the commonwealth february/march 2016

THE MAGAZINE OF THE COMMONWEALTH CLUB OF CALIFORNIA FEB/MAR 2016

Commonwealth

JOANNE WEIR page 7

GLORIA DUFFY page 46

P.J. O’ROURKE page 43

$5.00; free for members | commonwealthclub.org

The

WENDY DAVISThe former Texas Senator talks women in politics,

gender wars, and more with Sandra Fluke.

THE COMMONWEALTH CLUB OF CALIFORNIA’S

28th Distinguished Citizen Award Gala

MARCH 16, 20165:30 PM | THE FAIRMONT SF

TABLES & SPONSORSHIP:

415.597.6737 | [email protected]

VOLUME 110, NO. 02

On the CoverDemocrat Wendy Davis shares the lessons she learned from her time as a Texas politician.Photo by Ed Ritger

Inside

Photo by Ed Ritger

T H E CO M M O N W E A LT HF E B R UA R Y / MA R C H 2016

7CALIFORNIA CUISINEChef Joanne Wier in conversation with Chef Gary DankoTwo old friends talk tofurky, spoiled cooking students, and gluten-free food.

5EDITOR’S DESK That Sounds Right

6THE COMMONS The Roosevelts’ presidential legacy at the Club, remembering John Busterud, and tech check-in.

11STATE OF THE NATION: INCOME INEQUALITYThe Nation Magazine’s 150th AnniversaryCandidates from both major parties are talking about a long-taboo subject: the widening gap between economic classes in this country.

43A NOT-SO-BRIEF HISTORY OF P.J. O’ROURKE P.J. O’Rourke in conversation with Melissa CaenOn the occasion of the release of his hefty new book celebrating his decades of political satire, the original “Republican party reptile” turns a critical eye to the people seeking the nation’s highest office.

46INSIGHTDr. Gloria C. DuffyPresident and CEO

I encourage anyone considering running for office [to start] at the local level. You are very answerable to the people who elected you.WENDY DAVIS

34TAKING ON BIG SODA Marion Nestle in conversation with Alice Huan-Mei ChenSeeing similarities between soda and tobacco industries.

38IS THERE A WAR ON WOMEN? Wendy Davis in conversation with Sandra FlukeDo the Democrats have a lock on women’s issues?

EVENTS

Program Information 15

Language Groups 15

Two Month Calendar 16

Program Listings 18

ø Spend three nights in Copenhagen, Denmark. Visit Rosenborg Castle, the Opera House, and cruise the city’s charming canals.

ø Take a scenic overnight ferry cruise across Oslo Fjord to Oslo.

ø Explore the city’s Viking Ships Museum and impressive sculpture park. After two nights in Oslo, ride one of the world’s most scenic rail routes from Oslo to Bergen.

ø Admire St. Mary’s Church, composer Edvard Grieg’s home, and the Hanseatic buildings along Bergen’s waterfront.

ø Journey by train along the eastern fjord to Myrdal, and to experience the town of Flaam.

ø Enjoy a beautiful day cruise of the Songefjord to Gudvangen, before returning to Bergen.

ø Delve into Nordic history, traditions and culture during lectures and excursions.

ø Take an optional three-night extension to Stockholm and discover the city’s Old Town, the site of the Nobel Prize festivities and the Royal Palace.

$3,995 per person, double occupancy, with early booking discount.

J U L Y 3 1 - A UG U S T 1 0 , 2 0 1 6

Brochure at commonwealthclub.org/travel | Contact (415) 597-6720 or [email protected]

W I T H A N O P T I O NA L EX T E N S I O N TO SWED E N

5FEBRUARY/MARCH 2016

But before that could be done, Dalton had to add some introductions and explanations while he was still in Paris. So he and his team used a portable recording box in their Parisian hotel to get the right sound, as you can see at the top of this page. We do whatever it takes.

This past December, we welcomed to our staff William Blum, an audio expert with de-cades of experience in radio, including in the early 1990s recording The Commonwealth Club’s luncheon programs. We’re thrilled to have him on board, not least because he knows how to avoid the cooing pigeons out-side his office so he can get nice crisp sound for you to hear.

Our new home, now under construc-tion on 110 The Embarcadero and slated for completion at the end of this year, has been designed to provide great sound both for the audience there in the auditorium and for anyone listening online, on radio, or via our various video channels. A couple months ago, I toured the East Bay company that will be providing the state-of-the-art speakers and sound system, and I can’t wait for you to hear it.

Frankly, it sounds like it’s going to be the best experience yet.

JUST OUTSIDE MY WINDOW, birds are rustling atop my air conditioner. One floor below me, other birds make gentle cooing sounds next to the air intake. Nature’s a wonderful thing. Unfortunately, the cooing

is happening right outside the room we use to record voiceovers for our radio program, and it’s audible inside.

The same sound that can be comforting in one instance can annoy you in another place and time. We know that lesson well, because even though The Commonwealth Club exists digitally, in video, in person, and—with this magazine—in print, we really live in sound.

Since 1924, most people who have known about us or our speakers have gotten that knowledge from our radio program (the old-est continuing radio program in the country), and more recently from our podcasts, which are downloaded more than a million times a year. So sound is a priority for us.

Sometimes, getting good sound requires ingenuity. In early December, our Climate One team went to Paris for the climate summit there. While in the city of lights, Climate One director Greg Dalton moder-ated a session with Jerry Brown and other officials from around the world discussing their economic and environmental priorities and plans. That program was then transferred to San Francisco and on to KQED and the other 230 stations in our national network.

That Sounds Right

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POSTMASTERSend address changes to The Commonwealth, The Commonwealth Club of California, 555 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 Tel: (415) 597-6700 Fax: (415) 597-6729 E-mail: [email protected]

EDITORIAL TRANSCRIPT POLICYThe Commonwealth magazine covers a range of programs in each issue. Program transcripts and question and answer sessions are routinely condensed due to space limitations. Hear full-length recordings online at commonwealthclub.org/media, podcasts on Apple iTunes, or contact Club offices to buy a compact disc.

Printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Copyright © 2016 The Commonwealth Club of California.

J O H N Z I P P E R E R

V P, M E D I A & E D I TO R I A L

Editor’s Desk

Photo by Anny Celsi

THE COMMO N WE AL TH6

It is difficult to decide which part of John A. Bust-erud’s career is most worth highlighting. The talented public servant was deeply involved in the life of his community and nation. Before he passed away January 4 at the age of 94, he had worked with U.S. presidents, helped secure cultural treasures in the Second World War, served as minority leader in the California Assem-bly, and—we’re pleased to note—served as president of The Commonwealth Club.

During World War II, Busterud’s U.S. Army bat-talion captured a huge German reserve of gold and art hidden in a salt mine—the inspiration for the recent movie Monuments Men. He left the Army as a deco-rated lieutenant colonel and attended Yale Law School. He served three terms in the California Assembly, representing the 22nd District—the last Republican asemblymember to represent the Haight Ashbury.

A committed environmentalist, he served as presi-dent of the Committee to Save the Headlands, helping to protect the Marin Headlands and set the founda-tion for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. President Richard Nixon tapped him in 1971 to be the deputy assistant secretary of defense for environmental quality; he later chaired the President’s Council on Environmental Quality for President Gerald Ford.

In his retirement, he was also president of the Palo Alto Rotary Club and was a longtime member of the Bohemian Club. Clearly we are not the only organiza-tion that will miss this dedicated man.

PRESIDENT TEDDY ROOSEVELT took to The Commonwealth Club podium on March 27, 1911, to discuss a federal role for environmental pro-tection. “We cannot foresee how our people will feel, and what their needs will be fifty years hence,” he said at

one point, alluding to future generations using public resources. Little did he know that a future Roosevelt generation would be represented at our podium.

On Dec. 7, 2015, Teddy Roosevelt’s great great grandson, Kermit Roosevelt III, spoke at the Club, discussing “Teddy Roosevelt’s Vision and How It Shaped America.” Before his program, he was given a copy of a postcard depicting Roosevelt’s 1911 speech (see detail, above).

If that’s not enough Teddy Roosevelt for you, on Feb. 2, UC President Janet Napolitano will interview Geoffrey Cowan at the Club about his new book, Let the People Rule: Theodore Roosevelt and the Birth of the Presidential Primary (see page 18).

Presidential families are becoming something of a specialty of The Commonwealth Club. Herbert Hoover was a longtime member of the Club and spoke here at nine events between 1936 and 1947. His great granddaughter, Republican political commentator Margaret Hoover, spoke at the Club in 2011 about how the Republican Party needs to reach Millenial voters if it is to thrive in the future. Apparently presidential families are experts in thinking inter-generationally.

The Roosevelt Club of Calif.Generations of the family connect here

John Busterud, 1921-2016 Former Club president, public servant

IN THE NEWS

Our January Inforum program “Disrupting Politics As Usual” was a sold-out affair, filled with techies, politicos, and others interested in how technology is changing the political process. One surprise attendee was Megan Smith, who serves as President Obama’s chief technology officer. She was in town and made time to attend the event, talk with Club members, and no doubt remember her own big Inforum program just this past fall, in which she discussed tech priorities with Khan Academy founder Sal Khan.

Welcome Back U.S. CTO Megan Smith drops in

The Commons

“ A t t h e 2 0 1 6 Dist inguished Cit izen Award Gala, five honorees chosen to represent the theme ‘Beyond Boundaries’ are The Honorable James C. Hormel, ambassador, for his commitment to civil rights and leadership; A d o b e S y s t e m s c o -founder and co-chairman Charles M. Geschke .. . ; Robyn Denholm of Juniper Networks and Tesla board member for her leadership in IT; physicist and activist Charles Munger, Jr. for h i s suppor t o f good government and the two-party system; and Elizabeth Holmes, founder of lab-testing startup Theranos. T h e C o m m o n w e a l t h Club [says], ‘All of the honorees reflect the Club’s commitment to leadership and citizens who work to i m p rove s o c i e t y.’” —Examiner.com

FAVORITE TWEET

“Excellent speakers at @cwclub this year made me glad I attended often.” —Anthony Alfidi

CORRECTION

I n l a s t i s s u e ’s T h e Commons, we misspelled the name of our friend and generous benefactor Dr. Martha Heasley Cox, who recently passed away.

TA L K O F T H E C LU B

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2016 7

CALIFORNIACUISINE What do two old friends talk about

when they get together after a long time apart? If they’re famed chefs Joanne Weir and Gary Danko, it’s tofurky, spoiled cooking students, and gluten-free food.

Joanne Weir, chef and owner of Copita Tequileria y Comida, host, “Joanne Weir’s Cooking Confidence,” author, Kitchen Gypsy: Recipes and Stories from a Lifelong Romance with Food; in conversation with Gary Danko, chef and principal of Restaurant Gary Danko. Program sponsored by Wells Fargo and part of the Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.

GARY DANKO: You grew up in Massachusetts on a farm. JOANNE WEIR: Actually, my grandparents on both sides had farms. One of my most vivid memories is going to my grandfather on my mother’s side, and he had this incredible dairy farm in the Berkshires in Massachusetts. We would go every Saturday with my mom; she’d load us into the car and we’d go to my grandparents. We really loved going. I’m a fourth generation professional cook—so my grand-father was, my great-grandmother [was]. We would have these lunches, and he would have butchered the chicken, he made homemade mayonnaise, he made the rolls. My favorite thing—and to this day it still is—is potato chips, and I’m convinced it’s because he used to make us these homemade potato chips.

We would be sitting, having this picnic outside under-neath the maple trees, and for dessert, what did we have? He would hand-churn maple walnut ice cream. He even made the maple syrup. I grew up with this kind of food—I thought everybody had that food. Seriously, until I went to school and saw what other kids were bringing to school.

DANKO: Do you remember loving the food back then? We have similar backgrounds. My mother grew up in Louisiana, so we would go to the farm in Louisiana. I grew up in upstate New York, and we were used to salted butter. We’d get down to grandma’s house, and they have churned butter and it has no salt in it. We were like, “Ew! This is terrible!” Now you look back, and you would kill for that butter. WEIR: It’s really funny because my grandparents on my mother’s side were very different. It was only 13 miles away, but my grandparents on my father’s side came from Lithuania. That was very different. I felt like I was going to the old country when we went there. My grandmother was as wide as she was tall. She wore these dresses down to here, these big, chunky black shoes, and she made in-credible food, but it was like sauerkraut and braised pork. Everything, same thing—she made her own sauerkraut. They had the pigs that they were butchering. I did grow up with just unbelievable food. DANKO: The original farm-to-garden child. WEIR: Exactly. It was really kind of logical that I would work at a place like Chez Panisse. All the principles that we are talking about now—like sustainability and seasonal and organic, heirloom, all those things—were things that [my grandfather] did just naturally. He didn’t talk about those principles, but he lived them. DANKO: You talked about in your book how you went to school and you didn’t have the normal tuna fish sandwich


that everybody else did. WEIR: My mother would say, “I’m going to make you a tomato sandwich,” and I thought, “Wait a minute. All the other kids get to have peanut butter and jelly and I have got to have a tomato sandwich.”

Anyway, she goes out into the garden. My mother was a great gardener, too, and of course she got that from my grandfather; but she goes out into the garden and she picks this tomato. She brings it in. She’s holding like it’s a baby or something that’s really [fragile]. Gently holding this tomato. She toasts the bread, homemade. She spreads it with homemade mayonnaise, and then she slices the tomato and she puts it on top of the bread. She sprinkles it with salt and she goes, “Now, whenever you eat or cook with tomatoes, they always need a little bit of salt because it brings out the sweetness and the acidity.”

I’m thinking, “I’m six years old. Really. What am I going to do with that information?” It’s not like you could go to school the next day saying, “Listen, look what I learned last night.” My mother put the top on the sandwich. She cut it into two perfect triangles. She hands it to me and, honestly, I took a bit out of the corner of that sandwich, and you know, it’s like the most delicious thing, a tomato sandwich. I really think a chef was born that day over lunch. DANKO: What was the food that you wanted to eat that your mother [wouldn’t give you]? Like, we always wanted to have Swanson frozen TV dinners. WEIR: Me, too! DANKO: My mother would never buy them for us. Fi-nally, like a kid in a candy shop, you’re going to get it and you get it and you’re ready to eat it, and you’re like, “Ew.”WEIR: I know. It didn’t have any flavor, but I was exactly the same. Honestly, I would’ve killed a kid for a Chips Ahoy cookie. I wanted a Chips Ahoy cookie. Do they still make Chips Ahoy cookies? I don’t even know. I wanted one so badly and I had to go to school with homemade cookies. I was so embarrassed to take out my little sandwich bags

that were wax paper. I used to take out my sandwich bag, and I used to hide them. I was so embarrassed. I’d trade. I would eat those Chips Ahoy. They had no flavor and they tasted like cardboard.

We used to go to my aunt’s house and she had a bowl of candy on the table. I’ll never forget this. We didn’t even have candy like that. If it was, my mother was probably making homemade caramels or something. Seriously, we sat on the couch just to eat the candy. I’m not kidding. DANKO: When did you actually start helping your mother prepare? You said she liked to cook alone. WEIR: My mother really loved that time in the kitchen alone. It wasn’t really something that we were there helping. Yeah, we’d help her set the table or we’d help her do the dishes, but we didn’t cook with her. I know you did cook with yours.

If we went into the kitchen and we talked to her, she kind of seemed a little edgy in the kitchen so we’d kind of stay out of her way. DANKO: Let’s chat about [our shared teacher,] Madeleine Kamman. Let’s go back. When did you actually pick up a knife and start? Did you peel potatoes? WEIR: I’ll just tell you one little problem I had in the kitchen. I was probably about eight years old. I said to my mother, “I’m going to make some cookies. I want to make some oatmeal cookies. I’m making those on my own. You can stay in the other room. Watch ‘As the World Turns’ or whatever you do. Or one of those—’General Hospital,’ I don’t know—but I’m making cookies.”

I remember I measured everything out and I yelled to my mother, “Hey, Mom! You’re going to need to buy some more baking soda.” She said, “Oh, I just got a new box.” Anyway, I measured everything out. I had it all out there on the counter and I was rolling those cookies out into little round balls, and I put them on the baking sheet. They looked perfect. They were really perfect. A little dry, but they were perfect. I put them in the oven and I pulled

[Madeleine] tasted it and goes, ‘It’s good but it needs a little bit of salt.’ I swear she put three grains of salt in it. She was right; it was so much better.


up a chair, turned the light on through the little window. I’m sitting there, this little kid, looking at the cookies. As those cookies baked, they started to spread across the entire baking sheet, down the sides and they were making one huge cookie onto the floor of the oven.

“Mom!” You always call somebody, right? You call your mother. You probably never had a single mistake, Gary. That’s why he has the most incredible restaurant on earth. Anyway, I said, “Mom!” She came in and she was like, “Wow!” Honestly, it was one huge, big cookie. We took those out of the oven, and this is how great my mother was. I have to say, I really think that day I learned a lot because, as we were scraping them into the trash, “By the way, I should tell you that instead of 1-1/2 teaspoons, I used 1-1/2 cups of baking soda.” She said as she’s scraping them in, she took a little bite, I’m sure it was minute and she said, “Oh, honey, they still taste good.” Anyway, I have a great mom. DANKO: Madeleine Kamman... has an incredible mind—WEIR: Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. DANKO: And an incredible palette. WEIR: Madeleine has written many, many books. Her books are like this thick. I named [a chapter about her] “Three Grains of Salt” because I was studying with her that year—DANKO: Glen, New Hampshire. WEIR: Glen, New Hampshire. I arrived in January. Jan-uary 11, I can still remember. I get the chills just thinking about it. We were living in Glen, New Hampshire, seven miles away from the school.

We were all pretty much adults. I was 30 and we were living together in the same house, and you have eight adults living in the same house. We didn’t have cell phones. I sound like it was hundreds of years ago. We didn’t have cell phones and there was one phone in the house, and I got the room outside the kitchen. The only phone was in the kitchen. It was a wall phone.

I almost called that chapter “The Hardest Year of My Life.” Anyway, we were with Madeleine, and we were cook-ing a mousseline or something, very classically French food. She came up and she tasted it and she goes, “It’s good but it needs a little bit of salt.” I swear she put three grains of salt in. I tasted it and she was right, it was so much better. Maybe she snuck a teaspoon in there, but I don’t think so.

That’s why I named it “Three Grains of Salt,” because she was really a task master, an extraordinary woman and really a friend to both of us. She really thought Gary was her son and I was the daughter. DANKO: She was our cooking mother basically. WEIR: It’s true.

When The French Laundry first opened, we went with Madeleine. Do you want to tell? DANKO: We were sitting there, just Joanne, Madeleine and myself. She ordered two wines. She would always do this in class. WEIR: She had them wrapped. It was always a glass. She had them wrapped up in a napkin, and she poured it into my glass and I had to guess wine. I guess it was a Char-donnay. I thought, “I got her,” and I was so happy. Then, she said, “But what Chardonnay?” I knew her. I knew her well enough to know that she loved Kistler, and I said, “Kissler!” I was right and her eyes were bugging out of her head. She was just shocked, and you guessed Cabernet. You had to guess. Of course, I got the white wine, the female, and you got the red wine. DANKO: Crazy.

Do you remember your first day of class with Madeleine? Walking into the little pink curtained restaurant cooking school. WEIR: Yeah, it was like pink walls with little lace curtains. DANKO: It used to be a pizza restaurant, remember? Anyhow, do you remember that day? WEIR: I do remember it, because I put a calendar on the wall the very first day. I arrived January 11, 1985. It was a

[Madeleine] tasted it and goes, ‘It’s good but it needs a little bit of salt.’ I swear she put three grains of salt in it. She was right; it was so much better.


10-month program, a master chef class. There were eight of us in the class and it was intense because, first of all, half of us were really excited to be there. The other half were seriously spending their trust funds and didn’t really care about school like we did. I was very serious about wanting to learn. I was wanting to be there and it was also hard, and she was difficult. DANKO: That angered Madeleine. The rich people would come, and they would bring little flasks of alcohol during class. They’d be pouring themselves cocktails, and she would call them the Fang Ladies with their fingernails, and they would ask some kind of silly, drunkenly [question]. WEIR: It’s true. DANKO: I met Madeleine through her cookbooks in 1975. Back in those days, I was at the CIA [Culinary In-stitute of America] sitting on the library floor; I open this book. There were thousands of books, and this book just sang to me. We’re from the generation where basically the

food was kind of stuck in whatever. It just wouldn’t move in any direction. I’d never eaten an avocado in 1975. Only until I moved to California. WEIR: Especially in the northeast. DANKO: Uh-huh. Basically, I started reading this book. I had studied at the CIA before, and the CIA was a pro-fessional cooking school, and they would teach you how to make a Hollandaise, and they would teach you how to fix a broken Hollandaise, but this book is now telling you everything. Why it happens, why it breaks, et cetera. All of a sudden there’s this book available in the ’70s that starts talking about food chemistry. As a child, a student, I wanted to be an artist and I loved chemistry, so cooking kind of manifested itself in both of those. I took a liking to this French woman.

I graduated. Fast-forward years, and I [applied to Mad-eleine’s school], she kept saying, “Oh, I’m full, full, full, Gary. It’s three years waiting. I am full, please.” She did the same with Joanne. WEIR: She did. She said, “I’m full.” I had applied to study with her and she said, “I’m sorry, there’s a three year waiting list.” I said, “I’m getting old. I need to study now.” I waited and waited and then suddenly, one day, the phone rang and it was, “Hello? This is Madeleine. I’ve made space for you in the class. Can you come?” It was like, wait a minute. I need to figure this out.

I was already living in California, so I moved back East again. I went back to kind of where I’d grown up, and I went to study with her. I was so excited to go, but it was also hard. Madeleine’s class was really difficult. We would start at nine in the morning and she would lecture for four straight hours, and then we would make lunch together. She’d give us this list of ingredients and we’d have to be creative and come up with menus. DANKO: The Creative List. WEIR: The Creative List is what we called it. We’d come up with a menu. Then we’d cook recipes, depending upon what we were studying that day. We’d cook all afternoon. We’d probably cook until 6:00 and then run a restaurant on the weekends. We had one day off, Sunday. DANKO: It was actually a brilliant way to teach the students the Creative List. She would give you proteins and you could only use those things. You had to come up with, basically, the title of the dish you were doing and then you would discuss it in class, and then you had to write recipes for it. WEIR: It was great, because it made me learn. It was how I really learned to develop my own style of cooking and what ingredients [I use]. There’s all these recipes in [my] book that [came about] during the time that I studied with Madeleine, and it’s still a very special time for me. DANKO: That’s funny. I got into Madeleine’s class by piss-ing her off, basically. Madeleine was like the first feminist. She wanted to be the first female chef to move back to France and open a French restaurant and get the Michelin star. She wanted to be the first. (Continued on page 36)


Katrina Vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation; Van Jones, former White House special advisor for Green Jobs and CNN commentator; Robert Reich, professor, author, and former secretary of labor; Ai-Jen Poo, director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance; and moderator Judge Ladoris Cordell (Ret.), former independent police auditor for the city of San Jose. Photos by Patty Nowak.

LADORIS CORDELL: 2015 marks the 150th birthday of The Nation magazine. To commemorate this historic anniversary, we are proud to present a conversation about our country’s inequality crisis, a pressing issue impacting millions of Americans, and a core Nation issue on which the magazine has long been sounding the alarm. The wealth controlled by the top tenth of the top 1 percent has more than doubled over the past 30 years in the United States, approaching unprecedented levels.

San Fransisco, where we are holding today’s program, most certainly symbolizes the inequality issue. The city has been racked by battles over development, a homeless population that spills onto its sidewalks, rocketing housing costs, and increases in crime. With its gleaming new buildings and influx of Silicon Valley wealth, San Francisco has the fastest growing income inequality gap in the nation.

So what does this inequality mean for the political process, for the environment, living wages and immigrant rights, and in turn for civil society and the future of our democracy? Tonight, we will have a conversation with four

prominent experts about key problems afflicting America through the lens of the unprecedented concentration of wealth in the United States today.

In a 2014 Pew survey, inequality was America’s top choice for greatest threat to the world. All of the presidential candidates, Democrat and Republican, are talking about inequality. I’ll give you a quote here, “The rich have gotten richer, income inequality has gotten worse, and there are more people in poverty than ever before.” Those words were the words of Mitt Romney. [Laughter.]

So panelists, are we finally at the tipping point? Are Americans left and right, rich and poor of all hues, are we all now in agreement that our economic and political systems are rigged, and they have to change?ROBERT REICH: No. [Laughter, applause.] Should I explain?

I think that the good news is that inequality is something that people are talking about. After years of seeing inequality widen, the median wage stagnates, the poor and the poverty level [stay] stubbornly high and the rich get richer, finally we are getting to a tipping point, even among Republicans, where it’s at least expected or fashionable to say something about it.

But we are not anywhere near doing anything significant about it. There is one candidate I believe who is talking seriously about it and a few others who are being influenced by him. But I don’t wanna make this into a partisan forum.

My biggest fear honestly is that we may be, as a nation,

STATE OF THE NATION: INCOME INEQUALITYCandidates from both major parties are talking about a long-taboo subject: the widening gap between economic classes in this country.


heading into a world war. And war can bring out either the best or the worst in nations. It sometimes can lead to, paradoxically, a great deal of social solidarity. And some very good things can come out of the horrors of war in terms of the issue of inequality. But it also can bring out some terrible ugliness.AI-JEN POO:Well, I think there’s other good news, which is that everywhere I turn, I see low wage workers in mo-tion. I see incredible organizing among fast-food workers,

home-care workers, domestic workers. You’ve all heard of the Fight for 15—Walmart workers, retail workers, even the baristas at Starbucks.

People are coming together, and I think that combined with the incredible vibrancy of the movement for black lives, there is this sense of collective self-confidence that people who are on the front lines of inequality in this country are starting to express, that we actually can turn the tide on this and that we are going to come together and build the kind of movement necessary to do so. That, to me, is the best news in this situation.

Frances Fox Piven, the great historian of social movements, told me not long ago that she does believe that we are in the early stages of what will be the next great social protest movement of this country, that will fundamentally transform democracy for all of us. She’s right about a lot of things, so I’m gonna go with that.VAN JONES: There’s an agreement about problem; not agreement about solution. But there are right-wing pop-ulisms that are very interesting now, in their willingness to take this on. They use terms different than those that are familiar to us. But you hear right-wingers now talking about what they call crony-capitalism.

That’s their way of talking about the way that the government has been captured to protect big corporations at the expense of working people. There’s a growing agreement, and frankly a growing militancy on the right and on the left. The problem is that the solutions put forward by the right would make things worse.

There’s something interesting happening, where there’s a style of politics that could be a precursor to something. In other words this, “I’m just not gonna be polite now.” They’re doing it on the right, so we don’t like it. But there’s something that’s happening where people who before felt, both on the left and the right, constrained. There’s just not enough cookies on the table now for people to be polite.

The temperature’s going up for both the right and the left. So I do think that the income inequality debate discussion is something we should be very, very observant for opportunities on the right that we might find more exciting than the ones we see right now. KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL: I agree with everything that’s been said. I think the rules are being rewritten in different ways on the left and on the right. And at the heart of it I think we’re witnessing a discredited, failed status quo. This Washington consensus, inside-the-Beltway consensus of deregulation, of corporate trade agreements, of failure to make public investments, of mandatory sentencing—all of this is coming under scrutiny and question. You see it in Bernie Sanders’ campaign, you see it in Donald Trump’s in different ways. The question is where will it head? Because it is no question a time of upheaval. And around the world there are movements like you’re describing. Both hopeful and not hopeful. Whether it’s in Greece and Spain, or in Canada. But where it will end is gonna require political power and movements. CORDELL: Let’s pick up on the political power issue. So, first of all, this talk about inequality [has] been around for years. In the 1930s, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once noted, we can have a democracy, or we can have great wealth in the hands of a few, but we cannot have both. And in 1956, The Nation published an article by WEB Du Bois in which he wrote “corporate wealth profits as never before in history. We turn over the national resources to private profit and have few funds left for education, health, or housing.”

So, if we talk about politics, there’s a boatload of money in the lobbying industry. In 2013, if we just talk about Silicon Valley, Apple spent $3.3 million in lobbying. Amazon $3.4 million, Facebook $6.4 million, Microsoft $10.4 million and Google spent $15.8 million, all to influence politicians in Washington. So, don’t we have to rein in lobbying to achieve income equality, and if so, how do we do that? REICH: Well, the answer is clearly we do, and we have to get big money out of politics. We have to reverse Citizens United. We have to make sure that there is public financ-ing of all campaigns. And also make sure that there’s full disclosure of wherever the money is coming from. It’s easy to say what we should be doing. It is extremely hard to get the power to do it.

Because, you see, we face a chicken and egg problem. The people with power don’t want, fundamentally, to lose power. And they fear that any fundamental change in how politics is financed would be a threat to them. So let’s go back to the issue of populism, because it really is the core question here.VAN JONES: I wanna say a couple things about this. First of all, from an African-American perspective, the conversa-tion about inequality starts with mass incarceration. It starts there, and then move to the rest of it. It’s very important to understand that.

There is this sense of collective self-confidence that people who are on the front lines of inequality in this country are starting to express.


Ai-jen mentioned the movement for Black lives, I think that this is one of the most important developments of our time. A lot of people got mad, because some kids grabbed some microphones or whatever and that’s their only point of reference. They feel like they had to defend Bernie Sanders, until missing the entire movie.

You now have a generation of African-Americans who are coming on the scene. They were 12-years-old when Obama got into office—13, 14. They’re not impressed with having a negro president. They’re not impressed with hav-ing a Democratic party that will say stuff. They are facing incarceration rates that are six times their peers’ when they are doing the same things as their peers.

In other words, black kids and white kids do drugs the same amount, but black kids go to prison six times more than their white peers and nobody’s done anything about it. You have a view of the state that the state itself does a better job of punishing than protecting. The state itself does a better job of hurting people than helping people and that they see violence from the government inside the U.S. borders in the form of mass incarceration, their peers see it at the U.S. border in the form of mass deportations, all the young people see it beyond the U.S. border in the form of militarization.

So, you have a seamless web of violence from the government that somehow does not protect them from the street level violence, but it just enhances it and no one’s speaking for them. Then you have a Democratic Party that

wants to open its mouth to talk about income inequality, but won’t until very recently speak of these issues as integral to the fight.

You can’t have income inequality if you’ve been labelled a felon, for doing what your kids are doing in college right now and what some of you were doing this weekend. You can’t get a student loan. You can’t get an apartment. You can’t get a business license. And so, for those young people to hear a Democratic Party after seven plus years of Obama still not dealing with it, I was very impressed by them. The only force in American politics beside Hillary Clinton that both political parties had to address in their debates was Black Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter was started by three young women, with nothing but their pain and a hashtag, and they forced both parties to deal with them. We should celebrate that first, second and third before we critique them at all.CORDELL: It appears that race is the weapon of choice by those who want to maintain the status quo and draw attention away from inequality. If you listen [to] Donald Trump’s battle cries, “let’s make America great again,” that’s just dog-whistle politics. Isn’t it? Isn’t it code for let’s make America white again?

Is the Black Lives Matter movement focusing enough on income and wealth inequality? Should it be doing more in that area? This is for anybody. VAN JONES: No, I don’t think they should be doing more. You have a Democratic Party.

Left to right: Pan-elists Van Jones, Robert Reich, Ai-Jen Poo, LaDoris Cordell, Katrina vanden Heuvel.


CORDELL: Do you think there’s one Democratic Party? I think what’s emerged in the last years—post Occupy, post-crash and I might even argue post Obama—is that there has been a war within the Democratic Party, a war between the Wall Street wing and the more corporate establishment wing, which often both wings have failed to take into account what you’re talking about. CORDELL: Voting is critical to an egalitarian society. That said, in America low voter turnout is the rule, not the ex-ception. Bernie Sanders wants everyone to be automatically registered to vote at age 18, but that still doesn’t address the issue of getting people to actually vote. In Australia people are fined for not voting. So given how low our voter turnout is in this country, should we do the same? Should we penalize people for not voting? VANDEN HEUVEL: I’d flip it a little. The Republicans, the right, are doing everything in their power to suppress the vote, to suppress this coming shift in our country’s demography, destiny, politics. The money that is pouring into suppressing the vote is staggering. It is akin to a new poll tax, to Jim Crow. I think it will take movements to get out the vote. I’m not in favor of mandatory voting.

My last point, I think, all contributions to super PACs should be 100-percent taxable and the money should go to universal voter registration.REICH: People will vote when they have something to vote for.

VANDEN HEUVEL: That’s right.POO: Part of it is a question of the agenda, and if we could create an agenda for the future of this country where the full diversity of who we are and who we’re becoming as a nation and our interests, and how they’re inter-connected could be articulated and reflected back in a very compelling agenda that’s not imprisoned by the politics of the possible. But actually about what people need in this country to not only survive but to thrive and not just some people. All people. When we have that agenda, we will see a desire to engage in a different wayCORDELL: Let’s do a quick inequality Jeopardy round. I’m going to give a quote about inequality to you all up here and you tell us who said it and remember your answer has to be in the form of a question.

Here we go. “Republicans are for both the man and the dollar. But in case of conflict, the man before the dollar.” Take a guess. REICH: Ted Cruz.VANDEN HEUVEL: Andrew Carnegie, no. CORDELL: Abraham Lincoln. All right, next one. “If you can’t get rich dealing with politicians, then there’s something wrong with you.” [Laughter.] VAN JONES: Willie Brown. REICH: You be careful, we know what city you’re in. VANDEN HEUVEL: Oh. CORDELL: The answer? Donald Trump. Next one: “The law and its majestic equality forbids the rich as well as the poor from sleeping under bridges, begging on the streets, and stealing bread.REICH: Anatole France. CORDELL: Anatole France. Bingo. Very good. Last one. “Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them, well, I have others.”POO: Richard Nixon.CORDELL: Groucho Marx.

The money that is pouring into suppressing the vote is staggering. It is akin to a new poll tax, to Jim Crow.


The Commonwealth Club organizes more than 450 events every year—on politics, the arts, media, literature, business and sports. Programs are held throughout the Bay Area.

STANDARD PROGRAMSTypically one hour long, these speeches cover a variety of topics and are followed by a question and answer session. Most evening programs include a networking reception with wine.

PROGRAM SERIESCLIMATE ONE programs are a conversation about America’s energy, economy and environment. To understand any of them, it helps to understand them all.

GOOD LIT features both established literary luminaries and up-and-coming writers in conversation. Includes Food Lit.

INFORUM is for and by people in their 20s to mid-30s, though events are open to people of all ages.

MEMBER–LED FORUMS (MLF)Volunteer-driven programs focus on particular fields. Most evening programs include a wine networking reception.

MEMBER-LED FORUMS CHAIR

Dr. Carol Fleming [email protected]

ARTS

Anne W. Smith [email protected]

Lynn Curtis [email protected]

ASIA–PACIFIC AFFAIRS Cynthia Miyashita [email protected]

BAY GOURMET Cathy Curtis ccurtis873@gmail

BUSINESS & LEADERSHIP Kevin O’Malley [email protected]

ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES Ann Clark [email protected]

GROWNUPS John Milford [email protected]

HEALTH & MEDICINEWilliam B. Grant [email protected]

Patty [email protected]

HUMANITIES

George C. Hammond [email protected]

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Norma Walden [email protected]

LGBT James Westly McGaughey [email protected]

MIDDLE EASTCelia Menczel [email protected]

PERSONAL GROWTHStephanie Kriebel [email protected]

PSYCHOLOGY Patrick O’Reilly [email protected]

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Gerald Harris [email protected]

Beau Fernald [email protected]

Prepayment is required. Unless otherwise indicated, all Commonwealth Club events—including “Members Free” events—require tickets. Programs often sell out, so we strongly encourage you to purchase tickets in advance. Tickets are available at will call. Due to heavy call volume, we urge you to purchase tickets online at commonwealthclub.org; or call (415) 597-6705. Please note: All ticket sales are final. Please arrive at least 10 minutes prior to any program. If a program is sold out and your tickets are not claimed at our box office by the program start time, they will be released to our stand-by list. Select events include premium seating; premium refers to the first several rows of seating. Pricing is subject to change.

Subscribe to our free podcast service to automatically download new programs: commonwealthclub.org/podcast.

To request an assistive listening device, please e-mail Valerie Castro seven working days before the event at [email protected].

Hear Club programs on more than 200 public and commercial radio stations throughout the United States. For the latest schedule, visit commonwealthclub.org/broadcast. In the San Francisco Bay Area, tune in to: KQED (88.5 FM) Fridays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays at 2 a.m. KRCB Radio (91.1 FM in Rohnert Park) Thursdays at 7 p.m.KALW (91.7 FM) Inforum programs on select Tuesdays at 7 p.m. KLIV (1590 AM) Thursdays at 7 p.m. KSAN (107.7 FM) Sundays at 5 a.m. KNBR (680 and 1050 AM) Sundays at 5 a.m. KFOG (104.5 and 97.7 FM) Sundays at 5 a.m.TuneIn.com Fridays at 4 p.m.

FORUM CHAIRS

TICKETS

Free for members Contact group leaders below for information

FRENCH, Advanced Conversation Gary Lawrence [email protected]

GERMAN, Int./Adv. Conversation Sara Shahin [email protected]

SPANISH, Advanced Conversation (fluent only) Luis Salvago-Toledo, [email protected]

Watch Club programs on the California Channel Saturdays at 8:30 p.m. and on KRCB TV 22 on Comcast & DirecTV the last Sunday of each month at 11 a.m. Select Commonwealth Club Silicon Valley programs air on CreaTV in San Jose (Channel 30). View hundreds of streaming videos of Club programs at fora.tv and youtube.com/commonwealthclub

Programs

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

FOREIGN LANGUAGE GROUPS

RADIO, VIDEO & PODCASTS

HARD OF HEARING?

FEBRUARY


Two Month Calendar

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1 2 3 4 5 6/76:00 p.m. Building the Golden Gate Bridge: A Workers’ Oral History FM

6:30 p.m. Fair Trade and Corporate Responsibility: From Niche to Norm FE

6:00 p.m. Accelerat-ing the Clean Energy Revolution Worldwide

6:30 p.m. UC President Janet Napolitano Interviews Professor Geoffrey Cowan on Presidential Politics

7:00 p.m. Joseph Henrich: The Secret of Our Success

6:00 p.m. Taking Ownership of Your Clinical Laboratory Test Results

6:00 p.m. The Neurosci-ence of Love

6:30 p.m. Barry Eisler, Former CIA Director-ate of Operations

7:00 p.m. E.J. Dionne Jr: Why the Right Went Wrong (SV)

12:00 p.m. EJ Dionne Jr: Why the Right Went Wrong (SF)2:00 p.m. North Beach Walking Tour

8 9 10 11 12 13/142:00 p.m. Longevity Explorers Discussion Group: Better Aging. You. Your Parents.6:30 p.m. Berkeley Rep’s Macbeth: An Evening with Conleth Hill and Frances McDormand6:30 p.m. Week to Week Political Round-table and Member Social

6:00 p.m. Open Space and Climate Resiliency6:30 p.m. Climate Equity

5:15 p.m. A Guide to Retirement Living Alternatives

15 16 17 18 19 20/216:00 p.m. Women Leading Health-Care Innovation and Fam-ily Recovery6:30 p.m. The Epi-sodic Career: How to Thrive at Work in the Age of Disruption, with Farai Chideya

12:00 p.m. Dominic Casserley: Digital Risks and Solutions Beyond More Technol-ogy FM

6:00 p.m. Paradise Now

6:00 p.m. The 49ers Champion Levi’s® Sta-dium: The First LEED Gold New Stadium and Venue

6:30 p.m. Cigarettes & Tailpipes: Tales of Two Industries

7:00 p.m. Senator Cory Booker: United

22 23 24 25 26 27/286:00 p.m. Lessons from a Silicon Valley Pioneer6:30 p.m. Skoll Foundation’s Sally Osberg: Bold Ideas to Make the World a Fairer, Better Place7:00 p.m. Dr. Theo-dora Ross: Cancer in the Family

6:00 p.m. The San Francisco Foun-dation: Building Climate Equity and Community Resil-ience

12:00 p.m. Waterfront Walking Tour6:00 p.m. Custer’s Trials 6:30 p.m. Adam Grant: Success and Originality

12:00 p.m. Waging Peace FM

295:00 p.m. Humanities West Book Discussion: Will of the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare, by Stephen Greenblatt FM

5:30 p.m. Middle East Discussion Group FE

6:30 p.m. Former CIA Director Michael Hayden: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror

TBD Socrates Café FM

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1 2 3 4 5/66:00 p.m. The Future of Solar Power12:00 p.m. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter: A Conversation on National Security6:30 p.m. Michael Finney and Adam Levin: Tips for Protect-ing Yourself in the Cyber World7:00 p.m. Dr. Sara Gott-fried: Upgrade Your Brain, Outsmart Your DNA, and Reset Your Hormones Naturally

6:00 p.m. The Unlikely Governor: From the Caves to the Federal Reserve7:45 p.m. UC President Janet Napolitano: What I Care About and Why

2:00 p.m. Nob Hill Walking Tour

7 8 9 10 11 12/136:00 p.m. Could It Happen Here? FE

6:30 p.m. Week to Week Political Roundtable and Member Social

6:00 p.m. Social Isolation Under the Microscope: Dangerous Health Effects and How We Meet this Chal-lenge6:30 p.m. Peter Ber-gen, CNN National Security Analyst

2:00 p.m. San Fran-cisco Architecture Walking Tour6:00 p.m. The Grati-tude Diaries: How a Year Looking on the Bright Side Can Transform Your Life

14 15 16 17 18 19/202:00 p.m. Longev-ity Explorers Discussion Group: Better Aging. You. Your Parents.6:00 p.m. Thomas More’s Utopian Humor: The 500th Anniversary FM

6:00 p.m. An Osteo-pathic Approach to the Obesity Epidemic: A Timely Remedy6:30 p.m. Ellen R. Malcolm: The Evolution of EMILY’s List

21 22 23 24 25 26/276:00 p.m. San Francisco Green Film Festival: Wild Tales—Filmmaking and Conservation FM6:30 p.m. Week to Week Political Roundtable and Member Social7:00 p.m. Somini Sengupta: The New India

6:00 p.m. Women Fostering Women as Change-Agents Through Global Mentoring

5:15 p.m. The Miss-ing Kennedy7:00 p.m. Sean Car-roll: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters

2:00 p.m. Russian Hill Walking Tour6:30 p.m. Douglas Rushkoff: What Does the Digital Economy Really Mean?

12:00 p.m. Saudi Arabia and Iran: Friends or Foes FM

28 29 30 315:00 p.m. Humanities West Book Discussion: Don Quixote, by Cer-vantes FM

5:30 p.m. Middle East Discussion Group FE

6:00 p.m. A Conversa-tion About Atul Gawa-nde’s Being Mortal

TBD Socrates Café FM

12:00 p.m. Thomas Frank: What’s the Matter with the Democrats?

6:00 p.m. Fidel Castro Didn’t Show up for Rehearsal: How I Produced the First New Cuban Opera in 50 Years ... and Survived

6:00 p.m. National Security, Privacy, and Freedom of Expression Online

7:00 p.m. Joe Lurie: Perceptions and Misperceptions in a Globalized Polarized World

6:30 p.m. Shannon Watts: Gun Safety Is a Winning Issue

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MONDAY, FEB 1Building the Golden Gate Bridge: A Workers’ Oral History

Harvey Schwartz, Bay Area Historian; Author, Building the Golden Gate Bridge: A Workers’ Oral HistoryThe Golden Gate Bridge was

a stupendous feat of engi-neering and design. Relying on their own words, which he recorded years ago, Schwartz takes us deep into the details of the men who built it, and the conditions they worked (and died) under to com-plete it. He also explores the role of nurses who treated the injured and what is required of the craftsmen and women who maintain this iconic San Francisco landmark. SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. networking re-ception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing • Cost: $20 nonmembers, members free, $7 students (with val-id ID) • MLF: Humanities • Program organizer: George Hammond

Fair Trade and Corporate Responsibility: From Niche to Norm

Edouard Rollet, Co-founder, Alter EcoBrooke McDonnell, Co-founder, Equator CoffeeMaya Spaull, Director of New and Emerging Catego-ries, Fair Trade USAAdditional Panelists TBAHow does a corporate com-

mitment to social justice and sustainable development im-pact farmers and the food

you consume—such as coffee, chocolate, rice, quinoa, hon-ey, olive oil, bananas or wine? Socially responsible corporate brands are increasingly using fair-trade practices to create a variety of products made around the world. How are businesses ranging from home furnishings to clothes to toys implementing these practic-es in their global industries to make sure the products are sustainably sourced? And how does that benefit the consum-er, protect the environment and bring greater strength and transparency to the produc-tion supply chain?Join our panel of business and

non-profit experts for a discus-sion of the real-world reasons businesses are choosing to pri-oritize the social good—along with their bottom line.SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program • Cost: FREE • Notes: Underwritten by Wells Fargo Bank.

TUESDAY, FEB 2Accelerating the Clean En-ergy Revolution WorldwideDaniel Kammen, Ph.D., Pro-fessor of Energy, Energy and Resources Group, Gold-man School of Public Policy, and Department of Nuclear Engineering, UC Berkeley; Founding Director, Renew-able and Appropriate Ener-gy LaboratoryRebekah Shirley, Ph.D., Re-searcher, Sustainable Com-munities Rainforests of Bor-neo Trinidad, Tobago and Islands World Wide; Oppor-tunities for Women of Color in ScienceBritt Shaw, Ph.D. Candidate, UC Berkeley; Formerly with the U.S. Department of Ener-gy, Clean Energy Across the United States; Clean Energy in Africa2016 is pivotal year for action

accelerating clean energy revo-lutions throughout the world. Join our distinguished panel from the University of Califor-nia, Berkeley, in a discussion of expansion, technology and new generations of clean en-ergy innovations and solutions

that are critical and essential for healthy and safe worldwide environments. With clean en-ergy pervasive and effective throughout our planet—land, sea and air—imagine what 2050 will be.SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Cost: $20 nonmembers, $8 members, students free (with valid ID) • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program • MLFs: Environment & Nat-ural Resources, Business & Leader-ship • Program organizer: Ann Clark UC President Janet Napol-itano Interviews Professor Geoffrey Cowan on Presi-dential Politics

Janet Napolitano, Presi-dent, University of CaliforniaGeoffrey Cowan, Dean Emeritus, Annenberg School of Communication, Universi-ty of Southern California; Au-thor, Let the People Rule: The-odore Roosevelt and the Birth of the Presidential PrimaryAt the start of the presidential

election year, come hear a fas-cinating discussion about the birth of the presidential prima-ry, the involvement of Teddy Roosevelt in the process, and the influence of all of this on modern poltics. In 1912, Theo-dore Roosevelt came out of re-tirement to challenge his close friend and handpicked succes-sor, William Howard Taft, for the Republican Party nomina-tion. To overcome the power of the incumbent, TR seized on the idea of presidential prima-ries, telling party bosses every-where to “Let the people rule,” the title of Geoffrey Cowan’s new book.SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Time: 5:45 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program, 7:30 p.m. book sign-ing • Cost: $22 nonmembers, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID); premium seating (includes book and seating in first few rows): $45 non-

members, $40 members

Joseph Henrich: The Secret of Our Success

Joseph Henrich, Co-Director of the Human Evolution, Cog-nition and Culture Center, Department of Human Evo-lutionary Biology, Harvard University; Author, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Do-mesticating Our Species, and Making Us SmarterHumans are a puzzling spe-

cies. On the one hand, we struggle to survive on our own in the wild. On the other hand, humans have produced innovative technologies, so-phisticated languages, and complex institutions. Henrich explores how our cultural and social development produces a collective intelligence that explains both our success and our uniqueness.SV • Location: Schultz Cultural Hall, Oshman Family JCC, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto • Time: 6:30 p.m. check-in, 7 p.m. program, 8 p.m. book signing • Cost: $15 nonmembers, $10 members, $8 students (with valid ID)

WEDNESDAY, FEB 3Taking Ownership of Your Clinical Laboratory Test Results

Alan Wu, Ph.D., Dir., Clinical Chemistry, Toxicology and Pharmacogenomics Labora-tories, San Francisco General Hospital; Professor, Labora-tory Medicine, UCSF; Author, Toxicology! Because What You

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Don’t Know Can Kill You and The Hidden Assassin: When Clinical Lab Tests Go AwryWhile we’ve changed what

we put into our bodies, we have not been engaged with what is being done to our bod-ies. Roughly 70 percent of all medical decisions are based on clinical lab test results, yet we don’t know what medical tests are ordered or how results are interpreted. For 30 years, Dr. Alan Wu has conducted blood tests for patients and has writ-ten four paperbacks based on real cases, and he believes that an informed individual makes the best patient. SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. networking re-ception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing • Cost: $20 nonmembers, $8 members, $7 students • MLF: Health & Medicine • Program Organizer: Bill Grant Barry Eisler, Former CIA Directorate of OperationsBarry Eisler, Former CIA Di-

rectorate of Operations; Au-thor, The God’s Eye ViewMike Masnick, Founder and CEO, Techdirt—ModeratorWithin an elaborate game

of political blackmail, terror-ist provocations, and White House scheming, a global war is being fought—a war be-tween those desperate to keep the state’s darkest secrets and those intent on revealing them. In Eisler’s new novel, NSA di-rector Theodore Anders has a simple goal to keep America safe: collect every phone call, email, and keystroke tapped on the Internet. Evelyn Gallagher just wants to keep her head down and manage the NSA’s camera network and facial rec-ognition program so she can afford private school for her deaf son, Dash.But when Evelyn discovers

the existence of an NSA pro-gram code-named God’s Eye and connects it with the myste-rious deaths of a string of jour-nalists and whistle-blowers, her doubts put her and Dash in the crosshairs of a pair of gov-ernment assassins.SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program, 7:30 p.m. book sign-ing • Cost: $22 nonmembers, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID) • Notes: Part of the Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.

E.J. Dionne Jr: Why the Right Went Wrong (SV)

E.J. Dionne Jr., Columnist, The Washington Post; Author, Why the Right Went Wrong: Conservatism from Goldwater to the Tea Party and BeyondFrom one of our most engag-

ing political reporters and the author of Why Americans Hate Politics comes the story of con-servatism from the Goldwater 1960s to the present-day tea party that he says has result-ed in broken promises and an ideological purity that drives moderate Republicans away.Dionne argues that Ameri-

can conservatism and the Re-publican Party took a wrong turn when they adopted Barry Goldwater’s worldview during and after the 1964 campaign. The radicalism of today’s con-servatism is not the product of the tea party; Dionne says tea partiers are the true heirs to Goldwater ideology, and the purity movement did more than drive moderates out of the Republican Party—it beat back alternative definitions of conservatism. SV • Location: Cubberley Theatre (near Montrose & Middlefield), 4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto • Time: 6:30 p.m. check-in, 7 p.m. program, 8 p.m. book signing • Cost: $22 non-

members, $12 members; Premium (includes priority seating and a copy of the book): $55 nonmembers, $45 members • Notes: Photo by Paul Morigi

The Neuroscience of LoveDr. Thomas Lewis, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychia-try, UCSF, Co-author, A Gen-eral Theory of LoveLove is defined as an intense feeling of deep affection for someone or something, but why does it mean so much more to us? Why does who we are and who we become de-pend on whom we love? Lew-is will answer this and many other questions as he explores our human development, the nature of togetherness and the multifaceted bonds that con-nect us. Join us as we learn how the human race evolved from solitary predators into the in-tensely social creatures we are today. NB • MARIN CONVERSATIONS PRO-GRAM • Location: Outdoor Art Club, One West Blithdale, Mill Valley • Time: 7 p.m. check-in with complimentary hors d’oeuvres and cash bar, 7:45–9 p.m. program • Cost: $55 nonmem-bers, $35 members, $7 students (with valid ID); Premium: $70 nonmem-bers, $50 members

THURSDAY, FEB 4EJ Dionne Jr: Why the Right Went Wrong (SF)

E.J. Dionne Jr., Columnist, The Washington Post; Au-thor, Why the Right Went Wrong: Conservatism from Goldwater to the Tea Party and BeyondFrom one of our most engag-

ing political reporters comes the story of conservatism from the Goldwater 1960s to the present-day tea party that he says has resulted in broken promises and an ideological purity that drives away mod-

erate Republicans. Dionne argues that American conser-vatism and the GOP took a wrong turn when they adopted Barry Goldwater’s worldview during and after the 1964 cam-paign. SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing • Cost: $22 nonmembers, $12 mem-bers; Premium (includes priority seating and a copy of the book): $55 nonmembers, $45 members • Notes: Photo by Paul Morigi

North Beach Walking Tour

Join another Commonwealth Club Neighborhood Adven-ture! Explore vibrant North Beach with Rick Evans during a two-hour walk through this neighborhood with a colorful past, where food, culture, his-tory and unexpected views all intersect in an Italian “urban village.” Learning about Beat generation hangouts, discov-er authentic Italian cathedrals and coffee shops and more.SF • Location: Meet at Victoria Pastry Cafe located at 700 Filbert Street (at Columbus Ave) across from Washing-ton Square Park • Time: Arrive by 1:45 p.m. to check in. The walk departs at 2 p.m. sharp and finishes at about 4:30 p.m. • Notes: Tour operates rain or shine. Limited to 20 participants. Tickets must be purchased in ad-vance and will not be sold at check-in. Photo by Flickr user Clemson.

MONDAY, FEB 8Longevity Explorers Discus-sion Group: Better Aging. You. Your Parents.This regular discussion group

explores new and emerging solutions to the challenges of growing older. Not only will we be uncovering interesting new products at the intersection of aging and technology, we also will be conducting a series of ongoing deep-dive discussions


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into topics such as brain health, apps for seniors, hearing and wearables for seniors. The re-sults of our discussions will be shared with a larger commu-nity of older adults interested in improving their quality of life through our partner in this initiative, Tech-enhanced Life, PBC. The discussions will be facilitated by Dr. Richard Caro, whom many of you have heard speak at prior Grownups fo-rum events.SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco • Time: 1:30 p.m. check-in, 2-3:30 p.m. program • Cost: $10 nonmembers, $5 members • MLF: Grownups • Program Organizer: John Milford

Morality of WarfarePeter Dale Scott, Author, The American Deep StateGeorge Hammond, Author, Rational IdealismAdditional Panelists TBAMonday Night Philosophy

makes an assumption tonight: Warfare is an ineradicable aspect of human (and oth-er simian) life caused by our conflicting desires. If war is here to stay, though, can we still tame it the way other so-cial problems have been insti-tutionalized or hemmed in by written and unwritten rules that almost everyone would be ashamed to violate?SF • Location: 555 Post St., SF • Cost: $20 nonmembers, free for members, $7 students • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program

Berkeley Rep’s Macbeth: An Evening with Conleth Hill and Frances McDormand

Conleth Hill, Actor, Olivier Award Winner, Tony Award Nominee, and Lord Varys in Game of ThronesFrances McDormand, Ac-tor (Olive Kitteridge), Tony, Academy, and Emmy Award

WinnerJoin us for a behind-the-

scenes look at the Berkeley Rep’s upcoming production of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth! Our guests, Oliv-ier Award winner and Tony Award nominee Conleth Hill and Tony, Academy, and Emmy Award winner Frances McDormand star as the noto-rious couple in Shakespeare’s murderous play about the lust for power and the fickleness of fate. Joining these two power-houses of the stage and screen for the discussion is Berkeley Rep’s Michael Leibert Artistic Director, Tony Taccone. SF • Location: 609 Sutter St., SF • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program • Cost: see website

Week to Week Political Roundtable and Member SocialDebra J. Saunders, Colum-nist, SF ChronicleAdditional Panelists TBAOn the national scene, the first caucuses and primaries are under way. Join our panelists for informative and engaging commentary on major politi-cal news, audience discussion of the week’s events, and our live news quiz! Come early to meet other smart and engaged individuals and discuss the news over refreshments at our member social (all attendees welcome).SF • WEEK TO WEEK PROGRAM • Lo-cation: 555 Post St., San Francisco • Cost: $20 nonmembers, $7 members • Time: 5:30 p.m. wine-and-snacks social, 6:30 p.m. program

TUESDAY, FEB 9Open Space and Climate ResiliencyAnthony Kahil, Candlestick Point Eco StewardsMarie Harrison, Greenac-tion Community OrganizerDavid Beaupre, Port of SF Senior Waterfront PlannerDanita Rodriguez, Califor-nia State Parks District Su-perintendentJacqueline Omotalade, Director, Blue Greenway, SF Parks Alliance—ModeratorBlue Greenway’s Jackie

Omotalade will lead a panel discussion on climate change and the efficacy of employing open space and parks as a tool for climate resiliency at San Francisco’s southeastern wa-terfront. Panelists will include the city administrator’s office and other key players in the waterfront development ini-tiative.SF • Location: 555 Post Street, San

Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in,

6 p.m. program • Cost: $20 nonmem-

bers, $8 members, $7 students (with

valid ID) • MLF: Science & Technology

• Program Organizer: Gerald Harris

Climate Equity

Manuel Pastor, Director, Program for Environmental and Regional Equity, Univer-sity of Southern California; justgrowth.orgVien Truong, National Di-rector, Green for AllMiya Yoshitani, Executive Director, Asia Pacific Envi-ronmental NetworkWill a green economy be

more equitable than the brown economy? As California tran-sitions to renewable energy, the result will be green jobs, cleaner communities and low-er carbon emissions. But will underserved communities get shafted? The environmental justice community has been concerned that the state’s cap-and-trade program puts Bra-zilian rainforests over com-munities near refineries and factories. Will Sausalito and Vallejo get the same protection from rising seas and other im-pacts of a destabilized climate?SF • CLIMATE ONE PROGRAM • Lo-cation: 555 Post St., San Francisco •

Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. pro-

gram, 7:30 p.m. networking recep-

tion • Cost: $20 nonmembers, $12

members, $7 students (with valid I.D.)

WEDNESDAY, FEB 10A Guide to Retirement Liv-ing AlternativesCandiece Milford, MFAJohn W. Milford, MHA, M. DivThe speakers will survey

the retirement living options available in the Bay Area, from living at home to choosing a communal living option. Learn the key decision points in com-paring rental, equity-based op-tions, entry-fee communities, and assisted living. Subsidized housing options are not in-cluded in this program.SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Time: 4:45 p.m. networking reception, 5:15 p.m. program • Cost: $20 nonmembers, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID) • MLF: Grownups • Program Organizer: John Milford

Sips and Reflections with Michaela RodenoMichaela Rodeno, Author; VintnerLate-breaking program. See

website for description.SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing • Cost: $20 nonmem-bers, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID) • MLF: Bay Gourmet • Pro-gram Organizer: Deborah Abeyanju

TUESDAY, FEB16Women Leading Health-Care Innovation and Family RecoveryCarolyn Gammicchia, Exec-utive Director and Co-found-er, L.E.A.N. On UsMarcia Hinds, Author, I Know You’re in There; Educational & Behavioral ConsultantMary Romaniec, Author, Victory over Autism; Report-er; Advocate; TACA Massa-chusetts ChapterChristie Dames, CEO TechTalk/Studio; Host, Expe-rience Medicine Channel—ModeratorThere’s a new face of leader-

ship in health, and it’s being spearheaded by engaged and informed women with chron-ically ill kids. Learn from the direct expe-

riences of three moms who have successfully healed their

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complex-needs children—and are leading a movement to teach and empower parents to adapt the best and most useful modalities in recover-ing our children, and the en-tire family.SF • Location: 555 Post Street, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. network-ing reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing • Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, students free (with valid ID) • MLF: Business & Leadership • Program Organizer: Kevin O’Malley

The Episodic Career: How to Thrive at Work in the Age of Disruption, with Farai ChideyaFarai Chideya, Political Journalist; Cultural Analyst; Educator; Author, The Epi-sodic Career: How to Thrive at Work in the Age of Disruption – ModeratorWhen it comes to the world

of work, there is “disruptive innovation” and then there are those who find their jobs or ca-reers disrupted. We take a provocative and

holistic look at how work in America has changed in the past decade; what lies ahead; and how cities like San Fran-cisco are dealing with the wide disparities in work and wealth. SF • Location: 555 Post Street, San Francisco • Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program • Cost: $20 non-members, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID)

WEDNESDAY, FEB17Dominic Casserley: Digital Risks and Solutions Beyond More Technology

Dominic Casserley, Presi-dent and Deputy CEO, Willis Towers Watson; Former Man-aging Partner, McKinsey & CompanyRichard Waters, West Coast

Editor, Financial Times—ModeratorAs the CEO of Willis Towers

Watson, the world’s oldest in-surance broker (dating back to 1828), Dominic Casserley is in a position to understand risk and how to minimize it, particularly in the digital world. Technology and digiti-zation is syncing up the fabric of communities, connecting the people who live in them and the devices they use every day, thereby enabling the per-sonalization of every aspect of human life. No doubt these ad-vancements can drive produc-tivity, innovation and societal progress.This connectivity, however,

inevitably creates significant risks for businesses, threaten individual privacy, global econ-omy and security. With these advances, cyber terrorism and warfare will find new targets in critical infrastructures, busi-ness intangible assets will be-come channels for economic espionage, human capital will be challenged, and a failure to maintain confidence in digital security privacy could cause a rejection of technology—all of which have the potential to re-tard economic growth.Join us as Casserley discusses

how digitization creates risks and opportunities for individ-uals and businesses, and how together people can mitigate the risks to preserve growth.SF • Location: 555 Post Street, San Francisco • Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program • Cost: $22 standard, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students (with valid ID)

Paradise Now

Chris Jennings, Author, Par-adise NowMany wonder what the future

will look like. A few visionaries

try to recreate it. Jennings ex-plores the golden age of Amer-ican utopianism through the lens of five bold and eccentric dreamers who, in the wake of the Enlightenment and the on-set of industrialism, confront-ed the messiness and injustice of a rapidly changing world.Jennings reveals the worlds

of the Shaker prophet Mother Ann Lee, the Welsh industri-alist Robert Owen, the French visionary Charles Fourier, the French communist radical Étienne Cabet, and John Hum-phrey Noyes, the Vermonter who created New York’s Onei-da Community. Each utopian movement fell apart, but their galvanizing ideas still influence our culture and inspire imita-tors.SF • Location: 555 Post Street, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. network-ing reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing • Cost: $20 nonmem-bers, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID) • MLF: Humanities • Pro-gram organizer: George Hammond

THURSDAY, FEB 18The 49ers Champion Levi’s® Stadium: The First LEED Gold New Stadium and Venue

Jim Mercurio, VP, Stadium Management and General Manager of Levi’s® StadiumPat Rogan, Dir. of Engineer-ing Operations, 49ers Stadi-um Management CompanyAchieving the LEED gold

certification for the 49ers new home field is the first such championship achievement for a new stadium. Its builders hope it will serve as a model for sports leadership in envi-ronmental design and con-struction worldwide. Join us to learn about the sustainable management, design, function and construction of the Levi’s Stadium—home to the 49ers

and host of Super Bowl 50 in February 2016. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold rating is determined by the U.S. Green Building Council.SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program • Cost: $20 nonmembers, $8 members, $7 stu-dents (with valid ID) • MLFs: Environ-ment & Natural Resources, Business & Leadership • Program Organizer: Ann Clark

Cigarettes & Tailpipes: Tales of Two IndustriesCigarettes: 6:30–7 p.m. Lowell Bergman, Investiga-tive JournalistStanton Glantz, Dir., Cen-ter for Tobacco Control Re-search and Education, UCSFOil companies have long used

a page from tobacco compa-nies’ playbook by vigorously denying evidence that using their product as directed caus-es societal harm. Now the to-bacco and oil narratives are getting closer following reports that ExxonMobil executives for decades suppressed inter-nal reports about the negative impacts of burning fossil fuels. A former Justice Department lawyer who won a racketeer-ing case against tobacco com-panies says the government should investigate whether oil companies colluded to bury evidence of human-caused cli-mate disruption.A conversation on how oil

companies might be going the way of cigarette companies with Stanton Glantz, a war-rior in the tobacco wars, and famed investigative journal-ist Lowell Bergman, who was the inspiration for Al Pacino’s hard-charging character in the Hollywood film The Insider.

Tailpipes: 7–7:30 p.m.Panelists TBASome spunky teenagers are

suing some of the most pow-erful people in the U.S. gov-ernment. They claim President Obama and other officials are not upholding their constitu-tional authority to protect a stable climate for future gen-


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erations. It’s a longshot, but supporters say it’s worth a try, citing critical and improbable court victories in previous so-cial movements protecting civ-il rights, marriage equality, and women’s suffrage.SF • CLIMATE ONE PROGRAM • Lo-cation: 555 Post St., San Francisco • Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. pro-gram, 7:30 p.m. networking recep-tion • Cost: $20 nonmembers, $12 members, $7 students (with valid I.D.)

FRIDAY, FEB 19Sen. Cory Booker: United

Cory Booker, U.S. Senator from New JerseyCory Booker, the junior U.S.

senator from New Jersey, has built his career in public ser-vice by fighting for his belief that we as a nation must come together and rise above that which divides us in order to protect the principles and ide-als that unite us.Senator Booker’s first book,

United: Thoughts on Finding Common Ground and Advanc-ing the Common Good, details the people who inspired him to seek public office, the mo-ments that influenced his civic vision once he was elected and the issues that drive his politi-cal agenda, such as social, eco-nomic and environmental jus-tice. In United, Senator Booker also calls for the American people to refocus our attention and especially our politics on the principals of compassion and solidarity to steer our na-tion toward a brighter future.SF • INFORUM PROGRAM • Loca-tion: The Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street, San Francisco • Time: 6 p.m. doors open, 7-8 p.m. program, 8 p.m. book signing • Cost: Premium (in-cludes access to the premium recep-tion, seating in the first few rows and a copy of the book): $75 nonmem-bers, $60 members; General admis-sion with book: $45 nonmembers,

$35 members; General admission: $25 nonmembers, $15 members, $10 students (with valid I.D.) • Notes: Part of the Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.

TUESDAY, FEB 23Lessons from a Silicon Valley PioneerWilliam Ryan, Co-founder/Chairman, Niehaus/Ryan/Wong; Chairman Emeritus, Craigslist FoundationFrom software architectures

to the Internet itself, the leg-endary Niehaus/Ryan/Wong PR firm helped shape and evangelize many of the stories that drove technology trends, market landscapes and de-mand for over a decade. In his first public conversation, NRW chairman Bill Ryan will share lessons learned from his pioneering work with clients such as Apple, Yahoo!, Xerox and others. Lessons that con-tinue to impact his approach to brand development today. SF • Location: Club Headquarters, 555 Post Street, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program • Cost: $20 nonmem-bers, $8 members, students free (with valid ID) • MLF: Business & Leadership • Program Organizer: Kevin O’Malley

Skoll Foundation’s Sally Os-berg: Bold Ideas to Make the World a Fairer, Better Place

Sally Osberg, President and CEO, Skoll Foundation; Au-thor, Getting Beyond Better: How Social Entrepreneurship WorksSally Osberg has been an en-

trepreneurial leader and cata-lyst for social change through-out her career. She propels those around her with her life philosophy and mantra, cap-tured in one word: “Onward!” As president and CEO of the

Skoll Foundation, she partners with Founder and Chairman Jeff Skoll and guides the orga-nization in its search and sup-port of innovators pioneering scalable solutions to pressing global problems. Under Os-berg’s leadership, the foun-dation has invested in more than 100 ventures led by social entrepreneurs worldwide; es-tablished the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the Saïd Business School of Oxford University; created the annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship; and bro-kered cutting-edge partner-ships with organizations such as the Sundance Institute and the Social Progress Imperative. She will discuss how mean-

ingful change actually happens in the world and provide con-crete lessons and a practical model for businesses, policy-makers, civil society organi-zations, and individuals who seek to transform our world for good.SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program, 7:30 p.m. book signing • Cost: $22 nonmembers, $12 mem-bers, $7 students (with valid ID); Pre-mium (includes seating in first rows and copy of book): $45 nonmembers, $35 members

Dr. Theodora Ross: Cancer in the Family

Theodora Ross, M.D., Pro-fessor of Internal Medicine, Director of the Cancer Ge-netics Program, University of Texas Southwestern Med-ical Center; Author, A Cancer in the Family: Take Control of Your Genetic InheritanceThere are an estimated 13

million people diagnosed with cancer in the United States, and about 1.3 million of these cases are hereditary. Dr. Ross is a leading researcher on can-

cer susceptibility genes. Using her own family’s story and ex-periences as a practicing phy-sician, Dr. Ross shares how to get treated and spot patterns of inherited cancer. SV • Location: Schultz Cultural Hall, Oshman Family JCC, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto • Time: 6:30 p.m. check-in, 7 p.m. program, 8 p.m. book signing • Cost: $20 nonmembers, $12 members, $8 students (with valid ID) • Notes: Co-presented by The Osh-man Family JCC; photo by Erin Bur-roughs

WEDNESDAY, FEB 24The San Francisco Founda-tion: Building Climate Eq-uity and Community Resil-ienceAllison Brooks, Executive Director, Bay Area Regional CollaborativeTaj James, Founder and Ex-ecutive Director, Movement Strategy CenterMateo Nube, Co-Director, Movement GenerationFrancesca Vietor, Program Director for Environment, Public Policy and Civic En-gagement, San Francisco Foundation,Climate change will be a

threat multiplier for communi-ties in the Bay Area: rising sea levels, increasing temperatures, spreading drought and wildfire will increase the health and wealth inequities our region is already facing. The San Fran-cisco Foundation is investing in communities and the en-vironment to build climate equity and resilience because it believes that all people need access to clean water, healthy food, safe outdoor play areas, and nature, for the health and safety of the Bay Area.Join us in a discussion of the

important work that the foun-dation does and what it envi-sions for the years to come.SF • Location: Club Headquarters, 555 Post St., San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program • Cost: $20 nonmem-bers, $8 members, $7 students (free with valid ID) • MLF: Environment & Natural Resources • Program Orga-nizer: Ann Clark

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Alaska’s WILD LANDS

July 17-26, 2016

from the tundra to the sea

SUNDAY, JULY 17ARRIVALS TO FAIRBANKSArrive independently at Alaska’s largest interior city, Fairbanks. Overnight at our hotel. Pike’s Waterfront Lodge

MONDAY, JULY 18FAIRBANKSFree morning to explore. Meet your group at 1 p.m. for a tour of Fairbanks, including visits to the Museum of the North and the famed Alaska Pipeline. This evening after a trip orientation, enjoy dinner together, and get an overview of the exciting activities and destinations that lie ahead. Pike’s Waterfront Lodge (D)

TUESDAY, JULY 19ALASKA RAILROAD TO DENALIIn Fairbanks, board the historic Alaska Railroad to Denali National Park and enjoy a narrated wildlife drive. After a stop for lunch, leave the crowds at the park entrance behind and travel deep into the park by a comfortable, private bus (five to six hour drive). Watch for caribou, moose, Dall sheep, grizzly bears, resident and migratory birds, and – if weather permits – gaze upon the splendor of Denali. Evening lectures on Alaskan natural and native history will be featured nightly.Denali Backcountry Lodge (B,L,D)

WEDNESDAY, JULY 20DENALIEnjoy a full day of exploration in the mountainous Kantishna hills area by guided hike. Various hikes are available to best suit individual interests and activity levels; all will introduce travelers to Alaska’s tundra, wildflowers and local wildlife. Optional add-on flightseeing tours will be offered during your stay. Denali Backcountry Lodge (B,L,D)

THURSDAY, JULY 21DENALI TO TALKEETNAFollowing an early breakfast, embark on a scenic drive through Denali and watch for wildlife. Once back at the park entrance, continue the journey south to Talkeetna, for special evening programs. Experience the local flavor of a small mountain town.Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge (B,L,D)

from the tundra to the sea

WHAT TO EXPECT

This trip is designed for travelers in average physical condition. You should feel comfortable trail walking for 3–4 hours with short breaks. The most important requirements are a spirit of adventure and a positive attitude! We stay in authentic Alaskan lodging to enhance the Alaska experience. You only need to bring your personal gear and clothing. We’ll send you a complete packing list of recommended clothing after you sign up.

DETAILS

DATES: July 17-July 26, 2016

TOUR SIZE: Minimum 8, Maximum 16

TOUR COST: $6,095 per person, plus tax, based on double occupancy. Single accommodations – $7,395 per person, plus tax, based on single occupancy. A limited number of single-occupancy spaces are available. Please contact us for the latest availability.

INCLUDES: All ground transportation; all accommodations as shown on itinerary; all entry fees, activities and excursions per itinerary; meals and non-alcoholic beverages as shown on itinerary (B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner); wine and beer with welcome and farewell dinners; and porterage.

EXCLUDES: Airfare to Alaska and related fees and taxes; medical immunizations; passport fees; baggage or trip cancellation insurance; optional excursions or deviation from the scheduled tour; excess baggage charges; medical expenses; meals not specified in the program itinerary or special meals not on the menu; dishes and beverages not part of included meals; alcoholic beverages; laundry; telephone or fax charges; room service; other items of a purely personal nature; and gratuities to local guides.

FRIDAY, JULY 22TALKEETNA TO SEWARDJourney from interior Alaska to the stunning coastal port of Seward. Gain an up-close-and personal vantage point of the massive Exit Glacier on a special hike.Seward Windsong Lodge (B,L,D)

SATURDAY, JULY 23KENAI FJORDS NATIONAL PARKThis morning, board a small private boat bound for Kenai Fjords National Park – home to an array of glaciers and marine wildlife, including whales, Steller sea lions, sea otters, and puffins. A scenic and spectacular half-day marine wildlife cruise will allow for an exploration of the rugged coastlines. Home for the next two nights is the award-winning Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge. This exclusive property is surrounded by a 1700-acre wildlife sanctuary, and you will enjoy special access as this is the only lodge located inside the 700,000 acre Kenai Fjords National Park. This afternoon, take a group canoe trip, and tonight enjoy evening presentations on coastal Alaskan issues.Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge (B,L,D)

SUNDAY, JULY 24KENAI FJORDS NATIONAL PARKExplore the wild delights of Kenai Fjords National Park for a full day. Amazing kayaking, canoeing, and nature walks fill the day with options to satisfy all, from the rank beginner to the outdoors expert. Water-based activities may include sea kayaking to a local waterfall or paddling amidst icebergs in the upper lagoon area near Pedersen Glacier. Free time late this afternoon will allow you to enjoy the private deck views from your cabin before dinner in the lodge. Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge (B,L,D)

MONDAY, JULY 25KENAI FJORDS NATIONAL PARK TO ANCHORAGEKayak, canoe, or beach comb for a half day before the return wildlife cruise to Seward. Board the historic Alaska Railroad for a scenic backcountry rail tour, and enjoy a festive farewell dinner on the train. Arrive Anchorage in the evening.The Lakefront Anchorage (B,L,D)

TUESDAY, JULY 26DEPARTURESThis morning, visit the Alaska Native Heritage Center, featuring amazing exhibits and local artisans. Transfer to the airport for flights home. (B)

TERMS AND CONDITIONSTOUR SIZE – This tour is limited to 16 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. The minimum group size is 8 guests. Should the minimum not be met, we reserve the right to cancel the program or levy a small group surcharge.

INSURANCE – We highly recommend the purchase of trip cancellation insurance; information will be sent to registrants.

CANCELLATIONS – At the time we receive written notice that you must cancel your trip, the following per-person fees will apply:

If cancellation occurs: Minimum fee:

120+ days prior to departure $300 per person

120 to 91 days $600 per person

90 to 46 days 50% of total cost

Within 45 days 100% total cost

As a condition to acceptance of enrollment, participants must sign the Waiver of Liability, which will be sent upon registration.

The Commonwealth Club of California and our ground operators and suppliers act only as agents for the travelers with respect to transportation and arrangements, and exercise every care possible in doing so. However, we can assume no liability for injury, damage, loss, accident, delay or irregularity in connection with the service of any automobile, motorcoach, or any other conveyance used in carrying out this program or for the acts or defaults of any company or person engaged in conveying the passenger or in carrying out the arrangements of the program. We cannot accept any responsibility for losses or additional expenses due to delay or changes in air or other services, sickness, weather, strike, war, quarantine, force majeure or other causes beyond our control. All such losses or expenses will have to be borne by the passenger as tour rates provide arrangements only for the time stated. We reserve the right to make such alterations to this published itinerary as may be deemed necessary. The right is reserved to cancel any program prior to departure in which case the entire payment will be refunded without further obligation on our part. No refund will be made for an unused portion of any tour unless arrangements are made in sufficient time to avoid penalties. The Commonwealth Club of California accepts no liability for any carrier’s cancellation penalty incurred by the purchase of a nonrefundable ticket in connection with the tour. California Seller of Travel Program Registration #2096889-40

Phone: (415) 597-6720Fax: (415) 597-6729

Commonwealth Club Travel

RESERVATION FORMJuly 17-26, 2016

Please reserve ............. place(s)

Name(s) .................................................................................................................................................................... Birthdate(s) ............................................................................................................................................................

Address .................................................................................................................................................................... Email ...........................................................................................................................................................................

City .............................................................................................................................................................................. State ............................................ Zip ................................................................................................................

Telephone (evening) ....................................................................................................................................... (day) ...........................................................................................................................................................................

Enclosed is a deposit of US$...................................... ($1,000 per person; check payable to Alaska Wildland Adventures)

I prefer single accomodations r

You may charge your deposit(s) on r Visa or r Mastercard Visa/Mastercard number ....................................................................................................................................................................

Expiration Date ........................................................................................................................... 3-Digit Verification No. ..................................

Name on card ...................................................................................................................................................... Signature of cardholder .................................................................................................................................

Signatures(s) ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Date .............................................................................................................

(Located on the back of your credit card at the veryend of the account number just above your signature)

To reserve a space on this tour, please send your registration form and deposit check for $1,000 per person, payable to Alaska Wildland Adventures, to The Commonwealth Club of California, 555 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94102. A complete Trip Planning packet, including a Release of Liability, will be forwarded to each applicant upon receipt of deposit. I/We have read and agree to the Terms and Conditions of this Program.

Alaska’sWILD LANDS


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THURSDAY, FEB 25Waterfront Walking Tour

Join Rick Evans for his new walking tour exploring the historic sites of the waterfront neighborhood that surrounds the location of the future Com-monwealth Club headquarters. Hear the dynamic stories of the entrepreneurs, controver-sial artists and labor organiz-ers who created this recently revitalized neighborhood. This tour will give you a lively overview of the historic signif-icance of this neighborhood and a close look at the ongoing development.SF • Location: Meet in front of Bou-levard Restaurant, 1 Mission Street, SF (corner of Mission & Steuart) • Time: Arrive by 1:45 p.m. to check in. The walk departs at 2 p.m. sharp and finishes at about 4:30 p.m. • Notes: Tour operates rain or shine. Limited to 20 participants. Tickets must be purchased in advance and will not be sold at check-in.

Custer’s Trials

T. J. Stiles, Author, Custer’s TrialsIn his biography of George

Armstrong Custer, T. J. Stiles—winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award—demolishes Custer’s historical caricature by focusing on how he lived, rather than how he died. A celebrity at 23, contro-versial at 26, Custer immersed himself in the making of the modern United States—as a professional soldier, politician, popular writer, outdoorsman,

and financier—yet he could never adapt to the times he helped to create. SF • Location: Club Headquarters, 555 Post Street, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing • Cost: $20 nonmembers, $8 mem-bers, $7 students (with valid ID) • MLF: Humanities • Program Orga-nizer: George Hammond • Notes: Part of the Good Lit series, underwrit-ten by the Bernard Osher Founda-tion. Photo by Michael Lionstar

Adam Grant: Success and Originality

Adam Grant, Wharton Pro-fessor; Author, Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World“Originals is one of the most

important and captivating books I have ever read, full of surprising and powerful ideas. It will not only change the way you see the world; it might just change the way you live your life. And it could very well in-spire you to change your world.” —Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Op-erating Officer, FacebookWhat does it mean to be orig-

inal? Using studies and stories spanning business, politics, sports and entertainment, Grant explores how to rec-ognize a good idea, speak up without getting silenced, build a coalition of allies, choose the right time to act, and manage fear and doubt. Grant explores different ways to nurture and encourage originality both personally and professionally.SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program, 7:30 p.m. book signing • Cost: $25 nonmembers, $15 mem-bers, $8 students (with valid ID) • Notes: Photo by Lange Studio

FRIDAY, FEB 26Waging PeaceRebecca Tinsley, Human

Rights Activist; AuthorTinsley, who graduated with

a law degree from the Lon-don School of Economics and was a political reporter for the BBC, will primarily discuss the work of Waging for Peace, a project she started after vis-iting a Darfur refugee camp at the height of the killing there. She collects evidence of hu-man rights abuses and helps Sudanese dissidents who wish to claim asylum. Tinsley also started Network for Africa to help survivors of genocide and former child soldiers rebuild their lives. SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program • Cost: $20 nonmem-bers, FREE FOR MEMBERS, free for students (with valid ID) • MLF: Mid-dle East • Program Organizer: Celia Menczel

MONDAY, FEB 29Humanities West Book Dis-cussion: Will of the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare, by Stephen GreenblattJoin us to discuss Stephen

Greenblatt’s influential and insightful book, Will of the World: How Shakespeare Be-came Shakespeare. The discus-sion will be led by Lynn Harris.SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Time: 4:30 p.m. check-in, 5 p.m. program • Cost: $5 nonmem-bers, FREE FOR MEMBERS, $7 stu-dents (with valid ID) • MLF: Human-ities • Program Organizer: George Hammond Middle East Discussion GroupMake your voice heard in

an enriching, provocative and fun discussion with Club members as you weigh in on events shaping the face of the Middle East, North Africa and Afghanistan. Each month, the Middle East Member-Led Fo-rum hosts an informal round-table discussion on a topic frequently suggested by recent headlines. After a brief intro-duction, the floor will be open for discussion. All interested members are encouraged to at-

tend. There will also be a brief planning session.SF • Location: 555 Post Street, San Francisco • Time: 5 p.m. check-in, 5:30 p.m. program • Cost: Free pro-gram • MLF: Middle East • Program Organizer: Celia Menczel Socrates CaféOn one Monday evening of

every month the Humanities Forum sponsors Socrates Café at The Commonwealth Club. Each meeting is devoted to the discussion of a philosophical topic chosen at that meeting. The group’s facilitator, John Nyquist, invites participants to suggest topics, which are then voted on. The person who pro-posed the most popular topic is asked to briefly explain why she or he considers that topic interesting and important. An open discussion follows, and the meeting ends with a sum-mary of the various perspec-tives participants expressed. Everyone is welcome to attend.SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Cost: $5 nonmembers, FREE FOR MEMBERS, students free • MLF: Humanities • Program Organizer: George Hammond Former CIA Director Mi-chael Hayden: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror

General Michael Hayden, Former Director, National Security Agency; Former Di-rector, Central Intelligence Agency; Author, Playing to the Edge: American Intelli-gence in the Age of TerrorGeneral Hayden presents

an unprecedented high-level master narrative of America’s intelligence wars from the only person ever to helm both the CIA and the NSA, at a time of extreme new threats and wrenching change. How did American intelli-


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gence respond to terrorism, a major war and the most sweeping technological rev-olution in the last 500 years? What was the NSA before 9/11 and how did it change in its aftermath? Why did the NSA begin the controversial terror-ist surveillance program that included the acquisition of do-mestic phone records? Join us for a behind-the-scenes look at America’s anti-terror efforts.SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program, 7:30 p.m. book signing • Cost: $25 nonmembers, $15 mem-bers, $8 students (with valid ID); Pre-mium (includes priority seating and a copy of the book): $55 nonmembers, $45 members • Notes: Photo by Da-vid Kennerly

TUESDAY, MARCH 1The Future of Solar PowerDan Shugar, CEO, Next-Tracker CorporationCome hear about the future

of the burgeoning solar energy industry from a leader in the field. NextTracker CEO and long-time senior executive in the solar power industry Dan Shugar has spent 28 years ad-vancing renewable energy. As founder and CEO, Shugar has served NexTracker from inception to one of the fast-est-growing clean technology companies.As CEO of Solaria Corp.,

Shugar led the company through a 5-times annual rev-enue growth over a three-year period. During his leadership as president of SunPower Corp. and president of PowerLight, he oversaw revenue growth from less than $1 million to over $830 million and was re-sponsible for the completion of more than 500 projects serving commercial, industrial and utility clients worldwide. He has invented various PV sys-tem applications, holds multi-ple U.S. patents and has pub-lished over 50 technical papers. Shugar holds a BS in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from Golden Gate Uni-versity. SF • Location: 555 Post Street, San

Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. network-ing reception, 6 p.m. program • Cost: $20 nonmembers, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID) • MLF: Sci-ence & Technology • Program Orga-nizer: Gerald Harris

Secretary of Defense Ash-ton Carter: A Conversation on National Security

Dr. Ashton B. Carter, 25th U.S. Secretary of DefenseRemarks followed by con-versation with Dr. Gloria Duffy, President and CEO, The Commonwealth ClubHow does the U.S. plan to

combat ISIS? How will we know if we are succeeding? What is our future role in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan? How should we be approach-ing Russia—as a threat or an ally, or both? Why did the U.S. finally just decide to admit women to combat roles in our armed forces? Is North Ko-rea in a new round of nuclear weapons development, and how should the U.S. respond? Is the U.S. defense budget too large or too small? Will we need to spend more or less in the future, and on what kinds of technology? How can “soft power” help to further U.S. se-curity goals? Do we need more nuclear weapons, or fewer, or to improve and update those we have? Where are the future hotspots that could threaten U.S. and global security? How is the Pentagon dealing with climate change? What coun-tries are the closest allies and collaborators for the U.S.?Here’s a rare chance to hear

firsthand from the U.S. secre-tary of defense on these and many other topics—you bring the questions!SF • Location: Fairmont Hotel Grand Ballroom, 950 Mason Street, San Francisco • Time: 11 a.m. check-in, noon program • Cost: Regular: $25

nonmembers, $15 members, $10 students; Premium Seating: $50 non-members, $40 members • Notes: At-tendees subject to search Dr. Sara Gottfried: Upgrade Your Brain, Outsmart Your DNA, and Reset Your Hor-mones Naturally

Sara Gottfried, M.D., Au-thor, The Hormone Cure and The Hormone Reset DietGroundbreaking science now

shows that approximately 10 percent of disease is genetic and 90 percent is due to envi-ronmental exposures such as the way you eat, move, think and supplement. Gottfried practices functional medicine, a systems-based approach to address health from your DNA to your daily habits. Learn how to optimize brain function and improve wellness and resil-ience to stress.SV • Location: Schultz Cultural Hall, Oshman Family JCC, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto • Time: 6:30 p.m. check-in, 7 p.m. program, 8 p.m. book signing • Cost: $15 nonmembers, $10 members, $8 students (with valid ID) • MLF: Health & Medicine • Program Organizer: Patty James

Michael Finney and Adam Levin: Tips for Protecting Yourself in the Cyber WorldAdam Levin, Chairman and Founder, IDT911; Chairman and Co-founder, Credit.com; Author, Swiped: How to Pro-tect Yourself in a World Full of Scammers, Phishers, and Identity Thieves In conversation with Mi-chael Finney, Consumer Re-porter, “7 On Your Side”, KGO San FranciscoWith data breaches and iden-

tity theft increasingly becom-ing a fact of life, we need to be more on guard than ever when it comes to money and identity. Adam Levin, a long-

time consumer advocate and identity fraud expert, offers his new book Swiped as an essen-tial guide to surviving online security, providing practical information on how to mini-mize risk, monitor your iden-tity, and manage the damage.SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. Program • Cost: $20 nonmem-bers, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID)

WEDNESDAY, MAR 2The Unlikely Governor: From the Caves to the Fed-eral Reserve

Robert Heller, Former Gov-ernor of the Federal Reserve Board; Former President, VISA U.S.A, author, The Un-likely GovernorRobert Heller chronicles his

journey from the caves and cellars of war-ravaged Ger-many to the United States and his eventual rise to be a gov-ernor of the Federal Reserve Board and president and CEO of VISA USA. Accompanied by never-ending disasters, his career takes him through ac-ademia, business and govern-ment service as he witnesses the collapse of the internation-al monetary system, the near failure of Bank of America and the most monumental banking crisis in U.S. history. SF • Location: 555 Post Street, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. network-ing reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing • Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, students free (with valid ID) • MLF: Business & Leadership • Program Organizer: Kevin O’Malley

UC President Janet Napoli-tano: What I Care About and WhyJanet Napolitano, Presi-dent, University of Califor-nia; Former U.S. Secretary of

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-8Homeland Security; Former Governor, ArizonaCatherine Heenan, News Anchor and Reporter, KRON4-TV, San FranciscoAs president of the 10-cam-

pus UC system, Janet Napol-itano has launched initiatives to stabilize in-state tuition and achieve financial stability, improve the community col-lege transfer process, achieve carbon neutrality across the UC system by 2025, accelerate the translation of UC research into products and services, focus UC resources on local and global food issues, and strengthen the university’s engagement with its Mexican peer institutions of higher ed-ucation. She has also imple-mented the Fair Wage/Fair Work plan, which established a $15 minimum wage for UC employees and contract work-ers—the first for a public uni-versity. Her top priorities are to ensure that UC remains accessible and affordable to Californians and maintains the quality that has made it what many consider to be the best public research university in the world. NB • MARIN CONVERSATIONS PRO-GRAM • Location: Outdoor Art Club, One West Blithdale, Mill Valley • Time: 7 p.m. check-in with complimentary hors d’oeuvres and cash bar, 7:45–9 p.m. program • Cost: $55 nonmem-bers, $35 members, $7 students (with valid ID); Premium: $70 nonmem-bers, $50 members

FRIDAY, MARCH 4Nob Hill Walking Tour

Explore one of San Francisco’s 44 hills, and one of its original “Seven Hills.” Because of great views and its central position, Nob Hill became an exclusive enclave of the rich and famous on the west coast who built large mansions in the neigh-borhood. This included prom-inent tycoons such as Leland Stanford, and other members of the Big Four. Highlights include the history of four landmark hotels: The Fair-mont, Mark Hopkins, Stanford Court, and Huntington Hotel. SF • Location: Meet in front of Caffe Cento, 801 Powell Street, San Fran-cisco • Time: Arrive by 1:45 p.m. in order to check in. The walk departs at 2:00 p.m. sharp and finishes at about 4:30 p.m. • Notes: Tour operates rain or shine. Limited to 20 participants. Tickets must be purchased in ad-vance and will not be sold at check-in.

MONDAY, MARCH 7Week to Week Political Roundtable and Member Social

Panelists TBAJoin us as we explore 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. Join our panelists for informative and engaging commentary on political and other major news, audience discussion of the week’s events, and our live news quiz! Come early before the program to meet other smart and engaged individu-als and discuss the news over refreshments at our member social (open to all attendees).SF • WEEK TO WEEK PROGRAM • Lo-cation: 555 Post St., San Francisco • Cost: $20 nonmembers, $7 members • Time: 5:30 p.m. wine-and-snacks social, 6:30 p.m. program

Could It Happen Here?

Dr. Brian Green, Asst. Dir. of Campus Ethics, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics; Asst. Dir. of Engineering, Santa Clara UniversityJim Fiedler, COO of Wa-ter Utility Enterprise, Santa Clara Valley Water DistrictBarbara Marshman, Edi-torial Page Editor, San Jose Mercury News—ModeratorIn Parzybok’s eco-fiction nov-

el Sherwood Nation, he specu-lates about what an American city would be like if an ex-tended drought limited water rations to one gallon of water per person a day. Hoarding, riots, neighborhoods filled with abandoned homes and businesses, fires left to burn themselves out, power out-ages—residents quickly de-volve into survival mode of doing whatever they think is necessary to stay alive. How far-fetched is this disturbing “what if ” story? Would the infrastructure, water policies and human kindness of Silicon Valley be up to the challenge of losing unlimited access to the precious resource we take for granted: water? SV • Location: The Tech Museum of Innovation, 201 S. Market Street, San Jose • Time: 6-7:30 p.m. program • Cost: FREE • Notes: In association with Silicon Valley Reads and the Tech Museum of Innovation

TUESDAY, MARCH 8Social Isolation Under the Microscope: Dangerous Health Effects and How We Meet this ChallengeLaura Talmus, Founder, Be-yond DifferencesMatt Pantell, MD, Pediatri-cian, UCSFJonathan Martin, Fmr. NFL Offensive Tackle, Miami Dol-phins, SF 49ers; Member,

Stanford University’s Cardi-nals; National Spokesperson, Beyond DifferencesEdyn Jensen and Carl Heil-Simpson, Teen Board Members of Beyond Differ-encesThis panel will present

eye-opening information about serious health and psy-chological effects of social iso-lation on youth. This dynamic panel of experts and student leaders will discuss everything from root causes of social iso-lation to alarming statistics that impact everything from academic failure—includ-ing increased school truancy rates—to adverse medical out-comes—including the risk of obesity, substance abuse and poor cardiovascular health. From the perspective of scien-tists to students to celebrities, our panelists will talk about how policy leaders, parents, teachers, students and the me-dia can help understand and end the epidemic of social iso-lation among our youth.SF • Location: Club Headquarters, 555 Post Street, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program • Cost: $20 nonmem-bers, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID) • MLF: Health & Medicine • Program Organizer: Patty James

Peter Bergen, CNN National Security Analyst

Peter Bergen, CNN Nation-al Security Analyst; Author, United States of Jihad: In-vestigating America’s Home-grown TerroristsSince 9/11, more than 300

Americans—born and raised in Minnesota, Alabama, New Jersey and elsewhere—have been indicted or convicted of terrorism charges. What motivates them, how are they trained, and what do we sac-


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rifice in our aggressive efforts to track them? Drawing on his extensive network of intel-ligence contacts, from the Na-tional Counterterrorism Cen-ter and the FBI to the NYPD, Peter Bergen offers an inside look at the controversial tac-tics of the agencies tracking potential terrorists—from in-filtrating mosques to massive surveillance; at the bias experi-enced by innocent Muslims at the hands of law enforcement; at the critics and defenders of U.S. policies on terrorism; and at how social media has revo-lutionized terrorism.SF • Location: 555 Post St. San Fran-cisco • Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program, 7:30 p.m. book signing • Price: $25 nonmembers, $15 mem-bers, $7 students (with valid ID); Pre-mium (includes priority seating and a copy of the book): $55 nonmembers, $45 members • Notes: Photo by Jere-my Freeman

THURSDAY, MARCH 10San Francisco Architecture Walking Tour

Explore San Francisco’s Fi-nancial District with histori-an Rick Evans and learn the history and stories behind some of our city’s remarkable structures, streets, and public squares. Hear about the famous architects that influenced the building of San Francisco after the 1906 Earthquake. Discover hard-to-find rooftop gardens, Art Deco lobbies, unique open spaces, and historic landmarks. This is a tour for locals, with hidden gems you can only find on foot!SF • Location: Meet in the Lobby of the Galleria Park Hotel, 191 Sutter Street, San Francisco • Time: Arrive by 1:45 p.m. to check in. The walk departs at 2 p.m. sharp and finish-es at about 4:30 p.m. • Notes: The tour involves walking up and down stairs but covers less than one mile

of walking in the Financial District. Tour operates rain or shine. Limited to 20 participants. Tickets must be purchased in advance and will not be sold at check-in.

The Gratitude Diaries: How a Year Looking on the Bright Side Can Transform Your LifeJanice Kaplan, New York Times Best-selling Author; Former Editor-in-Chief, Pa-rade MagazineNew research shows gratitude

can powerfully affect our sense of fulfillment and happiness. Simply saying thanks more regularly can change the neu-ral pathways in our brains that help us to succeed. Best-selling author Janice Kaplan comes to thev Club to share her in-sights into the effect of grati-tude on our minds and bodies. Through amusing anecdotes and widespread research, she will provide manageable and effective tools to empower the audience to refine their think-ing and start living their best lives. SF • Location: 555 Post Street, SSF • Time: 5:30 p.m. networking recep-tion, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing • Cost: $20 nonmembers, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID) • MLF: Personal Growth • Program Organizer: Stephanie Kriebel

MONDAY, MARCH 14Longevity Explorers Discus-sion Group: Better Aging. You. Your Parents.This regular discussion group

explores new and emerging solutions to the challenges of growing older. Not only will we be uncovering interesting new products at the intersection of aging and technology, we also will be conducting a series of ongoing deep-dive discussions into topics such as brain health, apps for seniors, hearing and wearables for seniors. The re-sults of our discussions will be shared with a larger commu-nity of older adults interested in improving their quality of life through our partner in this initiative, Tech-enhanced Life, PBC. The discussions will be facilitated by Dr. Richard Caro,

whom many of you have heard speak at prior Grownups fo-rum events.SF • Location: 555 Post St., SF • Time: 1:30 p.m. check-in, 2–3:30 p.m. pro-gram • Cost: $10 nonmembers, $5 members • MLF: Grownups • Pro-gram Organizer: John Milford

Thomas More’s Utopian Hu-mor: The 500th Anniversary

George Hammond, Author, Rational IdealismMonday Night Philosophy

takes you back to Antwerp in 1516, where young British diplomat Thomas More cools his heels during a mission to Bruges by entertaining his friends Erasmus and Pieter Gillis with fanciful tales of the discovery of the island of Uto-pia (“no place”). The traveler, Raphael Hythlodaeus (“arch-angel nonsense”), narrates his tale of discovery just 24 years after Columbus sailed to the Caribbean. But philosophi-cal and ironical gold are the treasures of Utopia. The gold Columbus sought is dismissed so thoroughly that Utopians use it to make toilets. Enjoy a glimpse of late medieval hu-manist humor.SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program • Cost: $20 nonmembers, FREE FOR MEMBERS, $7 students (with valid ID) • MLF: Humanities • Program Organizer: George Hammond

TUESDAY, MARCH 15An Osteopathic Approach to the Obesity Epidemic: A Timely RemedyShelley Berkley, CEO & Senior Provost, Touro Univ. CaliforniaMichael B. Clearfield, Dean, College of Osteopathic Medi-cine, Touro Univ. CaliforniaJean-Marc Schwarz, Profes-sor, Touro University CaliforniaJay Shubrook, Professor, Tou-

ro Univ. CaliforniaTami Hendriksz, Assoc. Prof., Asst. Dean for Clinical Integra-tion, Touro Univ. CaliforniaThe obesity crisis emerged

when lifestyle, climate and other social determinants of health coalesced with inad-equate health-care provider knowledge. Diet and medica-tion have been ineffective in treating obesity. Osteopathic educators are training a new generation of doctors with knowledge to treat the obese patient, including diet, exer-cise, associated metabolic ab-normalities and environmen-tal factors such as air pollution and climate change. The ap-proach focuses more on health than weight, and it incorpo-rates patient demographics, communication skills and les-sons from public health. Hear osteopathic physician/educa-tors share their unique remedy.SF • Location: 555 Post Street, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. network-ing reception, 6 p.m. program • Cost: $20 nonmembers, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID) • MLF: Health & Medicine • Program Organizer: Bill Grant Ellen R. Malcolm: The Evolu-tion of EMILY’s List

Ellen R. Malcolm, Founder, EMILY’s ListIn 1985 Ellen R. Malcolm

launched EMILY’s List, which has grown into a powerhouse political organization over three million members strong, focused on creating change by electing pro-choice women to office. When EMILY’s List be-gan, there were only 12 Dem-ocratic women in the House and none in the Senate; today, EMILY’s List has played a vi-tal role in helping to elect 19 female senators, 11 governors and 110 Democratic women to the House.

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Women Win: EMILY’s List and the Rise of Women in Amer-ican Politics, includes inter-views with some of today’s most celebrated Democratic female politicians, including Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Tammy Baldwin and others. It also recounts some of the most daunting political chal-lenges for Democratic female candidates over the past three decades. Join us for a lively dis-cussion with Ellen R. Malcolm about the evolution of EMILY’s List, the brave women who have successfully navigated our nation’s tough political landscape and what the future holds for women in politics.SF • Location: 555 Post Street, San Francisco • Time: 5:45 p.m. check-in and premium reception, 6:30 p.m. program, 7:30 p.m. book signing • Cost: $20 nonmembers, $12 mem-bers; Premium (includes priority seat-ing, access to pre-program reception and copy of the book): $50 nonmem-bers, $40 members

MONDAY, MARCH 21San Francisco Green Film Festival: Wild Tales—Film-making and ConservationPanelists TBAFilms can make us cry, make

us laugh out loud and keep us thinking for days. From Blackfish to Racing Extinction, filmmakers are capturing the power people have to make significant change to protect our environment and wildlife. Join the SF Green Film Festival and leading Bay Area wildlife filmmakers and environmen-talists for a discussion about the role of filmmaking to save species and habitats. Whether it is butterflies on San Bruno mountain or lions in Kenya, we want to share how film has played a leading part in having stories heard and told. Plus a sneak preview of this year’s SF Green Film Festival. SF • Location: 555 Post Street, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. network-ing reception, 6 p.m. program • Cost: $20 nonmembers, members free, students free (with valid ID) • MLF: Environment & Natural Resourc-es, Business & Finance • Program

Organizer: Ann Clark

Week to Week Political Roundtable and Member Social

Panelists TBAJoin us as we explore 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. Join our panelists for informative and engaging commentary on political and other major news, audience discussion of the week’s events, and our live news quiz! Come early before the program to meet other smart and engaged individuals over snacks and wine at our so-cial hour.SF • WEEK TO WEEK PROGRAM • Lo-cation: 555 Post St., San Francisco • Cost: $20 nonmembers, $7 members • Time: 5:30 p.m. wine-and-snacks social, 6:30 p.m. program

Somini Sengupta: The New India

Somini Sengupta, Foreign Correspondent, The New York Times; Author, The End of Karma: Hope and Fury Among India’s YoungSengupta explores the people

of India and how the country is dealing with issues relating to economic opportunity, gen-der equality and civil liberties. Sengupta emigrated from Cal-cutta as a child and grew up in California. Thirty years later, she returned to India as the first Indian-American bureau

chief for The New York Times.SV • Location: Recital Hall, Santa Clara University, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara • Time: 6:30 p.m. check-in, 7 p.m. program, 8 p.m. book sign-ing • Cost: $20 nonmembers, $12 members, $8 students (with valid ID) • Notes: In association with the American India Foundation and the NorCal Peace Corps Association

TUESDAY, MARCH 22Women Fostering Women as Change-Agents Through Global Mentoring Trish Tierney, Co-founder, Women’s Alliance for Knowl-edge Exchange; Former Ex-ecutive Director, Institute of International EducationBarbara Bylenga, Co-found-er and Executive Director, SHE-CAN (formerly Open a Door)Julie Roberts, Health-care Executive; SHE-CAN Lead Mentor—ModeratorThe panel will discuss how

organizations are leveraging personal one-on-one connec-tions and resource sharing in shifting the global female lead-ership paradigm. Represented organizations on this panel have experience in building female leadership through di-rectly connecting women and girls in developing countries with professional women in the U.S. who help them access higher education, technology resources and—most import-ant—connect them with a global network of professionals who help them succeed.SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program • Cost: $20 nonmembers, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID) • MLF: Inter-national Relations • Program orga-nizers: Linda Calhoun, Harvey Hunt

WEDNESDAY, MAR 23The Missing KennedyElizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff, Bestselling AuthorKoehler-Pentacoff shares

Rosemary Kennedy’s tragic story about being lobotomized at 23 and sent away to live the rest of her years at a convent. Rosemary’s story is interwoven with the author’s own person-

al tale in the new book The Missing Kennedy. A New York Times bestselling author, Eliz-abeth is the niece of the nun who took care of Rosemary Kennedy for 35 years. The in-spiration behind The Special Olympics and The Best Bud-dies program, Rosemary led a very meaningful life because of how her family responded to her misfortune. Koehler-Pen-tacoff will share the impact Rosemary had on her life and the life of so many others.SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Time: 4:45 p.m. networking reception, 5:15 p.m. program • Cost: $20 nonmembers, $8 members, $7 students (free with valid ID) • MLF: Grownups • Program Organizer: John Milford

Sean Carroll: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters

Sean Carroll, VP for Science Education, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Allan Wil-son Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Univer-sity of Wisconsin–Madison; Author, The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It MattersOne of the most important

revelations about the natu-ral world is that everything is regulated—there are rules that regulate the amount of every molecule in our bod-ies and rules that govern the numbers of every animal and plant in the wild. But how is mankind impacting this del-icate balance? The most sur-prising revelation about the rules that regulate life at such different scales is that they are remarkably similar; there is a common underlying logic to life. Award-winning biologist Carroll explains how our deep knowledge of the rules and logic of the human body has


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spurred the advent of revolu-tionary life-saving medicines, and argues it is now time to use the Serengeti Rules to heal our ailing planet. SV • Location: Recital Hall, Santa Clara University, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara • Time: 6:30 p.m. check-in, 7 p.m. program, 8 p.m. book sign-ing • Cost: $20 nonmembers, $12 members, $8 students (with valid ID)

THURSDAY, MARCH 24Russian Hill Walking Tour

Join a more active Common-wealth Club Neighborhood Adventure! Russian Hill is a magical area with secret gar-dens and amazing views. Join Rick Evans for a hike up hills and staircases and learn about the history of this neighbor-hood. See where great art-ists and architects lived and worked, and walk down resi-dential streets where some of the most historically signifi-cant houses in the Bay Area are located. SF • Location: Meet in front of Sw-ensen’s Ice Cream, 1999 Hyde Street, SF (corner of Hyde & Union) • Time: Arrive by 1:45 p.m. to check in. The walk departs at 2 p.m. sharp and finishes at about 4:30 p.m. • Notes: Steep hills and staircases, recom-mended for good walkers. Tour oper-ates rain or shine. Limited to 20 par-ticipants. Tickets must be purchased in advance and will not be sold at check-in.

Douglas Rushkoff: What Does the Digital Economy Really Mean?

Douglas Rushkoff, Professor

of Media Theory and Digital Economics, CUNY/Queens; Author, Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus: How Growth Be-came the Enemy of ProsperityDigital technology was sup-

posed to usher in a new age of distributed prosperity, but many have complained that so far it has been used to put in-dustrial capitalism on steroids. Rushkoff says it’s not technolo-gy’s fault; but instead he blames a growth-driven, econom-ic operating system that has reached the limits of its ability to serve anyone, rich or poor, human or corporate. But he says there must be a better re-sponse to the lopsided returns of the digital economy than to throw rocks at the shuttle bus-es carrying Google employees to their jobs, as protesters did in December 2013.SF • Location: 555 Post Street, San Francisco • Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program, 7:30 p.m. book signing • Cost: $22 nonmembers, $12 mem-bers • Notes: Photo by Seth Kushner

FRIDAY, MARCH 25Saudi Arabia and Iran: Friends or FoesBanfsheh Keynoush, Ph.D., Foreign Affairs Scholar; Au-thor; Educator Jonathan Curiel, Award- winning Journalist; Author; Former Reuters Foundation Scholar, Oxford University—ModeratorKeynoush was a former trans-

lator for four Iranian presi-dents. She is an advisor to pol-icy centers on the Middle East and to American companies doing business in the region. Keynoush earned her Ph.D. at Tufts University and was a vis-iting scholar at the King Faisal University Center for Islamic Center and Research. She will discuss the topic of her latest book, Saudi Arabia and Iran: Friends or Foes.SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing • Cost: $20 nonmembers, FREE FOR MEMBERS, students free (with valid ID) • MLF: Middle East • Program Or-ganizer: Celia Menczel

MONDAY, MARCH 28Humanities West Book Dis-cussion: Don Quixote, by CervantesJoin us to discuss Cervantes’

classic novel Don Quixote. We will be using the Edith Gross-man translation. If anyone has a windmill to bring in, we will all tilt our lances at it. The discussion will be led by Lynn Harris.SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Time: 4:30 p.m. check-in, 5 p.m. program • Cost: $5 nonmem-bers, FREE FOR MEMBERS, $7 stu-dents (with valid ID) • MLF: Human-ities • Program Organizer: George Hammond

Middle East Discussion GroupMake your voice heard in an

enriching, provocative and fun discussion with Club members as you weigh in on events shap-ing the face of the Middle East, North Africa and Afghanistan. Each month, the Middle East Member-Led Forum hosts an informal roundtable dis-cussion on a topic frequently suggested by recent headlines. There will also be a brief plan-ning session.SF • Location: 555 Post Street, San Francisco • Time: 5 p.m. check-in, 5:30 p.m. program • Cost: Free pro-gram • MLF: Middle East • Program Organizer: Celia Menczel

A Conversation About Atul Gawande’s Being MortalPatrick Arbore, M.A., Ed.D, Director, CESPKaryn Skultety, Ph.D., Vice-President of Health Services, Institute on AgingBeing Mortal, Atul Gawa-

nde’s book and “Frontline” documentary, tells the story of a physician learning how to think about death and dying in the context of being a healer and a doctor. Join Dr. Arbore and Dr. Skultety in a commu-nity discussion of Dr. Gawa-nde’s Being Mortal. Explore concerns about life, death, loss, grief and the context and meaning of the recently passed California law legalizing assist-ed suicide in California. SF • Location: 555 Post Street, SF •

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CLUB LEADERSHIP

CLUB OFFICERSBoard Chair: John R. FarmerVice Chair: Richard A. RubinSecretary: Frank MeerkampTreasurer: Lee J. DutraPresident & CEO: Dr. Gloria C. Duffy

BOARD OF GOVERNORSJohn F. AllenCarlo AlmendralCourtland AlvesDan AshleyMassey J. BambaraDr. Mary G. F. Bitterman**Harry E. BlountJohn L. BolandMichael R. BraccoThomas H. BurkhartMaryles Casto**Mary B. Cranston**Susie CranstonDr. Kerry P. CurtisDr. Jaleh DaieDorian DaleyAlecia DeCoudreauxEvelyn S. DilsaverJoseph I. Epstein*Jeffrey A. FarberRev. Paul J. Fitzgerald, S.J.Dr. Carol A. FlemingKirsten GarenLeslie Saul GarvinJohn GeschkePaul M. GinsburgEdie G. HeilmanHon. James C. HormelMary HussJulie M. KaneJohn LeckroneDr. Mary MarcyLenny MendoncaAnna W. M. Mok**Kevin P. O’BrienDonald J. PierceFrederick W. ReidToni Rembe*Skip Rhodes*Bill RingGeorge M. ScaliseLata Krishnan ShahDr. Ruth A. ShapiroCharlotte Mailliard ShultzGeorge D. Smith, Jr.James StrotherHon. Tad TaubeEllen O’Kane TauscherCharles TraversDr. Colleen B. WilcoxJed York

* Past President ** Past Chair

ADVISORY BOARDKarin Helene BauerHon. William BradleyDennise M. CarterRolando EsteverenaSteven FalkAmy GershoniDr. Charles GeschkeJacquelyn HadleyHeather KitchenAmy McCombsDon J. McGrathHon. William J. PerryHon. Barbara PivnickaHon. Richard PivnickaRay TaliaferroNancy Thompson


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1Time: 5:30 p.m. reception, 6 p.m. pro-gram, 7 p.m. book signing • Cost: $20 nonmembers, members free, $7 stu-dents (with valid ID) • MLF: Environ-ment & Natural Resources, Business & Leadership, Health & Medicine, Sci-ence & Technology • Program orga-nizer: Ann Clark, Gerald Harris

Socrates CaféOn one Monday evening of

every month the Humanities Forum sponsors Socrates Café at The Commonwealth Club. Each meeting is devoted to the discussion of a philosophical topic chosen at that meeting. The group’s facilitator, John Nyquist, invites participants to suggest topics, which are then voted on. The person who pro-posed the most popular topic is asked to briefly explain why she or he considers that topic interesting and important. An open discussion follows.SF • Location: 555 Post St., San Fran-cisco • Cost: $5 nonmembers, FREE FOR MEMBERS, students free • Pro-gram Organizer: George Hammond

TUESDAY, MARCH 29Thomas Frank: What’s the Matter with the Democrats?

Thomas Frank, Author, Lis-ten, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?Come hear the best-selling

author of What’s the Matter with Kansas? echo that ques-tion as it relates to the Demo-cratic Party. Frank says liberals like to believe that if only Dem-ocrats can continue to domi-nate national elections, if only Republicans are beaten into submission, then the country will be on the right course. But he says this view fundamental-ly misunderstands the mod-ern Democratic Party. Frank says that the Democrats have in fact done little to advance traditional liberal goals: ex-

panding opportunity, fighting for social justice, and ensuring that workers get a fair deal. SF • Location: 555 Post Street, San Francisco • Time: 11:15 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing • Cost: $22 nonmembers, $12 mem-bers, $7 students; Premium (includes book and seating in first rows): $55 nonmembers, $45 members • Notes: Photo by Bonkeeyi

WEDNESDAY, MAR 30Fidel Castro Didn’t Show up for Rehearsal: How I Pro-duced the First New Cuban Opera in 50 Years ... and Survived

Charles Koppelman, Pro-ducer, Writer, LibrettistCubanacan, the first new Cu-

ban opera since that country’s revolution, is the story of Fidel Castro commissioning archi-tect Ricardo Porro to design and build art schools on the site of the Havana Country Club in 1961. Koppelman will present video excerpts from the opera’s performance at the Havana Bienal last May, reveal the 13-year journey of this project, and explain what it’s like to work in Cuba at the dawn of U.S.-Cuban rapprochement. SF • Location: 555 Post Street, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. network-ing reception, 6 p.m. program • Cost: $20 nonmembers, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID) • MLF: The Arts • Program Organizer: Lynn Curtis

National Security, Privacy, and Freedom of Expression OnlineDavid Kaye, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Promo-tion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression; Author, HRC 2015—Report on Encryption and Anonymity in Digital CommunicationsIn conversation with Jacob

Foster, Attorney, Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLPVibrant debate has arisen

over whether encryption and anonymity online are essential to free expression or a threat to national security. While law enforcement contends that technological backdoors to encryption are needed to prevent terrorists from “going dark,” Kaye argues the right to free expression depends on freedom from electronic sur-veillance. Join a discussion of the future of online privacy in light of the Snowden disclo-sures, the rise of ISIS, and the encryption debate.SF • Location: 555 Post Street, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. network-ing reception, 6 p.m. program • Cost: $20 nonmembers, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID) • MLF: Inter-national Relations • Program orga-nizer: Linda Calhoun

Joe Lurie: Perceptions and Misperceptions in a Global-ized Polarized World

Joe Lurie, Executive Direc-tor Emeritus, International House, UC BerkeleyHere’s an encore performance

of Joe Lurie’s recent sold-out program in San Francisco. In-spired by a West African prov-erb that says “The stranger sees only what he knows,” Joe Lurie shares a feast of cross-cultur-al stories and misadventures, exploring the deeper cultural messages that escape people who hear largely what they’re used to hearing and see mostly what they’re used to seeing.Lurie reveals how cultural

filters distort perceptions of others in the worlds of immi-gration, diplomacy and busi-ness. One reviewer of Lurie’s book observed, “Already I can hear the reader calling out to a friend across the room, ‘Wait, you’ve got to hear this!’”

SV • Location: Schultz Cultural Hall, 4th floor, Oshman Family JCC, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto • Time: 6:30 p.m. check-in, 7 p.m. program, 8 p.m. book signing • Cost: $15 non-members, $8 members, $5 students (with valid ID) • MLF: Internation-al Relations • Program organizer: Karen Keefer • Notes: In association with NorCal Peace Corps Association, UC/Berkeley’s International House, and the Osher Institute of Life-Long Learning; books will be available for purchase at a deep discount to at-tendees.

THURSDAY, MARCH 31Shannon Watts: Gun Safety Is a Winning Issue

Shannon Watts, Founder, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in AmericaShannon Watts is a mother

of five who, prior to founding Moms Demand Action, was a stay-at-home mom and former communications executive. The day after the Sandy Hook tragedy, Shannon started a Facebook group with the mes-sage that all Americans can and should do more to reduce gun violence. That online conver-sation turned into a grassroots movement of American moth-ers fighting for public safety measures that both respect the Second Amendment and pro-tect people from gun violence. Together with Everytown for Gun Safety, Moms Demand Action is the leading gun vi-olence prevention organiza-tion in the country, with more than 3.5 million members and chapters in all 50 states.SF • INFORUM PROGRAM • Loca-tion: 555 Post St., San Francisco • Time: 5:45 p.m. check-in and recep-tion, 6:30 p.m. program • Cost: $20 nonmembers, $12 members, $10 students (with valid ID); premium seating in the first rows: $45 non-members, $35 members


Marion Nestle, Professor at New York University and au-thor of Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning) in conversation with Alice Huan-Mei Chen, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer of San Francisco Health Network, Co-Director of the Center for Innovation in Access and Quality at San Francisco General Hospital and Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Photo by John Zipperer.

ALICE CHEN: Alice Waters, of Chez Panisse fame, called you one of the greatest mudrakers of our time. That’s a compliment. What lead you down that path?MARION NESTLE: Well, I love to eat, that’s the basis of all of this. Even in my first nutrition class that I taught in 1976, it was clear that you couldn’t talk about what people were eating without understanding the politics and the economics of it. But I think the pivotal moment came in the early 1990’s when I was at a meeting at the National Cancer Institute on behavioral causes of cancer. There were a lot of anti-smoking physicians and scientists who were really concerned about smoking, and I knew that smoking was bad for you, I knew that the cigarette indus-try advertised and marketed to kids, I really knew all that stuff, but I just never paid any attention to it. And at this meeting there were people showing slides of the cigarette marketing all over the world. Remote areas in Africa, the high Himalayas. Slide after slide after slide of pictures of cigarette marketing. And I just never noticed it before. I thought, well that’s kind of interesting, we should be doing this for Coca-Cola.

I walked out of that meeting thinking we should be paying attention to how food companies are marketing just the way cigarette companies are marketing. I started writing about it. And I think I wrote my first article about pouring rights contracts in about 2000. I had some other articles about food industry marketing. And I wrote Food Politics because I never wanted to go to another meeting

about childhood obesity where everybody was blaming parents because their kids were fat. I was just really tired of it. Nobody ever talked about the food industry, nobody ever discussed what they were doing, there were no panels on it. There was nothing being discussed about what can we do to stop food companies from marketing to kids?I was tired of it. I also wanted the American Dietetic As-sociation, which is what it was called at the time, to stop taking money from food companies and to stop doing information sheets and fact sheets that were sponsored by food companies. I lost on that one. They’re still doing it.CHEN: Let’s talk about soda. We live in a society that’s inundated with fast food, with unhealthy food. You’ve got Oreos, Big Macs, french fries, ice cream. What’s so special about soda that it merits a 500-page investigative reporting tome? Why soda?NESTLE: Oh, it’s fascinating. I’m really into it. It’s sugars and water and nothing else. It’s what Center for Science in the Public Interest has long called “liquid candy.” And the minute you start thinking about sugary drinks as liquid candy, it kind of changes the frame.

You would never let your kids eat candy all day long. At least most people I know wouldn’t let their kids eat candy all day long. But somehow it’s become okay for people to drink sodas all day long. And I was interested in how that hap-pened. There is also by this time an extraordinary amount of research that links sodas to poor health outcomes.

People who habitually drink sodas have poorer diets, way more have chronic disease, have more kinds of problems, than people who don’t, and while that is association and not causation, there’s really a fair amount of evidence by now that indicates that if you’re overweight and you stop drinking sodas you have a lot easier time taking the weight off than if you don’t.

The research base is extraordinary. Because I’m interest-ed in marketing and have been tracking what Coca Cola and PepsiCo have been doing for quite a long time now,

TAKING ON BIG SODANestle says 85 percent of independently funded studies find poor health outcomes among habitual soda drinkers, but 85 percent of industry-funded studies do not. She explains her anti-soda initiative.


I’m fascinated by the ways that these companies market. I knew that they marketed to children, they marketed to low-income African-American and Hispanic populations, and when all else fails they market overseas. In recent years I’ve become increasingly concerned about the way that Coco Cola and the American Beverage Association fund research that gives them exactly the information that they need in order to cast doubt on the science that links their problems to poor health.

Policy and advocacy, and it’s obvious—you live in the Bay Area. There’s a lot of anti soda advocacy going on here, and I wanted to kind of bring all of that together, because soda sales are down, advocates are winning.CHEN: What’s the most surprising or unexpected thing that you found as you were researching your book?NESTLE: If any of you saw The New York Times article that came out in August and have followed up on it, that was a revelation about how Coca-Cola funded a group of

investigators who had formed something called the Global Energy Balance Network. One of the investigators has a video in which it says you don’t have to worry about what you eat; everybody’s always telling you to eat less junk food, drink less soda; you don’t have to do any of that; you just have to do a little bit more exercise and it will all get taken care of.

The Times did a really big job on this and made it clear that these researchers were doing funded research that gave Coca-Cola the answer that it wanted. It was such a public relations disaster for Coca Cola. I talked to about 30 reporters in the week after that article came out and they were all shocked. I wasn’t shocked.

The head of Coca-Cola, Muhtar Kent, had an editorial in the Wall Street Journal in which he promised that they would have a transparency initiative in which they would reveal all of the organizations that they funded. They put it up on their website, and it is astounding.

Author Marion Nestle says the large soda compa-nies are funding biased research that downplays health dangers of their products.


(Continued from page 10) DANKO: I kept calling her to get in, and she’s like, “Full, full, full. I’m sorry.” I would call her at the worst time, during her son’s graduation, during whatever. One day, I heard through her publicist that one of the women was pregnant and had to stay in bed, so I jump on the phone and I am like at wit’s end. I’m like, “I’m going to get in.” She’s like, “I’m full, full, full.” I think it’s because I’m a man, so I say, “Madeleine, what is the problem here? Is it because I’m a man?” She hits the ceiling. Basically tells me I’m full of “sheet” and belts out, “The reason I will not let you work in my class is that you are a CIA graduate, and those people give me grief.” WEIR: Oh, that’s right. DANKO: I was like, “Madeleine, I’m a very different breed. I worked in a restaurant under women. My mother taught. Basically, I’ve been trained by women to cook.” That’s how I got into class, but you know, I guess you create a good illusion and people come after you.

Anyhow, we have a few questions here. Joanne, what type of food do you enjoy cooking the most? WEIR: Oh, it’s funny. I’ve written 17 books about the Mediterranean—well, actually, 16 and one I wrote about Tequila and a Mexican restaurant, which is weird. I love Mediterranean food. Anything that has to do with olive oil, I am there. I love [it]. I could drink it. That’s probably why I related to Alice Waters so much and love working at Che Panisse. I love fresh. Anything fresh. DANKO: I think that’s what your book and your whole philosophy is. Very simple ingredients that speak for them-selves that need very little preparation. WEIR: When I studied with Madeleine, we cooked very similar. I made essences, and I just loved vegetables. When I grew up, my mother would have 12 vegetables on the table. I’m not kidding. She was obsessed with vegetables. I think that’s where that whole “Joanne Weir Gets Fresh” [came from]—and thank you so much all of you for laughing at that. I really appreciate that. DANKO: Are there any important ingredients that you think simply can’t be duplicated or subbed by locally made versions? When do you choose local versus imported? WEIR: Oh, I see. I try to use local as much as I can. I think there are times like—DANKO: Jamon, Jamon, Jamon. WEIR: Oh, yeah, Jamon Iberico. DANKO: The best ham in the world, in my opinion. WEIR: There’s so many ingredients that come from other countries like that. DANKO: Parmigiano-Reggiano hasn’t been reproduced here either. It’s parmesan, but there’s certain—WEIR: We have beautiful cheeses here and those are great, but those are their own thing. I think there are certain things [that are better from other areas]. I’m glad you said Jamon Iberico. DANKO: American cheeses are so beautiful. Vermont had such amazing cheeses. WEIR: Always, even when I grew up, the cheddars. It’s

really delicious. DANKO: Anything that can’t be duplicated, we chose that. The flours are different. Obviously, you’re making pasta or your famous Weir dough. That’s what I call Joanne’s pizza dough: Weir dough. WEIR: It’s so funny. When you were at [an Italian restau-rant] for a while on the peninsula—I will never forget this. He was making pizzas. I went in, and one of your cooks said, “Go get the dough. It’s in the walk-in.” I went into the walk-in and I see on it, “Weir dough.” Weir dough. I just tell everybody now, “I call my dough ‘Weir dough.’” DANKO: Basically, Joanne and I have not seen each other in basically over a year. WEIR: This is good. Thank you to the Commonwealth Club. DANKO: We’re friends [so] we can just pick up and leave off wherever we go. All right, [another audience question]. Do you have a trick or a tip for great results with the glu-ten-free version of your recipes? WEIR: Wow, that’s a great question, because I actually have a gluten sensitivity. I own a restaurant that is 100-percent gluten free, and only because Mexican food is mostly gluten free, except when you get to the north of Mexico. That was just a decision we made.

You know, no, I can’t really say that I do. I use Cup4Cup flour, which I think is really great flour. DANKO: What is that? Who makes that? WEIR: Thomas Keller. I think it was his pastry chef. DANKO: It’s Red Mill [Natural Foods] that makes the substitute; I haven’t had very much luck with that. WEIR: You haven’t? It’s really hard. I find that it’s really hard just to substitute any other flour and just think it’s going to come out the same. I made gnocchi not that long ago, and I used Cup4Cup flour; they were gnocchi and they held together, but they weren’t like you were using a good— DANKO: Is he trying to make Tofurky? WEIR: No. DANKO: Never quite tastes like turkey. WEIR: I wish I had an answer and if you have one, let me know, but there’s so many great gluten-free things out there. DANKO: I was in the market today and I saw gluten-free chocolate cake mix. Basically, a lot of people are addressing that type of thing. WEIR: There definitely are problems, because there’s so much gluten now that’s put into our food, and our bodies can’t digest it. DANKO: It’s interesting to see. You’ve never heard of gluten-free 10 years ago. and all of a sudden [it’s every-where]. What do you think that is? Do you think it’s the change in flour? WEIR: I really think it is the change in flour. Yes. DANKO: Europe, as well? WEIR: This is interesting, because I work a lot in Europe. Every spring and every fall, what I do is I rent villas. Gary’s come with me a couple times. I rent villas and people come and take classes with me. I was just teaching in October. I


was in Marrakesh, Morocco, and I was with my group and we went out into the Atlas mountains. We made bread with the Berber women. I ate the bread and I was absolutely fine. It was so delicious. Now, I’m thinking, okay, I’m going to take some flour of theirs next time. DANKO: Interesting. The other day I bought some panko and it said on it “gluten free.” I didn’t realize that panko is—is all of it gluten free? WEIR: I think that they make gluten-free panko now. DANKO: Interesting. It works. Typically, in restaurants now, you have to have everything available on every level, from vegan to vegetarian, and even when we cater and do private parties, we have a separate menu that goes to the far right. Even things like we do with tian, with roasted peppers, eggplant, fennel, onion, so I can now put my panko in there.

Joanne and I have done some traveling together. [We] decided we’re going to go to India together. We were on a 16 person tour. Joanne and I are sort of rooming together. WEIR: We roomed together. DANKO: I’m the one that’s kind of the [cleanliness obsessive], and—WEIR: Oh no, no, no. He’s got so much Purell. He’s swabbing down the entire room. Then, he picked up— I’ll never forget this, I hope you don’t mind—he picked up the phone: “This is the culprit!” Also, the remote. DANKO: The remote. Uh-huh. WEIR: He’s swabbing it down. He also had a complete medical kit. He’s a great person to travel with. DANKO: Although we stayed in some of the best hotels, we stayed at the Oberoi in Udaipur, which was over the top. Incredible. WEIR: Beautiful places. DANKO: As we head south, we are in that skanky room that she’s talking about where I picked up the phone— WEIR: Yes, and it wasn’t quite like the other places, it’s true. It wasn’t bad though. It was the best place in the area. DANKO: We both want to have ayurvedic massages. We never had this streaming oil on the forehead. Joanne’s hair is soaking it up. WEIR: It stayed in my hair for like a week. I couldn’t get the oil out of my hair. DANKO: Rancid oil, too, because we were just like, “Oh, my god.” Then there was the time we went to Vietnam. We went to a friend of ours’ restaurant and we’re drinking— WEIR: Okay, I’m going to tell this. We had two drinks. His name is Bobby Chin, and he owns restaurants in Hanoi. We had the first drink. We had the second drink. At the end, I was like, “Wow, I feel really good, Bobby. These are incredible.” He said, “Yes, we put Valium in each one.” DANKO: Then we end up in that restaurant that reminded me we’re in the middle of a subway. It felt like that. WEIR: Oh, please. Except that it was the most delicious food and we all got sick—but it was really delicious food. DANKO: [One woman] has to go to the bathroom, and she’s like, “I asked for the bathroom and they took me to

the storm drain kitchen and—” WEIR: Turned off the light in the kitchen and pulled the curtain and said, “That’s where you go.” DANKO: I have to say the next morning was the worst day of my life. We both woke up and we’re like, “What happened?” Oh, my God. Crazy.

[Another audience question:] If you were to cook a whole turkey for a family dinner, how would you cook it? Drumsticks off separately? Dressing in turkey?

Basically, what I do is I deconstruct it, which means I take the whole turkey. I take the legs off, and then I take the breasts and I bone them from backwards so you end up with the two lobes connected. Then, keeping the skin intact, I tie it into a neat little bundle and I put that in the refrigerator. I take the legs and I take the drumstick out and the thigh stick and I tie it. I’ve brined a turkey before. WEIR: That was a Madeleine. That’s in her book. DANKO: What I do is I roast it basically the night before. I take all the bones and I make my stock. So I have the breast in the refrigerator. I have the roasted thing. I then take it, cool the meat on it, slice it. Actually take my little FoodSaver cryo-vac and I cryo-vac that. I make all of my basic stock, skim that and then I get those drippings from the bottom of the pan that the legs were in. That is where all the flavor is, so then I make my gravy and I flavor it with that. Day-of, I roast the turkey breast to approximately 135, 140. I dip my little bags of meat into my simmering water of 140 or above, and then basically let my breasts rest and I slice it. Gravy’s already made. Boom, presto. WEIR: I brine a turkey. It depends upon the size, but I brine it for a couple days and then dry it in the oven. I cook my turkey whole, and I make a double or a triple turkey stock. I pour off the fat, and then I make the—I hate to call it gravy, because I really think it’s more of a sauce, but I make it with the double or triple turkey stock and it’s great. Delicious.

Oh, I know one other thing I do. While it’s roasting in the oven, I take a piece of cheesecloth, drench it in butter and put it over the top, so I don’t even have to baste.DANKO: Any advice for those just learning to cook? WEIR: I was just doing an event at Lucasfilm, and a woman came up to me and she said, “I never, ever cooked before I watched your show.” I really feel like it’s important to continue to cook, and I’m so afraid that people aren’t going to be cooking, that they’re not going to spend time in the kitchen. If you find a book that you like and you can master a recipe, and it gives you confidence—it’s really all about confidence. If you learn just a few tricks, whether it’s ribboning egg yolks and sugar, or you learn whisking egg whites, that opens up a whole new group of recipes that you can do. It’s just learning some of those terms and mastering them.

I really do think keep it simple. It doesn’t have to be complicated. I think that’s the best way to eat. You can always go to Gary Danko and have him cook complicated food for you.


Wendy Davis, Democratic politician and former Texas state senator in conversation with Sandra Fluke, social justic attourney. Photos by Ed Ritger.

SANDRA FLUKE: I wanted to begin by asking you about the women in your family, because as you’ll all find out in her book, she has some incredible women in her family, who really influenced you and were tremendous role models.

Will you share a little bit about them with all of us?WENDY DAVIS: Yeah. I’ve been talking a lot about our shoes—where we come from, the stories that our shoes have to tell about us. In fact, on the second anniversary of the filibuster [in the Texas legislature against anti-abortion legislation], we did a little hashtag called #MySoleStory, and we invited people to talk about their shoes. What would your shoes say about you? I thought about that because I had been thinking about giving a speech and how I was going to introduce the topic of the impact that my grand-mother and my mother had in my life. So I describe it by talking about their shoes.

My grandmother was married very, very young. When she was 13 and my grandfather was 17, they eloped in Arkansas, where they did not have to have permission from their parents to marry and they came back across the Texas panhandle when she was 15 and he was 19. She had literally in her arms in their horse-and-buggy my uncle Will; on her feet, she had a very old pair of leather lace-up low-heeled

sturdy shoes that said just about everything you needed to know about my grandmother.

I have so many amazing memories of her. She was half Native American. She was always poor, and she understood the double sting of both racism and poverty. She and my grandfather had 14 children and my mother was one of only 2 girls, 12 boys. My grandmother had a sixth-grade education and my grandfather had a fourth-grade educa-tion; they were tenant farmers and they traveled from the panhandle of Texas [to] Oklahoma and parts of California, always farming other people’s land.

My grandmother and grandfather actually weren’t able to buy their first home until they went on Social Security, because it was the first time in their lives that they had a stable income, enough income to actually qualify for a loan. They always lived so humbly, but so richly at the same time.

When my parents were going through their divorce when I was 10, I started the habit of spending summers with my grandmother. I learned what it meant to have a real work ethic, because that woman would wake up in the morning and start working. She always had a huge garden in her back yard, because it’s all she ever knew. I got to experience what it was like to farm the land and to can vegetables, to just be filled with the busyness of doing good hard work and the rest that comes at the end of the day from doing something like that.

My mother, because she was part of such a large family and responsible for so much of the chores of her family,

IS THERE A WAR ON WOMEN?The former Texas state senator shot to national fame and controversy when she filibustered legislation, wearing her famous sneakers. Now she uses her megaphone to speak out on other liberal women’s issues.


being one of only two girls, my mom dropped out of school after completing only ninth grade because she was needed at home. She was number seven of fourteen, and she had all those younger siblings to help with. When my parents separated and then later divorced, my mother became our sole financial support because my father decided to live out his dream of starting a theater, a nonprofit live theater, and he never made any money again until he died. So my mother took over the sole support of us financially, four of us.

She went to work at Braum’s Ice Cream and Dairy store. What I remember most about my mother in those days was not only that orange-and-white Braum’s Ice Cream and Dairy store uniform that she wore, but the white orthope-dic comfort shoes that she wore. They say so much about her, you know, that she was willing to put those shoes on and do what it took to take care of her family.

So when I think about the day that I laced up my ten-nis shoes and stood on the senate floor, I think about all the times that they laced up and strapped on their shoes, intent on the purpose of creating a better life for me than they had for themselves. They definitely did, and it made a huge impact on me.FLUKE: You started off running for the city council, right?DAVIS: I did.FLUKE: Now I know that one thing you’re really passion-ate about and devoting a lot of time to and thinking about a

lot is women in politics—in elected office and in leadership and why we don’t have 50 percent [of officeholders who are female], to say the least, and how that works differently with women and all of those challenges. So I wanted to ask you about your entry. Folks say that women have to be asked on average six times to run for office before they actually do it. Was that the case for you? Did you have people asking and asking and asking? Or were you just like power-hungry and wanted to get in there?DAVIS: I just threw myself in there.FLUKE: Power hungry. Got it.DAVIS: It wasn’t power hungry. It was frustration, because I had been active in my neighborhood on a particular issue that had taken me to city hall a few times, and I was frustrat-ed with what I was observing there. A seat opened up there unexpectedly, and I just threw my hat in the ring. I made the decision and then told [then-husband] Jeff that I was doing it. But he was a great mentor to me, because he had been on the city council when he was much younger and he was someone that I really looked up to. His experience of serving there was something that I decided I’d like to try to do myself. And as you know, I did lose that first race.FLUKE: I wasn’t going to bring it up, but all right. Well, so do you think that was the right step to run that first time? You talk about in your book that you hadn’t necessarily laid some of the groundwork in the community that it might have been wise to have done beforehand.

One of the things that is often said about women in electoral races is that we wait for the perfect time, that we get everything in a row, that we never dive in and as a result, some of us never get there.

What’s your advice to young women and your perspec-tive on this question of waiting for the perfect path versus diving right in, consequences be darned?DAVIS: Somewhere in between, I think, is the right ap-proach. What I learned from my first race by just diving in was that people that I was asking to vote for me —local

I [learned] from the filibuster that there are young women who really look up to me. I have an opportunity. I have a megaphone.


elections are very unique, you know the people who are voting for you, they’ve had a chance to or they want to have had a chance to meet you and know you.

When you’re running for a seat like that, if you haven’t really been active in the community and people don’t know anything more about you than what they see, it’s hard for them to believe that you really have their best interests at heart.

So when I lost, I lost in a run-off by 90 votes and it was heartbreaking. It was the first time I’d ever not succeeded at something that I had tried really hard to do, but I put my head down and I got involved in the community and I started working on a number of things in various neighborhoods and arenas. When I ran again three years later, I was able to succeed and I loved that seat so much. I served in it for nine years before I ran for the senate. I would encourage anyone, woman or man, who’s consid-ering running for office, starting at the local level is such a beautiful way to do it because you are, as it should be, very answerable, very visible to the people who elected you. They’re watching everything you do and you’re working very closely with them. And you learn what it means to be a true public servant.

For me, taking that experience into the senate I felt like was a wonderful beginning point to learn how to really serve and to always have in mind, in my service, the people who were depending on me to do the right thing for them.FLUKE: I think nationally, as a result of your incredible filibuster, you’re maybe seen as someone who’s pretty far on the left or a real fighter or a partisan going after the other side, and I’m not sure that’s actually who you are. Do you think that’s who you are? Is it a part of who you are? Is it totally wrong about you?DAVIS: I believe always in trying to work to the middle. I truly do, but there are some moments when you [have] got to throw the gauntlet. I believe in that as well.

I picked my battles when I did that, but I had a really good record, I felt, in both the city council and in the senate, working across the aisle, working to try to be constructive and to get things done. I think most of the people that have worked with me would say that about me privately, though it’s hard for Republicans to say that about a Democrat out loud in Texas.FLUKE: We will follow up and check that out. I’m going to ask about what you are doing now, this new initiative that you’re starting. Can you tell us a little bit about it?DAVIS: So one of the things that I took from the filibus-ter and from my gubernatorial campaign was that there are young women who really look up to me. It’s such an honor to be at the receiving end of that, and I know that I have an audience with them. I have an opportunity. I have a megaphone.

So when I lost the gubernatorial election and I went through, really as I’ve described it, not the grief of losing that election but the grief when January came and I was no


longer in the Texas Senate. I struggled for how was I going to continue to work on the things that I’m passionate about, and of course women’s issues are very important to me.

I decided that I would take this opportunity to encourage young women to get more involved in the political arena, not necessarily just running for office, though I absolutely want to encourage that, too, but our millennial women and men aren’t voting. In 2008, they were 20 percent of the total voting population, but they didn’t vote nearly in pro-portion to what they represent in that voting population. It gets even worse in midterm election cycles, but in 2020, they’re going to be 40 percent of the voting population in this country.

If millennials will decide that politics is actually a place they ought to speak, whether it’s at the ballot box, whether it’s encouraging other people to run, whether it’s running themselves, they absolutely have the power to completely change the face of what’s happening in state legislatures and the national [scene] in Congress, and we would see a

wholesale change in the things we are talking about and certainly wouldn’t see some of the conversations going on that we see happening on the Republican primary stage right now.AUDIENCE MEMBER: I’m curious about this concept of the war on women. What has allowed this to happen, or what has caused this regressive response to women’s reproductive rights, to women’s rights in general? Was it brewing and waiting for Congress to be controlled by Republicans or a religious right commitment?DAVIS: I think it goes back to the strategy that the Republican Party engaged in of pulling evangelicals into the Republican fold. What that created over time was the need for candidates on the Republican side of the aisle to feed the appetite of what those voters wanted. Obvi-ously, a very large segment of that vote is anti-abortion, anti-choice, sadly even anti-Planned Parenthood even though 97 percent of what they do has nothing to do with abortion. It is feeding the beast. It is the worst part of politics when you see political demagoguery that is taking positions and speaking out on them because you know you need to feed that beast in order to get their vote.

When you look at the candidates that are on the Repub-lican stage right now, they’re jumping over themselves to be the most anti-abortion, right? And trying to say the most outrageous thing about it to get the base fired up on their behalf. It’s working for them.

The way to combat that is for us to react just as strongly. We’re being fed in terms of our beliefs and our values by watching what’s happening, and we must engage and vote for people who we know are going to push back against that. It’s being rewarded right now, and as long as it’s being rewarded, it’s going to continue to happen.

It’s like I say to young people when I show them the chart of who’s voting, it’s people 50 or 60 and older who are occupying most of the voting in terms of the percent-age of their population. So it should come as no surprise to us that the values that they’re concerned about are the ones that are being talked about by candidates. It should come as no surprise that the values that Millennials care about, because they occupy such a small fraction of actually turning out and voting, are not being talked about by the candidates. The way for us to twist that around is to make politicians feel that they are going to be held accountable if they don’t support reproductive rights, if they don’t support equal pay for equal work, if they don’t support family leave policies, and closing the income inequality gaps in this country. When we make them feel like they’re going to be accountable to voters for taking positions other than that, that’s when they’ll change. AUDIENCE MEMBER: A lot of the abrogation of rights that we’re seeing is also taking place in the courthouse. So what is your advice for advocates, lawyers, law students?DAVIS: When I was in law school, not to sound silly, but I absolutely fell in love with the power of the law, because it has always been in this country the place where minority voices can ultimately be heard against a majority that’s moving otherwise. It’s so important to be training that generation of lawyers who are going to be taking up all of these issues. We’ve got to have lawyers who are committed to using the tools that the Constitution provides us to remedy what sometimes is happening in the legislative branch of this country.AUDIENCE MEMBER: What can Texas learn from California and what can California learn from Texas?DAVIS: California, when I think about what I admire about this state most, it’s the respect for everyone’s indi-vidual liberties and freedoms. We talk a good game about that in Texas, we love to throw around the word liberty, and in fact Gov. Perry had two boots, one of them was named liberty and the other one was named freedom. But I feel like here the money is put where the mouth is. We could certainly learn a lot about that.

In Texas we’ve prided ourselves on trying to create a good climate for business. Now, do we pass that line too much sometimes in terms of not having appropriate air quality and other regulation? Yes. But I think somewhere there’s a balance to be struck, and California might be able to learn some lessons from some of the economic incentive tools that we’ve successfully employed, though your economy certainly isn’t doing too bad, so you’re doing something right.

The way for us to twist that around is to make politicians feel they are going to be held accountable if they don’t support reproductive rights.


On the occasion of the release of his hefty new book celebrating his decades of political satire,

the original “Republican party reptile” turns a critical eye to the people seeking the nation’s

highest office.

A NOT-SO-BRIEF HISTORY OF

P.J. O’ROURKE

P.J. O’Rourke, H.L. Mencken research fellow, at the Cato Institute and author of Thrown Under the Omnibus; in conversation with Melissa Caen, contributer to CBS SF (“Mornings with Melissa”). Photos by Rikki Ward.

I’m full of righteous indignation about this campaign. You see, I am a political humorist and I cannot be funnier than this campaign. I am a political satirist and this campaign has been fully self-satirizing. And I am a political com-mentator and I can’t get a word in edgewise with Donald Trump around.

So who have we got running for president? There is Hil-lary Rodham Clinton. She retains her iron grip on second place in the race for the nomination. Because whoever is in first place is so far out ahead, we don’t know who it is.

On the upside, Hillary is familiar with the White House.She knows where the extra toilet paper’s stored, she knows where the spare key to the nuke-attack briefcase thing is hidden. Now, failing Hillary, we have Joe Biden. Joe was the Democratic Party’s establishments plan B. But then the B part of plan B, the Biden part, decided that this was a lousy plan.

Then there’s the candidate who, for a moment, seemed like the candidate who was so far in front of Hillary that we didn’t know who it was. Unfortunately, who it turned out to be is the screwy-kablewy commander of the Viet Cong, Bernie Sanders. Bernie’s a socialist. Actually says so himself. As socialists, he will take your flat screen TV


and give it to a family of pill addicts in the backwoods of Vermont. Bernie says he wants to make America more like Europe. Great idea, because Europe has had a swell track record for 100 years, you know?

Then there are the Republicans.Marco Rubio—great kid. I love children; all the cute

things they do, cute things they say. The way Marco blows through his GOP-issued campaign credit card allowance the way my 11-year-old son Buster does. But Marco has got to stop it with the abortion stuff. Stop, Marco, stop with it.

I feel like I wanna take him aside, put my arm around his shoulders, say “Marco, let me tell you how a real Re-publican approaches the abortion question. Don’t make it illegal, make it retroactive. Kid gets to be 25, he’s still a bum, whack!” It’s a position everyone can support, you know?

Jeb Bush, he had everything. He’s young, for a Repub-lican. [Laughter.] Was phi beta kappa, successful business man. Two-term governor of Florida, where balloting in-competence, and corruption are vital to the GOP. [Laugh-ter.] Plus Jeb was like rolling like a dirty dog in campaign contributions. And then somehow it all went wrong.

Carly Fiorina, maybe she can run America the way she ran Hewlett-Packard. The way she ran Hewlett-Packard was fabulous if you shorted the stock. Hewlett-Packard’s stock price fell more than 60 percent while Carly was CEO. I may forgive Carly, but my Keogh plan will never forgive Carly.

Ben Carson —I understand he spoke here. Nothing to

be said against Ben Carson, unless you’re one of those per-snickety, fact-checking types. Dr. Carson is a soft-spoken gentleman. He rose from a background of social adversity and economic deprivation that makes President Obama look like the lost Bush brother. Carson went to Yale. He went to the University of Michigan Medical School. He completed his residency at Johns Hopkins, becoming the hospital’s youngest ever director of pediatric neurosurgery at age 33 in 1984. Just to put a little perspective on that, in 1984 Donald Trump was sending out invitations to his first bankruptcy; Jeb Bush was sharing meetings of the Dade County Republican Party in a phone booth; Carly Fiorina was in the break room at AT&T making coffee for the executives; and Marco Rubio was in eighth grade. ...

Somebody pointed out to me that I’ve been forgetting Ted Cruz in this list. I have certainly been trying to. I don’t think that we really need to go into Ted Cruz. But I will tell you this one thing about Ted Cruz. He looks exactly like Bill Murray as the sleazy lounge singer.

Now, also among the presidential candidates, we have what I call the walking dead. I mean, talk about rotting corpses, frightfully lurching around when they should be six feet under. You got Rick Santorum, John Kasich, Martin O’Malley, Lindsay Graham, Jim Webb, George Pataki, all polling below the plus or minus margin of undead error.

Rick Santorum, interesting case. Rick Santorum is the Republican voice of social conservatism. He’s against

P.J. O’Rourke tells Melissa Caen that

being a Republican is in his blood.

His grandmother would be proud.


abortion, he’s against illegal immigrants, he’s against gay marriage, he’s in favor of church. And so are all Repub-licans until our kid knocks up the 15-year-old next door or the yard chores need doing. Or offending the LBGT community means letting Louie from Home Depot be our interior decorator. Or until Christ conflicts with tea time. So, he’s not happening.

John Kasich actually, seriously mystifies me. He’s not so much of a joke. He actually seriously mystifies me as a Republican and as a reporter. Kasich is the very popular and very conservative governor of Ohio, a state that is as purple as Barney the Dinosaur. Barney’s friends are big and small. They come from lots of places. And they all hate each other. They don’t hate John.

Ohio is like a great microcosm of America. It’s got all the conflicts that are going on in America now. It’s got labor versus management. It’s got stagnated wages versus the 1 percent. It’s got tea partiers versus immigrants. It’s got blacks versus white. You name the conflict, Ohio’s got the conflict. And Kasich has handled this. He beat an incumbent Democrat, who was not an unpopular guy, beat him by a narrow margin, then went on to be re-elected by a landslide. Before he was governor of Ohio, Kasich, he served nine terms in Congress. He spent 18 years on the House Armed Services Committee; he spent six years as chairman of the House Budget Committee. He knows about stuff. And I look at him and I go, well, no wonder, he’s polling at 4 percent, because the GOP is in no damn mood for competent experienced politicians with a broad popular appeal. As far as I can tell, John Kasich is a two-word Republican suicide note.

Martin O’Malley is another one that utterly mystifies me. O’Malley is the ex-governor of nowhere, because if you take the Washington suburbs away, Maryland is like Appalachia in the west. It’s impoverished fishing villages in the east, plus Baltimore—Afghanistan on the Patapsco. Baltimore is grossly impoverished. It has a homicide rate that is 26-percent higher than Detroit’s, and ABC News has called Baltimore the heroin capital of the United States. And O’Malley was its mayor. The only thing that I can figure is that O’Malley lost the game of Truth or Dare, and that he is running for president rather than answer the question of how bad do the Ravens suck this year.

And on it goes and on it goes. So my response to this is I’m supporting Donald Trump. And I’m supporting Trump because of something that the great political sat-irist H.L. Mencken said: “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.”

Question and answer session with Melissa Caen, political and legal analyst, CBS San Francisco

MELISSA CAEN: This book is a compendium of essays that you’ve written over the last 30-some odd years. Tell me this is not a pre-retirement thing, that you’re gonna

keep writing.P.J. O’ROURKE: No. My daughter turns 18 tomorrow. She’s applying to 400 colleges, 200 I can’t afford. And I got two more coming behind her, so no, this is not a farewell.CAEN: Good to know. How did you go about picking the stories that you were going to include here, and did you read anything from back in the 80s and go, “I can’t believe I wrote that”? O’ROURKE: Oh, yeah. Especially when I was a kid at the National Lampoon, I wrote some stuff that I would so go to jail for today. There isn’t a trigger big enough for the trigger warning [for] some of that stuff. Microagression hardly does it justice. In fact, we were into macroagression. CAEN: We’re not really sure of all the facts of what happened in San Bernardino, but even prior to that, with the shootings in Paris and the resulting immigra-tion debates both in terms of Syrian and Iraqi refugees, especially among Republican candidates, [immigration has been a hot political topic this year]. Now your stance on immigration has been a little different than some of your fellow Republicans. O’ROURKE: I’m a pro immigration person. Why are we not Japan? Why isn’t our economy frozen the way Japans’ is? Why isn’t our economy frozen the way Chinas’ will be with the demographic trends? Its immigration. I mean we’re not having enough kids. Me and my wife are doing our best, but most of us are not having enough kids to make the replacement rate. We’re an aging society. What keeps us vigorous as a nation is immigration.CAEN: You’ve described yourself now as a conservative libertarian. O’ROURKE: Libertarians share a fundamental idea that the unit that we know about, the unit that we as humans know about is the individual. The one thing that we cannot deny is that humanity is made up of individuals. The Republican part of me is partly just the way I grew up. My mother’s mother was born on a farm near Spring-field, Illinois, in an area where basically the only Democrat they’d ever heard of was John Wilkes Booth. And she was like really serious Republican. I mean, of the sort of thing like, she was mad at Roosevelt. I don’t mean FDR Roosevelt. She was still mad at Ted-dy, because he split the Republican party and allowed a Southerner, Woodrow Wilson, to be elected president. I go off to college and turn into the usual college left-winger. I come home from college with my hair down to wherever, and a big red fist on the back of my jean jacket. And my grandmother looks at me and she said, “Pat, I’m worried about you. Are you becoming a Democrat?” [Laughter.] “Grandma, LBJ is a Democrat and he’s killing all these innocent Vietcong and causing all these riots in inner cities and exploiting every body capitalistically. Of course I’m not a Democrat. I’m a communist.” And she looked at me, and she said, “Okay. Just as long as you’re not a Democrat.”


MY HUSBAND ROD and I are electric car aficionados, for all the obvious environ-mental reasons. Rod had his first custom electric car built in the early 1990s. It was a Porsche 914 with the gas engine and components removed and replaced with golf cart batteries. A gas car conversion

like the “voltsporsche,” as was emblazoned on its side, was the only electric auto option for its time, had a range of 45 miles, was rather heavy, and smelled like battery acid.

The next step up for us was two leased GM EV-1 electric vehicles, very capable cars with a 120-mile range that we tried unsuccessfully to purchase when GM decided to terminate the leases and then crush and dispose of the nearly new cars in 2003. Then we had a Prius and most recently a Nissan Leaf.

Now we are the proud lessors of a bright red Tesla Model S, and with this the modern era of the electric car has finally arrived. Not interested in plunking down the purchase price of $79,000, by split-ting the monthly lease cost—considering the rebate and savings on gas (we charge the car from our solar-powered home)—the Model S is affordable for Rod and me. And it is a great car, with a range of 230 miles (models with more batteries than ours go up to about 310 miles range), incredible electronics, fast acceleration, great safety features and beautiful styling. It is more than competitive with gas-powered luxury cars.

One small example of Tesla engineering is the front and back side windows. They move to seal themselves after one closes the doors, to ensure a smooth, aerodynamic surface and minimal drag from wind, to optimize the car’s energy efficiency.

The impressive thing about the Tesla is that it isn’t only a car, but a way of thinking. At GM, the EV-1 was a step-child for the giant car company. Only about 600 were produced, they were available only by word of mouth and after a long wait, and were quickly discontinued by GM once California’s air quality standards were changed to no longer require automakers to offer a fully electric vehicle in our state.

From start to finish, the Tesla proposition is completely different. It is obviously a local product, designed and built in the beautifully reconditioned NUMMI plant in Fremont. Electric cars and batter-ies are the only products Tesla makes, so their focus is singular. The company has adopted a unique supply chain approach, including source agreements with companies such as Daimler and Toyota, but designing and producing many of the Tesla systems itself. From the batteries to the big-screen infotainment system in the cars, Tesla is the designer and manufacturer, leading to unique, functional and

beautiful design. This year, the “Gigafactory,” a Tesla lithium-ion battery production plant in Nevada, will start to produce Tesla batteries at scale, lowering their cost.

Starting with founder Elon Musk, every employee at Tesla is both an advocate and an educator about the Tesla and the electric vehicle concept. They actively talk about their mission. To quote from the Tesla website, “Tesla’s mission is to accelerate the world’s transi-tion to sustainable transportation. To achieve that goal, we must produce electric vehicles in sufficient volume to force change in the automobile industry.”

Acquiring a Tesla is an educational experience. A tour of the Fremont plant is part of the car delivery, where young Tesla experts show new Tesla owners and lessors each step of the design and pro-duction process. They explain the company’s supply chain concept and point out the giant piece of equipment that Tesla employees disassembled, packed in trucks and drove from the Midwest to Fremont in order to stay on schedule for the start of production a few years ago. Tesla employees are advocates for environmental stewardship.

At the end of the factory tour, the Teslas to be delivered that day are displayed under a canopy, and a technician sits in each car with the new drivers, explaining the Tesla systems and answering ques-tions. Then one drives off in the incredibly powerful and quiet car. With the Tesla, the electric car has become very cool.

A new Model X Tesla SUV is now rolling off the Fremont pro-duction line. Like the Model S, it will be a high-priced car. The exciting prospect is for the next Tesla version, Model 3, designed to be lower-cost and scheduled for release in 2017. This could bring the Tesla experience within range of many more consumers. With the kind of engineering, design and support the other Tesla models offer, a less-expensive Tesla should be very competitive with gas-powered counterparts.

Even if you’re not in the market for a Tesla right now, you can take the Tesla factory tour. It is inspiring to learn about this home-grown California auto manufacturer and see what they are accomplishing for both consumers and the environment.

Read more than 10 years of InSight columns online at: commonwealthclub.org/publications/insight

Photo courtesy of Gloria Duffy

The Tesla Way

InSight

Dr. Gloria C. Duffy, President and CEO

• Discover Basque white wine, Cantabrian fish and a local fiesta in San Sebastian.

• Experience Spain’s best restaurant cellar and dine at Michelin-starred restaurants.

• See the early stages of harvest in Rioja and visit the finest olive oil producer in Navarra.

• Explore the Somontano wine region and hike in the Sierra Guara National Park, in the foothills of the Pyrenees.

• Enjoy a visit to one of the best producers in Catalonia.

• Enjoy a Basque cooking class, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, and Gaudi’s creations in vibrant Barcelona.

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Witness the contrasts of culture, food and wine on a sumptuous journey across northern Spain with food and

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From the Basque Country to CataloniaSeptember 9-18, 2016

Wednesday, Feb. 3 & Thursday, Feb. 4 Monday, February 8

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PROGRAMS YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS

E.J. Dionne Jr.

From one of our most engaging political reporters and the author of Why Ameri-cans Hate Politics comes the story of con-servatism from the Goldwater 1960s to the present-day tea party that he says has resulted in broken promises and an ideo-logical purity that drives away moderate Republicans.

E.J. Dionne Jr., Columnist, The Washington Post; Author, Why the Right Went Wrong: Conservatism from Goldwater to the Tea Party and Beyond

Friday, February 19 Tuesday, March 1


Cory Booker

Cory Booker, the junior U.S. senator from New Jersey, has built his career in public service by fighting for his belief that we as a nation must come together and rise above that which divides us in order to protect the principles and ideals that unite us. Senator Booker’s first book, United: Thoughts on Finding Common Ground and Advancing the Common Good, details the people who inspired him to seek public of-fice, the moments that influenced his civic vision once he was elected and the issues that drive his political agenda, such as so-cial, economic and environmental justice.

Cory Booker, U.S. Senator (D-NJ)


Ashton Carter

How does the U.S. plan to combat ISIS? How will we know if we are succeeding? What is our future role in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan? How should we be ap-proaching Russia—as a threat or an ally, or both? How can “soft power” help to further U.S. security goals? Hear firsthand from the U.S. secretary of defense on these and many other topics—you bring the questions! Join us for what prom-ises to be a provocative and informative discussion.

Dr. Ashton B. Carter, 25th U.S. Secretary of DefenseDr. Gloria C. Duffy, President and CEO, The Commonwealth Club


Berkeley Rep’s Macbeth: An Evening with Conleth Hill & Frances McDormand Join us for a behind-the-scenes look at Berkeley Rep’s upcoming production of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth! Our guests, Olivier Award winner and Tony Award nominee Conleth Hill (Lord Varys in Game of Thrones) and Tony, Academy, and Emmy Award winner Frances McDormand (Olive Kitteridge) star as the notorious couple in Shakespeare’s murderous play about the lust for power and the fickleness of fate. Joining these two powerhouses of the stage and screen for the discussion is Berkeley Rep’s Michael Leibert Artistic Director, Tony Taccone. An evening to celebrate theatre!

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