The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's largest public affairs forum. The nonpartisan and nonprofit Club produces and distributes programs featuring diverse viewpoints from thought leaders on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast — the oldest in the U.S., since 1924 — is carried on hundreds of stations. Our website features audio and video of our programs. This podcast feed is usually updated multiple times each week.
CLIMATE ONE: Balconies, Parking Lots and Solar Film: New Ways to Harness the Sun
Common climate wisdom used to be that buying solar panels was one of the smartest long-term investments an individual could make – pay once up front for decades of carbon-free electricity. But it turns out layers of red tape make that process slower – and much more expensive – than it needs to be. And with federal rollback of longstanding tax credits and stiff competition from China, the U.S. solar industry is facing new headwinds.
Still, the future could be bright: More states are looking at allowing plug-in or balcony solar. Energy affordability nonprofits like Permit Power are helping state governments reduce red tape and costs for home solar. And solar developers see new potential in the millions of acres of commercial rooftops. Plus, researchers continue to work on new ways to maximize the power a solar cell can produce. This week we take a look at what the next era of solar power might look like.
Guests:
Bernadette del Chiaro, Senior Vice President, California, Environmental Working Group
Nick Josefowitz, Chief Executive, Permit Power
Juliane Borchert, Group Leader, Fraunhofer ISE; Early Career Group Leader, University of Freiburg
For show notes, transcripts, and related links, visit our episode page.
Climate One will present the 2026 Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication to Daniel Swain, Ph.D., a climate scientist at the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR). Join us for a lecture and celebration of this fantastic climate communicator on Dec. 8, in San Francisco. Tickets are available at climateone.org/events.
Our 2026 audience survey is open, and we'd like to hear from you. It takes about five minutes and asks how you found us, how you engage with Climate One, and what you'd like more of. The survey closes Nov. 30. Take the survey at climateone.org/survey.
Support Climate One by going ad-free! Subscribe to Climate One on Patreon for exclusive access to all future episodes, free of ads. Sign up today.
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2 Nov 2026
Kathi Zellwegger and Mike Chinoy: Saving Lives in North Korea
North Korea has been practically a pariah nation for decades. The tightly controlled communist dynasty has alternated between hermetic silence and belligerence. But what did one woman learn when she worked on the ground in North Korea, providing humanitarian aide to its people?
Find out when Kathi Zellweger and Mike Chinoy join us to talk about her experience as a Swiss aid worker who engaged North Korea over nearly three decades. They’ll share the story of how Zellweger lived out her commitment to the poor and most vulnerable, despite the tensions and threat of conflict always looming over the Korean Peninsula.
Zellweger was the first foreigner many North Koreans had ever met or even seen. Playing a central role in the early years of international relief efforts in North Korea was a lonely job, as Kathi addressed the humanitarian needs of a suffering people largely ignored by the world because of their location. She befriended local doctors, nurses and caregivers; negotiated with suspicious government officials; overcame international doubts about the diversion of relief supplies to the military; and, over a period of years, spearheaded an effort that provided food, medicine and development aid. Ultimately, her efforts saved the lives of thousands of people—most of them children.
One official in Pyongyang declared to her during a visit in the late 1990s, that, even though she was not a missionary, “Miss Kathi—you are the Mother Teresa of North Korea!”
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1 Nov 2026
Evan Barker: Nothing Left
Has the Democratic Party lost its soul? Evan Barker says the party she grew up identifying with has been hijacked by out-of-touch activists, coastal elitists, and powerful special interests. She joins us to share her inside story of how she and the Democrats parted ways.
Barker had a bright future in Democratic politics. She was a prodigious fundraiser and relentless operator, raising tens of millions of dollars for Democrat candidates. But in August 2024, standing on the floor of the Democratic National Convention, Barker hit her breaking point. In that moment, she says she realized what no one inside the party dared admit: the Democrats had lost their way, and there was no path back.
Born into a union family in Kansas City with a rare genetic lung disease, Barker lived and breathed Democrat. The Democratic Party, she believed, was built to help people like her. But as she rose through the ranks, she says she saw a movement obsessed with moral posturing and identity politics rather than with the struggles of ordinary Americans. And when she spoke up, she became a target herself.
She tells this story in her new book Nothing Left, in which she reveals a world of donors, strategists, politicians, and activists who run the party. And she tells the story in-person at Commonwealth Club World Affairs.
This program is supported by the Ken & Jaclyn Broad Family Fund and Garry's List.
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Who has been a guest on Commonwealth Club of California Podcast
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah
Born I
Vishal Prasad
Julia Olson
Rylee Brooke Kamahele
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
37,464,246
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.0 / 5
4 ratings
Spotify
4.1 / 5
19 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 70 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
90
Social presence
0
YouTube
93
Engagement
31
Contact Commonwealth Club of California Podcast
Guest appearances
Does not typically book guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
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