Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

The American Dream is the notion that every person is entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, regardless of their circumstances at birth. But the reality is that for many Americans, social and economic opportunity are unattainable due to societal structures that block access to resources.The Great American Lie examines the roots of systemic inequality through a unique gender lens. With America facing widening economic disparities, political polarization, and stagnant social mobility, the film takes audiences on an empathy journey, inspiring a path forward. Presented in collaboration with The Representation Project, this program brings filmmaker, advocate and thought leader Jennifer Siebel Newsom into conversation with a panel of student filmmakers whose work shines a youth lens on social justice and gender equity issues.SPEAKERSAngelica RubioStudent, 12th grade, Merced, CASamira BarraganStudent, 11th grade, Santa Fe Springs, CATreNisha ShearerStudent, 12th grade, Portland, ORJennifer Siebel NewsomFilmmaker—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 February 3rd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Experts have warned us that COVID-19 is just one example of climate change-related diseases on the rise. And while climate disruption, environmental health and the current pandemic may seem like three distinct problems, to those in the health and environmental justice field, that’s not the case."All of them are connected," says Adrienne Hollis of the Union of Concerned Scientists. "And the underlying cause is systemic racism.""If you want to address pandemics, and you want to address climate change, you’ve got to focus on equity," agrees Aaron Bernstein of the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. "And the solution, and the great news in some ways, is that these actions you need to take are one and the same."How are heat, lack of sanitation, and other environmental issues killing Americans in underserved communities? A conversation on what happens when climate, health, and poverty converge.Guests:Catherine Coleman Flowers, Founder, Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice; Author, Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret  (The New Press, 2020)Adrienne Hollis, Senior Climate Justice and Health Scientist, Union of Concerned ScientistsAaron Bernstein, Interim Director, Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health For complete show notes, visit our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We enjoy comedy as entertainment—but would we appreciate a zinger during a company meeting? In their new book Humor, Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life, Dr. Jennifer Aaker, a professor at Stanford Business School, and Naomi Bagdonas, a lecturer in management at Stanford, argue that using humor in supposedly serious situations can cultivate creativity, forge stronger relationships and strengthen one’s confidence. Jennifer and Naomi provide a theoretical overview of the benefits of comedy, consulting business leaders, comedians and behavioral scientists to learn more about how being funny “is money.”Join Jennifer and Naomi at INFORUM to learn more about the benefits of humor in and out of the workplace. This conversation is moderated by comedian and artist Dhaya Lakshminarayanan.SPEAKERSJennifer AakerProfessor, Stanford Graduate School of Business; Co-Author, Humor, Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and LifeNaomi BagdonasLecturer, Stanford Graduate School of Business; Co-Author, Humor, Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and LifeDhaya LakshminarayananComedian—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 February 2nd, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Walter Mosley, the author of more than 60 critically acclaimed books, is one of the most admired writers in America. The Commonwealth Club is pleased to welcome Mosley for the first time for a discussion on this new book, Blood Grove, and his long career in writing and the arts. just as America continues its reckoning on race relations.Last year marked the 30th anniversary of Mosley's legendary Easy Rawlins series, as well as Mosley’s three decade-long exploration of racial inequality, political corruption and the pursuit of justice. In early February, Mosley's infamous detective, Rawlins, is back in Blood Grove, the 15th entry in the mystery series. Readers around the world have followed Easy Rawlins, an unlicensed private investigator turned detective always willing to do what it takes to get things done, in books translated into more than 25 different languages. Mosley's1990 debut novel, Devil in a Blue Dress, was the first in the bestselling mystery series featuring Rawlins and launched Mosley into literary prominence.Mosley, who was just awarded the National Book Foundation's prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, and the first Black man to win the honor in its 32-year history, has been astutely and profoundly engaging with the politics of race, the realities of being Black in America, and elegantly pushing the boundaries of genre fiction throughout his storied career. Mosley’s books have won numerous awards, including, but not limited to, an Edgar Award for Down the River Unto the Sea, an O. Henry Award, The Mystery Writers of America’s Grand Master Award, a Grammy, several NAACP Image awards, and PEN America’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2020, he was named the recipient of the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement from the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.This program contains EXPLICIT languageSPEAKERSWalter MosleyAuthor, Blood GroveBrian WattNews Anchor, KQED—Moderator Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a virtual conversation with Jonathan Alter, author of the first full-length biography of Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States and Nobel Prize–winning humanitarian. Alter paints an intimate and surprising portrait of a complex figure with a piercing intelligence, prickly intensity, and biting wit beneath the patented smile.Growing up in the Jim Crow South, Carter essentially lived in three centuries: his early life on the farm without electricity or running water might as well have been in the 19th; his presidency put him at the center of the 20th; and his efforts on conflict resolution and global health set him on the cutting edge of the 21st.Drawing on fresh archives and five years of extensive access to Carter and his family, Alter traces how he evolved from a timid, bookish child—raised mostly by a black woman farmhand—into an ambitious naval nuclear engineer writing passionate, never-before-published love letters from sea to his wife and full partner, Rosalynn; a peanut farmer and civic leader whose guilt over staying silent during the Civil Rights Movement helped power his quest for racial justice; an obscure, born-again governor whose brilliant 1976 presidential campaign demolished the racist wing of the Democratic Party; a stubborn outsider who failed politically amid a bad economy and the seizure of American hostages in Iran, but succeeded in engineering peace between Israel and Egypt, advancing environmentalism, moving the government from tokenism to diversity, internationalizing human rights, and normalizing relations with China. After leaving office, Carter worked to eradicate diseases, taught Sunday school, and built houses for the poor into his mid-90s.MLF ORGANIZERGeorge HammondNOTESMLF: HumanitiesSPEAKERSJonathan AlterHistorian; Columnist; Documentary Filmmaker; Political Analyst, MSNBC; Former Senior Editor, Newsweek; Author, His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, A LifeIn Conversation with George HammondAuthor, Conversations With Socrates Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. John Ghazvinian, executive director of the University of Pennsylvania's Middle East Center, was born in Iran, raised in London and Los Angeles, and earned his doctorate from Oxford University. Dr. Banafsheh Keynoush earned her doctorate at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, is a renowned Middle East expert and is a frequent contributor to Middle East Forum events. They will discuss his fascinating new book, which traces the complex relations between America and Iran since the 18th Century, when the Persian Empire greatly admired Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams and an America seen, by Iranians, as an ideal to emulate for their own government. They will also discuss how the two countries that once had heartfelt admiration for each other became such committed enemies.Ghazvinian will also lead us "through the 4 seasons of U.S./Iran relations: the spring of mutual fascination; the summer of early interactions, the autumn of close strategic ties, the long dark winter of mutual hatred "and why "it didn't have to turn out this way."SPEAKERSJohn GhazvinianPh.D., Author, America and Iran: A History 1720 to the PresentBanafsheh KeynoushPh.D., Editor, Interregional Dynamics in the Middle East—Moderator Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"I remember the day I realized I couldn’t play a white guy as well as a white guy. It felt like a death sentence for my career.”—Chad SandersWhen Chad Sanders landed his first job in lily-white Silicon Valley, he quickly realized that to be successful at work meant playing a certain social game. Each meeting was drenched in white slang and the privileged talk of international travel or a folk concert in San Francisco, which led Chad to realize that he could only be successful if he emulated whiteness.So Sanders changed. He changed his wardrobe, his behavior, his speech—everything that connected him with his Black identity. And while he finally felt included, he felt awful. Carrying the unbearable weight of his imposter syndrome—the constant burden of not being true to himself—left Sanders exhausted and ashamed. Instead, he decided to give up the charade. He reverted back to methods he learned at the dinner table, or at the Black Baptist church where he’d been raised, or the concrete basketball courts. And it paid off. Sanders began to land more exciting projects and eventually got promoted. He earned the respect of his colleagues and clients. Accounting for this turnaround, Sanders believes, was something he calls Black Magic, namely: resilience, creativity, and perseverance, forged in his experience navigating America as a Black man. Black Magic has emboldened his every step since. Leading him to wonder: was he alone in this discovery? Were there others who felt the same?In Black Magic, Sanders tells his own story while also interviewing other Black leaders, scientists, artists, business people, parents, innovators, and champions, to get their take on Black magic. This revelatory book uncovers Black experiences in predominantly white environments while demonstrating the importance of staying true to yourself.Chad Sanders is a New York City-based writer. His screenwriting career began when he wrote for ABC Freeform’s Grownish in 2018. Previously, Chad worked at Google in the YouTube and People Operations divisions and as a tech entrepreneur. He has since written and cowritten forthcoming TV series and feature films with collaborators Spike Lee, Morgan Freeman and Will Packer. Chad’s op-ed pieces have appeared in The New York Times and Teen Vogue.NOTESPart of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.Our thanks to Marcus Bookstore in Oakland for fulfilling book orders.SPEAKERSChad SandersAuthor, Black Magic: What Black Leaders Learned from Trauma and Triumph; Writer, The New York Times; Twitter @Chad_SandMichelle MeowProducer and Host, “The Michelle Meow Show”; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors—Co-HostJohn ZippererProducer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club—Co-Host Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With a new pro-science, pro-climate action administration in the White House, there are more pathways — and far greater political will — than ever before for the clean energy transition. The question is now less about what can be done to act on climate, and more about how soon. “We have the best opportunity in more than a decade now to see federal climate action through legislation,” says Leah Stokes from UC Santa Barbara. So how quickly can a new administration turn around a gutted EPA, myriad environmental law rollbacks, and a legacy of climate denial from fossil fuel companies?Guests:Michael Mann, Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science, Penn State UniversityLeah Stokes, Assistant Professor of Political Science, UC Santa BarbaraRelated Links:Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and AbroadThe New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our PlanetShort Circuiting Policy: Interest Groups and the Battle Over Clean Energy and Climate Policy in the American States Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin pioneered equality through their common virtues of faith and resilience. They changed the minds of many Americans through their ability to assess community knowledge and make it accessible to the masses. These men were not born with this innate ability to lead; they were shaped by their surroundings and upbringing to fight for social justice. Much has been written about Baldwin, Dr. King, and Malcolm X, but virtually nothing has been said about the extraordinary women who raised them to be the leaders they became. Join us in conversation with Anna Malaika Tubbs as she celebrates Black motherhood in her new book, The Three Mothers. Baldwin's mother Berdis, King's mother Alberta, and Malcolm X’s mother Louise raised their sons with the hope of helping them to survive in a society that would deny their humanity from the very beginning. Louise’s reminders of the family’s activist roots, Berdis’ encouragement of creative writing, and Alberta’s concentration on faith were integral to each of the men’s outlook on life. The Black mothers who raised America’s most pivotal heroes each represent a piece of history left untold and a celebration of Black motherhood long overdue.SPEAKERSAnna Malaika TubbsAuthor, The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a NationValerie Coleman MorrisEmmy Award-Winning Journalist—ModeratorCopies of The Three Mothers are available for purchase at checkout (U.S. domestic shipping only); our thanks to Marcus Books in Oakland for fulfilling book ordersIn response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, this program was recorded via online livestream by the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco, CA, on February 3, 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin pioneered equality through their common virtues of faith and resilience. They changed the minds of many Americans through their ability to assess community knowledge and make it accessible to the masses. These men were not born with this innate ability to lead; they were shaped by their surroundings and upbringing to fight for social justice. Much has been written about Baldwin, Dr. King, and Malcolm X, but virtually nothing has been said about the extraordinary women who raised them to be the leaders they became. Join us in conversation with Anna Malaika Tubbs as she celebrates Black motherhood in her new book, The Three Mothers. Baldwin's mother Berdis, King's mother Alberta, and Malcolm X’s mother Louise raised their sons with the hope of helping them to survive in a society that would deny their humanity from the very beginning. Louise’s reminders of the family’s activist roots, Berdis’ encouragement of creative writing, and Alberta’s concentration on faith were integral to each of the men’s outlook on life. The Black mothers who raised America’s most pivotal heroes each represent a piece of history left untold and a celebration of Black motherhood long overdue.SPEAKERSJulia GillardFormer Prime Minister of Australia; Co-author, Women and Leadership: Real Lives, Real LessonsNgozi Okonjo-IwealaFormer Finance Minister of Nigeria, Co-author, Women and Leadership: Real Lives, Real LessonsIn Conversation with Jennifer PalmieriFormer White House Communications Director; Co-host, “The Circus” on Showtime; Author, She Proclaims: Our Declaration of Independence from a Man’s WorldIn response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, this program was recorded via online livestream by the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco, CA, on February 2, 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices