Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Africa is responsible for only less than 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Yet its people are already suffering some of the world’s most devastating climate impacts. For Wanjira Mathai, Regional Director for Africa and Vice President at the World Resources Institute, and the daughter of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai, this raises a central moral question: When those most affected are those least responsible, how can those most responsible address that injustice?Guest:Wanjira Mathai, Vice President and Regional Director for Africa, World Resources Institute Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On June 24, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision on abortion rights (in Dobbs v. Mississippi) that overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that has provided federal protections and defined a woman’s right to abortion since 1973. After decades of whittling away at Roe's protections, a majority of the court's justices have upended it, letting individual states decide their own approaches to reproductive rights. With this decision, some 22 states are expected to quickly make abortion all but illegal, while California will likely remain one of the few where full abortion rights are guaranteed. Women in other states across the country might lose access to reproductive care overnight or find services even more severely restricted. In California, women’s health-care providers and women’s rights organizations are gearing up for a massive influx of people seeking care and assistance, while some are already exploring how the state can become a sanctuary for women in search of reproductive health care. California's approach to protecting abortion rights will be one of the most watched in the country.To mark this critical moment in the history of women’s rights and to explore the role that California could play in a post-Roe environment, The Commonwealth Club of California is joining with Women's March San Francisco for a special gathering including conversation, networking and learningThe gathering, produced in partnership with Women’s March San Francisco and with support from The California Wellness Foundation,SPEAKERSSylvia GhazarianExecutive Director, Women’s Reproductive Rights Assistance Project (participating via Zoom)Gilda GonzalesCEO, Planned Parenthood Northern CaliforniaBuffy WicksCalifornia State Assemblymember (District 15)Imani Rupert-GordonExecutive Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights—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 June 28th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A career in television journalism can be fraught with burnout, impostor syndrome and publicly aired stumbles. Especially in one of the craziest news eras America has ever seen, it is almost impossible to remain calm among the fury of stories to follow and the demanding and roles and responsibilities of the news industry.MSNBC anchor and New York Times bestselling author Katy Tur knows precisely what difficulties come from a life chasing news stories. Though she gained popularity covering then-candidate Donald Trump in 2015 and 2016, her newest release Rough Draft details the early years of her life as the daughter of two groundbreaking helicopter journalists in Los Angeles leading up to her own breakout career as a reporter. She explores the gift and curse of family legacy and for the first time, opens up about her complicated relationship with her parents. She also takes readers behind the desk to reveal what it is like to report during a time of massive chaos, disinformation and extremism, and she shares how she navigated the unprecedented and embraced the moment.Join INFORUM live in San Francisco for an intimate conversation with MSNBC's Katy Tur as she brings us inside her riveting life in TV news.NOTESThis program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.SPEAKERSKaty TurAnchor, MSNBC Live; Author, Rough Draft: A Memoir; Twitter @KatyTurNBCIn Conversation with Marisa LagosCorrespondent for California Politics and Government, KQED; Twitter @mlagosIn 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 June 17th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anne W. Smith, the Commonwealth Club's Arts Member-led Forum chair, will moderate a discussion relative to restorative performing arts ideas and values, lingering pandemic issues and new implications for artist and audiences. Sean Fenton, the “new kid on the block”, is executive director for the arts community service organization Theatre Bay Area. He will spotlight new approaches and thinking ideologies of large and small companies, including why  passion is central to leveraging  pathways through equity, diversity and inclusion as theatre’s strongest future. Phillippa Cole, senior director of artistic planning at San Francisco Symphony, will share the emerging impact of Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen’s sparks of innovation underneath his galvanizing leadership model of collaborating artist partners. Is this how the symphony will—as Partner Julia Bullock so aptly wrote—“unpick the institutional tangle?" Why will Davies Hall’s collaborative space message prevail? And Carma Zisman, executive director of ODC/Dance, which was founded 50 years ago by Artistic Director Brenda Way, will talk about how ODC committed to 52-week full-time contracts for their dancers. It’s a very radical move in the contemporary dance world that grounds ODC's 50th anniversary the impact of EDI issues, and the professional dance world's positioning right now.Join us for an enlightening conversation. We must try!About the SpeakersPhillippa Cole is the senior director of artistic planning at San Francisco Symphony. She was previously the associate director of artistic planning for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, producing at London’s Almeida Theatre, casting administrator of the English National Opera, and agent with Askonas Holt artist management company focusing on conductors, singers, and stage directors, including Michael Tilson Thomas , Magdalena Kozena and Sir Simon Rattle. She served as the Center’s Performance panel chair at the Royal Academy of Music in London.Sean Fenton has been active in the professional Bay Area theatre community for more than two decades. He has worked as an actor, musician, director and administrator. He as performed at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, San Francisco Playhouse, Crowded Fire Theater, 42nd Street Moon, and Ferocious Lotus Theatre Company, among others. Backstage, he’s been a leader at Bay Area Children’s Theatre and Kaiser Permanente Educational Theatre, and he has developed audience research services at Wolf Brown’s Intrinsic Impact program.Before taking the helm at ODC/Dance five years ago, Carma Zisman served as director of institutional advancement at The Walt Disney Family Museum. Previously she was the vice president of development at the World Affairs Council of Northern California, and development director of the College of Liberal & Creative Arts at San Francisco State University.SPEAKERSPhillippa ColeSenior Director of Artistic Planning, San Francisco SymphonySean FentonExecutive Director, Theatre Bay AreaCarma ZismanExecutive Director, ODC/DanceDr. Anne W. SmithCo-chair, Commonwealth Club Arts Member-led ForumIn 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 June 21st, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Ronald Reagan Institute Shultz Lecture Series was originally conceived to honor Secretary Shultz on the anniversary of his 100th birthday; to celebrate and introduce more people to his incredible achievements and leadership in service to the United States and the world. This inaugural Shultz Lecture brings together three leading scholars to discuss the legacy of Secretary George P. Shultz: the man, the statesman, and a cherished friend and mentor to many.The George P. Shultz Lecture Series is a collaboration spearheaded by Taube Philanthropies in partnership with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute. Two lectures will be held in 2022, with the West Coast lecture taking place at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco in June, and the East Coast lecture being held at the Ronald Reagan Institute in Washington, D.C. , later this year. NOTESThe George P. Shultz Lecture Series is generously underwritten by Taube Philanthropies.Presented by The Commonwealth Club in partnership with the Ronald Reagan InstituteSPEAKERSWelcome by Dr. Gloria DuffyPresident and CEO, The Commonwealth Club of CaliforniaDr. Condoleezza Rice66th U.S. Secretary of State; The Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the Hoover Institution (Participating via video)Frances Tilney BurkeGeorge P. Shultz Fellow, The Ronald Reagan InstituteKiron K. SkinnerIncoming Taube Professor for International Relations and Politics, Pepperdine University School of Public PolicyPhilip TaubmanLecturer, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University; Former New York Times Washington and Moscow Bureau ChiefRoger ZakheimDirector, The Ronald Reagan Institute—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 June 15th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Penetrating the fog of the coverup surrounding the murder of Stanford University's cofounder, historian Richard White deftly sifts through the evidence and reconstructs the full story. In 1885 Jane Stanford and her husband, Leland Stanford, co-founded Stanford University in memory of their deceased son. After Leland's death in 1893, Jane steered the university and its policies into eccentricity and controversy for more than a decade. When she died in 1905, her vast fortune was still the university’s lifeline.To foreclose challenges to her bequests, Stanford's president and his allies insisted it was death by natural causes. But it was a murder, by strychnine poisoning, and the culprit walked. Against a backdrop of San Francisco’s machine politics, corrupt policing, tong wars, and heated newspaper rivalries, White’s search for the murderer will draw you into Stanford’s imperious household and the tumultuous politics at the university. And he reveals that, although several suspects had both motive and opportunity, only one had the means.MLF ORGANIZERGeorge HammondNOTESA Humanities 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.SPEAKERSRichard WhiteMargaret Byrne Professor Emeritus, Stanford University; Author, Who Killed Jane Stanford?: A Gilded Age Tale of Murder, Deceit, Spirits, and the Birth of a UniversityIn 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 June 16th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we mark World Refugee Day, an international day to honor refugees, we invite you to celebrate the strength and courage of all those forced to flee their homes in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion in February . Multiple organizations and individuals are lending their support to the estimated 6.8 million refugees from Ukraine who have fled to Poland, Romania and throughout the European Union. In addition, there are an estimated 8 million people displaced within the country, all of whom are seeking shelter and safety. After more than three months of war, this refugee crisis continues unabated, and even if a peace agreement were signed tomorrow, this conflict-driven mass migration will continue to impact millions, not only in Europe but also around the globe. How can we plan to support the Ukrainian community throughout the crisis and after the war ends as they return, resettle and rebuild?Join this conversation with leaders from two of the many organizations working with displaced Ukrainian families and learn firsthand about the situation today facing refugees from the war in Ukraine. Ostap Korkuna is co-chairman of Nova Ukraine, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine and raising awareness about Ukraine in the United States as well as in the rest of the world. Joy Sisisky is CEO of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund here in the Bay Area. She recently spent time traveling to the border between Ukraine and Poland to stand witness at this monumental time in history, provide relief, and welcome Ukrainian Jewish families at the start of their very long journeys.What is being done to assist the mostly women and children forced to flee their homes, and what can you do to help?SPEAKERSOstap KorkunaCo-Chairman, Nova UkraineJoy SisiskyCEO and Chief Philanthropy Officer, Jewish Community Federation & Endowment FundSteven SaumEditor, WorldView Magazine—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 June 21st, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

83% of people in the United States live in urban areas. And these days that’s where important climate progress is happening. Cities all over the country and globe are experimenting with climate resilience projects specific to their local environments and challenges. In many cases, these projects also look to address historic injustices and provide more equitable models for transportation, housing, green space, and more. This week, we feature stories from a few different cities around the country working to address climate challenges.Guests:Tamika L. Butler, Founder + Principal, Tamika L. Butler Consulting, LLCDonnel Baird, Founder, BlocPowerJ. Morgan Grove, Research Scientist and Team Leader, US Forest Service Contributing Producer: Aubrey Calaway Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Linda Yvette Chávez is a self-proclaimed “wholesome chola next door making chilaquiles out of chaos” and moreover, a Xicana woman making history.In the world of entertainment, she is an unrivaled powerhouse who is the co-creator, co-showrunner and executive producer of Netflix’s hit series "Gentefied" (now in its second season).Through her creative ventures, Chávez has made it her mission to tell authentic Latinx stories and increase representation, not just in actors but through narratives and settings. The bold success of these efforts has won her critical acclaim and praise from audiences and writer’s rooms alike.Named by Glamour magazine as “one of the top Latinas changing the game of representation in television,” Chávez will share her personal journey about breaking the bias and how she is inspiring future generations.SPEAKERSLinda Yvette ChávezCo-Creator, Co-Showrunner, and Executive Producer, Netflix’s "Gentefied"; Twitter @lindayvetteIn Conversation with Michelle MeowProducer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show" on KBCW TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of GovernorsThis program is generously supported by the Applied Materials Foundation’s Generation Girl® initiative, inspiring girls to pursue their dreams. 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 June 16th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This program will give background on how technology research, innovation and transformation occurs from discoveries and research supported by the National Science Foundation.The National Science Foundations supports deep, early and foundational research across a wide range of fields and is funded by the American taxpayer. However, bringing those discoveries and technologies into use in the marketplace demands connections with universities, venture investors, entrepreneurs and start-ups. Join us for a program that will explain this process and how people can connect with the various programs the NSF provides.MLF ORGANIZERGerald HarrisSPEAKERSDr. Ben SchragProgram Director and Policy Liaison, NSF Translation, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology TransferGerald HarrisPresident, Quantum Planning Group; Chair, Technology & Society 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 June 14th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices