U.C. Berkeley Professor Eric Schickler, recognized as a top Congressional scholar and a leading expert on American politics, government and policy, is our featured speaker this Friday, January 23 at 12:15 p.m.    Prof. Schickler appears regularly in national and international media — an example, Thomas Edsall’s recent weekly NY Times column addressing “ Why Does Trump Get Away with it? ” — in which Prof. Schickler is noted for directly addressing the question posed by his co

This Thursday, January 15, 2026, Sacramento Seminar is co-sponsoring with the University Club (atop Nob Hill at California and Powell Streets) a conversation with Richard Lyons, the Chancellor of UC Berkeley. Check him out at https://chancellor.berkeley.edu/about/chancellor-lyons-biography   The event is moderated by Seminarian Mike Fitzgerald. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. which means there’s a 30-minute cocktail half hour before the program starts at 6:00 p.m. This is your

Sac Sem starts off 2026 on Friday, January 9 with a much-requested roundtable led by Chair Ryken. The lead topic is summarized in one word: Venezuela.   RSVP TO ATTEND any upcoming seminar. To assist the kitchen staff with planning for our Friday lunchtime meetings, please notify DENNIS WHEATLEY at dennis@triticum.com NO LATER THAN MID-DAY ON the WEDNESDAY BEFORE EVERY SEMINAR if you plan to attend and indicate if you’ll be bringing a guest . Dennis DOES NOT need to know

As the Christmas-Hanukkah Holiday season is well under way with most of us a bit overwhelmed, there is no seminar this Friday, December 16. Christmas being on Thursday, December 25, there will also be no semina r on Friday, December 26, the day after Christmas, St. Stephen’s Day in Ireland most of Europe aka Boxing Day in the UK, nor on the day after New Year’s Day, Friday, January 2, 2026.   Your Weekly Update newsletter will next be emailed on January 5, 2026. Happy New Y

Sac Sem annual Christmas-Hanukkah-Quanza Holiday Party is set for this Friday, December 12 at the North Beach Restaurant starting at Noon .  There is no charge. Your complementary holiday meal is one of the benefits of being a paid Sac Sem member. The complementary wine is courtesy of the North Beach Restaurant. Drink up! Seminarians may, if they choose, bring one (1) guest. There is no charge for that guest. If you haven’t’ already signed up, please do so now. As Sac Sem is

Friday, December 5 will see Assemblymember Chris Rogers as our guest speaker at the North Beach Restaurant starting at 12:15 p.m. The past Santa Rosa mayor, a Democrat, represents the counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, northern Sonoma, and Trinity in California's Assembly District 2.   https://a02.asmdc.org/biography  He will be introduced by Seminarian Bruce Raful. Chris started his career in public service as a legislative aide and senior staffer to State Senator

No seminar is scheduled for this Friday, November 28 (e.g., the day after Thanksgiving, a.k.a. “Black Friday,”) Chair Greg Ryken will be having his lunch at the North Beach Restaurant this Friday. Seminarians who have the time are invited to join him. Greg will be seated upstairs. Just drop by at Noon.                                                                ***   RSVP TO ATTEND any upcoming seminar. To assist the kitchen staff with planning for our Friday lunchtime me

This Friday, November 21, Sac Sem’s speaker is Isaac Stone Fish, CEO and founder of Strategy Risks, a business intelligence firm which quantifies corporate exposure to China. They help companies and entities manage and reduce their China risk. The Columbia University grad is the author of America Second (Knopf, 2022), a book about Beijing's influence in the United States. Formerly a Beijing correspondent for Newsweek, Stone Fish spent seven years living in China: Previously

California’s most prominent pollster and a Seminarian Mark Dicamillo, https://igs.berkeley.edu/people/mark-dicamillo is our speaker this Friday, November 14 at 12:15 p.m.                                                      *** RSVP TO ATTEND any upcoming seminar. To assist the North Beach Restaurant’s kitchen staff with planning for our Friday lunchtime meetings please notify Dennis Wheatley at dennis@triticum.com NO LATER THAN MID-DAY ON the WEDNESDAY BEFORE EVERY SEMINA

TIME CHANGE: URGENT. Da’Mayor, Willie Lewis Brown, Jr., will be Sac Sem’s guest on Friday, November 7.  Due to a scheduling conflict, Mayor Brown will arrive a bit before 11:30 a.m. and depart around 12:15 – 12:30 p.m . Given the large crowd, Seminarians are urged to arrive by 11:15 a.m. If this time change is impossible for you to meet and requires you to cancel, please immediately email Dennis Wheatley at dennis@triticum.com so that he can provide an accurate attendance

The new Consul General for Italy, Hon. Massimo Carnelos, will be our featured speaker this Friday, October 31. https://informaconnect.com/bioeurope-spring/speakers/massimo-carnelos/  He’ll be introduced by Seminarian Dan Riley.                                                                               *** RSVP TO ATTEND any upcoming seminar. To assist the North Beach Restaurant’s kitchen staff with planning for our Friday lunchtime meetings please notify Dennis Wheatley

San Mateo County District Attorney, Steve Wagstaffe , is our speaker on Friday, October 24. Read about DA Wagstaffe in The San Mateo Daily Journal: https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/wagstaffe-cuffed-to-law-at-a-tender-age/article_0d502991-3d9c-55d3-923f-65f045886db1.html                                                                          *** RSVP TO ATTEND any upcoming seminar. To assist the North Beach Restaurant’s kitchen staff with planning for our Friday lunc

Sac Sem’s speaker on Friday, October 17 will be Professor Jack Citrin . His UC colleague, Seminarian Alan Unger will make the introduction. Professor Citrin teaches in the field of political behavior including political trust, direct democracy, national identity, and ethnic politics, including immigration and language politics. Professor Citrin received his B.A. and M.A. from McGill University in Montreal and his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley. Among Professor Citrin’s books are  A

On Friday, October 10 Sac Sem’s guest will be Silicon Valley investor Chris Larsen who has bankrolled several high-profile San...

Philip Yun, the Co-President and CEO of Commonwealth Club World Affairs (CCWA), is our speaker this Friday, October 3 ....

This Friday, September 26 will be a Roundtable. Our chair Greg Ryken has chosen a bold topic that should get Seminarians into a...

Sean Elsbernd is our speaker this Friday, September 19. He’ll be introduced by Sac Sem chair emeritus Dick Spotswood. Sean is a past...

This Friday, September 12, our guest is Janet Reilly , Chair of the University of California Board of Regents. ...

A Sac Sem roundtable is set for this Friday, September 5 starting at 12:15 p.m. New Seminarians may not know that for decades Sac Sem...

Very Rev. Dr. Malcolm Clemens Young, Dean of Grace Cathedral, will be our featured speaker on Friday, August 22. He is the author of  The...