Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

With TikTok's 1.6 billion active users worldwide and unprecedented power it wields over culture, politics, and commerce, the social video app's addictive algorithm is one of the greatest prizes in America’s technological cold war with China. How did this social media platform become so wildly popular and a source of contention in international politics? In her book Every Screen on the Planet, Harvard-trained lawyer and investigative journalist Emily Baker-White charts TikTok’s rise from the Chinese founders’ ambitions to its emergence as the world’s most valuable startup―and a potential surveillance and propaganda tool for strongmen―to the dramatic events surrounding its ban and tenuous resurrection in January 2025.  Come hear about the reporting that caused TikTok to track the author and led to an ongoing criminal investigation. Baker-White’s engrossing narrative takes us inside the struggle as hawks in Congress push the company to the brink while the U.S. government seeks backdoor access to observe and influence TikTok’s data stream. Touching on politics, finance, business, and technology, she explains that the war for TikTok will either create a blueprint for autocrats to warp our information landscape or close the open internet as we know it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After Shaka Senghor was twice denied parole after 18 years behind bars, he had to decide: surrender to despair or transform himself from within. He chose the path of hope. He adopted daily practices including journaling, meditation, mindfulness, and creative expression, and he turned his vision into action—in the process, discovering how to break free from everything that was holding him back from reaching his true potential. As a result, he was able to focus on what he saw as his greatest barriers, which were within his own mind, and he discovered some truths about freedom he believes apply far beyond the walls of prison and that can transform every aspect of life, from relationships to careers. New York Times bestselling author Senghor returns to Commonwealth Club World Affairs to share his inspiration for transforming lives, just as he transformed his self-esteem after incarceration. Photo by Aaron Jay Young; courtesy the speaker.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The global view from the frontlines of journalism, where every border tells a bigger story.  Commonwealth Club World Affairs welcomes the World Press Institute, which has been the premier organization in the United States providing international journalists with the opportunity to broadly investigate this country—its values, traditions of a free press, institutions, customs, and people. These nine journalists from across the globe are here because of the World Press Institute. This is the 60th annual journalism fellowship program.  Hailing from Argentina, Bulgaria, Canada, Egypt, Finland, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, and Namibia, these journalists represent the future of media and bring with them a diverse range of perspectives and experiences. Learn how these international journalists are reporting on a world in flux: where borders are hardening, alliances are shifting, and disinformation is redefining public trust. These journalists will share their notes on the dynamics of power in geopolitics, in tech, in media—and how these forces are felt on the ground back home. The journalists include (Argentina) Mr. Marcelo Silva de Sousa; (Bulgaria) Ms. Janan Dura; (Canada) Mr. Ian Froese; (Egypt) Ms. Eman Ahmed; (Finland) Ms. Nina Svahn; (Indonesia) Ms. Ardhike Setyaningrum; (Italy) Ms. Francesca Canto; and (Kenya) Mr. Njoroge Muiga; (Namibia) Ms. Sonja Smith. All are International Fellows of the World Press Institute. An International Relations Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Presented with the World Press Institute. Organizer: Frank Price  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For decades, hydrogen has held promise as a revolutionary tool in the clean energy transition. It can be a fuel and energy carrier, and when made with renewable energy and burned in a fuel cell, its only byproduct is water. President Biden’s administration invested billions into proposed clean hydrogen hubs. But as we’ve seen dramatic technological innovations and drastic price drops for solar and wind, lithium-ion batteries, and heat pumps — hydrogen may have gone from tomorrow’s technology to yesterday’s solution. Experts say the best uses of green hydrogen come down to decarbonizing certain industries, like steel manufacturing and fertilizer. So where does hydrogen fit in the modern energy mix? For show notes and related links, visit ⁠our website⁠. Episode Guests: Eleanor Smith, Community Organizer, Tó Nizhóní Ání Joe Romm, Senior Research Fellow, University of Pennsylvania, Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media; Author, “The Hype About Hydrogen” Hilary Lewis, Steel Director, Industrious Labs Highlights: 00:00 - Intro 04:04 - Eleanor Smith on learning about the Tallgrass Energy project 12:21 - Eleanor Smith on how the new projects fits in historically 16:45 - Eleanor Smith on opposition to the project 22:06 - Joe Romm on the uses of hydrogen 28:50 - Joe Romm on why there is still investments made in hydrogen technology 35:15 - Joe Romm on using renewables directly vs for hydrogen production 41:00 - Joe Romm on what people need to understand about hydrogen 46:32 - Hilary Lewis on how steel is made 47:42 - Hilary Lewis on the health impacts of the steel industry 51:59 - Hilary Lewis on current green steel projects in the US 56:40 - Hilary Lewis on projects that received federal funding *** Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on ⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. ⁠⁠Sign up today⁠⁠. Ad sales by ⁠⁠Multitude⁠⁠. Contact them for ad inquiries at ⁠⁠multitude.productions/ads⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Legendary primatologist Jane Goodall died on October 1. In a 2024 conversation on the Climate One stage with Co-Host Greg Dalton, the indefatigable Goodall was focused on three intertwined crises: biodiversity loss, climate change and environmental inequity. Her message from that night still resonates: Vote like your children’s lives depend on it — because they do.  Guests: Jane Goodall, Ethologist, conservationist For show notes and related links, visit ⁠ClimateOne.org⁠. **** Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on ⁠Patreon⁠, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. ⁠Sign up today⁠. Ad sales by ⁠Multitude⁠. Contact them for ad inquiries at ⁠multitude.productions/ads⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do we move from punishment to possibility? From cycles of incarceration to lasting opportunity? Join us for an urgent and inspiring evening as part of Commonwealth Club World Affairs’ Social Impact Forum. "The Art of Second Chances" will highlight community-driven interventions—rooted in healing, education, and economic empowerment—that create real second chances and pave the way for collective liberation and greater public safety. Too often, people who fall into the justice system were overlooked in their youth, denied the opportunities, connection, and support they needed to thrive. The cost of that neglect shows up in families torn apart, communities destabilized, and lives lost to a system that punishes more than it heals. But there is another way. Our panel brings together changemakers from law, philanthropy, faith, and advocacy—alongside voices with lived experience—who are transforming systems through bold, community-rooted solutions. Together, they will explore how investing in people, not prisons can create safer, stronger, and more just communities. About the Speakers Mano Raju is the elected public defender of San Francisco. He completed his undergraduate work at Columbia University, earned a Master’s degree in South Asian studies from UC Berkeley, and received his law degree at UC Berkeley Law. New Breath Foundation President and Founder Eddy Zheng has been bridging communities for decades, particularly among Black, Asian American, formerly incarcerated, immigrant, and refugee groups. He is the subject of the award-winning documentary Breathin’: The Eddy Zheng Story and has been featured in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, The New Yorker, PBS, NPR, The Guardian, SXSW, and other national media outlets. Reverend Sonya Y. Brunswick, affectionately known as “Pastor Sonya,” is senior pastor of Greater Life Foursquare Church in San Francisco and visionary leader of Brunswick Leadership Group. Moderator Virginia Cheung is co-chair of the Social Impact Member-Led Forum at the Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California and co-founder and vice president of the Give a Beat Foundation, a nonprofit that uses music and the arts to reduce recidivism and create opportunities for incarcerated and justice-impacted individuals. A Social Impact Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Organizer: Virginia Cheung  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Finding one's voice in climate action can come in many forms. Author and activist Taylor Brorby grew up in Center, North Dakota as a fourth-generation member of a fossil-fuel family. He struggled to find his place as a young gay kid who loved art, music, nature and poetry. Over time, he turned that tension into writing that challenges the fossil fuel industry, makes space for others stuck in a broken system, and inspires a more just future.  Suzie Hicks felt the weight of climate concerns but after college, didn’t know what to do with those feelings. After doing an internship at the New England Aquarium, they realized they could merge their love of performing with a career focused on climate. With the help of a sunflower puppet named Sprout, Suzie created a children’s show that teaches kids about climate change through a frame of possibility and hope, not doom and gloom.  Guests: Taylor Brorby, Activist, Author, “Boys and Oil: Growing Up Gay in a Fractured Land” Suzie Hicks, Climate Media Maker and Educator Episode Highlights: 00:00 – Intro 00:30 – New York Climate Week recap 02:20 – Taylor Brorby describes the N.D. town where he grew up 05:00 – What he learned from the prairie landscape 07:30 – Other queer writers from the Great Plains 13:30 – Influential environmental writers 17:00 – Writing optimistically rather than dystopian narratives 20:00 – Getting arrested protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline 25:30 – Why we need to be supporting rural writers 30:00 – Project Tundra, a carbon capture project near Center, N.D. 34:00 – Origins of Suzie Hicks, the Climate Chick 36:30 – It’s okay to have complicated feelings about climate change 40:00 – Working with kid’s existing love for nature in educating them about climate change 42:00 – Why introduce kids to climate change? Because it’s already happening. 47:00 – How Hicks sees her role as a positive storyteller around climate change 52:00 – Climate One More Thing For show notes and related links, visit ⁠⁠ClimateOne.org⁠⁠. *** Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on ⁠Patreon⁠, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. ⁠Sign up today⁠. Ad sales by ⁠Multitude⁠. Contact them for ad inquiries at ⁠multitude.productions/ads⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for Dan Wang’s talk about the issues raised in his new book Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future, which has been called a riveting, firsthand investigation of China’s seismic progress, its human costs, and what it means for America. For close to a decade, technology analyst Wang―“a gifted observer of contemporary China” (Ross Douthat)―has been living through the country’s astonishing, messy progress. China’s towering bridges, gleaming railways, and sprawling factories have improved economic outcomes in record time. But rapid change has also sent ripples of pain throughout the society. This reality―political repression and astonishing growth―is not a paradox, but rather a feature of China’s engineering mindset. Wang blends political, economic, and philosophical analysis with reportage to reveal a provocative new framework for understanding China―one that can help us see America more clearly, too. While China is an engineering state, relentlessly pursuing megaprojects, the United States has stalled. America has transformed into a lawyerly society, reflexively blocking everything, good and bad. Mixing analysis with storytelling, Wang offers a gripping portrait of a nation in flux. He traverses metropolises like Shanghai, Chongqing and Shenzhen, where the engineering state has created not only dazzling infrastructure but also a sense of optimism. The book also exposes the downsides of social engineering, including the surveillance of ethnic minorities, political suppression, and the traumas of the one-child policy and zero-COVID. In an era of animosity and mistrust, Wang unmasks the shocking similarities between the United States and China. He reveals how each country points toward a better path for the other: Chinese citizens would be better off if their government could learn to value individual liberties, while Americans would be better off if their government could learn to embrace engineering―and to produce better outcomes for the many, not just the few. About the Speaker Dan Wang is a research fellow at the Hoover History Lab at Stanford University. He was previously a fellow at the Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center and the technology analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics. Wang is the author of an annual letter from China and has published essays in The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Financial Times, New York magazine and The Atlantic. Organizer: Lillian Nakagawa  This program is supported by the Ken & Jaclyn Broad Family Fund. An Asia-Pacific Affairs Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It can be difficult to figure out where to start or what needs to change when we seek to increase the happiness in our lives. There are lots of people with ideas and plans, but what does science have to say?The UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center has drawn on its popular “The Science of Happiness” course and podcast to produce a book called The Science of Happiness Workbook. It includes short, step-by-step practices people can incorporate into their lives—many that can take only 5 or 10 minutes to do. It’s about cultivating the skills and traits that research demonstrates could help people feel happier and more connected to others, from self-compassion to awe to empathy to purpose. It also includes quizzes, tips for overcoming obstacles, and inspiring stories.Join us at Commonwealth World Affairs to hear from Workbook authors Kira M. Newman, Jill Suttie and Shuka Kalantari about cultivating greater well-being and stronger relationships.About the Speakers Shuka Kalantari is the executive producer of the award-winning podcast "The Science of Happiness," which shares narrative stories and research-backed practices to support personal growth, stronger communities, and a healthier environment. Before this, Kalantari worked as a journalist reporting on health disparities in marginalized communities around the world. Her work has appeared on NPR, "The World" from PRX, WNYC’s "The Takeaway," KQED Public Radio, HuffPost, Vice, and more. Kira M. Newman is the managing editor of Greater Good magazine at UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center. Her work has been published in a variety of outlets, including The Washington Post, HuffPost, Mindful magazine, and TED Ideas, and she is co-editor of The Gratitude Project(New Harbinger, 2020). She has created large communities around the science of happiness, including the online course "The Year of Happy" and the CaféHappy meetup in Toronto, Canada. Newman is also a personal trainer at New Element Training and was previously a technology journalist and editor for Tech.Co. Jill Suttie, Psy.D., is a staff writer and contributing editor for Greater Good magazine, where she translates scientific findings on compassion, altruism, forgiveness, mindfulness, awe, and more, providing tips for personal and social well-being. She also writes about the impacts of bias, technology, nature, music, and social policy on individual mental health, relationships, and society. Outside of Greater Good, her writing has appeared in the Huffington Post, The Washington Post, Mindful, and Yes! magazine, among others, and she’s been a featured podcast speaker. A musician in her spare time, she has two CDs of original songs that can be found at jillsuttie.com. Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is a nonprofit public forum; we welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programming. Photos courtesy the speakers. Commonwealth Club World Affairs is a public forum. Any views expressed in our programs are those of the speakers and not of Commonwealth Club World Affairs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Daniel Lurie was sworn in as San Francisco’s 46th mayor in January, he called for "the beginning of a new era of accountability and change at City Hall." Born and raised in the city, Lurie made his name as founder of the Tipping Point Community, a grant-making, anti-poverty nonprofit. During the campaign, Lurie pledged to fix homelessness, improve public safety, and revitalize downtown, among other promises.  In July, after six months in office, the mayor said that he had restructured city government to better provide services, and pointed to progress on crime and a reduction in street encampments. But many challenges remain, including a drug overdose epidemic, an affordability crisis, and a retail vacancy problem. Mayor Lurie joins Commonwealth Club World Affairs to talk about his experience in office so far, and to share his vision for the future of the city. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices