Deepak Dialogues With Activist Celebs: Mark Ruffalo, Fran Drescher and Russell Simmons

Being an activist celebrity is a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, some people secretly question whether you have sufficient expertise to weigh in on weighty matters. On the other hand, many issues of urgent social concern don't get attention without a star attached to the cause.

Fortunately, some celebrity performers are taking the spotlight off themselves and focusing the light on crucial matters that affect us all.

Mark Ruffalo defends the waters of life from fracking. Fran Drescher urges women, industry and government to prevent cancer and save lives. Russell Simmons shifts the conversation from traditional notions of power to compassion as real strength.

This week on Deepak HomeBase in New York City, Deepak Chopra will engage in three conversations on three different nights with these three stars -- people who care. Russell Simmons joined Chopra on Sept. 12. Mark Ruffalo will appear on Sept. 14, and Fran Drescher on Sept. 15. I'll cover the events and report on them here.

I interviewed Ruffalo on my radio program, Connect the Dots (on the Progressive Radio Network on Saturdays at noon ET), and he is a knowledgeable champion, probing the complexity of meeting our energy needs without allowing hydraulic fracturing for gas (aka fracking) to pollute our water, food, and air. Ruffalo debunks the notion that gas (as opposed to coal) can help to decelerate global warming. He points to recent research by Cornell University climate experts showing that gas has a greater greenhouse gas footprint.

Moreover, the same study reveals that flowback water from gas wells carries large quantities of methane, which may be spread far and wide in the hurricane and flood prone Northeast -- which in areas upstream from two major cities, just got more flood prone in the last two weeks.

Fran Drescher, who founded Cancer Schmancer in 2007, points out that after a 40 year "War on Cancer," American health is still being held hostage because we aren't addressing the causes of cancer. (More on that here.) She believes that "prevention and early detection should be on equal footing with the search for a cure. Why not triple the weapons in our arsenal?"

Russell Simmons helps turn around the lives of at risk youth through his support of Life Camp, which "develops young teens and adults into peer leaders."

Like Simmons and Ruffalo, Drescher urges citizen action. Drescher wants to "turn the tide on cancer through asking Congress to support the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011." Ruffalo urges that citizens ask President Obama to protect the drinking water of 15 million people (in New York and Philly) through preventing fracking in the river basin of the Delaware River. Ongoing action links to safeguard our water can also be found here and here.

To learn more, people are invited to upload their questions, and discover why activism is the newest health regimen.

Connect the dots on health by signing up for blogs, radio, and activist opportunities at www.healthjournalistblog.com.

 

Follow Alison Rose Levy on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AlisonRoseLevy

Comments

[Carmen Slade]

01:54 PM on 09/25/2011

Argh. 'Dialogue' is not a verb, and Chopra is nothing but a second rate media guru with a magic bag full of other people's thoughts and ideas.

[spyboyz]

11:52 AM on 09/28/2011

You probably would have said the same thing about Gandhi.

[Grasse7]

10:15 AM on 09/25/2011

Nice to see some using their notoriety for the common good--even if it ruffles a few, very brittle feathers... Thanks, Alison.

[realityCheckInTheMail]

08:39 PM on 09/18/2011

Posts like this contribute to the dumbing down of America.

Ruffalo and Fox spout off half backed theories that are in direct contradiction to study panels convened by President Obama and MIT.

Seriously, when you are getting your "facts" from HBO, and tossing out the scientific consensus of broad scientific panels convened by the EPA and MIT, you are pretty half backed.

But what else would you expect from a celebrity whose response to the terror of 9/11 was to go on-air to push deranged conspiracy theories.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoQPR_lHL9k

[LMPE]

08:32 PM on 09/24/2011

Fracking is a half-baked theory? Try telling that to people who have fire coming out of their faucets.

[Briget Shields]

01:32 AM on 09/16/2011

Thank you Alison for helping the nation to hear and learn about matters that affect us all in one way or another. Too many times the corporations have the capital to run slick ads that try to convince the American public that they are solving the energy problems for America.
The issue of Hydro-Fracking and the negative impacts it has had on people and the environment has been silenced through large financial contributions and making impacted people sign non-disclosure agreements. Even worse, many of the people whose water has been contaminated are threatened to have the clean water the industry is delivering to them taken away. This is happening in America, right now.
It's hard to compete with the BIG bucks industry has for advertising, Every time another celebrity speaks out about this issue, we gain more attention and eventually all Americans will know the truth about what is happening in the states where fracking is happening. It is affecting the drinking water of hundreds of thousands of people.
Thank you Mark Ruffalo for speaking out. We are facing serious irreversible contamination and if it isn't stopped soon, it will be too late and we will be trying to clean this up for generations to come.
It is a subject we need many more celebrities to get on board with.
Thank you Alison once again for your continued dedication to getting the facts out to the American people.

[Alison Rose Levy]

01:58 AM on 09/16/2011

Yes, Briget, if you don't regulate an activity like fracking, if you don't pause to study it, if studies show contamination of water and anecdotal report reveals thousands of incidents, than it's time to pay attention. Water travels. It doesn't stay put. When will people pay attention? When it flows into their bathtub and their bloodstream? That's when it's too late.

www.healthjournalistblog.com

[liftitup]

05:43 AM on 09/15/2011

It's great to see Deepak Chopra and other spiritual teachers embracing a more activist approach. If the many is one, and enlightenment is the realization of that, then by confronting threats like this we are doing nothing more than caring for our own wounded body. If only we had confronted terrorism with even some of this awareness, so many lives might have been saved. I'm hopeful that the threat to something as primal and fundamental as water will finally stop the corporate behomoths in their tracks and that people will start to wake up. And I agree--having celebrities weigh in on these issues is indeed important, Alison. There is as much hot air as there is gas coming from these multinationals, through their expensive ad campaigns and lobbying efforts, and this counterweight, provided by names that are known and trusted, is badly needed. But we can't rely on celebrities alone, and if there is a silver lining to all of this, it is that many who felt disaffected and defeated have begun to join together and partcipate in ways we haven't seen since the Sixties.. It may have taken the threat to real estate values, or the threat to their water, but the result is a strengthening of coummunity that will serve us going forward. There are many wounds to bind up.

[Becca Chopra]

08:54 PM on 09/14/2011

If you haven't watched the documentary, GASLAND, yet by Josh Fox, it's a great primer on the atrocities caused by fracking. Fox has been touring with Mark Ruffalo to get the message out - we need celebrities and citizens to take up these causes since the government, the EPA, the FDA and other agencies are often revolving doors for execs from the industries they're supposed to regulate. We cannot rely on the government to keep us "safe," just as we can't rely on one medical doctor to give us the right "opinion" on the best care. We need to be informed consumers!
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries
www.thechakras.org