Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Amid an outcry over anti-Asian violence and harassment, filmmaker and writer Bee Vang turns the spotlight in Hollywood and its role in promulgating anti-Asian ideas.The son of immigrants, Hmong-American actor and activist Vang starred as Thao Vang Lor in Clint Eastwood's 2008 film Gran Torino and has appeared in "Modern Family" and Comisery. He has performed in independent films and on stage at Brown University, where he received a 2016 liberal arts degree in international politics, media and cultural studies. Vang worked at MSNBC with "The Rachel Maddow Show," at The Economist and at a research institute at Columbia University. After several years working as a print journalist, nonfiction writer and policy researcher, he recently moved to Los Angeles to devote himself to acting, filmmaking and other creative pursuits.SPEAKERSBee VangActor; Journalist, The Economist and "The Rachel Maddow Show"; Policy ResearcherMichelle MeowProducer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW/KPIX and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @msmichellemeow—Co-HostJohn ZippererProducer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club—Co-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 April 22nd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everything we were taught to believe about crime, justice, race, and gender needs to be criticized, says Marlon Peterson: We need to recenter humanity in accountability measures; we must allow room for various identities in criminal justice discourse. Formerly incarcerated author and activist Marlon Peterson is one of the many vanguards in changing the world we live in, and he documents it all in his new memoir Bird Uncaged.Born and raised by Trinidadian parents in Brooklyn, NY, Peterson spent his childhood adjacent to ongoing city violence while simultaneously preaching the good word alongside his father, a devout Jehovah's Witness. His parents immigrated to the United States to achieve the long-desired American Dream, and Peterson too believed it was possible. But in the aftermath of physical and sexual trauma, Peterson made a series of choices that led to his participation in a robbery that resulted in two murders, granting him 10 years in prison at the age of 19. Spending his twenties incarcerated, Peterson completed his Associates Degree in Criminal Justice with Honors and immersed himself in anti-violence activism, education and prison abolition. In Bird Uncaged, Peterson exposes the brutality of incarceration and the hollowness of the American Dream. He encourages us all to reveal and break from the many cages — both physical and metaphorical — created and maintained by American society.Join us as Marlon Peterson envisions a new world that focuses on healing instead of punishment, an end to mass incarceration, and a new vision of justice.Note: This program contains EXPLICIT languageSPEAKERSMarlon PetersonHost, "Decarcerated" Podcast; Author, Bird Uncaged: An Abolitionist's Freedom SongIn Conversation with Jamilah KingHost, "The Mother Jones Podcast"; Race and Justice Reporter, Mother JonesIn 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 21st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In more than a decade as a broadcaster and public figure, Michelle Meow has interviewed politicians, activists, medical experts, authors, sports heroes, actors, musicians and more. Millions have seen or heard her broadcasts of San Francisco Pride, as well as her weekly television show and daily podcast. She has discussed everything from LGBTQ equality to racism to adoption. Now she will discuss something different: Herself.As 2020 wound down, Meow experienced a surprise. She began to lose her hair, handfuls by the minute. After nearly a year of stress from the pandemic, tense political environment, economic uncertainty, and more, she had developed a condition known as alopecia areata, resulting in hair loss. In this special edition of "The Michelle Meow Show," she will discuss her experience—the impact on her mental health, navigating the health-care system during a pandemic, learning about alopecia, buying a wig and the eventual decision to go public with her condition and go bald.Join us as we turn the tables and interview this veteran interviewer for a can't-miss exploration of mental and physical health in a time of crisis.SPEAKERSMichelle MeowProducer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW/KPIX and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @msmichellemeowIn Conversation with John ZippererProducer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth ClubIn 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 1st, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is your Commonwealth Club week in review. Hear what you missed this week, and what we’ve got lined up for you next week.We’re always adding new programs - check out commonwealthclub.org/online for all of our upcoming events.If you haven’t already - please consider becoming a member of the Club. Enjoy exclusive discounts and access to special programs all while knowing your contributions directly support our many public programs and civic initiatives.Visit commonwealthclub.org/special, for special rates on memberships.Thanks for your support and as always - thanks for listening! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Boehner spent nearly 25 years in Congress and served as the 53rd speaker of the House. During his time, his responsibility and decision making to preserve the American Dream was driven by the values of economic freedom and individual liberty.When he announced his resignation, President Obama called to tell the outgoing speaker that he'd miss him. "Mr. President," Boehner replied, "yes you will." In his new memoir, On the House, Boehner recounts his experiences and shares what he learned from his years of public service.Join us as former House Speaker John Boehner talks honestly about his colorful tales from the halls of power to broaden our perception of Washington’s political landscape.Note: This program contains EXPLICIT language SPEAKERSJohn BoehnerFormer Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Former Representative (R-Ohio 8th District); Author, On the House: A Washington Memoir; Twitter @SpeakerBoehnerIn Conversation with Melissa CaenAttorney; Author; Political AnalystIn 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 20th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does it mean to be a “real adult”? As a former dean of freshmen at Stanford University and the New York Times-bestselling author of How to Raise an Adult and Real American, author Lythcott-Haims has spent her career helping young adults pursue their goals. In her new book Your Turn: How to Be an Adult, Lythcott-Haims provides compassionate and practical guidance on how to navigate the wonders and challenges of adult life, from finding a fulfilling career to gaining the confidence to understand what’s most important.Join Lythcott-Haims at INFORUM to discuss how becoming an adult might seem scary, but the process can be exciting and rewarding.Note: This program contains EXPLICIT language SPEAKERSJulie Lythcott-HaimsAuthor, Your Turn: How to Be an AdultDarnell MooreAuthor, No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black and Free in America—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 April 20th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Please join us for a Tuesday morning inspirational talk on old-time radio programs by Noah Griffin, a native San Franciscan, former television talk show host and former radio broadcast host for WJIB in Boston, and KFOG and KGO in San Francisco. Griffin's connection with radio stems back to when as a 6-year-old in 1952 he was given his first Hopalong Cassidy radio.His presentation will be energizing and fascinating as he talks about the best and most popular of old-time radio shows of their day, from live nightclub shows to soap operas, detective and mystery shows, family sitcoms, and westerns. “Can you remember yours?”The program is followed by Q and A.MLF ORGANIZER: Robert MeltonSPEAKERSNoah GriffinFormer Television Talk Show Host; Former Radio Broadcast Host, WJIB, KFOG, KGORobert MeltonCo-Chair, Commonwealth Club Arts Member-Led Forum; Curator, Farmer's Gallery, Commonwealth Club—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 April 13th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite its historic role in American life, the U.S. Supreme Court has served a surprisingly impactful policymaking role in the United States over the past decade. Starting in 2011, when Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives, until this March, Congress enacted hardly any major legislation outside of the tax law President Trump signed in 2017. In the same period, the Supreme Court dismantled much of America's campaign finance law, severely weakened the Voting Rights Act, permitted states to opt-out of the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion, weakened laws protecting against age discrimination and sexual and racial harassment, and held that every state must permit same-sex couples to marry. This powerful, unelected body, now controlled by six Republican presidential appointees, sat at the center of American political life, a trend that will likely continue, with profound impacts on the country's political system and civic life.Ian Millhiser, Vox's Supreme Court correspondent, tells the story of what is likely to come from the Supreme Court in the coming years, particularly around significant divisive issues such as abortion and affirmative action. Equally important, Millhiser also explores the arcane decisions that the Court can use to fundamentally reshape America, transforming it into something he believes is far less democratic by attacking voting rights, dismantling the federal administrative state, ignoring the separation of church and state, and putting corporations above the law.Millhiser's new book, The Agenda, exposes a radically altered Supreme Court whose powers extend far beyond transforming any individual right. Please join us for an important conversation on the future of perhaps the most important institution in America life: the Supreme Court.About the SpeakerIan Millhiser is a senior correspondent at Vox, where he focuses on the Supreme Court, the Constitution, and the decline of liberal democracy in the United States. Before joining Vox, he was a columnist at ThinkProgress. He is the author of Injustices: The Supreme Court's History of Comforting the Comfortable and Afflicting the Afflicted, published in 2015, and his writings have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Nation, American Prospect and the Yale Law & Policy Review. He received his J.D. from Duke University and clerked for judge Eric L. Clay of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. SPEAKERSIan MillhiserSupreme Court Correspondent, Vox; Author, The Agenda: How a Republican Supreme Court Is Reshaping America;Twitter @imillhiserMelissa MurrayFrederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law Faculty Director, Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network, New York UniversityIn 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 7th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a virtual discussion with Sabine Hossenfelder, live-streamed direct from Frankfurt, Germany, about her concern that theoretical physicists have failed to make any major breakthroughs for more than four decades because they are obsessed with the goal that an accurate theory must be beautiful—at least to mathematicians.Hossenfelder argues that when this belief in beauty becomes too dogmatic, it conflicts with scientific objectivity, and so may be interfering with our ability to understand black holes or why relativity theory and quantum mechanics have issues with each other. It may also be encouraging the pursuit of untestable string theory and supersymmetry explanations beyond what is scientifically useful (but which is still mathematically intriguing).Hear why Hossenfelder is insisting, to the generation of theoreticians that preceded her, that progress will probably not be made until they conclude that physics isn’t math. It’s choosing the right math.MLF ORGANIZERGeorge HammondNOTESMLF: HumanitiesSPEAKERSSabine HossenfelderResearch Fellow, Superfluid Dark Matter Group, Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies; Blogger, "Backreaction"; Author, Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics AstrayIn 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 April 20th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. John Torres has spent his career fielding medical emergencies at home in the ER and abroad on humanitarian trips to Central and South America. As a U.S. Air Force veteran, he has been on the front lines of varying medical crises. As NBC News’ senior medical correspondent, he has spent the last year covering the COVID-19 pandemic.Dubbed “Dr. Disaster,” Torres has all the knowledge of best practices in an emergency, and his new book Dr. Disaster’s Guide to Surviving Everything provides a need-to-know guide on disaster preparedness.From avalanches and blackouts to pandemics and wildfires, Dr. Torres shares hacks and tips that could save your life or the life of someone around you. He tells you must-know practices such as the best place to sit on an airplane, how to start a fire with household items, and the first thing you should do every time you enter a shopping mall.SPEAKERSDr. John TorresSenior Medical Correspondent, NBC News/MSNBC; Author, Dr. Disaster’s Guide to Surviving Everything: Essential Advice for Any Situation Life Throws Your WayIn Conversation with Lenny MendoncaMember, Commonwealth Club Board of GovernorsIn 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 14th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices