Commonwealth The
December 2020/January 2021 Volume 114, No.6
EDITOR’S DESK
BUSINESS OFFICES
The Commonwealth, 110 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105 feedback@commonwealthclub.org
VICE PRESIDENT, MEDIA & EDITORIAL
John Zipperer
FOLLOW US ONLINE facebook.com/thecommonwealthclub twitter.com/cwclub youtube.com/commonwealthclub commonwealthclub.org instagram.com/cwclub ADVERTISING INFORMATION 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. Copyright © 2020 The Commonwealth Club of California. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Commonwealth, The Commonwealth Club of California, 110 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105; (415) 597-6700; feedback@commonwealthclub.org EDITORIAL TRANSCRIPT POLICY 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, or via our free podcasts on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts or Spotify; watch videos at youtube.com/ commonwealthclub. Published digitally via Issuu.com.
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THE COMMO N WE AL TH
Photo by Alexandra_Koch
Apart for the Common Good
A
s we make our way through the end-of-year holidays, a lot of people are remembering something that is at the core of The Commonwealth Club. It’s in the name: commonwealth refers to the common good—our shared prosperity and community. This past year, the whole country shared some of the most challenging conditions of our lifetimes, but we experienced them mostly on our own. The economic crisis, the pandemic, confrontations over racial justice, and a vitriolic election campaign—those were the overarching national challenges, but for the most part we learned about them, endured them, and tried to do something about them from the privacy of our own homes. For some people, it was not a big challenge to spend all of their time at home. For others, it led to a financial or mental health crisis. It certainly is a challenge for our members from all backgrounds and ways of life. But it was also a direct challenge to The Commonwealth Club of California. In normal times, people gather in our auditoriums to hear speakers, ask them questions, maybe chat with them after the program or get a book signed, mingle with other members and guests at a social hour. Since mid-March, none of that has been possible.
The challenge wasn’t just a matter of a financial threat to the organization; it was a threat to our mission to explore and inform at the very time when multiple crises were requiring the types of programs we share. So, as you know, we went all-digital, holding our programs online. Since March, we have produced more than 320 online programs, and as you can see at commonwealthclub.org/events, we’re not slowing down. We’ll be ready to return to in-person programming when that is safe, but for now, you can be proud that your membership and your support has made possible our many programs on COVID-19, vaccines, economic impact, schools, mental health, racial justice, and the election. And in good Club tradition, we also had some fun online this year, talking with chefs, novelists, television critics, and others. We’re going to keep doing what we do, because it is needed now more than ever. As people in the Bay Area and elsewhere take personal actions with regard to masks, social distancing, and vaccines, the nearer we all will come to the day when we can gather in large groups again to learn, celebrate and enjoy our common wealth. JO H N Z IPPER ER VI C E PRESI DENT O F MEDI A & ED I T O RI AL
