2019, the city of Toledo passed the Lake Erie Bill of Rights with 61 percent of the vote, but then a year later, a federal judge struck it down.As Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin, an attorney who represented Lake Erie, explains, the problem stems from a 500-year history of Western property law. Our legal system grants rights to property owners, but not to property itself. “If we’re treating ecosystems as property, then ultimately, we as property owners have the right to destroy our property and that fundamentally has to change,” Schromen-Wawrin says.Rebecca Tsosie, a law professor focused on Federal Indian law and Indigenous peoples’ human rights, says there are other rights frameworks to consider. “If we go into Indigenous epistemology, many times it’s a relational universe that comes with mutual responsibility.”Guests:Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin, attorney at Shearwater Law, Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund Rebecca Tsosie, Regents Professor of Law at the University of Arizona, Indigenous Peoples’ Law and Policy ProgramCarol Van Strum, author of A Bitter Fog, activist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a virtual discussion with the three co-authors of Framers, which focuses on the essential tool that can enable humanity to find its way through the challenges of pandemics, populism, AI, ISIS, wealth inequity, climate change, and other worldwide problems that threaten our current civilizations. To frame is to make a mental model that enables us to see patterns, predict how things will unfold, and make sense of new situations. Frames guide the decisions we make and the results we obtain. Science has long focused on traits like memory and reasoning, but has often ignored framing. But with computers becoming better and better at those cognitive tasks, framing stands out as a critical function—and one only humans can do.Illustrating their case with compelling examples and the latest research, Cukier, Mayer-Schönberger and de Véricourt examine: why advice to “think outside the box” is useless; why the Wright brothers, with no formal physics training, were the first to fly; what enabled the 1976 Israeli hostage rescue at Entebbe to succeed; and how the #MeToo twitter hashtag reframed the perception of sexual assault. They also show why framing Covid-19 as equivalent to a seasonal flu failed, and how modeling it on SARS succeeded in New Zealand. Framers shows how framing is not just a way to improve how we make decisions in an era of algorithms, but is also an ever more crucial tool in a time of societal upheaval and machine prosperity.MLF ORGANIZERGeorge HammondNOTESMLF: HumanitiesSPEAKERSKenneth CukierJournalist, The Economist; Host, "Babbage" Tech Podcast; Co-Author, FramersViktor Mayer-SchönbergerProfessor, Internet Governance and Regulation, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford; Member, Digital Council, Tech Advisors to German Government; Co-Author, FramersFrancis de VéricourtProfessor, Management Science, and Director, Center for Decisions, Models and Data, ESMT Berlin; Co-Author, FramersIn Conversation with George HammondAuthor, Conversations With SocratesIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on May 20th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices