The New School at Commonweal

Part 2 of a 2 part conversation and spiritual biography with Rachel Lang and host Michal Lerner. 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 1 of a 2 part conversation--find the play list: https://soundcloud.com/tnscommonweal/sets/rachel-lang-intuition Join Host Michael Lerner in a spiritual biography conversation with astrologer and intuitive Rachel Lang. Rachel Lang Rachel is a professional astrologer, psychic medium, and healer. She is a regular contributor to a variety of publications, including Bustle, Brit + Co, LVBX, Romper, PopSugar, and the Omega News. As an internationally recognized speaker, she enjoys sharing her astrological and spiritual knowledge with others and regularly offers presentations, classes, and workshops. She began studying astrology and developing her spiritual gifts more than 20 years ago and has maintained a private practice working with individuals and businesses since 2006. She holds a master’s degree in theology from Loyola Marymount University, with an emphasis on feminist theology and ethics. Photo by Josh Rangel on Unsplash 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 Spring Creek Project~ Follow along with the videos shown and discussed in this conversation: Common Murre - https://youtu.be/AuGTNgjhW1M Western Sage Grouse - https://youtu.be/RzyoI0r9ddc How can we attune ourselves to the music that surrounds us? How can we bear the sorrow of its silencing? Join author Kathleen Dean Moore and Naturalist Hank Lentfer in virtual conversation with TNS Host Kyra Epstein to celebrate the earth’s wild music and creatures. We hear about Kathleen’s new book—Earth’s Wild Music: Celebrating and Defending the Songs of the Natural World (Counterpoint Press). We hear animal recordings from Hank and learn about how he has crafted a life listening to nature’s music. We watch two “tiny concerts,” videos inspired by Kathleen’s book and put together by the Spring Creek Project at Oregon State University.

Join us for a conversation with TNS Host Steve Heilig and artist-naturalist Keith Hansen about his new book of illustrations: Hansen’s Field Guide to the Birds of the Sierra Nevada. Identify and learn about more than 250 birds of the Sierra Nevada. From tiniest hummingbirds to condors with nine-foot wingspans; from lower-elevation wrens to the rasping nutcrackers of the High Sierra; from urban House Sparrows to wild water-loving American Dippers, Field Guide to the Birds of the Sierra Nevada showcases Keith’s sixteen-year project to illustrate the birds of the Sierra Nevada. Download a PDF of Keith’s illustrations to follow along with the audio podcast here: https://tns.commonweal.org/podcasts/hansen-heilig/attachment/keith-hansen-tns-slides-080621/ Keith Hansen Coming from a long line of artists, Keith took up illustrating birds in 1976, his senior year of high school. After extensive travel, he volunteered for the Point Reyes Bird Observatory, both at the Bolinas Palomarin Field Station, and nine adventures to the Farallon Islands. Capturing and gently handling hundreds of birds for banding studies gave him an intimate understanding of their build, anatomy, plumage and character, all crucial things for a budding bird artist. Over the years, he created bird illustrations for books, scientific journals, magazines, newsletters, and logos. Taking about 14 years to illustrate the 320 species that occur in that great mountain range, and five years to write, his latest book is Hansen’s Field Guide to the Birds of the Sierra Nevada. Keith’s workspace, The Wildlife Gallery is located in Bolinas. Host Steve Heilig Steve is a longtime senior research associate with Commonweal, a co-founding director of the Commonweal Collaborative on Health and the Environment, a host of dialogues for the New School, and in other programs originating at or founded at Commonweal. Trained at five University of California campuses in public health, medical ethics, addiction medicine, economics, environmental sciences, and other disciplines, his other work includes positions at the San Francisco Medical Society, California Pacific Medical Center, and as co-editor of the Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics. He has served on many nonprofit boards and appointed commissions, and is a trained hospice worker. He is a widely published essayist and book and music critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, Huffington Post, and many other publications.

Join TNS Host Steve Heilig in conversation with “the point man” for drug policy reform efforts, Ethan Nadelmann. They’ll talk about a wide range of drug policy issues, concerning both illegal and legal substances, what has worked and what has failed, and where to go from here. Ethan Nadelmann Described by Rolling Stone as “the point man” for drug policy reform efforts and “the real drug czar,” Ethan Nadelmann was long widely regarded as the outstanding proponent of drug policy reform both in the United States and abroad. Ethan began his advocacy in the late 1980s while teaching at Princeton; he then founded first The Lindesmith Center and then the Drug Policy Alliance, the world’s leading drug policy reform organization, which he directed until 2017. He also co-founded the Open Society Institute’s International Harm Reduction Development program. Ethan has authored two books on the internationalization of criminal law enforcement (Cops Across Borders and, with Peter Andreas, Policing The Globe), and spoken publicly in roughly forty states and forty countries. His TED Talk on ending the drug war has over two million views. Ethan and his colleagues were at the forefront of dozens of successful campaigns to legalize marijuana, reduce the incarceration of drug law offenders, treat drug use and addiction as health, not criminal, issues, and otherwise promote alternatives to punitive prohibitionist policies. He recently started a podcast about all things drugs called PSYCHOACTIVE. And he has become increasingly engaged in the debate over tobacco harm reduction. Host Steve Heilig Steve is a longtime senior research associate with Commonweal, a co-founding director of the Commonweal Collaborative on Health and the Environment, a host of dialogues for the New School, and in other programs originating at or founded at Commonweal. Trained at five University of California campuses in public health, medical ethics, addiction medicine, economics, environmental sciences, and other disciplines, his other work includes positions at the San Francisco Medical Society, California Pacific Medical Center, and as co-editor of the Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics. He has served on many nonprofit boards and appointed commissions, and is a trained hospice worker. He is a widely published essayist and book and music critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, Huffington Post, and many other publications.

Reparative Philanthropy: Releasing Wealth for Social Justice ~Part of the Money as Medicine series of events co-presented with the Center for Healing and Liberation at Commonweal~ We welcome host Victoria Santos to The New School, in this first conversation in our Money as Medicine series of events. In this conversation, Victoria talks with CC Gardner Gleser about her role in transforming the philanthropic landscape to refocus on racial equity. C’Ardiss “CC” Gardner Gleser is an advocate for social impact and social justice work. She is the first director of Programs and Strategic Initiatives at Satterberg Foundation, whose mission focuses on promoting a just society and sustainable environment. She currently serves as a leader on the boards of Andrus Family Fund, Charlotte Martin Foundation, and Philanthropy Northwest. CC founded Black Ivy Manor, which provides funding and other opportunities for Black scholars, artists, and social justice advocates to develop their crafts and voices. CC earned her Bachelor’s degree in African American Studies from Yale University, and an M.Ed. in Education Administration from Seattle University. Our Host, Victoria Santos, MA Victoria designs and facilitates group processes in communities, organizations, businesses, universities and schools. Warm authentic presence, compassionate communication, commitment to social justice and racial equity, and lifelong learning are threads running through all of Victoria’s work. She brings more than thirty years of experience and leadership in education, community organizing and community development. For ten years, Victoria assisted Sobonfu Somé in leading grief rituals according to the Dagara traditions of Burkina Faso. She is a Spanish-fluent Afro-Caribbean immigrant who was born in a rural village in the Dominican Republic. 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 Host Michael Lerner in a spiritual biography conversation with Janet Moses. Janet Jemmott Moses, MD Janet involved herself in the Civil Rights Movement at a young age. The New York native was only 22-year-old when she decided to join the front lines as an activist. She participated in picketing and sit-in-movements in New York, before heading to the south to raise funds for the SNCC – the voter organization co-founded by Bob Moses. Eventually, the two fell in love and got married in 1968. Janet received her medical degree at the University of Boston and established herself as a successful pediatrician at M.I.T.

Join TNS Host Michael Lerner in conversation with Matthew Barzun about his new book, The Power of Giving Away Power: How the Best Leaders Learn to Let Go. About the book: "In this practical and personal journey, Barzun brilliantly layers lessons across history and industries with his own experiences as an internet entrepreneur, political organizer, and US ambassador to the United Kingdom and Sweden. With lessons for leaders of all types, The Power of Giving Away Power shows how the Constellation mindset shines in some of the most impactful organizations and innovations the world has ever known. And it encourages us all to recognize, as Barzun writes, "the power we can create by seeing the power in others" — and making the leap to lead. Together." Matthew Barzun has always been fascinated about how we can stand out and fit in at the same time. He helped countries do both when he served as U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom and to Sweden. He helped citizens do both as National Finance Chair for Barack Obama by pioneering new ways for people to have a stronger voice in politics. And he helped tech consumers do both as an entrepreneur when he helped build CNET Networks in the early 90s. Barzun was raised on the East Coast, started his career on the West Coast, and settled in the middle in Louisville, Kentucky with his wife, Brooke, and their three 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.

WATER | Thirsty California: Water, Agribusiness, and the Future of Food ~Part of the Roots of Resilience in An Age of Crisis series co-presented with Real Food Media and Mother Jones magazine~ Join Anna Lappé with award-winning journalist Tom Philpott and Janaki Jagannath, of the Community Alliance for Agroecology and the 11th Hour Project, to talk about the state of water in California. As record wildfires and drought plague the state, what are advocates for farmers and farmworkers advocating for? What threats do we face and how do we take them on? Photo: Unsplash Tom Philpott is the food and agriculture correspondent for Mother Jones and author of Perilous Bounty: The Looming Collapse of American Farming and How We Can Prevent It (Bloomsbury 2020). Prior to joining Mother Jones in 2012, he worked for five years as the food editor and columnist for Grist Magazine. His work has won numerous awards, including a Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism. He was a cofounder in 2004 of Maverick Farms, a small organic vegetable farm and center for sustainable food education in Valle Crucis, North Carolina. In past lives, he has worked as a farmer, line cook, a community college teacher, and a finance writer. Janaki Jagannath is Program Manager of the Food and Ag Program at the 11th Hour Project. Previously she worked in the San Joaquin Valley of California who work to advance agricultural and environmental policy towards justice for communities bearing the burden of California’s food system. She has worked at California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. in Fresno enforcing environmental justice and worker protections such as access to clean drinking water for unincorporated farmworker communities. Janaki has assisted in curriculum development for the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems degree at UC Davis and has farmed in diversified and orchard crops across the state. Janaki holds a B.S. in Agricultural Development from UC Davis and a producers’ certification in Ecological Horticulture from UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology. Host Anna Lappé is a national bestselling author, a renowned advocate for sustainability and justice along the food chain, and an advisor to funders investing in food system transformation. A James Beard Leadership Awardee, Anna is the co-author or author of three books on food, farming, and sustainability and the contributing author to fourteen more. One of TIME magazine’s “eco” Who’s-Who, Anna is the founder or co-founder of three national organizations including the Small Planet Institute and Small Planet Fund. In addition to her work at Real Food Media, Anna developed and leads the Food Sovereignty Fund, a global grantmaking program of the Panta Rhea Foundation. 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.

What Justice Looks Like: Two Young Women’s Voices in Art Join TNS Host Ladybird Morgan for a conversation with two young women filmmakers who are finding their voices through film and other media. They share their view of what is happening in our world, what they see is possible, and how the arts can be a way to shape the voices of culture. We share two of their short films (2 minutes) during the webinar. Isabel Lena Fernandez Isabel is an eighteen-year-old artist who spends the preponderance of her time scrapbooking, painting, writing poetry, and watching films. She watches films the way others listen to music: religiously and constantly. She works at The Armory Center for the Arts and presently attends Pasadena City College. Isabel has a passion for parks and recreation and aspires to be employed as a Death Valley Park Ranger. She unwaveringly loves the untouched earth, the sand dunes, and the hemorrhage of stars in the desert’s sky. Anika Velasquez Anika is a 17 year old, Latinx, actress/screenwriter who is currently working on an original TV show. Anika is also an academic and attends her local high school as well as Santa Barbara City College, with hopes of getting degrees in both film and English. Anika prioritizes diverse representation, and believes that everyone has a story worth telling. Host Ladybird Morgan, RN, MSW Ladybird is program director and co-founder of the Humane Prison Hospice Project, and has been working in end-of-life care as a registered nurse, clinical social worker, and educator for 20+ years. She has worked with organizations including The Zen Hospice Project and Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Ladybird has guided medical practitioners, families and private caregivers to find their clearest voice as they step across significant thresholds in life and in preparing for death. Currently she facilitates the training of The Brothers Keepers Peer Support/ End of Life Caregiving at San Quentin, is a Palliative Care consultant with Mettlehealth.org, co-facilitates Last Acts of Kindness with Redwing Keyssar, and supports Commonweal’s Cancer Help Program, Healing Circles, and The New School. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: https://tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.