Exploring Nature, Culture and Inner Life

Dawn Gross 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. Dawn Gross, MD, PhD, (aka DrAsYouWish) is a national thought leader in Hospice & Palliative Medicine, Writer, Podcaster and Magic Wand Bearer, who pioneers revolutionary palliative medicine as the art of patient care, scientific curiosity and storytelling. Medical director of ANX Hospice and UCSF Palliative Care physician, Dawn earned her MD and PhD in immunology from Tufts University and completed her fellowship training in hematology with an emphasis in bone marrow transplant at Stanford University. She transitioned to the field of hospice and palliative medicine after her father died in 2006. Dawn considers grief an injury and has developed a novel approach to its healing in what she refers to as the ICU “ISEEYOU for the Soul.” She is the creator and host of the radio program, Dying to Talk. Her writing has been published widely including in The New York Times, JAMA, Science and Annals of Internal Medicine. She is an internationally invited speaker most recently sharing true stories from the bedside about what matters most in her 2024 TEDx talk “Ask. The Time is Now” and her new book, Heart Sounds: How a Stethoscope, A Magic Wand, and a Fishing Pole Teach Us to Listen for What Matters Most. Learn more at: www.drasyouwish.com 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.

Dale Borglum 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. Dale Borglum RamDev Dale Borglum is a pioneering figure in the conscious dying movement, known for his contributions to end-of-life care and spiritual support. As the Founder and Director of the Hanuman Foundation Dying Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, he established the first residential facility in the United States dedicated to supporting conscious dying experiences with clients. Collaborating closely with luminaries such as Ram Dass, Stephen Levine, and Elizabeth Kubler Ross, RamDev played a pivotal role in laying the foundation for the conscious dying movement. Since 1986, RamDev has served as the Executive Director of the Living/Dying Project, initially in Santa Fe and later in the San Francisco Bay Area. With an unwavering commitment to integrating Eastern spirituality and Western psychology, the organization has guided countless individuals through the sacred journey of death with compassion and wisdom. His expertise in meditation, honed since 1968, has been instrumental in his teachings and inspirational workshops, where he shares insights on meditation, individual healing, and spiritual support for those in transition. Within his teachings, RamDev also places emphasis on living consciously and compassionately to overcome our individual collective fear of death. Throughout his career as both a meditation and spiritual teacher, RamDev has collaborated with esteemed figures such as Joan Halifax, Robert Thurman, Joanna Macy, Jack Kornfield, Anne Lamott, Jai Uttal, Duncan Trussell, and many others. RamDev co-authored Journey of Awakening: A Meditator’s Guidebook with Ram Dass, Daniel Goleman, and Dwarka Bonner, published by Bantam Books. In his popular podcast, Healing at The Edge, hosted on the Be Here Now Network channel, he spreads his unique dharmic teachings and routinely interviews esteemed teachers and professionals within the field of conscious living and dying. His book How To Live So You Can Die Without Fear will be released in 2025. 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.

Diana Lindsay 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. Diana Lindsay Given a prognosis of a few months, Diana Lindsay has now lived nearly 19 years following adiagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer. She is the co-founder of Healing Circles Langley andHealing Circles Global. She is also the author of Something More Than Hope: SurvivingDespite the Odds, Thriving Because of Them. 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.

Jen Green 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. Jen Green, ND, FABNO Jen Green is a Naturopathic Doctor (ND) who is board certified in Naturopathic Oncology (FABNO). She received her Arts & Science degree from McMaster University, and graduated from the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in 2000. Dr Green founded the Naturopathic Department at Beaumont Hospitals, Michigan in 2008 and served as the department head for five years. Jen wrote the cardio-oncology chapter in the Textbook for Naturopathic Oncology and has published papers in BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, American Urology Association Update Series, Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine, and the Natural Medicine Journal. Jen Green lectures in both the US and Canada: https://drjengreen.com/conference___lecture Dr Green currently serves as a Research Director for KNOW, the Knowledge in Integrative Oncology Website (www.knowoncology.org). KNOW is an educational platform that supports decision making in cancer care. The KNOW database is updated quarterly with human studies on natural agents or nutrition and cancer care. Dr Green has served on the board of the Oncology Association Naturopathic Physicians and Michigan Association of Naturopathic Physicians. She currently sits on the advisory board of Cancer Choices. After practicing integrative oncology for 24 years, Jen underwent chemoradiation for head and neck cancer in 2024, which deepened her understanding of what it is to be a cancer patient. She is dedicated to teaching a heart-centered, evidence-based and individualized approach to integrative supportive cancer care. 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.

Mark Taylor 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. Mark Taylor is the CEO and founder of Patient Led Oncology. An organisation that studies alternative cancer treatments from four pillars. Through collating and digesting published research. Working with some of the world's leading experimental oncology doctors and alternative healers. Following patients doing alternative treatments volunteering through his Patient Led Oncology Facebook group and his own personal experience with treatments and alternative healing methods, including learning directly from with Gabor Mate, Shamans from the Amazon, Shaolin Monks and Qi Gong masters. 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.

Jennifer Bires 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. Jennifer Bires, LCSW, OSW-C, CST Jennifer is an innovative leader in the field of psychosocial oncology with over 15 years of experience building patient centered, supportive care programs for patients and families impacted by cancer. In her current role at Inova Schar Cancer Institute, Jennifer leads a team of oncology behavioral health therapists, social workers, nurse navigators and oncology dieticians, ensuring that patients and those who support them have access to psychosocial care and education, at no cost to them, to help cope with cancer and its impact on their well-being. Additionally, she oversees the Arts and Healing program utilizing the arts as a modality of healing. Her clinical specialties include sexual health, young adults with cancer and end of life care. Jennifer is a current PhD candidate in Palliative Care at the University of Maryland, Baltimore exploring the use of psychedelics as a behavioral health treatment modality for people impacted by cancer. She earned her master’s degree in social work from Washington University in Saint Louis, and her bachelor’s degree at Clemson University. She was awarded the Oncology Social Worker of the year in 2017 from the Association of Oncology Social Workers, sits on the Leadership Council for the Association of Oncology Nurse Navigators +, and Board of Trustees for the Association of Cancer Care Centers, is a member of the American Cancer Society National Navigation Round Table and is a past chair for the Board of Oncology Social Work. 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.

~ Part One of a Two Part Conversation with host Michael Lerner Join Host Michael Lerner in two conversations with cognitive psychologist, Harvard professor, and author Howard Gardner, who is best known for his theory of multiple intelligences. Howard Gardner Howard is John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He also holds positions as adjunct professor of psychology at Harvard University and senior director of Harvard Project Zero. His numerous honors include a MacArthur Prize Fellowship in 1981, honorary degrees from 26 colleges and universities, and selection by Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines as as one of the 100 most influential public intellectuals in the world. The author of 25 books translated into 28 languages, and of several hundred articles, Gardner is best known for his theory of multiple intelligences, a critique of the notion that there exists but a single human intelligence that can be adequately assessed by standard psychometric instruments. 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. 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 Two of a Two Part Conversation with host Michael Lerner Join Host Michael Lerner in two conversations with cognitive psychologist, Harvard professor, and author Howard Gardner, who is best known for his theory of multiple intelligences. Howard Gardner Howard is John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He also holds positions as adjunct professor of psychology at Harvard University and senior director of Harvard Project Zero. His numerous honors include a MacArthur Prize Fellowship in 1981, honorary degrees from 26 colleges and universities, and selection by Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines as as one of the 100 most influential public intellectuals in the world. The author of 25 books translated into 28 languages, and of several hundred articles, Gardner is best known for his theory of multiple intelligences, a critique of the notion that there exists but a single human intelligence that can be adequately assessed by standard psychometric instruments. 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. 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.

Long-time musical collaborators Mariah Parker (piano, santur) and Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar) share their unique blend of captivating music that is sure to uplift. Performing original compositions inspired by the musical cultures of Spain, Brazil and India mixed with the contemporary colors of jazz, the duo creates a mesmerizing sound that has been described by concert goers as ‘absolutely spellbinding’ ‘dazzling and unforgettable’ and ‘a transporting experience.’ Mariah Parker Mariah Parker has been playing music from the time she could reach the keys on the grand piano in her family home. As a composer, pianist and bandleader her work crosses cultural boundaries with an exuberant quest for defying musical labels or categorization. Her academic tenure at UC Santa Cruz was distinguished by her involvement with ethnomusicologist Fred Lieberman and the iconic drummer Mickey Hart on the “Planet Drum” project, marking her early foray into the fusion of musical traditions. Her discography began with the critically acclaimed Sangria in February 2009, followed by Indo Latin Jazz Live in Concert in 2017 and Windows Through Time in 2024. The last two albums have both enjoyed months of prominence on the National Jazzweek Airplay chart and been celebrated globally for their innovative soundscapes and compositional brilliance. Windows Through Time (released June, 2024) “One of the most beautiful and surprising releases of 2024” — Thierry De Clemensat, US correspondent – Paris-Move and ABS magazine “Genre-bending brilliance….with Windows Through Time, Mariah Parker cements her position as a leading voice in contemporary music” — Jazz Sensibilities Matthew Montfort Matthew Montfort is the leader of the innovative world fusion group Ancient Future, and a pioneer of the scalloped fretboard guitar, an instrument combining qualities of the South Indian vina and the steel string guitar. Montfort studied intensively with vina master K.S. Subramanian in order to apply the note-bending techniques to the guitar. In 2012, he was added to the 100 Greatest Acoustic Guitarists list at http://DigitalDreamDoor.com , joining luminaries such as Michael Hedges, Chet Atkins, John Fahey, and John Renbourn. Montfort has recorded with legendary world music figures ranging from Bolivian panpipe master Gonzalo Vargas to tabla maestros Swapan Chaudhuri and Zakir Hussain. He has performed concerts worldwide, including the Festival Internacional de la Guitarra on the Golden Coast of Spain near Barcelona and the Mumbai Festival at the Gateway of India in Bombay. 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 #sacredmusic #musicthatheals #healingmusic #solsticeofheroes commonweal, sacredmusic, musicthatheals, healingmusic, solstice, summersolstice, summersolstice, winter solstice, winter

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.