April 2012

Events at The Commonwealth Club for the Week of April 30-May4

Apr 30, 2012 @ 2:03 PM by jzipperer with [0] comments

This week at The Commonwealth Club of California:

MONDAY:
• Middle East Discussion Group
• Rafe Sagarin: Learning form the Octopus
• High Speed Rail: Future of the Fast Track
• Daniel Patterson (POSTPONED)

WEDNESDAY:
• Professor Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg: Investing in Girls: Hope or Hype?
• Dennis Prager: Why the World Needs American Values
• Larry Gerston: California – The Not-So-Golden State Read more »

ANNOUNCED: Winners of the 81st California Book Awards

Apr 30, 2012 @ 2:00 PM by jzipperer with [0] comments

The Commonwealth Club of California has released the list of winners of the 81st Annual California Book Awards.

The winners will be honored at the official ceremony on June 7, 2012, in San Francisco.

Read the full list.

Book Discussion: "The Tiger's Wife" by Tea Obreht

Published in:
Mon, May 7 2012 - 5:30pm

Book Discussion: The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht
This program is sold out
The Tiger's Wife uses fables, allegories and events borrowed from headlines to illustrate the complexities of Balkan history while unearthing patterns of suspicion, superstition and everyday violence that pervade the region even in times of peace. Read more »

Humanities West Book Discussion: The Last Days of Pompeii, by Baron Edward Bulwer Lytton

Published in:
Wed, May 9 2012 - 5:30pm

Humanities West Book Discussion: The Last Days of Pompeii, by Baron Edward Bulwer Lytton Join us to discuss the classic Victorian tale of the last days of Pompeii. Poets, flower-girls, gladiators and tribunes fill the Baron's tale of the lives, loves and tragic fate of Roman citizens living in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. The discussion will be led by Lynn Harris. MLF: HumanitiesLocatIon: SF Club OfficeTime: 5:30 p.m. Read more »

Charles Ferguson: Predator Nation, the Aftermath of Inside Job

Published in:
Wed, May 30 2012 - 7:00pm

Charles Ferguson
Charles Ferguson, 2011 Academy Award Winning Documentary Filmmaker, Inside Job; Author, Predator Nation
Kirk O. Hanson, Director, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University and Commonwealth Club Silicon Valley Advisory Council Member - Moderator Could the global economic meltdown of the last few years have been prevented? Ferguson believes the crisis was no accident. Read more »

High Speed Rail: Future of the Fast Track

Published in:
Mon, Apr 30 2012 - 6:00pm

High Speed Rail: Future of the Fast Track    Ian Mitroff, Founder, Mitroff Crisis Management; Professor, UC Berkeley College of Environmental DesignPaul Saffo, Managing Director, Foresight, Discern AnalyticsWill Kempton, CEO, Orange County Transportation AuthoritySamer Madanat, Director, UC Berkeley Institute of Transportation Studies - Moderator
Prior to recent changes in the High Speed Rail Authority’s proposal for the controversial, multi-billion dollar proj Read more »

Middle East Discussion Group

Published in:
Mon, Apr 30 2012 - 5:30pm

Middle East Discussion Group
Make your voice heard in an enriching, provocative and fun discussion with fellow Club members as you weigh in on events shaping the face of the Middle East. Each month, the Middle East Member-Led Forum hosts an informal roundtable discussion on a topic frequently suggested by recent headlines.  After a brief introduction, the floor will be open for discussion. All interested members are encouraged to attend. Read more »

Middle East Discussion Group

Published in:
Mon, May 21 2012 - 5:30pm

Middle East Discussion Group
Make your voice heard in an enriching, provocative and fun discussion with fellow Club members as you weigh in on events shaping the face of the Middle East. Each month, the Middle East Member-Led Forum hosts an informal roundtable discussion on a topic frequently suggested by recent headlines.  After a brief introduction, the floor will be open for discussion. All interested members are encouraged to attend. Read more »

Steve Coll: ExxonMobil and American Power

Published in:
Tue, May 8 2012 - 6:00pm

Steve Coll: ExxonMobil and American Power
Steve Coll, Author, Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power; former Managing Editor, The Washington Post In Conversation with Greg Dalton, Climate One, The Commonwealth Club
ExxonMobil CEO Lee Raymond said in 2000 that there was "no convincing scientific evidence" that carbon dioxide would disrupt the Earth's climate. Read more »

Chinatown Walking Tour #9

Published in:
Thu, Jun 7 2012 - 2:00pm

Chinatown Walking Tour
Enjoy another Commonwealth Club Neighborhood Adventure. Join Rick Evans for a memorable midday walk and discover the history and mysteries of Chinatown. Explore colorful alleys and side streets. Visit a Taoist temple, an herbal store, the site of the first public school in the state, and the famous Fortune Cookie Factory. There is a short break for a tea sample during the tour.
Location:  Meet at corner of Grant and Bush, in front of Starbucks, near Chinatown GateTime: 1:45 p.m. Read more »