Inspiring Naturalism Podcast

  Paul Kurtz is one of the prime movers of the secular humanist movement, including his authorship in 1973 of Humanist Manifesto II. Among his accomplishments is the founding of the Council for Secular Humanism, the Center for Inquiry, Free Inquiry magazine, and Prometheus Books. Kurtz is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo. In this interview, Kurtz discusses the "planetary humanism" he sets forth in his 2010 "Neo-Humanist Statement of Secular Principles and Values: Personal, Progressive, and Planetary”. See also the 1 October 2010 New York Times Magazine feature on Kurtz, which focuses on the tension between Kurtz' long-standing form of secular humanism and that of the New Atheists: “Closer Look at Rift Between Humanists Reveals Deeper Divisions”. Theme song "Poetry of Reality" courtesy Symphony of Science.  

  Ursula Goodenough is Professor of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis. In addition to her technical publications, she is the author of the acclaimed book in the genre of religious naturalism: The Sacred Depths of Nature. In this conversation, Ursula shares how a purely naturalistic worldview offers emotional and spiritual benefits generally associated with the religious. She also expounds on several key concepts she uses to meaningfully interpret mainstream sciences in soul-satisfying, yet technically rigorous ways: awareness, emergence, assent, and her personal "credo of continuation."  At Washington University she was a founder of the interdisciplinary course, "Epic of Evolution." The podcast hosts focus a portion of the discussion on the paper she coauthored with neuroscientist Terrence Deacon, "The Sacred Depths of Emergence." We also highly recommend her 2005 talk at the Skeptics Society: Video: "Brain, Mind, and Consciousness". Theme song "Poetry of Reality" courtesy Symphony of Science.  

  PZ Myers is a biologist who teaches at the Morris campus of the University of Minnesota.  He is the most widely read science blogger in the world.  His blog, Pharyngula, is read by more than 50,000 people a day.  PZ's role as a blogger is not only to keep the rest of us informed of new developments in biology, and science in general, but also as a way to keep abreast of the latest  skirmishes on the science and religion front.  He is one of the New Atheists and is thus an outspoken critic of supernaturalism in any form.  In 2009 PZ received the Humanist of the Year award. Theme song "Poetry of Reality" courtesy Symphony of Science.  

  Chemist Jon Cleland-Host turns his attention from his parental role in giving his young sons an inspiring naturalism (see podcast episode 4a) to the ways that his deep-time, scientific awareness shapes his inner world: spiritual, emotional, and moral. Several times he refers to the "Symphony of Science" music video series — at one point, poignantly crying out "It's all really there!" (echoing Richard Feynman's now-famous proclamation). Cultivating gratitude on a daily (and usually deep-time) basis brings him intense communion with his human and prior-to-human ancestry: all their struggles and joys that made his own moment in time possible and for which he now feels the ethical imperative to "pay it forward."  Along the way, he chastises fellow freethinkers who have not yet rooted in their evolutionary story, and thus who may have neglected the need to cultivate lives of naturally inspired meaning and purpose. Theme song "Poetry of Reality" courtesy Symphony of Science.    

Jon Cleland-Host, chemical scientist, is a leader in bringing to Earth-centered traditions (notably, neo-paganism) modes of inner reflection and community and family celebrations that are fully grounded in mainstream science.  He and his physicist wife, Heather Cleland-Host, have been raising their 3 sons in a milieu that nurtures relational bonds with the grand sweep of time and ancestry: the Epic of Evolution. Past-president of his Unitarian Universalist fellowship in Midland MI, Jon now chairs the religious education committee. Jon (center) is pictured here with his three sons, with Michael Dowd, and with his "Cosmala" beads that narrate a scientifically accurate story of the Universe.  His intergenerational curriculum contributions to TheGreatStory.org website include: Timeline for Cosmala; Worship Resources for Evolution Sunday; and Meditation on Ancestors. 

Michael Shermer, is the public face of the venerable tradition of "skepticism" in America.  As he explains in this podcast, Shermer is by no means a cynic. Rather, it is his calling to seriously investigate truth claims that clash with well-substantiated principles of mainstream science.  He is the founder of the Skeptic Society and the force behind its periodical, Skeptic Magazine. He is also the author of a number of books, including The Science of Good and Evil and also Why We Believe: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God. In this conversation with Connie Barlow and Michael Dowd, he reflects on his worldview trajectory and the importance of diverse voices in the broad community espousing naturalistic perspectives. Visit his personal website, MichaelShermer.com, where you can read his monthly column in Scientific American, and watch an array of video newsclips of his national news and debate appearances. Theme song "Poetry of Reality" courtesy Symphony of Science.

David Christian is a historian and acclaimed teacher who initiated the teaching of (and coined the term for) the widest interdisciplinary field of all: Big History.  Big History is the deep-time history of everyone and everything. Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow interviewed David in May 2010, exploring both what Big History offers the world and how it invites individuals to experience their own lives as expressions of an immense, venerable, and deeply meaningful process. David's books are Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History, which won the World History Association Book Prize in 2005, and his 2007 This Fleeting World: A Short History of Humanity. His 48-lecture course on DVD is one of the all-time most popular courses offered through The Teaching Company. Its title: "Big History: The Big Bang, Life on Earth and the Rise of Humanity." Theme song "Poetry of Reality" courtesy Symphony of Science.

David Sloan Wilson, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Binghamton University, is a leading evolutionary theorist, both in the life and (more recently) the social sciences. David's academic writings, which he now extends into actual cultural interventions and policy recommendations, are crucial for advancing the utility and allure of the naturalistic paradigm. David's books include Evolution for Everyone and Darwin's Cathedral, and he coauthored The Literary Animal and Unto Others — the latter is subtitled "The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior." Important links include: David's blog, the Evolutionary Studies Program (EVOS), the Evolution Institute, Evolutionary Religious Studies, and the Nature of Regulation. You can access online his published philosophical papers. Among the most important cross-disciplinary papers are "Rethinking the Theoretical Foundation of Sociobiology" (coauthored with Edward O. Wilson) and "A Beginner's Guide to Evolutionary Religious Studi