Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

In How to Live Forever, Encore.org founder and CEO Marc Freedman tells the story of his thirty-year quest to answer some of contemporary life's most urgent questions: With so many living so much longer, what is the meaning of the increasing years beyond 50? How can a society with more older people than younger ones thrive? How do we find happiness when we know life is long and time is short? In his new book, Freedman finds insights by exploring purpose and generativity, digging into the drive for longevity and the perils of age segregation, and talking to social innovators across the globe bringing the generations together for mutual benefit. He finds wisdom in stories from young and old, featuring ordinary people and icons such as jazz great Clark Terry and basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. But the answers also come from stories of Freedman's own mentors—a sawmill worker turned surrogate grandparent, a university administrator who served as Einstein's driver, a cabinet secretary who won the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the gym teacher who was Freedman's father. You can read more about Freedman views on the power of intergenerational relationships here. How to Live Forever is a deeply personal call to find fulfillment and happiness in our longer lives by connecting with the next generation and forging a legacy of love that lives beyond us. Freedman will discuss his new book at the beautiful Buck Institute, an organization dedicated to helping people live better longer. It is a special event you won't want to miss. In association with the Buck Institute.

On the eve of the People's Republic of China's 70th anniversary, journalist and author Helen Zia discusses the desperate exodus out of that country's biggest and most sophisticated city—a port so notorious that its name was synonymous with evildoing. Her new nonfiction book, Last Boat out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution, is the first English language account of this mass flight, an event that mirrors the Jews and other intellectuals fleeing Berlin as Hitler came to power and the frantic rush for evacuees to enter the American embassy as Saigon fell. This is the history of a generation of Chinese intellectuals dispersed throughout the world. The story remained untold, even in China, until Zia interviewed more than 100 survivors of this late 1940s and early 1950s exodus. Many endured great hardship and nativist hostility, including the McCarthy inquisition in the United States, as they tried to find safety for themselves and their families. Their offspring include Maya Lin, I.M. Pei, Amy Tan, Steven Chu, Elaine Chao, David Henry Hwang, Chang-lin Tien, Gish Jen and many other notables. Zia’s first book, Asian-American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People, was a groundbreaking history of Asian-Americans in the United States. A Fulbright scholar, she first visited China in 1972, just after President Nixon’s historic trip. As a journalist, she has covered Asian-American communities and social and political movements for decades. She is a former executive editor of Ms. magazine and graduate of Princeton University’s first coeducational class. NOTES MLF: Asia Pacific Affairs In association with the Committee of 100

This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. Only a few years ago, Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian spent 544 days in an Iranian prison. Rezaian experienced interrogations, trials and the complexity of international negotiations. He was even used as a bargaining chip in the Iran nuclear deal negotiations. In his book Prisoner, Rezaian delves into his dramatic and suspenseful story as an American prisoner of Iran. He describes how friends and family in the United States worked tirelessly to advocate for his release, lobbying John Kerry and President Obama to seek his freedom. Join us for this fascinating story from Rezaian, a Bay Area native, about hope, international justice, U.S.–Iran relations and the man caught in the middle.

Perhaps you’ve had experiences at work or your community where, while helping someone in crisis, you found yourself overextended. Or maybe you’ve seen an opportunity to help someone in the past and held back because it felt to risky or dangerous. How do you typically engage in relationships? How does your engagement shift when you are in a professional role? How does a challenging situation or crisis impact how you engage? Sustaining empathy requires attention. Awareness of how you engage in challenging times can become your superpower. Come learn the empathy rising framework for showing up in challenging situations and leave with tips for sustaining yourself while on empathy adventures. MLF ORGANIZER NAME Patrick O'Reilly NOTES MLF: Psychology

Stressed at work but can't find time to de-stress and meditate? Need to be creative but running into mind blocks? Sidetracked by trivia instead of getting work done? Stanford's Leah Weiss, author of How We Work: Live Your Purpose, Reclaim Your Sanity, and Embrace the Daily Grind, will show us how to sidetrack anxiety and enter a creative state even if we're not feeling like it. She will provide other practical examples as well. During this interactive session, we will learn how to integrate useful tools derived from mindfulness into our actual workdays. Come learn what Stanford's Graduate School of Business is teaching about how to incorporate evidence-based meditation and mindfulness practices directly into the workday, reaping the benefits of improved productivity, creativity and happiness without having to set aside a special time or place. Weiss' class at Stanford usually has a long waitlist, so sign up for this session before it sells out! MLF Organizer Name: Eric Siegel Notes: MLF, Personal Growth

This discussion about how to eat “The When Way" will not only present the science behind the optimal ways of eating based on your daily rhythms and changing circumstances but also offer easy-to-remember guidelines for how to adjust your diet to maximize the 24-hour cycle of life. Our speakers will explain why nutrition timing matters as well as what's on the plate. The result: better health, weight loss and the ability to use food to prevent disease. MLF ORGANIZER NAME Bridget Flanagan NOTES MLF: Food Matters

Join us for a special edition of The Michelle Meow Show at The Commonwealth Club. This week's special guest: Former San Francisco School Board candidate Josephine Zhao. Zhao's candidacy for the school board stirred up a great deal of controversy in the LGBTQ community due to comments she had made in interviews and text messages that criticized transgender people. She says she has changed and has apologized for her comments; her critics don't believer her. We invited her to discuss what happened, what her beliefs are today, and what she does next. Josephine Zhao is a public school mother and advocate for public education. A single mother of two girls in city public schools, she has been a leader in the PTA.

This event is underwritten by Bank of America/Merrill Lynch With changes to taxes, trade wars with China and other countries, health care in flux, housing prices continuing to rise, continued governmental gridlock as well as international challenges to the United States, what does all of this mean for your business, your investments and the overall economy for 2019? As deputy assistant secretary for economic policy at the U.S. Treasury from 1993 to 1995, Brad DeLong worked in conjunction with Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers on the Clinton administration's budget, the North American Free Trade Agreement, macroeconomic policy and health care reform. In addition to serving as a professor of economics at UC Berkeley, DeLong is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, a weblogger at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth and a fellow of the Institute for New Economic Thinking. He previously taught economics at Harvard University, where he received his doctorate in economics, as well as well as at Boston University and MIT. Stephen Moore served as senior economic adviser to Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign, where he focused on tax reform, regulatory reform and energy policy. With more than 30 years of experience as an economist, Moore focuses on the impact of government on business and analyzes shifts in the global economy. In addition to his role at Heritage, Moore serves as senior economic analyst at CNN. Previously, he served as a senior economist at the United States Congress Joint Economic Committee and as a senior economics fellow at the Cato Institute. He advised the National Economic Commission in 1987 and served as a research director for President Reagan's Commission on Privatization. Join us for a lively discussion on where the United States and global economies are headed and what should be done to keep them on track. * This Podcast Contains Explicit Language *

There’s no doubt about it: The San Francisco Bay Area is in the midst of a housing crisis. But while people may disagree about the root causes, the costs or the most promising legislation, there’s one thing everyone agrees on: The only hope of solving it is through monumental multi-sector collaboration. Join the San Francisco Foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the Ford Foundation, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, corporate leaders and housing advocates for a conversation about bold solutions, hosted at The Commonwealth Club. This event will also celebrate the launch of an exciting new effort to build a more livable, inclusive and vibrant Bay Area. Come learn how a diverse array of partners will protect up to 175,000 households and preserve and produce more than 8,000 homes over the next 5–10 years. The time for incremental change is over.

The roots of the American criminal justice system reveal how the past bleeds into the present. The United States currently imprisons more people than any other country in the world and regularly turns a blind eye to the astonishing cruelty and institutionalized racism on display 24/7 in its prisons. How did a nation built on the rule of law get to this point, and what can be done about it? Tony Platt begins by asking what a prison is and considers the commonalities between prisons, ghettos and reservations. He urges us to think about the public functions of private security and how the welfare system demeans and criminalizes many, but mostly poor women. Platt also explores the deep historical roots of the Trump administration’s law-and-order agenda, with specific attention to race, class and gender, and explains the failure of past reform efforts that have, ironically, led to an expansion of the police state rather than a contraction. Platt’s Beyond These Walls is a call to action, a bold plan for structural reforms to improve justice for all. MLF Organizer Name: George Hammond Notes: MLF: Humanities

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. Our in-studio guest this week: Michael T. Nguyen, board chair of GAPA Michael Nguyen is the chair of GAPA (Gay Asian Pacific Alliance), an all-volunteer, grassroots organization that, for more than 30 years, has provided safe spaces "that celebrate our families and has inspired our community to become advocates in civil society." GAPA continues to build on its legacy of social, cultural and political advocacy and community building by furthering the interests of the LGBTQ+ API community in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Nguyen also recently joined the board of Livable City, a nonprofit dedicated to improving transportation, land use, open space, and environmental policies to make San Francisco a safer, healthier and more accessible city. As a patent lawyer, Michael helps tech companies, large and small, protect their computer and software-based inventions. Michael’s drag persona, Juicy Liu, Miss GAPA 2016, currently hosts #JuicyThots, a Queers of Color showcase on the 4th Thursdays of every month at the Lookout in the Castro. Michael has personally raised more than $55,000 for various nonprofit and charitable organizations, including the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA), GAPA, GAPA Foundation, Livable City, San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation

State of the Union. Congress returns to session. And all the latest news from the never-predictable political scene these days. We will 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. We'll review some of the major events of the day, plus we'll provide an update on the results and effects of the November elections, and we'll talk a bit about what to expect in 2019. 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! Come early before the program for our members social hour (open to all attendees).

Death is not waiting for us at the end of a long road. Death is always with us, in the marrow of every passing moment. She is the secret teacher hiding in plain sight. She helps us to discover what matters most. The good news is we don’t have to wait until the end of our lives to realize the wisdom that death has to teach us. You are invited to an evening of inspiring conversation about our most taboo subject, the inevitable and intimate experience of dying. In both our professional and personal lives, a mindful and wise relationship with death can be a valuable companion on the road to living well, setting priorities, meeting crisis and forging a meaningful life, free of regret. MLF Organizer Name Elizabeth Carney Notes MLF: Business & Leadership

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. Our in-studio guest this week: San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen Hillary Ronen was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors District 9 seat in November 2016. District 9 is comprised of the Mission, Bernal Heights, Portola and St. Mary’s Park neighborhoods. Prior to her election she worked as chief of staff for District 9 Supervisor David Campos. Hillary is a graduate of UC Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law. After law school, Hillary worked at La Raza Centro Legal and became the director of La Raza’s Worker Rights Unit. Hillary has also worked as an immigration attorney in a private firm and pursued international human rights claims of children of Haitian descent residing in the Dominican Republic. See more upcoming Michelle Meow Shows at The Commonwealth Club here.

Based on his recently released, expanded edition of the award-winning Perception and Deception: A Mind-Opening Journey Across Cultures, Joe Lurie will present a spirited and insightful exploration of cross-cultural miscommunications in an increasingly globalized, polarizing world. With YouTube, tweets, refugees and fake news rapidly crossing cultures without context, Lurie shares a timely, intriguing and sometimes tragic array of intercultural encounters gone wrong because of cultural misperceptions across the globe, in the worlds of migration, diplomacy, commerce and technology. David Lennon, former managing editor of the Financial Times, called Lurie's book “brilliant!” According to Lennon, the book offers: “Terrific and timely insights and tools for understanding culture clashes in a hyper-connecting world.” MLF Organizer Name: Norma Walden Notes: MLF: International Relations In association with the Fromm Institute, UC Berkeley's International House, Northern California Peace Corps Association and the Osher Institute at San Francisco State University