Best Commonwealth Club Of California Podcasts (2025)

The human body is invincible—at least from the perspective of modern medicinal innovation. Mary Roach, New York Times bestselling author of Stiff and Fuzz, follows the astonishing evolution of body part replacement, from sculpting noses from brass to crafting body parts from scratch using stem cells and 3-D printing. While these advancements are mi…

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CLIMATE ONE: Adaptation: When Prevention Isn’t Enough 59:00

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4d ago59:00

59:00

So much of the conversation about the climate crisis focuses on prevention. But no matter how well we succeed on that front, climate-induced disasters are already causing hundreds of billions of dollars of damage worldwide every year — not to mention destroying livelihoods and causing deaths. We're seeing those impacts today, and we need to be read…

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Steven Pinker: When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows 1:00:10

4d ago1:00:10

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What’s common about common knowledge, and how does it become common? Common knowledge—the awareness of how others think and even how others think others think—is needed for social coordination, things as basic as driving on the same side of the road or using paper currency. And it has a hidden logic that makes it all work. Cognitive psychologist an…

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Edward Frenkel—Back to the Roots: How Do We Revive Pythagorean Tradition in the Age of AI? 1:26:57

7d ago1:26:57

1:26:57

Historian Charles H. Kahn wrote that Pythagorean contributions to Western thought were "on the one hand, a mathematical understanding of the world of nature; and, on the other hand, a conception of human destiny that points beyond the visible world and beyond the mortal body to a higher form of life." Unfortunately, for the following 2,500 years, w…

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Film Screening: On Healing Land, Birds Perch 49:38

7d ago49:38

49:38

Film screening and Q&A with director Naja Pham Lockwood and panelists; building community and healing through food with Bay Area Vietnamese chefs and restaurateurs. Join us for a film screening of On Healing Land, Birds Perch, a documentary by Naja Pham Lockwood, a Vietnamese-born filmmaker, which explores the continuing aftershocks of the Vietnam …

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Prop. 50 Explained: What’s at Stake for California . . . and Congress 59:55

8d ago59:55

59:55

In August, after Texas acceded to President Donald Trump’s demand that it adopt a redistricting plan favoring Republicans, California Governor Gavin Newsom said he would fight back. He signed legislation creating Prop. 50, which asks voters to suspend California’s independent redistricting maps and allow the legislature to draw new districts. "Toda…

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October Week to Week Political Roundtable and Social Hour 1:02:18

10d ago1:02:18

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After nearly 14 years, the Club’s Week to Week Political Roundtable and Social Hour is drawing to a close. The next two Week to Week programs—on Wednesday, October 15 and Monday, November 17—will be the final two programs in the series. That means it’s your last chance to join us in-person for our lively political conversations, preceded by a socia…

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Building and Preserving the Web: A Conversation with Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Brewster Kahle 1:02:34

11d ago1:02:34

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Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Brewster Kahle will be in conversation about the rise of the internet, its continuing and explosive impact on society, the importance of the Internet Archive and other developing issues in the growth and use of the internet. Tim Berners-Lee is the inventor of the World Wide Web, HTML, the URL system and HTTP. Berners-Lee pro…

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San Francisco Opera: The Monkey King 51:26

12d ago51:26

51:26

This program features a unique public affairs arts conversation between Chinese-born composer Huang Ruo and Matthew Shilvock, who is in his tenth season as San Francisco Opera’s general director. The Monkey King (猴王悟空), by Huang Ruo and American librettist/playwright David Henry Hwang, conducted by Carolyn Kuan, is of topical interest as an action …

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CLIMATE ONE: Ani Dasgupta on Moving From Promises to Progress 1:02:07

11d ago1:02:07

1:02:07

We know what needs to be done to ward off the worst impacts of global climate disruption: rein in heat-trapping pollution, reverse deforestation, build resilient systems. But how we do those things is the trick. Every second counts. The sooner we act, the more lives saved, the more jobs protected and the more futures secured. So how do we orchestra…

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Joe Manchin: Dead Center 1:00:41

12d ago1:00:41

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oin former U.S. Senator Joe Manchin for a timely and candid online-only conversation about his maverick career in government, crossing party lines, and addressing the dysfunction at the heart of our politics—centered around his new memoir, Dead Center: In Defense of Common Sense. At a time when our country feels more divided than ever, Senator Manc…

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Former DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano on Trump's "Misuse of Presidential Power" 59:45

14d ago59:45

59:45

When President Trump deployed the military to Los Angeles in June, former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano called it an “abuse of presidential power.” Napolitano, who is also the former governor of Arizona, told MSNBC that to federalize the national guard over California Governor Gavin Newsom’s objections was “simply outra…

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The Superpower Struggle to Control TikTok, with Emily Baker-White and Mike Isaac 56:06

15d ago56:06

56:06

With TikTok's 1.6 billion active users worldwide and unprecedented power it wields over culture, politics, and commerce, the social video app's addictive algorithm is one of the greatest prizes in America’s technological cold war with China. How did this social media platform become so wildly popular and a source of contention in international poli…

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Shaka Senghor: How to Be Free 1:03:13

15d ago1:03:13

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After Shaka Senghor was twice denied parole after 18 years behind bars, he had to decide: surrender to despair or transform himself from within. He chose the path of hope. He adopted daily practices including journaling, meditation, mindfulness, and creative expression, and he turned his vision into action—in the process, discovering how to break f…

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Borders, Power, and the Press: How the World is Being Remade 59:04

18d ago59:04

59:04

The global view from the frontlines of journalism, where every border tells a bigger story. Commonwealth Club World Affairs welcomes the World Press Institute, which has been the premier organization in the United States providing international journalists with the opportunity to broadly investigate this country—its values, traditions of a free pre…

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CLIMATE ONE: De-Hyping Hydrogen 1:04:59

18d ago1:04:59

1:04:59

For decades, hydrogen has held promise as a revolutionary tool in the clean energy transition. It can be a fuel and energy carrier, and when made with renewable energy and burned in a fuel cell, its only byproduct is water. President Biden’s administration invested billions into proposed clean hydrogen hubs. But as we’ve seen dramatic technological…

Commonwealth Club Of California Podcasts

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Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Commonwealth Club of California

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Podcasts – Tyler Florence Test Kitchen

Tyler Florence

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Why Higher Ed Should Stand up to Trump, with Michael Roth 1:06:34

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Mary Roach: Adventures in Human Anatomy 1:03:41

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CLIMATE ONE: Adaptation: When Prevention Isn’t Enough 59:00

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Steven Pinker: When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows 1:00:10

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Edward Frenkel—Back to the Roots: How Do We Revive Pythagorean Tradition in the Age of AI? 1:26:57

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Film Screening: On Healing Land, Birds Perch 49:38

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Prop. 50 Explained: What’s at Stake for California . . . and Congress 59:55

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October Week to Week Political Roundtable and Social Hour 1:02:18

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Building and Preserving the Web: A Conversation with Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Brewster Kahle 1:02:34

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San Francisco Opera: The Monkey King 51:26

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CLIMATE ONE: Ani Dasgupta on Moving From Promises to Progress 1:02:07

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Joe Manchin: Dead Center 1:00:41

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Former DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano on Trump's "Misuse of Presidential Power" 59:45

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The Superpower Struggle to Control TikTok, with Emily Baker-White and Mike Isaac 56:06

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Shaka Senghor: How to Be Free 1:03:13

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Borders, Power, and the Press: How the World is Being Remade 59:04

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CLIMATE ONE: De-Hyping Hydrogen 1:04:59