Devin Sean Moss, humanist chaplain, writer, and host of The Adventures of Memento Mori podcast, discusses belief, prayer, and his role as a chaplain providing spiritual care. Throughout 2023, Moss provided support and counseling to Phillip Hancock , a death row inmate, before and during his execution by the State of Oklahoma. Moss reflects on his interactions with Hancock, delving into the significance of compassion, prayer, and the unique challenges posed by Hancock's explicit rejection of the Christian faith.  “He was a fascinating human, incredibly smart,” says Moss. “He had the Bible practically memorized and I think he struggled with faith. I really do believe that he wanted to believe, but knowing what he had gone through his entire life, I can completely see why one in his position would not believe.” 

This week, historian George Makari explores the powerful human emotion of hate, xenophobia and fear of the other and says some people “fall in hate, the way the rest of us fall in love.”

Theresa MacPhail, associate professor of science and technology studies at Stevens Institute of Technology and author of Allergic: Our Irritated Bodies in a Changing World, discusses the origins of  allergies, tracing their discovery back to British physician Charles Blackley who put hay fever on the map. Alanna Collen, evolutionary biologist and author of  10% Human: How Your Body's Microbes Hold the Key to Health and Happiness, explores the link between our microbiomes and the likelihood of developing allergies.

This week, Iza Kavedžija, a cultural anthropologist who lived in the Kansai region of Japan, while researching the older members of Japanese society, talks about how Japanese culture values the modest pursuit - a concept called  ikigai- small actions or interests, like making tea, that if done masterfully and with full attention provide fulfillment and meaning in life.   

Christian Wiman, author of Zero at the Bone: Fifty Entries Against Despair, discusses life after being diagnosed with a rare and incurable form of his cancer and how preparing for death influenced his thought, faith, and poetry. Wiman, the Clement-Muehl Professor of Communication Arts at Yale Divinity School, examines anguish and despair and his “real desire to make faith more the center of my life, not to live it quietly to bring it into my work to bring it into my life.”

This week, Anna Lembke, addiction specialist at Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic, and author of “Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence,” discusses the human tendency to lie and why telling the truth not only brings us closer together but is actually healthy for us. The intimacy created from being truthful, Lembke says, is a wonderful and healthy source of dopamine.  

Robert Sapolsky, a professor at Stanford University, discusses the concept of free will and how our choices are influenced by genetics, biology, and environment. He explores the impact of the prenatal environment on brain development, the influence of culture on child development, and the role of dopamine receptor variants on human behavior. Sapolsky also explores the implications of life without free will in the criminal justice system, self-perception, ethics, and social behavior.

This week, Oliver Burkeman, journalist and author of Four Thousand Weeks; Time Management for Mortals explores our relationship with time and asks how our common belief that our ultimate happiness or contentment will only happen at some point in the future - perhaps when we’ve got a top job, house or kids- is impacting our sense of happiness and contentment day to day.  

Katherine May, British writer and author of Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, shares her love of the winter months, describing her physical feelings when immersed in the cold local sea as a “sensory delight.” Writer, surfer, and swimmer Bonnie Tsui shares stories from her latest book Why We Swim and explains why humans have such a long and deep connection to water.

This week, Cassie Holmes, Professor of Marketing and Behavioral Decision Making and author of “Happier Hour: How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time, and Focus on What Matters Most,” suggests ways to value and savor the more ordinary moments and says when it comes to finding happiness, it helps to measure those less extraordinary moments in our lives.