Local Programs

 The first forum of the 2016 Leon Panetta Lecture Series focuses on the topic, "War, Terrorism and Other Global Threats". 

Secretary Leon Panetta moderates this discussion with guests Mike Rogers, former United States representative (R-MI) and chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; Wendy Sherman, former Department of State under secretary for political affairs and lead negotiator of the Iran nuclear agreement; and General Ray Odierno, former United States Army chief of staff and commander of United States forces in Iraq.

In 2014 and 2015, KAZU reporter Rowan Moore Gerety along with KAZU's Krista Almanzan recorded around the clock moments of life in the Monterey Bay Area. The end result is the Monterey Bay Chronicles, an audio portrait of 24 hours in the Monterey Bay Area.

The final event in the 2015 Leon Panetta Lecture series focuses on the topic Cyber.  Secretary Leon Panetta moderates a discussion with Keith Alexander, former commander of U.S. Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency; Renee James, president of Intel; and Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  This event took place Monday, June 1st in Monterey and aired live on 90.3 KAZU.

The third event in the 2015 Leon Panetta Lecture Series focuses on the Economy with Michael Boskin, former chair of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers; Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor; Christina Romer, former chair of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers; and Alan Simpson, former U.S. Senator (WY) and co-chair of the Simpson-Bowles Commission.  Secretary Panetta moderates the event which took place on Monday, May 11th in Monterey.

The Carmel Public Library Foundation and KAZU welcomed Ambassador Christopher Hill to the Sunset Center in Carmel on Wednesday, April 8th in a benefit event for the Library Foundation.  KAZU's Krista Almanzan moderated the Q&A portion of the event.

Christopher Hill is a four time Ambassador whose last post was in Iraq.  He is the bestselling author of the recently published book Outpost: Life on the Frontlines of American Diplomacy.  

Hill is currently Dean of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver.

Race Relations with Ben Jealous, former president and CEO of the NAACP; Ray Kelly, former commissioner of the New York City Police Department; and Ken Salazar, former attorney general for Colorado and U.S. Secretary of the Interior.  Secretary Leon Panetta serves as the moderator of this discussion.  This event took place on Monday, April 20th.

The first event in the 2015 Leon Panetta Lecture Series focuses on the topic of energy and features Carol Browner, former director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy; Steven Chu, former Secretary of Energy; Joe Manchin, U.S. Senator (WV); and T. Boone Pickens, chairman of BP Capital Management.  Secretary Leon E. Panetta serves as moderator.  This event took place on Monday, March 23rd in Monterey.

Paul Saffo is a forecaster with over two decades of experience in helping corporate and government clients understand and respond to the dynamics of large-scale and long-term change. He teaches at Stanford University, where he is a consulting associate professor in the School of Engineering, and chairs the Future Studies track at Singularity University.

On November 4th, he spoke at California State University Monterey Bay's World Theater about "Innovators, Upstarts and Mythmakers: The Deep Origins of Silicon Valley"

The third forum of the 2014 Leon Panetta Lecture Series  will focus on Security versus Freedom: Sedition to Internment to Surveillance.  Speaking with Secretary Panetta on the topic will be Barton Gellman, author and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist; Michael Morell, former acting director and former deputy director of the CIA; and Robert Mueller, former director of the FBI.   

The event aired live Monday, May 12th at 7:00pm on 90.3 KAZU.   

The second forum in the 2014 Leon Panetta Lecture Series will focus on Role of Government:  Depressions, Wars, Equality and Poverty.  Speaking with Secretary Leon Panetta on the topic will be Barney Frank, former United States representative and chairman of the House Committee on Financial Servcies and Alan Simpson, former United States senator and co-chair of the Simpson-Bowles Commission.   

The event took place Monday evening, April 28, at the Monterey Conference Center Steinbeck Forum at 7:00 p.m. and aired live on 90.3 KAZU.   

Jeff Edmondson is Managing Director of Strive Together,  a national initiative that brings together leaders from pre-kindergarten through higher education, business, community organizations, government, parents and others who are committed to helping children succeed from cradle to career.  A Cradle to Career Partnership has recently been established in Monterey County.

On April 9th he spoke at CSUMB's World Theater on the "Collective Impact: A New Way of Doing Business to Improve Educational Outcomes.    

David Kennedy is director of the Center for Crime Prevention and Control at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and former director of the Boston Gun Project. The Boston Gun Project's Operation Ceasefire was credited with sharply reducing the youth homicide rate in Boston. A self-taught criminologist, he has devoted his career to reducing gang- and drug-related violence.   He spoke at CSUMB's World Theater on Friday, March 28th, 2014.

CSUMB President’s Speaker Series presents Mary Jo Waits, Director, Economic, Human Services & Workforce Division of the National Governors Association.  On March 4th, Waits spoke on the topic of  "Leveraging Universities in Regional Economic Development".

With Nicholas Burns, former under secretary of state for political affairs, Michèle Flournoy, former under secretary of defense for policy, and Admiral James Stavridis, former supreme allied commander, NATO and former commander of the United States European Command.  This forum took place on Monday, March 10th in Monterey.

In this season's final forum in the Leon Panetta Lecture Series the topic was “Middle East Turmoil: Chaos or Reform?” with Secretary Panetta as moderator.  Guests for the final event included  Ehud Barak, former Israeli Prime Minister and former Minister of Defense; Joe Lieberman, former United States Senator  from Connecticut; and Richard Lugar, former United States Senator from Indiana and former chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.  The event took place Monday, June 10th at the Monterey Conference Center.

The third forum in the Leon Panetta 2013 Lecture Series is Gun Control: The Second Amendment -- Are There Limits? 

Secretary Panetta will be joined by Sarah Brady, chair of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence; Asa Hutchinson, former United States congressman and former task force director for the National Rifle Association; and, James Johnson, chair of the National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence and Baltimore County Chief of Police.

The sixteenth annual Leon Panetta Lecture Series continues with: The Budget Blame Game.