Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Pulitzer Prize finalist Louise Aronson returns to the Commonwealth Club World Affairs stage to discuss the enduring themes of her New York Times bestselling book, Elderhood, and what to expect in the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election. What are the practical and existential implications of aging in a political era defined by polarization and increasing instability? How can individuals look out for their health and families regardless of the election outcome? Aronson is joined by fellow writer Jenara Nerenberg, in a follow-up conversation from their first lively event together five years ago. Nerenberg is the celebrated author of Divergent Mind and a forthcoming book on the psychology of groupthink. About the Speakers Louise Aronson, MD MFA, is a leading geriatrician, writer, educator, professor of medicine at UCSF and the author Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, and Reimagining Life. A graduate of Harvard Medical School, Dr. Aronson currently runs the integrative aging practice and age self-care integrative medical group visit program at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Health. She has received the Gold Professorship in Humanism in Medicine, the California Homecare Physician of the Year award, and the American Geriatrics Society Clinician-Teacher of the Year award. Her writing credits include The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, JAMA, Lancet, and the New England Journal of Medicine, and her work in aging has been featured on NPR, NBC, CBS, and The New Yorker. Jenara Nerenberg is the bestselling author of Divergent Mind, hailed as "extraordinary, jaw-dropping" by Library Journal; she is an Aspen Ideas Brave New Idea speaker and the author of a second forthcoming book on the psychology of groupthink. A celebrated writer covering the intersection of psychology and society, Jenara's work has been featured in the UC Berkeley Science Center's Greater Good magazine, Fast Company magazine, CNN, NPR, BBC and elsewhere. Nerenberg speaks widely on social science topics, including at universities, libraries, companies and organizations around the world. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley and the Harvard School of Public Health; she grew up in San Francisco and, as a millennial, can now be found on Instagram. Organizer: Denise Michaud   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. This program contains EXPLICIT language.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When it comes to communicating climate science, weathercasters are uniquely positioned to connect the facts to viewers’ experiences. TV meteorologists are trusted members of their communities, and they’re often the only scientists the general public hears from regularly. How they communicate can shape public understanding and depoliticize a topic that has become disturbingly divisive. But in some parts of the country, politics continues to get in the way of the facts. So how do weathercasters effectively communicate weather and climate information in a way that resonates across political lines?  Guests: John Morales, Hurricane Specialist, WTVJ NBC6 Miami Bernadette Woods Placky, Climate Central Chief Meteorologist, Climate Matters Director; VP of Engagement Chris Gloninger, Senior Climate Scientist, Woods Hole Group, Inc. Amber Sullins, Chief Meteorologist, ABC15 Phoenix 🎟️ Join Climate One live in San Francisco on December 9 for our celebration of 2024 Schneider Award Winner Leah Stokes! Tickets are on sale now. 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 just $5/month. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Commonwealth Club World Affairs is pleased to host a special evening with SF Pride Board President Nguyen Pham. Nguyen finishes his last term with SF Pride this year, after serving for a total of 8 years on the board of SF Pride. As president emeritus of San Francisco Pride, a nonprofit that produces the SF Pride Celebration and Parade, Nguyen Pham has proudly led the iconic organization through pivotal moments in the modern LGBTQ+ equity movement. Prior to his election as president, he served as vice president and secretary of the organization, comprising a record eight consecutive years of board service. In 2019, he helped to produce the inaugural SF Pride Golf Tournament, SF Pride’s most lucrative board-led annual fundraiser to date. He continued that tradition with the tournament's sixth annual convening in 2024, which was a resounding success. Nguyen is also director of philanthropy at Frameline, a San Francisco-based arts organization aimed at changing the world through the power of LGBTQ+ cinema. In 2024, Nguyen became the first person of color as well as the first openly LGBTQ+ president of the Mensa Foundation, a charitable organization working to unleash intelligence for the benefit of humanity. Additionally, he is in his 23rd consecutive year as a performer with CHEER San Francisco, the Official Cheer Team of the City and County of San Francisco, and an all-volunteer nonprofit performance group that raises charitable funds globally for community members facing life-challenging conditions. Adding to his overloaded plate, Nguyen produces and emcees local and national events on a pro bono basis to raise charitable funds for numerous nonprofits. A proud Bay Area native, Nguyen earned his BA from UC Berkeley and his MBA from San Francisco State University. Join us for a fun and informative talk with Nguyen Pham. See more  Michelle Meow Show programs at Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California. THIS PROGRAM CONTAINS EXPLICIT CONTENT. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this post-print age, does the written word still hold power? During his decades-long career in publishing, Steve Wasserman has worn nearly every possible hat in the industry—editor, agent, reviewer, literary festival co-founder, publisher—serving as a midwife to the art and ideas of some of the most influential cultural juggernauts of recent decades, from Linda Ronstadt to the late Christopher Hitchens. This fall, this literary tastemaker joins us in his new role as an author to discuss the provocative people and events in his new memoir, Tell Me Something, Tell Me Anything, Even If It’s a Lie. Hear Wasserman’s hot takes, ranging from the frontlines of progressive politics to the higher gossip of the literati. The intellectual terrain within his orbit is as capacious as its geography—with deep-dives into the readerly culture of Los Angeles to the art of the Russian avant-garde and featuring cameos from a constellation of extraordinary cultural figures—Susan Sontag, Orson Welles, Barbra Streisand, and Gore Vidal among them. With his trademark wit, Wasserman reflects on the vitality of activism, journalism, and the world of books. As a man of letters presiding over the twilight of the Age of Print, he interrogates the hegemony of Amazon, the collapse of newspapers, and the consequences of both for our civic discourse. Learn about his life lived on the crest of major cultural turning points for both medium and message. See why, throughout all of the highlights and lowlights, Wasserman has maintained a stalwart conviction of the transformative potential of the written word. Organizer: George Hammon   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. This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a world in which elections are shaping the future of more than half the planet’s population, 2024 stands out as a pivotal year for global democracy. But how do international journalists see America’s electoral landscape, and why does it matter so deeply to their home countries? Join an insightful conversation, hosted by Commonwealth Club World Affairs and the World Press Institute, featuring journalists from Brazil, Bulgaria, Finland, India, Italy, Kosovo, Nigeria, Peru, South Africa and Ukraine. They’ll draw on their experiences covering their own national elections to offer fresh perspectives on U.S. politics. This discussion will explore common themes in election reporting across borders, highlighting the lessons learned from home that shape their views of American democracy. These journalists will also shed light on how U.S. elections reverberate globally, influencing political trends and media coverage in their own countries. At a time when democracy is at a crossroads, join us for an international look at how the world views America’s most defining political event. World Press Institute was founded in 1961. WPI has been the premier organization in the United States providing international journalists with the opportunity to broadly investigate the country—its values, traditions of a free press, institutions, customs, regions, and peoples. WPI now has more than 600 alumni from 100 different countries around the globe. Organizer: Frank Price   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. Presented by Commonwealth Club World Affairs and the World Press Institute. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Artificial intelligence can do some pretty amazing things, including for the climate. AI can help optimize the electric grid, make heating and cooling buildings more efficient, and pinpoint exactly where greenhouse gas emissions are coming from all around the world.  On the other hand, the energy use of AI is massive and growing. A recent study estimates that in just a few years, the extra energy needed will equal whole countries the size of Sweden or Argentina. How do we make sure the benefits of AI outweigh its energy costs? Guests:  Karen Hao, Contributing Writer, The Atlantic  Gavin McCormick, Cofounder and Executive Director, WattTime; Cofounder, Climate TRACE Priya Donti, Assistant Professor, MIT; Co-founder and Chair of Climate Change AI  Amy McGovern, Professor of Computer Science, University of Oklahoma 🎟️ Join Climate One live in San Francisco on December 9 for our celebration of 2024 Schneider Award Winner Leah Stokes! Tickets are on sale now. 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 just $5/month. This episode originally aired on April 19, 2024. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to APIA Vote and TargetSmart, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders have had the largest increase in voter registration of any racial group in the country from January to June, compared to the same time back in 2020. This statistic alone is enough to expect AANHPI voters to have an impact on this year's election—whether local, statewide or federal.  Join us for a conversation to understand the issues that are important to AANHPI voters as they cast their votes, some for the very first time, in this election. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Schools throughout the country have been roiled by unrest as they have struggled to navigate the passions and provocations ignited by political controversies at home and violent conflicts around the world. Confronted with protests, accusations of impropriety, and increased scrutiny of their methods and motives, school officials have contended with questions about how best to prioritize freedom of expression and allow access to a wide array of knowledge and opinions, while ensuring student safety and fostering trust and respect. Now, as we begin a new academic year with an acrimonious election season in full swing and violence continuing around the globe, many educators are understandably concerned about their responsibilities, their rights and the risks involved in teaching during such a turbulent time. But some also see this as a unique opportunity to reinforce the core tenets of education in a democracy by transcending fear and using real-world conflict to directly involve students in the hard work of learning how to think critically, act ethically, and exist in community with people whose values and opinions may differ from their own. How should we respond? Don’t miss this important conversation, as our panel of deeply experienced educators explores the impact on youth, society, and ourselves when we do—and do not—allow young people to grapple with the complexities of controversial issues as a part of their education. We especially invite educators and students to join us. Please come early to enjoy a reception before the program, with complimentary wine, soft drinks and light snacks. This program is part of the annual Back-to-School series from Creating Citizens, the civics education initiative at Commonwealth Club World Affairs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for the third installment of the "What's Good, SF!” series as we delve into the future of San Francisco and how sustainability, biodiversity and access to nature can help us flourish. From navigating climate change to improving public health, how we shape and integrate our natural world is critical—holding immense potential to support our people, places and ecosystems. A thought-provoking discussion will bring together visionary civic leaders who are reimagining how our city can evolve to become a thriving, eco-friendly metropolis. From brand new partner collaborations like Reimagining SF to ambitions for accessible nature woven into our urban fabric, discover the plans and aspirations for nature’s place in the revitalization of San Francisco. Don't miss this opportunity to be part of the conversation on how San Francisco can lead the way in creating a sustainable, vibrant, and inclusive future for the whole city. "What's Good, SF!” is a compelling series delving into the post-pandemic revitalization of San Francisco. Through three insightful programs, the series navigates the city's landscape of opportunity and challenge. Join us as we uncover the stories of resilience, adaptation and transformation that define San Francisco's journey toward a new, vibrant and sustainable future. Part 1: Future of Downtown Part 2: People Power & Service   This program is generously supported Levi Strauss & Co. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Not since the fall of Saigon has a U.S. evacuation proven so devastating and controversial as the one that ended U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. The documentary Hollywoodgate picks up where the rest of the world left off, in the immediate aftermath of the United States’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. Days after the last U.S. plane leaves Afghan soil, the Taliban—now in control of the country—enter an American base in Kabul called Hollywood Gate, reputed to have been a secret CIA station. There they find a portion of the more than $7 billion in sophisticated American weaponry left in the country: numerous small arms and munitions, jet fighters, Black Hawk helicopters, and other military equipment. Much of it is damaged, but the base is also equipped with many of the parts needed to fix it.  Director Ibrahim Nash’at’s unprecedented and audacious Hollywoodgate bears witness as the new head of Afghanistan’s air force, Mawlawi Mansour—a Taliban whose father was killed by the Americans—orders his soldiers to inventory everything and repair all they can. The men go to work restoring the weaponry and training themselves to use it. Among them is Mukhtar—a former Taliban fighter now aiming to build a high-ranking military career—who dreams of avenging the war. Following the screening of Hollywoodgate, we’ll have a Q&A with director Ibrahim Nash’at and producer Shane Boris. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices