Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Studies estimate that global bitcoin mining uses more electricity than most countries, and that bitcoin mining may be responsible for about 65 megatons of carbon dioxide a year, comparable with the emissions of Greece. Some bitcoin operations are bringing old coal plants back on line, even as lobbyists for the bitcoin mining industry argue that mining operations can have a positive impact on the climate by creating more demand for carbon-free power. But even if all of the power were derived from green sources, is bitcoin mining really the best use of renewable electricity? This episode features a report by multimedia journalist Lily Jamali of the public radio program Marketplace, who takes us inside a crypto mining facility in upstate New York.Guests:Rolf Skar, Senior Advisor, Greenpeace USABrittany Kaiser, Chair of the Board, Gryphon Digital MiningThomas Cmar, Senior Attorney, Earthjustice Freelance news feature by Lily Jamali of MarketplaceFor show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The pandemic changed the workplace, possibly forever. And, in a time when the war for talent is critical, the stakes are even higher. Now in its eighth year, the latest benchmark annual report on "Women in the Workplace" by McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.org finds that we are in the middle of “The Great Breakup.” Women managers are leaving their corporate jobs at the highest rate in years—and at a much higher rate than men. Women executives say they are seeking more flexibility, better opportunities for advancement, and a commitment to diversity and inclusion.Join us to hear from women leaders about what they are seeing firsthand, and why corporations need to prioritize employee well-being to better retain female talent. If companies don’t take action, they won’t just lose their women leaders; they could risk losing the next generation of women leaders, too. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The crisis of faith inspired by Nebuchadnezzar having dragged most of the Jewish political and religious leaders to Babylon six centuries before Jesus had a major impact on the West, as it reshaped ideas about God, life after death, and the end of the world that have been culturally influential ever since. Kohanski delves in detail into how the chaotic political era from Alexander the Great to the Maccabees and the Romans, and how ideas derived from Plato, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the apocalyptic Book of Daniel, ended up focusing half of humanity on monotheistic attempts to answer our fundamental questions about life. But not without paying a high price for our efforts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CNN Senior Supreme Court Analyst Joan Biskupic takes us inside one of the most devastating and consequential periods in modern Supreme Court history.She details how the court’s seismic shift to the right has resulted in controversial decisions, including its reversal of Roe v. Wade and examines other recent cases where rights are being stripped away for some and expanded for others.Biskupic has covered the Supreme Court for 25 years and has built a reputation as one of the country’s most astute legal observers. She assesses what the ensuing impact and repercussions will be from these decisions for generations to come.SPEAKERSJoan BiskupicSenior Supreme Court Analyst, CNN; Author, Nine Black Robes: Inside the Supreme Court’s Drive to the Right and Its Historic Consequences; Twitter @JoanBiskupicIn Conversation with Melissa CaenHost, "Get Out the Bet" Podcast; Political Analyst; AttorneyIn 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 April 10th, 2023 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite economic headwinds and job cuts, companies backed by venture capital—including many in the Bay Area—drive the U.S. economy, accounting for hundreds of billions of dollars in sales and profits. However, most of this wealth winds up enriching entrenched investors and favored private interests, further widening economic inequality. Two well-known technology investors and entrepreneurs, Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein, have committed their lives to doing things differently and finding ways to close these equity gaps.As they explain in their new book, Closing the Equity Gap: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing, Kapor and Kapor Klein build on their work at the Oakland-based Kapor Center and Kapor Capital, two institutions that invest in seed-stage tech startups focused on closing gaps of access, opportunity and outcome for low-income communities and communities of color.They share their core beliefs that all companies must make a positive impact. They share stories behind some of the most remarkable companies ever launched, and they argue that the standard investment model doesn’t work, explain how it can be fixed, and say what the future could look like if more investors joined them. Come hear about their new roadmap for investing in tech companies that defy assumptions from Silicon Valley to Wall Street, and their belief that entrepreneurs who overcome obstacles in life are a far better predictor of long-term success than the schools they attend or investment dollars raised from friends and family.Together, the Kapors have launched close to 200 companies, invested in impactful and profitable companies whose services or products close opportunity gaps for communities of color and low-income communities, and shown that their approach can also provide strong investment returns and growth.Join us as Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein share how they’ve "done well by doing good" and how you can, too. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every March 31, Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) is celebrated around the world. It is an annual occasion in which the achievements and contributions of the transgender community to society and the world at large are honored. For this year's TDOV, we're celebrating by spotlighting perspectives, experiences, and thought leadership of Global South transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary immigrants and asylum refugees with a panel discussion plus a network power hour at The Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco!This event is presented by The Center for Immigrant Protection-ParivarBayArea, The LGBT Asylum Project and The Alwan Foundation in partnership with El/La Para Trans Latinas and The Office of Transgender Initiatives.With the onslaught of legislative attacks across the country against the transgender community, how do we reconcile the urgent need to protect and safeguard transgender immigrants and refugees during a period of heightened anti-trans hate? How can the United States protect transgender immigrants and refugees of the Global South when it fails to protect transgender Americans? How can we learn from the experiences of Global South transgender immigrants to better understand the importance of protecting the transgender community at-large? ModeratorMichelle Meow has been a radio personality in San Francisco and four other markets nationally for more than seven years, where she continues to be a voice for the LGBTQ community. Meow is a true journalist with an edgy vibe (think hip and funny Lesbian version of Anderson Cooper, minus the gray hair). Throughout her radio career, Meow has interviewed notable personalities such as Margaret Cho, Sarah Palin, Gavin Newsom, Janice Dickinson, and Jennifer Beals. Her entertaining yet knowledgeable approach to all things LGBTQ make her a memorable personality and a force to be reckoned with in every market she lands in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Taking us to the cutting edge of the new frontier of medicine, a visionary biotechnologist and a pathbreaking researcher show how we can optimize our health in ways that were previously unimaginable. They say we are on the cusp of a major transformation in health care—yet few people know it. At top hospitals and a few innovative health-tech startups, scientists are working closely with patients to dramatically extend their "healthspan"—the number of healthy years before disease sets in. Using information gleaned from our blood and genes and tapping into the data revolution made possible by AI, doctors can catch the onset of disease years before symptoms arise, revolutionizing prevention. Current applications have shown startling results: diabetes reversed, cancers eliminated, Alzheimer's avoided, autoimmune conditions kept at bay. This is not a future fantasy: it is already happening, but only for a few patients and at high cost. Proponents say it is time to make this gold standard of care more widely available. MLF ORGANIZERRobert Lee KilpatrickSPEAKERSLeroy HoodM.D., Ph.D., Founder and CEO, Phenome Health; Co-founder, The Institute for Systems Biology; Recipient, the Kyoto Prize, the Lasker Award, the Heinz Award, and the National Medal of ScienceNathan PricePh.D., Chief Science Officer, Thorne HealthTech; Professor, The Institute for Systems Biology; Recipient, Grace A. Goldsmith Award Robert Lee KilpatrickPh.D., Chief Strategic Development Officer, Phenome Health; Visiting Academic, Oxford Martin School Research Institute, University of Oxford; Chair, Health & Medicine Member-led Forum, The Commonwealth Club of California—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 April 5th, 2023 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s easy to write off people outside our own ideological bubbles, even when we may have many goals in common. But as the effects of the climate crisis become more apparent, we need leaders from all political and industrial perspectives to work together. In the U.S., climate is a polarizing issue where it’s too easy to assume that one side is working to reduce emissions and the other side is defending the status quo. But that’s only a caricature of reality. There are people from many ideological backgrounds trying to address the climate crisis. So how can common ground be found between environmentalists on the left and Republicans on the right? And what does an EV-driving member of the ConocoPhillips board have to say about reducing emissions?  Guests: John Curtis, U.S. Representative (R-UT)Arjun Murti, Partner, Veriten; Director, ConocoPhillips boardFor show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OpenAI’s question-and-answer chatbot ChatGPT has shaken up Silicon Valley and is already disrupting a wide range of fields and industries, including education. But the potential risks of this new era of artificial intelligence go far beyond students cheating on their term papers. Even OpenAI’s founder warns that “the question of whose values we align these systems to will be one of the most important debates society ever has."How will artificial intelligence impact your job and life? And is society ready? We talk with UC Berkeley computer science professor and A.I. expert Stuart Russell about those questions and more.SPEAKERSStuart RussellProfessor of Computer Science, Director of the Kavli Center for Ethics, Science, and the Public, and Director of the Center for Human-Compatible AI, University of California, Berkeley; Author, Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of ControlJerry KaplanAdjunct Lecturer in Computer Science, Stanford University—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 April 3rd 2023 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Indo-Pacific is rapidly becoming the global center of economic dynamism and strategic challenge. Encompassing 40 economies, more than 4 billion people and more than one-third of all economic activity worldwide—what happens in the region will play a critical role in shaping the future of the international order.Recognizing the importance of the Indo-Pacific region to global peace and prosperity and Canada’s national interests, the government of Canada released in November 2022 its own long-anticipated Indo-Pacific Strategy. This long-term plan includes ambitious, interconnected objectives to promote peace, resilience and security; expand trade, investment and supply chain resilience; invest in and connect people; and build a sustainable and green future.As a Pacific nation, Canada shares 25,000 kilometers (more than 15,000 miles) of Pacific coastline, robust trading relationships with economies across the region, deep people-to-people ties and a rich history of cultural exchange. Through its Indo-Pacific Strategy, funded by an initial investment of $2.3 billion over five years, Canada will work to further deepen relationships with regional partners that have been built through decades of government, private sector, security and civil society cooperation, and advance Canada’s overarching priority to be an active, engaged and reliable partner in the Indo-Pacific.Join us for a thought-provoking discussion examining the role and significance of Canada’s enhanced engagement in building a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable Indo-Pacific region. Rana Sarkar, Canada’s consul general in San Francisco, and Yves Tiberghien, professor of political science, Konwakai Chair in Japanese Research, and director of the Center for Japanese Research at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, will hold a fireside chat exploring this new horizon of opportunity, as well as the importance of the Bay Area as an international cultural, commercial and financial hub and vital gateway to the Indo-Pacific region.MLF ORGANIZERIan McCuaigNOTESAn 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