Image - Craig Foster plus detail from his book cover
San Francisco

'My Octopus Teacher''s Craig Foster: Finding the Wild in a Tame World

In-person TicketsOnline-only Tickets

If you are not a member yet, now is the time to join our community and receive the great benefits of membership. We are a group of people seeking truth, insight and wisdom about the issues we face as individuals and as a society. Please join! You can become a monthly sustaining member for just $10 a month.

“An important book that will transform how we think about being human. . . . that will inspire hope.”—Jane Goodall

Many people in today’s world seek to reclaim the soul-deepening wildness that grounds them and energizes them when so much of the modern world seems designed to tame them. In his thrilling memoir of a life spent exploring the most incredible places on Earth—from the Great African Seaforest to the crocodile lairs of the Okavango Delta—Craig Foster reveals how people can attend to the earthly beauty around them and deepen their love for all living things, whether they make their homes in the country, the city or anywhere in between.

Foster will draw on the work he put into his new book, Amphibious Soul: Finding the Wild in a Tame World. In it, he explores his struggles to remain present to life when a disconnection from nature and the demands of his professional life begin to deaden his senses. And his own reliance on nature’s rejuvenating spiritual power is put to the test when catastrophe strikes close to home

Foster is one of the world’s leading natural history filmmakers and won the 2021 Academy Award for Best Documentary for My Octopus Teacher.

Learn more about his new book:

Notes

This program has 2 types of tickets available: in-person and online-only. Please pre-register to receive a link to the live-stream event.

If you have symptoms of illness (coughing, fever, etc.), we ask that you either stay home or wear a mask. Our front desk has complimentary masks for members and guests who would like one.

Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is a nonprofit public forum; we welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programming.

Copies of Amphibious Soul are available for purchase during checkout (U.S. domestic shipping only).

In Partnership with Wonderfest and the California Academy of Sciences.

California Academy of Sciences

This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.

Bernard Osher Foundation

Photo by Swati Thiyagarajan.

All ticket sales are final and nonrefundable.

Thu, May 23 / 6:00 PM PDT

The Commonwealth Club of California
110 The Embarcadero
Taube Family Auditorium
San Francisco, CA 94105
United States

Speakers
Image - Craig Foster

Craig Foster

2021 Academy Award Best Documentary Feature Winner for My Octopus Teacher; Co-Founder, Sea Change Project; Author, Amphibious Soul: Finding the Wild in a Tame World

Moderator TBA

Format

5:30 p.m. doors open & check-in
6–7 p.m. program
7 p.m. book signing
(all times Pacific Time)

COST

In-person:
$15 members
$25 nonmembers
$45 members with a book
$55 nonmembers with a book
Free for Leadership Circle members and students (without a book)
Online:
Free for members
$10 nonmembers
$30 members with a book
$40 nonmembers with a book
Free for Leadership Circle members and students (without a book)