Humanize Me

Human centered design (HCD), and its closely-related sibling, impact design, is about understanding challenges facing people or society, and working with others to design solutions to those challenges. Design thinking is an interdisciplinary thing, a collaborative process and a highly skilled area. Kate Hanisian and Ramsey Ford are the co-founders of Cincinnati-based 'Design Impact', leading a team of people working on a range of things like social inequality, community and social change. This conversation they had with Bart Campolo is recorded a little differently than most episodes of Humanize Me, and is more like listening in on a chat in a coffee shop!

On this week’s Q&A episode, Bart answers a question from a listener called Matt concerning his 5 year-old son, who was given an abrupt - and nasty - theology lesson from his 6 year-old cousin recently.

Glenda Jordan makes money by being sexy, and dancing on stages in a form of adult entertainment. But that doesn't mean that she is merely a sex object, or that she gives up her humanity to do it. So what's the difference between objectification and empowerment? In this conversation with Bart Campolo, Glenda talks about how the female body is seen by males from the early stages of a woman's life, the attention women get whether they want it or not, physical safety as a woman, and social conditioning in men. At the center: sexuality is about context, and there are both appropriate and inappropriate contexts in which to look at, enjoy and - yes - sexualize the female form.

Suicide is on the minds of the many after some prominent ones in the past week or two. So today, we get to a question close to the hearts of the rest of us: what does this teach the rest of us?

Like Bart, Kent Dobson had a prominent Christian father, and, like Bart, Kent finds himself a post-evangelical. But, although their journeys share some similarities, these two have not ended up in the same place. In this wide-ranging conversation, Kent talks about his current work with a values-based community that includes believers and non-believers, being part of (and pastor of) the Michigan megachurch founded by Rob Bell, the ‘faith unraveling’ since, the state of Israel, the work of Carl Jung, trying on different theological ‘hats’, and the (not so easy to answer) question of whether there’s a personal force in the universe.

Bart Campolo doesn’t believe in God anymore. But recently, while attempting to ride a new tandem bicycle for the first time, he fell, damaging his wrist, and immediately cried out: 'Why? Why me!' It seems to be instinctive behavior for homo sapiens, but how should we think about it? Is it good to ‘lean in’ to these instincts, or should we try to avoid personifying the universe and crying out for help in this way?

Have you ever wanted to get into the outdoors more but been a little intimidated by other groups who do? Or do you find it hard finding groups where everybody is open to new friendships? Women Who Explore is a community dedicated to getting women into the outdoors, and it’s ended up creating hundreds of new friendships in the process, all in the past year. Its co-founder, Lindsay MacNevin, is a Canadian former travel writer who joins Bart to talk about her project.

When you're asked for money by a homeless person, or pass someone who appears to be homeless standing in a doorway or on a street corner, how should you respond? That's the topic addressed in this, the first of Humanize Me's Q&A episodes. Bart Campolo is joined by the podcast's producer John Wright to attempt to answer the question, which came in from a listener called Mark.

Well, are we? It’s a weird thought that the experience we all share – of making our own decisions, freely choosing our next move – is nothing more than an illusion. But the science leans that way, and Dan Barker has engaged with the subject more than most. Dan is an activist, an author and speaker who serves as the co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. He’s sued the government, talked about atheism with Oprah, debated with Sean Hannity and hung out with Christopher Hitchens. And he agrees with Sam Harris about free will, but has his own thoughts on the implications of that conclusion.

In this episode Bart talks (a lot) with new pal Mike McHargue, aka Science Mike, whose two podcasts, Ask Science Mike and The Liturgists (with Michael Gungor) are huge among the still-kinda-Christian-but-with-lots-of-questions crowd.