Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

With the recent appointments of Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, the balance on the U.S. Supreme Court has shifted fundamentally toward the conservatives, and a series of precedent-breaking decisions issued during the 2022 session confirms it. The implications of the Dodd decision alone are far reaching for individual rights, not to mention those cases that focus on the government’s ability to regulate policy in areas like immigration, the environment, the separation of church and state, and gun safety. In many respects, the court majority's ideological shift to an originalist approach to constitutional interpretation has upset the balance of power and redrawn the traditional lines separating the three branches of government in our democracy.  As the court opens its fall session, Dean Chemerinsky will discuss the new justices and these recent decisions as well as upcoming cases before the court which address critical issues like affirmative action and the independence of state legislatures. He will shed light on how the changing role of the Supreme Court might affect the future of our democracy. He will also discuss Chemerinsky’s new book, Worse than Nothing: The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism.NOTESThis program is part of an ongoing series on the Future of Democracy.SPEAKERSErwin ChemerinskyDean, University of California Berkeley School of LawRoy EisenhardtLecturer, University of California Berkeley School of Law—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 October 13th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ruha Benjamin has been called one of the country's most insightful scholars on issues related to race, technology and justice. In her new book, Viral Justice, Benjamin explores—in a very personal way—two social issues that have received extensive attention over the past two years: police violence and the pandemic of COVID-19. For Prof. Benjamin, these two issues existed in tandem for a reason: they are both public health crises that festered and continue to fester because they are both built on unjust systems.Benjamin examines the converging plagues of COVID-19 and police violence, mapping the multiple routes through which racism gets under the skin. Recounting her personal experiences and those of her family, Benjamin illuminates the devastating impact of the chronic stress of racism, the trauma caused by mass imprisonment, and the vast inequities of our nation’s health-care system. As she channels her own life story, she also offers a passionate, inspiring, and practical vision of how seemingly minor decisions and habits could spread virally and have exponentially positive effects. Join us as Professor Benjamin re-envisions the significance of individual actions and explains how we can build a more just world―one small change at a time.About the SpeakersRuha Benjamin is a professor of African American studies at Princeton University, founding director of the Ida B. Wells JUST Data Lab, and author of three books, Viral Justice (2022), Race After Technology (2019), and People’s Science (2013), and editor of Captivating Technology (2019). She graduated from Spelman College with a BA in Sociology & Anthropology and received her MA and PhD degrees from the University of California, Berkeley.Dr. Shabnam Koirala-Azad is the first female dean of the USF School of Education, and in 2018 was recognized as one of the Most Influential Women in the Bay Area. For more than a decade as a faculty member in the School of Education and as department chair for the Department of International and Multicultural Education, she added a strong global education component to the curriculum and co-founded the first degree program in Human Rights Education in the United States. As a leader, she is nationally recognized for her ability to infuse principles of justice and equity in her leadership practices.MLF ORGANIZERGerald HarrisNOTESA Technology & Society 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. This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.In association with Inforum.SPEAKERSIntroduction by Gerald HarrisChair, Technology & Society Member-led Forum, The Commonwealth Club of CaliforniaRuha BenjaminProfessor of African American Studies, Princeton University; Director, Ida B. Wells Just Data Lab; Author, Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We WantShabnam Koirala-AzadDean, University of San Francisco School of Education—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 October 19th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a democracy, meaningful change often requires adapting views and building coalitions. Some believe finding common ground and building rapport is the best way to change minds. Others believe activism and protests are key to raising awareness. Increasingly, however, the acts of listening and persuasion are left out, as each side is convinced that the other is unmovable. Anand Giridharadas is a journalist, columnist, on-air political analyst, and author. His latest book, The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy, explores how the tactics of persuasion can help strengthen democracy and foster positive societal change.Guests:Anand Giridharadas, Journalist, Author, The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and DemocracyFor show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reza Aslan is a leading expert in world religions and his bestselling books have touched on a range of issues related to history, extremism and spirituality. His latest work, An American Martyr in Persia, challenges us to look at how seriously we take our ideals of constitutional democracy and whose freedom do we support.Aslan illuminates these issues by exploring the real-story of Howard Baskerville, a 22-year-old Christian missionary from South Dakota who traveled to Persia (modern-day Iran) in 1907 for a two-year stint teaching English and preaching the gospel. Baskerville arrived in the midst of a democratic revolution led by a group of brilliant young firebrands committed to transforming their country into a fully self-determining, constitutional monarchy, one with free elections and an independent parliament. In death, Baskerville became a martyr who spurred the revolutionaries to remove the shah from power, signing a new constitution and rebuilding parliament in Tehran.At this critical time when many people are questioning it, Aslan's new work offers a powerful parable about the universal ideals of democracy―and to what degree Americans are willing to support those ideals in a foreign land, Iran, a country frequently demonized and misunderstood in the West.Aslan along with Ray Suarez will explore how one person can still make a difference when freedom is at stake.NOTESIn association with World Affairs.SPEAKERSReza AslanAuthor, An American Martyr in Persia: The Epic Life and Tragic Death of Howard Baskerville; Twitter @rezaaslanIn Conversation with Ray SuarezHost, "World Affairs" on KQEDIn 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 October 24th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who is Donald Trump? In her highly anticipated new book, Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman chronicles his life from his rise in New York City to the White House.Join us as Haberman discusses what she learned during interviews with hundreds of sources as well as numerous interviews over the years with Donald Trump himself, a man she says is both a complicated and often contradictory historical figure who pushed American democracy to the brink.This is an important political event you won’t want to miss.SPEAKERSMaggie HabermanSenior Political Reporter, The New York Times; Author, Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America; Twitter @maggieNYT(Haberman will be participating remotely)In Conversation with Tim MillerWriter-at-large, The Bulwark; Author, Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell; Twitter @timodcIn 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 February 18th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the last several years, the COVID-19 global pandemic has helped illustrate to the nation that we are only as healthy as those who are most vulnerable among us. Disparities impacting a person’s health ultimately also impact the health of our larger society. Many of these disparities have deeply rooted causes that stem from unjust policies and programs across the country. This session in our Humankindness and Health Justice series will focus on social justice as a form of health justice, addressing these deeply rooted issues and beliefs that created downstream impacts on the health of our communities. Join us for a conversation on ways to start identifying and ending challenges that foster disparities in our communities. The conversation will feature the Honorable Willie L. Brown, Jr. former California assembly speaker, mayor of San Francisco, and long-time social justice advocate. Also joining in on the conversation is Dawn Porter, award-winning and Emmy-nominated social justice documentarian. Moderating the discussion will be Janet Reilly, co-founder and board president of Clinic by the Bay, a free, volunteer-powered health clinic for the working uninsured in San Francisco and San Mateo counties. NOTESThis program is part of the Humankindness & Health Justice series, generously underwritten by CommonSpirit Health Foundation.SPEAKERSWillie L. Brown, Jr.Former California Assembly Speaker, Mayor of San FranciscoDawn PorterEmmy-Nominated Social Justice AdvocateJanet ReillyCo-Founder and Board President, Clinic by the Bay In 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 October 19th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam Hochschild returns to The Commonwealth Club with his revelatory new account of a pivotal but neglected period in American history: World War I and its stormy aftermath, when bloodshed and repression on the home front nearly doomed American democracy.The nation was on the brink. Angry mobs burned Black churches to the ground and chased down pacifists and immigrants. Well over a thousand men and women were jailed solely for what they had written or said, even in private. An astonishing 250,000 people joined a nationwide vigilante group—sponsored by the Department of Justice.This was America during and after the Great War: a brief but appalling era blighted by torture, censorship, and killings. Hochschild brings to life this troubled period, which stretched from 1917 to 1921, through the interwoven tales of some well-known characters, like the sphinxlike Woodrow Wilson and the ambitious young bureaucrat J. Edgar Hoover, and of other less-familiar characters, like the fiery antiwar advocate Kate Richards O’Hare and the outspoken Leo Wendell, a labor radical who was frequently arrested and wholly trusted by his comrades—but who was in fact Hoover’s star undercover agent.A groundbreaking work of narrative history, American Midnight recalls these horrifying yet inspiring four years, when some brave Americans strove to keep their fractured country democratic, while ruthless others stimulated toxic currents of racism, nativism, red-baiting and contempt for the rule of law—poisons that all feel ominously familiar today.MLF ORGANIZERGeorge HammondSPEAKERSAdam HochschildHistorian; Lecturer, Graduate School of Journalism, University of California Berkeley; Author, American Midnight: The Great War, A Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten CrisisIn Conversation with George HammondAuthor, Conversations With SocratesIn 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 October 13th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last year, drug-related overdoses killed more people than COVID-19 in San Francisco, and Mayor London Breed declared a state of emergency in the Tenderloin. Fentanyl and COVID-19 have only fueled our overdose crisis. While addressing this might seem overwhelming, we can respond in practical and evidence-based ways.Come learn how we can address this crisis with solutions that might surprise you from San Francisco General Hospital's Addiction Care Team director. How can M&Ms help stem the crisis? What is a patient navigator? How do we change the experience of people who use drugs in the hospital? Dr. Marlene Martin will address these issues.Our speaker, Dr. Marlene Martin, M.D., is an associate professor of clinical medicine at UCSF and a hospitalist at San Francisco General Hospital. Dr. Martin is the director of addiction initiatives for the UCSF Latinx Center of Excellence and founded and directs the Addiction Care Team (ACT), an interprofessional consultation service that provides compassionate person-centered care focused on harm reduction, evidence-based treatment, and linkage to care for emergency department and hospitalized patients with unhealthy substance use. Dr. Martin is passionate about improving health-care systems and reducing inequities for people with substance use disorders and Latinx individuals through innovation and interprofessional collaborations, including community partnerships.MLF ORGANIZERPatrick O'ReillySPEAKERSMarlene MartinAssociate Professor of Clinical Medicine, UCSF; Hospitalist, San Francisco General Hospital; Director of Addiction Initiatives, UCSF Latinx Center of Excellence; Founder and Director, Addiction Care Team (ACT)Patrick O'ReillyPh.D., Clinical Psychologist; Assistant Clinical Professor, UC San Francisco; Chair, Member-Led Psychology Forum—ModeratorIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded Live on October 11th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Women are breaking through the tired and hurtful stereotypes of aging to better reflect who they are, how they live, and what they want as they age.Who hasn't heard the stereotypes about women of a "certain age?" That's the age when women become invisible, irrelevant, undesirable, asexual, unhinged, dried-up, hormonal messes. It's when women quickly slide into fragility and become forgetful, passive, weak, feeble, debilitated, disabled, dependent and depressed. Or so the story goes. Not only are those outdated narratives sexist and ageist, they are also damaging to women's physical, emotional, financial, romantic and sexual health. It's time to change them.In Not too Old for That, Vicki Larson helps change the narrative about being a woman at midlife and older. She questions what we've been told aging would be like and encourages us to instead ask ourselves, What do we want it to be like? And how can we get there? She says the key is to be curious, open-minded, and intentional about the ways we are becoming our future selves. We have an opportunity to create new narratives of aging as a woman, ones that value women at all stages of life, not just youth, and it starts with us.Once the stereotypes that have held women back are broken down, she says women can move past them and rather than feel helpless as the years add up, they can discover and tap into just how much agency they have. She believes that not only will her approach help to create a less ageist, less sexist, more-inclusive future, it will release our daughters and all young women from a similar future.About the SpeakerVicki Larson is a longtime award-winning editor, writer and columnist at the Marin Independent Journal. She is author of Not Too Old for That: How Women are Changing the Story of Aging and co-author of The New I Do: Reshaping Marriage for Skeptics, Realists and Rebels, named a Best Book of 2014 by PopSugar. A resident of Marin County, her writing can be found in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Aeon and AARP's The Ethel, among other publications.MLF ORGANIZERDenise MichaudNOTESA Grownups Member-Led Forum (MLF) 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.SPEAKERSVicki LarsonJournalist; AuthorEric SiegelChair, Personal Growth 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 live on October11th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for an online conversation with the author of a striking and remarkable literary memoir about one family’s transformation, with almost all of them embracing their queer identities. It might sound like a sitcom plot, but for Jessi Hempel, it's a true story.Jessi Hempel was raised in a picture-perfect, middle-class American family. But the truth was far from perfect. Her lawyer-father was constantly away from home, traveling for work, while her stay-at-home mother became increasingly lonely and erratic. Growing up, Jessi and her two siblings struggled to make sense of their family, their world, their changing bodies, and the emotional turmoil each was experiencing.By the time Jessi reached adulthood, everyone in her family had come out: Jessi as gay, her sister as bisexual, her father as gay, her brother as transgender, and her mother as a survivor of a traumatic experience with an alleged serial killer. Yet coming out was just the beginning, starting a chain reaction of other personal revelations and reckonings that caused each of them to question their place in the world in new and ultimately liberating ways.Don't miss this timely talk.About the SpeakerJessi Hempel is a senior editor at large at LinkedIn and host of the Webby-nominated podcast "Hello Monday." For almost 20 years, she has been writing and editing features and cover stories about the most important people and companies in technology. Most recently, she was the head of editorial for Backchannel and a senior writer at Wired. Earlier in her career, she was a senior writer for Fortune, where she co-chaired Fortune’s Aspen tech conference. Before that, Hempel wrote for BusinessWeek, and Time Asia. She has appeared on CNN, PBS, MSNBC, Fox, and CNBC, addressing the culture and business of technology. Hempel is a graduate of Brown University and received a Master’s in Journalism from U.C. Berkeley. She lives in Brooklyn.NOTESThis program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.SPEAKERSJessi HempelAuthor, The Family Outing; Twitter @jessiwritesMichelle MeowProducer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors—Co-hostJohn ZippererProducer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club of California—Co-hostIn 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 October 13th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices