CIIS Public Programs

Abby Chava Stein is the tenth-generation descendant of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of the Hasidic movement. In 2015, she came out as a woman, and she now works as a transgender activist. In this episode, Keshet LGBTQIA+ education specialist Randi Reed talks with Abby about her book Becoming Eve: My Journey from Ultra-Orthodox Rabbi to Transgender Woman.

Leah Vernon is a style blogger, plus-size Muslim model, public speaker, and activist. In her book, Unashamed: Musings of a Fat, Black Muslim, she takes to task the myth of the perfect Muslim woman. In this episode, poet and social justice activist Rabi'a Keeble talks with Leah Vernon about her love-hate relationship with her hijab and her faith, race, weight, mental illness, domestic violence, sex...

Author, editor, and filmmaker Sasha Sagan was raised by secular parents—the astronomer Carl Sagan and the writer and producer Ann Druyan. They taught her that the natural world and vast cosmos are full of profound beauty, that science reveals truths more wondrous than any myth or fable. In this episode, Sasha is joined by author Carolyn Cooke for a conversation about her first book, For Small Crea...

Poet, journalist, and professor Nicholas Powers describes his youth as growing up with tales of counter culture for bedtime stories. In this episode, he shares stories from his journey exploring psychedelic experiences and events in a discussion about what psychedelic integration could be in the 21st Century with licensed Naturopathic Doctor Natalie Metz. This episode contains explicit language.

Shaman Durek, a sixth-generation shaman, is the inheritor of a rich legacy of ancient wisdom. He applies this deep-rooted knowledge in a thoroughly modern context—advising everyone from celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, Nina Dobrev, and royals around the world, to international corporate executives. In this episode, Kelly Ryan, the founder of Anchor Meditation, has a conversation with Shaman Durek...

In this episode, naturalist Maya Elson talks with Lawrence Millman about his life and work as an author and mycologist exploring the fascinating world of fungi.

In this episode, Marina Gorbis, Executive Director of the Institute for the Future, talks with internet pioneer and renowned filmmaker Tiffany Shlain about her strategy for living in our 24/7 world: turning off all screens for 24 hours each week. She and her family call it “Technology Shabbat” or “Living 24/6”. Over the past decade, this weekly practice has completely changed their lives—giving th...

Author Nishta J. Mehra is the daughter of Indian American immigrants, the wife of a white woman from Texas, and the mother of an adopted black child. Her life is a series of intersecting boundaries—of race, gender, sexuality, and religion—and her essays have examined the ways she navigates the various communities and ideologies that make up her family's life. In this episode, Nishta is joined by i...

Join renowned ethnopharmacologist and author Dennis McKenna for this engaging talk combining ethnobotany, psychopharmacology, history, and the philosophical reflections of a luminary in this field.

In her book, For the Love of Men, award-wining journalist Liz Plank offers a witty, insightful, and deeply researched guide for what we can all do about toxic masculinity. In this episode, Liz is joined by therapist and Bay Area men’s group leader Sarwang Parikh for a conversation about the future of gender roles and how finding a new way forward for men has the possibility to change the world. Th...

The rise and transformation of information warfare is perhaps one of the most significant global trends of the last few years. The result is a circus atmosphere of constant lies, shock humor, absurdity, and fear-mongering designed to disorient us and undermine our sense of truth. In this episode, digital intelligence expert Nick Monaco talks with award-winning author and disinformation expert Pete...

Mari Andrew is an author and illustrator who shares her work daily on Instagram with over 1 million devoted fans around the world. Her first book, Am I There Yet? debuted on The New York Times Best Seller list. In this episode, Mari is joined by fellow author and illustrator Nicole J. Georges for a conversation about finding personal healing by creating work that shines a light on feelings we all...

There are few subjects in American life that prompt more discussion and controversy than immigration. Drawing on his own experience as an Indian-born teenager growing up in New York City, and on years of reporting around the world, author and journalist Suketu Mehta tackles this issue head-on. In this conversation with multicultural counseling expert Jyoti Rao, Suketu talks about his latest book T...

How can we be more mindful when our world seems broken beyond repair? Tim Desmond—esteemed Buddhist scholar and lecturer on Psychology at Yale Medical School—has fresh, engaging answers to this important question. Join integrative health expert Megan Lipsett for a conversation with Tim about his approach to mindfulness practices designed for surviving the sometimes-miserable world we currently liv...

Join Bay Area author and organizer Kim Tran for a brash and enlightening conversation with reporter and linguist Amanda Montell about gendered language and the way it shapes us. This episode contains explicit language.

Join equity expert Y-Vonne Hutchinson for this conversation with author, editor, and Baltimore native D. Watkins about the lessons he’s learned navigating two very distinct worlds—the hood and the elite sanctums of prominent black thinkers and public figures.

Gender reconciliation activist and CIIS Professor Alka Arora offers an expansive and deeply ecological vision—inviting us to move beyond critique to focus more on the world we want to co-create.

In this episode, bioethics professor Osagie K. Obasogie talks with author George Estreich about what he has learned as the father of a young woman with Down syndrome exploring the troubled territory where biotechnology and disability meet.

The Enneagram is a personality typing system with ancient symbolic origins that has a sneaky way of revealing who we are and why we do the things we do. In this episode, wellness coach Kayleigh Martin talks with author Hannah Paasch about the benefits of learning our personality traits and her book Millenneagram—a revamped approach to the Enneagram that gives us permission to be our truest, enough...

In this talk, philosophy professor Jacob Sherman discusses the role that philosophy might play in diagnosing and responding to the our global climate crisis.

As artificial intelligence evolves, so too does human culture. In this conversation, futurist Nicole Sallak Anderson and UC Berkeley professor Edward Lee discuss meeting machines and how technology is changing the humans creating it.

This episode features Bay Area performers and writers including a BART train operator, a recent Pride Parade Grand Marshall, and more. Presented in collaboration with San Francisco’s Porchlight storytelling series and The Contemporary Jewish Museum, each storyteller explores their understanding of self and the fluidity of identity.

In this conversation, psychologist Christine Brooks talks with author and social critic Erica Williams Simon about how she got “story smart” to challenge the narratives about fear, work, identity, success, love, and life that we have all been taught.

Join Native American psychologist Leslie Gray for this conversation with don Jose Ruiz about his life and work traveling the world to share the teachings of his ancestors.

Join author Rob Reid in conversation with author and editor Annaka Harris as they examine the idea of consciousness—taking us through evolving definitions, philosophies, and scientific findings that probe our limited understanding of this age-old mystery.