Exploring Nature, Culture and Inner Life

Jacob Needleman Who Am I? Why Am I Here? Join TNS Host Michael Lerner for another conversation with author, professor, and philosopher Jacob Needleman. Jacob Needleman Jacob Needleman is a professor of philosophy at San Francisco State University. He is the author of many books on soul, philosophy, the world’s religions, and the meaning of life. He was featured on Bill Moyers’s acclaimed PBS series A World of Ideas. In addition to his teaching and writing, Needleman serves as a consultant in the fields of psychology, education, medical ethics, philanthropy, and business. Find out more about The New School at tns.commonweal.org.

Leroy Lowe Getting to Know Cancer How A Canadian Educator Changed the Global Dialogue on Chemicals and Cancer Leroy Lowe is a Canadian educator who has set out to start a revolution in how scientists think about the carcinogenic potential of low-dose exposures to mixtures of chemicals that are commonly encountered in the environment. He is also changing how cancer researchers think by getting them to explore the ways in which non-toxic chemicals found in plants and foods might be combined to be used for cancer prevention and therapy. Join TNS Host Michel Lerner in this conversation that tells the story of how this remarkable autodidact organized 350 scientists from 31 countries into teams and then provided them with the leadership and vision needed to get them to challenge existing paradigms in both of these critical areas of research. Leroy Lowe Leroy Lowe is a former aerospace engineer and project manager in the Canadian Airforce where he focused on translating basic science into research and development projects in the ocean-tech sector. As a senior manager in industry, he recruited and managed a diverse network of agents, distributors and strategic alliance partners in over 20 countries. He is now a faculty member in International Business at the Nova Scotia Community College and for the better part of the past two decades he has been an active international business consultant for a wide range of entrepreneurs and growing businesses. He has a Master’s degree in Adult Education, an MBA, and a PhD in Biological Sciences. He is also currently the president of Getting to Know Cancer and Neuroqualia. Find out more about The New School at tns.commonweal.org.

Diana and Kelly Lindsay Healing Circles Langley Diana Lindsay was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2006. She was given three months to live and told to go on hospice care. But her new granddaughter gave her a powerful reason to live. Even though new medicine was helping some patients with lung cancer, Diana and her husband Kelly felt the medicine would not be enough. So they embarked on an intensive “joy protocol” in which her intuition guided her in both medical and integrative therapies. Her intuitive power of visualization was unusually strong. More recently, they founded Healing Circles Langley to share their experience of healing with others. Healing Circles Langley is a program of Commonweal and a pioneering site for Commonweal’s Healing Circles project. Join TNS Host Michael Lerner in conversation with Diana and Kelly, authors of Something More Than Hope: Surviving Despite the Odds, Thriving Because of Them. Diana and Kelly Lindsay Diana met Kelly Lindsay when he was a biology major and she was a dance and music major at Stanford University. During nearly 40 years of marriage, they have taught college students and children, been global activists, and built the marketing and financial skills to found their own company. In 2006, Diana and Kelly Lindsay were chief executives of Lindsay Communications, a high-tech marketing and communications company serving hundreds of companies from Fortune 100 multi-nationals to start-ups. When she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, they realized the customers they most needed to communicate with were Diana’s cells. While she learned how to visualize them and ask for their guidance, he created a high-bandwidth grid with his hands as a Reiki master to power those cells back to health. Today Diana and Kelly speak to anyone facing seemingly insurmountable odds, inspiring them to find something more than hope. Find out more about The New School at tns.commonweal.org.

Shodo Harada Roshi Zen and the Art of Dying ~Co-presented with Commonweal Healing Circles~ Join TNS Host Michael Lerner in conversation with Zen priest Shodo Harada Roshi. This is the Roshi’s third visit to TNS, and the next conversation in our End-of-Life Conversations series. Also, see our new video of a spiritual biography conversation between Michael and the Roshi. 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. Find out more about The New School at tns.commonweal.org.

Betsy Stroman The Sausalito Village Experience: Will this help us in West Marin? Join TNS Host Michael Lerner for a conversation with Betsy Stroman—founder and former director of Sausalito Village, a volunteer-based non-profit organization that has been offering services to support independent senior living since October 2010. Their mission is to enhance the ability of members to live independently, remaining active and integral to their community as they age. Betsy Stroman Betsy is a founder and former president of the board of Sausalito Village. She stepped down from the board presidency in spring 2015, but remains vice president of the board. Sausalito Village is primarily volunteer based, and their fees are low — and they waive fees for people for whom even their low fees are out of reach. Betsy self published a book about a Sausalito artist: The Art and Life of Jean Varda. Find out more about The New School at tns.commonweal.org.

Peter Coyote The Rainman's Third Cure ~Co-presented with Point Reyes Books~ Renowned actor, narrator, author, activist, and singer/songwriter, Peter Coyote has produced his second autobiographical memoir, The Rainman’s Third Cure. Join him for a wide-ranging discussion with TNS Host Steve Heilig about his story and the broader world. Photo: courtesy of Peter Coyote. Peter Coyote Peter Coyote first became politically active in his college years in the 1960s in an anti-nuclear protest that brought him to Kennedy’s White House during the Cuban Missile Crisis. From there he came west to become an integral part of the San Francisco Mime Troupe and then the Diggers, the famed anarchist soul of the Haight-Ashbury sixties scene, followed by a period in a commune in Olema. He was chair of the California State Arts Council during Jerry Brown’s first term as governor, then got back into acting and launched a stellar career involving more than 140 films, even more projects using his Emmy-winning skills as narrator, and more. His first book Sleeping Where I Fall included a Pushcart Prize-winning chapter, and his new memoir The Rainman’s Third Cure is a candid and searching reckoning with his childhood and subsequent life. He has recently been ordained as a Buddhist priest. Find out more about The New School at tns.commonweal.org.

~Co-presented with Pt Reyes Books~ Jacob Needleman Time and the Soul: A Spiritual Biography ~Co-presented with Pt Reyes Books~ Join TNS Host Michael Lerner for the next in his series of spiritual biographies—this one with author, professor, and philosopher Jacob Needleman. Jacob Needleman Jacob Needleman is a professor of philosophy at San Francisco State University. He is the author of many books on soul, philosophy, the world’s religions, and the meaning of life. He was featured on Bill Moyers’s acclaimed PBS series A World of Ideas. In addition to his teaching and writing, Needleman serves as a consultant in the fields of psychology, education, medical ethics, philanthropy, and business. Find out more about The New School at tns.commonweal.org.

Kate Hoepke The Village Movement: Aging in Community Join TNS Host Michael Lerner for a conversation with Kate Hoepke, the executive director of San Francisco Village—a community-based membership organization that empowers older adults who wish to continue living on their own terms in the homes and neighborhoods they love. SF Village provides community, support, and services to help members remain independent, connected and fully engaged as they age. SF Village is a leader in the Village Movement catching on all over the country. Currently there are over 160 villages in 40 states and another 100 in development. The Village-to-Village Network, a nonprofit organization, supports the growing Village movement with resources, peer-to-peer networking and an annual conference. California leads the country in Village growth; the state is home to about 35 Villages, with another 15 in development. Kate Hoepke Kate’s background in community building spans 25 years and a developmental continuum from early childhood to retirement. Since 2001, she has worked with older adults and currently serves as the Executive Director of San Francisco Village. Prior to working in the retirement field, she organized social support networks for families with young children, called Mothers Clubs. She founded 40 clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area, which have served approximately 500,000 families to date. Kate has a BA in Sociology and an MBA from San Francisco State University. Find out more about The New School at tns.commonweal.org.

Mark Renneker, MD Medical Advocacy for People with Cancer and Other Serious Conditions ~Co-presented with Healing Circles~ We are delighted to present a special day-long training with one of the foremost authorities on clinical advocacy for people with cancer. A longtime Commonweal friend, Mark’s incisive vision of clinical advocacy is invaluable for all engaged in Healing Circles and for others who share these interests. View both part 1 and part 2 of the event video on our Vimeo site. Download the handouts from Mark’s talk: Medical Advocacy Topics No Stone Unturned Mark Renneker, MD Dr. Mark Renneker is a board-certified family physician who lives in San Francisco. He has a unique medical practice that he describes as clinical advocacy. He specializes in working with patients and families who are facing complex medical situations. He doesn’t take on their care, but helps them leave no stone unturned, as to learning about and pursuing all possible diagnostic and treatment options, including experimental, mainstream, alternative, and integrative medical strategies. Most of his work is by phone, with patients from across the country and around the world. Mark’s work in clinical advocacy has generated significant interest. He has sponsored workshops at Commonweal on clinical advocacy and now teaches a course on the subject for medical students at University of California-San Francisco, where he is on the clinical faculty. Mark is also a dedicated surfer, and is the founder of the Surfer’s Medical Association. He has surfed giant waves from the Arctic to the Antarctic, but surfs regularly at Maverick’s and Ocean Beach, where he lives with his wife, the painter Jessica Dunne, and their large iguana. Find out more about The New School at tns.commonweal.org.

Mark Renneker, MD Medical Advocacy for People with Cancer and Other Serious Conditions ~Co-presented with Healing Circles~ We are delighted to present a special day-long training with one of the foremost authorities on clinical advocacy for people with cancer. A longtime Commonweal friend, Mark’s incisive vision of clinical advocacy is invaluable for all engaged in Healing Circles and for others who share these interests. View both part 1 and part 2 of the event video on our Vimeo site. Download the handouts from Mark’s talk: Medical Advocacy Topics No Stone Unturned Mark Renneker, MD Dr. Mark Renneker is a board-certified family physician who lives in San Francisco. He has a unique medical practice that he describes as clinical advocacy. He specializes in working with patients and families who are facing complex medical situations. He doesn’t take on their care, but helps them leave no stone unturned, as to learning about and pursuing all possible diagnostic and treatment options, including experimental, mainstream, alternative, and integrative medical strategies. Most of his work is by phone, with patients from across the country and around the world. Mark’s work in clinical advocacy has generated significant interest. He has sponsored workshops at Commonweal on clinical advocacy and now teaches a course on the subject for medical students at University of California-San Francisco, where he is on the clinical faculty. Mark is also a dedicated surfer, and is the founder of the Surfer’s Medical Association. He has surfed giant waves from the Arctic to the Antarctic, but surfs regularly at Maverick’s and Ocean Beach, where he lives with his wife, the painter Jessica Dunne, and their large iguana. Find out more about The New School at tns.commonweal.org.