ENCORE EPISODE: Is there a there-there? A place within the mind separate from our thoughts? This week Scott talks to neuroscientist and founder of the Waking Up meditation app, Sam Harris. They discuss how meditation helps us to be happy in the most ordinary of moments and make the most of each moment, vs. the need to extract the greatest pleasure from our greatest moments.  And that there are things to discover about the nature of the mind that are liberating, with the potential to reduce suffering of emotional anguish and ultimately lead to improvements in wellbeing. Regarding atheism, Sam remarks that, “it’s not so much a claim that the universe isn't much stranger than we realize, (but) in fact, maybe it’s stranger than we can possibly imagine.” And that there are propensities of the human mind that are universally available regardless of culture or geography, and one can find truths across beliefs in Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, Judaism,Islam and others, yet we need to have 21st century non-sectarian conversations. Sam shares this quote from Tibetan Lama Kalu Rinpoche: 'What we live in is an illusion. There is a reality, you are that reality. When you understand this, you'll realize that you're nothing and being nothing, you are everything.'  And a recommendation of literature from Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich In My Homily Opinion (IMHO): Scott reads from Oscar Wilde’s “De Profundis” and discusses his belief that there is a need for ritual even in the lives of the irreligious. He asks the listeners if God hides himself from us or do we just not know where to look for him?   Guest: Sam Harris is a neuroscientist, philosopher, and author of five New York Times best sellers. His work covers a wide range of topics—neuroscience, moral philosophy, religion, meditation practice, political polarization, rationality—but generally focuses on how a growing understanding of ourselves and the world is changing our sense of how we should live. His books include The End of Faith, The Moral Landscape, Free Will, Lying, and Waking Up. Sam hosts the popular Making Sense podcast and is the creator of the Waking Up app, which offers a modern approach to living a more examined life, through both in-depth mindfulness training and secular wisdom. Sam has practiced meditation for over 30 years and has studied with many Tibetan, Indian, Burmese, and Western meditation teachers, both in the United States and abroad. He holds a degree in philosophy from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA. Photo credit: Christopher Patey Send your thoughts (and prayers) to YeGodsPodcast@gmail.com Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios: Creator and host, Scott Carter; Executive Producer, Dossie McCraw; Co-Executive Producer Selena Lauterer; Associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services provided by Podbean. Music licensed by Epidemic Sound. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author and poet Stephen Mitchell has spent a career pursuing life's meaning as taught by history's great spiritual practices. His is a hero's journey, which ends with the presenting of an elixir, a blessing to the world. His gift to the world are his works, which distill his long sought and gained wisdom. Guest: Stephen Mitchell was born in Brooklyn in 1943, educated at Amherst, the Sorbonne, and Yale, and de-educated through intensive Zen training. His many books include the bestselling Tao Te Ching, The Gospel According to Jesus, The Book of Job, Gilgamesh, The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, The Second Book of the Tao, Bhagavad Gita, The Iliad, The Odyssey, Beowulf, and Catullus: Selected Poems. He is also the co-author of three of his wife Byron Katie’s bestselling books: Loving What Is, A Thousand Names for Joy, and A Mind at Home with Itself. You can read extensive excerpts from all his books at www.stephenmitchellbooks.com.   Photo credit: Brie Childers. In My Homily Opinion (IMHO): Scott reflects on the words of the sixth U. S. President, John Quincy Adams who once wrote (building on words his father had also written), “I am a warrior so that my son may be a merchant so that his son may be a poet.” With a volunteer army, few Americans are warriors. And the merchant class has been gobbled up by massive big box chains. Modern appliances and digital devices have relieved most of us from the back breaking labor that once consumed Americans' waking hours. We have more discretionary time than our ancestors. How many of us are poets? How do we use this gift of time? Time, once a luxury, is now a commodity. To pass, to kill. How could distracting ourselves be life's purpose? Send your thoughts (and prayers) to YeGodsPodcast@gmail.com Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios: Creator and Host, Scott Carter; Executive Producer Dossie McCraw, Co-Executive Producer Selena Lauterer and Associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services provided by Podbean. Music licensed by Epidemic Sound. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's encore conversation touches on topics that may be sensitive to some including attempted suicide. Life can be hard, but suicide is preventable and free and confidential support is available by dialing 988 or go to 988lifeline.org Guest: Ana Marie Cox is a political columnist and culture critic whose writing has appeared in The New Republic, Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, and NBC.com. Through 2022, she wrote a “Sober Questioning” column at The Cut. She’s also a prolific podcast host including Space the Nation with Dan Drezner and With Friends Like These from Crooked Media. She’s a regular on the Stephen King podcast The Losers Club (a favorite episode is this one on recovery themes in King’s work). Her memoir, “Just Like Your Mother” — a reported account of addiction, recovery, and intergenerational trauma — will be published by Random House in 2024. In My Homily Opinion (IMHO): Scott is keeping the door ajar with ​​a one-step-at-a-time willingness to consider new things and challenge old beliefs that do not work. Send your thoughts (and prayers) to YeGodsPodcast@gmail.com Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios in association with Dossie Media, Executive Producer Dossie McCraw, Co-Executive Producer Selena Lauterer and associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services provided by Podbean. Music licensed via Epidemic Sound: Song, There’s a New Day by Staffan Carlén. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the concluding episode of a two-part interview with Emmy and Golden Globe winning television writer-producer Michael Patrick King, we learn where he is today with the Catholic church and how he’s learned that faith, like art, is really about transitioning people out of where they are to someplace they need to be. He tells a moving story about visiting the Vatican with a friend and witnessing her being overcome while gazing at Michelangelo’s Madonna della Pietà sculpture, a first hand illustration of how “art can actualize emotion hundreds of years later in somebody unsuspecting –it came out of nowhere!” In My Homily Opinion: A memorial to Oscar winning actor, Alan Arkin (1934-2023) whose work includes the films Glengarry Glen Ross, Little Miss Sunshine, Argo, The Kominsky Method and so much more goodness.  May he rest in peace. Guest: Michael Patrick King has won numerous Emmy and Golden Globe awards as well as numerous nominations from the Writer’s, Directors and Producers Guilds for his writing, directing and producing work on the HBO phenomenon “Sex And The City. “ King piloted the hit series through all six seasons on television then continued on as the writer, director and producer of both blockbuster “Sex and The City” movies.  In addition to his ”Sex” life, he is also known for creating, executive producing and directing another HBO series:  “The Comeback” with Lisa Kudrow. Michael started his television writing career when he was hired by Diane English to join the staff of the CBS series “Murphy Brown” during their “infamous” Dan Quayle year.  His work on “Murphy Brown” garnered him his first Emmy nomination as well as the first of his many Writers Guild Award nominations. Post “Murphy Brown”, he worked as a writer/producer on other popular sit-coms including “Cybil” and “Will & Grace”.  Before writing for television, Mr. King was a New York playwright and had his plays produced in New York City, Los Angeles and at the Aspen Comedy Festival.  In 2011, he created the hit CBS sitcom, “2 Broke Girls” with Whitney Cummings.  It ran for six seasons and is now in syndication.  His first streaming series:  “AJ And The Queen”, created with and starring RuPaul Charles, can be found on Netflix.  His most recent series “AND JUST LIKE THAT…” a new chapter of SEX & THE CITY was Max’s most watched series ever. His latest feature, “The Back Nine” which he wrote with Jhoni Marchinko and Krista Smith, is being produced by MRC and is currently casting.  His production company, Michael Patrick King Productions develops projects for film, television and theater. Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios in association with Dossie Media. Special thanks to Associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine and Co-Executive Producer Selena Lauterer. Hosting services provided by Podbean. Music licensed via Epidemic Sound.Email us at yegodspodcast@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part one of this two-part interview with Emmy and Golden Globe winning television writer Michael Patrick King, we learn how to be the holiest altar boy. The “Sex and The City” and “2 Broke Girls”  showrunner sits down with Scott to discuss how attending Catholic Church made him love performance and influenced his own spiritual play Thorn & Bloom, how standup made him realize he wasn't telling his truth, and the spiritual gift his mother left him in a letter after her passing. Come back next week for more from the “And Just Like That…” creator Michael Patrick King! Email us at yegodspodcast@gmail.com Guest: Michael Patrick King has won numerous Emmy and Golden Globe awards as well as numerous nominations from the Writer’s, Directors and Producers Guilds for his writing, directing and producing work on the HBO phenomenon “Sex And The City. “ King piloted the hit series through all six seasons on television then continued on as the writer, director and producer of both blockbuster “Sex and The City” movies.  In addition to his ”Sex” life, he is also known for creating, executive producing and directing another HBO series:  “The Comeback” with Lisa Kudrow. Michael started his television writing career when he was hired by Diane English to join the staff of the CBS series “Murphy Brown” during their “infamous” Dan Quayle year.  His work on “Murphy Brown” garnered him his first Emmy nomination as well as the first of his many Writers Guild Award nominations. Post “Murphy Brown”, he worked as a writer/producer on other popular sit-coms including “Cybil” and “Will & Grace”.  Before writing for television, Mr. King was a New York playwright and had his plays produced in New York City, Los Angeles and at the Aspen Comedy Festival.  In 2011, he created the hit CBS sitcom, “2 Broke Girls” with Whitney Cummings.  It ran for six seasons and is now in syndication.  His first streaming series:  “AJ And The Queen”, created with and starring RuPaul Charles, can be found on Netflix.  His most recent series “AND JUST LIKE THAT…” a new chapter of SEX & THE CITY was Max’s most watched series ever. His latest feature, “The Back Nine” which he wrote with Jhoni Marchinko and Krista Smith, is being produced by MRC and is currently casting.  His production company, Michael Patrick King Productions develops projects for film, television and theater. Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios in association with Dossie Media. Special thanks to Associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services and other fun stuff provided by Podbean. Music licensed via Epidemic Sound. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ENCORE EPISODE Tim Gunn stars on the hit Amazon series, "Making The Cut," and served as co-host for 16 seasons of the revolutionary fashion competition series, "Project Runway," and he has written best sellers like Tim Gunn's Fashion Bible. But when people respond to his expertise and energy, they are reacting to – in an age of moral relativism – his affirmation of actual values: work hard, be decent. In this episode we learn more about Tim’s upbringing in the Episcopal church and how it shaped his ability to be a critical thinker. About his reverence for great masterworks of art as evidence of a higher power. About his epiphanies in the classroom, both learning from and being inspired by the students he teaches, while imparting on them the values of craft, curiosity and compassion. And the wisdom matriculated in the school of life through the dogma of perseverance – or simply stated, “make it work.” In My Homily Opinion (IMHO): Scott Carter asks is teaching the humanities dead? Article: The New Yorker, The End of the English Major by Nathan Heller Book: In Defense of a Liberal Education by Fareed Zakaria Send your thoughts (and prayers) to YeGodsPodcast@gmail.com Photo credit: Scott McDermott Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios in association with Dossie Media. Special thanks to Associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services and other fun stuff provided by Podbean. Music licensed by Epidemic Sound. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better watch Ken Burns films. His body of work is a moving picture portrait gallery of who we've been as a nation and who we are. No contemporary artist has ever succeeded more by trusting so much in the American public's curiosity and attention span. To paraphrase Ken from his conversation with Scott, history changes but human nature doesn’t necessarily change. Ken references Ecclesiastes 1:9 from the Bible as one summation of that paradox: What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is no new thing under the sun.  In My Homily Opinion (IMHO): Scott reflects on the Cold War and Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 as a lesson in choice - Should you answer the belligerent or conciliatory message?  Send your thoughts (and prayers) to YeGodsPodcast@gmail.com Guest: Ken Burns has been making documentary films for over forty years.  Since the Academy Award nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, Ken has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made, including The Civil War; Baseball; Jazz; The War; The National Parks:  America’s Best Idea; Prohibition; The Roosevelts:  An Intimate History; The Vietnam War; Country Music; and, most recently, The U.S. and the Holocaust. Future film projects include The American Buffalo, Leonardo da Vinci, The American Revolution, Emancipation to Exodus, and LBJ & the Great Society, among others. Ken’s films have been honored with dozens of major awards, including sixteen Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards and two Oscar nominations.  In September of 2008, at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards, Ken was honored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with a Lifetime Achievement Award.  In November of 2022, Ken was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame. Photo credit: Alvin Kean Wong Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios in association with Dossie Media. Special thanks to Associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services and other fun stuff provided by Podbean. Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Political commentator and founder of The Bulwark, Charlie Sykes joins Scott to discuss judgment, the hereafter, and the state of American democracy. Charlie talks about converting to catholicism in his teens, the influence of his father on his life, and his hopes for his legacy. Charlie recommends The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. In My Homily Opinion:  Viktor Frankl was a Jewish-Austrian holocaust survivor and psychiatrist who wrote that we should decide what gives life meaning, then live life, so that on our deathbed, our memories may match our meaning. Scott doesn't think we need to wait for our death bed to look back. We can do it whenever we pass from one stage of life to another. Father’s Day was one of those moments for Scott.  Share your regrets and blessings. Email us at yegodspodcast@gmail.com Guest: Charlie Sykes is a founder and editor-at-large of The Bulwark, host of The Bulwark Podcast, and an NBC/ MSNBC contributor. He is also the author of nine books, including his most recent book, How the Right Lost Its Mind, published by St. Martin’s Press, released in October 2017. An updated paperback edition was released in October, 2018. Sykes has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic,  The Weekly Standard, The Washington Post, Commentary, The Wall Street Journal, Politico, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Time.com, USA Today, National Review, The New York Review of Books, the New York Daily News,  and other national publications. He has appeared on Meet the Press, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, State of the Union with Jake Tapper, the Today Show, ABC, NBC, Fox News, CNN, PBS, the BBC, and has been profiled on NPR. He has also spoken extensively on university campuses. He is a former contributing editor to the Weekly Standard; he also has served as editor of Milwaukee Magazine; editor of Wisconsin Interest Magazine; and founder and editor in chief of Right Wisconsin. Until he stepped down in December 2016 after 23 years, Sykes was one of Wisconsin’s top-rated and most influential conservative talk show hosts. In 2017, he was co-host of the national public radio show, “Indivisible,” which originated from WNYC. He lives in Mequon, Wisconsin with his wife and three dogs. He has three children, and two grandchildren. Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios in association with Dossie Media. Special thanks to Associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services and other fun stuff provided by Podbean. Music licensed via Epidemic Sound. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Michael Render, aka Killer Mike: rapper, activist, and host of the PBS talk show Love & Respect with Killer Mike (Executive Produced by Scott Carter) as well as half of the rap duo Run The Jewels. He joins Scott to talk about the influence of his grandmother on his faith, how blackness informed his experience of church and why the teachings of Jesus Christ made him a radical in his time and today. Mike’s latest album “Michael” drops June 16th.  Michael’s recommendation is the 1791 book by Count Constantin-François Chassebœuf, The Ruins of Empires. In My Homily Opinion:  Scott tells the story of how he and Mike met and asks if we all could use more hugs. Email us at yegodspodcast@gmail.com   Guest: Michael Render, aka Killer Mike, is a Grammy-award winning rapper, businessman and activist. He is one half of the hip hop duo, Run the Jewels, host of the PBS talk show “Love & Respect with Killer Mike,” and co-owner along with Tip ‘T.I.’ Harris of famed Atlanta restaurant, Bankhead Seafood.  A native of Atlanta, Render has released five full-length albums as a solo artist and four albums for Run the Jewels. His latest solo album “Michael” releases on June 16, 2023. He began organizing at the age of 15 and made a name for himself as an activist well before he recorded a single song. In addition to advocating for the decriminalization of marijuana, and restorative justice programs for young people, Render has worked locally with the anti-violence organization, Black Teens for Advancement and the Atlanta/Fulton Commission on Children and Youth through its Kids 4 a Change program. Through his SWAG Shop barbershops, which he co-owns with his wife, he’s held back-to-school events offering free haircuts, braids, and school supplies for Atlanta children. He was named to NME's "The Ten People Who Defined 2020" list for his powerful lyrics and activism, his album, RTJ4, made Variety's "Best Albums of 2020" list alongside Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, and he was named as the recipient of 2020's Billboard Change Maker Award. Of all his roles and responsibilities, recognition and celebration, Mike is most proud to be called “husband” to Shana, and “father” to two sons and two daughters. Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios in association with Dossie Media. Special thanks to Associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services and other fun stuff provided by Podbean. Music licensed via Epidemic Sound. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part two of our interview with actor and Soul Boom author Rainn Wilson, we discuss his new show Rainn Wilson and The Geography of Bliss, now streaming on Peacock. Rainn shares some of his favorite memories from filming around the world, which places he thinks find happiness best, and where he’d like to go in season two. Rainn also talks about how our culture’s aversion to death hurts our ability to appreciate life. Rainn recommends this inspiring quote from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin the Jesuit priest: “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Guest: Rainn Wilson is an Emmy nominated and SAG award-winning actor, writer and producer who has found himself in a variety of comedic and theatrical roles throughout his career. His first breakthrough role came when he played assistant mortician “Arthur Martin” on HBO’s Six Feet Under, winning him and the cast a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. Wilson is best known for playing the inimitable ‘Dwight Schrute’ for nine seasons on NBC’s Emmy award winning comedy, The Office, a role which garnered him three Emmy Award nominations. Wilson’s book, Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution released on April 25th. In this book, he explores the benefits spirituality gives us in creating solutions for an increasingly challenging world. Wilson can be seen in Rainn Wilson and The Geography of Bliss a six-part travel docuseries in which he travels around the world to discover the happiest places on Earth. The series debuted on Peacock on May 18th. In My Homily Opinion: Scott encourages Rainn to stay weird. The search for meaning cannot be done without our authentic selves.  Email us at yegodspodcast@gmail.com Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios in association with Dossie Media. Special thanks to Associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services and other fun stuff provided by Podbean. Music licensed via Epidemic Sound. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices