At every age, we ask questions of identity, community, and meaning — Who am I? Where do I belong? What is my purpose? But college students today are asking them with unique urgency and anxiety. In today's episode, we interview Kara Powell, a researcher at Fuller Youth Institute and co-author of 3 Big Questions that Change Every Teenager. We discuss how young people can better determine their purpose in life, how they can prepare for that purpose to change, and what the Christian tradition might have to offer. Order Kara's book, 3 Big Questions That Change Every Teenager, 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.

Want to be successful? You might need to get better at failing. In this episode, Charles Lee (Stanford) and Andy Van Schaack (Vanderbilt) explore what it takes to be failure-resilient. In this Forum from October 2022 at Vanderbilt, they discuss success, failure, and how we might find a resilient self-worth. 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.

With the average college student graduating with about $40,000 of student debt, you may be asking: Is college worth it? To answer that question, though, you have to ask another question first: What’s college for? In this Forum from April 2022, you’ll hear two Harvard professors — Nancy Hill and Rakesh Khurana — discuss the purpose of college, and whether or not the classroom is the only place where we learn. 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.

“What’s my passion?” “What do I want to do for the rest of my life?” These aren’t great questions because they’re fixed. They assume you’ll only have one job or one passion for the rest of your life. But, the reality is, both you and the world around you will change. You need a career decision-making tool that isn’t surprised by change but assumes it. In this Forum from CalTech in 2017, you'll learn about this tool. Hear from two Stanford professors — Dave Evans and Bill Burnett — as they discuss their New York Times bestselling book, Designing Your Life. They share about design thinking — and how its flexibility can help you navigate your career for years to come. 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 love The Veritas Forum Podcast? Let us know by writing a review on Apple Podcasts. For inspiration, take a listen to today's episode and hear what listeners like you shared. We're also interested in hearing from you via email! Shoot us a message at podcast@veritas.org

In today's world of misinformation and misrepresentation, it's wise to be skeptical. But has our skepticism gone too far? What does it look like to not only refute what is false — but also to follow what is true? In this episode, hear from two philosophy professors, Dr. Meghan Sullivan of Notre Dame and Dr. Katja Vogt of Columbia University. Their conversation from April 2022 draws from philosophers like Aristotle and Plato, and they discuss how truth can be appreciated and acted upon, what it means to pursue truth together, and how rediscovering the value of truth just might make our lives and society better. 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.

The same facts can lead to different stories. You see this daily in your news feed — major events produce dozens of headlines, and each article has its own interpretation of the facts. This is how we make sense of the world: when we get information, we want to interpret it. But, with so many choices, is there a right interpretation? In today’s episode, we ask this question. How can you interpret the facts of your life and make sense of your meaning and purpose? Our speaker is Dr. Troy Van Voorhis, a professor of Chemistry at MIT. He discusses how interpretations may not always be in conflict with each other, and how his Christian faith informs his approach to certainty. 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.

In this episode, we're going Beyond the Forum with theoretical physicist Dr. Ard Louis (Oxford). He’s on the cutting edge of research about symmetry, and directs a research lab at Oxford. Yet for all of his scientific expertise, he doesn’t think science alone can answer questions of meaning and purpose. For those questions, he turns to his Christian faith — a faith rooted in a loving Creator. Listen as we discuss Ard’s documentary with filmmaker David Malone, “Why Are We Here?” and explore whether believing that there’s meaning in our lives requires a belief in God. Watch Ard's documentary, Why Are We Here? on Curiosity Stream. 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.

Science is powerful — and our speaker today, Oxford theoretical physicist Dr. Ard Louis, agrees. But when it comes to life's biggest questions, like “Why is there something rather than nothing?” and “What makes us human?”, what does science's power contribute? In this encore episode, you'll hear from Dr. Ard Louis in a 2019 Veritas Forum at the University of Birmingham in the UK. He explores science’s strengths and limitations and invites us to consider how the big questions in our lives might have more than solely scientific answers. 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.

For the twelfth season of The Veritas Forum Podcast, we're exploring some of life's biggest questions: “What’s the purpose of my work?” “How do I know if I’m successful?” “Am I living a meaningful life?” Each week, starting Thursday, February 2nd, we'll share the best Veritas content on meaning and purpose — Forums you love and engaging interviews with top scholars — that will help you wrestle with the big questions in your life. If you think a friend of yours would benefit from this season of the podcast, share this trailer with them — and, please, subscribe now so you don’t miss an episode. 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.