Moving Mountains: Dame Claire Bertschinger Comes to CommonX
Before Live Aid became a global moment, there was one woman on the ground witnessing human suffering firsthand. Dame Claire Bertschinger’s work in humanitarian aid didn’t just save lives—it helped spark one of the most powerful movements in music and global awareness. As she joins the CommonX Podcast, we explore the experiences behind Moving Mountains and the moments that changed history.
Dame Claire Bertschinger during frontline humanitarian work — experiences that later inspired her role in Live Aid and her book Moving Mountains.
Some stories don’t chase relevance. They define it. This is one of those moments.
CommonX is honored to announce that Dame Claire Bertschinger — legendary humanitarian, frontline physician, and one of the defining inspirations behind Live Aid — will be joining us for an upcoming episode of the CommonX Podcast. If that sentence made you stop for a moment, it should have.
A defining Live Aid moment captures Queen Rock frontman Freddie Mercury standing before a sea of humanity, arm lifted as tens of thousands respond in unison during a historic concert.
The Woman the World Briefly Saw — and Never Forgot
Dame Claire Bertschinger during frontline humanitarian work — experiences that later inspired her role in Live Aid and her book Moving Mountains.
In 1984, during Ethiopia’s devastating famine, a single BBC report cut through the noise of global politics and global indifference. The footage showed starving children, families pushed beyond the limits of survival, and one calm, resolute presence at the center of it all: Dame Claire Bertschinger.
That broadcast didn’t just inform the world — it shook it awake.
Bob Geldof would later say that witnessing Claire’s work during that report helped ignite what became Live Aid, one of the largest humanitarian fundraising efforts in history. Not because of spectacle. Not because of performance.
But because of truth.
Claire was not presenting compassion. She was practicing it — quietly, decisively, and without theatrics — while making impossible choices no human being should ever be asked to make.
Crisis Medicine and Moral Weight
Dame Claire’s career spans decades and continents, including work with:
Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders)
The International Committee of the Red Cross
Frontline medical service in famine zones, war zones, and areas of humanitarian collapse
Her experience is not academic. It is lived. She has stood at the intersection where medicine, ethics, and scarcity collide — where every decision carry irreversible consequence, and where idealism alone cannot save lives.
These are the conversations CommonX exists to have.
Moving Mountains: The Story Behind the Silence
Cover of Moving Mountains by Dame Claire Bertschinger — a powerful account of humanitarian work that helped inspire the global Live Aid movement.
Dame Claire will also be joining us to discuss her deeply personal book, Moving Mountains. The book reveals what the cameras never showed and what history often smooths over:
The impossible realities of medical triage in crisis
The emotional toll of choosing who receives care — and who does not
The quiet aftermath that follows global attention
The lifelong weight carried by those who serve when systems fail
Moving Mountains is not a celebration. It is a reckoning.
It asks uncomfortable but necessary questions about responsibility, privilege, and what it truly means to help — long after the headlines fade and the world moves on.
Why This Conversation Matters Now
In an age of performative empathy, curated outrage, and algorithm-driven compassion, Dame Claire’s voice carries rare clarity.
She represents a kind of leadership the modern world is starving for:
Calm under extreme pressure
Moral courage without self-promotion
Service without expectation of recognition
This episode is not about nostalgia or history for history’s sake. It is about standards.
What does real humanitarianism look like when no one is watching?
What does ethical leadership demand when resources are finite and lives hang in the balance?
A CommonX Conversation
When Dame Claire Bertschinger joins CommonX, this will not be a history lesson.
It will be a conversation about:
Humanity under extreme pressure
The cost of doing the right thing
How moments of truth ripple across generations
Why some stories refuse to fade
We are deeply grateful for her willingness to share her time, her experiences, and her hard-earned wisdom with our audience.
Some guests bring insight.
Others bring gravity.
This one brings both.
Dame Claire Bertschinger
Humanitarian | Physician | Author of Moving Mountains
Coming soon to the CommonX Podcast in February, 2026
Momentum doesn’t ask permission. Stay Tuned for more details. CommonX Podcast now Air’s twice a week on all platforms.
