The Veritas Forum

Jonathan Feng, a theoretical physicist researching dark matter, discusses the benefits of not knowing everything, including greater appreciation, curiosity, and understanding of the world. The podcast explores Stephen Hawking's contributions to physics and his views on religion, as well as different sizes and scales in physics. It also delves into the relationship between scientific proof and religious beliefs, highlighting the harmony between science and faith.

Social scientist and happiness scholar Arthur Brooks discusses the journey towards happiness and his new book with Oprah Winfrey. They explore managing emotions for a happier life, the Clifton strengths assessment and Panas survey, embracing all emotions, the intersection of science and spirituality, and the work of becoming happier.

Anthropologist Ernest Becker, in his Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Denial of Death, says that denying death is a necessary part of functioning in the world. It’s what inspires us to create culture, religion, and love, allowing us to avoid death and achieve immortality. But perhaps there is another way — besides denial — to relate to death. What should our relationship with death look like? And, how often — and to what degree — should we contemplate our mortality? Today's episode addresses these questions. You'll hear from philosophy professor Susanna Siegel (Harvard), and medical ethicist Lydia Dugdale (Columbia) in a Forum Event hosted at Harvard University in February 2023. Watch the full Forum event from this episode here. Sign up for our newsletter here. Visit veritas.org to learn more about the mission of the Veritas Forum and find more resources to explore the ideas that shape our lives

Mathematics professor John Lennox and moderator Rosemary Avery discuss the problem of evil, the goodness of God, and the Christian perspective on pain and suffering. They explore different worldviews, the origins of mental pain, God's view on justice in the Bible, and the concept of judgment in relation to human suffering.

Watching a few “how-to” videos on YouTube doesn’t make you an expert. To really know “how-to” change a tire, make puff pastry, or play the piano, you have to do it. Through experience, you discover new dimensions of your knowledge — from finding holes in your reasoning, to growing in flexibility and nuance, to even reassessing who you are and maybe even what you believe in. In this episode, you’ll hear a story of such a discovery with guest Dr. Tom Rudelius, a theoretical physicist and string theory researcher with degrees from Cornell and Harvard. Tom's story is shared in his new memoir: Chasing Proof, Finding Faith. This episode follows the arc of Tom’s book — how he and his twin grew up, to the lie detector test that sparked his faith in Jesus, to the deepening of his faith even in the face of mental illness, anxiety, and doubt. Order Tom's book, Chasing Proof, Finding Faith Sign up for our newsletter here. Visit veritas.org to learn more about the mission of the Veritas Forum and find more resources to explore the ideas that shape our lives

Do you remember your last biology class? Maybe it’s been decades since your junior year of high school. Or maybe you just went to lab last Thursday. But no matter what you do or don’t remember from biology, this episode is for you. Today, our speaker invites you to consider your biology — what you’re made of and why it matters. In this Forum excerpt from March 2023, you’ll hear from Dr. Praveen Sethupathy, a genomics researcher at Cornell University and director of Cornell’s Center for Vertebrate Genomics. Dr. Sethupathy’s opening remarks in this episode showcase both his commitment to genomic research and his formation in the Christian faith. Over the next 35 minutes, you’ll find out that we humans aren’t that unique — and why that leads us towards greater understanding of our purpose, meaning, and beauty. Watch the full Forum event here. Sign up for our newsletter here. Visit veritas.org to learn more about the mission of the Veritas Forum and find more resources to explore the ideas that shape our lives

There’s a sort of spark to life — moments that stir up something inside of us that we can’t explain. Maybe you've experienced this while playing with your dog, or singing along at a concert, or seeing the Northern Lights. Perhaps these sparks are simply neurons firing, chemicals releasing, and muscles contracting. Or perhaps these sparks point to something like a soul, something transcendent. How do we know which it is? And what do we do when our evidence remains elusive? This episode is an excerpt from a Veritas Forum at MIT in 2016. You’ll hear from biologist Dr. Ken Miller (Brown University), and philosopher Dr. Alex Byrne (MIT), as they discuss the human soul, evidence, and what gods we do — or don’t — believe in. This vibrant conversation is moderated by Dr. Ian Hutchinson, a nuclear physicist at MIT. Watch the full Forum event here. Sign up for our newsletter here. Visit veritas.org to learn more about the mission of the Veritas Forum and find more resources to explore the ideas that shape our lives.

If new and improved A.I. tools can write your next essay, create Picasso-style art, or produce a believable deep-fake, it’s fair to ask: Are we manufacturing human brains? In this episode, we dive into the complexity of the human brain — and what this means for morality, meaning, and purpose. You’ll hear from Dr. Rosalind Picard (MIT Media Lab) and Dr. Shahram Khoshbin (Harvard Medical School). This excerpt is from a Forum event at Harvard Medical School in 2016, and is moderated by Dr. Patrick Smith, a principal faculty member for the Initiative on Health, Religion, and Spirituality at Harvard Medical School. Watch the full Forum event here. Sign up for our newsletter here. Visit veritas.org to learn more about the mission of the Veritas Forum and find more resources to explore the ideas that shape our lives.

A.I. is no longer the stuff of science fiction. From Siri and Alexa to Chat GPT, our world is now inundated with artificial intelligence. One senses that it’s time to think more deeply about A.I. — its implications and its assumptions. In this episode, you'll hear an excerpt from a Forum event at Iowa State University from March 2023. Josh Swamidass (WashU), a medical doctor and computer scientist, discusses the role of artificial intelligence today with Clark Wolf (Iowa State), a bioethicist and philosopher. Their conversation is moderatored by Alex Tuckness (Iowa State), a political science professor. Watch the full Forum event here. Sign up for our newsletter here. Visit veritas.org to learn more about the mission of the Veritas Forum and find more resources to explore the ideas that shape our lives

Do the stories we tell about ourselves have the power to change us? Our guest today says they can. To wrap up our season on meaning and purpose, we talk with author Daniel Nayeri. In his award-winning young adult novel, Everything Sad is Untrue, Daniel writes from the perspective of his twelve-year-old self, sharing the story of how he, his sister, and his mother immigrated from Iran to Edmond, Oklahoma, after his mother’s conversion from Islam to Christianity. Although this immigration kept his family out of prison (or worse), life in the U.S. came at a cost, too. Through his storytelling, Daniel also processes what he left behind: his beloved stuffed animal ("Mr. Sheep Sheep"), a life of comfort in Iran, and his larger-than-life father. In this episode, we explore finding meaning through storytelling, the impact of an active imagination, and how the sustaining hope of the Christian story makes even a refugee camp in the Italian countryside a place of opportunity and joy. Order Everything Sad Is Untrue here Order Daniel's newest book, The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams, here Sign up for our newsletter here. Visit veritas.org to learn more about the mission of the Veritas Forum and find more resources to explore the ideas that shape our lives.