Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Rural voters.For the past several years, the voting behaviors, interests, cultures and beliefs of those who live far outside cities have been an obsession for many in the media as well as politicians and political strategists in both parties. Rural voters clearly played a role in the election of former President Trump in 2016, and they are expected to play an outsized role in the 2022 and 2024 elections as American continues to divide into "red" and "blue" areas. The general belief is that Democrats have lost rural voters to Republicans for the foreseeable future. For Maine State Senator Chloe Maxmin, a progressive politician, nothing could be farther from the truth.As the youngest person ever elected to the Maine senate, Maxmin won successful elections in rural red districts that few thought could be won by a Democrat. She and her campaign manager, Canyon Woodward, saw how, in their view, the Democratic Party has focused for too long on the interests of elite leaders and big donors, forcing the party to abandon the concerns of rural America—jeopardizing, they say, progress on climate justice, racial equity, economic justice and more. In their new book, Dirt Road Revival, Maxmin and Woodward look at how rural American has been left behind and lay out a long-term vision for Democrats to rebuild trust and win campaigns in rural America. Their book shows how progressive values can be translated into a rural context, moving beyond the failed strategies of establishment consultants and utilizing grassroots-movement organizing strategies to effectively engage rural voters.Maxmin and Woodward will discuss how they believe Democrats can change their current course and win in districts in every area of the country. Please join us for this unique conversation.SPEAKERSChloe MaxminMaine State Senator (District 13); Co-Author, Dirt Road Revival: How to Rebuild Rural Politics and Why Our Future Depends On ItCanyon WoodwardPolitical Strategist; Co-Author, Dirt Road Revival: How to Rebuild Rural Politics and Why Our Future Depends On ItVikrum AiyerMember, Inforum Advisory Board; Former Obama White House Senior Advisor—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 May 18th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When President Joe Biden took office, the problems the new president faced were similar to the challenges faced by another U.S. president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt: decreasing opportunity for the average American, disproportionate power of the mega-wealthy, and a starkly divided political system. To help address these issues nearly a century ago, FDR launched The New Deal, forever changing American society. To longtime political analyst Robert Kuttner, the similarities between 2022 and 1932 means President Biden has a similar opportunity to transform the country through major public investments.In his latest book, Going Big, Kuttner draws on the striking similarities between the circumstances of FDR and Biden, including the major crossroads of American politics that marked both their terms. With democratic backsliding, deep partisan divides and the ever-growing power of corporate interests, Kuttner says President Biden’s vision for the future will have critical implications for the future of the country—and, just like the New Deal, an army of opposition determined to maintain the status quo.Join us, as Kuttner explains what is at stake for America in 2022 and the opportunity President Biden has at this unprecedented time in the nation’s history.MLF ORGANIZERGeorge HammondSPEAKERSRobert KuttnerCo-Founder and Co-Editor, The American Prospect; Ida and Meyer Kirstein Chair, Brandeis University; Author, Going Big: FDR's Legacy, Biden's New Deal, and the Struggle to Save DemocracyIn Conversation with Arlie Hochschild Professor Emerita of Sociology, University of California BerkeleyIn 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 May 31st, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As San Francisco decides whether or not to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin on June 7, join us for a nonpartisan forum to hear from both sides on this important choice. Boudin was elected in 2019 on a progressive platform of decarceration and criminal justice reform. While many applaud these efforts, doubts about the effectiveness of Boudin’s policies, coupled with highly-publicized crimes, have dogged Boudin’s office (and city leadership at-large). Increasing fears of disorder in the city and questions about the district attorney’s job performance have led to San Francisco’s second recall election this year.To break down the Boudin recall, The Commonwealth Club has invited two leading voices with opposing views on this important election.Lara Bazelon is a professor of law and the director of the Criminal Juvenile Justice and Racial Justice Clinical Programs at the University of San Francisco School of Law. Her writings on the justice system and its shortcomings have appeared in The Atlantic and The New York Times, and she’s been a vocal supporter of the district attorney. Brooke Jenkins served as assistant district attorney under Boudin until October 2021. She agrees with Boudin’s central tenet that the criminal justice system is racist and needs reform, but she left the office due to what she saw as a prioritization of politics over outcomes and the needs of crime victims and their families. She supports his recall.SPEAKERSLara BazelonProfessor of Law and Director of Criminal Juvenile Justice and Racial Justice Clinical Programs, University of San FranciscoBrooke JenkinsFormer Assistant District Attorney of San FranciscoMelissa CaenAttorney; Political Analyst—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 May 17th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can democracy, as we know it, ever work again? This is the question that New York Times political journalists Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns asks after examining the 2020 election and the first year of Joe Biden’s presidency, and going behind the scenes of this 18-month crisis in American democracy.In their latest book, This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future, Martin and Burns give the account of the events that led to and from the 2020 presidential election in stunning detail. Walking through the coronavirus pandemic, the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol and the political brinkmanship of Biden’s first year in office, Martin and Burns provide in-the-room descriptions of Trump’s assault on the election, the behind the scenes story of how Kamala Harris became Biden’s vice presidential pick, and how the two-party electoral system was strained to its limit.Join us, as Martin and Burns provide never-before-seen descriptions of the events behind one of American democracy’s most infamous hours.SPEAKERSAlexander BurnsNational Political Correspondent, The New York Times; Political Analyst, CNN; Co-Author, This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future; Twitter @alexburnsNYTJonathan MartinNational Political Correspondent, The New York Times; Political Analyst, CNN; Co-Author, This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future; Twitter @jmartNYTIn Conversation with Willie BrownFormer Mayor of San FranciscoIn 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 May 17th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We must solve our housing crisis if we are going to build a Bay Area where people of all races and backgrounds can thrive in safe, affordable, and vibrant communities. From homelessness to innovative regional approaches and new zoning flexibilities, the Bay Area has a new set of housing tools that can help us accelerate our efforts. The current inequalities and issues are rooted in policies and practices that we collectively have the power to change.Join The Commonwealth Club of California and the San Francisco Foundation to learn from a powerful panel of leaders. What makes them optimistic about the future and what will it take to build a better Bay Area? Speakers include: Fred Blackwell, San Francisco Foundation CEO; Tomiquia Moss, All Home CEO and founder; Cindy Chavez, Santa Clara County supervisor, and Dan Sawislak, executive director of Resources for Community Development.NOTESThis program is supported by the San Francisco Foundation's Bay Area Leads Fund donors.SPEAKERSCindy ChavezSanta Clara County SupervisorTomiquia MossAll Home, CEO & FounderDan SawislakExecutive Director of Resources for Community DevelopmentFred BlackwellCEO, San Francisco Foundation—Moderator Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Though the COVID-19 pandemic isn't over, it is heading into a new phase, particularly in Western countries such as the United States and throughout Europe. Increasingly, citizens want a return to normal, with fewer restrictions, and are showing willingness to find ways to live with and manage the virus. As government leaders around the world strive to transition their countries to this new normal, they are also starting to talk about what happens next and how we can prevent another pandemic from once again killing millions of people and devastating the global economy. But given the controversies around fighting COVID-19, is this even possible? Bill Gates believes the answer is yes. In his new book, How to Prevent the Next Pandemic, Gates lays out what he believes the world can learn from COVID-19 and what can be done to ward off another disaster like it. Relying on the knowledge of the world's foremost experts and his own experience combating fatal diseases with the Gates Foundation, his new book shows us how the nations of the world, working in conjunction with one another and with the private sector, can stop future outbreaks and ultimately save lives.Join us for an in-depth discussion on what the world can and must do to prevent the next pandemic.SPEAKERSBill GatesCo-chair, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Author, How to Prevent the Next Pandemic; Twitter @BillGatesIn Conversation with DJ PatilFormer U.S. Chief Data Scientist; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @dpatilIn 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 May 16th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to the World Bank, land managed by Indigenous peoples is associated with lower rates of deforestation, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and better biodiversity protection. But in many places, Indigenous people have been displaced from their ancestral lands through outright theft, land grabs, violence and war — sacrificing both indigenous livelihoods and the traditional knowledge that has protected their lands for centuries.Still, across the U.S. we can find examples of land access, stewardship and ownership being restored to Indigenous people – and more efforts being made to involve tribal nations in conservation and climate resilience. “Climate change isn't just about protecting the natural world; it’s also about protecting our culture and who we are because we've resisted against so many colonial forces for so long,” says Julia Fay Bernal, director of the Pueblo Action Alliance. Guests:Jessica Hernandez, author, Fresh Banana LeavesPriscilla Hunter, Board Chairwoman, Intertribal Sinkyone Wilderness CouncilSam Hodder, President and CEO, Save the Redwoods LeagueJulia Fay Bernal, Director, Pueblo Action Alliance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ending poverty in the Bay Area will require innovation, partnership, and pro-active, anti-racist strategies. Join us as we come together to outline how we can build a future where everyone has a stable home that enables us to pursue our dreams, raise our families, and build the lives we want to live. In this virtual “fireside chat,” we’ll hear from a variety of voices across the movement to end poverty in the Bay Area, including former Stockton mayor and founder of End Poverty in California (EPIC) Michael Tubbs and All Home CEO Tomiquia Moss, as we explore the ways that housing instability is interconnected with racial inequality, poverty and homelessness. This virtual event in honor of Affordable Housing Month in May will begin with a chat with former mayor of Stockton Michael Tubbs, moderated by Tomiquia Moss, outlining his five-point platform for ending poverty in California. Then a panel discussion with representatives from broad cross-sector partners will take the conversation from principles and concepts to action items and concrete next steps. NOTESThis program is convened by the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California (NPH) and co-hosted in partnership with Silicon Valley @ Home, East Bay Housing Organizations, Housing Leadership Council, Generation Housing, the Council of Community Housing Organizations, United Way Bay Area, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI).SPEAKERSCathy EberhardtVice Chair, Oakland Mayor’s Commission on Persons with DisabilitiesMelissa JonesExecutive Director, Bay Area Regional Health Inequities InitiativeMichael TubbsFounder, End Poverty in CaliforniaCourtney WelchEmeryville City CouncilmemberTomiquia MossFounder and CEO, All HomeIn 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 May 23rd, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In recent years, an influx of racially motivated attacks against people of color in local communities has made national headlines: and the cases of George Floyd, Breanna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery have sparked international conversations. In today’s age, exposure to racial injustice is more accessible than ever with the rise of video recording and the intimacy of technology. The power to spread information globally, all with the touch of a button, is reshaping the civil rights movement and pushing social justice forward.Marc Lamont Hill and Todd Brewster are both award-winning journalists and bestselling authors who reveal the common thread between these harrowing incidents. They recognize that technology has irrevocably changed our conversations about race and, in many instances, tipped the levers of power in favor of the historically disadvantaged.In their newest book, Seen and Unseen: Technology, Social Media, and the Fight for Racial Justice, Hill and Brewster draw on the increasing role of media in the racial justice movement to discover why it took the horrifying footage of the murder of George Floyd—despite a wealth of video evidence of previous police brutality—to trigger outrage. The book is a riveting exploration of how the power of visual media has shifted the narrative on race over the last few years and reignited the fight toward justice.Join us as co-authors Marc Lamont Hill and Todd Brewster explore the powerful role technology plays as a driver of history, identity, and racial consciousness.SPEAKERSMarc Lamont HillHost, "BET News" and "Black News Tonight"; Steve Charles Chair in Media, Cities, and Solutions, Temple University; Co-Author, Seen and Unseen: Technology, Social Media, and the Fight for Racial Justice; Twitter @marclamonthillTodd BrewsterJournalist; Historian; Co-Author, Seen and Unseen: Technology, Social Media, and the Fight for Racial Justice; Twitter @ToddBrewsterIn Conversation with LaDoris CordellJudge (Ret); Author, Her Honor: My Life on the Bench . . . What Works, What's Broken, and How to Change ItIn 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 May 11th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When noted political scientist Francis Fukuyama predicted the "end of history," it seemed that the Western form of traditional classical liberalism and democracy—rule of law, equal treatment, individualism, and political freedom—was on the march in countries around the world, and that a new political order would be established around the globe. However, as the Russian attack on Ukraine shows, the battle between autocracy and classic liberalism will continue to shape global relations in the present and the future, and as history it will tell the story of this complicated period in world history.In his latest book Liberalism and Its Discontents, Fukuyama explains the troubled history of the American realization of classical liberalism here in the United States, and the challenges from both sides of the political spectrum arising in recent decades. With the right demanding economic freedom above all else, and the left making its core ideal the elevation of identity above the universality of humanity, Fukuyama argues that both approaches miss the mark in grasping classical liberalism, and the consequences can be disastrous both at home and around the world.At this critical time, Fukuyama proposes a bold new defense of classical liberalism, and explains that failing to do so will continue to fragment America’s civil society, and will influence global pushback on democracy itself.Join us as Fukuyama engages in a critical and timely discussion on classical liberalism, why it remains one of the most influential political ideologies of the past millennium, and why battles around it will determine the path of the 21st century for the United States and the world.NOTESThis program is presented in collaboration with the USC Dornsife Center for the Political FutureSPEAKERSFrancis FukuyamaOlivier Nomellini Senior Fellow, Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies; Author, Liberalism and Its Discontents; Twitter @FukuyamaFrancisTim Miller Founder, Light Fuse Communications; Contributor, The Bulwark; Communications Director, Jeb Bush 2016; Author, Why We Did It (Forthcoming); Twitter @timodc—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 May 16th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices