Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Wajahat Ali, acclaimed writer and playwright who turned commentator and memoirist, shares sharp analysis with a disarming sense of humor. He discusses using comedy to undermine strongmen, threats to democracy and institutional complicity, California tech’s dark side, talking to kids about injustice, and building sustained resistance with empathy and multicultural solidarity.

As the planet warms, the story of climate change is increasingly becoming a story about human health. Rising temperatures, wildfire smoke, flooding, and shifting disease patterns are no longer distant threats; they are everyday realities. The climate crisis is reshaping health care systems, exposing inequalities, and forcing doctors and policymakers to rethink some of their practices. Medical schools are beginning to adopt climate as part of their curricula, yet such education is widely variable across the country. So what policy and system changes might help address both the climate and health crises at the same time? Episode Guests: Jeni Miller, Executive Director, Global Climate and Health Alliance Cecilia Sorensen, Director, Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education, Columbia University  Nabeeha Kazi Hutchins, President and CEO, PAI For show notes, transcript, and related links, visit climateone.org/podcasts Highlights: 00:00 – Intro 03:30 – Cecilia Sorensen on consulting for a Grey’s Anatomy episode on heat 07:00 – Climate impact she’s seen in the ER 10:00 – Medical education is variable across the country, including climate awareness 16:00 – Importance of public health and the role of preventive medicine 21:00 – Jeni Miller on interconnections between climate and human health 29:30 – Climate crisis puts pressure on global health systems 34:30 – Ways health care systems can better prepare for climate impacts 44:30 – Connection between climate change and reproductive/sexual health 51:30 – Climate change exacerbates existing inequalities for women and girls around the world 56:00 – Navigating efforts by the Trump administration to increase fertility and birth rate while cutting social services 58:30 – Climate One More Thing ***** 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 at ⁠patreon.com/ClimateOne⁠.  Ad sales by ⁠Multitude⁠. Contact them for ad inquiries at ⁠multitude.productions/ads⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At a time when some may feel divisiveness and isolation is pervasive, this year’s Silicon Valley Reads theme explores the concept of belonging in unique ways.  Join us for a thought-provoking conversation with featured authors Keeonna Harris (Mainline Mama: A Memoir), Annie Harnett (Unlikely Animals: A Novel), and John Powell (The Power of Bridging: How to Build a World Where We All Belong).  Hear more about how people find and build community in different ways. In-person attendees are encouraged to visit the Euphrat Museum of Art to enjoy the show A Sense of Belonging. Hosted with Santa Clara County Library District, Santa Clara County Office of Education, San José Public Library, and DeAnza College This program contains EXPLICIT language.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Iran’s authoritarian government has faced widespread protests in recent weeks, marking the most extensive unrest the country has seen in decades. The demonstrations, which began at the end of 2025, were triggered by an economic crisis and plummeting currency values. Tehran has responded with a violent crackdown leading to thousands of deaths. President Donald Trump initially responded by threatening military action. Will he follow through? Join us for a conversation between Iran expert Banafsheh Keynoush and UCLA professor and fellow Iran scholar Dalia Dassa Kaye about the latest developments in the crisis, possible U.S. responses, and what it all means for the region.  They’ll also discuss Dassa Kaye’s new book Enduring Hostility, which explores how America's Iran policy is made, the people who make it, and the underlying ideas and perceptions that inform it. The book looks back at U.S. policy toward Iran over the past four decades to help us look ahead, offering wider lessons for understanding American foreign policymaking and providing critical insights at a pivotal time of heightened military tensions in and around the Middle East. 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 Middle East 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: Banafsheh Keynoush  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can a university ever truly be neutral in today’s social and political climate? Pushing against the tide of universities increasingly pledging to stay neutral about contentious issues, law professor Brian Soucek argues that their promises are doomed to fail—universities can’t help being opinionated.  Soucek says that neutrality is a myth, and he takes a deep dive into several prominent campus controversies of the day, including diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts and restrictions on campus speech and protest. Each issue requires universities to choose a side in what they do, if not also in what they say. In everything from curricular and admissions decisions to their response to outside rankings and their evaluation of faculty, universities express the values at the heart of their mission. Soucek argues that those pushing for neutrality are only preventing universities from standing up for their values, whether in today’s current moment of crisis or in periods of political calm.  Join us to discuss Soucek’s timely and deeply engaging call for universities to dispense with neutrality as a governing principle and to focus instead on what their mission should be, and who should determine it. 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. In association with the American Constitution Society. OrganizerGeorge Hammond  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us on January 21, 2026, in San Francisco for a fact-based exploration of immigration and the future of the United States. Moderated by the Population Reference Bureau's Jennifer Sciubba, this conversation will cut through opinion and politics to reveal the real data shaping America’s demographics, economy, and competitiveness. Hear from leading experts Dr. Giovanni Peri, Daniel Costa, and Dr. Russell Hancock on what’s working—and what needs fixing—in U.S. immigration policy. Gain clear insights into how these forces will shape our businesses and communities for years to come.  This core learning event offers an intentionally apolitical and fact-based perspective on a politically, emotionally and culturally charged topic. Credible, fact-based information on immigration can be hard to discern from opinion and rhetoric. Amplifying the stakes for the United States, at a time of intense rivalry for leadership of large global industries of the future, the full scope and impact of federal policy actions is unknowable. Some are immediate, obvious and reported in mass media. Others will take years to be known, understood and reported. All businesses, communities and individuals will be affected. The Commonwealth Club of California is a nonprofit public forum; we welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programming. Program support provided by YPO Gold NorCal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many of us did not know about USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development) until it came under scrutiny by the White House's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in its recent cost-cutting efforts. USAID is—or was—the principal U.S. agency to extend assistance to countries recovering from disaster, trying to escape poverty, and engaging in democratic reforms.  While the constitutionality of DOGE's actions effectively curtailing USAID’s efforts work their way through the courts, we invite you to hear a personal perspective from someone whose work was primarily funded by USAID and who experienced first-hand the impact of USAID’s rule of law programs around the world during the past 30 years.  Mary Noel Pepys will provide an overview of her pro bono work in former communist countries, where she served as the rule of law liaison for the American Bar Association’s Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative. She will discuss the challenges of assisting nations in their transition from communism to democracy, including efforts to strengthen the rule of law and promote judicial independence.  Mary Noel Pepys is a senior attorney specializing in the rule of law, specifically international legal and judicial reform. Since 1993 she has helped emerging democracies develop justice systems that ensure the protection of citizens’ human rights, equal treatment of all individuals before the law, and a predictable legal structure with fair, transparent and effective government institutions. You can learn more about Pepys's international work at pepysinternational.com, which will serve as a backdrop of her presentation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nearly every headline seems to warn of new crises, deepening divides or threats to the planet. Yet a very different story emerges when you widen the lens.  A new book, A Century of Plenty, takes a longer, historical and more hopeful view. Over the past 100 years, humans have made unprecedented progress, from longer lifespans to dramatically reduced poverty: “On average, people now live 40 years longer than they did. From Lagos to London, economic growth has hauled billions of people out of poverty and empowered them to lead rewarding lives.” The forthcoming book, by researchers at the McKinsey Global Institute, examines what powered the “progress machine” of the last century, while acknowledging that the gains were inconsistent and not shared equally. What would it take for all countries in the world to achieve the standard of living of, say, Switzerland by 2100? For one thing, the global economy would have to grow to eight times the size it is today. Is this realistic? Will the world have enough energy, food, metals and minerals? Can we keep innovating quickly enough? Can we deliver prosperity while protecting our planet?“This future is, in fact, possible and perhaps likely, even if progress is always fraught with challenge and humanity lives on the edge,” the book concludes. We’ll talk with co-author Chris Bradley, economist Noah Smith, and other experts about the lessons from the past 100 years, and how they can be applied to ensure even greater future prosperity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have entered the second quarter of this century, and the general public’s concern in regard to past, present and future relationships and alliances looms large on the horizon.Established practices, agreements, and alliances seem to be under review.  Are the accepted patterns of diplomatic, political and economic institutions wobbling and leaving the future uncertain?Our panel will have an open conversation among the consuls general of the United Kingdom and Ireland; the deputy consul general of Italy; and the honorary consul general of the Czech Republic about what we can expect. Will the established relationships of the past 25 years among the European nations and the United States dramatically change? The new year is a great time to review what we have all experienced and thought, with an eye on the present and the future. This should be a frank and open conversation. 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. OrganizerFrank Price and Norma Walden  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author, entrepreneur, and Fox News contributor Steve Hilton says he’s running for California governor to address the housing crisis, high taxes and the “staggering incompetence of Democrat one-party rule." He’s not embracing the Republican label, instead calling his campaign nonpartisan.  Born in the United Kingdom to Hungarian parents who fled communism, Hilton worked in politics, advertising, and business before becoming head of strategy for former British Prime Minister David Cameron. But he’s probably best known in the United States for hosting the Fox News Channel show “The Next Revolution.” His books include Good Business: Your World Needs You and More Human: Designing a World Where People Come First.  Hilton joins Commonwealth Club World Affairs as part of our “Race for Governor 2026” series of candidate forums. Come meet the candidate, hear his vision for California, and ask your questions before you cast your vote for California’s next governor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices