Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

When a nation's politics get wild and its democratic standards frayed, things can go bad quickly. Just ask Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator who met his fate 2,067 years ago on the Ides of March.At Week to Week, we're dedicated to the lively and informed discussion of politics—with a healthy sense of humor—as a platform for healthy involvement in the issues that drive our society. The Commonwealth Club's Week to Week Political Roundtable and social hour, now in its 12th year, will take a look at the politics of the day on the eve of the Ides of March 2023—the issues, the people, the trends affecting our political world.This Program Contains Explicit Language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ginni Rometty spent nearly 40 years at IBM and was the first woman to become the company's CEO before retiring in 2020. Under her leadership the iconic company reinvented 50 percent of its portfolio, built a $25 billion hybrid cloud business, and expanded in AI and quantum computing.Rometty reveals the personal hurdles, high-stake decisions, and groundbreaking milestones that defined her life and shaped her leadership philosophy. Over the years Rometty learned how leadership and big ideas can drive meaningful change in the world—a concept she calls “good power.”Join us as she reflects on how “good power” evolved from her days as a manager to becoming IBM’s CEO and the lasting principles in both her work and life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two prolific writers—individually admired, respected and award-winning in their own areas of research—have been married to each other since 1965. Join us to discuss with Arlie and Adam Hochschild the global political and social issues they have investigated, and the major changes in American culture they have witnessed, as we roam through two lifetimes of caring and creative writing in their pursuit of understanding the patterns of history and culture more clearly—with the mutual goal of developing a more humane civilization.This Program Contains EXPLICIT Language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to the United Nations Development Program, 54 countries, accounting for half the world’s population, face such critical debt burdens that they simply cannot finance climate adaptation and mitigation on their own. Most of these same countries are in the most climate-vulnerable regions in the world, setting them up for compounding disasters. At the same time, every nation on earth is being asked to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels – which enabled the richest countries to develop their economies. So how can those in the developing world make the transition to a clean energy economy while centering economic justice? This episode is a collaboration with Foreign Policy’s Heat of The Moment podcast.Guests:Ani Dasgupta, President and CEO, World Resources InstituteFeaturing stories from Amy Booth and Elna Schütz for Heat of The Moment podcast For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are endless opinions on the best way to eat for optimal health. Physician, chef and cookbook author Linda Shiue, M.D., will share her inclusive approach to choosing and preparing foods to promote health. With her unique background combining medicine and culinary, Dr. Shiue is emphatic that food can and should be a source of both pleasure and health, as well as a means of connecting to culture. She will be reviewing the best evidence-based diets and sharing the latest research on the health benefits of spices. Linda Shiue, MD, is a physician, director of culinary medicine and lifestyle medicine at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco, professionally trained chef and author of the award-winning cookbook, Spicebox Kitchen: Eat Well and Be Healthy with Globally Inspired, Vegetable-Forward Recipes. She serves on the boards of the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank and Meals on Wheels of San Francisco. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan is an award-winning journalist who has interviewed everyone from Edward Snowden to former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton. Throughout his career, Hasan hasn’t been one to avoid arguments but relishes them as the lifeblood of democracy and the only surefire way to dispel misinformation and uncover the truth.Join us as Hasan reflects on his career as a journalist, anchor and interviewer, and offers tips on how to overcome the arguments and debates that engulf our lives daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Monday Night Philosophy at The Commonwealth Club celebrates its 14th anniversary by revealing how 20th century scientific knowledge was used to revitalize the power of Pythagorean insights and Platonic ideals. Using ancient Greek principles that promote clear conceptual reasoning, Hammond spent his 20s reorganizing the concepts we all use into a more coherent whole, generating both philosophical wisdom about the patterns in our personalities and perhaps even a better scientific understanding of the universe as well.Just as it did 2,500 years ago, focusing on the existence of the continuum of change and on the unchanging principles inherent in it reveals a cosmos of order rather than an impenetrable chaos. Surprisingly, the same thing can also be said about uncovering the patterns of order in our own individual―and admittedly apparently chaotic—personalities. Join George Hammond on his 70th birthday as he explains why he expects this civilizing force to get a big boost in the near future, and why he continues to focus on clarifying first principles first—and then setting them loose in the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every place we inhabit has its own tapestry of sound, whether you’re hiking through the woods or sitting in a cafe with a friend. And not only are sounds a part of our sensory experience, but they can give us vital information about the health of our ecosystems. As the planet warms and we lose biodiversity, those sounds are changing. The natural world isn’t the only space where the soundscape is changing. Electrifying everything will have a direct effect on the sound of urban centers. What will cities sound like in the future? Will we listen to the messages our world is sending us, or will we tune them out? Guests: Bernie Krause, Soundscape EcologistDan Hill, Director, Melbourne School of DesignFor show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The United States prides itself for its maverick soul, but Sathnam Sanghera says it inherited the ambition, brutality and thinking of its empire roots. Sanghera reveals the hidden legacies and modern realities of the British empire and makes the case that to understand America, we must first understand British imperialism.He says the pernicious legacy of imperialism is rooted in our everyday lives yet remains shockingly obscured from view. Sanghera offers a sobering appraisal of Britain and America’s political histories to help us move forward to a more just future.SPEAKERSSathnam SangheraAuthor, Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain; Twitter @SathnamIn Conversation with John OliverHost, "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver"; Twitter @iamjohnoliverIn 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 March 6th, 2023 by the Commonwealth Club of California.This program contains EXPLICIT language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Bill Clinton once called the border between India and Pakistan the most dangerous place on Earth. The two countries have been at war with each other on four separate occasions with numerous skirmishes in between. In 1948, 1965 and 1999 war was fought over Kashmir, and in 1971 it was over East Pakistan, later Bangladesh. There have been numerous peace talks, but in some cases the talks seem to have exacerbated the conflict.Complicating the issues has been access to Middle East oil. The Chinese have embarked on a great road-building effort to bypass the Malacca Straits—through which they get their oil supplies and which can be bottled up by the U.S. Navy in times of conflict—by reviving the old Silk Routes to Asia and beyond. Part of this old Silk Route makes its way through Kashmir and into the Pakistani port of Gwadar, on the Persian Gulf. This also helps China keep India, a potential rival in Asia, on the defensive. Kashmir, containing both the headwaters of the great rivers of South Asia as well as the trade routes linking China to the Gulf, is key. Pakistan sees Kashmir as central to its identity and with China’s support, sees little advantage in seeking peace. India, with its nationalist government, will see any flexibility on its part as a sign of weakness. And the United States is determined to contain China any way it can.Meanwhile the search for enduring peace between these two countries continues.Helping us understand the various sides of the issues and the conditions required for peace are two former ambassadors and two journalists, all of whom have been, at one stage or another, involved with the peace process. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices