Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Big data, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and the internet of things: we have all heard of these innovations individually and their potential impacts. But Tom Siebel is working on how these technologies can work in conjunction with each other to have an even greater impact. In his new book, Digital Transformation: Survive and Thrive in an Era of Mass Extinction, Siebel explains how the power of these innovations can be harnessed to radically change and improve our world on a massive scale. He looks at how large enterprises such as Royal Dutch Shell, Enel, 3M, and even the U.S. Department of Defense are leveraging these technologies to predict functionality problems, decrease fuel usage and find vulnerabilities in these systems. How accurately can these systems predict electrical grid failings? What is the most efficient way to minimize fuel usage? How susceptible are these systems to cyberattacks, and how can we improve their security? What is the role of private enterprise as well as government in these pressing issues? Join us for a conversation with the leader of this field to find the answer to these, and many more, important questions.

Cities around the world are bracing for a growth spurt. With over half of the global population living in urban centers, and another 2.5 billion expected to join them by 2050, it’s time to rethink the traditional car-centric cityscape. How do we redesign our cities to withstand the challenges of cars, climate change and rapid population growth? A conversation with three leaders in urban planning and design on building sustainable cities that make public life healthier, more inclusive and more dynamic.

This event is the latest in our member-led forums’ Art and Science of Well-Being series. Cosmological Koans invites you to take an intellectual journey through more than 50 koans: pleasingly paradoxical vignettes following the ancient Zen tradition. Anthony Aguirre traverses the world from West to East, and through ideas spanning the age, breadth and depth of the universe. Using beguiling koans and a flair for explaining complex science, Aguirre covers cosmic questions that thinkers from Aristotle to Galileo to Heisenberg have grappled with. A playful and enlightening book, Cosmological Koans explores the strange hinterland between the deep structure of the physical world and our personal experience of it. MLF Organizer: George Hammond MLF: Humanities

Sammie is a queer, non-binary Pilipinx person with a vivid love for their chosen family, social justice, and grassroots organizing. Currently director of APIENC, a trans and queer Asian and Pacific Islander grassroots organization in the SF Bay Area, Sammie's politics have grown from years of witnessing xenophobia, fighting budget cuts in public schools and learning about trans Pilipinos fighting colonization. It’s from these knowledges that Sammie has worked to train hundreds of young, trans, queer, Asian people to lead from values of abundance and interdependence. Sammie believes that anything can be turned into a chant and brought onto the streets (literally and emotionally). Join us as Michelle Meow brings her long-running daily radio show to The Commonwealth Club one day each week. Meet fascinating—and often controversial—people discussing important issues of interest to the LGBTQ community, and have your questions ready.

Come in out of the fog and let us clear up things for you, at least as far as politics is concerned. Join us as we discuss the biggest, most controversial and sometimes the surprising political issues with expert commentary by panelists who are smart, are civil and have a good sense of humor. Our panelists will provide informative and engaging commentary on political and other major news, and we'll have audience discussion of the week’s events and our live news quiz! And come early before the program to meet other smart and engaged individuals and discuss the news over snacks and wine at our members social (open to all attendees).

What does it take to raise successful people? Esther Wojcicki, lovingly referred to as the Godmother of Silicon Valley, has a simple answer to this million-dollar question. It comes in the convenient form of an acronym: TRICK (Trust, Respect, Independence, Collaboration and Kindness). It also comes in the form of her new book, How to Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results. Her tried-and-true advice for parents, employers and mentors of all kinds is to trust individuals to follow their passions and to work hard, to be supportive of their achievements and, above all, to relax. Her wisdom applies to the corporate hiring process, to young parents raising children, to teachers trying to be the best advocates for their students they can be. Wojcicki is a revered high school teacher in the media arts program she founded at Palo Alto High School, a role model for Silicon Valley legends such as Steve Jobs (and his daughter Lisa), and the mother of three successful daughters: the CEO of YouTube, a professor of pediatrics at UCSF medical school and one of the co-founders of 23andMe. Come join us for a conversation about mentoring, trust and unlocking human potential with a teacher and parent who has it figured out.

These three compelling authors show the value of great places to work and how people are truly an asset to investors and society. Michael C. Bush will explore what makes a company a great place to work. Emilie Aries provides understanding and tips to keep employees from burning out. R. Paul Herman explains how you can invest to pursue higher human impact and profit potential. You will enrich your understanding of how people-focused companies make the world better and how you can benefit. MLF Organizer: Elizabeth Carney MLF: Business & Leadership In partnership with Presidio Graduate School

Join us as we talk with high-profile gay parents about the joys and challenges of raising families. Our guests: James Loduca leads global inclusion and diversity efforts at Twitter. In this new role, he will lead a team responsible for ensuring the company reflects its service and that Twitter remains a place for people to freely express themselves. He has previously held leadership positions in the tech and nonprofit sectors, where his work has focused on advocating for underrepresented communities and driving a more diverse and inclusive future for everyone. He served as an advisor to the Obama White House and proudly serves as a Latinx member of the LGBTQ Advisory Committee to U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Jeff Titterton is chief marketing officer at Zendesk. Prior to Zendesk, Jeff led engagement marketing at Adobe for its flagship Creative Cloud business. He has also served as CMO at 99designs, VP of marketing at Zoosk, and SVP of consumer marketing and services at PlanetOut Inc, among others. Jeff holds a B.A. in English and economics from Cornell University. He lives in San Francisco with his husband and two children. Dr. Eldon Schriock has been at the forefront of assisted reproductive technology since 1981 and was a member of the medical team that performed the first IVF treatment in Northern California. In the past, as director of the UCSF IVF Program, he established its first egg donor program. At Pacific Fertility Clinic, he takes interest in and has expertise with couples whose IVF treatment has been unsuccessful at other clinics. Michelle Meow brings her long-running daily radio show to The Commonwealth Club one day each week. Meet fascinating—and often controversial—people discussing important issues of interest to the LGBTQ community, and have your questions ready. ** This Podcast Contains Explicit Language **

Monday Night Philosophy revives an almost forgotten aspect of 20th century American politics, played out mostly in the Midwest. The progressive Republican Party that came to power in Minnesota with Harold Stassen's election in 1938 had already faded into near obscurity by the 1990s, but Minnesota's modern success story sprang from the ideas and ideals of that dynamic political movement, which emphasized effective government. Issues that are anathema to today's GOP—environmental protection, assistance for vulnerable citizens and economic opportunity for low-wage workers and the middle class—were at the heart of the party's agenda. Minnesota Republicans held that working across the aisle was a mark of strength, not of weakness or disloyalty. Senator Dave Durenberger grew up in and helped build that party and explains how Minnesota's progressive Republicans earned voters' trust and delivered on their promises. Progressive Republican ideas only fell out of favor when an increasingly anti-government, anti-tax national party shifted Republican thinking to the Right. In the ensuing partisan realignment, both the Republican and the Democratic parties have lost public trust. Durenberger argues that the principles and practices of progressive Republicanism are a fitting remedy for what ails American democracy today. MLF ORGANIZER: George Hammond MLF: Humanities

Giving USA: The Annual Report on Philanthropy is the seminal publication on charitable giving in the United States. For over 60 years, fundraisers, nonprofit leaders, donors and volunteers, scholars, and other individuals who work in or with the charitable sector have counted on Giving USA to provide the most comprehensive charitable giving data available. First published in 1956, Giving USA is the longest-running, most comprehensive report on philanthropy in the United States. At this event, conducted in association with CCS Fundraising and Foundation Center West, local philanthropic and nonprofit leaders will review national and exclusive data pertaining to Bay Area giving. Philanthropic giving—whether to hospitals, universities, the arts or local nonprofits—impacts the lives of all citizens and determines a range of services available in our communities now and in the future.

Edward Patrick “Slip” Madigan was a football coach who was far ahead of his time, yet he was also a coach for all time, modernizing of the game in the 1920s and 1930s at Saint Mary’s College of California. He was the first mainland coach to play a game in Hawaii and also to travel coast to coast by train to meet an opponent, Fordham University in New York City, thereby putting the tiny St. Mary’s on the national map. He was foremost in his innovative thinking by playing at night and on Sundays. His teams scored more upsets, dressed more flamboyantly and drew record crowds, even without a campus stadium, while defeating college powerhouses with much larger student bodies. He was a coach who couldn’t be denied. Besides his achievements on the football field, he physically built St. Mary’s campus in Moraga, California with the financial success of his football teams. His Galloping Gaels were the definition of the mouse that roared. Come learn more about this one-of-a-kind coach. MLF Organizer: Linda Calhoun MLF: International Relations

This event is the latest in our member-led forums’ Art and Science of Well-Being series. Are Americans suffering from an "empathy deficit,” as Barack Obama claimed in 2006? Studies do show that we are less caring than we were even 30 years ago. But Jamil Zaki argues that empathy is not a fixed trait we’re born with. It's a skill we can all strengthen through effort. Drawing on both classic and cutting-edge research, including experiments from his own lab, Zaki shows how we can overcome toxic cultural divisions. He also tells the stories of people who are living these principles—fighting for kindness in the most difficult of circumstances. Written with clarity and passion, The War for Kindness is an inspiring call to action. MLF Organizer: George Hammond MLF: Humanities

In 2015, representatives of 193 nations gathered in Paris, agreed that global climate change is underway and that our use of fossil fuels is a primary cause and set goals to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. President Trump ignored these agreements; overturned environmental protection standards; ordered the commencement of the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone Pipeline; and opened national parks, Indian reservations, and coastal protected areas to the extraction of oil, coal, and natural gas. The dramatic opposition at Standing Rock by the Lakota people, other Native Americans and environmentalists inspired many to call for a Green New Deal. Sheehan, known for his public advocacy on the Pentagon Papers, Watergate, the Karen Silkwood Case, the American Sanctuary movement case, and the Iran–Contra scandal will address this pivotal moment in history. MLF Organizer: George Hammond MLF: Humanities

Kick off Pride weekend in San Francisco with award-winning producer Lauren Morelli. Lauren Morelli is a television writer, screenwriter and producer. She is executive producer and writer of a reboot of Armistead Maupin’s "Tales of the City" for Netflix, starring Laura Linney, Olympia Dukakis and Ellen Page, which was released June 7, 2019. Previously, Lauren had the honor of working on five seasons of "Orange Is the New Black," which received 17 Emmy nominations, six Golden Globe nominations and six Writers Guild nominations. In her spare time, Lauren also writes short stories and personal essays that you can find in various corners of the Internet. Before moving to Los Angeles in 2007, Lauren received a BFA in modern dance from Marymount Manhattan College. Join us for this important program, and share your questions with us ahead of time by using #EqualityForAll.

According to David Wallace-Wells, we’re cooked – literally. In his new book The Uninhabitable Earth, Wallace-Wells explores how climate change will impact not just the planet, but human lives – including how a five degree increase in temperatures would make parts of the planet unsurvivable. But If science and news headlines won’t propel us into climate action, will fear itself do the trick? According to climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, building connection over an existing set of values is critical to communicating the perils of climate change and mobilizing action to address it.