Join Professor Arthur Colman in conversation with Host Michael Lerner about his life and work using Jungian depth psychology as a foundation to bridge individual psychological understanding with group dynamics. Arthur D. Colman, MD Arthur is a psychiatrist trained at Harvard College and Medical School and U.C. Medical Center, San Francisco where he is Clinical Professor at the Department of Psychiatry. He is a depth analyst trained at the C.G. Jung Institute in San Francisco where he is a member, founder and first editor of Connected Works, and former chair of its review committee. The author of nine books on the human life cycle, healing, and scapegoating, he has contributed to many books, professional journals and popular publications on these and other subjects including ecstatic relationships, group consultation, leadership, the psychology of war, and the psychological aspects of music compositions and musical composers. He is also a coeditor of the influential Group Relations Reader I and II and a past president of the A.K. Rice Institute which publishes and distributes them. He currently divides his time between clinical practice, analysis and consultation to leaders and organizations here and abroad. 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 is Commonweal’s learning community and podcast — we offer conversations, workshops, and other events in areas that Commonweal champions: finding meaning, growing health and resilience, advocating for justice, and stewarding the natural world. We make our conversations into podcasts for many thousands of listeners world wide and have been doing this since 2007. Please like/follow our YouTube channel for access to our library of more than 400 great podcasts. tns.commonweal.org

Join us along the wild coast of California, for an afternoon of dialogue, community, and ritual with author and soul activist, Francis Weller, and host of the All There Is podcast and CNN anchor, Anderson Cooper. Attendees gathered on the sacred grounds of Commonweal, a site of healing and cultural renewal for 50 years.* The day included a conversation between Francis and Anderson, a time for questions, a simple communal grief ritual, and closing thoughts. The central work of grief, loss, and community in tenuous times was explored. The event was a fundraiser for Commonweal's Cancer Help Program, co-presented with North Atlantic Books and Point Reyes Books. *This is the traditional lands of the Coast Miwok people Anderson Cooper Anderson is a journalist working for CNN and CBS’ 60 Minutes. He also writes, produces, and hosts a podcast “All There Is,” a deeply personal exploration of loss and grief, which will soon be starting its fourth season. Francis Weller Francis is a writer and soul activist who has worked as a psychotherapist for 40 years. He’s the author of many books and projects including the beloved grief text, The Wild Edge of Sorrow. Francis is currently on staff at Commonweal Cancer Help Program. His most recent collection, In the Absence of the Ordinary, was released in August. *** The New School is Commonweal’s learning community and podcast—we offer conversations, workshops, and other events in areas that Commonweal champions: finding meaning, growing health and resilience, advocating for justice, and stewarding the natural world. We make our conversations into podcasts for many thousands of listeners world wide and have been doing this since 2007. Please like/follow our YouTube channel for access to our library of more than 400 great podcasts.

In this conversation, Host Michael Lerner talks with author Jeffrey Kripal about his book Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom: Eroticism and Reflexivity in the Study of Mysticism. Roads continues and expands Kripal's exploration of homoerotics themes in world religion. It focuses on the inner lives of five great scholars of religion and their own engagement with the homoerotic themes in the saints and traditions they studied. Kripal also continues his own autobiographical experience with five "secret talks" interspersed with his five case studies. Jeffrey J. Kripal Jeff holds the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University. He also co-directs the Center for Theory and Research at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. Jeff is the author of numerous books, most recently How to Think Impossibly: About Souls, UFOs, Time, Belief, and Everything Else. His remarkable website jefrreyjkripal.com describes his groundbreaking 13 books and his entire oeuvre. This series of conversations explores all 13 books. Host Michael Lerner Michael is founder and board chair emeritus 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 is Commonweal’s learning community and podcast — we offer conversations, workshops, and other events in areas that Commonweal champions: finding meaning, growing health and resilience, advocating for justice, and stewarding the natural world. We make our conversations into podcasts for many thousands of listeners world wide and have been doing this since 2007. Please like/follow our YouTube channel for access to our library of more than 400 great podcasts. tns.commonweal.org

Part of the Festival of Sacred Music Series The harp has been loved all over the world for its healing powers since ancient times and is considered a bridge between Heaven and Earth in many cultures. Join us for a special concert of original sacred music to free your imagination and open your heart to the celestial sounds of the Celtic harp. Christine Tulis will share songs inspired by the poetry of Rumi, other mystical saints, and her personal inner experiences. Her music is deeply devotional and blends traditional Celtic styles with Medieval, Renaissance, and Middle Eastern influences. Join us for the concert, followed by a reception with pre-dinner snacks and drinks. Christine Tulis Christine had a life-changing, spiritual experience the first time she heard the Celtic harp live at the age of 22. She discovered the mystical poetry of Rumi shortly thereafter and felt called to combine the sound of the harp with poetic spiritual imagery for healing. Christine has performed widely all over the U.S. as well as at two United Nations events, Chartres Cathedral in France, Grace Cathedral, and Harvard University. She self produced three recordings, including PORTAL which won a spiritual music award from the Moondance International Film Festival in Boulder, Colorado. Christine is also healing arts practitioner and is the founder of Sound Temple Healing Arts in San Rafael, California. https://christinetulis.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.

In this conversation, Host Michael Lerner talks with author and professor Jeffrey Kripal about his book Kali’s Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna. This was a revised version of his PhD dissertation at the University of Chicago. It was greeted with acclaim in the West and with vitriol by Hindu fundamentalists. It begins Kripal's long study of homoerotic themes in world religions. Jeffrey J. Kripal Jeff holds the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University. He also co-directs the Center for Theory and Research at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. Jeff is the author of numerous books, most recently How to Think Impossibly: About Souls, UFOs, Time, Belief, and Everything Else. His remarkable website jefrreyjkripal.com describes his groundbreaking 13 books and his entire oeuvre. This series of conversations explores all 13 books. Host Michael Lerner Michael is founder and board chair emeritus 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).

In this conversation, Host Michael Lerner talks with author and professor Jeffrey Kripal about his book The Secret Body: Erotic and Esoteric Currents in the History of Religions. Jeffrey considers this unusual autobiographical journey through his work as the key to much of the rest of his 13-volume oeuvre, which will be examined throughout this series of conversations. Jeffrey J. Kripal Jeff holds the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University. He also co-directs the Center for Theory and Research at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. Jeff is the author of numerous books, most recently How to Think Impossibly: About Souls, UFOs, Time, Belief, and Everything Else. His remarkable website jefrreyjkripal.com describes his groundbreaking 13 books and his entire oeuvre. This series of conversations explores all 13 books. Host Michael Lerner Michael is founder and board chair emeritus 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.

~ The Japanese dialogue in this English language video podcast has been shortened for timing purposes. ~ The way of the Buddha is more a philosophy than a religion. It is a path, not a faith. Its core precepts describe a practice that leads to an experience. Arnold Toynbee once said that the coming of the dharma to the West might prove the greatest event of the 20th century. Shodo Harada Roshi has been described as a teacher's teacher of Zen Buddhism. He is a longtime friend of Commonweal. Come join us for a unique and precious experience of the Buddhist truth, the Buddhist way, and the Buddhist community. Shodo Harada Roshi Shodo Harada Roshi is Abbot of Sogen-ji, a 300-year-old Rinzai Zen monastery in Okayama, Japan. He is also Abbot of Tahoma Monastery on Whidbey Island north of Seattle. He founded Enso House, a hospice affiliated with Tahoma, where his students attend the dying. He is a master of Japanese calligraphy, and has conducted demonstrations at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco and the Metropolitan Museum in New York. His translator and colleague, Priscilla Daichi Storandt, is co-abbot at Tahoma and a senior teacher in her own right. Find out more on his website. 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 is Commonweal’s learning community and podcast — we offer conversations, workshops, and other events in areas that Commonweal champions: finding meaning, growing health and resilience, advocating for justice, and stewarding the natural world. We make our conversations into podcasts for many thousands of listeners world wide and have been doing this since 2007. 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.

Inspired by Franciscan spirituality and Joanna Macy’s body of teachings known as the Work That Reconnects, Canticle Farm in Oakland, California, brings together more than 40 people living into the question of how we heal ourselves and the planet together. In this conversation, host Serena Bian talks with Anne and Terry Symons-Bucher, founders of Canticle Farm, about the role that trauma healing and conflict transformation plays in building towards beloved community. Through the lived experiences of Terry and Anne, we will dive into the journeys that both have taken to steward communities across cultures in practicing love in the face of difference, conflict, and rupture. Anne served as Joanna Macy’s executive assistant for over two decades, and this conversation will also serve to honor Joanna’s life and work. Anne and Terry Symons-Bucher are the co-founders of Canticle Farm, located in the Fruitvale District of East Oakland. Inspired by the life of Francis of Assisi, Canticle Farm is a community providing a platform for the Great Turning, one heart, one home, and one block at a time. The Great Turning—the planetary shift from an industrial-growth society to a life-sustaining society—is served by Canticle Farm through local work that fosters forgiveness in the human community and compassion for all beings. Canticle Farm primarily focuses on the poor and marginalized as those who most bear the burden of social and planetary degradation, as well as being those who are first able to perceive the need for the Great Turning. Rooted in spiritual practice, Canticle Farm manifests this commitment by engaging in the Work That Reconnects, integral nonviolence, gift economy, restorative justice practices, urban permaculture, and other disciplines necessary for regenerating community in the 21st Century. Anne and Terry are the parents of five children. 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 Healing Circles Global With Host Elin Stebbins Waldal Join us for a live conversation with Jerry Millhon---father, life partner, friend, educator, and founder of Thriving Communities---as he reflects on the life-changing impact of a devastating bike accident. In this honest and wide-ranging dialogue with guest host Elin Stebbins Waldal of Commonweal’s Healing Circles program, they’ll explore what it means to navigate unexpected change, claim strength in the face of uncertainty, and hold fast to belief when the road ahead is still being written. Together, they’ll reflecton vulnerability, perseverance, and the daily, courageous work of believing in what’s still possible. Jerry Millhon Jerry serves as team member for the Thriving Communities Initiative, which began in 2011 as a program of the Whidbey Institute. He was director from 2010 through 2015, focusing on common people doing uncommon work for the common good. Transformational films, storytelling and bringing people together have produced a powerful network of people over the United States who are making positive impact. Jerry previously served as executive director of the Foundation for Vascular Cures in San Francisco, California; director of the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, Texas; and headmaster of several independent schools. In August 2024, Jerry was in a bike accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Slowly recovering, the healing process has been an uneven and profound experience. Host Elin Stebbins Waldal Elin has a diverse background in sales, team management, and public speaking. She is the author of an award-winning memoir that highlights her journey of healing from domestic violence to advocating for its prevention. She is program director of Healing Circles Langley on Whidbey Island in Washington State, where she’s responsible for developing programming, supporting volunteers, community outreach, and fundraising. Committed to community engagement, she’s passionate about creating impactful programs that bring people together in ways that promote healing, learning, and overall well-being. *** The New School is Commonweal’s learning community and podcast — we offer conversations, workshops, and other events in areas that Commonweal champions: finding meaning, growing health and resilience, advocating for justice, and stewarding the natural world. We make our conversations into podcasts for many thousands of listeners world wide and have been doing this since 2007. Please like/follow our YouTube channel for access to our library of more than 400 great podcasts. 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.

After years of friendship, Host Rabbi Irwin Keller sits with Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen to explore the influences of her childhood and young life on her lifelong calling as a healer and teacher. Listen closely for the story of her stint as a race car driver. Perhaps you weren’t expecting that. 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. Host Rabbi Irwin Keller Irwin has served as spiritual leader of Congregation Ner Shalom in Sonoma County since 2008, a post he took while still writing and performing with the San Francisco-based Kinsey Sicks, known as America’s Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet. His legal advocacy work included authoring the City of Chicago’s first comprehensive human rights law, in effect since 1989, and serving as the Executive Director of the AIDS Legal Referral Panel of the San Francisco Bay Area. *** The New School is Commonweal’s learning community and podcast — we offer conversations, workshops, and other events in areas that Commonweal champions: finding meaning, growing health and resilience, advocating for justice, and stewarding the natural world. We make our conversations into podcasts for many thousands of listeners world wide and have been doing this since 2007. Please like/follow our YouTube channel for access to our library of more than 400 great podcasts. The New School at Commonweal.

A new-old way of living in place is emerging through a variety of projects and pathways where people are deepening their relationship to land and place-making. Join Host Cassandra Lynn Ferrera with Rako Fabionar as they share about how they are personally and professionally engaging in place-based liberation work--and how the kinds of wayfinding and inhabited learning they are exploring to grow and deepen kinship might be of service to other place-based and bioregional projects. Rako Fabionar cultivates innovative learning environments for folks to experience deeper connection, insight, and well-being. Rako comes from a family of educators, counselors, organizers, and healers and is connected to the Philippines' Boholano and Eskaya indigenous people. Identified as “one who carries medicine” by elders and spirits of three different lineage traditions, Rako has participated in many healings, apprenticeships, trainings, and formal initiation ceremonies over the last two decades. Often sought out as a land listener, he also supports people during transition, with more than 20 years of experience designing a wide range of transformative initiatives for universities, community-based organizations, businesses, and change networks. Cassandra Lynn Ferrera is a steward of The Center for Ethical Land Transition and Rako is a steward of the Innovative Learning and Living Institute, both programs of Commonweal that are in service of regenerative and equitable futures. Rako and Cassandra are also both residents and co-stewards of Landwell, a 22-acre wayfinding place for regenerative living, cultural innovation, and community resilience. *** The New School is Commonweal’s learning community and podcast — we offer conversations, workshops, and other events in areas that Commonweal champions: finding meaning, growing health and resilience, advocating for justice, and stewarding the natural world. We make our conversations into podcasts for many thousands of listeners world wide and have been doing this since 2007. Please like/follow our YouTube channel for access to our library of more than 400 great podcasts. tns.commonweal.org

Part of the Festival of Sacred Music Series at The New School at Commonweal Join us for the third in a series of sacred music celebrations at Commonweal, an afternoon duet of sarod and tabla with Manik Khan and Nilan Chaudhuri. Part of the Festival of Sacred Music Series These concerts are presented in collaboration with long-time Commonweal friend Toby Symington, executive director of the Lloyd Symington Foundation and transpersonal astrologer. 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. From Toby: Manik Khan has been steeped in the ancient melodies of North Indian classical music since birth. The youngest son of the legendary Sarod maestro, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, he grew up listening to his father in countless concerts and attending his classes at the esteemed Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, California. He initially studied tabla under the guidance of Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, but the greater call to follow in the footsteps of his family brought Manik, at the age of 13, to formally train on the Sarod with his father. He spent his formative years accompanying his father on stage, touring for the last decade of his father's extensive and iconic performance career. Manik's own solo career has brought him throughout India, South America, and the United States. Nilan Chaudhuri is a Bay Area based percussionist, educator, and performer. Initiated into the tradition of Indian Classical Music at the age of five by his father, Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, Nilan has been performing as a tabla soloist and accompanist for nearly two decades. Drawing inspiration from his father’s innovative approach to classical tabla solo,  Nilan was determined from a young age to be a soloist. In addition to maintaining a rigorous performing schedule, Nilan teaches Tabla throughout the Bay Area as a faculty member at the Ali Akbar College of Music, in San Rafael, and as the Director of Percussion at Chitresh Das Institute, in San Mateo. He also serves as an archivist at the Ali Akbar College of Music, where the construction of a musical archive spanning 40 years of his Father’s work, is underway. It’s his lifelong mission to contribute to the preservation and enrichment of Indian Classical percussion.  *** The New School is Commonweal’s learning community and podcast — we offer conversations, workshops, and other events in areas that Commonweal champions: finding meaning, growing health and resilience, advocating for justice, and stewarding the natural world. We make our conversations into podcasts for many thousands of listeners world wide and have been doing this since 2007. Please like/follow our YouTube channel for access to our library of more than 400 great podcasts. tns.commonweal.org #indianmusic #sarod #imamcollective #worldmusic

Join us for the culminating event with our spring 2025 visiting scholar Craig Chalquist. We listen to the earth around us, talk about how our dreams reflect events in the world, discuss and practice active imagination, and practice creative writing as a continuation of engaging the imaginal figures who address us. 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. 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 TNS Visiting Scholar Craig Chalquist in conversation with Host Susan Grelock Yusem. 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.

We usually think of the land as a backdrop to human affairs. But in ancient tales, places and their creatures show up as vital characters in the story. What do hills and fields say? Streams and rivers? Geology? How do all these and other eco-presences show up in our moods, our struggles, even in our dreams? What are our homes and roads trying to tell us? During his 3-month residency at The New School, Craig Chalquist invites us all to explore how imagination has been used in many times and cultures as a path toward redemptive, transformative knowledge and new practice—and how we might engage imagination today to re-envision our relationships to ourselves and the land all around us. In this first virtual event with Craig, meet him, learn how imagination has been used in various traditions as a source of wisdom and change-making, and begin a process that will continue through June—when you can meet him in person while he is in Bolinas. To prepare for the May 29 event, bring an example of a dream with some aspect of nature in them. What about this dream inspires(d) you? How has that inspiration changed you? Other events with Craig: Tuesday, June 10 | 1-2:30 Pacific Time (in person and via Zoom) Dreaming the Soul of the Earth: Re-imagination as a Remedy for Our Times | TNS Visiting Scholar Craig Chalquist with Host Susan Grelock Yusem Tuesday, June 17 | 1:00pm-3:00pm Pacific Time (in person, or join 1-2pm via zoom) Walk, Dream, Write: Writing Workshop with TNS Visiting Scholar Craig Chalquist Craig Chalquist, Ph.D., is program director of Consciousness, Psychology, and Transformation at National University and a former associate provost and several other administrative and leadership roles. His background includes group counseling, depth psychology, mythology, ecopsychology, terrapsychology, and philosophy and wisdom studies. He presents, publishes, and teaches at the intersection of psyche, story, nature, reenchantment, and imagination. He has published more than twenty books, including the hopeful Lamplighter Trilogy. His motto is: “Converse with everything!” Visit https://Chalquist.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.

Join us for conversation with author and spiritual advisor Yeye Teish and host Cassandra Ferrera, director of Commonweal’s Center for Ethical Land Transition. Chief Iyanifa Fajembola Fatunmise (Yeye Luisah Teish) Yeye is an American author of African and African-diaspora spiritual cultures. She also is an affluent ritualist, keynote speaker, and spiritual advisor on a global scale. Primarily known for Jambalaya: The Natural Woman’s Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals, a women’s spirituality classic published in 1985 by Harper & Row Publishers. This book has been translated into German, Spanish, and Dutch. She has contributed to 40 anthologies, most notably Spiritual Guidance Across Religions: A Sourcebook for Spiritual Directors and Other Professionals Providing Counsel to People of Differing Faith Traditions. As an Oshun priestess (Yoruba Goddess of Love and Sensuality), Yeye continues to officiate over spiritual retreats, rituals, and workshops that span over 40 years since her introduction into the Ifa spiritual practice. Host Cassandra Ferrera Becoming a person of place is Cassandra’s orienting cosmology, and her activist real estate career is informed by this path. She became a real estate agent in 2003 as a single mom needing to support her family, and was compelled to understand how market capitalism prevents so many people from a direct and secure relationship with Earth. She committed early on to learning how to support cooperative living and to find ways to decommodify and deprivatize Land. As someone with mixed European settler ancestry, Cassandra is keenly aware of the paradox of how those with white colonial privilege have often been displaced from land-based culture. Cassandra listened her way forward, guided by the generosity of spirit, mentors, and friends who would help her co-found The Center for Ethical Land Transition. Through the work of ethical land transitions, Cassandra works to transform conventional real estate practice in service to Land, cultural reunion, and reparative justice. #yeye #oshun #yoruba #ifa #commonweal #newschoolcommonweal 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.

John Lennon once described Yoko Ono as the world’s most famous unknown artist. Join us for a conversation with David Sheff—author of this intimate and revelatory biography of Yoko Ono, and the #1 New York Times bestseller, Beautiful Boy. David’s biography delves into her groundbreaking art, music, feminism, and activism. Join us for a conversation about the book, exploring how she coped under the most intense, relentless, and cynical microscope while being falsely vilified for the most heinous cultural crime imaginable: breaking up the greatest rock-and-roll band in history. Hosted by Steve Heilig, who once bowed respectfully and silently to Yoko Ono in New York City’s Central Park, and she bowed back. Co-presented with Point Reyes Books. David Sheff In 1980, David Sheff met Yoko and John when Sheff conducted an in-depth interview with them just months before John’s murder. In the aftermath of the killing, he and Yoko became close as she rebuilt her life, survived threats and betrayals, and went on to create groundbreaking art and music while campaigning for peace and other causes. Sheff shows us Yoko’s nine decades—one of the most unlikely and remarkable lives ever lived. 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. #commonweal #newschoolcommonweal #yokoono #yoko

Rest and renew in a rich sonic atmosphere. Deborah creates deep, resonant sounds through evocative vocal tones accompanied by alchemy crystal bowls and antique Himalayan bowls. This is a time to let go of social engagement while being together in sacred space. Find something to lie or sit upon and anything else to make yourself comfortable. You are also welcome to sit in a chair or stand and quietly move. Deborah Koff-Chapin Deborah has been holding sacred space through sound since she began using her voice and drum to facilitate Touch Drawing workshops in 1980. Her early vocal openings developed in the 1970s within the practice of Long Dance with Elizabeth Cogburn. She later trained in classical voice with Maestro David Kyle. Deborah’s alchemy crystal bowls and antique Himalayan bowls now serve as a harmonic foundation for her improvised vocal attunements. She offers Song Bath Sanctuary weekly online and monthly at Healing Circles on Whidbey Island. Deborah is the originator of Touch Drawing and creator of SoulCards. Find out more. #commonweal #artheals #healingart #soundbath #deborahkoffchapin #touchdrawing

We are living through prophetic times—what some call the metacrisis, others name as a rupture, others see as an opening. What does it mean to navigate this moment with wisdom? And what role does wealth play in this transition? This panel brings together cosmologists, system architects, scholars, and funder-activists to explore: How do we make sense of where we are and what is being asked of us in these times? What is the role of wealth holders and funders in this time of unraveling? How might wealth be liberated from extractive systems and reoriented toward life-affirming transitions? Moderated by Lynn Murphy. Bayo Akomolafe, PhD, rooted with the Yoruba people in a more-than-human world, is the father to Alethea Aanya and Kyah Jayden Abayomi, the grateful life-partner to EJ, son and brother. A widely celebrated international speaker, posthumanist thinker, poet, teacher, self-styled ‘trans-public’ intellectual, essayist, and author of two books, These Wilds Beyond our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity’s Search for Home (North Atlantic Books) and We Will Tell our Own Story: The Lions of Africa Speak (along with Professors Molefi Kete Asante and Augustine Nwoye). Pat McCabe (Woman Stands Shining) is of the Diné Nation (often known incorrectly as “Navajo), and was also adopted into the Lakota Spiritual way of Life. She is a mother, grandmother, activist, artist, and international speaker. She identifies as a “radical bridger” of worlds and paradigms, with a focus on sharing from her own deep inquiry into Thriving Life Paradigm. Matthew Monahan is the founder of Ma Earth (maearth.com), an emerging initiative to bring more funding into community-led nature protection and restoration. He is also a co-founder and steward at Biome Trust (biometrust.earth), a philanthropic foundation devoted to ecological health and education, and Mangaroa Farms (mangaroa.org), a regenerative farm and forest project in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Baljeet Sandhu is a Punjabi-British knowledge weaver, community organiser, and equity designer with more than 30 years of experience in social and economic justice, innovation, and systems change work. Baljeet founded the Centre for Knowledge Equity to serve as an ecosystem space for practitioners creating life-affirming alternatives for the future. Julian Corner has been CEO of the UK-based Lankelly Chase Foundation since 2011. Lankelly Chase is a 60 year old social justice foundation that was the first in UK philanthropy to test systems change approaches. It has since been in a process of deep inquiry and evolution which culminated in 2023 with the announcement that it would end its work within 5 years and redistribute its assets. Taj James is a father, poet, practitioner, strategist, designer, and philanthropic and capital advisor. He is the Founder and former Director of the Movement Strategy Center, Curator at Full Spectrum Labs and Principal at Full Spectrum Capital Partners. Taj thrives building community around the shared questions that matter most in our lives: how can we build the relationships and express the love needed to transform our world? Moderator Lynn Murphy Lynn is the co-director of Transition Resource Circle and co-author of Post Capitalist Philanthropy, Healing Wealth in the Time of Collapse. She is an educator, strategic advisor, and organizer among funders and activists, with a focus in the geopolitical South.

John Fox speaks at the 2025 Public Forum on Healing with Integrative Cancer Care in February. The gathering was designed to bridges wisdom traditions with emerging frontiers in healing. This year's forum explores transformation through the intersections of integrative cancer care with consciousness and healing arts, featuring distinguished speakers and practitioners from diverse backgrounds. The day included engaging presentations on patient advocacy, expressive arts, and innovative approaches to cancer care. John Fox, PPM John is a poet and Practitioner of Poetic Medicine. He is author of Poetic Medicine: The Healing Art of Poem Making and Finding What You Didn’t Lose: Expressing Your Truth and Creativity Through Poem-Making. His work is featured in the PBS documentary, Healing Words: Poetry and Medicine. John presents in medical schools and hospitals including Stanford, Harvard, Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, University Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, National Cancer Centre Singapore, Blythedale Children’s Hospital in Vahalla, NewYork, The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, Washington and many others. John is President of The Institute for Poetic Medicine, a nonprofit he founded in 2005. IPM funds poetry projects that serve marginalized persons throughout the United States and internationally. IPM offers training programs for those who want to facilitate the practice of poetry & healing. He lives in Mountain View, California. 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. Please like/follow our YouTube channel for more great podcasts. 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.