Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Join us for an in-depth discussion focused on the latest Youth Climate Survey by Blue Shield on how climate change is affecting the mental health of our youth community. We'll be talking with David W. Bond, who is the director of behavioral health at Blue Shield of California—Promise Health Plan, where he leads initiatives to restore, sustain and enhance the behavioral health and well being of the state's Medi-Cal and Medicare beneficiaries; Joel Castro, a recent San Diego high school graduate and activist; and Maya Gomez, a Whitney High School incoming senior and a student representative for the Mind Out Loud program.Join us for this timely talk!NOTESThis program is generously supported by Blue Shield of California.SPEAKERSIntroduction by Antoinette MayerSenior Director of Corporate Citizenship, Blue Shield of CaliforniaDavid W. BondDirector of Behavioral Health, Blue Shield of California—Promise Health Plan; Licensed Clinical Social Worker; Board Certified Expert in Traumatic StressJoel CastroIncoming Freshman, University of California, Berkeley; President, Cesar Chavez Service ClubMaya GomezStudent Representative, Mind Out Loud; Incoming Senior, Whitney High SchoolMichelle MeowProducer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors—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 June 27th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the Andes to the Himalayas, mountains have an extraordinary power to evoke a sense of the sacred. In the overwhelming wonder and awe that these dramatic features of the landscape awaken, people experience something of deeper significance that imbues their lives with meaning and vitality.Drawing on his extensive research and personal experience as a scholar and climber, Edwin Bernbaum takes us on a fascinating journey exploring the role of mountains in the mythologies, religions, history, literature and art of cultures around the world. He delves deeply into the spiritual dimensions of mountaineering and the implications of sacred mountains for environmental and cultural preservation; he also shows how the contemplation of sacred mountains can transform everyday life, even in cities far from the peaks themselves.Join us for an online talk with Edwin Bernbaum.MLF ORGANIZERGeorge HammondSPEAKERSEdwin BernbaumMountaineer; Scholar of Comparative Religion and Mythology; Author, Sacred Mountains of the WorldIn 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 28th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Service is fundamental to who we are as Americans and how we meet our local and national challenges. For nearly 30 years, AmeriCorps has connected people of all ages and backgrounds together to tackle the country's most pressing problems. Today, from fighting the pandemic and responding to disasters, to boosting student success and tackling climate change, national service is seen as a proven solution that can unite Americans in strengthening their communities. AmeriCorps CEO Michael D. Smith knows firsthand how service can transform lives and communities. Born into poverty, Smith was nurtured by a group of mentors and coaches who lifted his sights to what was possible and instilled an insatiable appetite for service and civic engagement. He has dedicated his career to social justice and public service in underserved communities. Nominated by President Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in December 2021, Smith leads AmeriCorps in engaging more than 250,000 Americans in results-driven service at 40,000 locations across the country. On his first trip to the West Coast since taking the agency’s helm, Smith will address this unprecedented moment of need and opportunity and how AmeriCorps works with nonprofit organizations, philanthropy, and the private sector to increase the impact of service and build a more just and equitable future for us all. Please join us for an important and uplifting conversation.SPEAKERSMichael D. SmithCEO, AmeriCorpsJosh Fryday Chief Service Officer, State 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 29th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since Darwin, evolutionary biology has been “all about the boys,” with the males of the species being the drivers of change and females simply passively devoted to them, zoologist Lucy Cooke argues. Rather than conforming with this male-dominated view of a male-dominated field, Cooke instead seeks to humorously reinvent the narrative—and show just how fierce, dangerous and hilarious the queens of the animal kingdom can be.Lucy Cooke is a British zoologist and an author, director and television producer. She is a graduate of the University of Oxford, where she was tutored by Richard Dawkins. A trailblazer in the field of evolutionary biology, Cooke’s works have included multiple BBC films and documentaries and has published numerous books on various members of the animal kingdom.In her latest book, Bitch: On the Female of the Species, Cooke gives a new look at the females of the species—from same-sex albatross couples raising chicks, to murderous mother meerkats and the titanic battle of the sexes waged by ducks. In her words, “This isn’t your grandfather’s evolutionary biology,” dispelling myths and showing just how ravishing the kingdom’s queens can be.Join us live in San Francisco as Cooke breaks down the gender stereotypes of zoology, and provides striking accounts that prove females can be just as dynamic as any male.SPEAKERSLucy CookeZoologist; Author, Bitch: On the Female of the Species; Twitter @mslucycookeIn 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

In February 2022, Chantale Wong was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in an overwhelming and bipartisan vote to serve as U.S. director of the Asian Development Bank, making her the first openly lesbian Senate-confirmed ambassador in U.S. history.The Asian Development Bank was founded in the mid-1960s as a financial institution focused on fostering economic growth and cooperation in one of the poorest regions of the world. Based in Manila, The Philippines, ADB commits tens of billions of dollars to projects throughout the region.Join us for an online discussion with Ambassador Wong, who will be joining us from Manila to discuss the role of ADB as well as the impact of U.S. economic policies on gender equity, LGBTQIA rights and the environment.SPEAKERSChantale WongUnited States Director, Asian Development Bank; Twitter @chantalewMichelle 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 June 22nd, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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