Think you know the Bay Area? Our past is so much more diverse, more heartbreaking, and more inspiring than anything we are taught in school. Join us as we explore some of these histories with Heather Bourbeau, Gary Kamiya, and Liam O’Donoghue, three locals who are deepening our understanding of and relationship to this place we call home. Heather Bourbeau is an award-winning author whose latest poetry collection, Monarch, explores overlooked histories of the U.S. West where she was raised—California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Gary Kamiya is an award-winning journalist of “Portals of the Past” that ran for more than 10 years in the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner. Liam O’Donoghue is an award-winning journalist and hosts the “East Bay Yesterday” podcast. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond   A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From massive forest fires in California to hurricanes in Louisiana, receding coastlines in Massachusetts and devastated fisheries in Alaska, the climate catastrophe is already here. Discussion of the climate crisis has always suffered from a problem of abstraction. Data points and warnings of an overheated future struggle to break through the noise of everyday life. Deniers often portray climate solutions as inconvenient, expensive and unnecessary. Many politicians, focused always on their next election, do not yet see climate as a winning issue in the short run, so they don’t take any action at all. But climate change, and its devastating consequences, has kept apace whether we want to pay attention or not. CBS News national correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti has seen that crisis unfold for himself, spending nearly two decades reporting across the United States (and the world) documenting the people, communities, landmarks, and traditions we’ve already surrendered. Vigliotti shares with urgency and personal touch the story of an America on the brink. In his new book, Before It’s Gone, Vigliotti traces his travels across the country, taking him to the frontlines of climate disaster and revealing the genuine impacts of climate change that countless Americans have already been forced to confront. This is the story of America, and Americans, on the edge, and a powerful argument that radical action on climate change with a respect for its people and traditions is not only possible, but also the only way to preserve what we love. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the future of San Francisco on the line right now? Since COVID hit, San Francisco has repeatedly made headlines across the world for the challenges the city faces. The pandemic, remote work, downtown retail woes and the perception of rising crime have all contributed to a “doom loop” narrative. In response, city boosters have acknowledged our city’s “boom and bust” cycles and looked forward to the city rising again. Join Larry Baer, president and CEO of the San Francisco Giants, in conversation with NBC Bay Area’s Raj Mathai to explore how San Francisco’s business community is responding and how they propose to ensure the city’s best days are still ahead. As co-chair of Advance SF, Baer spearheads a group of business leaders born, raised and living in San Francisco, just like him, who are betting big on the city’s future. From his work in the 1990s to keep the Giants in San Francisco to the Giants current role investing in and building Mission Rock, a new mixed-used neighborhood next to Oracle Park, Baer has been at the nexus of sports, business and innovation in the city for decades. And, of course, he will look ahead to the 2024 MLB season as it gets underway and we ask: Should we be betting big on the Giants? A fourth-generation San Franciscan, Baer has gained a national reputation as one of professional sports visionaries leading the San Francisco Giants. Baer joined the team in 1992 as the executive vice president after he and Peter Magowan led the effort to assemble a new ownership group that kept the Giants in the city. A limited partner and board member of the ownership group, Baer was named CEO on January 1, 2012. In his first year as president and CEO, the Giants won their second World Series Championship in three years. In 2014, the Giants won their third World Series title in five years. Baer is responsible for the overall day-to-day operations of the organization and serves as a key strategist and negotiator of the club’s major transactions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What can we learn about the polarized and unstable world in which we live by exploring the revolutions―past and present―that define our age? Populist rage, ideological fracture, economic and technological shocks, war, and an international system studded with catastrophic risk―the early decades of the 21st century might be one of the most revolutionary periods in modern history. But it is not the first. Humans have lived, and thrived, through more than one great realignment. What are these revolutions, and how can they help us to understand our fraught world? CNN host and bestselling author Fareed Zakaria has investigated the eras and movements that have shaken norms while shaping the modern world. He says three such periods hold profound lessons for today. First, in the 17th-century Netherlands, a fascinating series of transformations made that tiny land the richest in the world―and created politics as we know it today. Next, the French Revolution, an explosive era that devoured its ideological children and left a bloody legacy that haunts us today. Finally, the mother of all revolutions, the Industrial Revolution, which catapulted Great Britain and the United States to global dominance and created the modern world. Zakaria, author of the new book Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present, probes four present-day revolutions: globalization, technology, identity, and geopolitics. For all their benefits, the globalization and technology revolutions have produced profound disruptions and pervasive anxiety and our identity. And increasingly, identity is the battlefield on which the 21st century’s polarized politics are fought. All this is set against a geopolitical revolution as great as the one that catapulted the United States to world power in the late nineteenth century. Now we are entering a world in which the United States is no longer the dominant power. As they find themselves at the nexus of four seismic revolutions, people can easily imagine a dark future. But Zakaria says pessimism is premature. If we act wisely, he says, the liberal international order can be revived, and populism relegated to the ash heap of history. As few public intellectuals can, Zakaria combines intellectual range, deep historical insight, and uncanny prescience to once again reframe and illuminate our turbulent present. Don’t miss his return to Commonwealth Club World Affairs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join a Nobel Laureate physicist, a psychologist and a philosopher for a conversation about the tools and frameworks that scientists have developed to keep from fooling themselves, to chart a course through the profusion of possibilities, to better understand the world, and to make intelligent decisions. These trust-building techniques, which the authors call Third Millennium Thinking, can be used to tackle problems both big and small. Ironically, the deluge of information over the internet has made it even harder to distinguish the revelatory from the contradictory. How do we make health decisions in the face of conflicting medical advice? Does that article on GMOs even show what the authors claim? How should we navigate our next Thanksgiving discussion with our in-laws, who follow completely different experts on climate? Based on a popular UC Berkeley course, Third Millennium Thinking offers a novel approach for making sense of the nonsense by thinking critically, making sound decisions, and solving problems—individually and collectively—using scientists’ tricks of the trade. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond   A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In August 2022, Congress passed the biggest piece of climate legislation in our nation’s history: The Inflation Reduction Act, which put $400 billion into boosting the transition to a clean energy economy over the next ten years. The IRA has spurred companies to announce nearly $110 billion of investment in new factories to build EVs, batteries and renewable energy facilities. That’s driving investments, reshoring of manufacturing, and real change. This week we check in on the impact of the IRA in the last 18 months. What impact has the IRA really had on US emissions so far? Has the IRA distributed money to fulfill its climate justice initiatives? Guests: Trevor Houser, Partner, Rhodium Group Danny Kennedy, CEO, New Energy Nexus Bineshi Albert, Former Co-Executive Director, Climate Justice Alliance This piece also includes a reported feature from Emily Jones of WABE in Atlanta and Grist. Climate One will be celebrating SF Climate Week with a series of programs featuring California and the San Francisco Bay Area’s leading voices in policy, climate justice, and business. The week will showcase interviews with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, State Senators Nancy Skinner and Scott Wiener, and California Environmental Justice Association’s Energy Justice Director Mari Rose Taruc, among others, about the challenges and opportunities facing the nation’s innovation capital when it comes to addressing climate change. On Tuesday, Climate One will also be hosting an Action Lounge, where attendees will be able to join local climate and environmental organizations, apply for green jobs, and receive guidance from climate career coaches. See you there! Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord.  Join today for just $5/month. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While tech titans bragged they would “move fast and break things,” Kara Swisher was moving faster and breaking news. She has been a fixture of the tech revolution, and her consistent scoops led Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg to once say: “It is a constant joke in the Valley when people write memos for them to say, ‘I hope Kara never sees this.’” Now Swisher returns to talk about her new book, which is part memoir, part history and, most of all, a necessary recounting of tech’s most powerful players. She might know more inside tales than anyone else in Silicon Valley, and she’ll share the inside story of the Valley and the biggest boom in wealth creation in the history of the world. Despite tech’s many pitfalls, Swisher remains optimistic about its potential to help solve problems and not just create them. She calls upon the industry to make better, more thoughtful choices, even as a new set of powerful AI tools are poised to change the world yet again. Hear more from the chronicler of the high-tech revolution. Note: This podcast contains explicit language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chip Conley’s "modern elder movement" leads us to ask how life can get better with age. Join us for a conversation about tools to adjust our attitudes and perspectives. Drawing from his new book, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age, Conley will seek to motivate us to think differently. We will learn about his practices such as building your own “birds of a feather” community, stepping off the treadmill, letting go of what no longer serves you and the freedom that it brings. Chip Conley is on a midlife mission. After disrupting the hospitality industry, first as the founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, the second largest operator of boutique hotels in the United States, and then as Airbnb’s head of global hospitality and strategy, leading a worldwide revolution in travel, Conley co-founded MEA (Modern Elder Academy) in January 2018 in Baja California, Mexico. MLF ORGANIZER Elizabeth Carney   A Business & Leadership Member-led Forum program. Forums and chapters at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club World Affairs, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do we say to a grieving friend? So often we either freeze and do nothing or blurt a common condolence and come away wondering if we’ve been of any real help. Join Dana Lacy Amarisa, author of the engaging and insightful book, Condolences Pocket Guide: What to Say and Not to Say to Grievers, in her unique presentation that reveals the source of the gap between what we say and what sad folks need—and the steps for bridging that gap. Drawing from her personal journey of loss and two decades of studying condolences, Amarisa will guide us through her unique and refreshing three-step approach to offering true help to those who are grieving. Through anecdotes and practical tips, learn the four types of condolences to avoid, discover those in your life who might be experiencing misunderstood losses, and come away with the skills and confidence to offer genuine consolation to a grieving friend. Dr. Nate Hinerman's unique approaches to research and treatment intermingle both the philosophical and psychological in human suffering, dying, loss, grief, depression, and anxiety. It is just this compassionate, therapeutic rapport and involvement with individuals and community-based education that he brings to the engaging discussion segment of this presentation. MLF ORGANIZER Denise Michaud   A Grownups Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of Commonwealth Club World Affairs, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Humanities West completes its 2023–24 season by searching for the real Marcel Proust―featuring Adam Gopnik, who will give our first Vance E. Carney Memorial Lecture. Gopnik has been writing for The New Yorker for more than three decades and has often riffed poetic on Proust. From the September 17, 1990 issue: “. . . watching our building go co-op has been . . . a lot like the experience of reading Proust. You begin hopefully, you dream of new vistas of pleasure opening up before you, you think that your friends will think better of you for having done it . . . and then you get bogged down and the whole thing seems to go on forever.” From the June 14, 1999 issue: “As late as the nineteen-fifties, when most Americans already took it for granted that he was among the greatest of modern writers, a lot of people in France saw Proust as a slightly secondary figure―the way we might have seen a long-winded Scott Fitzgerald, or a Truman Capote who actually got his book written. In the past twenty-five years, though, all that has changed, and Proust has taken his deserved place among the French as at once the most magnanimous and the most exquisite of their novelists . . .” From the March 30, 2015 issue: “Everybody tries to climb Mt. Proust, though many a stiff body is found on the lower slopes, with the other readers stepping over it gingerly.” And from the May 3, 2021 issue: “If Proust, for Updike in the God-haunted nineteen-fifties, was the last Christian poet, we may see him now in more secular terms, as a writer who, perversely, sought serenity not in detachment and self-removal but in attachment and reattachment—a monk within a metropolitan monastery. 'Be here now' is the mystic’s insistence. 'Don’t be here now' is Proust’s material motto: be there then, again. Enjoy, emote, repeat, remember: there are worse designs for living.” Joshua Landy has also been writing and thinking about and teaching Proust for decades. He will explore several Proustian questions: How can we feel at home in the world? How can we find genuine connection with other human beings? How can we find enchantment in a world without God? Does an artist’s life shed light on her work? What can we know about reality, other people, and ourselves? When is not knowing better than knowing? Who are we really, deep down? And why does it matter to read about all this in a novel? Dora Zhang will focus on the famous Proust observation that "the only true voyage . . . would not be to visit new lands but to possess other eyes, to see the world with the eyes of another." In Proust’s novel the camera provides a crucial means for the narrator to step outside his habitual gaze and to possess other eyes, to look anew on familiar scenes and to see hidden truths therein. Zhang will explore this theme of estranging our vision by highlighting the role of photography in In Search of Lost Time. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond   A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. In association with Humanities West, the Stanford Humanities Center, and the Townsend Center for the Humanities at UC Berkeley. This program contains EXPLICIT content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a conversation about reducing violence in Oakland and how we can all work together to keep each other safe.  Pastor Billy Dixon leads At Thy Word Ministries and is co-chair of the Board of Directors of Faith in Action East Bay. He is an Oakland native and the son of a pastor. Dixon joined the U.S. Navy before becoming a correctional officer for 28 years. Later he attended seminary at Southwest Bible College, and in 2010 he took over the church his father had founded, At Thy Word Ministries. Dr. Holly Joshi is the City of Oakland's chief of violence prevention. She has vast leadership experience and a track record of successfully implementing evidence-based, violence prevention and intervention strategies. Prior to taking on leadership of the Department of Violence Prevention (DVP), Dr. Joshi served as senior director at GLIDE, a nationally recognized center for social justice, dedicated to fighting systemic injustices, creating pathways out of poverty and crisis, and transforming lives. At GLIDE she led the Center for Social Justice, a department focused on improving housing access, community health and safety, and gender and racial equity. Taking on the leadership of the DVP is a homecoming for Dr. Joshi who worked for the city from 2001–2015, holding diverse investigative and leadership roles within the Oakland Police Department, including child exploitation unit supervisor, Internal Affairs Division investigator, crime reduction team investigator, public information officer, and chief of staff. In this work she was widely recognized for her expertise in gender-based violence, commitment to progressive policing, and collaborative relationships across the city. Captain Frederick Shavies is the acting captain of Ceasefire. He is an 18-year veteran with the Oakland Police Department and a graduate of the 283rd FBI National Academy. Captain Shavies is an Oakland native who is passionate about reducing violence in his community. See more  Michelle Meow Show programs at The Commonwealth Club of California. Produced in partnership with Fluid 510. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Even before Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” brought climate change to the mainstream, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Elizabeth Kolbert was on the beat. Her reporting in the early 2000s culminated in her book “Field Notes from a Catastrophe,” which sounded the alarm on the causes and effects of global warming.  Nearly 20 years later, Kolbert is still bringing the climate story to the public with her new book “H Is for Hope: Climate Change from A to Z.” The book is told in bite size vignettes that paint a picture of our climate present, what the future may hold and where there may be space for hope.  Guests:  Elizabeth Kolbert, Journalist and Author Molly Wood, Climate Solutions Investor and Podcaster Sister True Dedication, Zen Buddhist Nun Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., CEO, Hip Hop Caucus Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord.  Join today for just $5/month. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Elizabeth Kolbert headshot copyright Elizabeth Kolbert Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Please join us as Dr. Adele Hayutin takes us on a world tour of population change and its dramatic consequences. Her talk will offer many surprises and insights, such as China’s dramatic demographic plunge Africa’s population explosion Where declining birth rates lead to shrinking workforces Where aging populations strain economic wellbeing Why immigration is key to ensuring continued economic growth How increasing women’s participation in the workforce will be critical globally Drawing on her recent book, New Landscapes of Population Change: A Demographic World Tour, Dr. Hayutin will explore the divergent changes ahead for the world, its subregions, and individual countries, and she will demonstrate the urgent need for strategies that address these momentous shifts. She will examine global population dynamics and illuminate how these forces will combine over the next few decades in ways that threaten economic security and political stability, offering us a window on the future. About the Speaker Adele Hayutin, an Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, is a business economist specializing in comparative international demographics. Building on her experience in business and academia, Dr. Hayutin has developed an innovative comparative perspective that highlights surprising demographic differences across countries and illustrates the unprecedented speed and impacts of critical changes. Her recent book, New Landscapes of Population Change: A Demographic World Tour, illuminates the divergent changes ahead for the world. Dr. Hayutin was previously director of demographic analysis at the Stanford University Center on Longevity and chief economist at the Fremont Group. Hayutin received a BA from Wellesley College and holds an MPP and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California,Berkeley. MLF ORGANIZER: Frank Price An International Relations Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why slow down as you get older? Caroline Paul has always filled her life with adventure: From mountain biking in the Bolivian Andes to pitching a tent, mid-blizzard, on Denali, she has never been a stranger to the exhilaration the outdoors can hold. Yet through it all, she has long wondered, Why aren’t women, like men, encouraged to keep adventuring into old age? Now she is sharing her quest to understand not just how to live a dynamic life in a changing body, but why she says we must. She dives deep into the current research on aging and highlights the results with the stories of women like 93-year-old hiker Dot Fisher-Smith, 80-year-old scuba diver Louise Wholey, 52-year-old BASE jumper Shawn Brokemond, 64-year-old birdwatcher Virginia Rose, and the many septuagenarian Wave Chasers who boogie board together in the San Diego surf. These women aren’t experts. But their experiences and the scientific studies that back them up offer important insight into our own physical and emotional health as we age, showing that growing older is no reason for women to sell themselves short. She’s chronicled it all in her new book Tough Broad, a high-spirited call for women to embrace the outdoors, not back away from it, in their 50s, 60s, 70s, and beyond. Bring your taste for adventure and hear this New York Times-bestselling author share her funny, inspiring, deeply researched exploration into the science and psychology of the outdoors and our place in it as we age. MLF ORGANIZER: Denise Michaud A Grownups Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of Commonwealth Club World Affairs, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is it time for a vision of a better internet with a playbook to build the future? The internet of today is a far cry from its early promise of a decentralized, democratic network of innovation, connection and freedom. In the past decade, it has fallen almost entirely under the control of a very small group of companies like Apple, Google and Facebook. In Read Write Own, tech visionary Chris Dixon argues that the dream of an open network for fostering creativity and entrepreneurship doesn’t have to die and can, in fact, be saved with blockchain networks. He separates this movement, which aims to provide a solid foundation for everything from social networks to artificial intelligence to virtual worlds, from cryptocurrency speculation—a distinction he calls “the computer vs. the casino.” With lucid and compelling prose—drawing from a 25-year career in the software industry—Dixon shows how the internet has undergone three distinct eras, bringing us to the critical moment we’re in today. The first was the “read” era, in which early networks democratized information. In the “read-write” era, corporate networks democratized publishing. We are now in the midst of the “read-write-own” era, sometimes called web3, in which blockchain networks are granting power and economic benefits to communities of users, not just corporations. Join us to hear Dixon share his message for internet users, business leaders, creators, entrepreneurs—anyone who wants to understand where we’ve been and where we’re going. Dixon founded and leads a16z crypto, a division of the firm that he has grown from $300 million in 2018 to more than $7 billion of committed capital dedicated to investing in crypto and web3 technologies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Climate change means extreme weather, shifting landscapes, and generally more instability. More and more, you can feel the impacts of climate disruption in your wallets. Drought is pushing up the cost of candy and leading to shipping delays in the Panama Canal.  Globally, researchers say climate could add one percent to inflation every year until 2035. The costs of car insurance, health insurance and property insurance are rising. And whether it’s tea in the morning or wine in the evening, disrupted climate patterns and extreme weather are making certain foods more expensive.  This week, we unpack how climate change drives inflation. Guests: Nicholas Stern, IG Patel Chair of Economics and Government, London School of Economics Jeremy Porter, Head of Climate Implications Research, First Street Foundation Avery Ellfeldt, Reporter, E&E News Lea Borkenhagen, Senior Vice President, EDF+Business Support Climate One by going ad-free! By joining Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and even periodic engagements with Climate One staff. Join today for just $5/month. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Jonna Hiestand Mendez first joined the CIA, she still needed her husband’s permission to open a bank account or shut off the gas to their apartment. Hired as a convenience to her CIA officer husband’s career, she began by performing secretarial duties for the agency. But she didn’t stay in the secretarial pool. Mendez's talent for espionage was clear, and she soon took on bigger and more significant roles at the CIA. She lived under cover and served tours of duty all over the globe, as well as at CIA headquarters. She confronted dangerous situations that called on her spy training: coming face to face with a rogue jihadi who had brought down an American plane, and helping steal a top-secret encryption machine from a Soviet embassy, among other high stakes situations. She became an international spy and ultimately the chief of disguise at the CIA’s Office of Technical Service—a kind of female American version of James Bond's famous "Q." Now, the bestselling co-author of The Moscow Rules and Argo tells her riveting, courageous story of being a female spy at the CIA and battling against the prevailing culture of sexism at the time, all while undertaking dangerous missions for America’s safety during the height of the Cold War. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prepare to be inspired and empowered by the one and only Guy Kawasaki! Former chief evangelist for Apple, rejuvenator of the Macintosh cult, and executive fellow of the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, Guy is truly revered for his wisdom—and he's also one of the friendliest people in Silicon Valley. Based on hundreds of interviews, Guy's new book, Think Remarkable: 9 Paths to Transform Your Life and Make a Difference, is a practical how-to-do-it guide about constructing a life that matters and that reflects our best selves. As Guy explains, it's not just about building a foundation of knowledge and relationships, then finding a worthwhile goal. It's also about how to "move beyond Eureka!" to sell ideas, lead a team, and inspire others. Don't miss this opportunity to learn all of these crucial skills! MLF ORGANIZER: Eric Siegel This program contains EXPLICIT language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fraught relations between neighbors are not unique. But with the stakes elevated on the international stage, and separated by just 90 miles, the United States and Cuba showcase one of the most strained and enduring neighborhood disputes. In the region where the Cold War almost turned nuclear-hot, is there any way to contend with a complicated history and still make nice? Join Commonwealth Club World Affairs for an unprecedented evening as we welcome the Cuban ambassador to the United States on her first visit to the West Coast. In our exclusive public program, Ambassador Lianys Torres Rivera, will shed light on one of our closest yet most controversial and closed-off neighbors: the Republic of Cuba. Ambassador Lianys Torres Rivera will share a perspective from Havana: What is the story behind record-breaking recent Cuban migration to the United States? Is there any hope for moving beyond the U.S. embargo of Cuba—now in its seventh decade and controversially expanded in the 1990s to sanction worldwide companies trading with the island? More than 30 years on since the fall of the Soviet Union—but in an era of rising geopolitical tensions—what can a relationship between the leader of the free world and our closest Communist neighbor look like? As ambassador to the United States, and a key negotiator in the bilateral discussions on bolstering U.S. engagement with Cuba during the Obama administration, Ambassador Torres Rivera will share insight into the process of renewing relations, the backsliding that followed and where we stand now. Hear how the U.S.-Cuba relationship could evolve as we look ahead to this pivotal election year in the United States and explore if California-Cuba collaborations could ignite. Come prepared with your questions for this very rare opportunity to speak directly with Cuba’s highest official in the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“That evening, I was given a glimpse inside a hidden world. . . . An entirely new kind of surveillance program—one designed to track everyone.” Hear a tale of strange bedfellows—the U.S. government, data brokers, tech companies and advertisers—involved in shaping the surveillance state and privacy. For the past five years—ever since a chance encounter at a dinner party—journalist Byron Tau has been piecing together a secret story: how the whole of the internet and every digital device in the world became a mechanism of intelligence, surveillance, and monitoring. Most people are somewhat aware that our modern world is awash in surveillance. But Tau says the true potential of our phones, computers, homes, credit cards, and even the tires underneath our cars to reveal our habits and behavior would astonish most citizens. All of this surveillance has produced an extraordinary amount of valuable data about every one of us. That data is for sale—and the biggest customer is the U.S. government. In the years after 9/11, the U.S. government, working with scores of anonymous companies, many scattered across bland Northern Virginia suburbs, built a foreign and domestic surveillance apparatus of breathtaking scope—one that can peer into the lives of nearly everyone on the planet. This cottage industry of data brokers and government bureaucrats has one directive—“get everything you can”—and the result is a world in which defense contractors have marketing subsidiaries and marketing companies have defense contractor subsidiaries. And the public knows virtually nothing about it. Reporter Byron Tau joins us for a special online-only talk to tell you—and probably the government—what he has learned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices