WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

Due to rights restrictions, you can find audio only at the Commonwealth Club website. 
Click here for their archive and to contact the producers.

Scroll down for the most recent content broadcast on WBEZ and upcoming speakers.
**  Commonwealth Club airs Tuesday nights at 10pm on WBEZ **

Tuesday April 30 at 10pm:

David A. Stockman

Former U.S. Congressman; Author, The Great Deformation: How Crony Capitalism Corrupts Free Marks and Democracy

Stockman, one of the architects of the Reagan Revolution, says that crony capitalism has made fools of us all, transforming Republican treasury secretaries into big-government interventionists and populist Democratic presidents into industry-wrecking internationalists. Stockman will discuss where he believes capitalism went wrong in this country and how it might be restored. His analysis questions the assumptions of Keynesians and monetarists alike, arguing that both "liberal" and "neo-conservative" interference in markets can be damaging and often dangerous. Stockman was elected as a Michigan congressman in 1976 and joined the Reagan White House in 1981.  (Recorded April 11, 2013)

Tuesday May 7 at 10pm

Deborah Tannen: Can We Talk? What’s Really Going on in the Conversations Between Parents, Partners, Co-workers, Sibs and Kids!
University Professor, Georgetown University; Author; Poet; Essay Writer

Sedge Thomson, Radio Host, "West Coast Live" - Moderator

Tannen is the author of You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation, which was on the New York Times bes- seller list for nearly four years. Specializing in explaining how conversational style - how you say what you mean - can make or break relationships, she has examined conversations between men and women, mothers and daughters, co-workers, lovers, and siblings  Her insights aim to help all of us understand what is really going and provide ways to make things better. Her many books include You Were Always Mom’s Favorite!: Sisters in Conversation Throughout Their Lives and You’re Wearing THAT?: Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation. Tannen is university professor at Georgetown University and has authored many scholarly books and articles as well as plays, poems, short stories and personal essays.  (Recorded March 14, 2013)

Tuesday May 14 at 10pm:

Pipeline Paradigm
Sam Avery, Author, The Pipeline and the Paradigm

Greg Croft, Lecturer, St. Mary’s College of California

Cassie Doyle, Consul General of Canada in San Francisco

Dan Miller, Managing Director, Roda Group

In a world still largely dependent on fossil fuels, calls for a transition from the fossil fuel economy have been met with considerable resistance. The Keystone XL pipeline and the Canadian tar sands have become symbols of the dissension over America’s energy future.

What would the pipelines mean for both the American and Canadian economies? If the tar sands are further developed what will be the climate impacts? A conversation on matching energy supply and demand in a carbon constrained world. (Recorded April 26, 2013)

Tuesday May 21 at 10pm:

Kenneth Feinberg: The Master of Disasters

Attorney; Author, What Is Life Worth?

Mary Cranston, Former Chair, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Retired Senior Partner Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman – Moderator 

Prominent alternative dispute mediator and attorney Feinberg has negotiated settlements in some of the most challenging and emotional crises of our times. The American Bar Association called Feinberg “the Master of Disasters”. Feinberg was dubbed “The Pay Czar” for his hands-on administrative work in the federal bailout assistance program called TARP and has taken on similar tasks for the September 11th Compensation Fund and the BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster Victim Compensation Fund. He is currently working out settlements in Aurora, Colorado, for the victims of the mass shooting there. Penn State has hired him to help create a victim fund in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky case. He does many pro-bono projects including, after the Virginia Tech shootings, setting up a Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund.   (Recorded April 16, 2013)