Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Fermented foods have been part of traditional diets around the world for centuries—and for good reason. From improved digestion and gut health to enhanced nutrient absorption and immune support, fermentation offers both flavor and function. This event brings together local business owners who specialize in fermented foods to share their knowledge, craft, and passion. Panelists will discuss the fermentation process, the unique health benefits of their products, and how to incorporate fermented foods into everyday life.  Whether you’re new to fermentation or already a fan, this event offers insight, inspiration and a deeper appreciation for foods that truly support well-being. Organizer: Patty James  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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Frontier & Field is a Black History Month program presented during Super Bowl Week. It centers on a multidisciplinary panel exploring the historical, cultural, and therapeutic significance of Black equestrians in American history and contemporary life. Together, the panel re-centers Black equestrian history within frontier narratives while examining its contemporary relevance to sports culture, mental health, and youth development. See more  Michelle Meow Show programs at Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ronjon Nag, inventor, educator and entrepreneur at the intersection of AI and biology and adjunct genetics professor at Stanford, guides a lively tour of longevity tech. He covers AI-driven discovery, mitochondrial interventions, immune-training vaccine ideas, practical monitoring and diagnostics, investment trends, and lifestyle versus high-tech strategies. Short, fast-paced and forward-looking.

China’s president, Xi Jinping, has become the most all-powerful leader of the communist state since Mao, and his grip on the country has been strengthened by technology and China’s growing economic and military might. The United States might have belatedly realized it was in a great-powers competition with the People’s Republic, but we might still be failing to understand how Chinese people themselves are dealing with—and resisting—their authoritarian government.  Award-winning journalist Emily Feng, author of the new book Let Only Red Flowers Bloom, has documented China’s state oppression of those who fail to conform to Xi Jinping’s definition of who is “Chinese.” She has profiled nearly two dozen people who are pushing back. They include a Uyghur family, separated as China detains hundreds of thousands of their fellow Uyghurs in camps; human rights lawyers fighting to defend civil liberties in the face of incredible odds; a teacher from Inner Mongolia forced to make hard choices because of his support of his mother tongue; and a Hong Kong fugitive trying to find a new home and live in freedom.  Join us as Feng reveals dramatic human stories of resistance and survival in a country that is increasingly closing itself off to the world—even as it flexes its muscles on the world stage. Feng illustrates what it is like to run against the grain in China, and the myriad ways people are trying to survive, with dignity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the United States still the “indispensable nation,” former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s term to describe America’s leading role in the world? Or is the world better off as the country turns inward and downplays its historic alliances?  Washington Post columnist Shadi Hamid has made his own journey, moving from opposition to America’s role in the world to reluctantly embracing it. He says the alternative to American leadership isn’t a morally perfect superpower—it’s the brutal authoritarianism of countries like China and Russia. He explores this topic in his new book The Case for American Power, and he comes to Commonwealth Club World Affairs to make the case for America to embrace its power as the only moral option in a world beset by tragedy.  Drawing on his unique perspective as both an American and a Muslim who came of age in the shadow of the September 11 attacks, Hamid contends with the contradictions of American power: how a nation founded on moral purpose so often does not live up to its ideals. He also deals with America’s failures, from the war in Iraq to support for authoritarian regimes across the Middle East. But he says that because America is a democracy, it has the ability to correct past mistakes and change for the better—and that part is up to all of us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bill McKibben, climate activist and founder of 350.org, argues renewables are eroding oil’s geopolitical power. Amy Myers Jaffe, energy geopolitics expert at NYU, explores strategic implications of energy transitions and security. Luisa Palacios, Columbia scholar and former CITGO chairwoman, explains Venezuela’s oil industry challenges. They discuss Venezuela’s oil stakes, geopolitical motives, and how clean tech reshapes energy security.

Reverend Amos Brown, civil rights and religious leader who recalls the movement’s roots. Leo Bazile, longtime Bay Area activist sharing on-the-ground memories. Ramona Tasco, academic and organizer who shaped student training and program building. Jimmy Garrett, veteran educator recounting strikes and protests. They discuss campus strikes, organizing and training, cultural life on campus, political backlash and Black Studies’ lasting legacy.

Balancing activism with personal life and relationships can be difficult. At this crucial time in our history, activists are burning out when we need them the most. That’s why this event with Kitty Stryker, who has spent two decades as a direct activist and a street medic during radical actions, is so timely.  Stryker, author of Love Rebels: How I Learned to Burn It Down Without Burning Out, has both burned it down and burned herself out. Trying to "show up bravely" as a leader despite exhaustion, she almost destroyed herself.  But now she says, "Activism does not demand martyrdom to be effective ... it’s important to have some fun together!" She’ll show us how to build effective teams composed of people with different backgrounds, interests, and abilities, while managing the inevitable internal conflicts. She will discuss how to inspire powerful action while keeping the team safe, how to nurture yourself and others while staying in the fight, how to make your most effective contribution, and how to decide when you truly need to take a break.  About the Speaker Kitty Stryker is the author of Love Rebels: How I Learned to Burn It Down Without Burning Out, three books on consent, and articles about activism and politics. She founded the Ladies High Tea and Pornography Society in London and has been a radical activist since she was ten.  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 Personal Growth 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: Eric Siegel  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Americans are confronted with a wealth of sources of often questionable information about how to live better and longer. From the “Wellness Industrial Complex” to weak health reporting to faddish influencers, there is a lot of information and misinformation confusing people about some of the most important things about their bodies. How do we know what really matters the most to our health and longevity? What is the most robust and actionable evidence? And what is the junk you can just skip? Join us for a return visit to the Club from Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, M.D., Ph.D. Emanuel, a bioethicist, health policy expert, advisor to presidents, oncologist, professor, writer, cyclist and chocolatier, has assembled simple but high-impact and evidence-based guidelines for issues people ask about: Alcohol consumption, food and nutrition, sleep, mental acuity, exercise, and social engagement. That is the subject of his latest book, Eat Your Ice Cream, in which he guides people to what really matters for well-being. Emanuel says that life isn’t a competition to live the longest; he also says that “wellness” should not be difficult. Come learn this doctor’s prescription for a healthy, balanced life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us as Bruce Henderson shares the previously untold history of a top-secret operation in the run-up to D-Day in which American flyers and Allied spies carried out some of the most daring cloak-and-dagger operations of the Second World War.  In 1943, the OSS—precursor to the CIA—came up with a plan to support the French resistance forces that were fighting the Nazis. The OSS brought some of the best American bomber pilots and crews to a secret airfield 20 miles west of London and briefed them on the intended mission. Given a choice to stay or leave, every airman volunteered for what became known as Operation Carpetbagger.  Their dangerous plan called for a new kind of flying: taking their B-24 Liberator bombers in the middle of the night across the English Channel and down to extremely low altitudes in Nazi-occupied France to find drop zones in dark fields. On the ground, resistance members waited to receive steel containers filled with everything from rifles and hand grenades to medicine and bicycle tires. Some nights, the flyers also dropped Allied secret agents by parachute to assist the French partisans.  Though their story remained classified for half a century, the Carpetbaggers ultimately received a Presidential Unit Citation from the U.S. military, which declared “it is safe to say that no group of this size has made a greater contribution to the war effort.” Along with other members of the wartime OSS, they were also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.  It's a story Henderson tells in his new book Midnight Flyboys: The American Bomber Crews and Allied Secret Agents Who Aided the French Resistance in World War II. Based on exclusive research and interviews, Henderson relates the story of the patriotism, courage and sacrifice of these heroic flyers—and of the brave secret agents and French resistance leaders they aided. 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. 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