Podcasts about Commonwealth Club

Join us as we explore the worldwide phenomenon behind the revival of Homer's 3000-year-old story, the kaleidoscopic and hallucinogenic return of Odysseus to Ithaka, the Greek island that has become an icon for home itself. There is the immense beauty of the poem itself and the historical importance of Homer's accomplishment, but what does the story mean to us now, how can it help illuminate the chaos of our lives today? Composed by the Poet Known as Homer, around 650 BC, it was based on a story about the Trojan War that was already hundreds of years old. Since then, the story about the hallucinogenic adventures of Odysseus, his son Telemachus, and wife Penelope have cast a spell over cultures around the world, haunting poets, playwrights and philosophers, and taunting the efforts of archaeologists, linguists and now filmmakers to render it in modern terms. Our conversation will explore the myriad life lessons of Homer's masterpiece that have inspired readers, listeners and now viewers for millennia, with a focus on the central theme of the nostoi, the return stories of ancient Greek soldiers, adventurers, philosophers and scientists coming home, and the wider question of what home meant to the ancients—and what home means to us now, the most rootless people in recorded history. Along the way, we will have an animated exchange about the wide range of translations, from Alexander Pope, T. E. Lawrence, and E. V. Rieu, to Richard Lattimore, Emily Wilson and Daniel Mendelosohn. Finally, we will playfully review the myriad movie versions, from George Melies' four-minute version in 1905, to the 1956 Ulysses with Kirk Douglas, and the freshly minted Odyssey helmed by Christopher Nolan.   Finally, there is the surprising realization that it is five female characters (Penelope, Athena, Calypso, Circe and Nausicaa) who helped guide Odysseus homeward, and the centuries-long influence on art, literature and cinema. Join us for a celebration of the soul-saving power of this ancient Greek tale, which sings of the aftermath of a savage war and the restoration of our hero's home, all the while insisting on need to say “yes” to life.  About the Speaker Phil Cousineau is the author of The Wisdom of the Odyssey and over 40 other books, including the bestselling The Art of Pilgrimage, and The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work. Cousineau is a writer, teacher, filmmaker, storyteller and cultural historian, who has consulted on mythology and story for major studios, including Warner Brothers., Pixar and Lucasfilm, and has led mythology travel programs to Greece for more than three decades. Cousineau has been featured on NPR, CNN International, the BBC, the Smithsonian and Discovery channels, and was the host of PBS and Link-TV's "Global Spirit." He lives in San Francisco. Visit him online. Valerie Andrews is the founder of the digital magazine and podcast "Reinventing Home," the author of Our Story of Home: Tales of Longing and Belonging, and A Passion for This Earth: Toward a New Partnership of Man, Woman and Nature, and the editor of Sanctuary: The Inner Life of Home. Her articles have appeared in Jung Journal: Culture and Psyche, Intuition magazine, Esquire, Vogue, and The Sun. She has moved—or rather been unmoored—33 times and understands the wandering Odysseus. The Bay Area has been her home since 1990. A Grownups 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. Organizer: Denise M. Michaud  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For centuries, meat has been a cornerstone of cuisines and cultures around the world. Yet as global demand continues to rise, questions about sustainability, food security, human health, animal welfare and the environmental impact of food production have become increasingly urgent. In his new book, Meat, which will be available to purchase, Bruce Friedrich explores a provocative question: How can we continue to satisfy humanity's appetite for meat while addressing the challenges facing our food system? As founder and president of The Good Food Institute, Friedrich has become one of the leading voices in the development of alternative proteins, including plant-based foods, precision fermentation, and cultivated meat. Join us for a timely conversation about the future of food. We will explore the technologies transforming protein production, the opportunities and challenges facing alternative proteins, and the broader questions surrounding nutrition, sustainability, consumer acceptance, and the role of innovation in feeding a growing global population. Whether you are enthusiastic, skeptical or simply curious, this discussion offers an opportunity to examine one of the most important—and controversial—food conversations of our time. About the Speaker Bruce Friedrich is founder & president of the Good Food Institute and author of the new book Meat, which Publishers Weekly selected as a top 10 new release in science and Nature featured Meat as one of its five "best science picks.” The book has earned endorsements from Nobel Laureate in economics Michael Kremer, primatologist Jane Goodall, The Ministry for the Future author Kim Stanley Robinson, bioethicist Peter Singer, SpaceX board member Steve Jurvetson, and others. A Nutrition, Food & Wellness 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. Organizer: Patty James  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for an evening of film, data and dialogue exploring one of the most consequential workforce questions of our time, featuring the documentary Ninety-Two: The Silent Revolt No One Saw Coming. Black women are among the fastest-growing groups of breadwinners in America. Yet despite their outsized contribution to families, communities and the economy, they continue to experience disproportionate levels of burnout, workplace inequity, financial strain and invisible labor. What happens when the very people holding up the economy can no longer sustain the weight? The event will feature a screening of Ninety-Two: The Silent Revolt No One Saw Coming, a documentary examining Black women's evolving relationship with work, ambition, caregiving, exhaustion, and resistance. Following the screening, attendees will join a moderated conversation featuring filmmaker and IKONI Institute founder Dr. Jade D. Singleton and executive producer Tara Jaye Frank, informed by emerging findings from the Global State of Black Women's Labor Study—a multi-country research initiative examining the experiences of Black women across the United States, Africa, the Caribbean, Canada and the United Kingdom. Together, we will examine: The hidden costs of burnout and invisible labor Why traditional workplace solutions are falling short The growing gap between mentorship and meaningful access The economic realities facing Black women breadwinners The intersection of labor, leadership, well-being and economic mobility What employers, philanthropists, policymakers and community leaders can do next Designed for nonprofit leaders, philanthropists, researchers, employers, policymakers, advocates and civic leaders, this event moves beyond awareness and toward action. An Arts 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. Main image by Ku Nakagawa, cinematographer; all photos courtesy of the speakers. Organizer: Robert Melton  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Natural and human-made extreme weather events are disrupting food systems worldwide, threatening the long-term economic stability and health of already vulnerable populations. Across the globe, 80 percent of the poorest live in rural communities and rely on smallholder farming for their household food and income. And smallholder farmers produce around one-third of the total share of the world's food, yet are disproportionately affected by climate risks, uncertainty, and poverty, often having limited resources to adapt to these changes. Then how are these communities building resilience and developing better strategies to cope with a changing climate? This panel brings in two perspectives within the climate field: financial need in scaling climate solutions, and research on how climate change impacts agricultural systems and human health. Mercedes de la Vega is an associate director of climate partnerships at Acumen, leading strategic partnerships at the intersection of climate solutions and poverty. She helps mobilize capital to serve businesses, driving change for the climate-vulnerable communities, strengthening their ecosystems. Tammy Nicastro is a researcher affiliate at UCSF who focuses on studies of climate-sensitive agricultural livelihood interventions and their impacts on improving agricultural productivity and income, and household nutrition and health for smallholder farmers to support individuals' health and nutritional needs. As climate pressures intensify, research, innovations, and investments in improving healthier food systems, improving health outcomes, and building resilience will shape the lives of future generations living in areas most vulnerable to climate disasters. An International Relations 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. Organizer: Frank Price  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join Matt Biggar, Ph.D., for a lively discussion of his new book, Connected to Place: Regenerating Nature, Community, and Local Economies Through Systems Change, followed by the introduction of Transforming Our Region, a new Member-led Forum at Commonwealth Club World Affairs. This new forum will apply the systems change approach featured in Connected to Place to the Bay Area through expert presentations and interactive activities.  Biggar discusses place-based systems change as a real-world solution to our growing environmental and social challenges. He says at the core of accelerating climate change and biodiversity loss, rising economic inequality, and growing social division lies a deeper crisis of disconnectedness. Dominant economic forces continually push us away from nature, community and each other. Place-based systems offer an alternative model and are gaining traction in places around the world, both urban and rural.  In Connected to Place, Biggar presents a vision that reorients people's daily lives around their neighborhoods, cities and regions. Through place-based living, we can create lasting, regenerative change that addresses our biggest problems while boosting the quality of everyday life.  Most important, Biggar shows us how we can get there with a practical guide to systems change that draws on real-world examples from his research and practice. By reframing our approach to social progress, he outlines the way toward rebuilding connection with nature and local community and revitalizing local and regional economies. Join us as Biggar shares how this is happening and how you can be a part of it here in the Bay Area. About the Speaker Matt Biggar, Ph.D., is a place-based strategy consultant, systems thinker, speaker, writer and university lecturer. He is the principal and founder of Connected to Place, a strategy consulting firm that supports place-based collaboratives, nonprofits, government agencies, and schools with facilitation, strategic planning, and community engagement. Biggar earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University, where his research involved behavioral science, sustainability, transportation and collective impact. He is the author of Connected to Place: Regenerating Nature, Community, and Local Economies through Systems Change (Cornell University Press, 2025) and several published articles in academic journals, the Stanford Social Innovation Review, and other outlets. A Transforming Our Region 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. Organizer: Anne Smith & Matt Biggar  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It has been 250 years since upstart young leaders of the American colonies declared independence from King George III and imagined founding a republic, based on a democracy of sorts, which has, over 25 decades of difficult growth and adjustment, arrived at our current version of a government “of the people, by the people, for the people,” as President Lincoln put it. How far has our democracy come in a quarter of a millennium? And do we even believe yet in the idea at its core: that our civilization should change as the majority sees fit, with constitutional guardrails to protect us from their worst follies? Or are we almost all born authoritarians, bristling whenever the majority disagrees with our own visions of what America should be? Caroline Winterer will explain why the appeal to classical antiquity was so central to the American Revolution, and how even today it continues to shape our sense of America's destiny. The United States is covered with classical architecture, and has a Senate, named for the ancient Roman senate. Even 250 years after the American Revolution, we continue to ask, “Are we Rome?” Is the American experiment in government by “we the people” doomed to fail, just as Rome did long ago? How can the United States avoid Rome's destiny? Is the appeal to Ancient Rome an opportunity—or a trap? Ed Larson will explain why, in response to the words and deeds in the American fight for liberty, 1776 marked such a dramatic and decisive shift in patriot thinking. In a matter of months, the great bulk of American patriots went from seeking their rights as British subjects under royal rule to demanding their liberty under representative governments of their own making. With this came the corollary and similarly revolutionary embrace of the principle of the rule of law and the ideal of human political equality.   Join us to celebrate the improbable American experiment that has partially succeeded in achieving its goals for so long. A 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. In association with Humanities West. Organizer: George Hammond  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In her new book Safe Passage, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Evelyn Iritani reveals one of World War II's little-known diplomatic triumphs—the rescue of nearly 3,000 Allied civilians held by Japan in two exchanges at sea—and the high price that was paid by the thousands of innocent men, women and children, mostly of Japanese descent, who were traded to a country that was no longer, and may never have been, their home. Sojourners and immigrants, diplomats and thrill-seekers, storytellers and proselytizers. Uprooted by a conflict of someone else's making, this eclectic mix of humanity from both sides of the Pacific found themselves on a voyage across war-torn waters that would transform them in surprising, often tragic, and sometimes inexplicable ways. In the fall of 1943, during some of the Pacific theater's bloodiest battles, the United States and Japan pulled off a diplomatic coup: the exchange of civilians caught on the wrong side of the battlefield after Pearl Harbor. Nearly 1,500 Allied civilians trapped in Asia, mostly Americans, sailed through dangerous waters to an Indian port city, where they were traded for an equivalent number of Japanese immigrants and their families sent from the Americas. The fate of the more than 10,000 Americans left behind rested on the success of this endeavor. In Safe Passage, Iritani reveals the herculean efforts of the American diplomat James Keeley to engineer these wartime exchanges despite great resistance from within and outside his government; the shipboard conflicts among passengers, including missionaries, revelers, and sharp-tongued journalists; and the moral compromises involved in securing their safe passage. Faced with too few bodies to trade and desperate to free Americans from perilous conditions, the United States uprooted and repatriated Japanese citizens of Latin America, sometimes against their will, while Japanese imprisoned in camps, many of them American citizens, were forced to choose between expulsion to a war zone or an uncertain future behind barbed wire. The result is a revelatory account of the hurdles to pursuing humanitarian action in wartime. About the Speakers Evelyn Iritani is an author, historian and former reporter for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Los Angeles Times, where her reporting garnered numerous awards, including the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for a series she coauthored on Wal-Mart. She also authored the book An Ocean Between Us: The Changing Relationship of Japan and the United States Told in Four Stories from the Life of an American Town. Moderator Amanda L. Tyler is a professor of constitutional law at UC Berkeley Law School and author or contributor to numerous books and articles, including co-author with the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg of Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue: A Life's Work Fighting for a More Perfect Union. Recent article topics include the American and British approaches to internment of citizens during World War II and their lessons for today.  An Asia-Pacific Affairs 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. Organizer: Lillian Nakagawa  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When should artificial intelligence supplant human intelligence? And when should human intelligence lead? For climate action, for impacts on health, for investing and portfolios, where can AI tools multiply productivity—and what situations cause a quality assurance minefield?  Learn from innovators around the world (from Europe to Oceania to the Americas) when and how AI tools bring new value, expand audiences—and where human intelligence and empathy is still required, and how we all can benefit. We will delve into how AI can improve the expansion and sustainability of food systems, which can also enhance climate justice, and access to nutrition for low-income communities. Wine Sponsor: Bonterra Organic Wines A Business & Leadership 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. Organizer: Elizabeth Carney  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Making steel accounts for around 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions. But the industry could reduce that number by removing coal from the steel-making process entirely. Three of the U.S.'s last seven coal-based steel mills are situated along Lake Michigan. Together, these facilities produce nearly half of the steel made in the U.S., supplying skyscraper beams, car doors, and appliances across the country. And right now, in Northwest Indiana, a once-in-a-generation decision is on the table.  Nippon Steel, the owners of the Gary Works steel mill, can either extend the life of their aging blast furnaces for another 20 years and continuing coal-based production, or invest in cleaner, next-generation steelmaking. Other steelmakers have already moved towards decarbonization. Will Nippon switch to cleaner steelmaking for the next generation, or double-down on coal?  Guests:  Terry Steagall, Retired Steelworker, United Steelworker Union activist Hilary Lewis, Steel Director, Industrious Labs  Roger Smith, Asia Lead, SteelWatch Highlights: 00:00 – Introduction 1:55 Terry Steagall on the importance of the steel industry in northwest Indiana 4:31 Terry Steagall on relining blast furnaces  11:16 Terry Steagall on cleaner steel for the next generation  14:27 Hilary Lewis on steel industry emissions 19:36 Hilary Lewis on the realistic path to decarbonizing the steel industry 23:03 Hilary Lewis on the pressure facing the industry to make cleaner steel  27:57 Hilary Lewis on the industry's move to southern states  34:01 Roger Smith on the scale of US Steel's acquisition by Nippon Steel 36:58 Roger Smith on the “golden share” the Trump administration received  46:33 Roger Smith on the viable technology for cleaner steel For show notes, related links, and episode transcript, visit our ⁠⁠episode page⁠⁠ at climateone.org *** Join Climate One for an induction cooking demonstration night on July 21, at 6 p.m. at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. Come enjoy delicious food and wine, and learn about why cooking with magnets beats cooking with gas. Tickets available at ⁠⁠climateone.org/events⁠⁠  *** Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on ⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠, you'll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. ⁠⁠Sign up today⁠⁠. *** Ad sales by ⁠⁠Multitude⁠⁠. Contact them for ad inquiries at ⁠⁠multitude.productions/ads⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Making steel accounts for around 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions. But the industry could reduce that number by removing coal from the steel-making process entirely. Three of the U.S.'s last seven coal-based steel mills are situated along Lake Michigan. Together, these facilities produce nearly half of the steel made in the U.S., supplying skyscraper beams, car doors, and appliances across the country. And right now, in Northwest Indiana, a once-in-a-generation decision is on the table.  Nippon Steel, the owners of the Gary Works steel mill, can either extend the life of their aging blast furnaces for another 20 years and continuing coal-based production, or invest in cleaner, next-generation steelmaking. Other steelmakers have already moved towards decarbonization. Will Nippon switch to cleaner steelmaking for the next generation, or double-down on coal?  Guests:  Terry Steagall, Retired Steelworker, United Steelworker Union activist Hilary Lewis, Steel Director, Industrious Labs  Roger Smith, Asia Lead, SteelWatch Highlights: 00:00 – Introduction 1:55 Terry Steagall on the importance of the steel industry in northwest Indiana 4:31 Terry Steagall on relining blast furnaces  11:16 Terry Steagall on cleaner steel for the next generation  14:27 Hilary Lewis on steel industry emissions 19:36 Hilary Lewis on the realistic path to decarbonizing the steel industry 23:03 Hilary Lewis on the pressure facing the industry to make cleaner steel  27:57 Hilary Lewis on the industry's move to southern states  34:01 Roger Smith on the scale of US Steel's acquisition by Nippon Steel 36:58 Roger Smith on the “golden share” the Trump administration received  46:33 Roger Smith on the viable technology for cleaner steel For show notes, related links, and episode transcript, visit our ⁠⁠⁠episode page⁠⁠⁠ at climateone.org *** Join Climate One for an induction cooking demonstration night on July 21, at 6 p.m. at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. Come enjoy delicious food and wine, and learn about why cooking with magnets beats cooking with gas. Tickets available at ⁠⁠⁠climateone.org/events⁠⁠⁠  *** Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on ⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠, you'll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. ⁠⁠⁠Sign up today⁠⁠⁠. *** Ad sales by ⁠⁠⁠Multitude⁠⁠⁠. Contact them for ad inquiries at ⁠⁠⁠multitude.productions/ads⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was issued, and it contains the DNA of the future United States of America.  At the heart of this remarkable document that sought to overthrow existing governmental institutions is the profound statement that echoes through the ages. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter, or abolish it, and to establish a new Government . . . as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” As we celebrate 250 years since this document was created, we will ask the question: What kind of America do you want? This is at a time of great social disruption, with many people believing that their life, liberty and happiness are under daily threat. This discussion will focus on where we go from here. A Health & Medicine Member-led Forum program. Forums and Chapters 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. Organizer: Robert Lee Kilpatrick  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Come and meet author and master storyteller Corey Rosen for an unforgettable evening as he talks about his new book, A Story for Everything, a practical and inspiring guide to telling meaningful stories in everyday life. In this engaging discussion, Rosen will share his personal experiences behind the book, the storytelling frameworks he teaches around the country, and the surprising ways stories shape our relationships, careers and communities. Rosen will share insights from hosting “The Moth,” why everyone has more stories than they think, the difference between a memory and a story, the “Moment, Meaning, Message” framework and how storytelling builds connection and trust. About the Speaker Corey Rosen is a writer, actor, visual effects producer and storytelling teacher based in San Francisco. He is the author of Your Story, Well Told: Creative Strategies to Develop and Perform Stories that Wow an Audience, a laugh-out-loud, funny, practical and inspiring manual to develop true stories from concept through presentation. And his newly released book, A Story for Everything: Mastering Diverse Storytelling for Any Occasion, is a comprehensive guide to storytelling for professional, educational and personal success. Rosen got his start writing for Comedy Central and Jim Henson Productions. As staff writer for Lucasfilm Animation and Tippett Studio, he wrote the screenplays for several films and theme park rides and attractions exhibiting around the world. He has been featured on “The Moth Radio Hour,” is a regular contributor and on-air personality for Alice Radio's “The Sarah and Vinnie Show” and is a company performer at BATS Improv, one of the world's foremost centers for Improvisational Theater. Rosen also hosts The Moth StorySlams and GrandSlams. A Grownups 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. Organizer: Denise Michaud  This program contains EXPLICIT language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Etruscan culture, which flourished from the ninth to the first centuries B.C. in Tuscany, left behind a rich history with many unique traditions that are reflected in the artistic objects found in their tombs, temples, sanctuaries and homes. Renée Dreyfus and Lisa Pieraccini will discuss the latest advances in scholarship and archeological discoveries, and in the translation of the Etruscan language, which have been leading historians to an ever better understanding of the Etruscan contributions to Roman architecture, art and engineering. Renée Dreyfus, the curator of the current exhibit on the Etruscans at the Legion of Honor, has worked on bringing that exhibit to San Francisco for years: “This exhibition tells the story of this overlooked culture, featuring icons of Etruscan art surrounded by equally stunning and fascinating works that are little known or even unknown. Many of these works have never been seen in the United States before.” Lisa Pieraccini consulted on Dreyfus's Legion of Honor exhibit. She also leads a project to study the Etruscan artifacts at the Phoebe Hearst Museum at UC Berkeley, where she teaches a seminar focusing on its largely unpublished collection. Join us, either before or after attending the Etruscans exhibit at the Legion of Honor, to hear from the curator and the consultant all about the nearly 200 objects from that ancient civilization that are on display—such as terracotta vessels and sculptures, dazzling gold jewelry, mirrors, recently excavated bronze sculptures demonstrating the Etruscans' renowned metalworking skills, and the Linen Book of Zagreb: a third-century B.C. calendar of rituals and sacrifices for specific days of the year that is the longest Etruscan inscription known to exist.  A 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. In association with Humanities West and the Italian Cultural Institute. Photos courtesy of the speakers; vessel image courtesy The Legion of Honor. Organizer: George Hammond  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco's drug and homelessness crisis is impacting everyone, and the community is sounding the alarm. As San Franciscans raise issues of safety, over the last 5 years the city has lost more than 4,500 people to fatal overdoses. Although San Francisco has poured billions of dollars into proposed solutions, our public health systems continue to fail the community. Many people continue to deny the link between addiction, homelessness, and crime, while others with lived experience are calling for balanced, common-sense strategies. The Way Out is a recovery-focused homeless initiative of the Salvation Army at the intersection of drug addiction and homelessness, grounded in the belief that people recover when given the right support, structure and opportunity. Built on an abstinence-based model (including medication-assisted treatment, or MAT), The Way Out provides real-time access to services and a clear pathway from the streets to stability and independence. Delivered through a comprehensive Recovery System of Care, services include a recovery-focused shelter, stabilization, and withdrawal management; residential drug treatment; recovery housing and independent living; workforce development and life skills, and an alumni support network.  A Health & Medicine Member-led Forum program. Forums and Chapters 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. Organizer: Robert Lee Kilpatrick  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The “rights of nature” is the idea that if a corporation can have legal standing as a person, why can't a river or a mountain? Thomas Linzey, one of the early architects of a legal framework for granting rights to nature, now believes that structure doesn't go far enough: Even when ecosystems are granted rights, the land is still owned by someone or some entity, even if that is a land trust or conservancy.   Through Linzey's work in collaboration with the Sacred Contract Coalition, a 30-acre mountain in Colorado was recognized in June 2025 as the first mountain to own itself. What could this mean for protecting other places? Guests: Thomas Linzey, Senior Legal Counsel, Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights  Crystal Wolfchild, Guardian of The Mountain Kumu Ramsay Taum, Cultural Advisor Highlights: 00:00 – Introduction 02:30 – Thomas Linzey on his career fighting projects on behalf of communities 05:40 – Linzey on why federal environmental laws don't protect air, water, or communities 11:00 – Linzey explains rights of nature legal framework 16:30 – Successful rights of nature cases in other parts of the world 19:15 – Rights of nature is Western law catching up with Indigenous cosmovisions 21:45 – Going beyond the rights of nature to land that owns itself 35:00 – Crystal Wolfchild on what it means to be a guardian of the Mountain 40:30 – Wolfchild on what this case could mean for other places 44:00 – Ramsay Taum on incorporating Hawaiian sense of environmental responsibility with Western worldviews 50:45 – Taum on the connection between restoring sovereignty and the rights of nature 56:00 – How to respond to climate changes like rising sea levels 58:00 – Climate One More Thing For show notes, related links, and episode transcript, visit our ⁠episode page⁠ at climateone.org *** Join Climate One for an induction cooking demonstration night on July 21, at 6 p.m. at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. Come enjoy delicious food and wine, and learn about why cooking with magnets beats cooking with gas. Tickets available at ⁠climateone.org/events⁠  *** Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on ⁠Patreon⁠, you'll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. ⁠Sign up today⁠. *** Ad sales by ⁠Multitude⁠. Contact them for ad inquiries at ⁠multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The “⁠rights of nature⁠” is the idea that if a corporation can have legal standing as a person, why can't a river or a mountain? Thomas Linzey, one of the early architects of a legal framework for granting rights to nature, now believes that structure doesn't go far enough: Even when ecosystems are granted rights, the land is still owned by someone or some entity, even if that is a land trust or conservancy.   Through Linzey's work in collaboration with the ⁠Sacred Contract Coalition⁠, a 30-acre mountain in Colorado was recognized in June 2025 as the first mountain to own itself. What could this mean for protecting other places? Guests: Thomas Linzey, Senior Legal Counsel, Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights  Crystal Wolfchild, Guardian of The Mountain Kumu Ramsay Taum, Cultural Advisor Highlights: 00:00 – Introduction 02:30 – Thomas Linzey on his career fighting projects on behalf of communities 05:40 – Linzey on why federal environmental laws don't protect air, water, or communities 11:00 – Linzey explains rights of nature legal framework 16:30 – Successful rights of nature cases in other parts of the world 19:15 – Rights of nature is Western law catching up with Indigenous cosmovisions 21:45 – Going beyond the rights of nature to land that owns itself 35:00 – Crystal Wolfchild on what it means to be a guardian of the Mountain 40:30 – Wolfchild on what this case could mean for other places 44:00 – Ramsay Taum on incorporating Hawaiian sense of environmental responsibility with Western worldviews 50:45 – Taum on the connection between restoring sovereignty and the rights of nature 56:00 – How to respond to climate changes like rising sea levels 58:00 – Climate One More Thing For show notes, related links, and episode transcript, visit our ⁠⁠episode page⁠⁠ at climateone.org *** Join Climate One for an induction cooking demonstration night on July 21, at 6 p.m. at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. Come enjoy delicious food and wine, and learn about why cooking with magnets beats cooking with gas. Tickets available at ⁠⁠climateone.org/events⁠⁠  *** Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on ⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠, you'll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. ⁠⁠Sign up today⁠⁠. *** Ad sales by ⁠⁠Multitude⁠⁠. Contact them for ad inquiries at ⁠⁠multitude.productions/ads⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Summer is here, temperatures are rising — and so are electric bills. That also means many people are facing a severely overlooked issue: power shutoffs. According to a report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in 2024 utility companies disconnected U.S. households from electricity more than 13.4 million times due to a customer's inability to pay. When that happens, people can't turn on their lights, keep food refrigerated, or cool down the home. And regulations preventing shutoffs during extreme heat events are woefully inadequate.  But when utilities help pay the upfront costs of efficiency upgrades, the customers and utilities can both save energy — and money. How do we protect the most vulnerable people from the dangers of home power shutoffs?  Guests: Jean Su, Energy Justice Director, Center for Biological Diversity  Sanya Carley, Co-Director, Energy Justice Lab, University of Pennsylvania Tamara Jones, Co-Executive Director, Clean Energy Works Highlights: 00:00 Introduction     4:15 Jean Su on topline takeaways from nationwide data 10:04 Jean Su on why utilities don't cover the cost of non-payment  12:55 Jean Su on polices to prevent shutoffs 16:16 Jean Su on the reality of underreported shutoffs  22:17 Sanya Carley on what happens to a household when a shutoff occurs 25:15 Sanya Carley on seeking help after a shutoff 27:44 Sanya Carley on federal impact on shutoffs 29:56 Sanya Carley on what state legislatures can do  35:25 Tamara Jones on working for justice 38:09 Tamara Jones on who is impacted by energy injustice 46:14 Tamara Jones on examples of where policy gets it right 50:56 Tamara Jones on what work needs to be done in policy and regulation For show notes, related links, and episode transcript, visit our episode page at climateone.org Join Climate One for an induction cooking demonstration night on July 21, at 6 p.m. at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. Come enjoy delicious food and wine, and learn about why cooking with magnets beats cooking with gas. Tickets available at climateone.org/events  *** Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you'll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today. *** Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Summer is here, temperatures are rising — and so are electric bills. That also means many people are facing a severely overlooked issue: power shutoffs. According to a report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in 2024 utility companies disconnected U.S. households from electricity more than 13.4 million times due to a customer's inability to pay. When that happens, people can't turn on their lights, keep food refrigerated, or cool down the home. And regulations preventing shutoffs during extreme heat events are woefully inadequate.  But when utilities help pay the upfront costs of efficiency upgrades, the customers and utilities can both save energy — and money. How do we protect the most vulnerable people from the dangers of home power shutoffs?  Guests: Jean Su, Energy Justice Director, Center for Biological Diversity  Sanya Carley, Co-Director, Energy Justice Lab, University of Pennsylvania Tamara Jones, Co-Executive Director, Clean Energy Works Highlights: 00:00 Introduction     4:15 Jean Su on topline takeaways from nationwide data 10:04 Jean Su on why utilities don't cover the cost of non-payment  12:55 Jean Su on polices to prevent shutoffs 16:16 Jean Su on the reality of underreported shutoffs  22:17 Sanya Carley on what happens to a household when a shutoff occurs 25:15 Sanya Carley on seeking help after a shutoff 27:44 Sanya Carley on federal impact on shutoffs 29:56 Sanya Carley on what state legislatures can do  35:25 Tamara Jones on working for justice 38:09 Tamara Jones on who is impacted by energy injustice 46:14 Tamara Jones on examples of where policy gets it right 50:56 Tamara Jones on what work needs to be done in policy and regulation For show notes, related links, and episode transcript, visit our ⁠episode page⁠ at climateone.org *** Join Climate One for an induction cooking demonstration night on July 21, at 6 p.m. at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. Come enjoy delicious food and wine, and learn about why cooking with magnets beats cooking with gas. Tickets available at ⁠climateone.org/events⁠  *** Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on ⁠Patreon⁠, you'll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. ⁠Sign up today⁠. *** Ad sales by ⁠Multitude⁠. Contact them for ad inquiries at ⁠multitude.productions/ads⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Across the country, developers are racing to build huge new buildings to house computers to fuel the AI boom, creating an explosive demand for new energy. While some hyperscalers seek renewable energy, others are turning to fossil fuels. But concerns around high electric bills, air and noise pollution and water depletion have generated widespread community pushback against these giant facilities, and it seems opposing data centers is a bipartisan issue. Many cities and states are working to rapidly update zoning and other local regulations to respond to the dual pressures of developer interest and constituent backlash. Since data center development isn't slowing down, what policies or creative strategies can lessen the impacts for local communities and ratepayers? Guests:  KeShaun Pearson, Executive Director, Memphis Community Against Pollution  Rebecca Egan McCarthy, Freelance Journalist Jason Plautz, Reporter, E&E News and Politico Astrid Atkinson, CEO, Camus Highlights: 00:00 Introduction 3:15 KeShaun Pearson on updates to the Colossus data center pollution 6:18 KeShaun Pearson on state regulators allowing an expansion of gas turbines  8:08 KeShaun Pearson on the effect of the pollution on the community 16:24 KeShaun Pearson on what he hopes the lawsuits can achieve  19:38 Rebecca Egan McCarthy on Archbald and data center development  22:26 Rebecca Egan McCarthy on who has the power to regulate data center projects 28:16 Rebecca Egan McCarthy on data center development outside of Archbald 30:21 Jason Plautz on changing attitudes toward data centers 34:32 Jason Plautz on where there is meaningful regulation happening 39:27 Jason Plautz on state level regulatory changes  41:26 Jason Plautz on the pace of data center development 44:45 Astrid Atkinson on the effects of data center energy load on the grid 46:19 Astrid Atkinson on what flexibility means in the energy world 50:39 Astrid Atkinson on hyperscalers paying for their energy 55:22 Astrid Atkinson on how some policy changes can help communities  For show notes and related links, visit ⁠our episode page⁠ at climateone.org --- Join Climate One for an induction cooking demonstration night on July 21, at 6 p.m. at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. Come enjoy delicious food and wine, and learn about why cooking with magnets beats cooking with gas. Tickets available at ⁠climateone.org/events⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Across the country, developers are racing to build huge new buildings to house computers to fuel the AI boom, creating an explosive demand for new energy. While some hyperscalers seek renewable energy, others are turning to fossil fuels. But concerns around high electric bills, air and noise pollution and water depletion have generated widespread community pushback against these giant facilities, and it seems opposing data centers is a bipartisan issue. Many cities and states are working to rapidly update zoning and other local regulations to respond to the dual pressures of developer interest and constituent backlash. Since data center development isn't slowing down, what policies or creative strategies can lessen the impacts for local communities and ratepayers? Guests:  KeShaun Pearson, Executive Director, Memphis Community Against Pollution  Rebecca Egan McCarthy, Freelance Journalist Jason Plautz, Reporter, E&E News and Politico Astrid Atkinson, CEO, Camus Highlights: 00:00 Introduction 3:15 KeShaun Pearson on updates to the Colossus data center pollution 6:18 KeShaun Pearson on state regulators allowing an expansion of gas turbines  8:08 KeShaun Pearson on the effect of the pollution on the community 16:24 KeShaun Pearson on what he hopes the lawsuits can achieve  19:38 Rebecca Egan McCarthy on Archbald and data center development  22:26 Rebecca Egan McCarthy on who has the power to regulate data center projects 28:16 Rebecca Egan McCarthy on data center development outside of Archbald 30:21 Jason Plautz on changing attitudes toward data centers 34:32 Jason Plautz on where there is meaningful regulation happening 39:27 Jason Plautz on state level regulatory changes  41:26 Jason Plautz on the pace of data center development 44:45 Astrid Atkinson on the effects of data center energy load on the grid 46:19 Astrid Atkinson on what flexibility means in the energy world 50:39 Astrid Atkinson on hyperscalers paying for their energy 55:22 Astrid Atkinson on how some policy changes can help communities  For show notes and related links, visit our episode page at climateone.org --- Join Climate One for an induction cooking demonstration night on July 21, at 6 p.m. at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. Come enjoy delicious food and wine, and learn about why cooking with magnets beats cooking with gas. Tickets available at climateone.org/events Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With so many conflicting and contradictory nutrition claims dominating headlines and social media, deciding what to eat has become unnecessarily complicated. Stanford nutrition scientist Christopher Gardner, Ph.D., has spent more than three decades conducting evidence-based research to bring clarity to the conversation. In this program, Gardner shares what decades of human nutrition trials reveal about where true scientific consensus exists, and where it does not. From his landmark “A to Z” and “DIETFITS” studies to ongoing research on plant-rich alternatives, ketogenic diets, the gut microbiome, and inflammation, Gardner has worked to move the field beyond diet myths and toward practical, evidence-based guidance. At the center of his message is a powerful idea: healthy eating can be “unapologetically delicious,” built around whole, minimally processed, plant-rich foods aligned with personal values around culture, sustainability and social responsibility. He will address pressing questions about different diets, cholesterol, seed oils, ultra-processed foods, protein, plant-based meats, fiber, fermented foods and more, offering a framework that helps individuals make informed, flexible, and lasting food choices. This conversation invites us to reconsider not only what we eat, but how we think about food: as nourishment, pleasure, culture and a powerful tool for long-term personal and planetary health. About the Speakers Christopher Gardner, Ph.D., is a professor of medicine at Stanford Prevention Research Center who has led more than 20 years of NIH-funded, randomized controlled trials on nutrition. His work focuses on diet patterns, weight loss and cardiometabolic health. A Nutrition, Food & Wellness 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. Organizer: Patty James  This program contains EXPLICIT language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

North America was forged from the experiences of millions of Indigenous women and men as well as Europeans and Africans. Contested Continent, the first volume of the Oxford History of the United States series, is a far-ranging history of North America concentrating on the period from c. A.D. 1000 to 1680—from the arrival of Norse explorers to an explosion of revolts that underlined the stubborn struggle to master the continent some two centuries after Columbus's landfall. This history spans the continent from the North Atlantic to the West Indies and includes the entire Atlantic basin. Peter Mancall and David Kennedy emphasize the experiences of diverse peoples while, at the same time, telling a new story about the origins of major aspects of American culture. They illuminate the rise of a booming trans-Atlantic economy based on the extraction of abundant American natural resources; the central role that European migrants and their descendants played in the enslavement of Africans and the displacement of Indigenous peoples; and the spread of self-governing polities where many enjoyed religious freedom. None of these developments was inevitable. Conflicts broke out frequently as different peoples battled over precious resources. Europeans' appetites for material gain and expanding Christendom brought horrific consequences for those brutalized, enslaved, and vulnerable to infectious diseases. Join us to hear Mancall and Kennedy present their sweeping history of developments crucial to the eventual founding of the United States, underscoring the titanic struggles between the peoples who had populated the Americas for centuries and the migrants from the Old World who initiated changes that created a New World that offered boundless opportunities for some and crushed the aspirations of others. A 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. Organizer: George Hammond  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More and more, conservative voices are making the case that the U.S. can't achieve energy dominance without solar power. Even the leading industry trade group is changing its strategy. Earlier this year, Politico reported that the American Clean Power Association launched the “American Energy First” campaign to engage Kellyanne Conway and conservative influencers like Katie Miller “to amplify the benefits of solar energy” and “note the harm that could result from reckless trade policy.” Meanwhile, conservative groups at the state and federal level are advocating for building out solar power in service of private property rights, economic development and national security. Episode Guests: Kelsey Brugger, Congressional policy reporter, Politico  Skyler Zunk, Executive Director, Energy Right; Executive Director, America First Energy  Lillian Floutsis, Indiana Senior Field Representative, Indiana Land and Liberty, Conservative Energy Network  This episode also features a reported piece from David Condos of KUER. Episode Highlights: 00:00 – Intro 03:00 – Kelsey Brugger explains American Clean Power memo about reaching out to conservative influencers 06:30 – Does this indicate an ideological shift on the right? 09:40 – How much can this effort shift views within the administration 14:00 – Kelsey Brugger on what this story says about how the clean energy industry is positioning itself 19:00 – Skylar Zunk shares rationale behind his “Make Solar Great Again” hats 23:40 – How America First Energy frames solar energy 32:00 – How approach to solar energy conversation differ in D.C. and Louisiana 36:50 – KUER's David Condos reports on Utah communities moving toward renewable energy 43:00 – Lillian Floutsis shares story from Allen County, Indiana, about local debate around setbacks for solar energy development 48:00 – Floutsis on framing solar conversations in Indiana around property rights, economic development and national security 53:00 – Climate is usually not a part of these conversations 54:20 – Floutsis share solar success stories 57:50 – Climate One More Thing For show notes and related links, visit our episode page at climateone.org --- Join us for our induction cooking demonstration night on July 21, at 6 p.m. at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. Come enjoy delicious food and wine, and learn about why cooking with magnets beats cooking with gas. Tickets available at climateone.org/events  *** Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you'll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today. *** Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More and more, conservative voices are making the case that the U.S. can't achieve energy dominance without solar power. Even the leading industry trade group is changing its strategy. Earlier this year, ⁠Politico⁠ reported that the American Clean Power Association launched the “American Energy First” campaign to engage Kellyanne Conway and conservative influencers like Katie Miller “to amplify the benefits of solar energy” and “note the harm that could result from reckless trade policy.” Meanwhile, conservative groups at the state and federal level are advocating for building out solar power in service of private property rights, economic development and national security. Episode Guests: Kelsey Brugger, Congressional policy reporter, Politico  Skyler Zunk, Executive Director, Energy Right; Executive Director, America First Energy  Lillian Floutsis, Indiana Senior Field Representative, Indiana Land and Liberty, Conservative Energy Network  This episode also features a reported piece from David Condos of KUER. Episode Highlights: 00:00 – Intro 03:00 – Kelsey Brugger explains American Clean Power memo about reaching out to conservative influencers 06:30 – Does this indicate an ideological shift on the right? 09:40 – How much can this effort shift views within the administration 14:00 – Kelsey Brugger on what this story says about how the clean energy industry is positioning itself 19:00 – Skylar Zunk shares rationale behind his “Make Solar Great Again” hats 23:40 – How America First Energy frames solar energy 32:00 – How approach to solar energy conversation differ in D.C. and Louisiana 36:50 – KUER's David Condos reports on Utah communities moving toward renewable energy 43:00 – Lillian Floutsis shares story from Allen County, Indiana, about local debate around setbacks for solar energy development 48:00 – Floutsis on framing solar conversations in Indiana around property rights, economic development and national security 53:00 – Climate is usually not a part of these conversations 54:20 – Floutsis share solar success stories 57:50 – Climate One More Thing For show notes and related links, visit ⁠our episode page⁠ at climateone.org --- Join us for our induction cooking demonstration night on July 21, at 6 p.m. at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. Come enjoy delicious food and wine, and learn about why cooking with magnets beats cooking with gas. Tickets available at ⁠climateone.org/events⁠  *** Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on ⁠Patreon⁠, you'll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. ⁠Sign up today⁠. *** Ad sales by ⁠Multitude⁠. Contact them for ad inquiries at ⁠multitude.productions/ads⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWaDaTnrSNw _______________________________________ To order Suicidal Empathy: https://lnk.to/SuicidalEmpathy To order a signed copy of Suicidal Empathy: https://premierecollectibles.com/suicidalempathy _______________________________________ If you appreciate my work and would like to support it: https://subscribestar.com/the-saad-truth https://patreon.com/GadSaad https://paypal.me/GadSaad To subscribe to my exclusive content on X, please visit my bio at https://x.com/GadSaad _______________________________________ This clip was posted on June 15, 2026 on my YouTube channel as THE SAAD TRUTH_2039: https://youtu.be/FfXhAR6FsfM _______________________________________ Please visit my website gadsaad.com, and sign up for alerts. If you appreciate my content, click on the "Support My Work" button. I count on my fans to support my efforts. You can donate via Patreon, PayPal, and/or SubscribeStar. _______________________________________ Dr. Gad Saad is a professor, evolutionary behavioral scientist, and author who pioneered the use of evolutionary psychology in marketing and consumer behavior. In addition to his scientific work, Dr. Saad is a leading public intellectual who often writes and speaks about idea pathogens that are destroying logic, science, reason, and common sense.  _______________________________________

Industrial agriculture accounts for a significant share of global emissions, but meat alternatives face real hurdles in becoming a mainstay of consumer diets. The hype around plant-based meat has cooled: hurt by price gaps, ultra-processed rhetoric, and culture-war politics around masculinity and food identity. Yet feeding a growing planet will require eating less beef, wasting less food, and producing more food with less land. Cultivated meat – made from animal cells and grown in a lab –  could offer a different path forward, especially in hybrid form combining plant and cultivated proteins. What might the future of meat look like?  Guests:  Robbie Lockie, CEO, Founder, foodfacts.org Michael Grunwald, Journalist and author, “We Are Eating the Earth” Claire Bomkamp, Senior Lead Scientist, Cultivated Meat & Seafood, Good Food Institute Highlights: 00:00 - Introduction 4:30 Robbie Lockie on changing his diet 11:54 Robbie Lockie on who is choosing plant based meat 17:55 Robbie Lockie on how plant based meat competes on taste 20:40 Robbie Lockie on the future of plant based meat 26:54 Michael Grunwald making more food with less land 30:16 Michael Grunwald on the efficiency of industrial agriculture 33:30 Michael Grunwald on rotational grazing 38:00 Ariana Brocious' cultivated salmon tasting 45:05 Claire Bomkamp on the state of cultivated meat 47:16 Claire Bomkamp on energy use of cultivated meat 52:23 Claire Bomkamp on what cuts cultivated meat can create 56:22 Claire Bomkamp on the price of cultivated meat For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. Join us for our induction cooking demonstration night on July 21, at 6 p.m. at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. Come enjoy delicious food and wine, and learn about why cooking with magnets beats cooking with gas. Tickets available at climateone.org/events  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Industrial agriculture accounts for a significant share of global emissions, but meat alternatives face real hurdles in becoming a mainstay of consumer diets. The hype around plant-based meat has cooled: hurt by price gaps, ultra-processed rhetoric, and culture-war politics around masculinity and food identity. Yet feeding a growing planet will require eating less beef, wasting less food, and producing more food with less land. Cultivated meat – made from animal cells and grown in a lab –  could offer a different path forward, especially in hybrid form combining plant and cultivated proteins. What might the future of meat look like?  Guests:  Robbie Lockie, CEO, Founder, foodfacts.org Michael Grunwald, Journalist and author, “We Are Eating the Earth” Claire Bomkamp, Senior Lead Scientist, Cultivated Meat & Seafood, Good Food Institute Highlights: 00:00 Introduction 4:30 Robbie Lockie on changing his diet 11:54 Robbie Lockie on who is choosing plant based meat 17:55 Robbie Lockie on how plant based meat competes on taste 20:40 Robbie Lockie on the future of plant based meat 26:54 Michael Grunwald making more food with less land 30:16 Michael Grunwald on the efficiency of industrial agriculture 33:30 Michael Grunwald on rotational grazing 38:00 Ariana Brocious' cultivated salmon tasting 45:05 Claire Bomkamp on the state of cultivated meat 47:16 Claire Bomkamp on energy use of cultivated meat 52:23 Claire Bomkamp on what cuts cultivated meat can create 56:22 Claire Bomkamp on the price of cultivated meat For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. Join us for our induction cooking demonstration night on July 21, at 6 p.m. at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. Come enjoy delicious food and wine, and learn about why cooking with magnets beats cooking with gas. Tickets available at climateone.org/events Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nowhere is the dual threat of climate change and geopolitical competition felt more strongly than in the Arctic. Sea ice is declining rapidly, wildfires are burning, and permafrost is thawing. At the same time, global interest is growing rapidly as the region transforms from being a frozen desert into an international waterway. Mia Bennett, a geography professor at the University of Washington and the co-author, with Klaus Dodds, of the new book Unfrozen: The Fight for the Future of the Arctic, will join us to examine the state of the Arctic today. She'll explore how the region is becoming a space of experimentation for everything from Indigenous governance to subsea technologies. Growing geopolitical competition is accompanying environmental disruption. Countries—including Russia, China, and the United States—are investing in the Arctic and consolidating their interests in strategic access, resource exploitation, and alliance-building.  The consequences of this emerging “Arctic Anthropocene” are truly global—from rising sea levels due to melting glaciers to tensions between great powers determined to protect their territories and resources, and the well-being of Indigenous peoples who have fought for centuries for rights and recognition. In association with Wonderfest. A People & Nature 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. Organizer: Andrew Dudley  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We know who Martin Luther King, Jr. became, but who was he at the beginning of his life? How did his youth inform his outlook and his approach to activism and service? Before Martin Luther King, Jr. was a civil rights leader, the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, and a global hero, he was an emotional boy, and an average high school student devoted to fashion, dancing, and dating. On his way to college, he took a summer job that left the Jim Crow South behind and tested his oratory skills—preaching in the tobacco fields of Connecticut, which ultimately gave him a sense of hope for a life of racial peace and harmony. Stanford University's Lerone Martin traces the youthful roots of this legendary American to reveal the makings of a mighty force. Filled with revelations and written with compassion, Martin offers a new understanding of the influential preacher and activist's emotional life, his youthful confusion about his future and career direction, his inspiration to fight for justice, his teenage missteps, and his first revelations of courage. As America undergoes another era of turmoil and change, this powerful biography offers encouragement for readers at a similar moment of life and provides an understanding of how greatness comes to light. To that end, Martin illuminates both King's weaknesses and the social failures that shaped him, including the brutal racism he endured growing up. Join us to hear, from a preeminent King scholar, the origin story of the man, the minister, and the civil rights hero who inspired our nation to change itself—and the world. A 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. Organizer: George Hammond  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is the outcome of the escalating tensions between the United States, Israel, Iran and Gulf Arab nations?  Join us for a conversation on this timely topic, focusing on the shifting regional balance of power among key actors, their nuclear capabilities and impact on the future proliferation regime, and the outcome of their military and proxy warfare. Experts will analyze the impacts of joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran, the security of critical Gulf shipping lanes, domestic politics, and future scenarios for conflict escalation or stability. A Middle East 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. OrganizerBanafsheh Keynoush  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for the Big Technology AI Summit on June, 18, 2026 at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. The lineup: OpenAI President Greg Brockman, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas, Box CEO Aaron Levie, Wired senior correspondant Lauren Goode, and more on the way! Get your tickets here: summit.bigtechnology.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan MailIs American healthcare collapsing?In this clip from our episode "How AI Could Save a Collapsing Healthcare System," host David E. Williams and Dr. Robert Pearl, Author of ChatGPT MD, break down why the current system is financially unsustainable and why physicians have never had the tools to fight back. Until now.Listen to the full episode here

Send us Fan MailAmerican employers now spend over $25,000 a year to cover a single family, and chronic disease is driving the system toward collapse. Yet medicine is still built around a doctor's office visit every three to four months.Dr. Robert Pearl, former CEO of the Permanente Medical Group, Stanford professor, and author of ChatGPT MD, joins host David E. Williams to make the case that generative AI is the only tool that can shift medicine from episodic to continuous care, and why without it, the chronic disease crisis will break American healthcare entirely.

“I don't know who discovered water, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a fish.”  Like a fish in water, we rarely notice the cultural forces that surround us every day—especially when it comes to our mental health. Join UCSF psychiatrist Dr. Descartes Li as he dives into the invisible cultural currents that shape the human mind. From the American emphasis on “talking it out” and finding your “true self,” to the physical experience of distress in other parts of the world, this fascinating lecture will reveal how deeply our beliefs and cultural norms construct our understanding of illness, suffering and healing. About the Speakers Our speaker today is Dr. Descartes Li, a professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Dr. Li has spent his career at the intersection of clinical care, medical education and cultural psychiatry. Recognizing the unique mental-health needs of diverse populations, he founded and directed the UCSF Asia America Clinic to provide specialized care to the Bay Area's Asian American community. In addition to his focus on cultural psychiatry, Dr. Li is a highly respected clinical leader, serving as the director of both the UCSF Bipolar Disorder Program and the Electroconvulsive Therapy Service. He recently completed a five-year tenure as UCSF's vice chair for education in psychiatry, and his impact on global medical education includes serving as a distinguished professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. A returning speaker to Commonwealth Club World Affairs, Dr. Li brings decades of frontline clinical experience, a passion for understanding the human mind, and a commitment to humanistic care. A Psychology 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. Organizer: Veronica Ortega & Patrik O'Reilly  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rarely does a historian of science have the opportunity, in the midst of changing trends in a science, to point backwards in time and explain how dismissive reactions to the ideas of a scientific pioneer might have harmed the accuracy of that science for centuries. Jessica Riskin has seized such an opportunity in her new book about the French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744–1829), who proposed the first evolutionary theory of life and, with it, a new science: biology. For centuries evolutionary theorists have discredited Lamarck due to his theory of self-transforming organisms, since they rejected (and mocked) the idea that animals could play an active role in shaping their own evolution. But new findings suggest that Lamarck's basic claim was, in many ways, correct. Riskin also argues that that denial of the agency of living beings led to two centuries of eugenic policies and environmental destruction, encouraging people to regard the living world as so much raw material to be shaped and exploited for economic, industrial, and imperial gain. Riskin's melding of biography, history, politics, and science sets out to correct this record. She tells the story of Lamarck's life and work as an intense struggle between rival forces attempting to answer questions that remain foundational to our modern worldview: What is a living being, and what is science? Join us as Riskin shines a much-needed light on an underappreciated biologist whose evolutionary theory offered a more inclusive, collaborative, and enlightened approach to science. A 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. Organizer: George Hammond Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us at the North End of Pier 35 for a private tour of the SS Jeremiah O'Brien. See what Rosie the Riveter and Wendy the Welder helped create, and hear about the ship's fascinating history and the details of keeping a war machine's supply chains open and effective. Experience the ship as she was in 1943, tour her historic decks, and explore her engine room (powered by a functioning triple-expansion steam engine similar to the one used on the Titanic—and which was filmed in action by James Cameron for use in his 1997 movie). The Liberty Ship SS Jeremiah O'Brien, permanently docked at Pier 35, is a living museum of the Bay Area's crucial role in the massive production efforts required to equip the WWII Allies and keep them supplied under adverse wartime circumstances. Launched on June 19, 1943, from the New England Shipbuilding Corporation in South Portland, Maine, the SS Jeremiah O'Brien is one of the last survivors of the 2,710 Liberty ships that were built—and the only one that remains completely unaltered and fully operational. She carried troops and supplies across dangerous wartime seas, completing seven voyages to destinations as far-flung as Northern Ireland, India, Australia, and South America. She also made 11 crossings to the Normandy beachhead during the D-Day landings—a critical component of the largest seaborne invasion in history. In 1994, she journeyed through the Panama Canal and across the Atlantic Ocean to take part in the 50th anniversary of D-Day. She was the only Liberty ship— and the only vessel from the original invasion fleet—to return to the beaches of Normandy. Her voyage, widely celebrated in Europe and the United States, cemented her status as a symbol of courage, endurance and historical fidelity. And every year she still sails a few times on the Bay—always for May Memorial Cruise and for Fleet Week. A 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. In association with the Liberty Ship SS Jeremiah O'Brien Foundation Organizer: George Hammond  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The star of the evening is Genny Lim, San Francisco's current poet laureate—an acclaimed poet, playwright and performer whose work reflects the rhythms, struggles and resilience of the city we call home. Appointed poet laureate in 2024 by London Breed, Lim is the city's first Chinese American poet laureate. Drawing inspiration from her upbringing in Chinatown and North Beach, her poetry invites us to listen more deeply—to one another and to San Francisco itself. The evening will also feature remarks from Commonwealth Club World Affairs Board Member Claudine Cheng, with a moderated conversation led by Dion Lim, former ABC7 news anchor. Enjoy an intimate evening featuring: A live poetry experience with Genny Lim is accompanied by musicians Chris Trinidad, known for jazz, Latin, and experimental music, and Unpil Baek, a Bay Area-based pianist anchored in improvisation and cross-genre collaboration Reflections on poetry as connection, healing and civic voice Time to mingle with fellow members over light refreshments Come for the poetry. Stay for the conversation. Join us for an evening designed to inspire, connect and remind us why shared cultural experiences matter. No-host bar and lite bites. An Arts 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. Organizer: Robert Melton  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Change does not begin with institutions. It begins with people. In honor of Women's History Month, Commonwealth Club World Affairs convenes an extraordinary panel of women whose leadership has shaped San Francisco's civic, community and policy landscape. Connie Chan, supervisor for District 1 and candidate for California's 11th congressional district, has served at every level of local government, from community organizer and legislative aide to chair of the Board of Supervisors Budget Committee. An immigrant who arrived in San Francisco at age 13, she has championed environmental justice, immigrant protections, and safeguards for healthcare, housing, and food security. Tracy Gallardo is a native San Franciscan and longtime community organizer who has dedicated decades to advancing equity for Latino and marginalized families. From youth development and juvenile justice reform to co-founding the Latino Task Force on COVID-19, her work reflects steady, relationship-driven leadership that strengthens neighborhoods from within. Sherrice Dorsey-Smith, executive director of the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Their Families, has led historic citywide grantmaking and cross-sector initiatives, including the Community Hubs Initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her leadership centers a whole-child, systems-based approach to supporting young people and families. Patsy Tito, Ph.D., has served the Samoan and Pacific Islander community for more than 25 years through the Samoan Community Development Center. By integrating cultural preservation with clinical mental health practice, she has worked to normalize conversations about wellness and strengthen intergenerational resilience. Together, these leaders embody the intersection of power, policy and purpose. This conversation will explore how identity shapes leadership, how women navigate institutions not originally built for them, the unseen labor that holds communities together, and what policies they would implement if given the power to act immediately. From the visible chambers of government to the quieter work of community building, this program highlights the wisdom, courage, and determination required to lead change and what it will take to build a more representative and equitable future. Join us for an evening of insight, reflection, and civic dialogue. The appearance in Commonwealth Club World Affairs programs of candidates for office are not a recommendation or endorsement of their views or candidacy; the Club does not take positions on candidates or ballot measures. The Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is a nonprofit public forum; we welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programming. A Social Impact 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. Commonwealth Club World Affairs is a public forum. Any views expressed in our programs are those of the speakers and not of Commonwealth Club World Affairs. Organizer: Virginia Cheung  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In October of 1066 William of Normandy defeated King Harold II of England on a battlefield near Hastings, and the effects of that Norman Conquest would reshape England's culture, politics, language and religion for more than 1,000 years. But the seeds of that event were sown more than 60 years earlier, when the teenage daughter of a Norman duke arrived on England's shores to marry its king. Her name was Emma, and her career as queen and matriarch would span the reigns of seven of England's kings: she married two kings, two of her sons became kings as did two of her stepsons, and her father-in-law was king. Writer Patrica Bracewell, author of the Emma of Normandy trilogy, will explore the life of this powerful woman who became the wealthiest woman in England, a patron of the arts, a savvy political strategist, and a pivotal figure in the family politics that governed England. Medievalist Elaine Treharne will discuss communities of learning in 11th century England, focusing particularly on the manuscripts produced by religious establishments. Among these are some of the most magnificent volumes ever produced in the pre-print era that show how much emphasis was placed on education, piety and commemoration in this period. Musician Shira Kammen and her ensemble In Bocca al Lupo will present a short program of medieval music inspired by and about the queens of this tumultuous era. Join Humanities West to explore Emma of Normandy, the challenges she faced, the victories she led, and the world in which the woman who was the only twice-crowned queen of England lived. The Commonwealth Club of California is a nonprofit public forum; we welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programming. A 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. In association with Humanities West. Speaker photos courtesy the speakers; painting: William Blake's The Ordeal of Queen Emma. Commonwealth Club World Affairs is a public forum. Any views expressed in our programs are those of the speakers and not of Commonwealth Club World Affairs. Organizer: George Hammond  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At its most functional level, clothing serves as essential physical protection from the environment, soft armor and tangible comfort. Visually, clothing is one of the most immediate ways to assert individual identity, signaling values and collective belonging to others at first sight. But, when public discourse is polarized and words feel inadequate, clothing becomes a powerful nonverbal language—communicating solidarity, protest, fear or hope at a glance. During periods of political tension and social exhaustion, clothing serves as a palpable reminder of who we are when the world is in flux, offering a sense of control in an uncontrollable world. When institutions feel fragile and the future unclear, getting dressed is no longer trivial—it's an act of care, self-definition, and sometimes even quiet resistance. With insights from fashion industry leaders—educators, designers, reporters, and historians—this panel conversation will address the importance of clothing—as a marker of identity, symbol of resistance, and sign of belonging—in times of crisis.  About the Speakers Laura L. Camerlengo is curator in charge of costume and textile arts with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. She has organized, co-organized and presented numerous costume and textiles exhibitions for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, with a focus on sharing the stories of women and artists of color. Her recent publications include Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love (co-edited by Dilys E. Blum, 2021), and Fashioning San Francisco: A Century of Style (2024), as well as contributions to West 86th. She holds a Master of Arts degree from Parsons School of Design, The New School / Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in the History of Decorative Arts and Design. Moderator Natalie Smith is the Fashion Department chair and a full-time tenured instructor at City College of San Francisco. She also works as a freelance fashion show and event producer, stage manager, model coach, and voice-over artist. Natalie earned her Associate of Arts degree in interior design from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM). Anna Chiu is the founder and creative director of Kamperett, a women's wear brand based in San Francisco, where its flagship atelier and studio are located. Shaped by her German and Chinese heritage, her work brings a forward-looking perspective to clothing through an artistic lens. She has dressed women for the Met Gala, countless award shows and red-carpets, including Angelina Jolie, Ali Wong, and Rashida Jones and Chloe Zhao. Kamperett takes an intentional approach to sustainability, with all pieces designed and made in California. Tony Bravo is the San Francisco Chronicle's arts & culture columnist. His areas of coverage include visual art, the LGBTQ community, style, pop culture and “only in San Francisco” stories. He is also a frequent live interviewer and hosts the “Show & Tell” event series at Four One Nine. Bravo is also an adjunct instructor at the City College of San Francisco Fashion Department, where he teaches journalism. The Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is a nonprofit public forum; we welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programming. A Grownups 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. Commonwealth Club World Affairs is a public forum. Any views expressed in our programs are those of the speakers and not of Commonwealth Club World Affairs. Organizer: Denise Michaud  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the war on diversity upends government, corporate and education policies, the history of the idea of diversity has never been more important. David Oppenheimer, a diversity skeptic turned diversity admirer, chronicles how diversity became a foundational value of higher education over the last 200 years, how it evolved as it was adopted by commerce and science, and what the implications are of the current backlash.The diversity principle—the idea that people with different backgrounds, experiences, identities, and viewpoints produce better work by engaging with one another—was a core tenet of the first modern research university, founded in Germany in 1810. It was the inspiration for John Stuart Mill's On Liberty, a touchstone of academic freedom; a hallmark of Charles Eliot's remaking of Harvard in the late 19th century to promote the “clash of ideas”; and a foundation of the 20th-century efforts toward equality of Thurgood Marshall, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Pauli Murray. In telling the story of the diversity principle through the experiences of these and other remarkable thinkers, Oppenheimer argues for affirming diversity as a central value of education and an “essential ingredient for a robust intellectual and political culture.” Join us for a fascinating discussion about an important concept that underpins our intellectual, social, and economic lives. A 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. ORGANIZER George Hammond Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1993, the San Francisco organization that would become the Young Women's Freedom Center made history by becoming one of the first nonprofits in the country run and led entirely by young women. Its mission was to create a support system and community to assist women and girls who had been living on the street and had experienced incarceration, foster care, poverty and trauma. In the decades since, it has developed a model for training and developing peer leaders with lived experience in the juvenile justice and foster care systems, creating a place of healing for young women and a force for community organizing and empowerment. The Center has helped lead the fight to end juvenile incarceration in California and has developed a set of powerful young leaders—including Rep. Lateefah Simon, the U.S. congresswoman who now represents Oakland and Berkeley and is a former executive director of the Center. The program has had remarkable success. For example, young people who complete YWFC programs are up to 85 percent less likely to recidivate or be incarcerated again. Up to 90 percent of those who complete the program maintain employment and reach educational goals. Its success has also enabled it to expand beyond its roots in San Francisco to operate programs in Los Angeles and Oakland, as well as Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties. In this Women's History Month forum, MindSite News, the nation's only news organization devoted to reporting on mental health, will be in conversation with Rep. Simon and two members of the current team at Young Women's Freedom Center. We'll explore the ways that the organization is nurturing young women, helping them to heal and develop their potential as individuals and community leaders. About the Speakers Congresswoman Lateefah Simon (D-Oakland) represents California's 12th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. She has deep roots as a Bay Area leader and activist, with over three decades of experience in organizing, advocacy, and philanthropy. In one of her earliest positions, she served as executive director of the Young Women's Freedom Center for 11 years, starting at the age of 19. Emani Davis is vice president of strategy & operations, NorCal, of the Young Women's Freedom Center. A nationally recognized movement strategist with more than two decades of experience, she began publicly advocating as the teenaged daughter of an incarcerated father in the 1990s, helping elevate awareness of the impact of mass incarceration on children and families. Julia Arroyo is executive director of Young Women's Freedom Center and a movement leader with more than two decades of experience in reproductive justice, community health and rape crisis intervention. She has lived experience in foster care, the underground street economy, and incarceration and is deeply committed to mentoring the next generation and helping shape a future rooted in healing, dignity, and collective power. Rob Waters is an award-winning health and mental health journalist and the founding editor of MindSite News. His articles have also appeared in The Washington Post, Kaiser Health News, STAT, theatlantic.com, Mother Jones and many other outlets. He was a 2005 fellow with the Carter Center for Mental Health Journalism. Nell Bernstein is the author of In Our Future We Are Free: The Dismantling of the Youth Prison, published in November, and two other books. She is a contributing writer for MindSite News, where she wrote about the work of Young Women's Freedom Center. A Psychology 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. ORGANIZERVeronica Ortega & Patrik O'ReillyNOTES Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sometimes, because of the current political pushback, one can get the false impression that the academic attention that has recently been paid to increasing a university's diversity, equity and inclusion profile is a new phenomenon—one that developed after the civil rights gains of minorities and women in the 1950s-70s. But the idea that people with different backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints would produce better work by engaging with each other was a core principle of the first modern research university—which was founded in Germany in 1810. The health sciences are especially dependent on accurate data, and imaginative but reasoned analysis of that data, and both the accuracy of the data and the usefulness of its analysis are put at risk by pretending that diversity, equity and inclusion are harming universities, including medical research universities, rather than helping them. The known inaccuracies caused by a historical research emphasis on male health, and inappropriate applications of those conclusions to female health due to the lack of research data on women, are examples of the risks involved. Join us to hear Dr. Robert Hiatt, whose central focus at UCSF has been on building a strong transdisciplinary research and training program in epidemiology, make the case for how scientifically harmful deemphasizing diversity could be, and how the emergence of Big Data will be derailed quickly if the data that it uses has been corrupted by political whims distorting its scientific objectivity.  In association with The Lundberg Institute and the Philip R Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). A 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. Organizer: George Hammond  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From "gainfully employed robots" to AI that accidentally ruins lives, this week's conversation unpacks the real-world fallout of futuristic promises. Leo, JPT, Iain, and Richard tackle energy sources, social media effects, tech layoffs, and the algorithms quietly taking charge. Meta is planning sweeping layoffs as AI costs mount Meta Said to Push Back Launch of Avocado Model Social media addiction trial: the plaintiff, Meta, and YouTube make closing arguments; jurors begin deliberations Friday on liability for harm to children Trump administration will reportedly get $10 billion for brokering the TikTok deal Bluesky CEO Jay Graber will step aside Digg's open beta shuts down after just two months, blaming AI bot spam X says it suspended 800 million accounts in 2024 over spam and manipulation Fake AI Content About the Iran War Is All Over X Musk admits xAI 'not built right' — weeks after Tesla invested $2 billion Nvidia Is Planning to Launch an Open-Source AI Agent Platform Amazon Wins Court Order To Block Perplexity's AI Shopping Bots Social Security watchdog investigating claims that DOGE engineer copied its databases DOGE Deposition Videos Taken Down After Judge Order and Widespread Mockery U.S. State Bans on Lab-Grown Meats Challenged in Court Easy-to-use solar panels are coming, but utilities are trying to delay them EcoFlow brings its plug-in solar power plant to US homes (related to the plug-in solar story) TerraPower gets permit to build reactor Ex-Uber CEO Kalanick Debuts Plan for 'Gainfully Employed Robots' Tennessee grandmother jailed after AI facial recognition error links her to fraud Justice Department and Live Nation Reach Settlement Terms in Antitrust Case Palantir CEO Makes Shocking Confession on Disrupting Democratic Power Palantir's lethal AI weaponry deployed to find chairs for US government staff How Pokémon Go is giving delivery robots an inch-perfect view of the world 'Flying Cars' Will Take Off in American Skies This Summer YouTube surpasses Disney, Paramount, WBD in 2025 ad revenue Ig Nobel Prize flees US for Switzerland after 35 years over safety concerns Swiss e-voting can't count 2,048 ballots after USB keys fail to decrypt them Tony Hoare, Turing Award-Winning Computer Scientist Behind QuickSort, Dies At 92 Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Iain Thomson, Richard Campbell, and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: expressvpn.com/twit preview.modulate.ai monarch.com with code TWIT spaceship.com/twit threatlocker.com/twit

From "gainfully employed robots" to AI that accidentally ruins lives, this week's conversation unpacks the real-world fallout of futuristic promises. Leo, JPT, Iain, and Richard tackle energy sources, social media effects, tech layoffs, and the algorithms quietly taking charge. Meta is planning sweeping layoffs as AI costs mount Meta Said to Push Back Launch of Avocado Model Social media addiction trial: the plaintiff, Meta, and YouTube make closing arguments; jurors begin deliberations Friday on liability for harm to children Trump administration will reportedly get $10 billion for brokering the TikTok deal Bluesky CEO Jay Graber will step aside Digg's open beta shuts down after just two months, blaming AI bot spam X says it suspended 800 million accounts in 2024 over spam and manipulation Fake AI Content About the Iran War Is All Over X Musk admits xAI 'not built right' — weeks after Tesla invested $2 billion Nvidia Is Planning to Launch an Open-Source AI Agent Platform Amazon Wins Court Order To Block Perplexity's AI Shopping Bots Social Security watchdog investigating claims that DOGE engineer copied its databases DOGE Deposition Videos Taken Down After Judge Order and Widespread Mockery U.S. State Bans on Lab-Grown Meats Challenged in Court Easy-to-use solar panels are coming, but utilities are trying to delay them EcoFlow brings its plug-in solar power plant to US homes (related to the plug-in solar story) TerraPower gets permit to build reactor Ex-Uber CEO Kalanick Debuts Plan for 'Gainfully Employed Robots' Tennessee grandmother jailed after AI facial recognition error links her to fraud Justice Department and Live Nation Reach Settlement Terms in Antitrust Case Palantir CEO Makes Shocking Confession on Disrupting Democratic Power Palantir's lethal AI weaponry deployed to find chairs for US government staff How Pokémon Go is giving delivery robots an inch-perfect view of the world 'Flying Cars' Will Take Off in American Skies This Summer YouTube surpasses Disney, Paramount, WBD in 2025 ad revenue Ig Nobel Prize flees US for Switzerland after 35 years over safety concerns Swiss e-voting can't count 2,048 ballots after USB keys fail to decrypt them Tony Hoare, Turing Award-Winning Computer Scientist Behind QuickSort, Dies At 92 Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Iain Thomson, Richard Campbell, and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: expressvpn.com/twit preview.modulate.ai monarch.com with code TWIT spaceship.com/twit threatlocker.com/twit

From "gainfully employed robots" to AI that accidentally ruins lives, this week's conversation unpacks the real-world fallout of futuristic promises. Leo, JPT, Iain, and Richard tackle energy sources, social media effects, tech layoffs, and the algorithms quietly taking charge. Meta is planning sweeping layoffs as AI costs mount Meta Said to Push Back Launch of Avocado Model Social media addiction trial: the plaintiff, Meta, and YouTube make closing arguments; jurors begin deliberations Friday on liability for harm to children Trump administration will reportedly get $10 billion for brokering the TikTok deal Bluesky CEO Jay Graber will step aside Digg's open beta shuts down after just two months, blaming AI bot spam X says it suspended 800 million accounts in 2024 over spam and manipulation Fake AI Content About the Iran War Is All Over X Musk admits xAI 'not built right' — weeks after Tesla invested $2 billion Nvidia Is Planning to Launch an Open-Source AI Agent Platform Amazon Wins Court Order To Block Perplexity's AI Shopping Bots Social Security watchdog investigating claims that DOGE engineer copied its databases DOGE Deposition Videos Taken Down After Judge Order and Widespread Mockery U.S. State Bans on Lab-Grown Meats Challenged in Court Easy-to-use solar panels are coming, but utilities are trying to delay them EcoFlow brings its plug-in solar power plant to US homes (related to the plug-in solar story) TerraPower gets permit to build reactor Ex-Uber CEO Kalanick Debuts Plan for 'Gainfully Employed Robots' Tennessee grandmother jailed after AI facial recognition error links her to fraud Justice Department and Live Nation Reach Settlement Terms in Antitrust Case Palantir CEO Makes Shocking Confession on Disrupting Democratic Power Palantir's lethal AI weaponry deployed to find chairs for US government staff How Pokémon Go is giving delivery robots an inch-perfect view of the world 'Flying Cars' Will Take Off in American Skies This Summer YouTube surpasses Disney, Paramount, WBD in 2025 ad revenue Ig Nobel Prize flees US for Switzerland after 35 years over safety concerns Swiss e-voting can't count 2,048 ballots after USB keys fail to decrypt them Tony Hoare, Turing Award-Winning Computer Scientist Behind QuickSort, Dies At 92 Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Iain Thomson, Richard Campbell, and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: expressvpn.com/twit preview.modulate.ai monarch.com with code TWIT spaceship.com/twit threatlocker.com/twit

From "gainfully employed robots" to AI that accidentally ruins lives, this week's conversation unpacks the real-world fallout of futuristic promises. Leo, JPT, Iain, and Richard tackle energy sources, social media effects, tech layoffs, and the algorithms quietly taking charge. Meta is planning sweeping layoffs as AI costs mount Meta Said to Push Back Launch of Avocado Model Social media addiction trial: the plaintiff, Meta, and YouTube make closing arguments; jurors begin deliberations Friday on liability for harm to children Trump administration will reportedly get $10 billion for brokering the TikTok deal Bluesky CEO Jay Graber will step aside Digg's open beta shuts down after just two months, blaming AI bot spam X says it suspended 800 million accounts in 2024 over spam and manipulation Fake AI Content About the Iran War Is All Over X Musk admits xAI 'not built right' — weeks after Tesla invested $2 billion Nvidia Is Planning to Launch an Open-Source AI Agent Platform Amazon Wins Court Order To Block Perplexity's AI Shopping Bots Social Security watchdog investigating claims that DOGE engineer copied its databases DOGE Deposition Videos Taken Down After Judge Order and Widespread Mockery U.S. State Bans on Lab-Grown Meats Challenged in Court Easy-to-use solar panels are coming, but utilities are trying to delay them EcoFlow brings its plug-in solar power plant to US homes (related to the plug-in solar story) TerraPower gets permit to build reactor Ex-Uber CEO Kalanick Debuts Plan for 'Gainfully Employed Robots' Tennessee grandmother jailed after AI facial recognition error links her to fraud Justice Department and Live Nation Reach Settlement Terms in Antitrust Case Palantir CEO Makes Shocking Confession on Disrupting Democratic Power Palantir's lethal AI weaponry deployed to find chairs for US government staff How Pokémon Go is giving delivery robots an inch-perfect view of the world 'Flying Cars' Will Take Off in American Skies This Summer YouTube surpasses Disney, Paramount, WBD in 2025 ad revenue Ig Nobel Prize flees US for Switzerland after 35 years over safety concerns Swiss e-voting can't count 2,048 ballots after USB keys fail to decrypt them Tony Hoare, Turing Award-Winning Computer Scientist Behind QuickSort, Dies At 92 Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Iain Thomson, Richard Campbell, and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: expressvpn.com/twit preview.modulate.ai monarch.com with code TWIT spaceship.com/twit threatlocker.com/twit

In The Enlightened Bottom Line, author Jenna Nicholas explores how businesses can align purpose and profit to create lasting social impact. Drawing on stories from investors, entrepreneurs, and wisdom traditions, the conversation will examine how leaders can integrate spirituality, purpose, ethics, and economic performance to shape a more just and regenerative future. She says participants will come away with an expanded sense of possibility for the intersection of purpose and profit and how each of us can lead from a place of meaning, wholeness and interconnection. Jenna Nicholas is an investor, entrepreneur, advisor, coach, speaker and author of Enlightened Bottom Line: Exploring the Intersection of Spirituality, Business, and Investing. She is president of LightPost Capital, an investment and acquisition firm, and CEO of Impact Experience. An active angel investor, she has backed multiple unicorns. A Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneur, Echoing Green, Stanford Social Innovation, and PD Soros Fellow, she holds a BA and MBA from Stanford University. Her work has been profiled in major media, and she speaks globally on regenerative economics and purpose-driven leadership. She is an active member of the Baha'i Faith. Joining us remotely for part of our program will be Wayne Silby, a pioneering social investor and entrepreneur, best known as co-founder and founding chair of Calvert Investments, one of the earliest and largest socially responsible investment firms in the United States, currently $45 billion in assets under management. He also helped launch Calvert Impact Capital, ImpactAssets, Calvert Social Venture Partners, and Social Venture Network, giving money and markets a conscience worldwide. Silby later co-founded SynTao and ZenFlo in China, advancing sustainable finance and mindfulness, and serves on several global boards. He holds degrees from Wharton and Georgetown Law. A Business & Leadership 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. OrganizerElizabeth Carney  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Takes All Kinds”—An American Public Affairs Discussion and Demonstration of Journalistic Theatre Actor and playwright Dan Hoyle and his director, celebrated director/actor Aldo Billingslea, provide an inside look at the creation of their widely acclaimed new solo performance piece “Takes All Kinds.” Dan's blog reminds the viewer that  ”I'll be disappearing into these different characters and stories and you'll be glad to journey there with me. They've been traveling with me these last couple years. I think they'll stay with you too.” With “Takes All Kinds,” Hoyle and Billingslea use journalistic theater and embodied storytelling to portray powerful, funny and complex people caught in the social and political currents roiling our society. They create portraits of everyday Americans through moving and funny true stories of American democracy: school board showdowns in Florida, grassroots organizers in Atlanta, barber shops in Las Vegas, deprogrammers of violent extremists in Missouri and more. In this mostly offstage oriented “talk-back” presentation, listeners and observers will have an opportunity to explore with Hoyle and Billingslea how thousands of hours go into a little over an hour show. The artists' view reveals (somewhat) the amazing mystery of live transformative theatrical narrative that has everyone laughing and pin-drop listening with the next moment. And always has the audience talking as they depart. Yes—it's about politics, but could experiencing public affairs embodied theatre journalism bring people something they needed more than they realized?   “Stunning…something almost supernatural happens,” according to the  San Francisco Chronicle. Currently based at the Marsh Theatre, “Takes All Kinds” has toured elsewhere in California plus New York City, Charleston and Chicago, and will be heading to Idaho, Florida and more in 2026. About the Speakers Oakland-based Dan Hoyle is an actor and writer whose immersion research theater work has been hailed as "riveting, funny and poignant" (The New York Times) and "hilarious, moving and very necessary" (Salon). His solo shows, all originated at The Marsh in San Francisco, have played across the country at The Public Theater, Culture Project, Baltimore Center Stage, Berkeley Rep, Cleveland Playhouse, Mosaic Theater Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Portland Center Stage, Playmakers Rep, Painted Bride, Pure Theater and abroad in India, Ireland, Wales, Mexico, Canada and Nigeria. Aldo Billingslea (director) is a professor of theater at Santa Clara University (SCU). SCU's associate provost for diversity and inclusion, and served as the vice president of the 100 Black Men of Silicon Valley; he's a board member of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, theatre program director for The222.org in Healdsburg, California.As an academic, he is a professor of American theatre from the Black perspective, acting styles, Shakespeare, and seminars on August Wilson. Billingslea is a lifelong professional actor featured in more than two dozen Shakespeare plays, productions of August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, and Fences, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, and Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign in Sydney Bernstein's Window. He also worked at the American Conservatory Theater, the Aurora Theater, California Shakespeare Theater, Lorraine Hansberry Theater, and the Marin Shakespeare Theater. An Arts 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.  Organizer: Anne W. Smith  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Monday Night Philosophy focuses tonight on the political philosophical principles generated by George Hammond's “Life is an Eternal Democracy” theory. His latest book, A Slightly Better Future: Short Term Fixes for America, Long Term Fixes for Democracy, details many incremental institutional improvements that could make democracies far more effective in the future. His ideas, based upon what we should have learned over the last 250 years, include a thoroughly revised democratic constitution, significantly redesigned political institutions, and several new forms of institutional checks and balances.  Fortunately, even amidst the current dismaying destruction of valued political norms, there remains a strong, sustaining undercurrent—the hope that all this institutional chaos will ultimately just remind us why compromise in the pursuit of consensus has been, and could continue to be, so productive in America's political culture.  Join us to discuss political principles that are designed to promote a civilized future, using realistic 21st century political thought—and political hope. A 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. Organizer: George Hammond  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices