Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Research shows that as many as 70 percent of Americans want the government to provide universal health-care coverage, yet the idea of affordable health care continues to be a complex, partisan issue. Accessibility is pertinent. Every American interacts with the health-care system at some point in their lives, and improper access is the difference between life and death.In their new book Medicare for All: A Citizen's Guide, physicians and health-care reform activists Abdul El-Sayed and Micah Johnson look to go beyond partisan talking points to offer a feasible health-care solution. Health care is quite complex, but they say that the solution is simple: affordable, accessible medicine for all. The authors create a no-nonsense guide to health-care accessibility, prioritizing the health of all Americans in our advanced society.A citizen’s guide to America’s most debated policy, Medicare for All offers a short, realistic roadmap to creating a health-care system for all. Join us as Abdul El-Sayed and Micah Johnson envision a hopeful and accessible future for all Americans.In 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 February 22nd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Somali-born Dutch-American politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali has long been an advocate for Islamic reform. As a former Muslim herself, she has publicly denounced forced marriage, honor violence, and female genital mutilation. In her newest book, Prey, Hirsi Ali is asking a new tough question: Is the rise of sexual assault cases in Europe correlated with the mass arrival of immigrants from Muslim-majority countries?As a refugee herself, Hirsi Ali knows first-hand the struggles of integration and assimilation that are necessary in immigrating to a new nation. Rather than restricting immigration, Hirsi Ali is calling for Europeans to reform their broken system that allows young men to bring sexual violence and marginalization of women from the Muslim world into Europe. This violence isn’t a figment of alt-right propaganda, Hirsi Ali insists, even if neo-Nazis exaggerate it. She says it’s a real problem that Europe—and the world—cannot continue to ignore.Join us as Ayaan Hirsi Ali and journalist Bari Weiss describe her research in Prey and imagines a new future that protects and advances the rights of women around the world.SPEAKERSAyaan Hirsi AliHuman Rights Activist; Research Fellow, Hoover Institution; Author, Prey: Immigration, Islam, and the Erosion of Women's RightsIn Conversation with Bari WeissJournalist and Former Op-ed Staff Editor, The New York TimesGloria DuffyPresident and CEO, The Commonwealth Club of California—Program ChairIn 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 February 11th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us at the end of President Joe Biden's first month in the Oval Office, as we take stock of the early days of the Biden-Harris administration. We'll look at the people, policies, controversies, victories and defeats as Biden moves quickly to enact his agenda for the pandemic, the economy, national security, and racial justice.Our panelists will also examine the big political news here in California, too, where the state struggles with the coronavirus and the governor faces a renewed recall effort.SPEAKERSBob ButlerReporter, KCBS Radio; Broadcast Vice President, SAG-AFTRA; Lead, EIJ Student Newsroom 2020Carla MarinucciSenior Writer, Politico California Playbook; Twitter @cmarinucciC.W. NeviusColumnist, Santa Rose Press Democrat; Author, CW's Newsletter; Former Columnist, San Francisco Chronicle; Twitter @cwneviusJohn 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 February 19th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a journalist on the “sex beat,” Tracy Clark-Flory is intimate with the complexities of how sex is understood in societal discourse. At once a source of abashment, fascination and liberation, sex culture can send conflicting messages—sex and love are intensely personal topics yet dictated by societal rules, leaving people to struggle to understand their own needs within what they are told is “appropriate.” In her new book Want Me: A Sex Writer’s Journey into the Heart of Desire, Tracy contextualizes her own experiences reporting on sex with personal anecdotes and expert research.Join Clark-Flory at INFORUM for this special Valentine's Day program to learn more about life as a journalist, the ins and outs of writing about sex and the feminist revisions of society’s expectations for women. This conversation will be moderated by Peggy Orenstein, author of The New York Times bestsellers Girls & Sex, Cinderella Ate My Daughter and Waiting for Daisy, a memoir.Note: This program contains EXPLICIT language.SPEAKERSTracy Clark-FlorySenior Staff Writer, Jezebel; Author, Want Me: A Sex Writer's Journey into the Heart of DesirePeggy OrensteinAuthor, Girls & Sex—Moderator In 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 February 16th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the past decade, narratives of a dystopian climate future have helped connect people with heroes in worlds decimated by climate disruption and industrial expansion. In today’s real-world, scientists are looking to geoengineering and other human innovations to preserve the wellbeing of life on Earth. “What we’re missing is a way to galvanize people to support policies that are actually gonna change,” says Jeff Biggers, founder of The Climate Narrative Project.So how can climate storytelling help us reckon with our changing environment? Do we need a new climate narrative to help us understand and solve the climate emergency?Guests:Jeff Biggers, Founder, The Climate Narrative ProjectElizabeth Kolbert, Staff Writer, The New YorkerKim Stanley Robinson, Science Fiction AuthorRelated Links:Climate Narrative ProjectResistance: Reclaiming an American TraditionThe Ministry for the FutureUnder a White Sky: The Nature of the Future Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a virtual conversation with Dan Morain to discuss his recent biography of our new vice president.Kamala Harris grew up as the older daughter of her mother, a cancer researcher who had emigrated from India when she was 19, and of her father, an economist from Jamaica, who split up with her mother when Kamala was five. Kamala Harris is known as tough, smart, quick-witted, and demanding. She’s a former prosecutor, after all. But she’s also known as reticent when it comes to sharing much about herself, even in her memoirs. Morain fills in the gaps. He has been covering Harris right from the start of her political career—working for the Alameda County District Attorney’s office, where she handled homicides and child molestation cases. Morain also covers her publicly acknowledged relationship with Assembly Speaker Willie Brown when she was 29, which significantly expanded her political network. Morain will take you through Harris’s years as the San Francisco District Attorney, her early support for Barack Obama, her tenure as California's Attorney General, and her election to the U.S. Senate. Morain also analyzes both her failure as a presidential candidate and her success in campaigning for the vice presidential spot on the Biden ticket.He paints a vivid picture of her values and priorities, the kind of people she brings into her orbit, the sorts of problems she’s good at solving, and the missteps, risks and bold moves she’s made on her way to the top.MLF ORGANIZERGeorge HammondNOTESMLF: HumanitiesPart of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.SPEAKERSDan MorainFormer Reporter, The Los Angeles Times; Former Editor, The Sacramento Bee; Author, Kamala's Way: An American LifeIn Conversation with Carla MarinucciSenior Writer, Politico California PlaybookIn 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 February 16th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Worldwide, a loss of faith in government institutions has encouraged citizens of democracy to look for pathways outside of politics to make tangible change. This mistrust of “the system” has spread throughout other social organizations as well; press, corporations, digital platforms are questioned for their ability to hold us together. Now, people are searching for productive outlets to have their voice heard and make positive change.Ethan Zuckerman, founder of the Institute for Digital Public Infrastructure, is offering a solution. In his new book Mistrust, Zuckerman uses research from political scientists, legal theorists, and activists in the streets to understand why many people started to doubt social institutions and the implications it poses for an uncertain future. He analyzes the relationship he says the public should have with existing institutions and the various ways we can reach a collective goal of an advanced democracy.Join us as Zuckerman encourages citizens of democracy to use this sentiment of disbelief to fuel their participation in civic life and create an equitable society.SPEAKERSEthan ZuckermanFounder, Institute for Digital Public Infrastructure, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Author, Mistrust: Why Losing Faith in Institutions Provides the Tools to Transform ThemIn Conversation with Kara SwisherContributing Opinion Writer and Host of "Sway," The New York TimesIn 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 February 11th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in early 2019, has had significantly negative consequences for individuals, families and communities around the world, with huge economic and political effects. Short-term strategies have involved sheltering in place and social distancing, rigorous and frequent hand washing, and the disciplined use of masks. We now have reached a stage in the pandemic when vaccines are bring rolled out in the United States and globally, initially for “at risk” populations.There is much confusion arising from conflicting information about the new vaccines. There are questions related to what we know about the vaccines (and how we know it), and what we don’t know (and how and when we will know more). To address these questions, two leading virologists will be in conversation with the chair of the Health and Medicine Forum at The Commonwealth Club of California. Dr. Melanie Ott and Dr. Warner Greene from Gladstone Institutes talk with Dr. Robert Lee Kilpatrick, to help the public understand COVID-19 vaccine options better.Meet the SpeakersMelanie Ott, M.D., Ph.D., has been the director of the Gladstone Institute of Virology since 2020, and a senior investigator at Gladstone Institutes. She is also a professor of medicine at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, she pivoted the focus of her team to work on SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Ott is a member of the Association of American Physicians, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. She is also an expert contributor to the COVID Collaborative, a bipartisan group of national experts and institutions that helps shape state and local efforts against the pandemic.Warner Greene, M.D., Ph.D., is the director of the The Michael Hulton—Gladstone Center for HIV Cure Research, senior investigator, and Nick and Sue Hellmann Distinguished Professor of Translational Medicine at Gladstone Institutes. He is the founding and emeritus director of Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology. Greene is also professor of medicine, microbiology and of immunology at UCSF. He is also a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies and a fellow of the American Academy Arts and Sciences. He also serves as co-director of the UCSF-Gladstone Center for AIDS Research, and he has served as councilor and president of the Association of American Physicians.Robert Lee Kilpatrick, Ph.D., is the chair of the Health and Medicine Member-Led Forum at The Commonwealth Club of California, general advisor to Berkeley SkyDeck incubator and accelerator, advisor to the Columbia University Master of Science Program in Bioethics, and CEO of Health Innovation for People, Inc. (HIP).MLF ORGANIZERRobert Lee KilpatrickNOTESMLF: Health & MedicineIn association with Gladstone Institutes.SPEAKERSWarner GreeneM.D., Ph.D., Director, Gladstone Center for HIV Cure Research; Senior Investigator and Nick and Sue Hellmann Distinguished Professor of Translational Medicine at Gladstone Institutes; Professor of Medicine, Microbiology and of Immunology, UCSFMelanie OttM.D., Ph.D., Director, Gladstone Institute of Virology; Senior Investigator, Gladstone Institutes; Professor of Medicine, University of California, San FranciscoRobert Lee KilpatrickPh.D. Chair, Health and Medicine MLF; General Advisor, Berkeley SkyDeck incubator and Accelerator; Advisor, Columbia University Master of Science Program in Bioethics; CEO, Health Innovation for People, Inc. (HIP)In 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 February 10th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steve Kettmann, editor of the new book Now What? The Voters Have Spoken—Essays on Life After Trump, asks in the book's forward, "How do we try to rebuild a society that helps people think for themselves a little more often? How do we encourage each other—and ourselves—to understand our neighbors a little better?"The book features essays from a variety of voices including noted African American journalist Cynthia Tucker and Trump ally turned critic Anthony Scaramucci, who along with Mr. Kettman, join us for this discussion.What's next for America and what are the possibilities for the country moving forward? Join us for a compelling conversation.SPEAKERSSteve KettmannCo Founder, Wellstone Center in the Redwoods; Former Reporter, San Francisco Chronicle and Wired; Editor, Now What? The Voters Have Spoken—Essays on Life After TrumpAnthony ScaramucciFormer Trump White House Communications Director; Founder, SkyBridge Capital; Contributor, Now What? The Voters Have Spoken—Essays on Life After TrumpCynthia TuckerPulitzer Prize Winning Syndicated Columnist; Journalist-in-Residence, University of South Alabama; Contributor, Now What? The Voters Have Spoken—Essays on Life After TrumpIn Conversation with Roy EisenhardtLecturer, U.C. Berkeley Law SchoolIn 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 February 10th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hoover Institution Senior Fellow and Stanford University Political Science Professor Larry Diamond is a renowned expert on democracy around the world. In late November of last year, he penned a New York Times essay that said, "The vulnerability of our democracy today doesn’t come in the form that many feared when Donald Trump was elected in 2016. The good news is that two of the three pillars of American democracy—liberty and the rule of law—endure, even if they have been battered. But the third pillar—free and fair elections—is under far more direct threat than my fellow democracy experts predicted."Dr. Diamond went on to predict that President Trump "might pressure the Republican legislatures in battleground states, like Pennsylvania and Florida, to award him their state’s electors, even if the formal vote-counting machinery ultimately declares a Biden victory in the state. . . . [S]uch a scenario would be far more dire and polarizing than even the Bush v. Gore nightmare of 2000, with an incumbent president threatening fire and brimstone if the election were not handed to him, while signaling violent right-wing extremists to 'stand by' but perhaps no longer 'stand down.' "Dr. Diamond says our democratic electoral system, unlike others in the world, "has no comparable standing authority to investigate national-level corruption, and Congress largely investigates and punishes itself." He says that newer democracies have also taken measures to depoliticize their equivalent of a supreme court, including term limits and a broader consensus on court nominees. But, says Dr. Diamond, none of this occurred to America's founders, and while "throughout most of our history, America’s democratic norms have been strong enough and the outcomes have been clear enough to avoid catastrophic conflict over a national election," that might not be true anymore.Come for an important discussion on what changes may be needed in America's institutions in order to preserve our Democracy.This program is part of The Commonwealth Club’s Future of Democracy Series, supported by Betsy and Roy Eisenhardt.In 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 February 9th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices