Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

As 2020 continues to challenge our way of life, young people are facing the brunt of this unrest. COVID-19 is quickly defining this era, but issues such as racial inequity, economic disparity, historic unemployment rates and the fast-approaching presidential election are also informing Generation Z’s worldview. How are young people processing the government’s role in this crisis? What is the current state of civics education in the United States and, most important, what can we do to make sure youth are civically engaged during this time of uncertainty and into the future? INFORUM and The Commonwealth Club's education initiative, Creating Citizens, have gathered a panel of experts in civics education and youth engagement to discuss how we can continue to educate young people on the structures that impact their lives, and how we can make sure they are an active part of political decision making. Join Generation Citizen’s Scott Warren, IGNITE National’s Sara Guillermo, Kidizenship's Amanda Little and iCivics’ Amber Coleman-Mortley for a conversation on the future of democracy in our country and how we can prepare our youth to save it. This program is generously supported by Levi Strauss & Co. We are grateful for their support and hope others will follow their example to support the Club during these uncertain times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Click. Share. Cyberwarfare. More than ever before, people are logging on, sharing posts, updating statuses, and posting picture after picture as social media offers a physically distant form of connection during the COVID-19 pandemic. But how is this rapid shift in media consumption and the information (and disinformation) that we share affecting democracy during an election year? For more than a decade, online platforms have provided people with much-needed virtual alternatives to in-person offices, classrooms, gyms, and now social activism. And yet with every check-in sent, story posted and account made comes a new bank of user information that can be hacked, data mined, and weaponized by both foreign and domestic threats. Alex Stamos has built his career on ensuring that internet users are safe and protected, especially as social media becomes more pervasive. As Facebook’s former chief security officer, Stamos is no stranger to the dangers of cybersecurity breaches and the widespread consequences of these types of breaches. With less than three months before a pivotal election, join us to discuss what tech companies can do to help safeguard democracy, what users can do to protect themselves, and how the cybersecurity industry is adapting to meet the rising calls for user protection in the age of digital democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a virtual conversation with Susan Eisenhower, who describes in How Ike Led the ways in which her grandfather, President Dwight Eisenhower, led America through a transformational time using strategic, principled leadership. Few people have made major decisions as momentous or varied as Eisenhower did. From D-Day to Little Rock, from the Korean War to Cold War crises, from the Red Scare to the Missile Gap controversies, Ike relied on a core set of principles to give our country 8 years of peace and prosperity. These were informed by his heritage and upbringing, as well as his strong character and personal discipline. But he also avoided making himself the center of things. He was a man of judgment, and steadying force. He sought national unity by pursuing a course he called the "Middle Way" that tried to make winners on both sides of any issue. And he was a strategic leader who relied on a rigorous pursuit of the facts for decision-making. His talent for envisioning a whole, especially in the context of the long game, and his ability to see causes and various consequences, explain his successes both as Allied commander and as president. And after making a decision, he made himself accountable for it, recognizing that personal responsibility is the bedrock of sound principles and is sorely missed whenever leaders lack it. Part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation MLF ORGANIZER: George Hammond MLF: Humanities Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jason Valadão has overcome numerous challenges—serving in the U.S. Navy as a flight officer during Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom and currently as a doctor of family and sports medicine, teaching and mentoring at several universities, including in the Department of Naval Science at the University of California, Berkeley (where he also spent three years as a faculty fellow and volunteer with the football team's coaching staff and earned a master's degree in education), and surviving cancer. Since 2009, he has served as an adjunct professor for Concordia University Irvine's Master's degree program in coaching and athletic administration, and in 2017 he joined the faculty of the American Academy of Family Physicians Chief Resident Leadership Development Program, helping to develop the physician leaders of tomorrow. His passion for leadership and personal growth led Jason to become a certified coach, speaker and trainer, mentoring people on their journeys toward personal growth and development. In his book Exceptional Every Day, Dr. Valadão uses his own and others’ personal anecdotes to enable readers to refocus their priorities and design the life they desire. Come hear his inspirational story and his tips for how we all can unlock our best productivity, incorporate routines that won’t break, and develop an unstoppable mindset. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. What started as a small group of families gathered around a kitchen table in 1979 has blossomed into the nation's leading voice on mental health. Today, it is an association of more than 500 local affiliates who work in communities to raise awareness and provide support and education that was not previously available to those in need. Offered in thousands of communities across the United States through NAMI state organizations and NAMI affiliates, its education programs ensure hundreds of thousands of families, individuals and educators get the support and information they need. NAMI shapes national public policy for people impacted by mental illness and their families and provides volunteer leaders with the tools, resources and skills necessary to reduce mental health stigma and discrimination across this country. MLF ORGANIZER Patrick OReilly Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Students: This program is for you! What do you want to tell or ask adults who are making the decisions that have changed your lives so dramatically over the past few months? Please join us for this free program to share your thoughts, questions, concerns and suggestions. Ever since the coronavirus shut down schools last spring, the national conversation has swirled around questions of whether and how to reopen. And though the new school year is upon us, we seem to be no closer to a resolution. But amidst all of the controversy, one set of voices has been almost entirely left out of the conversation: that of the students themselves. Developed by and for students, this program will be an interactive conversation about issues that are on young people’s minds, such as: What do students think about going to school—or not—in the middle of a pandemic? How have they been managing remote learning? What thoughts or worries do they have about social distancing? How have protests and social unrest affected them? Adults are encouraged to share this rare opportunity with the students in their lives and to listen in on this important conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is there really a method to the seemingly chaotic behavior of Donald Trump? Are his outbursts calculated distractions or just involuntary tantrums? What does President Trump hold more precious—the integrity of the nation or his own television ratings? CNN’s Jim Sciutto, sets out to answer these questions. According to Sciutto, President Trump’s foreign policy has not only undermined American values and interests but also emboldened our enemies. Hear more about the changing landscape of our national security. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Immigration has been a hot-button issue for much of the past four years, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, major new restrictions on migration—legal and otherwise—came into force. Attorney Tammy Sumontha will discuss policy changes and their impacts on immigrants and their families. Sumontha, born and raised in Thailand, now practices law in San Diego, focusing on immigrants and U.S. immigration law. She has received several awards for her work, including the Judge Judith Keep Award and the Outstanding Community Service Award. She is the first Thai-born lawyer to be nominated and awarded those honors. Join us for a free program discussing immigration policies and what has changed in this time of global pandemic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Few people know politics better than “Pod Save America” co-host and best-selling author Dan Pfeiffer. With the 2020 election fast approaching, Pfeiffer offers a candid look at the current state of our political landscape and explains how Democrats can dismantle Trumpist politics and take back the White House. According to Pfeiffer, conservatives have rigged American politics to drown out the voices of the people in favor of the powerful. He argues that without an aggressive response that recognizes who the Republicans are and what they have done, American democracy as we know it won't survive this moment, and a conservative, shrinking, mostly white minority will govern the country for decades. Pfeiffer was one of President Barack Obama’s longest-serving advisers, working on two presidential campaigns and spending six years as White House communications director and senior advisor to the president. Notes: This program contains EXPLICIT language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recent years have seen the incredibly rapid rise of Black rights movements that take a stand against police violence, a growing criminal justice system, and a widening racial wealth gap. As a journalist, civil rights activist, and co-founder of the Real Justice PAC, Shaun King is no stranger to activism in the face of opposition. King stands out for his long list of public service with past work in community service as an Oprah Winfrey Scholar and teaching in both Atlanta public schools and Atlanta’s juvenile justice system. More recently, he has focused on mobilizing internet campaigns to spread awareness and fundraising efforts around police brutality and criminal justice reform. He builds on the ideas of these movements in his new book, Make Change: How to Fight Injustice, Dismantle Systemic Oppression, and Own Our Future, by bridging the gap between problems that persist in our modern age with solutions that each one of us can help support. Join INFORUM for a special conversation with Shaun King, where he will share more about his journey as an activist and a unique commentary on how to navigate social justice and movement building among the best and worst of political climates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices