The New School at Commonweal

Today I am taking sides. I am taking the side of Peace. Peace, which I will not abandon even when its voice is drowned out by hurt and hatred, bitterness of loss, cries of right and wrong. I am taking the side of Peace whose name has barely been spoken in this winnerless war….. From Irwin Keller’s viral protest poem, “Taking Sides,” published in his recent volume of essays, memoir, and poetry: entitled Shechinah at the Art Institute: Words, Worry, Wonder. Join Host Michael Lerner for another conversation with New School friend and sometimes-host Rabbi Irwin Keller. A former lawyer and drag queen, Irwin has released a long-awaited volume of essays, memoir, and poetry, entitled Shechinah at the Art Institute: Words, Worry, Wonder. In this book, Irwin, most recently known for his viral protest poem, “Taking Sides,” leads us on dazzling journeys into Jewish mysticism, love, loss, memory, gender, AIDS, and the Milky Way itself. Co-presented with the Mesa Refuge. #shechinah #jewishmysticism #newschoolcommonweal #commonweal #irwinkeller Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

Tara Geer, Program Director of Commonweal’s Visual Thinking Strategies program in conversation with host Susan Grelock Yusem Around the world, people understand life and each other in vastly different ways. In "What Do We Know?," we will delve into profound ways of knowing often dismissed by Western thought, including intuition, artistic expression, empathy, and the wisdom of dreams. We will explore diverse, non-Western approaches to knowledge formation including interconnection, collective well-being, intuition, and other ways of knowing. Join us live for three 60-minute conversations followed by 1/2-hour shared community inquiry that could include breakout groups, writing prompts and sharing, demonstrations, or other processes. Hosted by Commonweal Narrative Director Susan Grelock Yusem.

In this conversation, join TNS Host Michael Lerner with artist and sound healer Deborah Koff-Chapin. Deborah Koff-Chapin has been practicing Touch Drawing since it came into her life as a creative inspiration in 1974. She teaches this simple yet profound process internationally. Deborah is creator of the best-selling SoulCards 1&2, celebrating 25 years in print in 2020. This same year she harvested 25 years of work to produce her deck Portals of Presence. Deborah is creator of five SoulTouch Coloring Journals. She is author of Drawing Out Your Soul and The Touch Drawing Facilitator Workbook. Deborah has served as Interpretive Artist at numerous conferences including The Parliament of the Worlds Religions. She also works with individuals to bring subtle dimensions of their soul into form through Inner Portraits. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

– zen priest teaching the art of war, conflict In this era of profound conflict and rupture, we are witnessing disharmony at every level of humanity---within ourselves, in our relationships, across our communities, within the nation, and across nation states. Group conflict can stretch and break us, but if we are willing to endure the pain, it can also lead us closer to existential realities that are uncomfortable, yet essential, for us to face. When collective conflict arises, it thrusts us into liminal spaces of uncertainty, loss, vitality, and initiation. In these moments, we must ask ourselves: how do we learn to listen to the individual and collective soul that is emerging? This New School conversation series will weave perspectives from depth and transpersonal psychologies, somatics, cosmology, and consciousness into conflict transformation. We will learn from wisdom keepers who are deeply trained in both the technical craft of conflict resolution and the spiritual, ancestral, and traditional wisdom that allows us to see deeply into conflict---transforming shared suffering into opportunities for healing. In this conversation, Serena talks with Norma Wong, Zen priest and teacher about the art of war and conflict, who recently served to help facilitate a mutual path through the conflict between native culture/science and western discovery science posing as a dispute over the construction of a telescope on Mauna Kea. Norma Wong (Norma Ryuko Kawelokū Wong Roshi) Norma is a Native Hawaiian and Hakka life-long resident of Hawaiʻi. She is the abbot of Anko-in, an independent branch temple of Daihonzan Chozen-ji and serves practice communities in Hawai‘i, across the continental U.S., and in Toronto, Canada. She is an 86th generation Zen Master, having trained at Chozen-ji for over 40 years. In earlier years, Wong served as a Hawai‘i state legislator, working on the return of ceded lands and settlement of land issues. In recent years, Wong has been called back into service to facilitate breaking the impasse and transforming policy and governance on issues of seeming contradiction. In the conflict between native culture/science and western discovery science posing as a dispute over the construction of a telescope on Mauna Kea, Wong was a team member narrating and facilitating a path forward through mutual stewardship. She is currently an advisor to Speaker of the Hawai‘i House of Representatives Scott Saiki, serving in policy development and facilitation roles on issues such as the protection of the aquifer from fuel contamination at Red Hill, and the long-term response to the Lahaina wildfires. Find out more about Norma on her website: normawong.com Serena Bian Serena is pursuing a life that remains attentive to the tenderness of a snail’s soft body and reverent to the miracle of its spiraled shell. Working with U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, Serena serves as a Special Advisor and brings a spiritual and systemic understanding to the public health crisis of loneliness and isolation. As a chaplain-in-training, Serena is pursuing questions of how we chaplain the end of extractive systems that isolate communities from themselves and one another. She is involved with multi-generational, multi-spiritual communities like the Nuns and Nones, devoted to courage, peacebuilding, and love. She participates on the Board of Commonweal and CoGenerate. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

Join Host Michael Lerner in conversation with Jeffrey J. Kripal, Rice University Department of Religion professor and author of more than a dozen books including The Superhumanities: Historical Precedents, Moral Objections, New Realities and The Flip: Epiphanies of Mind and the Future of Knowledge. Jeffrey J. Kripal Jeffrey is the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University, where he also hosts the Archives of the Impossible collection and conference series. He co-directs the Center for Theory and Research at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, and sits on numerous advisory boards in the United States and Europe involving the nature of consciousness and the human, social, and natural sciences. Most recently, Jeff is the author of The Superhumanities: Historical Precedents, Moral Objections, New Realities (Chicago 2022), where he intuits an emerging order of knowledge that can engage in robust moral criticism but also affirm the superhuman or nonhuman dimensions of our histories and futures; and How to Think Impossibly: About Souls, UFOs, Time, Belief, and Everything Else (Chicago 2024), which thinks---with experiencers of the extreme--toward a future form of theory that does not separate the mental and the material. His full body of work can be seen at jeffreyjkripal.com. He thinks he may be Spider-Man. Host Michael Lerner Michael is the president and co-founder of Commonweal. His principal work at Commonweal is with the Cancer Help Program, CancerChoices.org, the Omega Resilience Projects, the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, and The New School at Commonweal. He was the recipient of a MacArthur Prize Fellowship for contributions to public health in 1983 and is author of Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Therapies (MIT Press).

Around the world, people understand life and each other in vastly different ways. In "What Do We Know?," we will delve into profound ways of knowing often dismissed by Western thought, including intuition, artistic expression, empathy, and the wisdom of dreams. We will explore diverse, non-Western approaches to knowledge formation including interconnection, collective well-being, intuition, and other ways of knowing. Hosted by Commonweal Narrative Director Susan Grelock Yusem. In the first conversation in the series, join Nigerian-born artist, storyteller, and pacemaker Okhiogbe Omonblanks Omonhinmin for a conversation about his work, life, and family. Okhiogbe Omonblanks Omonhinmin First things first, Okhiogbe Omonblanks Omonhinmin na the pikin of Victoria Elomese Omonhinmin and Cosmos Ijogbe Omonhinmin, E family big well well and e believe say all these things na very important reason wey make am the person wey e be today, because of the type of pikin wey e be to e mama and papa, the type of brother wey e be to e siblings and the nephew, cousin and uncle wey e be to e extender family and the different communities wey e don stay, all join to make am the very person wey dey do the type of work wey e dey do and difference nor dey between e work and daily life, all of dem joining together as storyteller and spacemaker. Na for Benin City, for Nigeria naim dem born Okhiogbe Omonblanks Omonhinmin. Omonblanks na interdisciplinary creative or “ambassador of entanglement” wey dey use everything e fit use take make things happen, like form or position wey e need take do e project. He believe say the body na memory collector, and everything wey we dey do get e own life. The evidence dey show through e relationship with people, stories, spaces, spices, and cooking. Shared collected memories and food na key parts of e practice and e work get plenty elements of social engagement. https://theartconcept.org Host Susan Grelock Yusem Susan is a researcher, storyteller, and super-curious human. She believes that psychology can be a generative force for environmental sustainability and social justice. Susan is a depth-based community psychologist who has built teams and led communications for over 20 years in the regenerative food space. Her work is centered in the imaginal and narrative repair. She is a reader, writer, and runner. She serves as Commonweal's director of narrative development. susangrelockyusem.site The New School at Commonweal is a collaborative learning community offering conversations about nature, culture, and inner life---so that we can all find meaning, meet inspiring people, and explore the beauty and grief of our changing world. tns.commonweal.org . Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

Join Host Michael Lerner for a conversation with intuitive animal communicator, Joanna Bornowski. Michael and Joanna talk about consciousness, accessing deeper states of intuition, and the innate human ability to be in conversation with the natural world. Joanna Bornowski Joanna is an intuitive guide, teacher and animal communicator specializing in horses. The eldest daughter of two artists from Portland, Oregon, she has spent most of her life either in the art studio or in the saddle. Art has given Joanna the unique perspective of opening her mind to the creative process and allowing inspiration to guide her throughout her life. This guidance has and continues to support a cultivation and interest in deeper states of awareness, connection to the divine and communication with the natural world. Joanna now speaks with over 400 horses a year and is fascinated by how these vibrant animals offer equestrians an opportunity to explore their own consciousness and connectivity to the natural world in a sport that is highly physical, emotional, and surprisingly spiritual. Host Michael Lerner Michael is the president and co-founder of Commonweal. His principal work at Commonweal is with the Cancer Help Program, CancerChoices.org, the Omega Resilience Projects, the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, and The New School at Commonweal. He was the recipient of a MacArthur Prize Fellowship for contributions to public health in 1983 and is author of Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Therapies (MIT Press). #newschoolcommonweal #commonweal #animalcommunicator #healingwithhorses Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

~Co-presented with Bolinas Museum~ Kevin Opstedal, author of Dreaming as One: Poetry, Poets and Community in Bolinas, California, from 1967-1980, in conversation with editor, critic, and ethicist (and New School Host) Steve Heilig at the Bolinas Museum. Bolinas has a long and vibrant history as a haven for poets and writers seeking an alternative lifestyle and creative environment away from urban centers. In Dreaming as One, Kevin Opstedal tells the story of the unique poetic community that lived and worked in Bolinas from 1967 to 1980. Kevin’s narrative, enriched with photos of and interviews with many of those featured, captures the spirit of rebellion, experimentation, and communal living that characterized their ethos, activism, and artistic commitment. The book features Joanne Kyger, Lew Welch, Philip Whalen, Robert Creeley, Tom Clark, Bill Berkson, and Robert Duncan, among many others. Kevin Opstedal Born and raised in Venice, California, and currently residing in Santa Cruz, Kevin Opstedal is a poet whose line leaves three decades of roadcuts across the entire imaginary West. His twenty-five books and chapbooks include two full-length collections, Like Rain (Angry Dog Press, 1999) and California Redemption Value (UNO Press, 2011). Blue Books Press, one of many of his “sub-radar” editorships, belongs in the same breath as the great California poetry houses (Auerhahn, Big Sky, Oyez...) that his own poems seem to conjure like airbrushed flames on a murdered-out junker carrying Ed Dorn, Joanne Kyger, Ted Berrigan, and some wide-eyed poetry neophyte to a latenite card game in Bolinas. “His poems,” writes Lewis MacAdams, “are hard-nosed without being hard-hearted.” As identity and ideas duke it out in the back-alley of academia, Opstedal surfs an oil slick off Malibu into the apocalypse of style. Host Steve Heilig Steve Heilig is an editor, epidemiologist, ethicist, environmentalist, educator, and ethnomusicologist trained at five University of California campuses. He is co-editor of the Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics and of San Francisco Marin Medicine at the medical society he has long been part of. A former volunteer and director of the Zen Hospice Project, AIDS Foundation, and Planned Parenthood, he has helped improve laws and practices in reproductive and end-of-life care, drug policy, and environmental health. He is a longtime book critic and music journalist and emcee of the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival. He’s been part of Commonweal for 30 years now. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

Part of the Building Community Resilience Series at The New School "Resilience" is an essential part of individual and societal response and preparation these days, yet it's become a bit of a buzz word. What does it mean from the perspective of someone who's been helping prepare groups for resilience since before the word was trendy? How do we mentor others in this idea and how do we sustain a sense of hope? Join us for a unique conversation on resilience, with Michael Fischer, a volunteer for multiple organizations, amateur radio guru K6MLF, formerly an environmental executive and consultant, philanthropic director, and city planner. Michael talks with long time TNS audio and video producer, and first time TNS Host, Ken Adams, from atop Mount Barnabe in West Marin, California, at the historic Dickson Fire Lookout. Michael Fischer Michael Fischer has volunteered for decades in the service of local organizations and groups that either support or foster community resilience or community histories and traditions, like the Marin Amateur Radio Society, Marin County Sheriff's RACES, Mill Valley CERT, Marin County Fire Department Fire Lookout, and many others. Professionally, Michael has served as an Environmental Consultant, Sr. Fellow and Program Officer/Director at The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Executive Officer at the California Coastal Conservancy, Senior Consultant at the Natural Resources Defense Council, Executive Director of the Sierra Club, Executive Director of the California Coastal Commission, and many years years as an environmental policy consultant and urban planner. Michael likes to be known these days as student, saunterer, lover of poetry and music at Retired For Good. Ken Adams Ken Adams is a long time TNS audio and video producer who has recorded, edited, mixed, live streamed and podcasted our conversations since 2007. Ken is a long time audio/recording engineer, singer, voice and theatrical actor, songwriter and wrote music for commercials. Ken is a licensed amateur radio operator as well, radio lead for the SGVERG (San Geronimo Valley Emergency Readiness Group), and a MCFD Fire Lookout volunteer as well. Ken lives in West Marin with his wife and two kids and loves cooking and mountain biking through the hills of the San Geronimo Valley. *** Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

On the Nature of Healing: Healing Circles at Commonweal / Diana Lindsay and Host Michael Lerner

Storytelling for Thriving Communities: A Spiritual Biography / Jerry Millhon and Host Michael Lerner Join host Michael Lerner for an exploration of Jerry Millhon's life and work—his life journey to founding Thriving Communities and the many other projects he helped found or nourish in a life dedicated to service. Jerry Millhon Jerry Millhon founded Thriving Communities as an initiative of the Whidbey Institute while he was the Institute’s Executive Director from 2010-2015. His skill in organizing and managing projects and mentoring leaders helped the Institute through a challenging time of transition. He launched Thriving Communities in 2011 to focus on connecting, filming, encouraging, and celebrating people within organizations who make their communities thrive because of their work. It is his hope that our stories will inspire others to start similar projects in their community. In a challenging world, there is an inordinate amount of good news! Host Michael Lerner Michael is the president and co-founder of Commonweal. His principal work at Commonweal is with the Cancer Help Program, CancerChoices.org, the Omega Resilience Projects, the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, and The New School at Commonweal. He was the recipient of a MacArthur Prize Fellowship for contributions to public health in 1983 and is author of Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Therapies (MIT Press). *** The New School at Commonweal is a collaborative learning community offering conversations about nature, culture, and inner life---so that we can all find meaning, meet inspiring people, and explore the beauty and grief of our changing world. The New School at Commonweal . Please like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

~Co-presented with Commonweal’s Collaborative for Health and the Environment and University of California San Francisco’s Science Action Network~ Scientific findings can inform stronger policies that protect public health — which sometimes negatively impacts profits of companies that produce health-harming chemicals and products. Industry intimidation of researchers who explore the impact of exposure to chemicals and other substances on human health is a longstanding problem. When Dr. Herbert Needleman found his credibility under fire after publishing data linking children’s lead exposure to lower IQs in the early 1980s, he offered this advice to early career environmental health scientists: “Do not avoid difficult areas of investigation. Take risks. If scientists exclusively choose the safe routes, avoid controversial research problems, and play only minor variations of someone else’s themes, they voluntarily turn themselves into technicians. Our craft will indeed be in peril.” At a time when strong, independent science is more important than ever, corporations are ramping up attacks on scientists in the environmental health field. In this CHE Café conversation, Dr. Lisa Bero and Dr. Lariah Edwards will share their own stories of industry intimidation, and reflect on steps needed to protect researchers and maintain scientific integrity. CHE Director Kristin Schafer will host the conversation. Lisa Bero, PhD is a Chief Scientist at the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at Colorado University. She is a leader in evidence synthesis, meta-research and studying commercial determinants of health, focusing on tobacco control, pharmaceutical policy, and public health. She provides international leadership for multidisciplinary teams studying the quality, use and implementation of research for health and health policy. Dr. Bero has developed and validated qualitative and quantitative methods for assessing bias in the design, conduct and dissemination of research. She has pioneered the utilization of internal industry documents and transparency databases to understand corporate tactics and motives for influencing research evidence. She is internationally recognized for her work and serves on national and international guidelines committees such as US National Academies of Science Committees and the World Health Organization Essential Medicines. Lariah Edwards, PhD is an Associate Research Scientist at the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University’s School of Mailman School of Public Health. She is also an alumna Fellow and current Assistant Director of Agents of Change in Environmental Justice. Dr. Edwards’ research focuses on understanding the health effects of and addressing exposure disparities to hormone-altering chemicals commonly found in consumer and personal care products. As part of this work, she collaborates with WE ACT for Environmental Justice on its campaign that seeks to educate consumers about the dangers of toxic beauty products. Dr. Edwards also draws on her experience in the areas of chemical policy and regulatory applications and science communication, as she feels addressing exposure disparities requires a multidisciplinary approach.

The subject tonight is Love And for tomorrow night as well, As a matter of fact I know of no better topic For us to discuss Until we all Die! - Hafiz Crisis, war, injustice, and violence have a certain logic—and social change processes working to address these challenges carry a similar, reactionary logic. How can love help us to step out of the perceived reality of “what is possible” in building peace during conflict? Turning points in conflicts and crises are often mysterious, require acts of enormous creativity, and a willingness to risk. Social change is an artistic act, mobilizing love and prophetic imagination–and it requires us to step into the mystery of the unknown that lies beyond the far too familiar landscape of violence. Kalyanee Mam: In the last conversation in the series, meet Kalyanee Mam, a filmmaker who was born in Cambodia, escaped the Khmer Rouge, and has spent most of her life trying to understand the root cause of war, destruction, and displacement and how we can return home again. Her debut documentary feature, A River Changes Course, won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. View Kalyanee’s film “Lost World” (an excerpt is featured in this podcast) at: https://emergencemagazine.org/feature/lost-world/ Kalyanee Mam Born in Battambang, Cambodia, during the Khmer Rouge regime, which claimed the lives of over 2 million people, Kalyanee and her family were displaced from both their land and their home. Kalyanee has spent most of her life trying to understand the root cause of war, destruction, and displacement and how we can return home again. After returning to Cambodia and spending years living with families in the forests, on the Tonle Sap, and in the countryside, she understands how intimately connected their way of life is to the land, forests, and water and the neak ta or land and water spirits that protect them. Her debut documentary feature, A River Changes Course, won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and the Golden Gate Award for Best Feature Documentary at the San Francisco International Film Festival. Her other works include the documentary shorts Lost World, Fight for Areng Valley, Between Earth & Sky, and Cries of Our Ancestors. She has also worked as a cinematographer and associate producer on the 2011 Oscar-winning documentary Inside Job. She is currently working on a new feature documentary, The Fire and the Bird’s Nest. Serena Bian Serena is pursuing a life that remains attentive to the tenderness of a snail’s soft body and reverent to the miracle of its spiraled shell. Working with U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, Serena serves as a Special Advisor and brings a spiritual and systemic understanding to the public health crisis of loneliness and isolation. As a chaplain-in-training, Serena is pursuing questions of how we chaplain the end of extractive systems that isolate communities from themselves and one another. She is involved with multi-generational, multi-spiritual communities like the Nuns and Nones, devoted to courage, peacebuilding, and love. She participates on the Board of Commonweal and CoGenerate. #newschoolcommonweal #commonweal #interfaith #peacebuilding #peace

Welcome, Wild Times: Conversation with Resilience Leaders in the Global South | Bienvenidos Tiempos turbulentos: conversaciones con líderes de resiliencia en el Sur Global *** These are wild times to be alive. From the local to the global, we are facing complex, interlocked crises. Yet, around the world people are responding in creative, dynamic, grounded ways to adapt and emerge. Omega Resilience Awards, a new program of Commonweal, was created to gather a community of people interested in resilient strategies. Join The New School co-host Michael Lerner in conversation with three of the co-creators of this dynamic global resilience community. In this session number three, Michael speaks with Anabella Museri and Sofia Nemenmann from Asociación Argentina de Abogados/as Ambientalistas/Colectivo de Acción por la Justicia Ecosocial in Argentina. *** Estamos viviendo tiempos turbulentos. A nivel local y global, estamos enfrentando crisis complejas y entrelazadas. Sin embargo, hay personas alrededor del mundo que responden a ellas de forma creativa, dinámica, y con fundamentos que les permiten adaptarse y resurgir. Omega Resilience Awards es un nuevo programa de Commonweal que fue creado para congregar a una comunidad de personas interesadas en estrategias resilientes. Sé parte de estas conversaciones con el coanfitrión de The New School con tres de los cocreadores de esta comunidad dinámica de resiliencia global. En esta tercera edición, Michael tiene una charla con Anabella Museri y Sofia Nemenmann de la Asociación Argentina de Abogados/as Ambientalistas. Anabella Museri has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a postgraduate degree in Sociology of Law. She has 15 years of experience working on research, advocacy and the promotion of human rights (HR) in the public sector and for local and international NGOs. She specialized in criminal justice and the prison system, and throughout her career she has also worked on environment, gender equality, healthcare and other issues related to the human rights agenda. She is dedicated to the development of projects, networks, and creative strategies to denounce human rights violations, generate empathy and promote social change. And she is also working as project manager on the intersection point of arts and HR, developing projects that seek to generate awareness on social issues. She enjoys accompanying projects and institutional processes with strategic and creative actions that promote social change, both within organizations and in the communities to which they belong. Sofia Nemenmann is an ecofeminist activist who lives in Bariloche, Argentina. In 2013, together with a great friend, she co-founded Río Santa Cruz Sin Represas, a socio-environmental project that aims to stop the construction of two mega hydroelectric dams on the Santa Cruz River. Based on this project, she directed a documentary called “El último río de la patagonia” (The Last Free River of Patagonia). She is currently co-director of the Argentine Association of Environmental Lawyers and advisor for Argentina of the Global Greengrants Fund.

Join us for the first in a series of sacred music celebrations at Commonweal, presented in collaboration with long-time Commonweal friend Toby Symington. Held at the solstice and equinox, the concerts—and gatherings afterward—are designed to bring people together in a convivial setting around music which delights, inspires, and elevates the soul. The performing artists are highly accomplished musicians who are deeply in touch with the numinous dimension of reality. In this first concert of the series, join us for a piano concert from Maryliz Smith, including pieces of her own composition as well as other inspiring and sacred music. From Maryliz: “I have traveled the world as a performance artist, collaborating with remarkable individuals such as David Whyte, Brian Swimme, Matthew Fox and Joanna Macy, using music as a sacred art to create optimal conditions for diverse groups to more easily access collective intelligence using reflections, stories and music dedicated specifically for the gathering at hand. I have come out of a virtuosic, classical tradition as a concert organist with a signature sound that is a contemplative, post-minimalist style, often using the acoustic piano to draw listeners into the complex landscape of their emotions where ‘the mind has no defense.’” Maryliz Smith Coming out of a virtuosic, classical tradition as a concert organist, Maryliz’s signature sound is one of post-minimalism, using both acoustic and electroacoustic keyboards to draw listeners into a complexity of emotions. She is inspired by single moments that can change the trajectory of a life, a living system, a culture, and she translates these into musical language, a language she describes as her first. Maryliz is also co-founder of Commonweal Cancer Help Programs' sister center, Callanish, a non-profit organization based in Vancouver, B.C. dedicated to creating space for people who have been irrevocably changed by cancer. She contributes her arts-based perspective, in company with a remarkable team, to provide a gentle catalyst for people to move as deeply as they wish into themselves to reconnect with the essentials of life. #commonweal #sacredmusic #musicthatheals #healingmusic #solstice #summersolstice

Join Host Steve Heilig as we bring back author, actor, and local celebrity Peter Coyote to The New School. They talk about Peter’s recent books—Zen in the Vernacular: Things As It Is, and Tongue of A Crow—and ramble across many other topics. Peter Coyote Peter has written five books including the international bestseller Sleeping Where I Fall and_The Rainman’s Third Cure: An Irregular Education,_ which reached second on the Marin County bestseller list. His third book, entitled The Lone Ranger and Tonto Meet the Buddha, outlines a long-standing series of classes he runs using acting, improvisation and masks to induce temporary ego-free states and is based on Peter’s work as a Zen Buddhist student of more than 40 years. As an actor, he has performed for some of the world’s most distinguished filmmakers, including Barry Levinson, Roman Polanski, Pedro Almodovar, Steven Spielberg, Martin Ritt, Steven Soderberg, Sidney Pollack and Jean Paul Rappeneau. He was the co-host of the Academy Award show with Billy Crystal in 2020. He is a double Emmy-Award winning narrator of more than 160 documentary films, including Ken Burns acclaimed The Roosevelts, for which he received his second Emmy nomination in July 2015. Steve Heilig Steve is director of Public Health and Education for the San Francisco Medical Society and the Collaborative for Health and Environment at Commonweal, co-editor of the Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, and a clinical ethicist at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. He is also a trained hospice worker and former volunteer and director of the Zen Hospice Project. A longtime book critic for the San Francisco Chronicle and other publications, he has authored more than 400 pieces on a wide range of medical, public health, ecological, literary, and other topics. #petercoyote #coyote #commonweal #newschoolcommonweal #conversationsthatmatter #tongueofacrow #poetry #zen #buddhism

Manisha Gupta and Host Michael Lerner These are wild times to be alive. From the local to the global, we are facing complex, interlocked crises. Yet, around the world people are responding in creative, dynamic, grounded ways to adapt and emerge. Omega Resilience Awards, a new program of Commonweal, was created to gather a community of people interested in resilient strategies. Collectively, we strengthen generative connections and share narratives of resilience. What will emerge? What will coalesce? Join The New School co-host Michael Lerner in conversation with three of the co-creators of this dynamic global resilience community. In this session number two, Michael speaks with Manisha Gupta from StartUp! in India. In June, join us for conversation with Anabella Museri and Sofia Nemenmann from Asociación Argentina de Abogados/as Ambientalistas/Colectivo de Acción por la Justicia Ecosocial in Argentina. Find recordings from our first conversation with Nnimmo Bassey from Health of Mother Earth Foundation in Nigeria on our website and all our media sites. Manisha Gupta Manisha was a journalist before she joined the social entrepreneurship sector. For 27 years, she has worked to build the ecosystem of social entrepreneurship in India. Manisha worked with Ashoka: Innovators for the Public for nine years as the India Country Representative and International Director for Ashoka’s youth programs. In 2009, she founded Start Up! – an incubator, impact accelerator and leadership springboard for social entrepreneurs. Under her leadership, Start Up! has seeded and scaled more than 100 social ventures across 17 states. It has trained 500+ early-stage social and cultural entrepreneurs to build high-impact change models. Manisha has co-authored two books, 1098-Childline Calling and Opening Doors: Ten Years of Ford Foundation’s International Fellowships in India. She is a passionate believer of creating deep impact through collaborations with communities on the ground. Michael Lerner Michael is the president and co-founder of Commonweal. His principal work at Commonweal is with the Cancer Help Program, CancerChoices.org, the Omega Resilience Projects, the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, and The New School at Commonweal. He was the recipient of a MacArthur Prize Fellowship for contributions to public health in 1983 and is author of Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Therapies (MIT Press). #commonweal #omega #resilience #ashoka #collaborativeimpact

The subject tonight is Love And for tomorrow night as well, As a matter of fact I know of no better topic For us to discuss Until we all Die! - Hafiz Crisis, war, injustice, and violence have a certain logic—and social change processes working to address these challenges carry a similar, reactionary logic. How can love help us to step out of the perceived reality of “what is possible” in building peace during conflict? Turning points in conflicts and crises are often mysterious, require acts of enormous creativity, and a willingness to risk. Social change is an artistic act, mobilizing love and prophetic imagination–and it requires us to step into the mystery of the unknown that lies beyond the far too familiar landscape of violence. In this series, join Host Serena Bian in speaking with three people who bear witness to the best and worst of humanity, holding a courageous moral imagination. Working and witnessing the front lines of injustice, war, climate change, these peacebuilders, mystics, storytellers hold space for the miraculous to emerge, refusing to be bound by a perceived reality of “what is possible.” Events in the serves Monday, April 29 | Deepa Patel Weds, May 29 | Aljosie Aldrich Harding Tues, June 25 | Kalyanee Mam Aljosie Aldrich Harding Reared in segregated North Carolina, Aljosie began learning, teaching, and building social justice skills along with organizing in the 1960s as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Lome, Togo, West Africa. She has been a servant-leader at the Institute of the Black World (Atlanta), a think tank and advocacy organization, and the Learning House (Atlanta) an independent Afrocentric freedom school. She has worked in community organizing in several southern and northern cities and in empowerment building with women’s circles, organizations, and colleges. With her co-worker, partner, and late husband, Vincent Harding, she built intergenerational relationships with social justice and peace organizations across the United States and abroad. Her organizational links have included the Bruderhof, Soka Gakkai International, Young Adult Quakers, the Dorothy Cotton Institute, the Walter Rodney Symposium and Foundation, Tewa Women United, Kid Cultivators, and the Yale-National University of Singapore. As a spiritual guide (director) she shares healing justice practices in all her organizational work. Serena Bian Serena is pursuing a life that remains attentive to the tenderness of a snail’s soft body and reverent to the miracle of its spiraled shell. Working with U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, Serena serves as a Special Advisor and brings a spiritual and systemic understanding to the public health crisis of loneliness and isolation. As a chaplain-in-training, Serena is pursuing questions of how we chaplain the end of extractive systems that isolate communities from themselves and one another. She is involved with multi-generational, multi-spiritual communities like the Nuns and Nones, devoted to courage, peacebuilding, and love. She participates on the Board of Commonweal and CoGenerate. #newschoolcommonweal #commonweal #interfaith #peacebuilding #peace

The subject tonight is Love And for tomorrow night as well, As a matter of fact I know of no better topic For us to discuss Until we all Die! - Hafiz Crisis, war, injustice, and violence have a certain logic—and social change processes working to address these challenges carry a similar, reactionary logic. How can love help us to step out of the perceived reality of “what is possible” in building peace during conflict? Turning points in conflicts and crises are often mysterious, require acts of enormous creativity, and a willingness to risk. Social change is an artistic act, mobilizing love and prophetic imagination–and it requires us to step into the mystery of the unknown that lies beyond the far too familiar landscape of violence. In this series, join Host Serena Bian in speaking with three people who bear witness to the best and worst of humanity, holding a courageous moral imagination. Working and witnessing the front lines of injustice, war, climate change, these peacebuilders, mystics, storytellers hold space for the miraculous to emerge, refusing to be bound by a perceived reality of “what is possible.” Weds, May 29 10am Pacific Time | Aljosie Aldrich Harding Tues, June 25, 10am Pacific Time | Kalyanee Mam Deepa Patel Deepa is a facilitator with a specialism in interdisciplinary collaboration and a passion for the arts, social justice, conversation, and living a contemplative life. She was born in Kenya to Indian parents and lives in England. This experience has shaped both her professional and personal life. Deepa has worked as a youth worker, in the field of cultural diversity, as a Live Music producer, and in music education with the BBC. Her current work is with The London College of Fashion, UNHCR, and the University of Sheffield in refugee camps in Jordan and Africa and with the Fetzer Institute on two projects, one on creating sacred space in the virtual world and the other on their shared spiritual heritage project. Deepa is a guide and teacher in the Inayatiyya (a Sufi lineage) and co-chair of the Inayatiyya International Board. She is also the chair of the Tamasha Theatre Company, an advisor to the Loss Foundation, a cancer and COVID bereavement support service, and to the Charis Foundation for New Monasticism and Interspirituality on their interfaith dialogue projects. Serena Bian Serena is pursuing a life that remains attentive to the tenderness of a snail’s soft body and reverent to the miracle of its spiraled shell. Working with U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, Serena serves as a Special Advisor and brings a spiritual and systemic understanding to the public health crisis of loneliness and isolation. As a chaplain-in-training, Serena is pursuing questions of how we chaplain the end of extractive systems that isolate communities from themselves and one another. She is involved with multi-generational, multi-spiritual communities like the Nuns and Nones, devoted to courage, peacebuilding, and love. She participates on the Board of Commonweal and CoGenerate. #newschoolcommonweal #commonweal #interfaith #peacebuilding #peace #

These are wild times to be alive. From the local to the global, we are facing complex, interlocked crises. Yet, around the world people are responding in creative, dynamic, grounded ways to adapt and emerge. Omega Resilience Awards, a new program of Commonweal, was created to gather a community of people interested in resilient strategies. Collectively, we strengthen generative connections and share narratives of resilience. What will emerge? What will coalesce? We do not know. There are no clear maps, roads, or nautical charts to guide us in these times, but we know we have to move forward and create new narrative byways as we step into the unknown. Join The New School co-host Michael Lerner in conversation with three of the co-creators of this dynamic global resilience community. In this first conversation, Michael speaks with Nnimmo Bassey from Health of Mother Earth Foundation in Nigeria. Join us for part 2 and part 3 of the series in May and June, when Michael speaks with Manisha Gupta from StartUp! in India, and Anabella Museri and Sofia Nemenmann from Asociación Argentina de Abogados/as Ambientalistas/Colectivo de Acción por la Justicia Ecosocial in Argentina. Nnimmo Bassey Nnimmo is the director of the ecological think-tank Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) and member of the steering committee of Oilwatch International. He was chair of Friends of the Earth International (2008-2012) and was named Time magazine’s Hero of the Environment in 2009. He is a co-recipient of the 2010 Right Livelihood Award also known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize.” In 2012, he received the Rafto Human Rights Award and in 2014, Nigeria’s national honour as Member of the Federal Republic (MFR) in recognition of his environmental activism. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of York, United Kingdom in July 2019. Bassey is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Architects and has authored books on the environment, architecture and poetry. His books include We Thought it Was Oil, But It was Blood (Kraft Books, 2002); I will Not Dance to Your Beat (Kraft Books, 2011); To Cook a Continent – Destructive Extraction and the Climate Crisis in Africa (Pambazuka Press, 2012) and Oil Politics – Echoes of Ecological War (Daraja Press, 2016). He is fondly called The Living Ancestor by young activists. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: [email protected]. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

Join Michael Lerner in conversation with storyteller and storycatcher Christina Baldwin. Haunted by the question: “What do we leave in the earth for the future to find?” and having already written eight books that are standing the test of time, Christina set out to write a book of historical fiction that explores foundational human values in story. Our conversation draws on Christina’s lifework and her beautiful forthcoming novel, The Beekeeper's Question. Based on her family’s Montana lineage, the story chronicles life on the Homefront during World War II and the social issues stirred as two Montana families, one white settler, one Blackfeet, make their way through these times. Christina Baldwin Christina has devoted her life to fostering the power of story and facilitating the power of community. As a pioneer in personal writing and teacher of creative nonfiction, Christina has companioned thousands of people to claim their life stories. For twenty-five years, with her partner, Ann Linnea, she taught The Circle Way as collaborative practice, to leaders in education, healthcare, business, government, and community activism. She interacts globally through podcasts, videos, and emeritus mentoring in her bodies of work. Her website and blog is: www.christinabaldwin.com. Host Michael Lerner Michael is the president and co-founder of Commonweal. His principal work at Commonweal is with the Cancer Help Program, CancerChoices.org, the Omega Resilience Projects, the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, and The New School at Commonweal. He was the recipient of a MacArthur Prize Fellowship for contributions to public health in 1983 and is author of Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Therapies (MIT Press). #commonweal #newschoolcommonweal #powerofstory #nonfiction #lifestories

Join TNS Host Michael Lerner for a reading and conversation with poet Jane Hirshfield. A lay-ordained practitioner of Soto Zen and also the founder, in 2017, of Poets for Science, Jane's newest book holds fifty years of her life and work. The conversation will be similarly ranging, touching on the taproots of creative permeability and attention, the alliance between the seeing of poems and that of science, what poems might bring to addressing our current crises of biosphere and community, and the sense of shared fate and of intimacy with all beings central to finding our way to a viable future. Jane Hirshfield Writing “some of the most important poetry in the world today” (The New York Times Magazine), Jane Hirshfield has become one of American poetry's central spokespersons for concerns of the biosphere and interconnection. Her ten poetry books include The Asking: New & Selected Poems (Knopf, 2023), holding fifty years of poems, and she is the author also of two now-classic collections of essays on poetry's infrastructure and craft and four books presenting world poets from the deep past. Her honors include fellowships from the Guggenheim and Rockefeller Foundations, the Poetry Center Book Award, and the California Book Award. An interactive traveling installation she founded in 2017, Poets For Science, has appeared across the country at universities, museums, research centers, conferences, and the National Academy of Sciences. A former chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, Hirshfield was elected in 2019 into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. #commonweal #poetry #newschoolcommonweal #janehirshfield #findingmeaning

Each year, the gas and oil industry produces billions of tons of waste — much of it toxic and radioactive. The fracking boom has only worsened the problem. Where does this waste go? In this webinar, co-presented with the Collaborative for Health and Environment and the Science and Environmental Health Network (SEHN), Host Kristin Schafer will explore the topic with author Justin Nobel, Dr. Larysa Dyrszka, and James Brugh, a tribal member of Fort Berthold in western North Dakota. To follow along with Dr. Dyrszka’s presentation you can download the slide deck here: https://www.healthandenvironment.org/assets/images/Larysa%20Dyrszka%20slides.pdf Justin Nobel writes on science and environment for United States magazines, literary journals, and investigative sites. His investigation into the radioactivity brought to the surface in oil and gas production was published in 2020 with Rolling Stone Magazine, “America’s Radioactive Secret,” and awarded best long-form narrative by the National Association of Science Writers. Justin’s reports on this in his latest book, Petroleum-238: Big Oil’s Dangerous Secret and the Grassroots Fight to Stop It (Simon & Schuster 2024). Larysa Dyrszka, MD, is a pediatrician and has been a United Nations representative to ECOSOC with the World Federation of Ukrainian Women’s Organizations, where her work was focused on children’s rights, particularly health. James Brugh is a writer, husband and father, and tribal member of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in western North Dakota. He lives in the community of Four Bears and has advocated tirelessly for the protection of his family, the environment, and his community against rampant and relentless oil and gas development. #commonweal #environmentalhealth #newschoolcommonweal #dirtyoil #radioactiveoilfields #toxicoilfield

~Co-presented with Commonweal’s Collaborative for Health and the Environment~ We’re now in the dangerous, uncharted territory climate scientists have been warning about for decades. Meanwhile, biologists and toxicologists are sounding the alarm about surpassing the “planetary boundary” for chemical pollution, beyond which both ecosystems and our health are endangered. We know climate change and chemical pollution are related in ways that can accelerate both crises, but does their interlinked nature also offer opportunities? Join Host Kristin Schafer with biologist and systems thinker Dr. Elizabeth Sawin and chemicals expert and clean production advocate Beverley Thorpe as they explore opportunities to prioritize solutions that concurrently address climate change and the global crisis of chemical contamination — while also improving public health, equity and economic vitality. Multisolving Institute a think-do tank that helps people implement solutions that protect the climate while improving, equity, health, biodiversity, economic vitality, and well-being. Beth writes and speaks about multisolving, climate change, and leadership in complex systems for both national and international audiences. Her work has been published widely, including in Non-Profit Quarterly, The Stanford Social Innovation Review, U.S. News, The Daily Climate, and System Dynamics Review. In 2010, Beth co-founded Climate Interactive, which she co-directed until 2021. Since 2014, Beth has participated in the Council on the Uncertain Human Future, a continuing dialogue on issues of climate change and sustainability. She is a biologist with a PhD from MIT who has been analyzing complex systems related to climate change for 25 years. Beth trained in system dynamics and sustainability with Donella Meadows and worked at Sustainability Institute, the research institute founded by Meadows, for 13 years. Beth has two adult daughters and lives in rural Vermont where she and her husband grow as much of their own food as they can manage. Beverley Thorpe Beverley is Co-Founder of Clean Production Action, and has researched and promoted clean production strategies to advance a non-toxic economy internationally since 1986. She was the first clean production technical expert for Greenpeace International on chemical and waste issues. Bev’s work on alternatives to PVC, organohalogens and hazardous waste incineration helped drive momentum for safer substitution practices in company practices. As the NGO representative in the first United Nations Environment Programme for Cleaner Production, she promoted the value of public participation in industrial policies. Bev received her degree in Geography from Leicester University, UK and is an annual lecturer at Lund University in Sweden on chemicals policy and corporate practices. She is a past Director of Greenpeace International and a founding board member of the Story of Stuff in the US. She lives in Toronto, Canada. Host Kristin Shafer Kristin is director of Commonweal’s Collaborative for Health and the Environment, and three decades of experience in the field of environmental health and justice. After working as a Communications Specialist at EPA and with World Resources Institute in Washington, DC, she moved back to Northern California where she held various roles—including executive director—over her 25-year tenure at Pesticide Action Network (PAN) North America. Kristin holds a Masters in Social Change and Development from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She lives with her husband in downtown San Jose where she loves to bike ride and garden, and currently serves as board co-chair for the community-building urban farm, Veggielution. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

~Co-presented with Point Reyes Books and the Mesa Refuge~ Join TNS Host Michael Lerner in person or via webinar for a reading and conversation with writer, educator, conservationist, and activist Terry Tempest Williams. Terry has been with us at The New School twice before, and you can listen to the podcast of those events on our website or on Spotify, Apple podcasts, Soundcloud, or Amazon music. Terry Tempest Williams Terry is a writer and educator who focuses on our relationship with the natural world, both ecologically, politically, and spiritually. She is the author of more than 20 books, including the environmental literature classic, Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place. Her most recent books include Erosion: Essays of Undoing; and The Moon Is Behind Us with Fazal Sheikh. She is currently writer-in-residence at the Harvard Divinity School and the 2023 recipient of the Thoreau Prize in Literature. She is also a member of the American Academy of Arts & Letters and divides her time between Utah and Massachusetts with her husband, Brooke Williams. Host Michael Lerner Michael is the president and co-founder of Commonweal. His principal work at Commonweal is with the Cancer Help Program, CancerChoices.org, the Omega Resilience Projects, the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, and The New School at Commonweal. He was the recipient of a MacArthur Prize Fellowship for contributions to public health in 1983 and is author of Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Therapies(MIT Press). Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

~Co-presented by The New School and the Racial Healing Initiative at Commonweal’s Retreat Center Collaboration~ ¿Qué significaría "volverse nativos" al lugar en el que estamos ahora? ¿Cómo viviríamos si lo fuéramos? Nuestras comunidades y líderes indígenas tienen una sabiduría antigua que ofrece una visión profunda sobre los desafíos a los que nos enfrentamos hoy en día. A medida que navegamos los cambios culturales, climáticos y de ecosistemas que están ocurriendo en nuestro planeta en la actualidad, necesitamos oír la sabiduría y las ideas que descienden de estas tradiciones. Para poder escuchar y verdaderamente valorar estas ideas, necesitamos continuar cicatrizando las heridas de la división racial y dentro de nuestras culturas y comunidades. En la tercera parte de esta serie, únete a la anfitriona Brenda Salgado en su charla con Pat McCabe, figura líder Diné y cabeza de ceremonial. Está enfocada en la cicatrización social profunda. Hablarán sobre la labor ceremonial que realizaron juntas en los recientes eventos de Three Black Men (Tres Hombres Negros) ofrecidos a través del Centro de Sanación y Liberación de Commonweal. También y ampliarán el entendimiento de la conexión entre la cicatrización racial y la curación de la tierra. Presentada en inglés con interpretación simultánea. Pat McCabe, o Woman Stands Shining (Mujer que Resplandece), es respetada líder nativa americana cuyo trabajo explora el punto de encuentro entre el ceremonial y la sanación social profunda. Pat nació en la nación Diné (Navajo), y también recibió preparación espiritual en la tradición Lakota. Viaja y enseña sobre la ciencia indígena de la Vida Floreciente (Thriving Life). Su labor procura renovar el conocimiento humano y la creación de significado mediante la restauración de las prácticas conocidas por los pueblos indígenas sobre la comprensión integral. "Ser intelecto y observador incorpóreos en lugar de participante apasionado y co-Creador armonioso, nos ha llevado a un gran malentendido sobre quiénes somos, dónde estamos y cómo son las cosas”. Brenda Salgado es la directora del programa Iniciativa para la Cicatrización Racial en el Centro de Colaboración para Retiros de Commonweal. Ella es autora espiritual y de concientización, oradora, guardiana de la sabiduría, sanadora, cabeza de ceremonial y Consultora sobre Organizaciones. Tiene 25 años de experiencia en desarrollo de Liderazgo Transformador, Gestión sin Fines de Lucro, Curación y Ceremonial Tradicionales, Capacitación en Liderazgo Consciente, Salud de la Mujer y Justicia Social. Brenda está en proceso de establecer el Nepantla Land Trust (El Fideicomiso de Tierra Nepantla) y el Nepantla Center for Healing and Renewal (El Centro Nepantla para la Sanación y Renovación). Es autora de Real World Mindfulness for Beginners: Navigate Daily Life One Practice at a Time (La Concientización en el Mundo Real para Principiantes: Cómo se Practica Paso a Paso). Recibió instrucción de sabios ancianos sobre medicina tradicional y ceremonial de curación en el linaje Purépecha, Xochimilco, Tolteca y otros linajes indígenas. Tiene títulos universitarios en Biología, Psicología del Desarrollo y Comportamiento Animal. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts. #indigenoushealing #racialhealing #retreatcentercollaborative #earthhealing, #indigenouslens #newschoolcommonweal #commonweal #conversationsthatmatter

~Co-presented by The New School and the Racial Healing Initiative at Commonweal’s Retreat Center Collaboration~ Our indigenous communities and leaders hold ancient wisdom that offers profound insights into the challenges facing us today. As we navigate the cultural, climate, and ecosystem shifts happening on our planet now, we need the wisdom of many voices. To truly hear and value these diverse voices, we need to continue to heal the racial divisions and wounds in our cultures and communities. In part 3 of this series, join Host Brenda Salgado as she speaks with Pat McCabe, a Dine elder and ceremonialist focused on deep social healing. Presented in English with a live Spanish-language translator. Photo: Stefano Girardelli, Unsplash Pat McCabe (Dine) Pat McCabe, or Woman Stands Shining, is a Native American elder whose work explores the meeting point between ceremony and deep social healing. Pat was born into the Dine (Navajo) nation, and has also received a spiritual training with the Lakota tradition. She travels and teaches widely on the indigenous science of Thriving Life. Her work seeks to revivify human knowledge and meaning-making, by restoring the holistic knowledge practices known to indigenous people. “To be the disembodied intellect and observer rather than passionate participant, and harmonious co-Creator, has led to a great mis-understanding of who we are, where we are, and how it is.” Host Brenda Salgado Brenda Salgado is the program director of the Racial Healing Initiative, a program of the Retreat Center Collaboration at Commonweal. She is a spiritual and mindfulness author, speaker, wisdom keeper, healer, ceremonialist, and organizational consultant. She has 25 years of experience in transformative leadership development, nonprofit management, traditional healing and ceremony, mindful leadership training, women’s health, and social justice. Brenda is in the process of establishing the Nepantla Land Trust, and the Nepantla Center for Healing and Renewal. She is author of Real World Mindfulness for Beginners: Navigate Daily Life One Practice at a Time and has received training from elders in traditional medicine and healing ceremony in Purepecha, Xochimilco, Toltec and other indigenous lineages. She holds degrees in biology, developmental psychology, and animal behavior. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts. #indigenoushealing #racialhealing #retreatcentercollaborative #earthhealing, #indigenouslens #newschoolcommonweal #commonweal #conversationsthatmatter #racialhealinginsitute

Enjoy another healing hour of stories and music with master storyteller Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, and musician/songwriter Karen Drucker. This month, they offer stories and songs for the Thanksgiving Holiday. See all of the music and story events with Rachel and Karen on our on our website, listen on Soundcloud, watch on YouTube, or find us on Apple podcasts and Spotify. Photo by Alisa Anton_ on _Unsplash Rachel Naomi Remen, MD Rachel is a Professor of Family Medicine at Wright State Boonshoft School of Medicine and the Founder and Founding Director of the Remen Institute for the Study of Health and Illness (RISHI), which was at Commonweal for decades and is currently at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine. She is one of the best known of the early pioneers of wholistic and integrative medicine. As a medical educator, therapist, and teacher, she has enabled many thousands of physicians to find individual meaning and purpose in the practice of medicine and thousands of patients to remember their power to heal. More than 30,000 medical students have completed The Healer’s Art, her groundbreaking curriculum for medical students taught at the majority of medical schools in America. A master storyteller and observer of life, her bestselling books, Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather’s Blessings have sold more than 2 million copies and have been translated into 21 languages. Rachel has had Crohn’s disease for more than 65 years and her work is a unique blend of the wisdom, strength, and viewpoints of both doctor and patient. Karen Drucker Karen’s message is all about healing and love--whether singing one of her positive message songs or sharing stories that are funny, inspiring, and heart opening. She is a keynote speaker, women’s retreat facilitator, and entertainer who has recorded 22 CDs of her inspirational music. Karen is also the author of the best selling book Let Go of the Shore: Songs & Stories To Set The Spirit Free. Her chants and songs are used around the world and often help people deal with illness and loss, or help them fill the need to feel more centered for the day. Karen’s intention is to make a difference by using her music to open hearts and share a message of hope, acceptance, and love. Find out more about Karen on her website: karendrucker.com Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

Host Michael Lerner joins Commonweal board member Katherine Fulton in conversation with Graham Leicester, who has pioneered new ways to navigate and even thrive in this complex era. Graham Leicester Graham is the founding Director of International Futures Forum (IFF), an organization based in Edinburgh, Scotland, with a mission to enable people, communities and organizations to flourish in uncertain and powerful times. He is a former diplomat, now a writer, theorist, and practitioner with over twenty years experience supporting people making a difference in the face of all that stands in the way of making a difference. ‌Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

~Co-presented by The New School and the Racial Healing Initiative at Commonweal’s Retreat Center Collaboration~ ¿Qué significaría "volverse nativos" al lugar en el que estamos ahora? ¿Cómo viviríamos si lo fuéramos? Nuestras comunidades y líderes indígenas tienen una sabiduría antigua que ofrece una visión profunda sobre los desafíos a los que nos enfrentamos hoy en día. A medida que navegamos los cambios culturales, climáticos y de ecosistemas que están ocurriendo en nuestro planeta en la actualidad, necesitamos oír la sabiduría y las ideas que descienden de estas tradiciones. Para poder escuchar y verdaderamente valorar estas ideas, necesitamos continuar cicatrizando las heridas de la división racial y dentro de nuestras culturas y comunidades. En la segunda parte de esta serie, súmate a la presentadora Brenda Salgado en su charla con Sherri Mitchell, activista Penobscot, autora y abogada Indígena. Hablarán sobre historias que se transmiten, historias que nos transmiten, historias que queremos lanzar en este momento y cómo podemos nutrir narrativas para el futuro. Presentada en inglés con interpretación simultánea. Sherri Mitchell, o Weh'na Ha'mu Kwasset, es abogada Indígena, activista y autora, oriunda de la Nación Penobscot. Es egresada del Programa de Embajadores Indios Americanos y del Programa de Pasantías del Congreso Udall de Nativos Americanos. Sherri es la autora de Sacred Instructions (Instrucciones Sagradas); Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change (Sabiduría Indígena para el Cambio Radicado en el Espíritu). Es colaboradora en once antologías, incluyendo All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis (Lo único que se Puede Salvaguardar: La Verdad, La Valentía y Las Soluciones en la Crisis Climatologica), así también como Resetting Our Future: Empowering Climate Action in the United States (Reconfigurar Nuestro Futuro: Potenciar las Medidas en El Campo del Clima). Sherri es la Directora Ejecutiva de la Fundación para la Paz de la Tierra, se desempeña como Fideicomisaria del Instituto Indígena Americano, miembro del Consejo Asesor Indígena del Programa Tutela de Tierras Indígenas de Nia Tero e integrante de la Junta del Instituto Post Carbono. Brenda Salgado es la directora del programa Iniciativa para la Cicatrización Racial en el Centro de Colaboración para Retiros de Commonweal. Ella es autora espiritual y de concientización, oradora, guardiana de la sabiduría, sanadora, cabeza de ceremonial y Consultora sobre Organizaciones. Tiene 25 años de experiencia en desarrollo de Liderazgo Transformador, Gestión sin Fines de Lucro, Curación y Ceremonial Tradicionales, Capacitación en Liderazgo Consciente, Salud de la Mujer y Justicia Social. Brenda está en proceso de establecer el Nepantla Land Trust (El Fideicomiso de Tierra Nepantla) y el Nepantla Center for Healing and Renewal (El Centro Nepantla para la Sanación y Renovación). Es autora de Real World Mindfulness for Beginners: Navigate Daily Life One Practice at a Time (La Concientización en el Mundo Real para Principiantes: Cómo se Practica Paso a Paso). Recibió instrucción de sabios ancianos sobre medicina tradicional y ceremonial de curación en el linaje Purépecha, Xochimilco, Tolteca y otros linajes indígenas. Tiene títulos universitarios en Biología, Psicología del Desarrollo y Comportamiento Animal. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts. #indigenoushealing #racialhealing #retreatcentercollaborative #earthhealing, #indigenouslens #newschoolcommonweal #commonweal #conversationsthatmatter

~Co-presented by The New School and the Racial Healing Initiative at Commonweal’s Retreat Center Collaboration~ Our indigenous communities and leaders hold ancient wisdom that offers profound insights into the challenges facing us today. As we navigate the cultural, climate, and ecosystem shifts happening on our planet now, we need the wisdom of many voices. To truly hear and value these diverse voices, we need to continue to heal the racial divisions and wounds in our cultures and communities. In part two of this series, join Host Brenda Salgado as she speaks with Sherri Mitchell, a Penobscot activist, author, and Indigenous attorney. Presented in English with a live Spanish-language translator. Photo: Stefano Girardelli, Unsplash Sherri Mitchell Sherri (Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset) is an Indigenous attorney, activist, and author from the Penobscot Nation. She is an alumna of the American Indian Ambassador Program and the Udall Native American Congressional Internship Program. Sherri is the author of Sacred Instructions; Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change and a contributor to eleven anthologies, including All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, and Resetting Our Future: Empowering Climate Action in the United States. Sherri is the executive director of the Land Peace Foundation, serves as a trustee for the American Indian Institute, an Indigenous Advisory Council member for Nia Tero’s Indigenous Land Guardianship Program, and a board member for the Post Carbon Institute. Host Brenda Salgado Brenda Salgado is the program director of the Racial Healing Initiative, a program of the Retreat Center Collaboration at Commonweal. She is a spiritual and mindfulness author, speaker, wisdom keeper, healer, ceremonialist, and organizational consultant. She has 25 years of experience in transformative leadership development, nonprofit management, traditional healing and ceremony, mindful leadership training, women’s health, and social justice. Brenda is in the process of establishing the Nepantla Land Trust, and the Nepantla Center for Healing and Renewal. She is author of Real World Mindfulness for Beginners: Navigate Daily Life One Practice at a Time and has received training from elders in traditional medicine and healing ceremony in Purepecha, Xochimilco, Toltec and other indigenous lineages. She holds degrees in biology, developmental psychology, and animal behavior. #indigenoushealing #racialhealing #retreatcentercollaborative #earthhealing, #indigenouslens #newschoolcommonweal #commonweal #conversationsthatmatter

Join Oren Slozberg, Executive Director of Commonweal, in a spiritual biography conversation with Host Michael Lerner. Oren Slozberg Oren is the executive director of Commonweal and the co-director of Healing Circles Global. He has been a senior program developer in the fields of education, youth development, and the arts for more than 30 years. Oren’s program work explores the intersection of dialogue, cognition, creativity, and community. Through work in different communities, he seeks to deepen our exploration of complex issues in our world—issues that Commonweal programs confront daily. Oren has helped to develop new programs at Commonweal including the Power of Hope summer camp for teenagers, the Fall Gathering, Taproot Gathering, and more. Host Michael Lerner Michael is the president and co-founder of Commonweal. His principal work at Commonweal is with the Cancer Help Program, CancerChoices.org, the Omega Resilience Projects, the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, and The New School at Commonweal. He was the recipient of a MacArthur Prize Fellowship for contributions to public health in 1983 and is author of Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Therapies (MIT Press). Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

~ Co-presented with CancerChoices ~ Join Host Michael Lerner in virtual conversation with Keith Block, MD--long regarded as the “father” of integrative oncology--about his model for integrative cancer treatment. You can find past recordings of Keith at The New School on our website. Keith I. Block, MD Keith combines cutting-edge conventional treatments with personalized and scientifically-based innovative, complementary and nutraceutical therapies. In 1980, he co-founded the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment in Skokie, Illinois, the first such facility in North America. Their model of care continues to set the standard for the practice of a comprehensive, individualized approach to cancer treatment in the United States. In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Block is the founding editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed journal, Integrative Cancer Therapies. He is also the scientific director of the Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Education, where he has collaborated with colleagues at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and Bar Ilan University in Israel. In 2005, he was appointed to the National Cancer Institute’s Physician Data Query (PDQ) Cancer CAM Editorial Board, on which he continues to serve today. Dr. Block has more than 150 publications in scientific journals and books relevant to nutritional and integrative oncology. He is also the author of Life Over Cancer, published in April, 2009. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

Join us for another in the Spiritual Biography series, this time with Cynthia Li, MD. Cynthia’s experiences as both doctor and patient through an internal “dark night of the soul” and a medical condition affecting her immune system point to tools for building personal immunity and resilience in the face of crises. She has been deeply involved with Commonweal’s work in environmental health, Healing Circles, and Rachel Remen’s Healer’s Art program at UCSF School of Medicine, which began at Commonweal. Listen to Michael’s past conversations with Cynthia here: Cynthia Li, MD Cynthia is a physician and author whose personal healing journey through a disabling autoimmune condition took her from public health in underserved populations, to integrative and functional medicine. For the past 15 years, she has studied and practiced with functional medicine experts, acupuncturists, and qigong masters, weaving together cutting-edge science and the art of intuition. She is the author of Brave New Medicine: A Doctor’s Unconventional Path to Healing Her Autoimmune Illness, as well as a free e-booklet, How to Strengthen Your Inner Shield: Science-Based, Integrative Strategies for a Healthy Immune System During a Pandemic. Host Michael Lerner Michael is the president and co-founder of Commonweal. His principal work at Commonweal is with the Cancer Help Program, CancerChoices.org, the Omega Resilience Projects, the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, and The New School at Commonweal. He was the recipient of a MacArthur Prize Fellowship for contributions to public health in 1983 and is author of Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Therapies(MIT Press). Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

~Co-presented by The New School and the Racial Healing Initiative at Commonweal’s Retreat Center Collaboration~ ¿Qué significaría “volverse nativos” al lugar en el que estamos ahora? ¿Cómo viviríamos si lo fuéramos? Nuestras comunidades y líderes indígenas tienen una sabiduría antigua que ofrece una visión profunda sobre los desafíos a los que nos enfrentamos hoy en día. A medida que navegamos los cambios culturales, climáticos y de ecosistemas que están ocurriendo en nuestro planeta en la actualidad, necesitamos oír la sabiduría y las ideas que descienden de estas tradiciones. Para poder escuchar y verdaderamente valorar estas ideas, necesitamos continuar cicatrizando las heridas de la división racial y dentro de nuestras culturas y comunidades. En la primera parte de esta serie, súmate a la presentadora Brenda Salgado en su charla con Grace Sesma, practicante cultural Yaqui / mexicana en la tradición del curanderismo. Contarán historias personales, hablarán sobre la importancia de estar conectado con la Madre Tierra en este momento. Nos participarán su sabiduría sobre las formas en que podemos “volvernos indígenas” en nuestro espacio y con los demás. Presentada en inglés con interpretación simultánea. As we navigate the cultural, climate, and ecosystem shifts happening on our planet now, we need the wisdom of many voices. To truly hear and value these diverse voices, we need to continue to heal the racial divisions and wounds in our cultures and communities. Our indigenous communities and leaders have old ways of thinking about these new changes, and can contribute valueable wisdom to the critical discussions that will determine the future of our land, water, and communities. In part one of this series, Host Brenda Salgado will speak with Grace Sesma, a Yagui/Mexican cultural practitioner in the curanderismo tradition. Presented in English with a live Spanish-language translator. Maestra Grace Alvarez Sesma Grace (Yaqui/Mexican) is a cultural practitioner and educator. She provides Indigenous cultural services to individuals and families through her Curanderismo healing practice. Grace works with mental health therapists and other healthcare providers to promote an understanding of Mexican and Indigenous culture-specific interventions and to encourage mutually respectful collaboration. She’s an advisor to the House of the Moon and the Kanap Kuahun Coalition. She serves on the Yaquis of Southern California tribal council, the Consciousness & Healing Initiative Practitioners' Council, and the Academy of Integrative Health & Medicine BIPOC Committee. Host Brenda Salgado Brenda Salgado is the program director of the Racial Healing Initiative, a program of the Retreat Center Collaboration at Commonweal. She is a spiritual and mindfulness author, speaker, wisdom keeper, healer, ceremonialist, and organizational consultant. She has 25 years of experience in transformative leadership development, nonprofit management, traditional healing and ceremony, mindful leadership training, women’s health, and social justice. Brenda is in the process of establishing the Nepantla Land Trust, and the Nepantla Center for Healing and Renewal. She is author of Real World Mindfulness for Beginners: Navigate Daily Life One Practice at a Time and has received training from elders in traditional medicine and healing ceremony in Purepecha, Xochimilco, Toltec and other indigenous lineages. She holds degrees in biology, developmental psychology, and animal behavior. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts. #indigenoushealing #racialhealing #retreatcentercollaborative #earthhealing, #indigenouslens #newschoolcommonweal #commonweal #conversationsthatmatter

~Co-presented by The New School and the Racial Healing Initiative at Commonweal’s Retreat Center Collaboration~ As we navigate the cultural, climate, and ecosystem shifts happening on our planet now, we need the wisdom of many voices. To truly hear and value these diverse voices, we need to continue to heal the racial divisions and wounds in our cultures and communities. Our indigenous communities and leaders have old ways of thinking about these new changes, and can contribute valueable wisdom to the critical discussions that will determine the future of our land, water, and communities. In part one of this series, Host Brenda Salgado will speak with Grace Sesma, a Yagui/Mexican cultural practitioner in the curanderismo tradition. Presented in English with a live Spanish-language translator. Maestra Grace Alvarez Sesma Grace (Yaqui/Mexican) is a cultural practitioner and educator. She provides Indigenous cultural services to individuals and families through her Curanderismo healing practice. Grace works with mental health therapists and other healthcare providers to promote an understanding of Mexican and Indigenous culture-specific interventions and to encourage mutually respectful collaboration. She’s an advisor to the House of the Moon and the Kanap Kuahun Coalition. She serves on the Yaquis of Southern California tribal council, the Consciousness & Healing Initiative Practitioners' Council, and the Academy of Integrative Health & Medicine BIPOC Committee. Host Brenda Salgado Brenda Salgado is the program director of the Racial Healing Initiative, a program of the Retreat Center Collaboration at Commonweal. She is a spiritual and mindfulness author, speaker, wisdom keeper, healer, ceremonialist, and organizational consultant. She has 25 years of experience in transformative leadership development, nonprofit management, traditional healing and ceremony, mindful leadership training, women’s health, and social justice. Brenda is in the process of establishing the Nepantla Land Trust, and the Nepantla Center for Healing and Renewal. She is author of Real World Mindfulness for Beginners: Navigate Daily Life One Practice at a Time and has received training from elders in traditional medicine and healing ceremony in Purepecha, Xochimilco, Toltec and other indigenous lineages. She holds degrees in biology, developmental psychology, and animal behavior. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts. #indigenoushealing #racialhealing #retreatcentercollaborative #earthhealing, #indigenouslens #newschoolcommonweal #commonweal #conversationsthatmatter

Join us for a celebration of autumn, a time to harvest all the seeds we’ve planted in your life, aging, etc… the next stories and music event in our series with master storyteller Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, and musician/songwriter Karen Drucker. See all of the music and story events with Rachel and Karen on our website, listen on Soundcloud, watch on YouTube, or find us on Apple podcasts and Spotify. Rachel Naomi Remen, MD Rachel is a Professor of Family Medicine at Wright State Boonshoft School of Medicine and the Founder and Founding Director of the Remen Institute for the Study of Health and Illness (RISHI), which was at Commonweal for decades and is currently at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine. She is one of the best known of the early pioneers of wholistic and integrative medicine. As a medical educator, therapist, and teacher, she has enabled many thousands of physicians to find individual meaning and purpose in the practice of medicine and thousands of patients to remember their power to heal. More than 30,000 medical students have completed The Healer’s Art, her groundbreaking curriculum for medical students taught at the majority of medical schools in America. A master storyteller and observer of life, her bestselling books, Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather’s Blessings have sold more than 2 million copies and have been translated into 21 languages. Rachel has had Crohn’s disease for more than 65 years and her work is a unique blend of the wisdom, strength, and viewpoints of both doctor and patient. Karen Drucker Karen’s message is all about healing and love--whether singing one of her positive message songs or sharing stories that are funny, inspiring, and heart opening. She is a keynote speaker, women’s retreat facilitator, and entertainer who has recorded 22 CDs of her inspirational music. Karen is also the author of the best selling book Let Go of the Shore: Songs & Stories To Set The Spirit Free. Her chants and songs are used around the world and often help people deal with illness and loss, or help them fill the need to feel more centered for the day. Karen’s intention is to make a difference by using her music to open hearts and share a message of hope, acceptance, and love. Find out more about Karen on her website: karendrucker.com #newschoolcommonweal #commonweal #healingstories #rachelremen #rachelnaomiremen #karendrucker #liberation #livingfree

Join Host Michael Lerner in a conversation with Gary Cohen, founder of Healthcare without Harm. They will trace the evolution of the modern health and environmental justice movement over the years, starting in 1996, when Gary founded the organization after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency identified medical waste incineration as the leading source of dioxin, one of the most potent carcinogens. You can hear a past conversation with Gary here, one of the first conversations at The New School. Gary Cohen Gary is a co-founder and president of Health Care Without Harm (http://noharm.org ), the international campaign for environmentally responsible healthcare. HCWH is working to prevent disease and illness in society by assisting the healthcare sector to understand the links between a healthy environment and healthy people and helping hospitals become more environmentally sustainable as well as anchors in their communities for resilience, equity and community wellness. He is president of Practice Greenhealth, a U.S. membership affiliate of HCWH with over 1300 hospital members. He is also the co-founder of Greenhealth Exchange, a sustainable purchasing cooperative in the U.S. healthcare sector. Gary is a member of the International Advisory Board of the Sambhavna Clinic in Bhopal, India, which provides free medical care to the survivors of the Union Carbide gas disaster in Bhopal. Gary was awarded the MacArthur "Genius:" award in 2015, and the Champion for Change for Climate Change and Public Health by the White House in 2013. He was also awarded the Skoll Global Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2006 and the Frank Hatch Award for Enlightened Public Service Award in 2007. Host Michael Lerner Michael is the president and co-founder of Commonweal. His principal work at Commonweal is with the Cancer Help Program, CancerChoices.org, the Omega Resilience Projects, the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, and The New School at Commonweal. He was the recipient of a MacArthur Prize Fellowship for contributions to public health in 1983 and is author of Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Therapies (MIT Press). Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts. #commonweal #newschoolcommonweal #healthcarewithoutharm #healthcare #greenhealthcare #dioxin #toxics

Join us for a spiritual biography conversation with artist, chef, and cookbook author Rebecca Katz. Rebecca Katz, MS, Healing Circles Senior Faculty Rebecca is an artist, chef, and cookbook author. She has been a visiting chef and nutrition educator at the Commonweal Cancer Help Program for more than a decade. Rebecca is focused on the exploration of what it means to experience a life of inspiration, creativity and healing through food and art. Rebecca is the author of six books including the award-winning cookbook, The Cancer Fighting Kitchen: Nourishing Big Flavor Recipes for Cancer and Treatment and Beyond. Host Michael Lerner Michael is the president and co-founder of Commonweal. His principal work at Commonweal is with the Cancer Help Program, CancerChoices.org, the Omega Resilience Projects, the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, and The New School at Commonweal. He was the recipient of a MacArthur Prize Fellowship for contributions to public health in 1983 and is author of Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Therapies(MIT Press). Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts. #commonweal #newschoolcommonweal #healingkitchen #healingarts #cancerfightingkitchen #integrativeoncology #spiritualbiography

Join us for a spiritual biography conversation with artist, chef, and cookbook author Rebecca Katz. Rebecca Katz, MS, Healing Circles Senior Faculty Rebecca is an artist, chef, and cookbook author. She has been a visiting chef and nutrition educator at the Commonweal Cancer Help Program for more than a decade. Rebecca is focused on the exploration of what it means to experience a life of inspiration, creativity and healing through food and art. Rebecca is the author of six books including the award-winning cookbook, The Cancer Fighting Kitchen: Nourishing Big Flavor Recipes for Cancer and Treatment and Beyond. Host Michael Lerner Michael is the president and co-founder of Commonweal. His principal work at Commonweal is with the Cancer Help Program, CancerChoices.org, the Omega Resilience Projects, the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, and The New School at Commonweal. He was the recipient of a MacArthur Prize Fellowship for contributions to public health in 1983 and is author of Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Therapies(MIT Press). Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts. #commonweal #newschoolcommonweal #healingkitchen #healingarts #cancerfightingkitchen #integrativeoncology #spiritualbiography Attachments

In this incredible conversation, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, makes a “House Call” at The New School at Commonweal--to talk with one of his long-time mentors and friends, Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen. You can join us for the conversation on New School channels, or find it on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services channels as well: hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/house-calls. As Dr. Murthy says, “In an increasingly complex world, knowing ourselves and finding ways to express love is what this episode of House Calls is all about.” U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, MD Dr. Vivek H. Murthy was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in March 2021 to serve as the 21st Surgeon General of the United States. He previously served as the 19th Surgeon General under President Obama. As the Nation’s Doctor, the Surgeon General’s mission is to help lay the foundation for a healthier country, relying on the best scientific information available to provide clear, consistent, and equitable guidance and resources for the public. As the Vice Admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, Dr. Murthy commands a uniformed service of over 6,000 dedicated public health officers, serving the most underserved and vulnerable populations. He is also the host of House Calls with Dr. Vivek Murthy, a podcast highlighting the healing power of conversations. The first Surgeon General of Indian descent, Dr. Murthy was raised in Miami and is a graduate of Harvard, the Yale School of Medicine, and the Yale School of Management. A renowned physician, research scientist, entrepreneur, and author, he lives in Washington, DC with his wife, Dr. Alice Chen, and their two children. Rachel Naomi Remen, MD Rachel Naomi Remen is the co-founder and medical director of the Commonweal Cancer Help Program. She is clinical professor emeritus of family and community medicine at the UCSF School of Medicine and professor of family medicine at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine in Ohio. In 1991, she founded the Remen Institute for the Study of Health and Illness (RISHI) at Commonweal, a national training institute for physicians, nurses, medical students, nursing students, veterinarians and other health professionals who wish to practice a health care of compassion, meaning, service and community. She is an internationally recognized medical educator whose innovative discovery model course in professionalism, resiliency and relationship-centered care for medical students, The Healer’s Art, is taught at more than 90 American medical schools and schools in seven countries abroad. Her bestselling books “Kitchen Table Wisdom” and “My Grandfather’s Blessings” have been published in 23 languages and have millions of copies in print. In recognition of her contribution to medicine and medical education, she has received numerous awards including three honorary degrees, the prestigious Bravewell Award as one of the earliest pioneers of Integrative Medicine and Relationship Centered Care. In 2013, she was voted the Gold-Headed Cane award by UCSF School of Medicine for excellence in embodying and teaching the qualities and values of the true physician. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

How Dick Russell wrote the definitive biography of James Hillman Join TNS Host Michael Lerner in conversation with author Dick Russell in a conversation about James Hillman, founder of the archetypal psychology movement—along with a wide variety of topics from Dick’s research and writing. Dick Russell Dick is the eclectic author of fifteen books. He recently published volume 2 of his biography of James Hillman: The Life and Ideas of James Hillman: Re-Visioning Psychology, with volume 3 coming up later in 2023. Also recently published is The Real RFK Jr.: Trials of a Truth Warrior. He is also the author of "Black Genius and the American Experience" (1998) and "My Mysterious Son: A Life-Changing Passage Between Schizophrenia and Shamanism" (2014). Other publications include four books co-authored with former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura spent weeks on the New York Times Best-Seller list. Eye of the Whale was named among the best books of 2001 by three major newspapers. The Man Who Knew Too Much, about a conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy, was hailed as "a masterpiece of historical reconstruction" by Publisher's Weekly. Striper Wars: An American Fish Story, recounts the fight to save the Atlantic striped bass. As an environmental activist, Dick was a recipient of the citizen's Chevron Conservation Award. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

Join us for the next stories and music event in our series with master storyteller Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, and musician/songwriter Karen Drucker. See all of the music and story events with Rachel and Karen on our website, listen on Soundcloud, watch on YouTube, or find us on Apple podcasts and Spotify. Rachel Naomi Remen, MD Rachel is a Professor of Family Medicine at Wright State Boonshoft School of Medicine and the Founder and Founding Director of the Remen Institute for the Study of Health and Illness (RISHI), which was at Commonweal for decades and is currently at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine. She is one of the best known of the early pioneers of wholistic and integrative medicine. As a medical educator, therapist, and teacher, she has enabled many thousands of physicians to find individual meaning and purpose in the practice of medicine and thousands of patients to remember their power to heal. More than 30,000 medical students have completed The Healer’s Art, her groundbreaking curriculum for medical students taught at the majority of medical schools in America. A master storyteller and observer of life, her bestselling books, Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather’s Blessings have sold more than 2 million copies and have been translated into 21 languages. Rachel has had Crohn’s disease for more than 65 years and her work is a unique blend of the wisdom, strength, and viewpoints of both doctor and patient. Karen Drucker Karen’s message is all about healing and love--whether singing one of her positive message songs or sharing stories that are funny, inspiring, and heart opening. She is a keynote speaker, women’s retreat facilitator, and entertainer who has recorded 22 CDs of her inspirational music. Karen is also the author of the best selling book Let Go of the Shore: Songs & Stories To Set The Spirit Free. Her chants and songs are used around the world and often help people deal with illness and loss, or help them fill the need to feel more centered for the day. Karen’s intention is to make a difference by using her music to open hearts and share a message of hope, acceptance, and love. Find out more about Karen on her website: karendrucker.com Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts. newschoolcommonweal #commonweal #healingstories #rachelremen #rachelnaomiremen #karendrucker #valentine #fathersday #mothersday

Erlene Chiang in conversation with Michael Lerner Co-presented with CancerChoices https://cancerchoices.org

Science, Storytelling and a New War on Cancer / Kristina Marusic, Nsedu Obot Witherspoon, Sandra Steingraber and Host Kristin Schafer If we can stop cancer before it begins, why don’t we? This question motivated a deep-dive inquiry into cancer prevention for award-winning journalist Kristina Marusic. Her exploration uncovered an often invisible community of creative, talented individuals who dedicate their careers to identifying and challenging environmental drivers of cancer. In this CHE Café conversation, Kristina will share highlights from her book, A New War on Cancer: The Unlikely Heroes Revolutionizing Prevention. She’ll then be joined by Children’s Environmental Health Network Executive Director Nsedu Obot Witherspoon and renowned biologist, author, activist, and cancer survivor, Dr. Sandra Steingraber. The group will explore the power of storytelling as a tool for communicating complex scientific issues, and reaching people in ways that motivate action for change. ~Co-presented by The New School at Commonweal and the Collaborative for Heath and the Environment~ Kristina Marusic is an author and journalist who covers issues related to environmental health and justice for Environmental Health News. A New War on Cancer: The Unlikely Heroes Revolutionizing Prevention is her first book. Marusic is the co-founder of the Pittsburgh chapter of the National Association of LGBTQ Journalists (a.k.a. NLGJA), and previously worked as a freelance journalist covering LGBT equality, feminism, social and environmental justice, activism, and politics with bylines at CNN, Slate, Vice, Women's Health, the Washington Post, MTV News, The Advocate, Logo TV's NewNowNext, and Bustle, among others. She believes true, well-told stories have the power to change the world for good. Sandra Steingraber, PhD, a senior scientist with the Science and Environmental Health Network, is the author of a trilogy of award-winning books on environmental health: Living Downstream_ : An Ecologist’s Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment (adapted as a documentary film in 2010); Having Faith: An Ecologist’s Journey to Motherhood_; and_ Raising Elijah: Protecting Our Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis_. The 2018 documentary film Unfractured tells the story of New York State’s fracking ban, featuring Steingraber as its subject. Nsedu Obot Witherspoon, MPH, is the executive director for the Children's Environmental Health Network (CEHN) and a key spokesperson for children’s vulnerabilities and the need for their protection. She holds leadership roles in many spaces, including the External Science Board for the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes at NIH, the Health/Science initiative of the Cancer Free Economy Network and the National Environmental Health Partnership Council. Nsedu is also member of the Board for Pesticide Action Network North America and the Environmental Integrity Project, and serves on the Maryland Children’s Environmental Health Advisory Council. Nsedu is a proud mom to four children. #environmentalhealth #publichealth #environmentalhealthnews #waroncancer #newschoolcommonweal #commonweal Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

Join us for the next stories and music event in our series with master storyteller Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, and musician/songwriter Karen Drucker. See all of the music and story events with Rachel and Karen on our website, https://tns.commonweal.org , listen on Soundcloud, YouTube, or find us on Apple podcasts and Spotify. Rachel Naomi Remen, MD Rachel is a Professor of Family Medicine at Wright State Boonshoft School of Medicine and the Founder and Founding Director of the Remen Institute for the Study of Health and Illness (RISHI), which was at Commonweal for decades and is currently at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine. She is one of the best known of the early pioneers of wholistic and integrative medicine. As a medical educator, therapist, and teacher, she has enabled many thousands of physicians to find individual meaning and purpose in the practice of medicine and thousands of patients to remember their power to heal. More than 30,000 medical students have completed The Healer’s Art, her groundbreaking curriculum for medical students taught at the majority of medical schools in America. A master storyteller and observer of life, her bestselling books, Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather’s Blessings have sold more than 2 million copies and have been translated into 21 languages. Rachel has had Crohn’s disease for more than 65 years and her work is a unique blend of the wisdom, strength, and viewpoints of both doctor and patient. Karen Drucker Karen’s message is all about healing and love--whether singing one of her positive message songs or sharing stories that are funny, inspiring, and heart opening. She is a keynote speaker, women’s retreat facilitator, and entertainer who has recorded 22 CDs of her inspirational music. Karen is also the author of the best selling book Let Go of the Shore: Songs & Stories To Set The Spirit Free. Her chants and songs are used around the world and often help people deal with illness and loss, or help them fill the need to feel more centered for the day. Karen’s intention is to make a difference by using her music to open hearts and share a message of hope, acceptance, and love. Find out more about Karen on her website: karendrucker.com Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

Aprende cómo libre Rue Mapp, mujer de la naturaleza, convirtió sus experiencias de niñez en la granja de la familia, en un movimiento nacional del espíritu negro de alegría y de sanar en la naturaleza. Su primer libro, Nature Swagger (El Meneo de la Naturaleza), celebra a aquellos con los que se ha conectado a lo largo de su trayectoria al aire libre, compartiendo las conexiones transformadoras de cada colaborador con la naturaleza. Esta es la tercera conversación de nuestra serie Empowering Women in Today's World ((El Impulso a la Mujer en el Mundo de Hoy), presentada conjuntamente por Mesa Refuge, Point Reyes National Seashore Association y The New School at Commonweal. En la lista de grabaciones del New School en YouTube, Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts y Spotify puede encontrar grabaciones de los dos primeros eventos. Allí puede ver a la abogada y estratega del movimiento de justicia para el inmigrante, Marielena Hincapié y la autora, madre y abogada de justicia reparadora Lara Bazelon. En español o en inglés. Foto: La fundadora y CEO de Outdoor Afro, Rue Mapp, con los participantes de la red. Crédito: Bethanie Hines.

Learn how outdoorswoman Rue Mapp turned her childhood experiences on family farmland into a national movement of Black joy and healing in nature. Her first book, Nature Swagger, celebrates those she has connected with along her outdoor journey, sharing each contributor's transformative connections to nature. This is the third conversation in our Empowering Women in Today’s World series, co-presented by the Mesa Refuge, Point Reyes National Seashore Association https://ptreyes.org/youth-in-parks/ , and The New School at Commonweal. You can find recordings of the first two events--with attorney and immigrant justice movement strategist Marielena Hincapié and author, mother, and reparative justice attorney Lara Bazelon--on the New School's YouTube, Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Watch and/or listen in Spanish or English. YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeWY_tCA2qdB0fMBFvmM8_92Q_EflwFpj Souncloud: https://soundcloud.com/tnscommonweal/sets/empowering-women?si=8bf74de47911421fb2e87f4fd164dc0f&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing Rue Mapp Rue transformed her kitchen table blog into a national nature business and movement. Today, Mapp is founder and CEO of Outdoor Afro. For more than a decade, the not-for-profit organization has continued to celebrate and inspire Black connections and leadership in nature across the United States. Mapp also is an awarded and inspirational leader, speaker, public lands champion and published author. Her first national book is Nature Swagger: Stories and Visions of Black Joy in the Outdoors (Chronicle Books Nov 2022). Mapp became a National Geographic 2019 Fellow, Heinz Awards Honoree, and National Wildlife Federation Communication Award recipient as well. Her work has earned international media attention from Oprah Winfrey, The New York Times, Good Morning America, NPR, NBC’s TODAY, Forbes, and recently Netflix’s popular series MeatEater with Steven Rinella. Follow her adventures @‌ruemapp across social platforms. Host Lyons Filmer Lyons is the former program director at community radio KWMR in Point Reyes Station, California, where she served for 18 years. Her interest in radio began in college, where she was a music DJ and news reader. In the 1990s, she was a volunteer programmer at KPFA in Berkeley, where she produced and hosted programs on women’s issues, drama and literature. She joined KWMR in 1999 and became its program director soon after. Among other programs, Lyons hosts “Mesa Refuge Interviews,” talking with the current residents of Mesa Refuge Writers Retreat. #mesarefuge #commonweal #newschoolcommonweal #natureswagger #outdoorafro #blackjoy #ruemapp #empoweringwomen

Join us for the next stories and music event in our series with master storyteller Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, and musician/songwriter Karen Drucker. See all of the music and story events with Rachel and Karen on our website, listen on Soundcloud, watch on YouTube, or find us on Apple podcasts and Spotify. Rachel Naomi Remen, MD Rachel is a Professor of Family Medicine at Wright State Boonshoft School of Medicine and the Founder and Founding Director of the Remen Institute for the Study of Health and Illness (RISHI), which was at Commonweal for decades and is currently at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine. She is one of the best known of the early pioneers of wholistic and integrative medicine. As a medical educator, therapist, and teacher, she has enabled many thousands of physicians to find individual meaning and purpose in the practice of medicine and thousands of patients to remember their power to heal. More than 30,000 medical students have completed The Healer’s Art, her groundbreaking curriculum for medical students taught at the majority of medical schools in America. A master storyteller and observer of life, her bestselling books, Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather’s Blessings have sold more than 2 million copies and have been translated into 21 languages. Rachel has had Crohn’s disease for more than 65 years and her work is a unique blend of the wisdom, strength, and viewpoints of both doctor and patient. Karen Drucker Karen’s message is all about healing and love--whether singing one of her positive message songs or sharing stories that are funny, inspiring, and heart opening. She is a keynote speaker, women’s retreat facilitator, and entertainer who has recorded 22 CDs of her inspirational music. Karen is also the author of the best selling book Let Go of the Shore: Songs & Stories To Set The Spirit Free. Her chants and songs are used around the world and often help people deal with illness and loss, or help them fill the need to feel more centered for the day. Karen’s intention is to make a difference by using her music to open hearts and share a message of hope, acceptance, and love. Find out more about Karen on her website: karendrucker.com newschoolcommonweal #commonweal #healingstories #rachelremen #rachelnaomiremen #karendrucker #spring #stories #music #healingmusic #healingsong #musicasmedicine

Toward Psychologies of Liberation: Literal and Metaphorical Migrations in the Polycrisis / Mary Watkins and Host Michael Lerner As increasing global economic disparities, violence, and climate change provoke a rising tide of forced migration, many countries and local communities are responding by building walls—literal and metaphorical—between citizens and newcomers. Join depth psychologist, professor, and author Mary Watkins in conversation with Host Michael Lerner about the cultural and community transformation happening in these times. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.