The Commonwealth August/September 2019

Commonwealth The

THE MAGAZINE OF THE COMMONWEALTH CLUB OF CALIFORNIA

AUG. / SEPT. 2019

GEORGE WILL & THE FUTURE OF

CONSERVATISM Glenn Close Secret San Francisco Adam Schiff Shannon Watts How Climate Broke California’s Biggest Utility Adam Rippon

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UPCOMING PROGRAMS Complete Guide

On the Road to Freedom

Understanding the Civil Rights Movement March 8–15, 2020 • Travel to Jackson, Little Rock, Memphis, Birmingham, Selma and Montgomery.

• Visit important sites of the movement, from Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge to Little Rock High School.

• Meet with many figures who were involved, such as 16th Street Baptist Church bombing survivor Dr. Rev. Carolyn McKinstry, Bloody Sunday foot soldier Annie Pearl Avery, and Little Rock Nine member Elizabeth Eckford.

• Experience the newly opened Memorial for Peace and Social Justice in Montgomery and the Civil Rights Museum in Jackson.

• Meet with members of the Equal Justice Initiative and learn about the work that is being done today to fight racial injustices in the legal system.

• Explore the Mississippi Delta, tour Malaco Records and the B.B. King Museum.

Cost: $3,995 per person, based on double occupancy

Dana King, Discussion Leader Dana King is an artist who brings humanity to the African American story. Black Art in America has identified King as one of 10 Emerging Black Female Artists to Collect. King’s public sculptures include “Guided by Justice,” located at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. Prior to her career as a sculptor, King was a broadcast journalist, where she received five Emmy and two Edward R. Murrow awards during her 25-year career.

Brochure at commonwealthclub.org/travel

| 415.597.6720

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travel@commonwealthclub.org CST: 2096889-40

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INSIDE20 THIS ISSUE 42

The Commons

News and insights from the Club

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First Word: Glenn Close

How rethinking mental health became a family matter

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George Will

Conservatism’s future lies in its past

Adam Schiff

Last Word: Adam Rippon

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44

Congress vs. the president

Getting into the Olympics

Shannon Watts

Mothers targeting gun violence

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How Climate Broke California’s Biggest Utility

Wildfires and our future blackouts

Ruth Carlson

Discovering San Francisco secrets

Champions of a Vital Civil Society

Scenes from the Club’s 2019 Gala

On the Cover: George Will Photo by: Ed Ritger

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Program Listings

Programs for August–September

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Late-Breaking Events

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15

Two-month Calendar

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Insight

By Gloria Duffy

On this Page: George Will (left) & Lenny Mendonca Photo by: Ed Ritger

We’re so used to this faux intimacy we have with our presidents. We’ve had presidents who feel our pain and all the rest. They don’t, actually. I’m not sure I want a president to be my friend. I want him to take care that the laws are faithfully executed [and] otherwise get out of the center of the national consciousness.

-GEORGE WILL

August/September 2019 - Volume 113, No.4

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019

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The Commonwealth, 110 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105 feedback@commonwealthclub.org Frank Langfitt shares some snack-based security tips from China.

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John Zipperer, Vice President of Media & Editorial, (415) 597-6715 jzipperer@commonwealthclub.org The Commonwealth (ISSN 0010-3349) is published bimonthly (6 times a year) by The Commonwealth Club of California, 110 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105. Periodicals postage paid at San Francisco, CA. Subscription rate $34 per year included in annual membership dues.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Commonwealth, The Commonwealth Club of California, 110 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105 Tel: (415) 597-6700 E-mail: feedback@commonwealthclub.org EDITORIAL TRANSCRIPT POLICY

The Potato Chip Caper

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n 2014, National Public Radio correspondent Frank Langfitt came up with a novel way of learning more about China: He set himself up in Shanghai as the driver of a free taxi service.

The Mandarin-fluent journalist was then able to pick up lots of information about real life in fast-changing China.

But the Chinese government’s increasingly effective and invasive surveillance apparatus posed a problem. How do you get people to talk about sensitive topics, especially over the phone? Langfitt soon learned a novel solution, as the author of The Shanghai Free Taxi revealed in his June 18 Commonwealth Club program.

“By the late ’90s, it wasn’t very hard for security services to triangulate a cell phone,” Langfitt said. “Even if somebody turns off a cell phone, intelligence agencies can turn it on, use it as a homing device, and then turn it on as a

listening device.

“To avoid being located, there’s a really good trick: Take a potato chip bag, eat all the chips, wash it out, put the phone inside the bag and wrap it up and that metallic material blocks any signal. So for just about 40 or 50 cents, you have a very good and sophisticated device to evade detection. So if you find yourself in these sorts of circumstances, just pick up a bag of Lay’s.”

“What Is Real” in the Farmer Gallery

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ow on exhibit in the Farmer Gallery at 110 The Embarcadero is a selection of paintings by Christopher Peterson.

The “What Is Real” exhibition shows off his colorful works that evoke a sense of light and optimism.

Peterson began his illustration career in New York City after completing his education at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. In

The 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/watch-listen, podcasts on Google Play and Apple iTunes, or contact Club offices to buy a compact disc.

Printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink.

Copyright © 2019 The Commonwealth Club of California.

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“Hospital Curve” by Christopher Peterson, now showing in the Farmer Gallery

For just 40 or 50 cents, you have a very good and sophisticated device to evade detection. So if you find yourself in these sorts of circumstances, just pick up a bag of Lay’s.

–FRANK LANGFITT

his 35-year career in the Bay Area, he became president of the San Francisco Society of Illustrators and won numerous awards. He is well known for the posters he designed for the likes of Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, Paul Simon, Bonnie Raitt and other stars. Advertising clients have included Pepsi, Reebok, Buick, The New York Times, Time and Ogilvy & Mather.

He says that the job of the artist in society is to reflect what he sees and put it in as much of a poetic form as possible. “I often see beauty in unusual things. Gas Stations, trash cans, cars, people,” says Peterson. “Whatever the light is shining on, that’s what I want to paint.”

The free exhibit “What Is Real” is on display through September 9 during normal Club business hours.

Design by James Meinerth

Check out this issue’s program listings (starting on page 47) to find events that are part of The Art & Science of Well-Being series.

The Art & Science of Letter to the Editor I want to thank The Commonwealth Club for Well-Being

W

ell-being—for individuals, families and communities—is the focus of a special series of programming in August from The Commonwealth Club’s volunteer-run Member-Led Forums. The Art & Science of Well-Bring focuses on practical ways to create a state of wellbeing, drawing from many sources of wisdom: science, tradition and common sense.

“With all of the daily stress we face and the chaos confronting us from the outside, we felt it critical to explore the many ways with which to cope and achieve peace of mind and physical well-being,” said Dr. Carol Fleming, director of the MLFs. Dr. Robert Kilpatrick, founder and CEO of Health Innovation for People (HIP), helped orchestrate The Art & Science of Well-Being.

He said people need to continue examining “all of the factors that contribute to healthy societies, including the economic, political, social, technological and moral dimensions of those societies in order to learn how to become healthier ourselves. We’ve planned these programs with this in mind.”

the podcast that featured a discussion between Christopher O’Sullivan, Joe Epstein and Reed Bunzel, the author of California Style: The Joe Koret Story. In a time when immigrants are maligned, it is important not to forget the value they add to our country.

Joe and Stephanie Koret are shining examples of those that come with nothing but the clothes on their back and with hard work and tenacity bring incredible success and wealth to share with the less fortunate. The book would not have been published if it had not been for the efforts of Susan Koret. I am so proud of my aunt and uncle and proud to be a member of The Commonwealth Club.

Sue Behr Moraga, CA The Commonwealth welcomes letters to the editor regarding Club programs and services and the content of this magazine. Email feedback@ commonwealthclub.org; or regular mail: The Commonwealth magazine, Letters, 110 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105.

Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

LEADERSHIP OF THE

COMMONWEALTH CLUB CLUB OFFICERS Board Chair Evelyn Dilsaver Vice Chair James Strother Secretary Dr. Jaleh Daie Treasurer John R. Farmer President & CEO Dr. Gloria C. Duffy BOARD OF GOVERNORS Robert E. Adams Willie Adams John F. Allen Scott Anderson Dan Ashley Massey J. Bambara Dr. Mary G. F. Bitterman** Harry E. Blount John L. Boland Maryles Casto** Charles M. Collins Dennis Collins Kevin Collins Mary B. Cranston** Susie Cranston Dr. Kerry P. Curtis Dorian Daley Lee Dutra Joseph I. Epstein* Jeffrey A. Farber Dr. Carol A. Fleming Leslie Saul Garvin Paul M. Ginsburg Hon. James C. Hormel Mary Huss Julie Kane Lata Krishnan John Leckrone Dr. Mary Marcy Lenny Mendonca Anna W.M. Mok Mauree Jane Perry Donald J. Pierce Bruce Raabe Skip Rhodes* Kausik Rajgopal Bill Ring Martha Ryan George M. Scalise Charlotte Mailliard Shultz George D. Smith Jr. Dr. Marc Spencer James Strother Hon. Tad Taube Charles Travers Kimberly Twombly-Wu Don Wen Dr. Colleen B. Wilcox

Brenda Wright Jed York Mark Zitter ADVISORY BOARD Karin Helene Bauer Hon. William Bradley Dennise M. Carter Steven Falk Amy Gershoni Jacquelyn Hadley Heather Kitchen Amy McCombs Don J. McGrath Hon. William J. Perry Hon. Barbara Pivnicka Hon. Richard Pivnicka Ray Taliaferro Nancy Thompson PAST BOARD CHAIRS & PRESIDENTS Dr. Mary G. F. Bitterman** Hon. Shirley Temple Black*† J. Dennis Bonney* John Busterud* Maryles Casto** Hon. Ming Chin* Mary B. Cranston** Joseph I. Epstein* Dr. Joseph R. Fink* William German* Rose Guilbault** Claude B. Hutchison Jr.* Dr. Julius Krevans* Anna W.M. Mok** Richard Otter* Joseph Perrelli* Toni Rembe* Victor J. Revenko* Skip Rhodes* Renée Rubin* Richard A. Rubin* Robert Saldich** Connie Shapiro* Nelson Weller* Judith Wilbur* Dennis Wu* * Past President ** Past Chair † Deceased

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019

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First Word

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ven though my father was a doctor—he was a very gifted surgeon—there was no vocabulary in our family for mental health, for mental illness. None. Even though, we learned later, there’s depression, there had been a death by suicide, a lot of alcoholism. No, it wasn’t ever spoken. [My sister] Jessie was considered the wild one, the difficult one. I remember my dad saying, “Just pull your socks up and get a job,” or “Pull your socks up and finish school.” I think if there had been early interventions back then, she would have had a very different life. But she prevailed. We’re blessed that she’s still with us, and she was properly diagnosed, finally. But we had no clue.

She walked out of school at ninth grade and refused to go back.

But we had a very kind of unusual family structure. My parents were in Africa for 16 years, and Jessie was living with my older sister and she just left. She married someone when she was 17. She had already tried to end her life. And even then, my parents didn’t [see] huge red flags. But she ended up marrying this young, disturbed boy, and we had to kind of rescue her from that. That was the beginning of just in and out of [troubles]. She had many cars. She went through a lot of houses. She was married five times.

She usually is here with us, and she’s an incredible speaker. So this is not something that she wouldn’t be telling you all herself.

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THE COMMO N WE AL TH

WITH GLENN CLOSE

Photo by James Meinerth

There is a big cost in her life. It’s a real tribute to her and to [my nephew] Calen [Pick] and to your brother and to your sister that we now are a very close and viable family. . . .

You will say [dealing with mental illness] is a day-to-day thing. It’s not: “I’m going to start talking about it and everything will be fine.”

I am in the entertainment business. We can do PSAs [public service announcements]. We had this wonderful company that came up with the idea [for a PSA. In] our first PSA, I wanted to have an iconic public space, knowing that everyone walking through Grand Central Station, one in four of them would be dealing with some sort of mental illness. So that’s where we chose to do it. I cold-called Ron Howard, because he had made A Beautiful Mind, and I said, “Would you be willing to direct a PSA about the four big ones— schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and PTSD? He said yes.

So that was the beginning. Calen and Jessie had their diagnoses [printed] on a t-shirt on their chest for an entire day in Grand Central Station. Also, my daughter was in it, and Calen’s sister; my mother, who was in her eighties at the time, said, “Oh, I wish I could have been in it, too,” because we really believe that it’s a family affair.

It’s a family of [humans]—and it’s our individual families.

—Glenn Close, “Bring Change to Mind,” May 7, 2019

GEORGE WILL

THE FUTURE OF CONSERVATISM GEORGE F. WILL

Columnist, The Washington Post; Author, The Conservative Sensibility

LENNY MENDONCA

Chief Economic and Business Advisor and Director of the Office of Business and Economic Development, State of California; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors

Photos by Ed Ritger

Are the Right and the Left both wrong about the Right?

From the June 26, 2019, program in San Francisco, “George Will: The Future o f C o n s e r v a t i s m . ” This program is part of our Ethics and Accountability series, underwritten by the Travers Family Foundation.

LENNY MENDONCA: George and I decided that since there is a Democratic political debate going on tonight, we’d actually not talk about politics at all. We’ll talk about his prior book. So George, tell us about baseball.

GEORGE WILL: My Cubs are doing better than your Giants.

MENDONCA: That is a low bar.

You’ve written 15 books before this [new] one, I believe.

WILL: Yes. MENDONCA: You didn’t have to write another book, but this moment in time is an important one for a serious conversation

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about what Americans should be thinking about. Tell us why you decided to do this.

WILL: Well, I started on this book well before the 2016 election, because it seemed to me that conservatism was somewhat unmoored from its traditional roots in the Founders’ philosophy, and because it seemed to me that the enormous intellectual pedigree that conservatism brings needed to be reacquainted with the American people.

But beyond that, I’ve been struck, as a Princetonian, by the degree to which American political argument for the last century has been an argument between two Princetonians, James Madison of the class of 1771 and Thomas Woodrow Wilson of the class of 1879. Woodrow Wilson was the first president to criticize the American founding, which he did root and branch. He and the other Progressives were remarkably candid and forthright about their rejection of the Founders’ natural rights doctrine and the institutional architecture that flowed from that, and they’d been amazingly successful.

I thought it was time to start the counter revolution, if you will.

MENDONCA: So you began that journey

well before the last election.

WILL: I did. I’ve been working on the book for four, five [or] six years now, but it’s an outgrowth of my doctoral dissertation, which I wrote in the mid ’60s at Princeton, the title of which was “Beyond the Reach of Majorities.” That’s a phrase that Justice Jackson put in the Supreme Court opinion overturning, after just three years, the earlier decision in which the Supreme Court said it was legitimate for states to require Jehovah’s Witness school children to salute the American flag even though it contravened their most basic beliefs.

The Supreme Court rethought that, overturned it, and Justice Jackson said, “The very purpose of a Bill of Rights is to place certain things beyond the reach of majorities, to place them above the vicissitudes of politics.”

But that [was] in 1965, [1966] and [1967], when I was working on that, [which] also reflected the fact that I grew up in central Illinois, marinated in the spirit of Lincoln. I grew up in Champaign County. My father was a professor of philosophy at the University of Illinois. Local lore has it that it was in the Champaign County courthouse that Lincoln

and a prosperous traveling railroad lawyer learned of the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, sponsored by Stephen A. Douglas, the senator from Illinois.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act undertook to solve the vexing problem of what to do about the possibility of slavery expanding into the territories. Stephen Douglas said, “Vote it up or vote it down, it’s a matter of indifference to me.” He said popular sovereignty in the territories is the answer. Lincoln’s implacable, canny, unrelenting recoil against this idea that we should submit everything in life to a vote propelled him to what I think is the greatest career in the history of world politics.

In a way, I’ve been worrying about the problem of, Is America about the majorities?

Is it about a process—majority rule—or is it about a condition—liberty? I come down on the side of the latter.

MENDONCA: From your doctoral thesis, you’ve been an observer of what’s happening and a commentator on American policy and politics. Why at this point in time is it so important to have this conversation again?

What is going on?

WILL: The wonderful equilibrium—a kind

of Newtonian physics of our politics: three branches of government, [two legislative chambers] with different electoral constituencies and electoral rhythms, vetoes, veto overrides, super majority, judicial review—a whole array of measures to slow down opinion. Madison said, “Majorities will rule, majorities should rule, but majorities’ opinion should be refined and filtered and slowed in order to have—” I love this phrase in his writing, he wanted mitigated democracy.

It seems to me we’ve lost that. In the first place, populism is the reverse of everything that conservatism stands for. Second, the Founders made Congress Article One for a reason. Article Two, which defines the president—half of Article Two is devoted to how you select a president and how you remove one if necessary. Its stipulation of his duties is in the “take care” clause. He shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed.

He is, therefore, structurally, definitionally, secondary, yet we have presidents of both parties exercising powers given to them by Congress’ control by both parties as Congress has divested itself of powers it has no right to divest itself of.

The first substantive words of the Constitution, that is, the first words after the preamble, are “All legislative powers [herein granted] shall be vested in a Congress of the United States.” The one great error my hero Madison made was he said under popular government, all power is sucked into the impetuous vortex of the legislature. The reverse has been going on for 80 years. Congress has been all too willingly shedding powers to the executive, to the point at which we have presidents utterly unconstrained in the waging of war. We have presidents able, because Congress gave them the authority, to impose taxes, which is what tariffs are, on the American people with Congress not involved. We have presidents taking funds appropriated for one purpose and repurposing them to another.

In other words, we have an unconstrained executive at the head of an administrative state that is unresponsive to Congress and out of control.

MENDONCA: Presumably, in that 80 years this wasn’t a deliberate attempt to lessen the power that Congress has by themselves and increase the power of the executive.

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We have an unconstrained executive at the head of an administrative state that is unresponsive to Congress and out of control. People always say, ‘Presidents have usurped power.’ Well, if only they’ve had to usurp it.

This power was given to them improvidently.

WILL: People always say, “Well, presidents have usurped power.” Well, if only they’ve had to usurp it. This power was given to them improvidently.

MENDONCA: What’s at the root cause of that? Is there a way to reverse that?

WILL: There are a number of root causes, one of which is that Congress is awfully busy.

We’ve had 535 members of the House for a century, and in that century the business of government—the busyness of government— has increased, I’d estimate 50-fold literally, so they don’t have time to superintend all that they’re authorizing and funding the government to do. But beyond that, I believe ideas have consequences, and indeed, I believe that only ideas have large and lasting consequences.

Today’s president is the triumph, I’m bound to say, of the Progressive overthrow of the Madisonian equilibrium. Woodrow Wilson became the first president to criticize . . . the American founding. He had an idea that presidents should be the great interpreter of the national mood and the national purpose, that Congress should be marginalized.

Now, in this, in a way, he was the legatee of Theodore Roosevelt. Theodore Roosevelt had what he called the stewardship idea of the presidency, which was that the president is free to do whatever he wants as long as it isn’t

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explicitly forbidden. So you began to see the modern presidency. This is related somewhat to modern technologies of communication.

Teddy Roosevelt, before he became president, became the first person to be president who’d been filmed by a movie camera. We really reached the apogee, though, when something came along that was as exciting to Americans in its day as the Internet is in ours, and that’s radio. Radio gave presidents this enormous reach and this enormous intimacy.

Franklin Roosevelt, when he gave his first fireside chat to the country on the radio after his inauguration in 1933, he began with two words that do not appear in the transcript of his fireside chat at Hyde park. The two words were “My friends.”

Now, we’re so used to this faux intimacy we have with our presidents. We’ve had presidents who feel our pain and all the rest. They don’t actually. [Laughter.] It doesn’t strike us nowadays, “Well, what’s unusual about that?” Try to imagine General Washington addressing a group as “my friends.” That austere Virginian—I don’t think so. I’m not sure I want a president to be my friend. I want him to take care that the laws are faithfully executed [and] otherwise get out of the center of the national consciousness.

MENDONCA: Presumably, we’re going to have a difficult time putting back in the

bottle some elements of what’s advancing this technology, communication—the media, more broadly. You did not write and believe that this was an important set of ideas to get out, to believe that we couldn’t do something about it. So what are the areas of opportunity to ensure that we are more balanced in the way you describe, where Congress takes its Article One role seriously?

WILL: First, we have to acquaint the American people with the reality of the government they have. If you walk into [the office of ] Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, you’ll see two stacks of paper. One’s about three inches tall; that’s all the laws Congress passed in a recent session. The other is eight feet tall. Those are the rules and regulations churned out by the executive branch, usually in response to the vagaries that Congress passes and is pleased to call laws.

MENDONCA: We are now at a moment where we’re having the beginnings, including tonight, of debates about the future of the presidency, the next set of ideas that ought to be part of the dialogue. Are you feeling any sense of opportunity to insert the sets of ideas that you’re talking about into that conversation, or is this not the way it’s ever going to happen?

WILL: Well, I think books matter. I know this is painfully old media, and here I am in

the heart of the new-media Silicon Valley and all that. But I think that whatever Bill Gates and all the rest of have done, Gutenberg was there first and did it better. [Laughter.]

I think that books matter, and I’m trying to get it out there. I think this is, of course, the most important book since the invention of movable type. [Laughter.]

But start a conversation. Margaret Thatcher, famously, one day after she’d been elected head of the parliamentary Conservative Party but before becoming prime minister, was at a meeting with all of her members, and one of them was up muttering on about the beauty of centrism and the unnecessary intrusion of philosophy into politics, and she finally got exasperated and reached into her famous and capacious handbag and pulled out a copy of Friedrich Hayek’s The Constitution of Liberty, slammed it on the desk and said, “This is what we believe.” I fully expect that some president someday will pick up The Conservative Sensibility and slam it on the desk and say, “This is what we believe.”

Again, ideas have consequences. To get an advanced degree in the latter half of the 19th century in America, before our universities began to develop graduate schools, you went to Germany. A lot of people with Ph.D.s went to Germany, where they acquired a great respect for the Bismarckian state and

for the Hegelian philosophy that celebrated the state as the unfolding of reason in history, and they came back and taught in the United States. Some of them came back to Johns Hopkins and taught a Ph.D. candidate named Woodrow Wilson, who then went on himself to really pioneer this academic field of public administration.

MENDONCA: And the world got worse from then.

WILL: The most important decision taken in the 20th century wasn’t Germany deciding to support Austria in the First World War, and it wasn’t Hitler invading Russia in the Second World War, and it wasn’t Deng Xiaoping modernizing China. The most important decision in the 20th century was where to locate the Princeton Graduate School. The president of the university, Woodrow Wilson, wanted it down on the campus. His nemesis, Dean Andrew Fleming West, wanted it where it is, which is up on a hill overlooking the campus.

Woodrow Wilson had one of his characteristic tantrums, resigned, went into politics and ruined the 20th century. I exaggerate a bit and simplify somewhat, but Woodrow Wilson had this theory that the separation of powers was all right once upon a time when the American people were 4 million strung along the eastern fringe of a largely unex-

plored continent, 80 percent of them living within 20 miles of Atlantic tidewater. But Wilson said, no; now we are a complicated nation united by steel rails and copper wires, and we need a nimble government and a forceful president who can wield this nimble government and a public administration that can apply science to society.

Remember science was in the air and then literally in the air—the Wright brothers, Marconi, Edison, Ford and all the rest. A great confidence in the Progressive’s head. It’s all in Herbert Croly’s book, The Promise of American Life, published in 1909 and never since out of print. There are not many books that you can say that. The fecundity of that book in shaping the American life—Louis Brandeis gave a copy to Theodore Roosevelt when he was going to Africa to shoot big animals, and he read it on safari and came back. The book was an inspiration for the founding of The New Republic magazine.

Again, I give the Progressives credit for forthrightness in rejecting the natural rights theory of our government—first come rights then comes government—and for the enormous success they’ve had.

MENDONCA: If we’re not going to have a book-length reading conversation for the average American, and we don’t want to have policy designed by tweets, where do we AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019

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actually create the space to have the kind of serious conversation and the kind of dialogue to return to real deep understanding of the essence of what the debate is?

WILL: Well, partly, government has to do less, because it’s now doing more than it knows how to do. We need a real conversation about the proper scope and actual competence of government.

The great non sequitur of Woodrow Wilson and the public administration people was this: They said the more complicated society becomes, the more it requires government to intervene in it in allocation of wealth and opportunity, and the more government must regulate it. The great economist Hayek, a Nobel Prize winner, said that’s exactly wrong.

The more complicated society becomes, the more trepidatious government ought to be before intervening in it, because the law of unintended consequences will take over.

You will get government intervening hither and yon in these incredibly complicated systems. The unintended consequences will have to be larger than and contrary to the intended consequences. I think Elizabeth Warren, for example, has a firm grip on half a point.

[Laughter.] She looks at the government and says, “This government is heavily involved in allocating wealth and opportunity.”

There is a reason why 5 of the 10 wealthiest counties in the United States by per capita income are in the Washington[, D.C.,] area.

We don’t have any natural resources; we don’t manufacture anything, but laws and trouble, trillions of dollars slosh through Washington.

It’s been well-said by someone in Washington that if you lay out a picnic, you expect to draw ants, and the biggest picnic in the world is the federal budget, and the ants are the rent-seeking interest groups that try to bend public power to private advantage.

Elizabeth Warren is absolutely right about that; but then she says the solution is to make the government very much bigger and to make it even more intrusive in allocating wealth and opportunity. It seems to me that’s wrong, to put it mildly. What we need to do is get the government to step back from allocating wealth and opportunity and let market forces work. Markets are information-generating mechanisms. They tell us what millions of people making billions of decisions a day are churning out in the collaborative, voluntary, contracting, allocation of wealth and opportunity.

MENDONCA: In some theoretical world, we have political markets, too, where we have the opportunity at least periodically to have the kind of debate, alternative choices, and lead to at least an electoral mechanism that creates some opportunity to change direction. How do we, if we can, make that market part of how we have the conversation that you’re encouraging and have a real debate that doesn’t feel like it’s happening at all within the political parties?

WILL: No, I think the political market is working. That doesn’t mean it’s working beautifully. It doesn’t mean it’s working to my preference, but I think the American political market is a fairly sensitive seismograph. Can I say that in San Francisco?

MENDONCA: Yes. Of course, you can. We haven’t had an earthquake in a while.

WILL: Measuring all the tremors in the electorate. I think it responds very quickly.

Now, what the electorate has been saying is I think unfortunate in recent years, but it has been clearly registered by the political system.

MENDONCA: What’s the reading?

WILL: A large number of Americans feel

left behind, but, more important, they feel condescended to. They feel despised. They feel that some people regard them, to coin a phrase, as a “basket of deplorables.” There’s not just material depravation, but there’s status depravation that I think is annoying a lot of people.

MENDONCA: I’m just reading through the very large number of questions that were coming in. Let me raise one of these. One of the requirements if we’re going to have a robust conversation and encourage people to read book-length works is that we have an education system and encouragement to be able to do that through not just waiting until you’re in the political life or a consumer, but in an earlier stage in your life. How do you feel about where we are on the ability to have that as part of our educational process both before and after secondary?

WILL: Civics education in our country barely exists anymore. The idea that people should be taught, a), how the system works and b), that the system works that way because we wanted it that way because certain ideas made this advisable to the founders who again said, “We adhere to the doctrine of natural rights, first come rights then comes government.” The most interesting verb in the Declaration of Independence is “secure.” “All men are created equal, . . . endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights,” and “to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men”—to secure those rights.

The Progressive view is the reverse of that. Hand me that book for a minute. I threatened you backstage I was going to read something. This would be of considerable interest to this group. In September 23rd, 1932, Franklin Roosevelt, campaigning for the president for his first term, came to San Francisco to The Commonwealth Club, and he gave a speech in which he said the following, “The Declaration of Independence discusses the problem of government in terms of a contract. Government is a relation of give and take, a contract, perforce, if we would follow the thinking out of which it grew. Under such a contract rulers were accorded power, and the people consented to that power on consideration that they be accorded certain rights. The task of statesmanship has always been the redefinition of these rights in terms of a changing and growing social order.”

I wrote a 565-page book to refute that

paragraph. The idea that we are accorded rights by the government is just antithetical to what the Founders thought, which is why Woodrow Wilson said again, with the remarkable candor of the man, “Do not read the first two paragraphs of the Declaration.”

It’s all just 4th of July boilerplate to him. He said it will only mislead you.

MENDONCA: We have an opportunity for another great thinker at The Commonwealth Club today to refute that in a way that’s 565 pages or something like.

WILL: Something like that, yeah.

MENDONCA: So, if you wanted to distill the essence of what’s the alternative view that we should be talking about at The Commonwealth Club today, what would that essence be?

WILL: It would be The Conservative Sensibility. “Sensibility”—by that I mean it’s more than an attitude, but it’s less than an agenda. I didn’t write a book to tell people what to think but to suggest how to think about a complex society. The essence of the conservative sensibility is this: Someone has said that the story of the Bible reduced to one sentence is: “God created men and women and probably lost control of events.”

[Laughter.] To the conservative sensibility, a loss of control is exhilarating. It’s excellent.

In the phrase “American conservatism,” the adjective “American” does a lot of work, because European conservatism arose out of throne-and-altar, blood-and-soil, the mists of history and all that, and it was largely to buttress established orders and institutions and hierarchies.

American conservatism is the reverse.

American conservatism wants to keep the society open to perpetual dynamism.

That’s why capitalism, which is a perpetual revolution—the greatest hymn of praise to capitalism is in “The Communist Manifesto,” where Marx and Engels say under capitalism everything disappears into thin air. “Good,” say conservatives. Let’s see what’s on the other side of the mountain.

Let’s see what’s coming next, because the change that is produced by the fecundity of a market society is breathtaking. In that sense, American conservatism wants . . . It’s a paradox. Conservatives want to conserve the freedom of constant change.

MENDONCA: Some more questions. I want to put a phrase in front of you and get your reaction to it. The first one is, “Re-

member that the United States is a federalist system, and that we’re paying too much attention to Washington and not what’s going on around the country.”

WILL: Absolutely right. When Brandeis, a good Progressive, said the states are the laboratories of democracy, he understood a fact. We didn’t have 50 states then. We do now, but it’s simply the case that we’re more apt to have one or two really intelligent and imaginative governors at any time than we are to have an imaginative and intelligent president. There’s only one of them at a time, and there are 50 governors. We’ve seen enormous things done with education and welfare and environmental matters and all the rest coming out of states.

The state of California is a good example. I think much of what is done out here probably ought to be rethought, but there’s no absence of creative vigor out here.

MENDONCA: Thank you. At least for the second part of that.

WILL: It was a backhanded compliment.

MENDONCA: Listen, I’ll take creative vigor from you as a compliment, so thank you.

Another comment: “American media today is a bigger problem than an asset to American democracy.”

WILL: It is a problem. In a sense we’ve gone back to the future. That is, there’s [more] partisanship in the media than there used to be, but in the 1790s when political parties, which were neither anticipated nor desired by the Founders, suddenly materialized, newspapers were in many cases party projects. Jefferson, for example, the secretary of state, gave lucrative printing contracts to sympathetic newspapers. In a sense, we’ve gone back to that. We may one day look back upon the idea of objective, disinterested journalism as an episode that we went through.

I think that’s unfortunate, but look, in 1980, one year before CNN went on the air, at the dinner hour in the United States 80 percent of all the television sets in use were tuned to ABC, NBC and CBS. Now, technology has obliterated that oligopoly.

I think on balance that’s a good thing, but unquestionably, when you have this wide proliferation of sources, so that people can define journalism on their own and get it on their own time, the society becomes tremendously susceptible to confirmation bias: everyone in their own intellectual silos getting only information that conforms

with they’re comfortable believing, and it’s a serious problem, and it does unquestionably exacerbate the polarization.

MENDONCA: Okay. Another assertion: “The decline in the functioning of American democracy and the confidence in that is doing enormous damage to American standing around the world.”

WILL: I don’t think the damage to American standing around the world is being done by the American people. I think it’s being done by a president who, to give him his due, campaigned on overturning not only our domestic norms of civility but our international arrangements that were created in the aftermath of the worst war in history and has kept peace rather well for 70-some years.

I think this is all voluntary. I think this is a plan. In a way it is perversely a promise kept on the part of the current president.

MENDONCA: I will note for the record that we are over 30 minutes into this conversation before we mentioned the president.

WILL: Yeah, I was on Bill Maher’s show [“Real Time with Bill Maher”] recently, and he said, “George, you don’t mention [the president]; Donald Trump’s name doesn’t appear in the book,” and I said, “Neither does Doris Day’s name,” because this is a book about ideas. [Laughter.]

MENDONCA: Okay. That’s the last conversation we’ll have about that man today.

WILL: Good.

MENDONCA: I want to ask you a question that one of our audience members wrote around the future of the Republican Party. Is the Republican Party viable going forward, and what can they do to recapture the standing?

WILL: American political parties are such simple organisms. They’re very hard to kill. It has happened in the past. I mean, the Democratic Party is, I think properly calculated, the oldest political party in the world. The Republican Party emerged in the mid-1850s.

The two parties have structured our political arguments since then, and that’s amazing stability in our political system. The Whig Party came a cropper on the largest issue we’ve ever had, which is slavery.

I think our parties are sensitive market mechanisms, and they will adapt. Right now, unfortunately, they’re responding I think not rationally to certain intense factions in the society. I think they all watch too much cable television, to tell you truth. Well, there AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019

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are 327 million people in this country. At any given moment, 320 million of them are not watching cable television and are not listening to talk radio. They’re cleaning the gutters and fixing the screen door and raising children and going to work and getting on with life.

The cable audience is angry. The talk radio audience is angry. I think the American people are sad, embarrassed, and exhausted, not angry. I think they’re sad because they’re embarrassed, and they’re exhausted because it’s exhausting being embarrassed constantly.

I think the market will produce a political leader who says, “All right, everybody [take] a deep breath,” and then he will repeat to the American people this penultimate paragraph of Lincoln’s first inaugural address, which begins, “We are not enemies. We must not be enemies.” This was a president speaking at a moment when seven states had already voted to leave the union to secede, and people will look around and say, “What are we arguing about?”

For all the talk about the discord in America, and the discord’s real, I am much more alarmed by a consensus. It’s as broad as the republic, it’s as deep as the Grand Canyon, and it is this: We should have a large, generous entitlement state and not pay for it. Everyone’s agreed on that. From Elizabeth Warren to Ted Cruz, the political class is more united by its class interest than it is divided by ideology, and its class interest is to make big government cheap by giving the American people a dollar’s worth of government and charging them 80 cents for it.

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The public loves it. The only people who have an objection aren’t born yet, because they’re the ones who are going to get the bill.

See, we used to borrow money for the future. We fought wars for future generations. We built highways and roads and dams and bridges for the future. Now we’re borrowing from the future to finance our own current consumption of goods and services. If that isn’t decadent democracy, I don’t know what is.

MENDONCA: It wasn’t that long-ago history, but [in] recent history, the academy, colleges, universities were places where there were good serious intellectual debates about the topics that we might be talking about or others. Is there any possibility that we can have an informed debate conversation on campuses again?

WILL: It’s going to be harder there than it is in the rest of society, which is really odd when you think about it. A number of 1960s radicals went to [get jobs] in the academy and got tenure and have been reproducing themselves ever since. There is a sense in which universities have decided that their role is not the transmission of the best that has been thought and said, to use Matthew Arnold’s formulation. It’s not to transmit this. It is therapeutic. It is to fix the consciousness of the imperfect students that come within their scope.

As long as universities feel that their job is consciousness raising to produce a progressive cohort, it will not get better. I recently gave the baccalaureate, which is the equivalent of the commencement address at Princeton, a

month ago. Some people got up, and they were quite indignant with me and turned their backs, but they were quiet about it, so it was fine. I’ve experienced it. I come from an academic family. I got a Ph.D. because I intended to teach and briefly did, so I’m deeply devoted to our great research universities.

It took us eight centuries to evolve these institutions through the thickets of political and ecclesiastical interference, but what it took us eight centuries to produce can be frittered away in a generation of people who do not understand how fragile it is.

MENDONCA: Okay. If you don’t look to the academy to have a spirited discussion and debate about the topics about which you care so deeply, where do you go? Where do you find the nourishment for a real discussion, debate around future conservatism?

WILL: Civil society in its richness, magazines, newspapers, think tanks. In the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s, when the conservative postwar revival began, they realized they didn’t have the academy, didn’t have Hollywood, didn’t have the media. They decided to create their own intellectual ecosystem, if you will—think tanks, the American Enterprise Institute, Heritage Foundation, CATO, et cetera, and state-based think tanks all across the country. Every state has one now.

The social soil on America is rich with the energy that [Alexis] de Tocqueville discovered and marveled at in the 1830s, the tremendous American impulse to band together in small groups and change things.

I don’t despair of this rich American loam producing new plants.

Photos by James Meinerth

RUTH CARLSON

Travel Writer; Author, Secret San Francisco: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

GREGANGELO HERRERA

Owner, Gregangelo’s Museum and Gregangelo’s Velocity Circus/Arts and Entertainment

EMPEROR NORTON

Performer Joseph Amster

Di s cove r or lear n more about some of the hidden treasures in the City by the Bay. From the June 4, 2019, Humanities MLF program in San Francisco, “Secret San Francisco.”

RUTH CARLSON: My hometown of Dubuque, Iowa, proudly calls itself Little San Francisco. Unlike the rest of Iowa, it’s very hilly; it’s on the water—the Mississippi River—and it has Victorian houses and a gorgeous Eagle Point Park that’s on the [National Register of Historic Places]. Mostly, it’s the lone cable car or funicular; it was installed in 1882 by a wealthy banker who wanted to

make it easier to get home for lunch, because he didn’t have time to go all the way up the hill with his carriage and have lunch and then get back to work.

That’s where the similarities end, and that’s why I moved here 44 years ago.

A lot of people have asked me how I found the weird items in my book. I put out a blast on social media, and every person I interviewed and talked to turned me onto somebody else, told me another story. I talked to a lot of historians, public relations people, bartenders, tour guides; read a lot of books, and spent a lot of time at the San Francisco Library’s history room. Two decades of writing travel articles helped a lot too, because that job is part detective, part listening skills and part exploring off the beaten path.

So here’s a few of the unusual factoids I found out about San Franciscans. The Bay Area loves to complain right now about traffic and crowds, but that’s nothing compared to

the Gold Rush days. The San Francisco population went from about 1,000 in 1848 to roughly 25,000 one year later.

Does anybody here know who invented the fortune cookie? Yes, the Japanese. And I just found out that, apparently, they’re still making them—very small number, but they are. San Francisco made it popular during World War II, and I’m really hoping the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory stays in business. If you haven’t gone, go. It’s in Chinatown; you can write your own messages There are more jobs per person than in any other city in the U.S.. There are fewer children per capita—I’m sure you guys know that—than any other city in the U.S. Does anybody know what the city’s official instrument is? Nobody? Yes, it’s the accordion. It almost lost to the violin, because that was [former mayor of San Francisco] Joe Alioto’s instrument, and his daughter Angela wanted it to be that; but what happened was, accordion players from all over the Bay Area came down to City Hall, and they played nonstop until—it’s true [laughter]—until the supervisor said, “Enough already. Okay, it’s the official instrument.”

At one time—I found this hard to believe—“I Left My Heart in San Francisco” [sung by Tony Bennett] was very controversial. They almost didn’t have it be the official song, but that’s a whole other longer story.

Golden Gate Park, I was also surprised about this, [is] 20 percent larger than Central Park.

The San Francisco City Hall dome is the highest in the nation. The last official duel AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019

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was fought here, over slavery. Burning Man, SantaCon and the first cat café all started here. San Francisco built the first skyscraper [in California], and it took 40 years until they built another one, which was, of course, much higher. No matter where you live in San Francisco, a park is only 10 minutes away. We’re the first city in the nation to achieve that goal.

Finally, this one I bet you can guess: What is the oldest and largest public affairs program in the country? The Commonwealth Club!

When I started writing the book, a lot of people told me, you got to meet this guy—they call him the Whirling Dervish— and see his crazy house. It’s out near Saint Francis Wood in the suburban area. I went there, and the hype lived up to his name. It’s the Gregangelo Museum, and Gregangelo himself is here. He came here on rollerblades, which is his only mode of transportation in San Francisco.

So I’m going to turn this over briefly to Gregangelo.

GREGANGELO HERRERA: I’m half Lebanese, half Mexican. I grew up in San Francisco’s Chinatown, which I always say

makes me 100 percent San Franciscan. I’m not indigenous to San Francisco, but I’m a native. I did grow up here—I always say I’m still growing up here.

I’m an artist. I’ve made a living my whole life as an artist. When I was very young, I started out in ethnic dance. Because of the two cultures I was from, I was always in dance classes, learning about Arabic dance and Mexican dance and the music and such. I ended up developing an act called the Whirling Dervish. I was 15 years old at the time, and it was my very first job; I made $30 a night, and I’ll never forget that. That was like, “Oh my gosh, I can make a living; I can make money doing this; it’s amazing.”

And I never looked back. That act, to this day, I still do perform.

But through the arc of all that, I developed a company called Velocity Circus. It was literally a circus company using ethnic acts.

I was learning in the arts that there are all these different ethnic arts that were actually developed in a circus act—that were rights of passages and stuff. So I brought all these artists together; we formed a small troupe called Velocity Circus, and over the years we

Left to Right: Gregangelo Herrera, Ruth Carlson, “Emperor Norton”

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were getting commissions and doing quite well with it. Then it developed into a larger company called Velocity Arts and Entertainment, which I still run to this day.

I was running it out of my house, which was a dilapidated rental property out in Balboa Terrace on the west side of the city.

That was in about 1980 when we started that. I kind of use the house as a lab to build costumes and certain installations. I was doing public works for museums and fairs and festivals. I would kind of just keep working on this house, fix it up, put in new plumbing, whatever I needed to do. My only principle was that it had to be artists who were doing the work in the house. In fact, I just left the house about an hour ago, on my roller skates, and when I left there’s about 10 artists-in-residence there right now.

Though Ruth advertised this place, which is now called the Gregangelo Museum, it’s not a museum to me. It’s not really a museum at all. It’s become a hub, a safe place for artists to come work and make a living in this city.

It’s become where people now from all over the world are coming to. In fact, when I left the house today, there was a family of seven

As emperor, I would issue numerous proclamations, some of which were considered a little bit daft at the time, but I was a great visionary, for many of my ideas actually came true.

people outside, and all I can do is look at them and say, “This is a miracle that you’re here in front of my house.” This was not meant to be an attraction. It wasn’t designed; it wasn’t planned. It happened quite, quite organically. It’s become sort of a cultural hub in the city now.

I’m 40 years into it by this point, and I’m really grateful that Ruth showed up, found it. She did the tour—I had no idea that Ruth was a writer when I met her—and added it to the book. Being an artist, we never have budgets for marketing and stuff like that. I never intended to market this house; it was just somewhere I lived and worked. In the last two years, during our culture clash that we’re experiencing in San Francisco—growth, a change in the city again—I’ve decided to focus on it more and open it to the public.

I’ve kind of been saying that San Francisco’s going through a metamorphosis. Being a native here, growing up in the ’60s and the ’70s and coming of age in the ’80s, I’ve seen a lot of change; we’ve all seen a lot of change here. Everybody—after two or three generations, a store closes, and everyone thinks it’s the end of the world. Well, it’s not; it’s the

beginning of something new. And the house, we’re using it for that quite intentionally—to show people arts and culture are alive and well here in the city. This metamorphosis—I believe when we come out of this cocoon right now, I think we’ll be blossoming into something quite spectacular. Again, not that we aren’t right now; I think everything’s always quite spectacular. . . .

We’ve been very lucky, for just being artists doing our thing—we’re not marketing people or anything—to keep getting these television specials. One happened to be on Netflix.

It was an incredible experience filming it.

A lot of things happened during the arc of that filming.

The first thing that happened, as soon as the crew from London got off the plane, they took me up to the top of Lombard Street and told me to skate down the hill. I was like, “Are you trying to kill me on the first scene?” While we were doing that, their production vehicle got robbed—snatch and grab—everything got stolen: their passports, their computers, their equipment, everything, and then I had to play the ringmaster in the circus and be “the show must go on.”

We had an incredible, extraordinary time together through the arc of that week they were filming.

When I saw the final cut, I was like, “that’s kind of not that involved.” I was about to call the director. I’m like, what’s up? And within an hour we got about 100 calls, and the floodgates opened, and people just started coming through the home. Something I joke about is our guides in the house always say, “The house is not about design or décor or anything.” It’s very unintended—the whole thing. Just last week, somebody sends me— SF Weekly has the “Best of San Francisco.”

Last week, an artist forwards me, “You got ‘the Best of San Francisco.’” I’m like, “What for?” “The Best Decorated House.” Well, as long as it brings people in, they’ll discover there’s a lot more beyond decoration.

The real function of the house, I would say, is it’s about everyone who walks into the house. You really are a character in the scene.

I always say it’s an equalizer for all walks of life, no matter what your background. It’s a place that not only questions but will actually shatter indoctrinations. We do that kind of intentionally now, because you realize that AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019

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people are holding a lot of things that mask their own truth. There’s 27 rooms in the house now. We have different levels of tours, and people spend two, three, four, sometimes five hours in there. We go at people’s own paces, and that’s also been quite remarkable to me, how people really—time slows down, and they talk to each other. I say it’s a place to connect; that’s really what it is. And the more we experience this culture clash, the more the digital age is surfacing, the more I want to adapt to it, but the more I realize that people really do need to do what you’re doing today: Come together, have discussions, listen to one another, connect with each other—and that’s really the intent of the house. It’s not like a museum; we don’t even talk about the art, to tell you the truth. It’s simply a catalyst to get people to connect, ask important questions of each other, to allow everybody to be themselves.

I think it’s really timely that this book came out with Ruth, at a time when we are experiencing change. It’s really important how Ruth has highlighted so many small businesses and a lot of the arts and culture that are struggling now, because we’ve been literally, through all of the large press, written out of existence. I find myself constantly

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writing to publications saying, “Stop saying the artists aren’t here.” We’re here; we’re alive; we’re well; we’re thriving. The culture’s fine; it’s just in flux.

CARLSON: For some reason, this [item in my book] has attracted the most attention.

So I thought I would [relate] part of “Stinky Saturday” to you: It’s the hottest ticket in town, booked months in advance, and it’s not a chance to see “Hamilton” or the Warriors.

It’s the city’s underground. Every month, people sign up for free tours of San Francisco’s sewer system, or as the PUC [Public Utilities Commission] markets it: wastewater treatment plants. Sounds much better.

I went to the Southeast Treatment Plant, which handles 80 percent of the city’s sewage.

There’s another treatment plant near the zoo, called Oceanside. I heard that’s more fragrant. [Laughter.] I didn’t get a chance to go there. Like most special events, it requires a dress code. In this case, it was closed-toe shoes, long-sleeve shirt and long pants, a hardhat, and reflective vest. But instead of white gloves, they provide latex gloves. Our tour guide was a lawyer who said he quit his job and he went to work for the wastewater treatment plant because he wants to make a difference. Thought that was really interesting. [Laughter.] I didn’t mean it to be funny, but our sewers apparently go above and beyond the strict environmental laws.

The city’s sewer system dates back to the Gold Rush. It’s very unique. We might be the only city—we’re one of the few—that has a combined system. We collect and treat storm water together with drains in houses

and businesses; they all come together. So that means workers find some unusual things. They find the usual wedding rings, money, drugs; but one time a whole family of ducks came through, and they were still alive; they were fine. So check out the Public Utilities Commission [cpuc.ca.gov] website if you want to get your free tickets to this underground tour.

Another unique thing about San Francisco is our governance system. England took Meghan Markle, dang it, but we also have royalty. Maybe you’ve seen him walking around town in his ostrich hat and military uniform. I hope everyone has practiced their bows, because Emperor Norton, a.k.a. Joseph Amster, is here to talk to you.

EMPEROR NORTON (JOSEPH AMSTER): I was born Joshua Abraham Norton in London, England, on February 4, 1818.

I’m 201 years old. Not bad, huh? Sunscreen, I highly recommend it. At a very young age, my family immigrates to Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. It is there that my father was in the ship chandlery business. He sold ship rigging, supplies, that sort of thing. Very successful at what he did. When he died, he left me an inheritance of $40,000, which in those days was a pretty fair amount of money.

I come to San Francisco in 1849, but unlike others of that era, I do not seek my fortune in the gold fields of the Sierra. I make my money by investing in real estate and commodities. In just four years, I increase that fortune to $250,000. That’s $10 million today, so I am a wealthy man, indeed. I hobnob with the best in town. I’m a member of the vigilance committee and the Freemasons, but my fortune, great as it was, was not enough. I wanted more money.

So I hatched a scheme that I thought could

not fail. I was going to corner the market on rice. It made perfect sense. There’s a rice famine in China. There are no exports of rice in the United States. The price of rice in San Francisco is soaring, and I buy up all the rice in the city. I put it on a warehouse boat in the harbor, and I’m going to hold on to it, force the price to peak and make myself a vast amount of money. [Cackling.]

What I didn’t count on were two boatloads of rice from Peru that come sailing into the Bay at that very moment. That creates a glut on the market. Instead of rising, as I’d anticipated, the price instead plummets to far less than what it was before the famine. I’m wiped out; I lose everything, I have to declare bankruptcy. Shamed, broken and forgotten, I disappear for a couple of years. No one knows where I went or what happened to me until the 17th of September 1859—the morning I walk into the offices of the San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin newspaper and hand editor George Fitch a proclamation, which he prints in that evening’s edition.

It reads: “At the peremptory request and desire of a large majority of the citizens of these United States, I, Joshua Norton, formerly of Algoa Bay, Cape of Good Hope, and now for the last nine years and 10 months past, of San Francisco, California, declare and proclaim myself emperor of these United States. [Laughter.] And in virtue of the authority thereby in me vested, do hereby order and direct the representative of the different states of the Union to assemble in Musical Hall of this city on the first day of February next, then and there to make such alterations to the existing laws of the Union as may ameliorate the evils under which this country is laboring, and thereby cause confidence to exist, both at home and abroad,

in our stability and integrity.”

With that, I become Norton I, emperor of the United States. I would later add the title protector of Mexico. Now, if I were to do that in any other city in the world, it would be dismissed as the rantings of a madman.

Except San Francisco. Here we have a tradition of embracing and encouraging the—let’s just say, eccentric. So instead the people of San Francisco will treat me as if I were their emperor for the next 21 years. I am given a suitable uniform by the office of the Presidio. I eat for free in restaurants, have the best seats in the theater. On opening night, people rise in my honor. The police salute me. Businesses clamor for my endorsement.

I ride transit for free. I even print my own imperial treasury bonds. These were accepted as legal tender throughout the city whenever I presented them.

As emperor, I would issue numerous proclamations, some of which were considered a little bit daft at the time, but I was a great visionary, for many of my ideas actually came true. Example: In 1872, I proclaimed that a bridge should be built spanning San Francisco Bay to Oakland. There it stands, in nearly the exact spot where I called for it. Oh, you may know it as the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, but really it should be called the Emperor Norton Bridge.

I said bring the nations of the world together in one place to promote peace and harmony. The United Nations was formed in this city in 1945. I proclaimed that a great Christmas tree should be erected every year in Union Square. Have you seen it? My Christ-

mas tree—the first public Christmas tree in America. I abolished Congress, the Supreme Court, the presidency and the Democratic and Republican parties. Can I get an “amen”?

I also issued another proclamation, which is still the law in this city and strictly enforced at all times. Whoever, after due and proper warning, shall be heard to utter the abominable word Frisco, which has no linguistic or other warrant, shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor and pay the imperial treasury as penalty the sum of $25. You’ve all been sufficiently warned.

I have a long and prosperous reign of 21 years. . . . I pass away [on] January 8, 1880.

I am laid out in a rosewood coffin, decorated with silver, in a funeral home at O’Farrell and Grant, where the ice cream museum stands today. Thirty thousand people come to pay their last respects to me. They have to call out the police to hold the crowds back. My funeral procession is over two miles long.

An estimated 200,000 people, virtually the entire population of San Francisco at that time, lined the route to the cemetery. It is the biggest funeral the city has ever seen to this day. As my coffin is lowered into the ground, there’s a total eclipse of the sun. Check the newspapers. It’s true.

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ADAM SCHIFF WASHINGTON

ON GUARD

Photos by Ed Ritger

ADAM SCHIFF

U.S. Representative for District 28 (D-CA); Chair, U.S. House Intelligence Committee

JOHN DIAZ

Editorial Page Editor, San Francisco Chronicle—Moderator One of the leading Democrats in the new House majority, Schiff discusses the Mueller report, presidential attacks and national security. From the May 31, 2019, program in San Francisco, “Rep. Adam Schiff, Chair of the House Intelligence Committee.”

I

thought what I would do tonight is just make a few observations about what [special counsel] Bob Mueller had to say, and then I really look forward to our conversation.

Let me start with Mr. Mueller. I think there were a number of very important points that he made, and the first was very apparent from the fact that he began with this and he ended with this: Russia engaged in a systematic effort to interfere with our democratic affairs, to interfere with our election. In all the debate that’s going on about whether to impeach or not impeach, [you could almost hear him saying], “Let’s not forget that a foreign hostile power attacked our democracy and, what’s more, may very well do so again.”

I would imagine there is frustration within the Mueller team that this central conclusion and all the detail that he laid out in his report about how the Russians interfere through social media, through hacking and dumping operations and other means has gotten such little attention, that the government has taken so little by way of steps to protect us going forward, and that is all too tragically true.

If this were a normal world and a normal administration and we had a normal president—and I vaguely remember what that’s like—the president would be sitting down with his cabinet and saying, “Secretary of Defense, what are you doing to deter the Russians from further interference in 2020?

Secretary of State, what have you told your Russian counterpart about how the sanctions they will see if they meddle with us again are like nothing they’ve seen before? Director of the CIA, what are you hearing about plans and intentions by the Kremlin? Director of Homeland Security, what states are ready and what states are unprepared, and what states are unwilling to make use of the tools that we have the diagnostics to help them prepare their voting systems?”

But these conversations are not going on, because [none] of those cabinet members [will] raise these issues the president considers a threat to his legitimacy, and the president, of course, is not going to raise these issues himself. Quite the contrary; once again in another conversation with Vladimir Putin, the president called this whole thing a hoax.

Now imagine you’re the Kremlin hearing the president of the United States cover you this way. What message do you take from that? I think the message Vladimir Putin walks away from that call with is, “You can meddle again as long as you meddle on my side. You can count on my being too weak to call you out, and what’s more, I may even be grateful.”

That may be the lesson that Vladimir Putin has walked away [with], and that is certainly not a lesson we want the Russians to have. I think the first point that Bob Mueller wanted to get across is, “Let’s not forget what happened. Let’s prepare for the future.” That’s why he ended on Russia.

The second point I think he made was, “Don’t listen to Bill Barr.” [Laughter.] Now, Bob Mueller’s too much of a gentleman and an institutionalist to talk that way, so I will say it for him. I think what he wanted to get across is that he felt he could not opine on whether the president should be indicted [because] he could not indict a sitting president. He sure as hell didn’t expect someone to airdrop in and do so for him and exonerate the president when he found that he could not be exonerated. I think he wanted to underscore that for the country, lest there be any confusion on that point—that if he thought the evidence supported exoneration, he would have said so, and he did not. He did not expect someone who wrote a 19-page

legal diatribe even before he was familiar with the facts to come in and arrogate to himself that decision. He intended to leave the consequences to Congress.

Now I want to say there are a few things that I don’t agree with Bob Mueller on. One of the more significant is his statement that to indict a sitting president is unconstitutional.

He said that as if you could read in a certain article in the Constitution where it says, “Thou shalt not indict a sitting president.” Of course, the Constitution doesn’t say anything of the kind. All that Bob Mueller is going by is an opinion of certain lawyers who occupied a certain office of legal counsel, at certain times in the past. That’s it—a few lawyers who are not judges, who are not Supreme Court interpreters of the Constitution, who derived their analysis of what is implied in the Constitution to reach that conclusion.

When he says quite matter-of-factly it’s unconstitutional, I think that grossly not only oversimplifies the matter, but I think it’s wrong. Indeed, during Watergate, when there was an OLC [Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel] opinion to that effect, Leon Jaworski, the prosecutor then, in an argument over whether [Vice President] Spiro Agnew could be indicted—when Agnew’s defense made the point [that] you can’t indict the vice president any more than you can indict the president, Jaworski said, “You can indict the president.”

Jaworski disagreed with the Office of Legal Counsel. So I think that OLC logic is flawed. Now I will say this: If you accept the logic of the OLC opinion, it does follow, as Bob Mueller argued, that if you can’t indict a sitting president—because the president would not be able to clear their name even if

you abstain from the prosecution until they left office—the president would not be able to clear their name until they did leave office.

It does follow that you shouldn’t say, “But for that policy, you would have indicted,” because then you’re doing the same thing.

You’re casting the same stigma.

Now for my point of view. One of the flaws in the OLC opinion is that where, by operation of the statute of limitations, a president can escape justice, that factor weighs much more heavily than what stigma might be applied by indicting a sitting president in delaying prosecution. But nonetheless, if you follow the logic of the OLC opinion, it does lead you to that conclusion. Therefore, I find it completely disingenuous of Bill Barr to say, “No, Mueller could have decided and could have said the president should be indicted.” I guarantee you had Bob Mueller come to Bill Barr and said, “I’m going to announce that he should be indicted,” he would have had a real fight on his hands.

If Bill Barr believes that Bob Mueller was completely free to opine on whether the

president should be indicted even though he couldn’t actually indict him, then I guess the Southern District of New York should be free to say the president should be indicted.

[Applause.] But I wouldn’t hold your breath expecting Bill Barr to [advocate] the Southern District do that.

The other thing that Bob Mueller said is that he wasn’t going to tell Congress what to do about this, but he was leaving it to Congress. In the same way that Bob Mueller was not prepared to say whether the president should be indicted, he was not prepared to say whether the president should be impeached, and probably for much the same reason.

Indeed, he did not even bring himself to use the word “impeach.” I think he felt that it was now up to Congress to decide what the proper course should be given the facts that he laid out in his report.

Finally, Bob Mueller said, “I really don’t want to testify,” but he should. [Applause.]

I think for this former Marine, there is one more service to undertake, and that is to testify before Congress to answer not just our

questions but your questions. I don’t think it’s sufficient to speak for 10 minutes and drop the microphone and say, “I’ve said enough.”

I don’t think it enough to come before Congress and say that I will merely recite from my report. You should answer questions—and there are a great many legitimate questions that he can answer.

Now I can understand why he would not want to answer, nor do I think it should be required that he should have to answer hypothetical questions: “Well, if there were no OLC opinion, would you have indicted the president?” But far beyond that question, there are lots of other questions. On the Intelligence Committee, for example, we are deeply interested in how this began and what happened with the counterintelligence investigation. This began not as a criminal probe. It began as an investigation by the FBI into whether people around the president and then ultimately the president himself were compromised by a foreign power.

Now, that compromise could be criminal or could be noncriminal. Moscow’s Trump

Bob Mueller, if you want the country to understand your report, you need to talk about it. . . . I think you have one more service to provide this country, and I hope you will testify.

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Tower—the president’s effort to make money in Russia, to seek the Kremlin’s help to make that money during the presidential campaign, the lies he told his American people about that—may not be criminal, but it is deeply compromising. When this was found out about a year later after the fact in 2017, it was found out that this deal went on far longer than we knew, because Michael Cohen had lied to our committee. The president’s response was characteristic, “It’s not a crime and what’s more, I might have lost that election. Why should I miss out on all those opportunities?” I.e., “Why should I miss out on all that money?”

If that’s his attitude then, what is to say that his attitude today is not, “I may lose reelection. Why should I miss out on making all that money? I’d be a damn fool to criticize Vladimir Putin, who holds the purse strings over that project.” That is deeply compromising.

Did the FBI learn of other compromise that the country should know about whether it was criminal or not?

Bob Mueller’s charter, as he interpreted it—and he took a very narrow interpretation—was to look at the hacking and dumping operation, to look at the social media operation and determine whether they were criminal. It was not to report to the country about acts noncriminal that could be deeply compromising, and those are among the questions we should be asking to protect the country.

I would make this final appeal to Bob Mueller: If you want the country to understand your report, you need to talk about it. If you join the others like [former White House counsel] Don McGahn that are refusing to testify, then the only story the American people may hear is the one Bill Barr wants to tell of a deep-state coup conspiracy theory that slanders the hard-working men and women of the FBI and the intelligence agencies, that risks compromising our sources and methods in the service of an unethical president.

Mr. Mueller, I think you have one more service to provide this country, and I hope you will testify.

Question and answer session JOHN DIAZ: You mentioned the Bob Mueller statement the other day, his 10-minute statement, and even though he really didn’t go any further than he had in the

Mueller report, it seemed to almost give a jolt of adrenaline to the pro-impeachment forces within the Democratic caucus. Do you think his statement was a game changer, and what does it say about actually seeing his physical presence on TV versus reading this 448-page report?

ADAM SCHIFF: I don’t know that it was a game changer on impeachment, because, as you say, there really weren’t a lot of new facts, maybe any new facts, in what he had to say.

It may be that his very appearance was an opportunity for those that had reached that point already to declare themselves in favor of impeachment, but he did underscore how seeing is believing, being able to hear from someone about the work they did [and] the conclusions they reached has an impact that the dry written word doesn’t have.

It’s one thing to read the report. It’s another to have Don McGahn testify before the American people, ”The president asked me to fire Bob Mueller and then later asked me to lie about it.” And this is what he said.

The president and his duplicity should be exposed. The base and wrongful and obstructive conduct of his should be exposed.

In many ways, the Mueller report is a skeletal summary of the facts, and there are a great many facts that go well beyond those written pages, and the American people have a right to hear.

It certainly would help guide us in deciding whether this man should be removed from office, whether those proceedings should be initiated regardless of the result in the Senate.

DIAZ: We spoke a little bit backstage about Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi’s really critical role in all of this. She wants to have a methodical investigation. She said many times, before they begin impeachment you should really have an ironclad case against the president that will move people who otherwise might not be moved. Of course, there’s some people who aren’t going to be moved at all, with “R”s on their chest. But what do you think of the way she’s handling it, and how long do you think she can keep some of the more liberal impeachment-now members at bay?

SCHIFF: The speaker often remarks these days how the times have found us. That is, I think, so completely correct as to Nancy Pelosi. The times have found Nancy Pelosi.

[Applause.] She is the absolute right woman for the hour. I do not know anyone else in our

caucus who could play the role that she is so well, both in how she stands up to the president and how she keeps our caucus together.

Now, the fact that we have members that are very pro-impeachment and very against impeachment or whatnot, keeping us together doesn’t mean forcing us all to have the same view. It does mean that we keep our caucus organized, pulling together with our priorities first and foremost and intact. I don’t know anyone else who could do that at such a difficult and perilous moment. I think she’s doing just a phenomenal job. [Applause.]

DIAZ: And nobody is better than Nancy Pelosi at getting under the skin of this president.

[Laughter.] I think that probably bought her some good will in the caucus, did it not?

SCHIFF: Yes. I think there’s just great recognition and respect within the caucus as there is in the country for how deftly she’s handled this situation and how, in every confrontation that she has with the president, her stature has only enhanced and his is only diminished.

[Applause.]

DIAZ: Let me ask you a subject that I raised in my column in the Sunday Chronicle a couple weeks ago. [It is about whether] we are in a constitutional crisis. I asked some law professors and even gave some of my own views. There’s no legal definition for a constitutional crisis, obviously, but are we in one?

SCHIFF: I think we’re on the threshold of one. Right now, as between the different branches of government, we have obviously a very strong confrontation between the presidency and the Congress, but the courts are mediating. The courts are basically handing the president’s head to him on a platter. In this obstructionism by the administration, their utter refusal to have witnesses testify, provide documents to Congress, the courts— now two in a row last week—not only ruled against this blanket obstructionism policy but said that they didn’t even raise serious legal questions for the court.

You rarely see such dismissive language by multiple judges, and so it continues to proceed through the courts. If we get to the point where the litigation is done and the administration refuses nonetheless and ignores [a] court order, then we are in a full-blown crisis, because where do you go from there?

I think that’s the very definition of a crisis, when there is no clear path forward.

I do think that we are already thinking about or we’re going to need to devise a AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019

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method for a far quicker enforcement of Congress’s oversight power. One method of doing that is to revive Congress’ power of inherent contempt. This was a process that Congress used up until the 1930s, in which if someone refused requests for documents or testimony, Congress would have them arrested. [Applause.] That went up to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court held in favor of the Congress and said, “Inherent in Congress’ power to do oversight is the power to enforce that oversight.”

Now, that fell into disuse I think in part because it too was at least partially reliant on the courts for ultimate enforcement, but I think we need to look at reviving that mechanism, and—well, it isn’t very attractive, I know, to incarcerate these people; we may choose to opt for other incentives like a daily fine until they comply. Both of these mechanisms, as a practical matter, would still require court enforcement. But one of the advantages of approaching this with fines is people in the administration and even more so people outside the administration who refuse and are incurring a daily fine—yes, it is true, we would have to go to court to enforce and garnish their wages because we don’t have the ability to do that on our own, but I don’t know how many of them would be willing to bet their worth that the president will have their back, because when the litigation is over, they will face the bill personally—not their agency, not their department, not Donald Trump, but them. This president has shown time and time again he cares about no one but himself, so that could be an effective mechanism to exact compliance.

DIAZ: I had promised the audience we had some breaking news from today, and in fact you sent a letter to the heads of the intelligence agencies basically warning them or requesting that they keep you up to speed, as Intelligence Committee chair, on William Barr’s investigation of the investigation. Obviously, you don’t have a great deal of trust for the attorney general of the United States.

SCHIFF: I don’t. I have to tell you, I think he’s the second most dangerous man in the country.

There is a lot he has done in his short tenure in office that ought to be deeply alarming to all Americans. First was the blatant misrepresentations of Bob Mueller’s work. Next was the fact that he came before the Congress and he lied, and this is the top

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law enforcement officer in the country. But I think most serious was when he told the Congress that the president, at any time, could have made the Mueller investigation go away if he thought it unfair. That is the statement from the attorney general, the top law enforcement officer in the country—that the president is above the law.

If this president could have made the Mueller investigation go away, it stands to reason he could make any one of those 14 cases that were referred to other prosecutorial offices similarly go away if he decides they’re unfair. Of course, this is a president who thinks everything is unfair to him. He is the no. 1 victim in the world, apparently.

That makes Barr a very dangerous man, and it seems not a week goes by without further duplicity on his part. I don’t know how many of you followed his interview with CBS this week, but he once again reiterated that there’s nothing wrong with his referring to the initiation of this investigation as spying on the Trump campaign.

Now Bill Barr’s a lot of things, but he is no fool. He understands exactly how charged that term is, and for him to suggest otherwise is so completely disingenuous that I don’t see how people at the Department of Justice can have any respect for this man. They understand what that term means. They understand what damage it does to their institution when he talks in such cavalier fashion about spying on a presidential campaign. But, of course, it’s quite intentional, and if you look at his Fox interview the other day, he was asked—and this was on Fox where the softballs don’t get any softer—he was asked, “Well, Don McGahn asked for Mueller to be fired. How do you reconcile that?”

Barr said, “No. He didn’t asked him to be fired. He asked him to be removed.” Well, that’s okay then. I mean, that the attorney general could engage in that kind of sophistry, it takes your breath away. It’s as if [lawyer] Rudy Giuliani was appointed attorney general—except he’s far more dangerous than Giuliani. He’s much more capable at his job, but a much better dissembler than Giuliani, and that makes him very dangerous.

DIAZ: Do you think an im-

peachment process would focus the American mind on what’s going on in Washington in a way that it is not now? I hear from a lot of politicians, including Democrats, that when they go out to their districts that . . . impeachment is not really forefront of [constituents’] minds; they’re talking about jobs; they’re talking about income inequality; they’re talking about the tariffs. But once you have an impeachment process and you have televised hearings, will that change things?

SCHIFF: I have to say I’m a bit skeptical that even if we were completely successful through an impeachment or through oversight— bring all these witnesses in—I am skeptical of how many minds will ultimately be changed.

We’re such a polarized country right now.

There are a great many similarities between Watergate and today, although I think the president’s conduct is far worse than anything we saw of Nixon during Watergate, and I think the stakes are far higher here. We’re not dealing with a bunch of bungling burglars; we’re dealing with a foreign adversary that attacked our democracy.

DIAZ: When you’re in the elevator with some of your Republican colleagues, are they really saying what they’re thinking, or are they saying different things to you about this president and everything that’s going on when you’re just talking privately?

SCHIFF: They will certainly express their deep misgivings in private. I’ve had even senior Republicans pass me in the corridor and say in a hushed tone, “Keep doing what you’re doing,” but honestly— DIAZ: Yeah, that’s really a sad commentary.

SCHIFF: Well, it is. Frankly, I’m tired of the private misgivings. It’s time for public courage. [Applause.]

Program Photos by Sonya Abrams

SHANNON WATTS

FIGHT LIKE A MOTHER TARGETING GUN VIOLENCE SHANNON WATTS

Founder, Moms Demand Action; Author, Fight Like a Mother: How a Grassroots Movement Took on the Gun Lobby and Why Women Will Change the World

CLARA JEFFERY

Editor in Chief, Mother Jones Magazine—Moderator The inside story of how a gras sroot s or ganiz ation became a national force in the gun debates. From the June 12, 2019, Inforum program in San Francisco, “Shannon Watts: Fight Like a Mother.”

CLARA JEFFERY: On December 14, 2012, I’m sure that day a lot of us remember, Shannon was a mother of five, and a former communications executive who, like many of us, [was] horrified to learn that day of the tragic Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that took the lives of 20 first graders and six educators. She decided to start Moms

Demand Action, which has since grown into one of [the largest], if not the largest, grassroots network in America, with chapters in all 50 states and millions of supporters. Some of you are here tonight.

That night, you went home and logged into Facebook and wrote a call to action.

You’re a mom, but you’re also an experienced communications professional. Did you know what you were about to start?

SHANNON WATTS: I had no idea. Absolutely no idea. I had gone online and looked for something like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, thinking surely this already exists.

It’s my moment to get off the sidelines. I’m devastated by what’s happened. I’m angry that I’m seeing pundits and politicians on my television set saying the solution to this crisis is more guns, and I’m going to go ahead and join what’s already been started.

I couldn’t find anything. I found some male-run think tanks in Washington DC. I found some one-off state organizations, also mostly run by men. And I knew I wanted to be part of a bad-ass army of women across the country. I started this Facebook page, and I appreciate the compliment about my communications background, but the fact that I called it One Million Moms for Gun Control should tell you that I was alone in my kitchen and not with the focus group.

My daughter, who is gay, told me hours later that One Million Moms was a group

trying to get JCPenney to [not have Ellen Degeneres] be their spokesperson, so that was bad. I soon after got a call from Representative Carolyn McCarthy [D-NY], whose husband and son were shot on the Long Island Rail Road. I’m in my kitchen [and] I get this call from a Washington, D.C., area code. I pick it up and she says, “No one uses the phrase gun control. We’ve been waiting for moms and women to organize across the country, but we can’t do it with that name.”

We changed our name a couple of weeks later.

JEFFERY: What made you think that the rubric of moms, and an organization at least initially led by moms, could be a game changer?

WATTS: I intuitively felt that women, but in particular moms, were the yin to the gun lobby’s yang. That the gun lobby had made this group of local extremists, a vocal minority, afraid their guns would be taken away. But 80 million moms in this country, regardless of political party, especially that week, that day, were afraid their children would be taken away. And that if we could get together and unite on this issue, that we could quickly solve it just like we solve so many issues in this country.

JEFFERY: You speak about the superpower of moms, and I think we’ve seen in this movement and in other political organizing in the last couple of years, how women use skills that they use in their jobs and in their AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019

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home, but maybe never thought that they could use those to effect massive political change. Tell me what you think those are.

WATTS: Well, first of all, we spend a lot of time negotiating. Anyone here who has kids—more than one—you know that that’s a big part of your job. We spend a lot of time budgeting and planning for our family’s spending, and also we’re multitasking [experts]. There’s nothing I can’t do all at the same time, and that really became true when I became a woman and a mom. But the other thing is that when you spend any time in a state house, you very quickly realize that these are not rocket scientists.

I would trust very few of them to get me a cup of coffee, let alone make the laws that protect my family and my community. And that’s why so quickly our volunteers have moved from shaping policy to making it, because they realized that the skills they have as a mom have qualified them to do this job.

JEFFERY: When you guys were first going, there were certainly a number of high-profile instances when mom volunteers were confronted by open carry activists, and essentially the visual for those of you who somehow don’t remember this, was usually large guys with really large assault weapons confronting you. That just must have been terrifying to you as a leader of an organization, as well as terrifying to of course those frontline volunteers and organizers.

Do you still face that kind of physical intimidation out there?

WATTS: We do. Open carry is legal in 45 states. It’s not legal here in the state of California, but where I live in Colorado, you can walk up and down Pearl Street with an AR-15 strapped to your chest, but not a dog. That’s the absurdity of the gun laws in our country.

One of the early examples you’re talking about, our volunteers, four of them, were having a membership lunch in a restaurant.

They looked out the window and 40 people were pulling up in pickup trucks and pulling long guns out of their cars and just holding them and posing with them and waiting for these women to come out of the restaurant.

There was nothing the police could do because it’s perfectly legal—again, in 45 states.

We do still see that. I think they realized that was a very bad visual that went viral and it didn’t do what they had hoped it would do, which was to silence and intimidate us. It turned on them. But even this last weekend it was wear orange; and in Ohio a lot of armed men wearing orange showed up at our event again to intimidate and silence us.

JEFFERY: When that happens, do you think the visual and the public sympathy is more likely to go to you because it is mostly a group of women and with that kind of mom’s identifier again?

WATTS: I do. I think that’s why they don’t do it quite as much as they used to, because

Shannon Watts talks with Clara Jeffery

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they realized that it didn’t have the impact they wanted it to. But that said, I also think it’s so important to show America: What does open carry look like? It’s how we got Starbucks and so many other companies to change their policies, because when you see someone with a gun in their pocket or an AR-15 strapped to their chest ordering a latte, you realize that there’s something very wrong with this country.

JEFFERY: Did those kinds of corporate boycotts and corporate movements—you guys did Starbucks, there was Burger King, Target— WATTS: Chipotle; Burger King was not one of them. Chipotle was my favorite. But there were a bunch of companies in the early days.

I saw on the news that Starbucks was no longer going to allow smoking 20 feet outside the stores. I called and said, “Will you still allow open carry?” They said, “Yes, we’re still going to follow the law.” Our volunteers said, “Well, we’re more afraid of secondhand bullets than secondhand smoke.”

We embarked on a campaign called Skip Starbucks Saturdays; we were too small to do a boycott. Even then the soccer moms gave me a really hard time about not having a coffee on Saturday [laughter], but within three months Howard Schultz came out on television, and said, “Guns are no longer welcome in our stores.” We replicated that.

We were using hashtag like burritosnotbullets

for Chipotle and other companies. But that was the early days, when companies did not want to talk about this issue.

Now we have companies like Levi’s, like Dick’s Sporting Goods, like Toms Shoes, coming to us and saying, “Not only do we want to have the right policies, but we actually want to be part of your coalition.”

JEFFERY: The Dick’s change after Parkland seemed like a particularly important corporate cultural shift. It’s a great, huge, massive—there’s everything in [Dick’s], but the gun section and many or maybe all of them, is quite huge. This was not a small decision on their part, culturally and perhaps for sales. What did you hear about why they did that? Was it just a sort of post-Parkland reaction or they had been leading up to this?

WATTS: I think they had been leading up to it and it was certainly Parkland, but also many of their employees are based in Pittsburgh, and then there was the horrific shooting at the synagogue. It has been a gradual change, but something I think that was turbocharged by these horrific shooting tragedies. I think it’s incredibly brave they kind of said, “We’re not going to sell semi-automatic rifles anymore,” and then they moved to, “Well, in fact, we’re actually getting rid of much of the gun sales across the company.”

At first they suffered financially because of it, but they seem to be back on track. They kind of said all along, “We don’t care. We

want to be on the right side of history on this issue.” The NRA knew it was a huge cultural shift, because they attack them so mercilessly over it. But that’s how change happens.

JEFFERY: You personally have faced a lot of threats. Tell us what you feel comfortable sharing about that.

WATTS: Sure. Within hours, the threats of death and sexual violence started against me, against my daughters; letters, emails, people driving by my house. I called the police. In the early days I lived in Indiana. The officer who came to my house said, “Well, that’s what you get when you mess with the Second Amendment, ma’am.” I realized that I was sort of on my own, but also that, much like the open carry protests we were talking about, that that is meant to intimidate and silence me and our volunteers. If we lose our children, we have nothing left to lose. So we weren’t going to do that.

It’s been more interesting since the NRA is . . . experiencing [troubles], but they started attacking me more and more I think to distract from what they’re going through. The death threats in the last three weeks have been a reminder of what it was like in the early days. It’s been that intense, but I’m hopeful that it’s a good sign that they’re losing a lot of their power.

JEFFERY: Given all that, you’re still not at all shy about mixing it up on Twitter. Why is being so personally visible, and confron-

tational even, a good strategy?

WATTS: I’m happy to be the tip of the spear. There needs to be someone who will absorb the blows and also correct the NRA’s misinformation. They have been spreading it for decades, and it’s almost become part of the American vernacular, all of the myths that they’ve used is propaganda. I think it is an important role that I play, which is to take them on when they are wrong or when they are lying and to point it out.

The other piece of it is, after mass shootings for so long, people would say, “Oh, it’s too early to talk about it. We can’t politicize a tragedy.” I immediately, when I started the organization, said, “We’re going to talk about this when there is a tragedy, because there’s no better time to talk about it. And it’s political because the gun lobby’s writing our gun laws.” I can remember the blowback I got from the NRA was so intense and now no one bats an eye. We’re going to talk about it when there’s a mass shooting.

JEFFERY: Are school shooting drills a good idea?

WATTS: Everything we do is data- and research-driven, and we often change our minds or evolve a position, and one of them has been on this issue. There is zero data that show that active shooter drills are effective, especially for children. There is data that shows they experienced depression and anxiety after these drills. So we now believe that children AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019

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should not be involved in active shooter drills and that— JEFFERY: Is this children of all ages?

WATTS: Children of all ages. But teachers, adults, if they want to drill they should. If you look at the drills in this country and how they’re evolving, it is almost like the lawmakers or school officials think our teachers are Rambo. Again, most of our school officials and lawmakers are men, most of our teachers are women. There’s actually legislation going through in Indiana right now where they’re trying to make it so that teachers can be shot with rubber bullets during an active shooter drill so they feel the adrenaline of what that kind of situation would be like.

It’s disgusting and obscene. It just shows you that there is a problem in this country.

JEFFERY: What do you think about the prosecution or attempted prosecution of the school resource officer [SRO] in Parkland who heard the shots were fired and I guess the evidence is pointing to the fact that at some point he just decided to pull back and stay safe himself?

WATTS: The victims and the survivors in that shooting almost a hundred percent believe that he should have been arrested and that the videos and the research showed that he could have saved lives by going in. So I support them. That said, looking at it more broadly as an issue, if we’re looking at school resource officers, the idea that we give easy access to arsenals like semi-automatic rifles, bulk ammo, tactical gear, all of these things that are available to civilians and then we ask an SRO to be unafraid or to do their job when they think their job is breaking up fights on a school ground, it makes no sense to me.

JEFFERY: Right. It’s not like the SROs are necessarily like these special forces dudes, right?

WATTS: Right. They have a handgun usually.

JEFFERY: Let’s talk about some political realities, given the Congress and the state houses we have now. In the last five years, there’s been a lot of energy in activism around gun legislation. But with a new horror every week, many people just feel depressed and that nothing will ever change for the better.

Tell me some successes that the movement has had.

WATTS: The reason that I travel around the country is to explain that we’re winning. I

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can’t tell you how many times people say to me, “Aren’t you sad nothing’s happened since Sandy Hook?” I’m like I’m sitting here, “This happened. Moms Demand Action happened and all of our wins happened.” I really think that hopelessness and cynicism is dangerous.

We have closed the background check loophole in 21 states. We have disarmed domestic abusers in 28 states. We have passed red-flag laws in 15 states. Last year alone, after the Parkland tragedy—the laws didn’t pass themselves, our volunteers showed up in state houses and as a result, 20 states passed stronger gun laws; nine were signed

by Republican governors.

All of this momentum is building and it’s like any other social issue in this country. It will point the Congress and the president in the right direction.

JEFFERY: Which of the sort of major planks would you feel would be the most immediately effective in reducing carnage were it to pass? There’s ammo clips, there’s red flag, there’s background check, there’s assault weapons bans. Obviously you want all of those, but which is the one that you think is maybe the unsung thing that would really make the difference?

WATTS: Absolutely background checks.

That’s really the foundation to every other law. Many of these laws are closing loopholes.

In 29 states you can buy a gun without a background check from an unlicensed dealer, either online or at a gun show. And it’s how dangerous people and domestic abusers and minors and others have easy access to guns in this country. Every state is only as safe as the state bordering them and what their gun laws are like.

Once we get background checks at a federal level, which we will, then we can go in and do things like close the boyfriend loophole that gives guns to staulkers and to dating partners. We can pass red-flag laws that allow a temporary restraining order to remove guns from someone who’s a danger to themselves or others. We can close the Charleston loophole, which allows you to get a gun without a background check if it doesn’t clear in three days.

There’s so many loopholes and there’s so many laws that sort of build on top of each other, but background checks are the foundation of it.

JEFFERY: On the one hand, one of the great successes of the gun reform movement is that most Democratic politicians, not all but most, are going to be for it, at least up to a point.

But does that also mean that that’s driving Republicans more into the arms of the NRA? WATTS: We have seen just the opposite. As I mentioned, last year nine Republican governors signed stronger gun laws. We see these conversations being more effective across the aisle. We completely shut down the NRA’s agenda this year in the state of Arkansas. Let me repeat that: In the state of Arkansas. And many of those lawmakers have said that the NRA has become too extreme. They say that on the record in places like Arkansas.

There are two things happening. One is, our job was to shine a light under the refrigerator and force the cockroaches to run out at the NRA, and we have done that. We have shown how toxic their agenda is. The other thing is, we’ve created this grassroots army so lawmakers know when they do the right thing we’ll have their backs, when they do the wrong thing we’ll have their job.

Those two things in conjunction have completely shifted this issue, and it is why the NRA took down all of their grades right before the midterm election, their A through F grades, because they knew that an A was a scarlet letter and not a badge of honor. We put them all right back up on our website, because we want everyone to know where their candidates stand on this issue.

How Climate Broke California's Biggest Utility PATTY GARRISON

DIAN GRUENEICH

J.D. MORRIS

MARK TONEY

Resident, Paradise, California

Former Commissioner, California Public Utilities Commission

Energy Reporter, San Francisco Chronicle

Executive Director, The Utility Reform Network

ALEX GHENIS

LAURA WISLAND

HUNTER STERN

LORETTA LYNCH

Disability and Climate Change Specialist

GREG DALTON

Founder and Host, Climate One

Senior Manager of Western States Energy, the Union of Concerned Scientists

Business Manager, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245

Former Commissioner, California Public Utilities Commission

What is the future for utility giants in an era of ever-more wildfires?

From the April 18, 2019, Climate One program in San Francisco, “How Climate Broke California's Biggest Utility.”

GREG DALTON: What or who is to blame for California’s devastating wildfires? As far back as the 1990s, PG&E was ignoring the fire danger posed by aging equipment and overgrown trees. Not even hefty fines from the California Public Utilities Commission [CPUC] could get them to clean up their act. Faulty power lines, combined with drought conditions and dying trees, worsened by climate change, sparked California’s most deadly wildfire ever.

We begin with a personal story. Patty Garrison and her husband have filed one of the many lawsuits that are now pending against PG&E. The Garrisons lived in the town of Paradise for 30 years before their home was destroyed by the Camp Fire.

PATTY GARRISON: When I first heard of the fire, I was actually in Kauai. I got a call from my daughter, without saying goodbye, tells me that they were just going to all jump in the same car together and basically die.

She calls me a bit later and says they survived going through the flames with the horses.

After a few days, we were able to find out that my house was gone. My daughter’s house didn’t burn until the second day of the fire. Essentially, what our lawsuit is demanding or asking for from PG&E is that the fire victims lives are made whole again.

It was record-breaking how many warnings that the weather department contacted our power companies and let them know that we had dangerous weather conditions

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for power lines, and nothing was ever done. It’s just infuriating that that kind of negligence has decimated a town and is continuing to kill people. PG&E first and foremost wants to protect its stockholders.

I’m not asking much; I’m just asking that things are done correctly and for the purpose of . . . the safety of these rural communities.

We just want to make sure that this never happens again.

DALTON: Dian Grueneich, your response to hearing that personal story—one of many, many stories of loss and pain and seeking justice?

DIAN GRUENEICH: It’s just incomprehensible to even imagine your entire community being destroyed and people dying.

What I think is just shocking is there was a hearing at the agency where I used to be a commissioner, the [CPUC], on Monday, and you can actually go online through the CPUC website [cpuc.ca.gov] and listen to it. So I did yesterday, in preparation, and they had one of the members of PG&E’s board of directors speak. He was just, point blank: We don’t have an adequate culture of safety at PG&E. I’ve been in this energy world for 40 years and, believe me, I’ve seen lots of problems with utilities, but to actually realize—how did we get in this stage where a major official is just saying, “We don’t have an adequate culture.” We have to fix it.

DALTON: J.D. Morris, why don’t you tell us—the company’s in bankruptcy. What are some of the battle lines? You’ve got people scrambling trying to shift the cost, shift the blame. Lay out the battle lines.

J.D. MORRIS: One of the big battle lines definitely involves all of the people suing them because of the wildfires, both from the Camp Fire in 2018 and, of course, the horrible fires in the North Bay the year before that. Those lawsuits all got stayed when they filed for bankruptcy. So now those people are a party in the bankruptcy

court, and they are interjecting themselves all over the place, as they should be. But there’s so much uncertainty for those people now about when they’re going to get paid, how much they’re going to get paid and how that will all play out.

That was my reaction listening to her story, definitely. A lot of the fighting going forward is going to be about how this company spends its money and how it restructures itself, because, at the end of the day, PG&E has to come out of bankruptcy as a new company in some form, and we don’t yet know what that will look like. There’s a lot of different options that they’ll be exploring.

DALTON: Mark Toney, some of those options are split [PG&E] in half, split [it] rural/urban. You advocate for the voice of rate payers. What do you think should happen or not happen in the reconstruction of this utility coming out of the ashes?

MARK TONEY: No matter what happens, we have to hold PG&E and whatever successor there is accountable for negligent acts. PG&E was not put into bankruptcy by climate change. PG&E was put into bankruptcy through their own criminal negligence, and we’ve got to hold them accountable and come up with a way of stopping wildfires from happening in the first place. We have to come up with a way of, when fires do start, getting them put out as soon as possible before they become major fires. So what I think is very important is that, no matter what the formation of PG&E, the regulators have standards, the public has standards, and we have the right to safe, clean, affordable energy; that is what we pay for every month.

DALTON: One of the things being debated is: Is the company liable in any case, or are they only liable for negligence? This idea—I don’t want to use this term inverse condemnation, because I have no idea what that means. I’ve read it many times in the newspaper, and my head hurts. Strict liaContinued on page 39

Israel

Ancient Sites to Modern-Day Startups February 24–March 6, 2020

ITINERARY

Friday, February 28

Monday, February 24

We continue to Ramallah, the provisional capital of the Palestinian Authority, where we hear from Palestinians about the issues they face and their hopes for a settlement in this long, unresolved issue. Return to Jerusalem in the late afternoon.

Herbert Samuel Jerusalem (B,L)

U.S. / Tel Aviv, Israel

Depart on flights to Israel.

Thursday, February 25 Tel Aviv / Jerusalem

Upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, transfer to Jerusalem and check into our centrally located hotel. As most flights arrive in the evening, there are no group activities this day.

Herbert Samuel Jerusalem

Wednesday, February 26 Jerusalem

After a tour orientation, explore the Old City of Jerusalem and sites important to the three major monotheistic religions. Visit the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount, one of the most important sites to Muslims. Walk portions of the Via Dolorosa and enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, said to be the site where Christ was crucified and buried.

Following lunch visit the Western Wall. Then enjoy free time to browse the alleys and shops.

Tonight gather for a welcome dinner.

Herbert Samuel Jerusalem (B,L,D)

Thursday, February 27 Jerusalem / Bethlehem

Experience Yad Vashem, a powerful living memorial dedicated to the Holocaust. Visit the West Bank with our Palestinian guide, starting with Bethlehem to see the Christian holy sites, including the Church of the Nativity, said to mark the place of Jesus’ birth. Tonight explore Mahane Yehuda, once a popular fruit and produce market, it’s now a hub of gourmet food stalls, restaurants and cafes.

Herbert Samuel Jerusalem (B,L)

Ramallah / Jerusalem

Saturday, February 29 Masada / Dead Sea

This morning we drive to Masada, the location of the mountaintop fortress where Jews sacrificed their lives rather than succumb to the Romans. The importance of Masada remains in the psychological and political mindset of many Israelis. Then travel to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on the earth. Swim or float in the relaxing salt waters and experience the health benefits of its natural minerals.

Herods Dead Sea Hotel (B,L,D)

Sunday, March 1 Safed / Galilee

Travel north today stopping in Safed, a charming city known for being a center of art and religious mysticism. Continue to the more rural area of Upper Galilee. Learn about the important role of kibbutzim in the development of Israel in the 20th century.

Merom Golan (B,L,D)

Monday, March 2 Galilee / Golan Heights

This morning meet with an officer from the IDF (Israel Defense Forces). Then hear from people in a Druze village in the Golan Heights area. Druze are an Arabic-speaking sect found primarily in the mountainous areas of northern Israel, Syria and Lebanon. Their religious practices and beliefs are known to few outsiders. In the late afternoon visit a winery and learn about Israel’s growing wine industry.

Merom Golan (B,L,D)

Tuesday, March 3 Nazareth / Caesarea / Tel Aviv

Journey to Nazareth, the largest Arab town within Israel’s pre-1967 borders. See the Church of the Annunciation, believed to be where archangel Gabriel visited Mary. We also visit an Arab tech firm. Continue to the coast and explore the archaeological site and Roman city of Caesarea. Arrive in Tel Aviv in the early evening for dinner on your own.

The Hotel Carlton (B,L)

Wednesday, March 4 Tel Aviv / Jaffa

Visit Jaffa, also known as Yafo in Hebrew, a mixed Jewish-Arab town, just south of Tel Aviv.

Enjoy lunch on your own and time in the flea market with its wonderful mix art and antiques.

Then continue to the Rabin Center, named after Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Enjoy dinner at one of Tel Aviv’s seaside restaurants.

The Hotel Carlton (B,D)

Thursday, March 5 Tel Aviv

Learn about Tel Aviv’s various neighborhoods and architectural styles. See Bauhaus architecture, Dizengoff Street, Neve Tzedek, and the Florentine district. Enjoy a free afternoon to visit galleries, the beach, or rent bikes to travel the coastal path around Tel Aviv.

Gather tonight for a special farewell dinner.

The Hotel Carlton (B,D)

Friday, March 6 Tel Aviv / U.S.

After breakfast at the hotel, transfer to the airport for flights home. (B) “Extremely well planned and thought out.

I particularly enjoyed the speakers, guides and meetings with the various groups and organizations offering varied perspectives.”

- Jan Harrison, 2018

DETAILS DATES: February 24–March 6, 2020 GROUP SIZE: Minimum 10, maximum 25 COST: $7,475 per person, double occupancy $1,470 single-room supplement

INCLUDED: All activities as specified; airport transfers on designated group dates and times; transportation throughout; accommodations as specified (or similar); meals (B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner) per itinerary; bottled water on buses and during tours; special guest speakers; local guide; gratuities to local guide, driver, and for included group activities; predeparture materials; Commonwealth Club representative with 15 travelers.

TOUR LEADER JERRY SORKIN has been involved with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for more than three decades, having quietly brought together people from both sides of the issue.

Conversant in both Arabic and Hebrew, Jerry has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and North Africa, returning to the U.S. in 2016, after being based more than six years in Tunisia. He has organized and led many trips to Israel, all using his unique contacts to provide an exclusive and enlightening educational experience.

NOT INCLUDED: International air; meals not specified as included; optional outings and gratuities for those outings; alcoholic beverages beyond welcome and farewell dinners; travel insurance (recommended, information will be sent upon registration); items of a purely personal nature.

WHAT TO EXPECT To enjoy this program, travelers must be in overall good health and able to walk 1–2 miles a day (on average) and be able to stand for several hours during touring. Participants should be comfortable walking on uneven surfaces such as dirt paths and cobblestone streets, and getting on and off tour buses without assistance.

OPTIONAL JORDAN EXTENSION March 6–8

Travel to the desert oasis of Wadi Rum and the “Rose City” of Petra where caves, temples, and tombs were carved from blushing pink sandstone in the high desert of Jordan.

Details provided on request and with trip confirmation packet.

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

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TERMS AND CONDITIONS The Commonwealth Club (CWC) has contracted with Iconic Journeys Worldwide (IJW) to organize this tour.

Reservations: A $1,000 per person deposit, along with a completed and signed Reservation Form, will reserve a place for participants on this program. The balance of the trip is due 90 days prior to departure and must be paid by check.

Cancellation and Refund Policy: Notification of cancellation must be received in writing. At the time we receive your written cancellation, the following penalties will apply: • 91 days or more prior to departure: $250 per person • 90-60 days to departure: $1,000 deposit • 59-1 days prior to departure: 100% fare Tour can also be cancelled due to low enrollment. Neither CWC nor IJW accepts liability for cancellation penalties related to domestic or international airline tickets purchased in conjunction with the tour.

Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance: We strongly advise that all travelers purchase trip cancellation and interruption insurance as coverage against a covered un-

foreseen emergency that may force you to cancel or leave the trip while it is in progress. A brochure describing coverage will be sent to you upon receipt of your reservation.

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injury to, or death of, persons occasioned directly or indirectly by an act or omission of any other provider, including but not limited to any defect in any aircraft, or vehicle operated or provided by such other provider, and (B) any loss or damage due to delay, cancellation, or disruption in any manner caused by the laws, regulations, acts or failures to act, demands, orders, or interpositions of any government or any subdivision or agent thereof, or by acts of God, strikes, fire, flood, war, rebellion, terrorism, insurrection, sickness, quarantine, epidemics, theft, or any other cause(s) beyond their control. The participant waives any claim against CWC/IJW for any such loss, damage, injury, or death. By registering for the trip, the participant certifies that he/she does not have any mental, physical, or other condition or disability that would create a hazard for him/herself or other participants. CWC/IJW shall not be liable for any air carrier’s cancellation penalty incurred by the purchase of a nonrefundable ticket to or from the departure city. Baggage and personal effects are at all times the sole responsibility of the traveler. Reasonable changes in the itinerary may be made where deemed advisable for the comfort and well-being of the passengers.

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Photo by: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

John Hope Bryant

Madeleine Albright

Founder & CEO of Operation Hope

Former United States Secretary of State

Susan & William Oberndorf

Salesforce

Oberndorf Foundation

Corporate Citizen

1. Evelyn Dilsaver, Dr. Gloria Duffy, William & Susan Oberndorf 2. Angela Jenkins & Keisha Nzewi 3. Gala Committee Chair, Ted Rice 4. Dr. Gloria Duffy, Evelyn Dilsaver & Chairman John Hope Bryant 5. William & Susan Oberndorf

6. Mark Zitter 7. Dr. Gloria Duffy, Evelyn Dilsaver & Suzanne DiBianca 8. Dr. Gloria Duffy & Secretary Albright 9. Chairman John Hope Bryant & Jed York 10. Chairman John Hope Bryant 11. Dr. Gloria Duffy, Secretary Albright & Evelyn Dilsaver

12. Chairman John Hope Bryant, Secretary Albright & Charita Dalton 13. Niklas Nielsen & Gemma Price 14. Don Wen

Continued from page 30 bility is what you call it. Tell us about the liability, if they’re liable only for negligence or if they’re liable in a broader way.

MORRIS: Okay, so this [was] a bit of an arcane topic before these fires started, but it’s super important. California has this principle—the easiest way to understand it is to think of it as strict liability. It’s a legal doctrine, technically called inverse condemnation. What it means is that, in California, utilities can be held legally liable for wildfires caused by their equipment. Even if they were not negligent, even if they followed all of the applicable laws, they can still be held responsible for that.

PG&E sees that as a really big problem.

The credit rating agencies see that as a big problem for all utilities in the state, actually.

PG&E tried to reform it before the Camp Fire, and they were not able to do that. So, now that conversation is coming up again.

Governor Newsom unveiled a list of proposals for what to do about this whole issue of utilities and wildfires going forward. One of the things on the table—there are several options—but one of them is taking another look at this strict liability doctrine and possibly moving toward a model more based on fault, but that could be controversial in the legislature. There are several other ideas too.

DALTON: What responsibility do regulators bear here, because they have the job of overseeing this, and it’s [sexier] to talk about solar renewable energy than it is safety. Was safety a big focus? How many times did you get— GRUENEICH: [Laughing.] These fires didn’t happen when I was there, okay?

DALTON: But did you talk a lot about safety when— GRUENEICH: But you bring up a very good point. Generally, people in California want to become regulators. We do care about rates; we do care about affordability, but there’s all this shiny, fun stuff called clean energy and climate, and [this question of]

how can we change the world and really deal with things that way?

When I was a commissioner, I can’t even recall having more than maybe one or two briefings on safety . . . it just wasn’t in the forefront. Since then, it’s changed pretty dramatically. There’s a safety division. I know that there are regular briefings; the staff is enlarged. In fact, one of the recommendations in this report that the governor put out on Friday was we need to do even more. We need to get more employees at the regulators who really understand safety deep down.

There’s this big tension. As a regulator, you hear evidence; you hear a lot of these policy concerns. Mark is so absolutely correct that affordability is just a huge issue in California, across everything: housing, electricity, etc. What we don’t have are the regulators literally sitting inside PG&E headquarters and really understanding— okay, here’s a 500-page decision that came out. How much is that being implemented and understood by thousands and thousands of PG&E employees?

DALTON: J.D. Morris, as a result of these fires, the utilities in California, and perhaps the western United States, are going to be de-energizing, turning off the power, more frequently, and that can happen even in urban areas far away from fire areas. Tell us how that is going to work.

MORRIS: I don’t know that most people out there really appreciate how much this could change going forward. But last year for the first time ever, Pacific Gas and Electric followed the lead of San Diego, which has been doing this for many years, and decided to start turning off the power during times of high fire danger. There was some controversy with how they did it, but what they realized in the interim, because the Camp Fire happened in November, was that they actually need to expand that program.

So a couple months ago, they came out with a plan to vastly expand the scope of

their forced blackout program. What that means is that any of PG&E’s electric customers could lose their power some time during fire season because of the fire danger, regardless of whether you actually live in a high-fire-danger area.

That is because they expanded it so they’re also going to be de-energizing the high voltage transmission lines they used to not turn off. Transmission lines . . . they’re like the freeways of the electrical grid. Whereas, distribution lines are more like surface streets, city streets. Shutting off [distribution lines], like closing down city streets, a neighborhood, is a much more limited thing than closing down a whole interstate. You have a lot more people that can be affected. That means that even if you live here in San Francisco, if we’re being served by a transmission line in a high-fire-danger area and PG&E decides to turn that off, the power could be out for you. So expect a lot more blackouts going forward. We don’t know how many; we’ll see this summer, but it could happen.

TONEY: It’s being euphemistically called a public safety power shutoff. From our standpoint, it needs to be a last resort, and it needs to be temporary. It is no substitute for a safe electrical system, and here’s why: When they do this type of shutoff, before they can turn the power back on, they have to inspect every mile of the lines that have been shut off so that the average time of this type of shutoff is 72 hours. That’s three full days that, when they implement it, you will be without electricity. That’s why we believe this should be a last resort, temporary until they can get their act together: Get the trees trimmed; get the power lines insulated, whatever they need to do.

DALTON: Dian Grueneich, you can respond to that. I also want you to address whether all of this volatility is going to hurt California’s climate goals, because the state has relied on PG&E, which has been a partner in moving toward cleaner electricity,

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019

39

and now, is that future thrown into doubt?

GRUENEICH: We have about 50 municipal utilities in California, and those are ones [where] their officials are elected by the people, and they’re very involved in their community. Sacramento has one. We have a cabin up north in Trinity County, and that has a local utility. So think about how we’re going to deal with these issues where it’s not necessarily the utility that everybody has figured out they hate, but it is a utility that you feel very connected to, that you feel it’s been doing the best it can.

The other concerning part of this is that our municipal utilities are in rural areas, a lot that are very poor in California, so they don’t have shareholders they can go to if they are hit with these devastating fires and say, We’re going to cut off your dividends.

We [local utilities] just want to be able to take care of our people who have suffered damages or worse.

They are in the exact same situation, because they also are vulnerable to these fires, and that’s what I feel there hasn’t been enough attention to. It’s one thing if you are dealing with the investors and the bad guys out there; it’s another thing if these are the utilities that are part of our community.

What is going to be their solution? They can’t raise rates, double rates, where already 40–50 percent of their community is below poverty line.

Then let’s throw on top of it your question, which is: Okay, we’ve got all these goals on climate in California. We are proud to be the world’s leader in climate. Thank God we’re doing that, but it’s costly. This is not free. Over 50 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions in California come from transportation. We have to very quickly move to electrification of our transportation system and get away from fossil-[fueled] cars and other transportation. Well, that requires a whole lot of installing charging stations,

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having better infrastructure out there.

And the utilities, for better or worse, are connected to that, because it’s increasing the electricity.

It’s the same thing with decarbonizing our buildings. Right now, we actually have more emissions coming from buildings in California than from our electricity supply, because we’ve been so successful on renewables. Again, this costs money, which we’ve been looking for. The game plan was a lot of that was going to be funded through rates, and this is this huge tension that basically wheels could fall off everything if we don’t really proceed carefully. It’s not clear what is that answer to bring in a lot of money for all these things we have to do.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: You talked about how the PG&E person said there was a lack of a culture of safety. San Bruno happened a while ago, and that was a huge focus that they [PG&E] were negligent, so why hasn’t it changed?

MORRIS: San Bruno’s a city just south of San Francisco. In 2010, there was a really bad gas pipeline explosion, and it killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes. It was a huge controversy.

Years later, PG&E was convicted of several felonies, and so they’re actually on probation, because you can’t send a company to prison. But there’s actually an entire proceding at the California Public Utilities Commission about PG&E’s safety culture, and I believe it came originally out of San Bruno. It has also recently expanded to look at wildfires, and the Public Utilities Commission is now asking these big questions and actually having public hearings where they’re asking: Okay, what’s going on? Why hasn’t this company improved in the way that we want to see it improve? Should it be taken over by the government? Should the gas and electric sides split up? I wish there was an easier, more straightforward answer

to that question, but it’s being looked at.

There are consultants doing audits.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: PG&E has been known as a bad actor with these recent fires.

There’s been talk about turning PG&E into a public utility. That hasn’t been discussed yet tonight. Can you please talk about that?

TONEY: The most important thing, whether PG&E is public or private, is the accountability that they haven’t had. This safety culture is a meaningless term. Safety performance is what people expect. I would like to see proposals on public takeover of PG&E. I have not seen any yet. I want to caution people about dividing it up into small pieces where the most attractive parts of the system, where you have high population density, say San Francisco, East Bay, South Bay, form their own municipalities and insulate themselves from the fire risk that the poor, rural communities have. Right now we have a system where risk and cost are spread over a large number of customers, and I think we’re going to want to continue to do that. The Camp Fire—I live in Oakland; we could barely breathe. [I] work in San Francisco. We could barely breathe for weeks. We are all being affected; we all need to be part of the solution.

DALTON: I met Alex Ghenis here at Climate One, and, honestly, I had never thought about people with disabilities fleeing wildfires. If fit teenagers perish fleeing fires, what are the chances people have in wheelchairs? Who’s looking out for them? The fatalities of the fires recently are elderly and people with disabilities. So tell us about that.

ALEX GHENIS: At the World Institute on Disability, we started about five years ago a project called New Earth Disability. As I increasingly realized, people with disabilities are more vulnerable in a changing world. I use a power wheelchair. I acquired a spinal cord injury at age 16, and I need the medical

system. I need electric power at night, and if we’re going to be running off of intermittent renewables, I need to be able to plug in my wheelchair. I need to be able to charge my chair. I have plenty of friends that in their daily lives need access to the built environment that we’ve created.

As climate change progresses—and I ended up moving from energy storage over to the World Institute on Disability, because we started looking at, when climate change hits, everybody else has been saying, this is going to cause disability. This is going to lead to death, medical harm. They have this term disability-adjusted life years that puts a numerical value on how disabled you become due to some climactic or environmental change, and we said we need to flip that on its head, because people with disabilities are a constituency. They’re a group; they have individual needs; they have rights; they have human rights, and they have rights to access to a safe environment.

That all gets compromised as the environment changes. As we get more extreme weather, storms, natural disasters, the built environment gets disrupted. People with all sorts of disabilities lose access to caregivers, the housing, the specialized developed housing. I have an elevator and a roll-in shower, and that’s difficult to reacquire. People with disabilities have fewer assets; they have higher rates of poverty, lower median and average incomes—all sorts of things that, already living in a marginalized state, already relying on what ends up being a fragile system, as the climate changes it just endangers them in all sorts of ways.

DALTON: Are there plans to help people living with disabilities next time?

GHENIS: Organizations are trying; governments are trying. Counties and cities have to have emergency preparedness plans, and there are certain laws that dictate including access and functional needs into county

disaster readiness plans. There’s no concrete guidance in general on how to address access and functional needs and certainly, as we look across California at the different geographies and the different climate vulnerabilities for different areas of the state, it’s difficult to replicate that.

DALTON: San Francisco has recently floated the idea of a government takeover of PG&E. I asked Hunter Stern what that would mean for its unionized workers.

HUNTER STERN: For our members, it’s not a good step. There’s no portability between benefit plans, so if you’re a worker at PG&E here in San Francisco or nearby, and the city takes it over, you can’t just step into the job in San Francisco and take your benefits with you. We’d have to negotiate wages.

That’s not such a big deal, but it would make experienced workers have to choose: Do they want to stay with the company where their benefits are, or are they willing to take less and work for the new employer?

DALTON: Loretta Lynch, what do you think about governments coming in?

LORETTA LYNCH: The problem here is that we have socialized the cost of PG&E’s criminal negligence, and they want us to keep the benefits private. If we’re going to socialize the costs, we should socialize the benefits. Or, if it stays private, we should have a say, as California, in the utility’s future. When the government bailed Chrysler out, the workers got a seat on the board, as did the government. The victims should have a seat on PG&E’s board. The consumers should have a seat on PG&E’s board. The mayor of San Bruno should have a seat on PG&E’s board, and the government should have a seat on PG&E’s board. That should happen before we even begin a conversation about liability changes or any bailouts.

DALTON: The union’s pretty close with PG&E. What do you think about union board members, fire victims on the board?

STERN: I think the leadership, whether it’s the board or senior leadership that is now coming in—because all the old leaders at PG&E and 10 of the 13 board members are no longer there, so it’s not the PG&E that it used to be. That doesn’t mean that it’s going to be better, but from our standpoint, 9 times out of 10, what’s good for the customers [is] good for our workers and vice versa. Our guys are out there working. So from that standpoint—better advice, better leadership—our guys will applaud that. We will support that.

LYNCH: But just changing the faces and not changing the attitudes and the corporate culture is going to do nothing. PG&E’s new board is led by somebody I know well, who’s from Pennsylvania, who worked for George W. Bush’s [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] and who believes in federal control and believes in electricity markets. I would argue that we need Californians leading the California private utility, or it should be public. Just to make it really clear, it was not the workers’ fault that there was criminal negligence in terms of PG&E cutting corners, cutting safety and focusing on profits and not reliability and safety.

DALTON: How can California have electrical utilities that power its economy, that’s safe and also address climate change? Is there a tension between green and safety?

LAURA WISLAND: I don’t think there can be. I don’t think we have a choice. There’s no question that climate change is driving the situation that we’re in, and there’s no question that we have to keep moving forward with our clean-energy transition.

We know that there are opportunities, and we need to keep seeking out opportunities to make investments in the grid that are going to make it stronger and safer and also are going to help us drive toward our clean energy future, because we know that we don’t have another option.

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019

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L ast Word

WITH ADAM RIPPON

Photo by James Meinerth

GETTING UP

AGAIN She looked me dead straight in the eyes and said, ‘You need to pull it together, or this is going to be really sad.’

T

he first Olympic team I ever tried to qualify for and had a realistic shot [at] was in 2010. The only way that I was going to make the team was if one of [the three favorites] made a mistake. My game plan had to be, “I’m going to just be perfect and I’ll sneak right into that spot.” I didn’t sneak into that spot, but I wasn’t devastated because I was 20.

I was an alternate in 2010. Everything seems like I’m going in the direction of making the team the next four years. But then that’s sort of when life takes over again. Those people who made the Olympic team, two of them retired; I was like, “This is my time to shine through.” In the very beginning, I did; and then I started to put all this pressure on myself: It’s going to happen now or it’s never going to happen. It came to a culmination in the last event to qualify for the Olympics. To qualify for the Olympics, it’s based on your track record for the past two seasons. I had been okay, and this one last competition would really push it over the edge or it would not. I just felt the weight of my entire life’s work on my shoulders, and I did not skate well at all. It was one of the worst performances I ever [gave].

I [was thinking] maybe I’ll quit, [but] I skated the next season. I went to a Thanksgiving dinner with one of my really good friends.

I’ve known her for like 10 years, and I’ve known her mom just as long. Her mom is like, “So what do you want to do with skating?” I was like, “Well, you know, I’m just going to like, you know, do my

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best and, like, enjoy it.” She looked me dead straight in the eyes and [said], “You need to pull it together, or this is going to be really sad.”

It was exactly what I was thinking but never said out loud. I was like, yeah, I should really pull it together ’cause this is getting sad.

We had our national championships and I had seven weeks. I never worked harder in my life. I would go to the rink at least four or five times a week for maybe two to three hours. I went to nationals, and in the short program I skated one of the best programs I’ve ever skated.

Still, I got fifth. I was like, I did all of that and get fifth? One moment I was upset, and the next moment I was like, “Who cares? I feel really good about what I did. If I skated the free program tomorrow and I’m still in fifth, I’m going to be the best fifth-place skater that has existed on the planet.” At this point, there’s nothing I can do; it’s in the judge’s hands. So I go and I skate another one of the best programs I’ve ever done. The score comes in, and it’s the highest score that at that time was ever [given] at the U.S. championships.

So I said, “Okay, I’ll skate for one more year.” Then I [got] second at nationals. I came out publicly that summer, and I just felt like in this place that I had all this momentum around me. I was just confident in myself, and I was really sure of who I was as an athlete. More than that, in a sport when you only have a few minutes to show everything you’ve got, I felt like I was able to do that but also show who I was.

—“Adam Rippon: Artist, Athlete, Activist,” April 28, 2019

CLUB PROGRAMMING SPOTLIGHTS Climate One

Climate One offers a forum for candid discussion among climate scientists, policymakers, activists and concerned citizens. By gathering inspiring, credible and compelling information, it provides an essential resource to changemakers looking to make a difference. Climate One has brought together game-changing speakers, from Dan Akerson, chairman and CEO of General Motors, to Monsanto Chief Technology Officer Robert Fraley and Center for Food Safety Executive Director Andrew Kimbrell. Climate One is about building bridges and finding common ground.

Inforum An Innovation Lab at The Commonwealth Club

The Inforum division of The Commonwealth Club produces Bay Area events where attendees meet thought leaders in entertainment, tech, food, design, pop culture and politics, and where the audience is often just as inspiring as the thought leaders. Inforum produces individually curated events designed to provide attendees with cutting-edge content and a hands-on educational experience. Its programs include headline interviews, monthly happy hours, public forums, debate discussion groups and post-program socials.

Marin Conversations

Marin Conversations pairs fascinating people for discussions about important topics. In 2019, the Marin Conversation Series is being supported by a major new grant from the Marin Community Foundation (MCF). The support from MCF, along with existing support from Relevant Wealth Advisors and other funders, is enabling the Commonwealth Club to increase the reach, impact and diversity of its Marin programs throughout the year.

Member-Led Forums

Member-led Forums (MLFs) are a volunteer-driven division of Commonwealth Club programming. These diverse and timely programs cover a wide range of topics on an ongoing basis throughout the year. They range from large events to intimate discussions with speakers, from art shows and restaurant visits to book discussion groups. MLFs are volunteer-run, organized by Club members who coordinate programs within specific areas of interest.

Michelle Meow Show at The Commonwealth Club

In 2018, The Commonwealth Club and Michelle Meow teamed up to expand and broaden the Club’s programming of interest to LGBTQ audiences. Each Thursday at noon, Michelle records her “Michelle Meow Show” radio program at the Club, co-hosted by John Zipperer, the Club’s host of its Week to Week Politics Roundtable programs. Join us in-person for upcoming “Michelle Meow Show”s and meet some of the most interesting, intriguing and often controversial people in the LGBTQ community.

Sillicon Valley

Join us for our great programs taking place in the South Bay. Featuring a wide variety of topics, we bring you headliners and fascinating speakers who explore the issues and personalities that are of interest to Silicon Valley—and the nation.

Week to Week Political Roundtable

Since 2012, the Club’s Week to Week Political Roundtable program has brought together audiences and political reporters and academics for a lively, intelligent, and fun discussion of recent political news. Panelists with a range of views discuss local, state and national political events and people, explaining the background and impact of the day’s news. Before each program, enjoy a social hour for some relaxing conversation with others who share your interest in politics.

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noon The Michelle Meow Show FE noon Your Health Destiny 6:30 pm Imperfect Circles 6:30 pm Let’s Talk About #SEXTECH

6 pm Qi Gong: More Energy & Less Stress

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6 pmp.m.

5:15 San Fancisco’s Blinding Flash of the Shocking Seventies Obvious 6:30 Ben 6 pmp.m.

Reading Franklin Circles FM Californians Book 6:30 p.m. There Discussion: Changemakers: There Movement Leaders 6:30 pm on Civil Rights in an Superpower: How Uncivil Time FM Wind is Transforming 7:45 p.m. The Future America’s Energy of America’s Political Future

6 pm How Public Policy Became War 6:30 pm Californians at Work: Advancing Dignity, Respect and Opportunity

5:15 pm The Special Olympics 6 pm Electroacupuncture for The Treatment of Neurodegenerative Diseases 6:30 pm Socrates Café

5 pm Middle East Forum Discussion FM 6 pm Beyond Wellness: Healing Ourselves and The Collective

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10 a.m. Chinatown Walking Tour 6:30 p.m. Sallie Krawcheck: The Power of Women, Work and Wallet 7 p.m. Gopi Kallayil: Brain, Body and Consciousness

6:30 pm Inside PBS and KQED: The Role and Future of Public Media

10 am Chinatown Walking Tour

6 pm Emerging Health Technologies: Diagnosing Designing and Controlling Our Well-Being

San Francisco

East/North Bay

2 pm Commonwealth Club Weekly Tour FE 6:30 pm Pod Save America’s Dan Pfeiffer

2 pm Commonwealth Club Weekly Tour FE 6:30 pm Eat Your Cake and Have Enlightenment, Too: Creating Welleness Through SpiritualMaterial Balance 6:30 pm Destination Health: Solving Homelessness

2 pm Commonwealth Club Weekly Tour FE 6 pm San Francisco Opera: Equity Diversity & Inclusion 6:30 pm Week to Week Political Roundtable

2 pm Commonwealth Club Weekly Tour FE 6 pm Body Intelligence: Discovering Your Right Relationship to Your Body, Hour Loved Ones and The Natural World

Silicon Valley

noon The Michelle Meow Show FE 6:30 pm San Francisco Architecture Walking Tour 6:30 pm Terry Mcauliffe

noon The Michelle Meow Show FE 6 pm The Fast Evolution of Gene Editing and Its Implications for Society 6 pm The Kardashian-Free Conversation Club

noon The Michelle Meow Show FE 6 pm An Update from Dr. Anthony Iton: Building Healthy Communities

noon The Michelle Meow Show FE 6 pm Breathwork: A Three-Week Breathing Program to Gain Clarity, Calm and Batter Health 6 pm Food and Health from the Ground Up

FM Free for members

noon Israel’s Contributions to Well-Being

FE Free for everyone

MO Members-only

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6 pm Spin Wars and Spy Games: Global Media and Intelligence Gathering 6:30 pm The Vagina Bible: Dr. Jen Gunter and Mary Roach

6:30 pm Socrates Café

5:15 pm Top Myths about Homelessness 6:30 pm Daniel Handler’s Bottle Grove noon Judith Finlayson 5 pm Middle East Forum Discussion

6:30 pm Week to Week Political Roundtable

6 pm How Does an Independent Analyst Survive San Francisco City Hall?

4 pm Health & Medicine MLF Meeting 6 pm Reducing the Global Burden of Dementia: The First Effective Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease

noon So You Want to Become a Coprorate Gender Consultant?

How to Advance Women, Prmote Inclusion and Reduce “Bro Culture” 6:30 pm Samantha Power

6:30 pm The Unspeakable Mind 6:30 pm An Evening with George Takei TK Student Loan Debt 7:30 pm The Education of Brett Kavanaugh

commonwealthclub.org/events

5:15 pm It Takes a Village: Living with Someone with a Memory Impairment 5:15 pm The Longevity Project

2 pm Commonwealth Club Weekly Tour FE 6:30 pm How to be an Anti-Racist: Dr. Ibram X. Kendi

noon Josh Campbell 6:30 pm The Making of Brett Kavanaugh 6:30 pm An Ecosystem of Hope: Immigrant Entrepreneurs Stimulate the Economy, Grow the Middle Class & Spice Things Up

noon The Michelle Meow Show FE 6 pm The Conservative Case for Universal Coverage 6:30 pm Imperfect Circles

noon The Michelle Meow Show FE 3 pm Farmer Gallery Opening Reception 6 pm Protecting Human Rights in Refugee Camps 6:30 pm Mike Isaac 7:30 pm Dr. Jen Gunter

noon The Michelle Meow Show FE 2 pm Russian Hill Walking Tour 6 pm The KardashianFree Conversation Club 6:30 pm The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Care– and How to Fix It

noon The Michelle Meow Show FE noon Naomi Klein 2 pm North Beach Walking Tour 5:30 pm Fall Member Party at The Commonwealth Club

1 pm Saturday Sean Carrol: Quantum Worlds and The Emergence of SpaceTime

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019

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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 in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Marin County, and the East Bay. Standard programs are typically one hour long and frequently include panel discussions or speeches followed by a question and answer session. Many evening programs include a networking reception with wine.

PROGRAM DIVISIONS

CLIMATE ONE

INFORUM

MEMBER-LED FORUMS

Discussion among climate scientists, policymakers, activists, and citizens about energy, the economy, and the environment.

Inspiring talks with leaders in tech, culture, food, design, business and social issues targeted towards young adults.

Volunteer-driven programs that focus on particular fields. Most evening programs include a wine networking reception.

COMMONWEALTHCLUB.ORG/CLIMATE-ONE

COMMONWEALTHCLUB.ORG/INFORUM

COMMONWEALTHCLUB.ORG/MLF

RADIO, VIDEO, & PODCASTS Watch Club programs on the California Channel every Saturday at 9 p.m., and on KRCB TV 22 on Comcast. Select Commonwealth Club programs air on Marin TV’s Education Channel (Comcast Channel 30, U-Verse Channel 99) and on CreaTV in San Jose (Channel 30). View hundreds of streaming videos of Club programs at fora.tv and youtube.com/commonwealthclub

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.

KNBR (680 and 1050 AM) Sundays at 5 a.m.

KRCB Radio (91.1 FM in Rohnert Park) Thursdays at 7 p.m.

KFOG (104.5 and 97.7 FM) Sundays at 5 a.m.

KALW (91.7 FM) Inforum programs select Tuesdays at 7p.m.

TuneIn.com Fridays at 4 p.m.

KSAN (107.7 FM) Sundays at 5 a.m.

Subscribe to our free podcast service on iTunes and Google Play to automatically receive new programs: commonwealthclub.org/podcast-subscribe

TICKETS Prepayment is required. Unless otherwise indicated, all events—including “Members Free” events— require tickets. Programs often sell out, so we strongly encourage you to purchase tickets in advance.

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. Select events include premium seating, which refers to the first several rows of seating.

Pricing is subject to change.

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HARD OF HEARING? To request an assistive listening device, please e-mail Mark Kirchner seven working days before the event at mkirchner@commonwealthclub.org.

For current prices, call 415.597.6705 or go to commonwealthclub.org Let’s Talk about #SEXTECH 8/1

THURSDAY, AUGUST 1 YOUR HEALTH DESTINY

Eva Selhub, M.D., Resiliency Expert; Physician; Speaker; Scientist; Consultant; Author, Your Health Destiny

You can take control of your health, and Dr. Eva Selhub will show us how this can be done.

Dr. Selhub says we are not our diagnosis nor do we have to succumb to illness; rather, we have the power to change our health destiny for the better. With more than 20 years of practice working with patients, she now consults and coaches clients and organizations to discover true resilience and wellbeing, despite life or work adversity or health challenges.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing • MLF: Health & Medicine • Program organizer: Robert Kilpatrick • Notes: This event is the latest in our Member-Led Forums’ Art and Science of Well-Being series

THE MICHELLE MEOW SHOW 8/1/19

with Socrates and Rational Idealism—Moderator

Are you a person who never tires of talking or thinking about philosophical, scientific or religious theories? Are you interested in psychological insights, or attempts at such insights, into human life? There are many who would insist that being realistic about human life means you should ignore such fundamental questions—starting around the time the ink dries on your diploma. But it is unrealistic to ignore the fundamental explanatory concepts that underlie each successful human civilization; these concepts sometimes help and sometimes hinder us in our pursuit of happiness. Such profound questions are naturally provoked simply by living an alert life.

There are millions of realistic people, of all ages and walks of life, who also find it impossible to delegate to one infallible authority or another the task of providing all the answers to such questions. Life is not totally chaotic, even though it looks that way sometimes. Therefore, it’s helpful to be aware of any subtle patterns to our experiences. Rejoin the continuing conversation of human civilization—this time at The Commonwealth Club.

Michelle Meow, Host, “The Michelle Meow Show” (Radio and KBCW TV) John Zipperer, Host, Week to Week Political SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San FrancisRoundtable—Co-Host

Join us for a taping of Michelle Meow’s co • Time: 6:15 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. prolong-running daily radio show at The Com- gram • MLF: Humanities • Program organizer: monwealth Club. Meet fascinating and often George Hammond controversial people discussing important issues of interest to the LGBTQ community, LET’S TALK ABOUT #SEXTECH and have your questions ready. See speaker Myisha Battle, Certified Sex and Dating Coach; Host, “Down for Whatever” details at commonwealthclub.org/mms.

SAN FRANCISCO • MICHELLE MEOW PROGRAM • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco • Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program

between sex and technology goes beyond sex toys—from smart vibrators to apps for your phone that allow you to track and learn from your own experiences, sex tech’s innovation plays a major factor in the future of women’s health and pleasure. Despite these groundbreaking improvements being made for user experience, the tech industry continues to reject sex tech and the women who are leading these advancements.

In 2016, Myisha Battle launched Sex for Life, which boasts an array of sex coaching practices as well as the sex-positive podcast “Down for Whatever.” Liz Klinger is the CEO of Lioness, which creates products to enable sexual self-discovery and well-being. Andrea Barrica is the founder and CEO of O.School, an online sex-ed platform that aims to revolutionize how people feel, talk and understand sex.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Taube Family Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program

FRIDAY, AUGUST 2 QI GONG: MORE ENERGY AND LESS STRESS

Lee Holden, Qi Gong, Meditation and Tai Chi Instructor

Lee Holden is a renowned instructor in Qi Gong, meditation and Tai Chi. He has worked to bring the ancient Taoist teachings to the West. Lee offers simple techniques to enhance well-being.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing • MLF: Health & Medicine • Program organizer: Robert Kilpatrick • Notes: This event is the latest in our Member-Led Forums’ Art and Science of Well-Being series

MONDAY, AUGUST 5 SAN FRANCISCO’S SHOCKING SEVENTIES

Duffy Jennings, Author, Reporter’s Note Book: A San Francisco Chronicle Journalist’s Diary of the Shocking Seventies

A prize-winning writer for the San Francisco

Chronicle in the tumultuous 1970s, Duffy JenLiz Klinger, Co-founder & CEO, Lioness Emma McGowan, Sex Educator; Writer; Sex nings covered the Patty Hearst kidnapping, the Columnist, Bustle—Moderator Zodiac and Zebra serial murders, and the City

When sex and technology cross paths, we see a combination of curiosity and censorship, sexism and empowerment, but most importIMPERFECT CIRCLES George Hammond, Author, Conversations ant, knowledge and pleasure. The intersection

Hall assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. Jennings also covered major fires, gangland crime, labor union strife, city government news and more.

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019

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In Reporter’s Note Book, Jennings weaves the check-in, 6:30 p.m. program, 7:30 p.m. netpolitical, criminal, public and personal events working reception of the 1970s into a masterful reflection on the WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7 heart of a turbulent Bay Area, all bolstered by COMMONWEALTH CLUB WEEKLY his uncanny memory and tender wit.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing • MLF: Humanities • Program organizer: George Hammond

READING CALIFORNIANS BOOK DISCUSSION: THERE THERE

In his first novel, Native American author Tommy Orange writes of the plight of the urban Native American in and around Oakland.

There There is a stunning novel that grapples with a complex and painful history, with an inheritance of beauty and profound spirituality, and with a plague of addiction, abuse, unemployment and suicide.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program • MLF: Reading Californians • Program organizer: Kalena Gregory

SUPERPOWER: HOW WIND IS TRANSFORMING AMERICA’S ENERGY FUTURE

TOUR

Every Wednesday at 2 p.m., we’re giving members and nonmembers behind-the-scenes tours of our home at 110 The Embarcadero. Join us for a complimentary tour of our beautiful new headquarters on San Francisco’s waterfront. At our state-of-the-art gathering space, which features a rooftop terrace with unobstructed views of the Bay Bridge and San Francisco Bay, you can learn about our storied history and the many amenities of being a Club member.

Space is limited, so reserve your spot now to visit San Francisco’s newest—and oldest— cultural treasure at our new location. Feel free to call the front desk ahead of time for extra availability.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Osher Lobby, San Francisco • Time: 1:45 p.m. check-in, 2–3 p.m. tour

POD SAVE AMERICA’S DAN PFEIFFER

munications director and senior adviser to the president. As a co-host of the wildly popular podcast “Pod Save America,” Pfeiffer is one of the most visible progressive voices today.

In his best-selling book Yes We (Still) Can, Pfeiffer recounted how Obama navigated the political forces that created Trump and explained why everyone got 2016 wrong. With the start of another marathon election cycle, he’ll talk about what he thinks Democrats should and should not be focusing on in 2020.

Join us for a fun conversation with a man who has spent the last decade on the frontlines of American politics.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Taube Family Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program • Notes: This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation

THURSDAY, AUGUST 8 THE MICHELLE MEOW SHOW 8/8/19

Michelle Meow, Host, “The Michelle Meow Show” (Radio and KBCW TV); Twitter @msmichellemeow John Zipperer, Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable, The Commonwealth Club—CoHost

Dan Pfeiffer, Co-Host, “Pod Save America”; Former Senior Adviser, President Barack Join us for a taping of Michelle Meow’s Obama; Author, Yes We (Still) Can: Politics in the Age of Obama, Twitter, and Trump; Twit- long-running daily show at The Commonwealth Club. Meet fascinating and often conter @danpfeiffer

Russell Gold, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal; Author, Superpower: One Man’s Quest to Transform American Energy Dan Pfeiffer was one of President Obama’s troversial people discussing important issues of Greg Dalton, Founder and Host, Climate longest-serving advisers and closest confi- interest to the LGBTQ community, and have One dantes, working on his historic campaign and your questions ready. See speaker details at

Wind power: It’s leading America’s renew- spending six years in the White House as com- commonwealthclub.org/mms. able energy portfolio, is 70 percent less expensive than a decade ago, and employs more than 114,000 Americans. But like any industry transforming this country’s energy landscape, the road to success is rarely smooth.

In his new book Superpower: One Man’s Quest to Transform American Energy, Russell Gold tells the story of wind power’s pioneers, who persevered through myriad economic and infrastructural hurdles to make wind a major energy resource, approaching one-tenth of the country’s electricity supply. How are midwestern farmers and landowners central to this success story? Will wind ever beat out fossil fuels in states like Wyoming, where the odds are politically stacked?

Join us for a conversation with author and reporter Russell Gold about an industry looking to redesign the U.S. energy landscape.

SAN FRANCISCO • CLIMATE ONE PROGRAM • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Taube Family Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 6 p.m.

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Superpower: How Wind Is Transforming Americ’as Energy Future 8/5

For current prices, call 415.597.6705 or go to commonwealthclub.org Californians at Work: Advancing Dignity, Respect and Opportunity 8/12 SAN FRANCISCO • MICHELLE MEOW PROGRAM • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco • Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program

SAN FRANCISCO ARCHITECTURE WALKING TOUR

Explore San Francisco’s Financial District with historian 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 who 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!

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: Galleria Park Hotel, 191 Sutter St., San Francisco • Time: 1:45 p.m. check-in, 2–4:30 p.m. walk • Notes: The tour involves walking up and down stairs but covers less than one mile of walking in the Financial District; the tour operates rain or shine; limited to 20 participants; tickets must be purchased in advance and will not be sold at check-in; walks with fewer than six participants will be canceled (you will receive notification of this at least three days in advance)

TERRY MCAULIFFE: BEYOND HATE AND CHARLOTTESVILLE

takes a hard look at Virginia’s history of racism and the factors that led to the tragedy in Charlottesville.

Learn about the work done afterward to prevent future Unite the Right rallies and what still needs to be done as America continues to grapple with its racialized history and its long struggle to fight racism, extremism and hate.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Taube Family Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program, 7:30 p.m. book signing

Terry McAuliffe, Former Governor, VirginMONDAY, AUGUST 12 ia; Author, Beyond Charlottesville: Taking a Stand Against White Nationalism; Twitter HOW PUBLIC POLICY BECAME WAR David Davenport, Research Fellow, Hoover @TerryMcAuliffe In conversation with Judge LaDoris Cordell Institution; Former President, Pepperdine University; Co-Author, How Public Policy Be(retired) In August of 2017, white nationalists came War

marched through the University of Virginia in Charlottesville to protest the removal of Confederate army leader Robert E. Lee’s statue through a series of racist and anti-Semitic chants. The Unite the Right rally turned deadly when confronted by counter-protesters, in which a self-identified white supremacist drove his car into a crowd of people opposing the nationalists and killed a 32-year-old woman while leaving 19 others in critical care.

Democratic former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe recounts his experience and perspectives during Charlottesville in his new book, Beyond Charlottesville: Taking a Stand Against White Nationalism. From declaring a state of emergency to condemning President Trump for claiming there were “very fine people on both sides” of the protest, McAuliffe

FDR’s New Deal is widely recognized as a turning point in American history, but David Davenport and Gordon Lloyd go even further, calling it “America’s French Revolution.” Refashioning American government and public policy in ways that have grown to epic proportions today, Roosevelt’s decisions reset the balance of power away from Congress and the states toward a strong executive branch. They also shifted the federal government away from the founders’ vision of deliberation and moderation toward war and action. Having learned that a sense of crisis is helpful in moving forward a domestic agenda, post-New-Deal presidents have seized on the language of war to extend their power dramatically. They have declared war on everything from poverty and drugs to crime and terror. Exploring the consequences of these ill-defined (and never-ending)

wars, Davenport calls for a reexamination of what he says is a destructive approach to governance and a return to more deliberative and moderate methods.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing • MLF: Humanities • Program organizer: George Hammond

CALIFORNIANS AT WORK: ADVANCING DIGNITY, RESPECT AND OPPORTUNITY

Saru Jayaraman, President and Co-Founder, Restaurant Opportunity Centers; Director, Food Labor Research Center, University of California Berkeley Derecka Mehrens, Executive Director, Working Partnerships USA Shaw San Liu, Executive Director, Chinese Progressive Association

Key industries in California, from restaurants to technology to hospitality, touch our lives each day and are central to the state’s economy. Yet hundreds of thousands of workers fueling these industries face daily challenges in making ends meet. Whether working the night shift or behind the kitchen door, many have limited voice or influence on the economic conditions that affect their lives and families.

A 2018 survey by the Public Religion Research Institute found that nearly half of all California workers struggle with poverty, with more than one-third facing a host of difficult financial choices regularly, such as putting off seeing a doctor or purchasing medications, paying the rent or a mortgage or paying a monthly bill. And one in 10 struggling workers report wages being withAUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019

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held by an employer without cause.

Join us for an opportunity to hear from three extraordinary leaders who will share their perspectives on the challenges facing working Californians today and their efforts to ensure every worker in California is afforded dignity, respect and the opportunity to advance economically.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Taube Family Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program • Notes: This program is generously supported by The James Irvine Foundation.

The private, San Francisco-based foundation has $2.3 billion in assets and makes annual grantmaking of nearly $100 million. The Irvine Foundation’s singular goal is a California where all low-income workers have the power to advance economically.

low, how are PBS and public media affiliates such as KQED adapting to serve communities? How can stations and audiences respond to attacks on the free press? And how are these organizations changing with their audiences and the ways they consume media?

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Taube Family Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14 COMMONWEALTH CLUB WEEKLY TOUR

Join us for a complimentary tour of our beautiful new headquarters on San Francisco’s waterfront. At our state-of-the-art gathering space, which features a rooftop terrace with unobstructed views of the Bay Bridge TUESDAY, AUGUST 13 and San Francisco Bay, you can learn about our storied history and the many amenities INSIDE PBS AND KQED: THE ROLE of being a Club member. Space is limited, so AND FUTURE OF PUBLIC MEDIA Paula Kerger, President and CEO, Public reserve your spot now to visit San Francisco’s newest—and oldest—cultural treasure at Broadcasting Service (PBS) our new location. Feel free to call the front Michael Isip, President and CEO, KQED John Boland, President Emeritus, KQED; desk ahead of time for availability.

Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors

More than 50 years after the establishment of the Public Broadcasting Act, which set the foundation for PBS and NPR, the media landscape has changed in ways that advocates for these services never could have imagined. Yet their vision for a noncommercial broadcasting system that takes risks and addresses the needs of the public has endured. Paula Kerger, PBS CEO and president, joins Michael Isip, KQED president and CEO, and John Boland, KQED president emeritus, to discuss the future of public media amid great technological, political and environmental upheaval.

With much of the traditional local news space shrinking and with trust in news at an all-time

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awareness to recognize the spiritual essence inherent in the material world around you and by engaging with the material expressions of your spiritual aspirations, you can grow into an expanded, more whole version of yourself and experience profound well-being.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 4:45 p.m. check-in, 5:15 p.m. program • MLF: Grownups • Program organizer: Denise Michaud • Notes: This event is the latest in our Member-Led Forums’ Art and Science of Well-Being series

DESTINATION HEALTH: SOLVING HOMELESSNESS

London Breed, Mayor of San Francisco Libby Schaaf, Mayor of Oakland Ted Wheeler, Mayor of Portland, Oregon Raj Mathai, News Anchor, NBC Bay Area— Moderator Additional Panelists TBA

Homelessness is one of the most critical health issues of our time. Even the best care isn’t enough to keep people healthy if they do not have a roof over their head. A safe, stable home is necessary to thrive. Yet much of AmerSAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarica is grappling with some of the highest costs cadero, Osher Lobby, San Francisco • Time: of housing and highest rates of homelessness of 1:45 p.m. check-in, 2–3 p.m. tour our time. What can we do to reverse the trend?

What haven’t we thought of?

EAT YOUR CAKE AND HAVE Given the bright minds and wealth of the ENLIGHTENMENT, TOO: CREATING 21st century, we cannot accept that homeWELLNESS THROUGH lessness is unsolvable. Join a diverse panel of SPIRITUAL–MATERIAL BALANCE experts and advocates across the public–priAnna Gatmon, Ph.D., Former International vate sector as they discuss this growing pubFashion Model; Founder, Expansive Commulic health crisis. Together we will explore new nity; Educator; Spiritual Innovator; Author, ways to solve homelessness.

Living a Spiritual Life in a Material World

Anna Gatmon will share how to experience fulfillment and abundant wellness by stopping the seemingly endless struggle between your spiritual aspirations and daily material consumption. She says that by expanding your

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Taube Family Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program • Notes: This event is the first in Kaiser Permanente’s Thought Leadership series on the future of health, featuring in-depth con-

Destination Health: Solving Homelessness 8/14

For current prices, call 415.597.6705 or go to commonwealthclub.org

versations on the challenges driving physical, mental and social health

THURSDAY, AUGUST 15 THE MICHELLE MEOW SHOW 8/15/19

Michelle Meow, Host, “The Michelle Meow

Show” (Radio and KBCW TV); Twitter @msmichellemeow John Zipperer, Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable—Co-Host

Join us for a taping of Michelle Meow’s long-running daily show at The Commonwealth Club. Meet fascinating and often controversial people discussing important issues of interest to the LGBTQ community, and have your questions ready. See this week’s speaker details at commonwealthclub.org/mms.

SAN FRANCISCO • MICHELLE MEOW PROGRAM • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco • Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program

THE FAST EVOLUTION OF GENE EDITING AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR SOCIETY

of such conversation in our busy everyday lives. Every third Thursday of the month, the Kardashian-Free Conversation Club offers an open forum for you and your peers to talk through topics that range from automation’s effects on the job market to climate change.

Here’s how it works: Before the event, members elect a single news topic to focus on. When a topic is chosen, the moderators—Charles, Miri and James—will send out relevant materials, including podcasts, news articles, short videos and an easy-to-read fact sheet with the bare necessities. So, even if you are unfamiliar with the topic, you can quickly be brought up to speed and join the conversation. The goal is to have an informal but informative discussion where anyone can speak and everyone will listen. Bring your curiosity, your ideas and the desire to talk about anything but the Kardashians.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6–7:45 p.m. program • MLF: Humanities • Program organizer: George Hammond • Notes: If you’d like to be added to the mailing list so you can receive the resources ahead of time, please email info@

Jennifer Kahn, Contributing Writer, New York Times Magazine; Lecturer, Magazine Program, University of California Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism; Former Vis- kardashianfreeconvos.com iting Ferris Professor of Journalism, PrincFRIDAY, AUGUST 16 eton Gerald Harris, Chair, Technology & Society ISRAEL’S CONTRIBUTIONS Forum—Moderator WELL-BEING

Jennifer Kahn will update attendees on gene editing and gene drive technologies, which are quickly evolving. She will also discuss their implications for society, extending from use in areas such as human fertility, agriculture and pharmaceuticals. Recent developments in China, where this technology was used on embryos, has raised concerns globally on the use of these technologies. Kahn is returning to the Club after her sold-out program on this topic in November to update members on recent developments.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program • MLF: Technology & Society • Program organizer: Gerald Harris

THE KARDASHIAN-FREE CONVERSATION CLUB

Charles DeLoach, Co-Host Miri Miller, Co-Host James Xiao, Co-Host

TO

Matan Zamir, Deputy Consul General for Israel to the Pacific Northwest Jonathan Carey, President and Founder, LegalVision and Blue Star—Moderator

Our distinguished panel will discuss the contributions and innovations Israel has made worldwide in solving health, environmental and economic problems. Israel has a history of coming to the rescue of other nations after disasters and emergencies. For example, Israel advised California and other areas with water problems. And it was the second country to arrive with medical help after the Haiti disaster.

Come learn more about Israel’s contribution to our well-being.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco • Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program • MLF: Middle East • Program organizer: Celia Menczel • Notes: This event is the latest in our Member-Led Forums’ Art and Science of Well-Being series

MONDAY, AUGUST 19

This program is for all curious members of society who are eager for civil peer-to-peer THE SPECIAL OLYMPICS discussion but are concerned with the lack David L. Solo, President and CEO, Special

Olympics of Northern California and Nevada

David L. Solo will talk about the Special Olympics organization and how it is leading the movement for inclusion of individuals with intellectual disabilities. The Special Olympics is empowering children and adults with intellectual disabilities to succeed on the field, in the classroom, in the workforce and in their communities. By using sports as a universal language, Special Olympics brings together people with and without disabilities to prove that we’re all more alike than we are different.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco • Time: 4:45 p.m. check-in, 5:15 p.m. program • MLF: Psychology • Program organizer: Patrick O’Reilly

ELECTROACUPUNCTURE FOR THE TREATMENT OF NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES

John Nieters, L.Ac., Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine; Licensed Acupuncturist; Former President, Academy of Chinese Culture and Health Sciences

The World Health Organization states that neurological disorders are one of the greatest threats to public health today. Seventy-six million aging baby boomers, or 29 percent of the U.S. population, are about to push Alzheimer’s disease rates sky high. Acupuncture, a form of traditional Chinese medicine, has been proven safe and effective in treating a wide variety of common ailments and problems. Acupuncture can also help treat Alzheimer’s and other neurological diseases.

This talk will discuss electroacupuncture, where a small electric current is passed between pairs of acupuncture needles. Electroacupuncture targets specific receptors to stimulate neuropeptide release for cerebral rehabilitation and neural synaptic repair. John Nieters will explain how this type of acupuncture works in the treatment of these top neurological diseases: Alzheimer’s disease/ dementia, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Motor Neuron Disease, Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis.

Nieters will further explain how electroacupuncture correlates to traditional Chinese medicine. Join us for this opportunity to hear Nieters, an experienced American practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program • MLF: Asia-Pacific Affairs • Program organizer: Lillian Nakagawa • Notes: This event is the latest in our Member-Led Forums’ AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019

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Space is limited, so reserve your spot now to visit San Francisco’s newest—and oldest—cultural treasure at our new location.

SOCRATES CAFÉ One Monday evening of every month the Feel free to call the front desk ahead of time Humanities Forum sponsors Socrates Café at for extra availability.

The Commonwealth Club. Each meeting is SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embardevoted to the discussion of a philosophical cadero, Osher Lobby, San Francisco • Time: topic chosen at that meeting. The group’s fa- 1:45 p.m. check-in, 2–3 p.m. tour cilitator, John Nyquist, invites participants to suggest topics, which are then voted on. The SAN FRANCISCO OPERA: EQUITY person who proposed the most popular topic DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION is asked to briefly explain why she or he con- Matthew Shilvock, General Director, San siders that topic interesting and important. An Francisco Opera open discussion follows, and the meeting ends Charles Chip Mc Neal, Director of Diversity, with a summary of the various perspectives ex- Equity and Community, San Francisco Opera San Francisco Opera’s general director, Matpressed. Everyone is welcome to attend.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embar- thew Shilvock, has announced that San Francadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco cisco Opera, which has the largest performing • Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30–8 p.m. program arts organization staff in the Bay Area, has cre• MLF: Humanities • Program organizer: ated a department of equity, diversity and inGeorge Hammond clusion to meet an institutional commitment both within the organization and externally.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 20 The department will implement strategies to CHINATOWN WALKING TOUR build organizational capacity, structures and Enjoy a Commonwealth Club neighbor- policies to help ensure San Francisco Opera is hood adventure. Join Rick Evans for a mem- a welcoming, inclusive place to work and exorable midday walk and discover the history perience opera. The San Francisco Opera will and mysteries of Chinatown. Explore col- continue its Arts Resources in Action (ARIA) orful alleys and side streets. Visit a Taoist residency program, which connects K–8 stutemple, an herbal store, the site of the first dents and teachers to the process of opera crepublic school in the state and the famous ation across multiple visits, as well as the ARIA Fortune Cookie Factory. dress rehearsal and professional development SAN FRANCISCO • Location: Starbucks, 359 programs. It will also continue select ComGrant Ave., San Francisco (corner of Grant and munity. Understanding. Engagement. (CUE) Bush, near Chinatown Gate) • Time: 9:45 a.m. programs, the company’s suite of programs for check-in, 10–12:30 p.m. walk • Notes: The temple visit requires walking up three flights of the broader community of adults, families and stairs; the tour operates rain or shine; limited youth, building conversation and engagement to 12 participants; tickets must be purchased around the stories being told on the War Mein advance and will not be sold at check-in; morial Opera House stage. walks with fewer than six participants will be Charles Chip Mc Neal will lead the new decanceled (you will receive notification of this at partment. Mc Neal is currently senior curriculeast three days in advance) lum and program manager in the San Francisco Opera Education Department.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21 Art and Science of Well-Being series

COMMONWEALTH CLUB WEEKLY TOUR

Every Wednesday at 2 p.m., we’re giving members and nonmembers behind-thescenes tours of our home at 110 The Embarcadero. Join us for a complimentary tour of our beautiful new headquarters on San Francisco’s waterfront. At our state-of-theart gathering space, which features a rooftop terrace with unobstructed views of the Bay Bridge and San Francisco Bay, you can learn about our storied history and the many amenities of being a Club member.

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SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program • MLF: Arts • Program organizer: Anne Smith

WEEK TO WEEK POLITICAL ROUNDTABLE 8/21/19

Panelists TBA John Zipperer, Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club—Host

Now in its eighth year, Week to Week features discussions about the biggest, most controversial and sometimes the surprising politi-

cal issues, with expert commentary by panelists who are smart, are civil and have a good sense of humor. Our panelists will provide informative and engaging commentary on political and other major news, and we’ll have audience discussion of the week’s events and award chocolate prizes in our live news quiz!

And come early before the program to meet other smart and engaged individuals and discuss the news over snacks and wine at our members social (open to all attendees).

SAN FRANCISCO • WEEK TO WEEK PROGRAM • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in and social hour, 6:30 p.m. program • Notes: Each attendee will receive 2 free drink tickets for a glass of wine or a soft drink during our social hour

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22 THE MICHELLE MEOW SHOW 8/22/19

Michelle Meow, Host, “The Michelle Meow Show” (Radio and KBCW TV); Twitter @msmichellemeow John Zipperer, Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable, The Commonwealth Club—CoHost

Join us for a taping of Michelle Meow’s long-running radio show at The Commonwealth Club. Meet fascinating and often controversial people discussing important issues of interest to the LGBTQ community, and have your questions ready.

See speaker details at commonwealthclub.org/ mms.

SAN FRANCISCO • MICHELLE MEOW PROGRAM • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco • Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program

AN UPDATE FROM DR. ANTHONY ITON: BUILDING HEALTHY COMMUNITIES

Anthony B. Iton, M.D., J.D., MPH, Senior Vice President of Healthy Communities, The California Endowment; Former Director and County Health Officer, Alameda County Public Health Department

The presentation will address the why, what and how of place-based work. Why addresses how when it comes to your health your zip code is more important than your genetic code. It explores the strength of the relationship between life expectancy and neighborhood. The what focuses on how place gets under the skin and changes our physiology. The presentation also examines the components of the environment that shape health opportuni-

For current prices, call 415.597.6705 or go to commonwealthclub.org

ty. Finally, the how discusses the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative framework and how that translates into the investment strategies and policy and systems change approach to place-based work. Examples from the California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities will illustrate the approach and a review of the 10-year, $1 billion, multisite, multidisciplinary, place-conscious initiative.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program • MLF: Health & Medicine • Program organizer: Patty James • Notes: This event is the latest in our Member-Led Forums’ Art and

cadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco • Time: 4:30 p.m. check-in, 5 p.m. program • MLF: Middle East • Program organizer: Celia Menczel

BEYOND WELLNESS: HEALING OURSELVES AND THE COLLECTIVE

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program • MLF: Health & Medicine • Program organizer: Patty James • Notes: This event is the latest in our Member-Led Forums’ Art and

Elizabeth Kendig, Founder and Editor, “Healers”; Former Editorial Director and Content Science of Well-Being series Strategist WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28 Linda Calhoun, Chair, International Relations Member-Led Forum; Founder and Executive COMMONWEALTH CLUB WEEKLY Producer, Career Girls TOUR

This program approaches wellness from the conviction that we all need healing, whether from a broken heart or chronic Science of Well-Being series heart condition. Join “Healers” founder MONDAY, AUGUST 26 and podcast host Elizabeth Kendig in a MIDDLE EAST FORUM DISCUSSION conversation on wellness and how we can The Middle East Forum Discussion group, help heal ourselves. which primarily covers the Middle East, North SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The EmbarAfrica and Afghanistan, has been meeting for cadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco over 10 years. We do not debate. We discuss • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program • MLF: International Relations • Program orgapolitical and cultural subjects in a civil atmo- nizer: Linda Calhoun • Notes: This event is the sphere with respect for others and their opin- latest in our Member-Led Forums’ Art and Sciions. Those interested in contributing to our ence of Well-Being series conversation and learning more about the reTUESDAY, AUGUST 27 gions we cover are encouraged to attend.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embar-

treat disease and well beyond—communicating with thought alone.

EMERGING HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES: DIAGNOSING, DESIGNING AND CONTROLLING OUR WELL-BEING

Every Wednesday at 2 p.m., we’re giving members and nonmembers behind-thescenes tours of our home at 110 The Embarcadero. Join us for a complimentary tour of our beautiful new headquarters on San Francisco’s waterfront. At our state-of-theart gathering space, which features a rooftop terrace with unobstructed views of the Bay Bridge and San Francisco Bay, you can learn about our storied history and the many amenities of being a Club member.

Space is limited, so reserve your spot now to visit San Francisco’s newest—and oldest—cultural treasure at our new location.

Feel free to call the front desk ahead of time for extra availability.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Osher Lobby, San Francisco • Time: 1:45 p.m. check-in, 2–3 p.m. tour

Mary Lou Jepsen, Ph.D., CEO and Founder, BODY INTELLIGENCE: DISCOVEROpenwater; Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, One Laptop per Child; Former ING YOUR RIGHT RELATIONSHIP TO Executive, Facebook, Oculus, Google and YOUR BODY, YOUR LOVED ONES AND Intel; Former Professor, MIT THE NATURAL WORLD Ben Hwang, Ph.D., Digital Health Entrepre- Rachel Carlton Abrams, M.D., MHS, ABoIM, neur; CEO, Profusa Physician, Santa Cruz Integrative Medicine Ben Hwang will discuss the future of con- Clinic; Author, BodyWise: Discovering Your tinuous, remote monitoring data using Body’s Intelligence for Lifelong Health and implantable biosensor tech- Healing

nology and how it is poised to transform wellness, medical intervention, healthcare delivery and patient outcomes.

Mary Lou Jepsen has created a device that can enable us to see inside our brains or bodies in great detail.

With this comes the promise of new abilities to diagnose and Dr. Anthony Iton 8/22

By combining the latest scientific research and more than 20 years of medical practice, Rachel Carlton Abrams will empower you to find greater health and joy within your body and your life. She will explain how to cultivate the right relationship with yourself, with others and with the natural world. She will lead you through exercises that help you listen to your own innate body intelligence––the subtle and not-so-subtle signals that our bodies use to communicate with us.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program • MLF: Health & Medicine • Program Organizer: Adrea Brier • Notes: This event is AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019

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Food and Health from The Ground Up 8/29 the latest in our Member-Led Forums’ Art and

most highly respected, independent budget and legislative analyst.

As part of a valued San Francisco institution, no financial or legislative detail escaped Rose’s attention. In his straightforward talk, Rose will discuss his work and the critical need for an independent view of San Francisco’s money, politics and the work of City Hall, supervisors, commissioners, legislators and mayors.

Science of Well-Being series

THURSDAY, AUGUST 29

THE MICHELLE MEOW SHOW 8/29/19 Michelle Meow, Host, “The Michelle Meow Show” (Radio and KBCW TV); Twitter @msmichellemeow John Zipperer, Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable, The Commonwealth Club—Co-Host

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program • MLF: Environment & Natural Resources

Join us for a taping of Michelle Meow’s long-running radio show at The Commonwealth Club. Meet fascinating and often controversial people discussing important issues of interest to the LGBTQ community, and have your questions ready.

See this week’s speaker details at commonwealthclub.org/mms.

SAN FRANCISCO • MICHELLE MEOW PROGRAM • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco • Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program

BREATHWORK: A THREE-WEEK BREATHING PROGRAM TO GAIN CLARITY, CALM AND BETTER HEALTH

Valerie Moselle, Founder and Director of Adult Yoga and Teacher Training, Luma Yoga in Santa Cruz; Author, Breathwork

Every breath you take has the power to heal, but learning how to breathe takes practice. In her book Breathwork, established yoga and breathwork teacher Valerie Moselle leads you through a practical program to boost your energy and physical health.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing • MLF: Health & Medicine • Program organizer: Robert Kilpatrick • Notes: This event is the latest in our Member-Led Forums’ Art and Science of Well-Being series.

• Program organizer: Ann Clark

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 San Francisco General Hospital

What’s in our food and how it’s grown has a profound impact on the health of our communities. Schools and hospitals are an increasingly critical intervention point for food access and long-term food systems shifts. Food and health issues are set against a seemingly paradoxical backdrop: One in eight Californians faces hunger because of distribution and incentive problems. At the same time, one in four Californians suffers from diet-related diseases, directly related to social inequality, poverty and food availability.

Learn more from California leaders who are improving lives and working to ensure the success of ecological farming through the food that reaches the forks of families.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program • MLF: Food Matters • Program organizer: Cathy Curtis • Notes: This event is the latest in our Member-Led Forums’ Art and Sci-

IT TAKES A VILLAGE: LIVING WITH SOMEONE WITH A MEMORY IMPAIRMENT

Jane L. Mahakian, Ph.D., Gerontologist; Founder, Aging Matters; President and Founder, Alzheimer’s Care Armenia; Former Faculty Member, University of California San Francisco Institute for Health and Aging

Caring for a loved one with a memory impairment is not something you can do alone.

Learn about resources and options as well as innovative and creative approaches when your loved one says “no.”

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 4:45 p.m. check-in, 5:15 p.m. program • MLF: Grownups • Program organizer: Denise Michaud

THE LONGEVITY PROJECT

Robert Kilpatrick, Ph.D., CEO, Health Innovation for People (HIP) In Conversation with Maurizio Gigola, Director; Writer; Producer, the Longevity Project

Eating together is the basis of the cultural identity and continuity found in communities throughout the Mediterranean Basin. The TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 Mediterranean diet emphasizes the values of FOOD AND HEALTH FROM THE HOW DOES AN INDEPENDENT hospitality, neighborhood, intercultural diaGROUND UP ANALYST SURVIVE SAN FRANCISCO logue and creativity, and it represents a way Ben Thomas, Farm to Market Director, of life guided by respect for diversity.

CITY HALL? Community Alliance with Family Farmers This diet is a transnational intangible asHarvey M. Rose, Budget and Legislative AnaDaphne Miller, Pediatrician, UCSF; Author, lyst, City and County of San Francisco ; Foundset, relevant to biodiversity, healthy lifestyles, Farmacology er, Harvey M. Rose Associates LLC; Former beauty and art.

Paula Daniels, Founder, Center for Good Food Purchasing Tracey Patterson, Director of Engagement and Strategy, California Food Policy Advocate Michael Jenkins, Executive Chef, Zuckerberg

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ence of Well-Being series

Auditor General, State of California

Highly respected, frequently provocative, always challenging, Harvey Rose has survived the drama and intrigues of San Francisco City Hall politics for many years as San Francisco’s

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco • Time: 4:45 p.m. check-in, 5:15 p.m. program • MLF: Health & Medicine • Program organizer: Robert Kilpatrick

For current prices, call 415.597.6705 or go to commonwealthclub.org

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 THE MICHELLE MEOW SHOW 9/5/19

Michelle Meow, Host, “The Michelle Meow Show” (Radio and KBCW TV); Twitter @msmichellemeow John Zipperer, Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable—Co-Host

Join us for a taping of Michelle Meow’s long-running radio show at The Commonwealth Club. Meet fascinating and often controversial people discussing important issues of interest to the LGBTQ community, and have your questions ready. See speaker details at commonwealthclub.org/mms.

SAN FRANCISCO • MICHELLE MEOW PROGRAM • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco • Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program

THE CONSERVATIVE CASE FOR UNIVERSAL COVERAGE

Avik Roy, M.D., President, Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity; Former Policy Adviser to Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and Marco Rubio; Policy Editor, Forbes In Conversation with Mark Zitter, Founder and Chair, the Zetema Project

Though it’s not apparent in the media, there is support among conservatives for universal health-care coverage. The preferred approach involves the use of market forces to control costs and activation of consumers to bring the benefits of competition to the health-care industry. Avik Roy is a leading conservative thinker, writer and adviser to senior Republican politicians. Yet his views surprise many progressives. A fierce proponent of the use of market forces in health care, Roy is equally vocal about the need for health care to better serve disadvantaged Americans.

His innovative views have earned praise from both the Right and the Left. Conservative voices such as National Review and Hugh Hewitt have noted his insights and influence on health-care policy, while more liberal voices such as The New York Times’ Paul Krugman and MSNBC’s Chris Hayes have praised his moral courage and creative thinking.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program • MLF: Health & Medicine • Program organizer: Mark Zitter

IMPERFECT CIRCLES

George Hammond, Author, Conversations with Socrates and Rational Idealism— It Takes a Village 9/4

Moderator

Are you a person who never tires of talking or thinking about philosophical, scientific or religious theories? Are you interested in psychological insights, or attempts at such insights, into human life? There are many who would insist that being realistic about human life means you should ignore such fundamental questions—starting around the time the ink dries on your diploma.

But it is unrealistic to ignore the fundamental explanatory concepts that underlie each successful human civilization; these concepts sometimes help and sometimes hinder us in our pursuit of happiness. Such profound questions are naturally provoked simply by living an alert life.

There are millions of realistic people, of all ages and walks of life, who also find it impossible to delegate to one infallible authority or another the task of providing all the answers to such questions. Life is not totally chaotic, even though it looks that way sometimes. Therefore, it’s helpful to be aware of any subtle patterns to our experiences. Rejoin the continuing conversation of human civilization—this time at The Commonwealth Club.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco • Time: 6:15 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program • MLF: Humanities • Program organizer: George Hammond

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 SPIN WARS AND SPY GAMES: GLOBAL MEDIA AND INTELLIGENCE GATHERING

Markos Kounalakis, Visiting Fellow, Hoover Institution; Syndicated Columnist, Foreign

Affairs; Author, Spin Wars and Spy Games

As most long-standing news outlets have shuttered their foreign bureaus and print operations, the role of global news networks (GNNs) as information collectors and policy influencers has changed. Western GNNs are both untethered to government entities and able to produce accurate yet critical situational analyses. But due to the emergence of other GNNs owned or directed by national governments, the global news cycle has become thoroughly manipulatable.

Kounalakis’ interviews with a diverse set of GNN professionals vividly depicts the momentous sea change that has occurred in global news production. He also traces the evolution of GNNs from the 20th century to now, revealing today’s drastically altered global news business model. Find out why countries such as Russia and China invest heavily in their news media, and how some GNNs operate in tandem with state strategies and diplomatic sensitivities. Get a firsthand look at how the global media is shaping policy and morphing the public’s consumption of information.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing • MLF: Humanities • Program organizer: George Hammond

THE VAGINA BIBLE: DR. JEN GUNTER AND MARY ROACH

Jen Gunter, M.D., Ob-gyn; Pain Medicine Specialist; Women’s Health Columnist, The New York Times; Author, The Vagina Bible Mary Roach, Author, Bonk, Stiff, Packing

for Mars and Grunt: The Curious Science of Mary Roach, author and popular scientist, to someone who’s survived cancer. But no one Humans at War answer your burning questions about wom- knows anyone who’s survived Alzheimer’s—

In this age of clickbait, pseudoscience and celebrity-endorsed products, it’s hard to know what’s best for our bodies. Jen Gunter, an obgyn who has been called the Internet’s go-to doctor, is dedicated to debunking the myths, marketing and misinformation surrounding reproductive health.

While much of the dialogue surrounding women’s health targets the shame or inexperience of women and girls, Gunter aims to educate and empower with both humor and evidence. Join Gunter in conversation with

en’s health.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Taube Family Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program • Notes: Dr. Gunter will also be speaking in Marin on September 12

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 HEALTH & MEDICINE MLF MEETING

This is a meeting to plan MLF programs for 2019. Anyone with an interest in health or medicine topics is invited to attend and participate in the planning.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, San Francisco • Time: 3:30 p.m. check-in, 4 p.m. program • MLF: Health & Medicine • Program Organizer: William B. Grant

REDUCING THE GLOBAL BURDEN OF DEMENTIA: THE FIRST EFFECTIVE TREATMENT FOR ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

until now. Alzheimer’s disease is a global pandemic and the third leading cause of death in the United States. Of the 326 million Americans currently living, approximately 45 million will develop Alzheimer’s disease during their lifetimes unless effective prevention programs are instituted. The 99 percent failure rate of Alzheimer’s drug trials underscores the area of greatest biomedical failure and the need for a more complete understanding of the root causes of the disease.

It has now been demonstrated that early stage Alzheimer’s and its precursors, mild cognitive impairment and subjective cognitive impairment, can be prevented and in some cases reversed. Join Dr. Bredesen as he presents a novel programmatic approach that identifies and targets the contributors to cognitive decline. Based on his findings from research into the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, this approach led to the first published reports of the reversal of cognitive decline. Currently, more than 3,000 patients use the protocol described in these initial reports, with success that has not been described previously.

Dale Bredesen, M.D., Professor, UCLA; Founding President and Professor Emeritus, SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The EmbarBuck Institute cadero, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium, San

Everyone knows

Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program • MLF: Health & Medicine • Program organizer: Adrea Brier

MIKE ISAAC: THE BATTLE FOR UBER

Mike Isaac, Technology Reporter, The New York Times; Author, Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber; Twitter @MikeIsaac

In June 2017, Travis Kalanick, the hardcharging CEO of Uber, was ousted in a boardroom coup that capped a brutal year for the transportation giant. Uber had catapulted to the top of the tech world, yet for many came to symbolize everything wrong with Silicon Valley. In the tradition of Brad Stone’s Everything Store and John Carreyrou’s Bad Blood, award-winning investigative reporter Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped delivers a gripping account of Uber’s rapid rise, its pitched battles with taxi unions and drivers, the company’s toxic internal culture and the bare-knuckle tactics it devised to overcome obstacles in its quest for dominance.

Based on hundreds of interviews with current and former Uber employees, along with insight from previously unpublished documents, Super Pumped is a story of ambition and deception, obscene wealth and bad behav-

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Dale Bredesen 9/10

For current prices, call 415.597.6705 or go to commonwealthclub.org

ior, that explores how blistering technological cadero, Osher Lobby, San Francisco and financial innovation culminated in one 1:45 p.m. check-in, 2–3 p.m. tour of the most catastrophic 12-month periods in HOW TO BE AN ANTI-RACIST: American corporate history.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Taube Family Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program; 7:30 p.m. book signing

DR. IBRAM X. KENDI

• Time:

Ibram X. Kendi, Ph.D., Founding Director, Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University; Professor of History and International Relations, American University; WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 Author, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, COMMONWEALTH CLUB WEEKLY The Black Campus Movement and How to TOUR Be an Antiracist (Forthcoming) Every Wednesday at 2 p.m., we’re giving Alicia Garza, Principal, Black Futures Lab; members and nonmembers behind-the- Strategy & Partnership Director, Nationscenes tours of our home at 110 The Em- al Domestic Workers Alliance; Co-Founder, barcadero.

Black Lives Matter

Join us for a complimentary tour of our beautiful new headquarters on San Francisco’s waterfront. At our state-of-the-art gathering space, featuring a rooftop terrace with unobstructed views of the Bay Bridge and San Francisco Bay, you can learn about our storied history and the many amenities of being a Club member.

Space is limited, so reserve your spot now to visit San Francisco’s newest—and oldest—cultural treasure.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embar-

to examine how to uproot racism from society—starting with ourselves.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Taube Family Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 THE MICHELLE MEOW SHOW 9/12/19

Michelle Meow, Host, “The Michelle Meow Show” (Radio and KBCW TV) John Zipperer, Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable—Co-Host

Join us for a taping of Michelle Meow’s long-running radio show at The Commonwealth Club. Meet fascinating and often controversial people discussing important issues of interest to the LGBTQ community, and have your questions ready.

See this week’s speaker details at commonwealthclub.org/mms.

The struggle for racial justice is far from over. Inequality is built on many aspects ingrained in our society—history, law and culture. How do we confront this inequality embedded in American life? How can we play an SAN FRANCISCO • MICHELLE MEOW PROactive role in building an anti-racist society? GRAM • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, National Book Award winner Ibram X. Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco • Time: Kendi returns to INFORUM to deliver an 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program honest critique of modern America and our own role in perpetuating inequality. In his FARMER GALLERY OPENING RECEPnew book, How to Be an Antiracist, Kendi TION: BURMA, THE LAND BEYOND holds up both a magnifying glass and a mirror Anand Khokha, Photographer

A gift that truly keeps on giving.

You are invited to join a dedicated group of Club members who want to ensure that the Club’s mission to promote and uphold civil discourse is safeguarded into the future.

Legacy gifts made to the Club become part of our new endowment, which will support our programming activities in perpetuity.

“I want The Commonwealth Club to continue to do constructive work for my community long after I am gone. That is why I made the Club a beneficiary of my estate.”

-Anonymous Legacy Circle donor

As a member of the Legacy Circle, you’ll also be offered certain privileges and invited to special events. We are grateful for gifts of all sizes. For most kinds of legacy gifts, there is no minimum gift amount.

To Learn More: commonwealthclub.org/legacy-giving Contact: Kimberly Maas Vice President of Development 415-597-6726

Stanford B-School's Tools to Cut Stress, Boost Soft Skills and Productivity 1/28

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019

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Sean Carroll 9/14

Sara Levinson, Photographer

This is a free, casual gathering to visit with the artists, ask questions about their work and experience the diverse Burmese culture captured in their photographs.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Farmer Gallery, San Francisco • Time: 3–5 p.m. program • MLF: Arts • Program organizer: Lynn Curtis

PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS IN REFUGEE CAMPS

cadero, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program • MLF: International Relationships • Program organizer: Ian McCuaig

DR. JEN GUNTER: SEPARATING MYTH FROM MEDICINE

Jen Gunter, M.D., Ob-gyn; Pain Medicine Specialist; Women’s Health Columnist, The New York Times; Author, The Vagina Bible Vicki Larson, Columnist, Marin Independent Journal in many U.S. states. Gunter will be in conver-

At a time when women’s health information sation with Vicki Larson, a lifestyle columnist Brad Adams, Executive Director, Asia Diviis increasingly being provided by the Internet, for the Marin Independent Journal. sion, Human Rights Watch celebrities and consumer product compa- MARIN • Location: Buck Institute for Research Thuy Vu, Broadcast Journalist—Moderator The 24-hour news cycle brings us constant coverage of the plight of refugees in motion.

But how are human rights monitored and protected within the fencing of refugee camps for static populations? How are basic rights ensured and a practical standard of living made possible? Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, sheds some light and responds to questions from award-winning broadcast journalist Thuy Vu, who experienced life in two refugee camps following the Vietnam War. SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embar-

nies of all kinds, Jen Gunter, a Marin County-based obstetrician and gynecologist, has carved out a public role as a truth teller about women’s health. Her new book, The Vagina Bible, provides factual information on a range of women’s health issues and debunks the many myths and half-truths related to the female reproductive system. Known as The New York Times’ gynecologist as well as one of Twitter’s most active ob-gyns, Gunter has taken on medical pseudoscience, including Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop, and has recently come out vocally against increasingly strict abortion laws

on Aging, 8001 Redwood Blvd., Novato • Time: 7 p.m. check-in, 7:30 p.m. program, 8:45 p.m. book signing • Notes: Cash bar; light refreshments available; Dr. Gunter will also be speaking in San Francisco on September 9; in association with the Buck Institute

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 SEAN CARROLL: QUANTUM WORLDS AND THE EMERGENCE OF SPACE-TIME

Sean Carroll, Theoretical Physicist; Research Professor of Physics, California Institute of

Save the Date Fall Member Party at The Commonwealth Club

Thursday, September 26 110 The Embarcadero 5:30—7:30 p.m.

www.commonwealthclub.org/memberparty

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For current prices, call 415.597.6705 or go to commonwealthclub.org

Technology; Author, Something Deeply Hid- Sejal Thakkar, Employment Lawyer, Legal AMBASSADOR SAMANTHA POWER den: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Training Ninja Samantha Power, Former United States AmSpacetime; Twitter @seancarroll Join our expert panel for a myth-busting bassador to the United Nations; Anna Lindh Quantum mechanics is the most important discussion on what really works to make the Professor of the Practice of Global Leadidea in physics, and physicists themselves read- modern workplace better for women—from ership and Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy ily admit that they don’t understand it. But tech to finance to law and the nonprofit School; Author, The Education of an Idealist: Caltech physicist and best-selling author Sean sphere. (Hint: Improving gender diversity, A Memoir; Twitter @SamanthaJPower

Carroll suggests that we do have a very promising way of understanding the mysteries of the quantum world.

Carroll will take you on a journey through the most intriguing subject in science, exploring quantum discoveries from Einstein to the present day, demonstrating how this atomic and subatomic world impacts our daily lives, and giving us a whole new way of understanding the cosmos.

SILICON VALLEY • Location: Schultz Cultural Hall, Oshman Family JCC, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto • Time: 12:30 p.m. check-in, 1 p.m. program, 2 p.m. book signing • Notes: In association with Wonderfest

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 SOCRATES CAFÉ

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 proposed 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 summary of the various perspectives participants expressed. Everyone is welcome to attend.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco • Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30–8 p.m. program • MLF: Humanities • Program organizer: George Hammond

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 SO YOU WANT TO BECOME A CORPORATE GENDER CONSULTANT? HOW TO ADVANCE WOMEN, PROMOTE INCLUSION AND REDUCE “BRO CULTURE”

Emily Howe, Founder, the American Association of Corporate Gender Strategists Emily Howe 9/17

equity and inclusion takes more than sexual harassment training, a women’s mentoring program or a good speaker series featuring trailblazing women.) Panelists will also discuss how and why they made the big career leap into this field full-time.

This event is especially for aspiring corporate gender strategists, leaders of women’s resource groups who want to make sure they are working on the things that really improve the workplace for women, and individuals who want to bring a more welcoming (and less biased) culture to their organizations.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco • Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program • MLF: Executive Womxn • Program organizer: Emily Howe • Notes: Howe photo by Sarah Deragon

Pulitzer Prize-winner Samantha Power is widely known as a leading moral voice of her generation.

A relentless advocate for promoting human rights, she was heralded by President Barack Obama as one of America’s “foremost thinkers on foreign policy.”

Her new book traces Power’s distinctly American journey, from Irish immigrant to human rights activist to U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Power began her career as a war correspondent and as a vocal critic of U.S. foreign policy and then put her ideals into practice while working with Obama in the Senate, on the campaign trail and throughout his presidency. Power’s perspective on government is unique, as she takes us from the streets of war-torn Bosnia to the Situation Room and out into the world of highstakes diplomacy.

Power illuminates the messy and complex worlds of politics and geopolitics while laying bare the searing battles and defining moments of her life. She also reveals what it’s like to juggle the demands of a 24/7 national security job with raising two young children. And in the face of great challenges, she shows us not just how the United States can lead but why there is always something each of us can do to advance the cause of human dignity.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness St., San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program • Notes: This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 THE MICHELLE MEOW SHOW 9/19/19

Michelle Meow, Host, “The Michelle Meow Show” (Radio and KBCW TV); Twitter @msmichellemeow John Zipperer, Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable, The Commonwealth Club— Co-Host

Join us for a taping of Michelle Meow’s long-running radio show at The Commonwealth Club. Meet fascinating and often controversial people discussing important issues of AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019

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interest to the LGBTQ community, and have your questions ready.

See this week’s speaker details at commonwealthclub.org/mms.

SAN FRANCISCO • MICHELLE MEOW PROGRAM • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco • Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program

RUSSIAN HILL WALKING TOUR

Join a more active Commonwealth Club neighborhood adventure! Russian Hill is a magical area with secret gardens and amazing views.

Rick Evans leads a “cardio hike” up hills and staircases and learn about the history of this neighborhood. See where great artists and architects lived and worked, and walk down

residential streets where some of the most historically significant houses in the Bay Area are located.

SF • Location: Swensen’s Ice Cream, 1999 Hyde St., San Francisco • Time: 1:45 p.m. check-in, 2–4:30 p.m. walk • Notes: Take Muni (Bus 45) or a taxi; there is absolutely no parking on Russian Hill—no parking lots or street parking; please take a taxi or public transport; the tour ends about six blocks from Swensen’s Ice Cream, at the corner of Vallejo and Jones; it is an easy walk down to North Beach from there; there are steep hills and staircases; the tour is recommended for good walkers only; the tour operates rain or shine; limited to 20 participants; tickets must be purchased in advance and will not be sold at check-in; walks with fewer than six participants will be canceled (you will receive notification of this at least three days in advance)

THE PRICE WE PAY: WHAT BROKE AMERICAN HEALTH CARE—AND HOW TO FIX IT

Marty Makary, M.D., Surgeon and Professor of Health Policy, Johns Hopkins; Author, The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Care–and How to Fix It In Conversation with Mark Zitter, Founder and Chair, the Zetema Project

In 2018, health care became the United States’ largest industry, but some would say that its success came at the expense of the American people. Coverage is unaffordable for many; 20 percent of Americans have faced debt collection for medical bills, and care increasingly feels rushed and impersonal. How did we get here, and how can we recover?

Professor, surgeon, patient advocate and best-selling author Marty Makary reports on the root causes of the cost crisis—inappropriate care, middlemen and pricing failures—and highlights the innovators that are disrupting the bloated $3.5 trillion health-care industry.

Makary breaks down a complex industry riddled

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with opaque pricing and clinical and administrative waste and untangles the medical bills that are so confusing most doctors can’t interpret them. In his role as executive director of Improving Wisely, a national physician collaboration to reduce unnecessary medical care and lower health-care costs, Makary sees both the devastation medical bills can cause and the vast opportunity to improve the system. He argues that by working together, we can cut through the money games and restore medicine to its mission.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing • MLF: Health & Medicine • Program organizer: Mark Zitter

THE KARDASHIAN-FREE CONVERSATION CLUB

Charles DeLoach, Co-Host, Kardashian Free-Conversation Club Miri Miller, Co-Host, Kardashian Free-Conversation Club James Xiao, Co-Host, Kardashian Free-Conversation Club

This program is for all curious members of society who are eager for civil peer-to-peer discussion but are concerned with the lack of such conversation in our busy everyday lives.

Every third Thursday of the month, the Kardashian-Free Conversation Club offers an open forum for you and your peers to talk through topics that range from automation’s effects on the job market to climate change.

Here’s how it works: Before the event, members elect a single news topic to focus on. When a topic is chosen, the moderators—Charles, Miri and James—will send out relevant materials, including podcasts, news articles, short videos and an easy-toread fact sheet with the bare necessities. So, even if you are unfamiliar with the topic, you can quickly be brought up to speed and join the conversation.

The goal is to have an informal but informative discussion where anyone can speak and everyone will listen. Bring your curiosity, your ideas and the desire to talk about anything but the Kardashians.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6–7:45 p.m. program • MLF: Humanities • Program organizer: George Hammond • Notes: If you’d like to be added to the mailing list so you can receive the resources ahead of time, please email info@kardashianfreeconvos.com

The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Care–and How to Fix It 9/19

For current prices, call 415.597.6705 or go to commonwealthclub.org Top Myths about Homelessness 9/23

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 TOP MYTHS ABOUT HOMELESSNESS

Carrie Ellen Sager, Senior Homelessness Program Coordinator, Marin County Health and Human Services

If we build homeless housing, won’t that just attract more homeless people? I read an article about this cool thing they’re doing in Utah; why don’t we do that? What about tiny homes? We know the causes of and solutions to homelessness, but public opinion is based on anecdotes and personal observation rather than facts. This talk will look at some of the most common misconceptions and provide a nuanced, evidence-based response on one of the country’s most pressing issues.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 4:45 p.m. check-in, 5:15 p.m. program • MLF: Psychology • Program organizer: Patrick O’Reilly

DANIEL HANDLER’S BOTTLE GROVE

Daniel Handler (also known as Lemony Snicket), Author; Screenwriter; Accordionist

Daniel Handler, best-selling author known for his adult novels and children’s books written under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket, returns with a new dark comedy about his hometown of San Francisco. As Handler knows, San Francisco is a one-of-a-kind place, but it is leaving its residents behind. The city is flooded with tech money and innovation, but skyrocketing rents, income inequality, homelessness and other issues in the city have never been more urgent.

Handler’s new novel, Bottle Grove, addresses all of these issues in the city: love, greed and the precipice of change for two couples living in San Francisco, with the effects of the techboom looming over its citizens.

Join us in welcoming Daniel Handler back to INFORUM and San Francisco this fall!

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Taube Family Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program • Notes: This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation

JUDITH FINLAYSON

Judith Finlayson, Author, You Are What Your Grandparents Ate: What You Need to Know About Nutrition, Experience, Epigenetics, and the Origins of Chronic Disease

You Are What Your Grandparents Ate takes conventional wisdom about the origins of

chronic disease and turns it upside down.

Rooted in the work of the late epidemiologist David Barker, it highlights the exciting research showing that heredity involves much more than the genes your parents passed on to you. Thanks to the relatively new science of epigenetics, we now know that the experiences of previous generations may show up in your health and well-being.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Taube Family Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing

MIDDLE EAST FORUM DISCUSSION

The Middle East Forum Discussion group, which primarily covers the Middle East, North Africa and Afghanistan, has been meeting for over 10 years. We do not debate. We discuss political and cultural subjects in a civil atmosphere with respect for others and their opinions. Those interested in contributing to our conversation and learning more about the regions we cover are encouraged to attend.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco • Time: 4:30 p.m. check-in, 5 p.m. program • MLF: Middle East • Program organizer: Celia Menczel

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 THE UNSPEAKABLE MIND: STORIES OF TRAUMA AND HEALING FROM THE FRONTLINES OF PTSD SCIENCE

Shaili Jain, M.D., Psychiatrist; PTSD Spe-

cialist; Medical Director for Integrated Care, VA Palo Alto Healthcare System; Author, The Unspeakable Mind (Forthcoming) Louise Aronson, M.D., MFA, Geriatrician; Writer; Professor of Medicine, UC San Francisco; Contributor, The New York Times and The New England Journal of Medicine; Author, Elderhood and A History of the Present Illness

Shaili Jain, in conversation with Louise Aronson, will share nuanced cartography of PTSD, a widely misunderstood yet crushing condition that afflicts millions of Americans.

Jain’s forthcoming book, The Unspeakable Mind, is a guide for a trauma-burdened age.

With profound empathy and meticulous research, Jain—a practicing psychiatrist and PTSD specialist at one of America’s top VA hospitals, trauma scientist at the National Center for PTSD, and a Stanford professor— shines a long-overdue light on the PTSD epidemic affecting today’s fractured world.

Post-traumatic stress disorder goes far beyond the horrors of war, and it is an inescapable part of all our lives.

At any given moment, more than 6 million Americans are suffering with PTSD. Jain’s groundbreaking work demonstrates the ways this disorder cuts to the heart of life, interfering with one’s capacity to love, create and work—incapacity brought on by a complex interplay between biology, genetics and environment. Beyond the struggles of individuals, PTSD has a tangible imprint on cultures and societies around the world.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The EmbarAUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019

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An Evening with George Takei 9/24 cadero, Taube Family Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program • MLF: Health & Medicine • Program organizer: Patty James

AN EVENING WITH GEORGE TAKEI

George Takei, Actor; Activist; Author, They Called Us Enemy In conversation with Mina Kim, KQED News Evening Anchor, and Friday Host of “Forum”

With an acting career spanning six decades, George Takei is known around the world for his founding role in the acclaimed television series “Star Trek,” in which he played Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the Starship Enterprise.

But Takei’s story goes where few stories have gone before. From a childhood spent with his family wrongfully imprisoned in Japanese American internment camps during World War II to becoming one of the country’s leading figures in the fight for social justice, LGBTQ rights and marriage equality, Takei remains a powerful voice on issues ranging from politics to pop culture. Mashable.com named him the no. 1 most influential person on Facebook, currently with 10.4 million likes and 2.8 million followers on Twitter.

Takei hosts the AARP-produced YouTube series “Takei’s Take,” and is the subject of To Be Takei, a Jennifer M. Kroot documentary on his life and career. In “Takei’s Take,” Takei explores the world of technology, trends, current events and pop culture. On his own YouTube channel, Takei and his husband Brad Takei bring viewers into their personal life in the heightened reality web series, “It Takeis Two.” Takei made his Broadway debut in the musical, Allegiance, inspired by his true-life experience in American internment camps.

Allegiance ran in New York in 2015 and 2016 and had its Los Angeles premiere in 2018.

In his new graphic memoir, They Called Us Enemy, Takei revisits his haunted childhood in American concentration camps as one of 120,000 Japanese Americans imprisoned by the U.S. government during World War II. He details the forces that shaped him—and America itself—in a tale of courage, country, loyalty and love.

Come for a rare visit with an American icon about his life, his activism and his ongoing mission to ensure that, at least on Earth, very few frontiers are final.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: San Francisco War Memorial, Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program • Notes: This program is

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For current prices, call 415.597.6705 or go to commonwealthclub.org

part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation

THE EDUCATION OF BRETT KAVANAUGH

Kate Kelly, Reporter, The New York Times; Television Broadcaster; Author, Street Fighters; Co Author, The Education of Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation Robin Pogrebin, Reporter, The New York Times; Co Author, The Education of Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation

Last year’s Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh were dominated by allegations of sexual misconduct during Kavanugh’s past, including during his prep school and college years. While Kavanaugh was ultimately sworn in for a lifetime position on the Supreme Court, many questions about his past remained unanswered.

Reporters Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly, two journalists who broke many critical stories about Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing, take a deeper look at the formative years of the Supreme Court justice and his confirmation. They fill in some of the blanks and explore the essential question: Who is Brett Kavanaugh? By getting commentary from key players in his confirmation process who haven’t yet spoken publicly and pursuing lines of inquiry that were left hanging, they collected insight for anyone who wants to understand our political system and Kavanaugh’s unexpectedly emblematic role in it.

Kelly was in the same Washington, D.C. circuit as Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh while Pogrebin was one of his former classmates at Yale.

MARIN • Location: The Outdoor Art Club, 1 W Blithedale Ave, Mill Valley • Time: 7 p.m. reception, 7:30 p.m. program, 8:45 p.m. book signing • Notes: Kelly and Pogrebin will also be speaking in San Francisco on September 25

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 JOSH CAMPBELL: THE WAR AGAINST INTELLIGENCE

Josh Campbell, CNN Law Enforcement Analyst; Author, Crossfire Hurricane: Inside Donald Trump’s War on the FBI; Twitter @joshscampbell

Titled after the FBI code name for the initial investigation into Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, Crossfire Hurricane chronicles President Trump’s relentless attacks on the FBI. Josh Campbell, a career special agent who served under Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump before resignJosh Campbell 9/25

ing from the FBI in February 2018, takes us behind the scenes of the Russia investigation’s earliest days and makes a compelling case that Trump’s campaign of attack poses a threat to public safety.

Campbell, who has 12 years’ experience working on some of the FBI’s highest-profile operations and is now a national security expert for CNN, was special assistant to former director of the FBI James Comey. Using a combination of firsthand experience and reporting from sources still within the bureau, he offers an inside perspective into the FBI. SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Taube Family Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing • Notes: Campbell photo

by Jeremy Freeman

tips from former classmates, friends and associates, Pogrebin and Kelly continued their investigations beyond the one week allotted for official investigation conducted by the FBI. Learn about the world Kavanaugh was raised in and get insight from critical figures in his life from prep school to his confirmation hearings.

Pogrebin and Kelly join INFORUM to discuss America’s newest Supreme Court justice and the history that shaped him.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Taube Family Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program • Notes: Kelly and Pogrebin will also be speaking in Marin on September 24

AN ECOSYSTEM OF HOPE: IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS STIMULATE THE ECONOMY, THE MAKING OF BRETT KAVANAUGH GROW THE MIDDLE CLASS & Kate Kelly, Wall Street Writer, The New York Times; Co-Author, The Education of Brett SPICE THINGS UP Kavanaugh: An Investigation Robin Pogrebin, Culture Reporter, The New York Times; Co-Author, The Education of Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation

On July 9, 2018, the name Brett Kavanaugh entered into the American consciousness when he was announced as President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. Throughout his confirmation process, multiple allegations of sexual assault were made against him, sparking deeper investigations into his conduct. New York Times reporters Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly were at the forefront of these investigations, breaking stories dating back to when Kavanaugh was in high school.

Upon receiving a stream of

Luz Urrutia, CEO, Opportunity Fund Yery Olivares, COO, Fresno Area Hispanic Foundation Alicia Villaneva, Founder, Alicia’s Tamales

The Ecosystem of Hope 9/25

Los Mayas

long-running radio show at The Common- and will not be sold at check-in; walks with fewwealth Club. Meet fascinating and often con- er than six participants will be canceled (you troversial people discussing important issues of will receive notification of this at least three interest to the LGBTQ community, and have days in advance) your questions ready.

See this week’s speaker details at common- NAOMI KLEIN Naomi Klein, Journalist; Author, On Fire: The wealthclub.org/mms.

From the kitchen to the mercado and on the Internet, Bay Area Latinx innovators are leading an inclusive economy with strategies targeting immigrants to increase access to affordable financial services and provide support for immigrant entrepreneurs who in turn strengthen their communities and add jobs. SAN FRANCISCO • MICHELLE MEOW PROLearn how they developed their award-win- GRAM • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisco • Time: ning financial inclusion strategies and how 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program they collaborate (with each other and others) to scale and deepen impact in immigrant comNORTH BEACH WALKING TOUR munities. Understand how a shifting political Join another Commonwealth Club neighclimate has affected their clients and outreach borhood adventure! Explore vibrant North strategies.

Beach with Rick Evans during a two-hour SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarwalk through this neighborhood with a colorcadero, Max Thelen Boardroom, San Francisful past—where food, culture, history and unco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program expected views all intersect in an Italian “urban • MLF: Business & Leadership • Program orvillage.” ganizer: Elizabeth Carney In addition to learning about Beat hangouts, you’ll discover authentic Italian cathedrals and THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 coffee shops.

THE MICHELLE MEOW SHOW 9/26/19

Michelle Meow, Host, “The Michelle Meow Show” (Radio and KBCW TV); Twitter @msmichellemeow John Zipperer, Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable, The Commonwealth Club—CoHost

Join us for a taping of Michelle Meow’s

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SAN FRANCISCO • Location: Victoria Pastry Cafe, 700 Filbert St., San Francisco (at Columbus Ave., across from Washington Square Park) • Time: 1:45 p.m. check-in, 2–4:30 p.m. walk • Notes: Take Muni bus 30, 41 or 45; use North Beach Parking Garage on 735 Vallejo St.; tour operates rain or shine; limited to 20 participants; tickets must be purchased in advance

(Burning) Case for a Green New Deal Greg Dalton, Founder and Host, Climate One

This program has been canceled. For more than 20 years, Naomi Klein has been chronicling the economic war waged on people and planet—and has been an unapologetic champion of a sweeping environmental agenda with justice at its center.

In lucid, elegant dispatches from the frontlines of contemporary natural disaster, she pens surging, indispensable essays for a wide public: prescient advisories and dire warnings of what future awaits us if we refuse to act, as well as hopeful glimpses of a far better future.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Taube Family Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing • Notes: In association with Climate One

FALL MEMBER PARTY AT THE COMMONWEALTH CLUB

Celebrate the fall season at The Common-

For current prices, call 415.597.6705 or go to commonwealthclub.org

wealth Club!

Join us in a toast to another great year at our home on The Embarcadero! Enjoy the fun, indulge in some crave-worthy bites and mingle with fellow Club members over a glass of fine wine (featuring our Club label chardonnay and pinot noir); our signature cocktail, “The Agora” (in honor of the Club’s early name); a glass of Fort Point Beer; or your favorite nonalcoholic beverage. Cash bars will be available in our second-floor lounge and on our rooftop terrace, where you’ll find some of the city’s best views of the bay.

We look forward to seeing you!

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Osher Lobby, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 5:30– 7:30 p.m. program • Notes: Cash bar

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 WEEK TO WEEK POLITICAL ROUNDTABLE 9/30/19

Panelists TBA John Zipperer, Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club—Host

Now in its eighth year, Week to Week features discussions about 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.

Our panelists will provide informative and engaging commentary on political and other major news, and we’ll have audience discussion of the week’s events and award chocolate prizes in our live news quiz!

And come early before the program to meet other smart and engaged individuals and discuss the news over snacks and wine at our members social (open to all attendees).

Never miss a Commonwealth Club program!

Subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes, Google Play or Stitcher! or stream thousands of Club programs on your computer at

commonwealthclub.org/podcasts

SAN FRANCISCO • WEEK TO WEEK PROGRAM • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in and social hour, 6:30 p.m. program • Notes: Each attendee will receive 2 free drink tickets for a glass of wine or a soft drink during our social hour

LATE-BREAKING PROGRAM THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5

CONGRESSMAN TED LIEU

Ted Lieu, U.S. Representative (D-CA)

Join us for an exciting conversation with the popular Congressman from California’s 33rd district.

SAN FRANCISCO • Location: 110 The Embarcadero, Taube Family Auditorium, San Francisco • Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019

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INSIGHT SLAPPing the “Weed Nine”

Dr. Gloria C. Duffy, President and CEO

I

had never heard of a “SLAPP” lawsuit until educated by one of our neighbors in McCloud, the tiny Siskiyou County town where we have our vacation home. SLAPP stands for “Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation,” and it’s filed by a plaintiff using the legal system to intimidate members of the public who speak out on an issue or project in an effort to silence them. Although they are generally without legal merit, SLAPP suits can cost defendants large amounts of time and money and are thus intended to deter them from their protest or free expression.

A couple of years ago, a lovely couple from Los Angeles, Cindy Rosmann and Gary Bostwick, purchased the historic McCloud Hotel, near our home. Cindy, who worked in the music industry, had always wanted to be an innkeeper, and is fulfilling her dream.

Gary is a prominent First Amendment attorney, who primarily works with the entertainment industry to protect free speech. Among others, he has represented CBS “Frontline” producer, Pulitzer Prize winner and UC Berkeley investigative journalism professor Lowell Bergman, including when CBS declined to air one of his “Frontline” segments focused on the gambling industry.

It wasn’t long after Gary began spending time in McCloud before he became involved in a local freedom of expression case. Such situations not only exist in rural areas but are perhaps even more common than in urban settings because people in rural areas may be more vulnerable to intimidation.

Weed is a small mill town, population 2,700, just north of Mt. Shasta. Weed’s water comes from a spring that comes to the surface on land owned by Roseburg Forest Products of Springfield, Oregon.

In 2016, after a 50-year water rights lease to the City of Weed expired, in a new lease Roseburg raised Weed’s water price from $1 per year, which had been the annual charge for a century, to $97,500 per year and cut back their supply. With a water emergency looming, the City of Weed signed the new lease.

The lease also called for Weed to identify another water source within three years. Roseburg was planning to sell the water, probably to a bottling company such as Crystal Geyser, which would then ship the water out of the region and possibly out of the country.

Weed citizens, backed by the mayor and city council, asked state agencies to clarify the ownership of the water, based on their belief that the water was intended to be a municipal water source and not a private resource to be sold to the highest bidder. They point to state policy in California that prioritizes water first for domestic use, then for fish and wildlife, then for recreation, and finally for industrial use.

Roseburg responded to the citizens’ expression of their views to state agencies by hitting nine of them as individuals, including a 92-year-old former mayor, with a civil lawsuit, which was quickly identified as a possible SLAPP suit.

SLAPP lawsuits are of obvious concern, for the chilling effect they can exert on individuals’ freedom of expression on matters of public Photo courtesy of Gloria Duffy interest. Constitutionally protected expression includes such activities as posting a review on the Internet, writing a letter to the editor, circulating a petition, calling or writing a public official, reporting police misconduct, erecting a sign or displaying a banner on their property, making comments to school officials, speaking at a public meeting, filing a public interest lawsuit, and testifying before Congress, the state legislature or a city council.

About half the states in the United States have anti-SLAPP statutes, protecting these rights. In California, the Code of Civil Procedure provides a special anti-SLAPP motion that can be immediately filed by those targeted in SLAPP suits, to bring about dismissal on the grounds of protecting constitutional rights of free speech and freedom to petition one’s government.

Attorneys for the “Weed Nine,” including Gary Bostwick, were able to successfully use that provision. In early 2017, a Siskiyou County Superior Court judge ruled against Roseburg and dismissed the SLAPP suit against the Weed Nine, with a financial judgment against Roseburg.

Roseburg’s response was to appeal the decision and to continue legal action against the City of Weed, both of which are still pending in Siskiyou County. The controversy continues, as citizens demand that the City of Weed conduct an environmental impact report on the current water lease with Roseburg. What happens with water rights in Weed, McCloud and the other small towns around Mt. Shasta has a profound impact throughout California, since the Mt. Shasta watershed provides water as far south as Northern San Diego County.

I am very glad Gary and Cindy came to town, not just for their gracious hospitality at the McCloud Hotel but so that Gary could help to “SLAPP back” to protect one of California’s most important water sources as well as the rights of those who speak out on public issues.

SLAPP suits are intended to deter defendants from their protest.

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The Maya

Hidden Worlds Revealed December 7-15, 2019 Explore four of the most important Maya sites in the world: Uxmal, Chichen Itza, Tulum and Coba with award-winning Archaeologist William Saturno.

Visit the superb yet lesser-known sites of Labna, Sayil, Kabah, and Mayapan.

Explore the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve by boat and enjoy the beautiful beaches of the Maya Riviera.

Explore local crafts at the Sunday market in Mérida and learn about the life of the modern Maya during a village visit.

Meet with local experts to learn about the region’s natural and cultural legacies.

Cost: $5,990 per person, double occupancy

CST: 2096889-40

Brochure at commonwealthclub.org/travel

| 415.597.6720

|

travel@commonwealthclub.org

To purchase tickets:

The Commonwealth Club of California

visit commonwealthclub.org or call (415) 597-6705 or call (800) 847-7730

P.O. Box 194210 San Francisco, CA 94119

Periodicals postage paid in San Francisco, California

To subscribe to our email newsletter: visit commonwealthclub.org and use the simple “Be the First to Know” feature on the homepage

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11

Details on page 57

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

IBRAM X. KENDI

SEAN CARROL

Founding Director, The Antiracist Research & Policy Center, American University; Author, The Black Campus Movement

Theoretical Physicist; Research Professor of Physics, California Institute of Technology; Author, Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime

The struggle for racial justice is far from over. Kendi holds up a magnifying glass and a mirror to examine how to uproot racism from society, starting with individuals.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17

Details on page 59

SAMANTHA POWER

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; Anna Lindh Professor of the Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School; Author The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir

Pulitzer-Prize winner Samantha Power is widely known as a leading moral voice of her generation. A relentless advocate for promoting human rights, she has been heralded by President Barack Obama as one of America’s “foremost thinkers on foreign policy.”

Details on page 58

Quantum mechanics is the most important idea in physics, and physicists themselves readily admit that they don’t understand it. Sean Carroll will take us on a journey through the most intriguing subject in science, exploring quantum discoveries from Einstein to the present day, demonstrating how this atomic and subatomic world impacts our daily lives, and give us a whole new way of understanding the cosmos.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

Details on page 62

GEORGE TAKEI

Actor; Activist; Author, They Called Us Enemy

With an acting career spanning six decades, George Takei is known around the world for portraying Sulu in the television series Star Trek. But Takei’s story goes where few stories have gone before. From a childhood spent with his family imprisoned in Japanese-American internment camps during World War II, to becoming one of the country’s leading figures in the fight for social justice, LGBTQ rights and marriage equality, Takei remains a powerful voice on issues ranging from politics to pop culture. Join us as Takei details the forces that shaped him—and America itself—in a tale of courage, country, loyalty and love.