Exploring Nature, Culture and Inner Life

The New School at Commonweal
  • 4.4 (40)
  • EDUCATION
Exploring Nature, Culture and Inner Life

The New School presents conversations, book signings, art, and lectures with thought and action leaders of our time. We are a learning community of 4,000 people in the Bay Area and around the world dedicated to learning what matters. TNS focuses on the emergent, seeking out the thought and action leaders who are bringing discussion, beauty, and change to the world. We present events and podcast them in many areas: arts and sciences, health and the environment, and inner life. We follow streams of inquiry, including our End-of-Life Conversations, and series on Resilience, Archetypal Psychology, and Healing Circles.

  1. Jeffrey J. Kripal - The Superhumanities: Historical Precedents, Moral Objections

    NOV 25

    Jeffrey J. Kripal - The Superhumanities: Historical Precedents, Moral Objections

    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).

    1h 15m
  2. 2024:10.30 - Omonblanks - What Do We Know? Exploring Non-Western Approaches to Wisdom

    NOV 17

    2024:10.30 - Omonblanks - What Do We Know? Exploring Non-Western Approaches to Wisdom

    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.

    1h 20m
  3. 2024:10.02 - Joanna Bornowski - Consciousness, Intuition and Animal Communication

    NOV 15

    2024:10.02 - Joanna Bornowski - Consciousness, Intuition and Animal Communication

    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.

    1h 19m
  4. 2024:09.28 - Kevin Opstedal - Dreaming as One: Poetry, Poets and Community in Bolinas

    NOV 14

    2024:09.28 - Kevin Opstedal - Dreaming as One: Poetry, Poets and Community in Bolinas

    ~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.

    1h 2m
  5. 2024:09.30 - Michael Fischer - In Service Towards Resilience

    NOV 12

    2024:09.30 - Michael Fischer - In Service Towards Resilience

    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.

    1h 12m
  6. 2024:08.28 - Diana Lindsay: On the Nature of Healing: Healing Circles at Commonweal

    OCT 19

    2024:08.28 - Diana Lindsay: On the Nature of Healing: Healing Circles at Commonweal

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

    1h 23m
  7. 24.08.28: Jerry Millhon and Host Michael Lerner

    AUG 26

    24.08.28: Jerry Millhon 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.

    1h 43m
  8. 2024:08.12 Lisa Bero and Lariah Edwards - Protecting Scientists from Industry Intimidation

    AUG 9

    2024:08.12 Lisa Bero and Lariah Edwards - Protecting Scientists from Industry Intimidation

    ~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.

    55 min
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4.4
out of 5
40 Ratings

About

The New School presents conversations, book signings, art, and lectures with thought and action leaders of our time. We are a learning community of 4,000 people in the Bay Area and around the world dedicated to learning what matters. TNS focuses on the emergent, seeking out the thought and action leaders who are bringing discussion, beauty, and change to the world. We present events and podcast them in many areas: arts and sciences, health and the environment, and inner life. We follow streams of inquiry, including our End-of-Life Conversations, and series on Resilience, Archetypal Psychology, and Healing Circles.

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