Palmer says a truly functioning democracy must contain elements of tension and conflict in order to thrive. Parker Palmer described these building blocks of the American democratic experiment in a February 19 speech at the Commonwealth Club of California.

Stein's experience extends far beyond the entertainment world. As a former speech writer for Presidents Ford and Nixon, a lawyer, a financial expert, and author of over a dozen books, Ben Stein spoke recently at the Commonwealth Club of California about the financial, political and social challenges he sees facing the world today.

As founders of The Breakthrough Institute and authors of "Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility," Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger outlined their new approach to more effective environmentalism in a Feb. 13 speech at the City Club of Cleveland.

Recently, American journalist Barbara Slavin, Iranian-American historian Dr. Abbas Milani and moderator Jamal Dajani took a look inside Iran's politics, history and culture and discussed the future of U.S -- Iranian relations at the Commonwealth Club of California.

Lewis discussed the evolution of free speech and what it means to defend speech we disagree with in a Feb. 5 speech at the Commonwealth Club of California.

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