Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

As the United States grapples with COVID and an economy in crisis, and with President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris about to take office, here's a special opportunity to hear from and submit your questions to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about the direction of the country, plans for the new Congress and the possibilities for breaking gridlock in Washington and the country in general. What does the future hold for a stimulus package, policing and race relations, health care, and the environment? What will America look like one year from now? Speaker Pelosi is in her third term as the 52nd Speaker of the House of Representatives and is the first woman to serve in this role. She has represented San Francisco in Congress for 33 years. Join us for a rare visit with this iconic political leader. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"There was a time when people like me could not win." —Adrian Tam Becoming the only gay Asian-American member of the Hawai'i House would be a significant achievement for any 28-year-old. Adrian Lam not only achieved that, but he did it by defeating the leader of the state chapter of the far-Right Proud Boys. Tam will join us from Hawai'i to discuss his successful campaign—which he won with 63 percent of the vote in November's election—and his plans as a newly minted representative of the people. Representative Adrian Tam was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is the proud graduate of Kalani High School, and received his bachelor's from Pennsylvania State University. Upon graduating, Tam became a licensed real estate agent. In 2016, he worked as a temporary hire at the Hawai'i State House of Representatives before moving to the Hawai'i State Senate to work for Senator Stanley Chang from 2017– 2020. In 2020, Tam launched a successful campaign for the Hawai'i State House of Representatives. Tam is currently the representative for Hawai'i State House, District 22 serving Waikiki and Ala Moana. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Brennan, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, has spent years making quick decisions on complex issues to protect the national security of the United States. With 25 years of experience in intelligence, Brennan has served as a Near East and South Asian security analyst, as the CEO of The Analysis Corporation, and as the assistant to the president for homeland security under the Obama Administration. Brennan is often applauded for his strong integrity when it comes to security issues, going as far to criticize President Trump on several occasions before his security clearance was ultimately revoked. In his new book Undaunted: My Fight Against America’s Enemies, at Home and Abroad, Brennan describes his life from a young CIA recruit to the crucial moments that have shaped American history, including the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the assassination of Osama bin Laden, and the Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. He demystifies the inner workings of the CIA and highlights the selfless work of the people involved in national security. Brennan offers a rare and insightful look at the concealed world of national security, the intelligence profession and Washington’s chaotic political environment. He also offers a portrait of a man striving for integrity—for himself, for the CIA and for his country. Part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Unprecedented” is one of the most overused words of 2020, but it reflects the superstorm of disruption brought on by an overlapping pandemic, racial justice awakening, and presidential election. For the first time ever, climate change galvanized a record number of voters to elect Joe Biden to the Presidency. How has the focus on climate shifted in a year shaped by multiple social and economic crises? Join us for a look back on a year of climate conversations like no other. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On March 12, 1947, President Harry Truman delivered an address before Congress announcing a policy of Soviet containment that would later be known as the Truman Doctrine. This was just the beginning of a global movement against communist attempts at power that changed U.S. foreign procedure and policy. In his new book, Saving Freedom: Truman, the Cold War, and the Fight for Western Civilization, Scarborough documents the hard work of the U.S. government in containing the spread of communism around the world. The historical account focuses a particular spotlight on President Truman and his ability to rally Republicans and Democrats behind one of America’s most dramatic foreign policy shifts. Join us as Scarborough tells the story of a president’s ability to protect democracy not only in the United States, but around the world. Joe Scarborough is the co-host of “Morning Joe” on MSNBC. He is a former Republican congressman from Florida and also writes for The Washington Post. Part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As discussed in his new book The Myth of Chinese Capitalism, Dexter "Tiff" Roberts will describe how surging income inequality, an unfair social welfare system, and rising social tensions block China’s continued economic rise, with implications for companies and countries around the world. He will discuss how China is struggling to leave behind its "Factory to the World" growth model, and include its hundreds of millions of left-behind migrant workers into a more innovative, consumption-driven economy. The conversation will also focus on how these internal challenges could well further complicate the already troubled relationship between China, the United States, and the world. Dexter Roberts is an award-winning writer and speaker who previously spent more than two decades as China bureau chief and Asia news editor of Bloomberg Businessweek, reporting from all of China’s provinces and regions, as well as Taiwan, Mongolia and North Korea. He now serves as an adjunct instructor in political science and a Mansfield Fellow at the University of Montana and as a nonresident senior fellow in the Atlantic Council’s Asia Security Initiative. He has launched a China newsletter called "Trade War"; his book The Myth of Chinese Capitalism: the Worker, the Factory and the Future of the World was published in March 2020. Mei Fong is an award-winning communicator and writer. As a Wall Street Journal China correspondent, she won multiple awards, including a shared Pulitzer Prize for international reporting. Her first book, on China’s one-child policy, was critically acclaimed and winner of a non-fiction award by the American Society of Journalists and Authors. Her efforts led to her being named a Top 50 influencer on U.S.-China relations by Foreign Policy magazine. She has appeared on CNN, CBS and ABC, and her writings have been published in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and The Guardian. She is a graduate from the National University of Singapore and holds a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Activist Alicia Garza started a movement that changed how we think about race. One of the pioneers behind the phrase #BlackLivesMatter, Alicia co-founded the Black Lives Matter Network in 2013 and remains a seminal leader in the effort to organize for racial justice. In her new book, The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart, Garza relays details and lessons from her life working as a community organizer. Garza argues for a new outlook in community organizing in which social movements are more accommodating and understanding of burgeoning activists. Join her at INFORUM to learn more about what it takes to effectively mobilize people around the issues that matter the most, from climate justice to voter suppression. NOTES This program is generously underwritten by the Blue Shield of California Foundation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a virtual conversation with Lisa Feldman Barrett to explore fundamental questions, like why we even have a brain and what that means for all of us. When we think about the larger issues in our own society, and for humanity as a species, we don't often focus on the role science plays in our understanding of these issues. But even when not explicitly involved in the discussion, the assumptions of scientific thought influence how we think about almost everything. Feldman Barrett takes us on a scientific journey, in 7-1/2 steps, full of intrigue and adventure, inviting you to think about important topics such as: Are we rational creatures? If rationality is not the absence of emotion, what is it? Why does loneliness make people physically sick? Why do we create societies that grant individual rights and freedoms in spite of the human nervous system having evolved to be biologically dependent on other humans? What does this mean for notions of hate speech or free speech? For democracy? And most essentially, what kind of person do you want to be? This program contains EXPLICIT language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Noted chef José Andrés and actor/activist Sean Penn are of course each well regarded for their respective talents. But in recent years, they have worked both individually and together to provide philanthropic assistance to those in need. Join us for a program that will salute these efforts and discuss what we all can do to help others during this challenging time. Chef Andres' World Central Kitchen has served nearly 25 million meals throughout the United States, Spain and beyond in response to the COVID pandemic. By feeding health-care workers across the country with meals prepared at restaurants that would have otherwise remained closed due to stay-at-home orders, he has provided laid-off restaurant workers jobs during the pandemic. His organization also served more than 3.6 million meals to the people of Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, and in 2018, he was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Mr. Penn's CORE is a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and strengthening communities affected by or vulnerable to crisis around the world, including in Haiti, The Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and the United States. CORE is currently committed to an integrated approach for the COVID-19 relief effort across the United States, which is inclusive of streamlined testing with results returned within 48 hours, comprehensive and timely contact tracing programs, supported quarantine and isolation services that provide shelter, food and wage replacement. The organization has been operating free COVID-19 testing sites across the United States since March, with a focus on serving vulnerable and underserved communities, targeting low-income groups, communities of color, first responders and essential workers. At the end of this program, Chef Andrés will be presented with the John Steinbeck Award "In the Souls of the People." This award is given to writers, artists, thinkers and activists whose work captures Steinbeck’s empathy, commitment to democratic values, and belief in the dignity of people who by circumstance are pushed to the fringes. The phrase “in the souls of the people” comes from Chapter 25 of The Grapes of Wrath. Chef Andres has cited John Steinbeck as a motivator for his work, also quoting The Grapes of Wrath: "Whenever there is a fight, so hungry people may eat, I will be there.'" Mr. Penn is a past recipient of the Steinbeck Award, and other recipients include Bruce Springsteen, Arthur Miller, Joan Baez, Dolores Huerta, Michael Moore, Ken Burns and Rachel Maddow. Come for this important program about giving back. NOTES In partnership with the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies, San Jose State University. A portion of the program's proceeds will go to the Steinbeck Center, and a portion of the proceeds from Chef Andrés' book We Fed an Island will go to the Chef Relief Network of World Central Kitchen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for this special program in The Commonwealth Club's series recognizing recipients of the Club's 2020 Distinguished Citizens Award. This program honors Lauren (Laurie) Dachs and her colleagues at the S. D. Bechtel Jr., Foundation. The Foundation, based in San Francisco, was established in 1957 by Stephen D. Bechtel, Jr., as a reflection of his personal commitment to ensuring a prosperous California. To this day, Mr. Bechtel remains involved with the foundation as chair of its board, and his daughter, Laurie Dachs, serves as president. The foundation is a grant-making organization that "invests in preparing California’s children and youth to contribute to the state’s economy and communities, and in advancing management of California’s water and land resources.” In 2009 the foundation made a pivotal decision to spend down its assets in a defined period of time. The foundation will sunset at the end of 2020. The Commonwealth Club is pleased to honor the foundation's myriad achievements. Joya Banerjee joined the Bechtel Foundation in 2009, and she oversees the foundation’s Environment Program. She works with the Environment team to advance water management and land stewardship in California, with a particular focus on advancing integrated solutions, building field capacity, and developing new partnerships. Prior to joining the foundation, Ms. Banerjee was an attorney at Latham & Watkins and worked for the City of New York, first with the Mayor’s Office of Operations and later with the Economic Development Division of the Law Department. Banerjee graduated from the University of Southern California and received a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia Law School. She currently serves on a range of advisory boards; she is a board member for the newly formed state California Water Data Consortium and the San Francisco-based 826 Valencia. Arron Jiron joined the Bechtel Foundation in 2012 and is the associate program director for the Education Program. He leads the team’s grant making in education policy and advocacy, with an overall focus on supporting California’s implementation of new math and science standards and on expanding civic learning, character development, and environmental literacy to improve the quality of student learning in and out of school. Before joining the foundation, for six years, Mr. Jiron served as program officer at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, where he led grant making for policy, advocacy and systems building to advance early education and youth development programs. Prior to that, he was the development director for a state intermediary that improves access and quality of youth development programs in California. Mr. Jiron started his career at a community action agency in Nebraska, where he led the creation of the Youth Opportunities Center, a comprehensive education division for low-income youth and young adults. There, he co-developed a nationally recognized restorative justice project for youth in the juvenile justice system, launched a YouthBuild program, and designed a regional workforce development system for adults. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices