Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

“When I die, how will I be measured?” For Stanley McChrystal, the answer could be obvious. As a retired four-star general, McChrystal might be measured by his stars (four), commands held, wars fought, or awards and medals received (numerous). But when McChrystal looked back on his life and his current status, he focused on the importance of character, a topic he explores in his new book aptly titled On Character: Choices that Define a Life. Character is, he says, the key to living with purpose and integrity. He says character isn’t something you are born with, nor do you automatically accrue it through education, position, or experience. Instead, he says it is the result of a succession of choices, sometimes mundane ones, sometimes hugely important ones, that together reveal our capacity for virtue. At a time when virtue and character are sometimes hard to identify in leaders, come hear McChrystal in his return to Commonwealth Club World Affairs for a rallying cry to become our best selves—as individual people and as Americans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a conversation with author and new media artist Scott Snibbe. Snibbe will introduce us to the history of his pioneering use of new technology and his exploration of traditional art forms. His artwork has been featured in leading institutions, from MoMA, SFMOMA, and The Whitney Museum of American Art to London’s Institute of Contemporary Art, Tokyo’s Intercommunications Center, and beyond. Snibbe has collaborated with renowned artists and creators throughout his career, including multiplatinum recording artist Björk on the groundbreaking “app album” Biophilia, filmmaker James Cameron, musician Beck, and composer Philip Glass. He is the author of How to Train A Happy Mind, featuring a forward written by the Dalai Lama. In his latest work, Snibbe draws from centuries-old Tibetan thangka painting techniques he studied in Nepal, which inspired him to explore the intersections of digital media and ancient craftsmanship. At the confluence of technology, traditional painting, and interactive design, Snibbe creates participatory experiences that push the boundaries of contemporary art and invite audiences to engage with it in new and unexpected ways. A Technology & Society Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. OrganizerGerald Anthony Harris Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since she started Moms Demand Action in 2012 following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Shannon Watts has drawn thousands of women from the sidelines and gotten them involved, helping them realize the power they had. Now she brings that approach to helping people more broadly stand up and achieve their potential. Whether it’s launching your dream business, leaving a bad relationship, or standing up for yourself at the office, Watts has an approach to “identify, light, and feed the fire inside you.” She explores that in her new book Fired Up, and she returns to the Commonwealth Club World Affairs stage to share her inspiration with women everywhere. She says it will not only transform your life, but it can transform the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt LaBrot was the Tesla sales manager who got so fed up with how Elon Musk’s public persona affected the brand that he published a website called “Tesla Employees Against Elon.” He was subsequently fired, allegedly for "using company resources to build a website that did not align with the company’s perspective." For our pod audience, we’re dropping this extended version of Greg Dalton’s conversation with Matt LaBrot. A portion of this interview aired in our episode “Is The EV Transition Stuck in Neutral?” on June 27th. Guest: Matthew LaBrot, Former Tesla sales employee On July 31, Climate One is hosting Premal Shah and Kinari Webb for a live episode recording! With years of experience navigating the global climate movement, the two are sure to offer unparalleled insights during their conversation with Co-Host Greg Dalton. Tickets for the show, which will be held at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, are available now through our website. 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. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The prevailing scientific view of the fundamental nature of homosexuality has undergone a significant evolution in the last several decades. Where once the scientific and medical establishment maintained an unqualified belief that homosexuality was a form of psychological deviance, today a solid majority of psychiatrists and psychologists themselves believe that biological factors (genes, brain, prenatal chemistry) also play an important role. Dr. Dean Hamer’s research for the first time examined at a molecular level how our sexual identities are rooted in our biology. He has gone on to study the role that biology plays in our faith. In his works and books, Dr. Hamer reveals that inclination toward religious faith is in part due to our genes and may even offer an evolutionary advantage by reducing stress, preventing disease, and extending life. We will discuss these and other works that bring in the role of culture, such as transgender identities in Polynesia. Dean Hamer is an American geneticist, author, and filmmaker and the among the first scientists to demonstrate a linkage between genes and sexual orientation. He is known for his research on the role of genetics in sexual orientation and for a series of popular books and films that have changed scientific and public understandings of human sexuality and gender. He was the chief of the Gene Structure and Regulation Section at the U.S. National Cancer Institute; upon retirement in 2011 he was designated scientist emeritus. Hamer has won numerous awards, including the Trinity College Thompson History Prize, Maryland Distinguished Young Scientist Award, Ariens Kappers Award for Neurobiology, New York Times book-of-the year author, and an Emmy Award. An Asia-Pacific Affairs 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. OrganizerKalidip Choudhury Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2024, BloombergNEF predicted electric vehicles would make up nearly half of U.S. new car sales by 2030. Now, they’ve revised their projection down to less than 30%, just one year later. In a time when we need to be speeding up the energy transition, EV sales in the U.S. are stagnating. Sales of Teslas, once the king of electric vehicles, are collapsing. What’s behind the slowing demand? And with China’s growing electric car industry growing, how much should we worry? Guests: Camila Domonoske, Correspondent, NPR Business Desk Dan Bowerson, Vice President, Energy and Environment Policy, Alliance for Automotive Innovation Matthew LaBrot, Former Tesla sales employee Mike Murphy, CEO, EV Politics Project For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts *** 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

Since Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office in late January, he has let loose with a flurry of executive orders, purges of government workers, takeovers of semi-independent organizations, and defunding of numerous organizations and causes. The administration has faced setbacks in courts, with judges challenging and contradicting its actions. But what happens if Trump openly defies a judge? What happens if he ignores a Supreme Court ruling? Join us for a timely conversation on Trump and the judiciary with Jeff Bleich, former U.S. ambassador and advisor to President Barack Obama and a visiting scholar at Stanford, and David Chiu, city attorney of San Francisco. Bleich argues that Trump could be following the path blazed by autocrats Vladimir Putin and Victor Orban by seeking to strip courts of powers and then purge the judiciary. The result, unprecedented in the United States, would be an executive branch untethered to the rule of law. For his part, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu has made headlines for his legal challenges to some of President Trump’s executive orders and other actions. Chiu’s office has been involved with several successful lawsuits against the administration, including cases challenging the firing of tens of thousands of federal workers and cutting of funding for homelessness over DEI issues. How will judges respond? What can Congress do? What can you do? Find out when Jeff Bleich and David Chiu joins us for a very important program Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Democracy is more than a single moment at the ballot box—it’s a continuous, dynamic process shaped by the collective actions of engaged individuals. "Reclaiming Civic Power" is a program designed to inspire and equip participants with the tools to stay civically active, especially in the critical periods between elections. This program emphasizes that while legislative agendas are one pathway to change, there are numerous other pathways—grassroots organizations, advocacy campaigns, cultural movements, and community-led initiatives—that hold immense power in shaping our political future. The program will delve into essential questions for anyone seeking to make a difference: What does meaningful engagement look like after an election? How do we continue working toward our goals, even when we disagree with those in power? Through thought-provoking conversations and practical strategies, audience members will gain insight into how young people are driving change through organizing, coalition building, and challenging the status quo. This is a call to action for individuals of all generations to reclaim their role in shaping democracy. Together, we will uncover strategies for sustaining motivation, reclaiming civic power, and shaping a political landscape that reflects our collective values. No matter your experiences, "Reclaiming Civic Power" will motivate and empower you to stay engaged in shaping a brighter, more inclusive future. We look forward to welcoming community members and students from around the Bay Area to participate in this riveting conversation and to join us for future programs. This event is part of the Creating Citizens Speaker Series at UC Berkeley, a partnership between Commonwealth Club World Affairs and the Associated Students of the University of California Vote Coalition; it is proudly co-sponsored by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies, Institute of International Studies, and Mario Savio Social Justice Program. The Creating Citizens Speaker Series gives UC Berkeley students, faculty, and community members opportunities to listen to and ask questions of leading minds in politics, media, and education as they learn how to become better, more involved citizens. We look forward to welcoming community members and students from around the Bay Area to participate in this riveting conversation and to join us for future programs in the series. This program is part of The Commonwealth Club’s civics education initiative, Creating Citizens. Produced in partnership with UC Berkeley Mario Savio Social Justice Program, UC Berkeley Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, and UC Berkeley Vote Coalition. 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. In 2024, over 600,000 households in the United States had their power shut off due to an inability to pay. When that happens, people cannot 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 populations from the dangers of home power shutoffs? 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. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now in its 31st year, the AfroSolo Arts Festival is thrilled to return to Commonwealth Club World Affairs with "We Come This Far by Music—Let Freedom Ring! Part 2," featuring African American artists and music. The AfroSolo Arts Festival, directed by Thomas R. Simpson, is showcasing a cast of classically trained artists. This program is led by Dr. Carl Blake, pianist and director, and features Bradley Kynard, baritone; Shawnette Sulker, soprano; William Underwood, flutist. It's a joyful, soul-stirring program of music based on African American experiences, as part of San Francisco's Juneteenth Celebration—a national celebration that commemorates the freeing of enslaved people in Texas two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. AfroSolo Arts Festival is made possible through the support of the California Arts Council, Grants for the Arts, Dream Keeper Initiative, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, SF Arts Commission, and The Friends of AfroSolo. About the Performers Dr. Carl Blake, piano and program director. Carnegie Recital Wigmore Hall (London) and L’Hermitage St. Petersburg, Russia Toured in France, England, Central and South America, Caribbean as artistic ambassador for the U.S. Department of State. Currently, director of music, Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples, San Francisco, and a board member, Noontime Concerts. Bradley Kynard, baritone. This season: The Emissary by Oh/Rourke and Prospero's Island by Shearer/Stevens, Zebul in Jeptha by Handel, Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet (BWV 212) by J.S. Bach, A Little Girl Dreams of Taking the Veil by Wold, Sophia's Forest by Beecher/Moscovitch, and Harriet's Spirit by Shelby/Olvera with Opera Parallèle, Moby Dick, Heggie/Scheer with San Francisco Opera. Brooke. In Little Women, by Adamo. Shawnette Sulker, soprano. Featured artist with San Francisco Opera; Die Königin der Nacht, Cleopatra, Porgy and Bess, Jake Heggie’s Intelligence, Allen Shearer’s Prospero’s Island. Soloist, Carmina Burana, Messiah, and Mahler’s symphonies concert performances at Teatro di San Carlo, Lincoln Center, and Leipzig’s Gewandhaus. William Underwood III, flutist. Performs in traditional, avant-garde, social and sacred arenas as a solo, collaborative and recording flutist. A veteran of AfroSolo Festivals in San Francisco. Toured Japan extensively with Kyodo Tokyo Incorporated . 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 and Thomas R. Simpson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kick off the summer with our latest political roundtable. Join us for the Week to Week political roundtable. Learn more about the people, trends and topics driving the political news of the day. See other upcoming Week to Week political roundtables, as well as audio and video of past Week to Week programs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the past 4 weeks, people have been planning and discussing how they can bring together communities to address constitutional and human rights violations impacting the immigrant community. Join us on May 20, 6 p.m., at Commonwealth Club World Affairs headquarters in downtown San Francisco. This emergency town hall discussion on the immigration crisis will feature a coalition of community leaders working on this issue, including Immigrant Defenders Law Center—the attorneys of Andry Jose Hernández Romero. Following welcome remarks by Mawuli Tugbenyoh, acting executive director of the Human Rights Commission, and Maceo Persson, SF Pride Board member, you'll hear from our lineup of speakers for our town hall discussion. See more Michelle Meow Show programs at Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California. This program made possible by the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Carbon dioxide is a big deal. It’s responsible for more than half of global heating. But what about the other half? There’s actually good news here: Nearly half of the temperature increases driving climate disasters come from super pollutants that don’t stay in the atmosphere for nearly as long as carbon dioxide. Methane, for example, is about 80 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide over 20 years. But it only stays in the atmosphere for a fraction of the time. So if we can put the brakes on methane and other super pollutants, we can put the brakes on warming. Guests: Ilissa Ocko, Senior Climate Scientist, Spark Climate Solutions David Kanter, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, New York University Millie Chu Baird, Vice President, Office of the Chief Scientist, Environmental Defense Fund For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts *** 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

Jonathan Capehart is a fixture of the American media scene. You find him hosting weekends on MSNBC. He talks politics with David Brooks on “PBS Newshour.” He is a columnist for The Washington Post. But long before he reached this level of visibility, he spent years trying to find his place in a world that didn’t seem to know what he was. He grew up without his father, dealt with issues of race and identity even as they changed around him, was told he was either too smart or not smart enough, and even that he was either too Black or not Black enough. It was an internship at "The Today Show" that changed his fortunes and set him on the path to achieving his dreams. In his new memoir, Yet Here I Am, Capehart relates his journey to find his place as a gay, Black man, dealing with family, facing his fears, failing and succeeding along the way. Join us for an in-depth talk with a leading media voice and learn about how he found his voice and his place in modern America. * Note: This podcast may contain explicit language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for an intriguing look at muscle power—and the surprising ways muscle can reveal what we’re capable of. Bonnie Tsui, author of On Muscle, will be joined by filmmaker Paige Bethmann and the subject of Bethmann’s documentary, Ku Stevens. Her film, Remaining Native, tells the story of 17-year-old runner Stevens who made a 50-mile run through the Nevada desert to remember the route his great-grandfather took to escape from a boarding school. Tsui will draw on a blend of science, culture, immersive reporting, and personal narrative to examine not just what muscles are but what they mean to humans. Muscles allow our heart to beat, food to move through our bodies, blood to circulate, even babies to leave the womb. We might not think of our muscles unless they are sore or we are working out. But they connect us with just about everything we do. 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. OrganizerDenise Michaud Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us in San Francisco May 30 for an important program commemorating the Vietnam War and Cambodian genocide. The program begins at 6, but arrive early, because from 5–6 p.m. we will be featuring a special pop-up exhibit in the lounge outside the auditorium. Then we'll have our panel discussion, and a performance. See more Michelle Meow Show programs at Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s so much hard and heavy news out there right now, climate related and not. It feels like decades of progress is being lost. But — good news! — there are many solutions that can be deployed right now. This week we’re featuring conversations with three big thinkers who are bringing those solutions to light and showing why — even when times seem at their worst — they have no room for doom. Award-winning environmental journalist Alan Weisman traveled the world to highlight possible paths out of the climate crisis. Marine biologist and policy expert Ayana Elizabeth Johnson asks us to focus on the question, “What if we get it right?” And climate activist Bill McKibben wants to activate seniors because, “If you have reached the age where you have hair coming out your ears, you probably have structural power coming out of your ears.” Guests: Alan Weisman, Author, “Hope Dies Last” Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Marine Biologist; Author, “What if We Get it Right?”Bill McKibben, Founder, 350.org and Third Act 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. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“What the world saw at Joe Biden’s one and only debate was not an anomaly—it was not a cold, it was not someone who was under or overprepared, it was not someone who was just a little tired. It was the natural result of an 81-year-old man whose faculties had been diminishing for years. Biden, his family, and his team let their self-interest and fear of another Trump term justify trying to put an at times addled old man in the Oval Office for four more years.”—Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, in Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again The 2024 presidential election was one of the most consequential elections in American history, yet it could have unfolded in a very different manner. President Joe Biden, who stepped down late in the campaign to make way for his younger vice president Kamala Harris, could have made that decision months earlier. Instead, surrounded by fierce defenders, Biden waited until the nominating conventions were already underway. Two of America’s most respected journalists, Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, have chronicled the behind-closed-doors actions and private conversations of those in Biden’s circles of family and advisers, revealing a more serious decline in the president’s mental acuity than was told to the American people—until they saw it for themselves in the one and only debate between Biden and Donald Trump in June 2024. Biden and his closest advisers were convinced that only he could prevent a second Trump presidency, Tapper and Thompson say, something they feared so much the lied to themselves and others about the president’s condition and limitations. It’s a story Tapper and Thompson share in their new book Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again. They heard from White House staffers at all levels, congressional leaders and Cabinet members, governors, donors and Hollywood figures. They say President Biden’s decision to run for reelection seems shockingly narcissistic, self-delusional, and reckless—a desperate bet that went bust—and part of a larger act of extended public deception that has few precedents. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a panel discussion focused on addressing food insecurity in California, with an emphasis on CalFresh reform. CalFresh is the state-run food stamps program that assists low- or no-income individuals and households to purchase nutritious food, also known federally as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Inefficiencies in the CalFresh system have become evident in the billions of dollars in unused federal benefits, as well as in comparison to other states that have achieved 100 percent SNAP participation among eligible individuals through strategic policy changes. A new state law, AB 518 (Wicks and Jackson), mandates the development of a methodology to estimate CalFresh participation rates, identify eligible but unenrolled Californians, and create outreach strategies to maximize participation; but the bill is only a starting point to addressing the program’s shortcomings. Join us for a wider discussion on the impacts of food insecurity as momentum builds for legislative action to enhance the program’s efficiency. We’ll also examine the successful models of other states’ systems and bring awareness to food insecurity’s long-term negative impacts, particularly for marginalized communities. This program is co-hosted with the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank and followed by a reception. A 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. Presented by CalFresh Reform Coalition and SF Marin Food Bank. OrganizerRobert Melton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trailblazing AI journalist Karen Hao comes all the way from Hong Kong to San Francisco to discuss the issues raised in her new book, Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI. Hao tackles the hard-hitting questions many people are afraid to face about the disruptive power of artificial intelligence and the forces driving its rapid ascent. A longtime AI insider with unparalleled access to OpenAI and its key players, Hao has spent years investigating the industry’s hidden costs—human, environmental, and geopolitical. As a journalist whose award-winning work has been cited by Congress and featured in leading publications such as The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal and MIT Technology Review, she has become one of the most authoritative voices on AI today. Now Hao pulls back the curtain on the tech arms race reshaping our world in real time. From the breakneck rise of OpenAI and its Faustian bargain with Microsoft to the global supply chains powering AI’s insatiable appetite for data, energy and human labor, she reveals the staggering scale of the industry’s ambitions—and its consequences. With exclusive behind-the-scenes insights, including the dramatic firing and reinstatement of Sam Altman (a highly public corporate drama that began just days after Altman talked AI ethics on the Commonwealth Club stage), Hao will discuss not just a corporate saga but a crucial examination of the future of power, technology and society itself. Join us for this urgent and thought-provoking conversation about the past, present, and future of AI—what’s at stake, who stands to gain, and who is being left behind. Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is a nonprofit public forum; we welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programming. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices