PART OF A SPECIAL 6-WEEK SERIES | Is death a threat to living well? No, says our guest Dr. Lydia Dugdale, who is a Columbia Medical doctor, a medical ethicist, and author of The Lost Art of Dying. She says that living well requires dying well.

Listen to our conversation with Dr. Lydia Dugdale on BEYOND THE FORUM wherever you listen to podcasts. And don’t forget to subscribe, review, and share on social media–and please tag us @veritasforum! You can see our full slate of speakers for our first season and learn more about us at beyondtheforum.org.

Two Things You Need to Live (and Die) Well | Lydia Dugdale

PART OF A SPECIAL 6-WEEK SERIES | We know a lot about what makes us healthier. But what about what makes us happier? In this episode, we interview Dr. Tyler VanderWeele, an epidemiologist and the Director of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University. He and his research team are working towards identifying the behaviors that make our lives better — not just physically, but emotionally, mentally, and relationally, too. Our conversation centers around one of his data’s main findings: regularly attending religious services can help you live seven years longer.

Like what you heard? Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts to help more people discover our episodes. And, join the conversation on our Instagram, @veritasforum. You can see our full slate of speakers and learn more about our production team and co-sponsors at beyondtheforum.org

Can We Quantify the Good Life? | Tyler VanderWeele

PART OF A SPECIAL 6-WEEK SERIES | Math can often lead to frustration, confusion, and irritation — but might it also lead us to virtue? Join us as we talk with Harvey Mudd professor and author of “Mathematics for Human Flourishing,” Dr. Francis Su. In our interviews with Francis and his friend (and fellow math-explorer) Christopher Jackson, learn how doing math makes us more human and allows us to grow in the virtues of discernment, persistence, and hope.

Like what you heard? Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts to help more people discover our episodes. And, get updates on more ideas that shape our lives by signing up for our email newsletter at veritas.org. Thanks for listening!

What Can Math Teach Us? | Francis Su

PART OF A SPECIAL 6-WEEK SERIES | Does everyone have faith? Dr. John Lennox, theologian and mathematician at Oxford University, thinks so. Join us as we talk with Dr. Lennox about the pursuit of evidence, the nature of God, and the importance of fostering communication across differences.

Like what you heard? Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts to help more people discover our episodes. And, get updates on more ideas that shape our lives by signing up for our email newsletter at veritas.org. Thanks for listening!

How to think like a mathematician—about God | John Lennox

PART OF A SPECIAL 6-WEEK SERIES | Should we be worried about robots taking over the world? Dr. Rosalind Picard, an A.I. researcher at MIT, says no. But, there are real things to consider about our relationship with technology. We talk with Dr. Picard about the past, present, and future of machine learning and artificial intelligence and hear how her current work is literally saving lives.

Like what you heard? Rate and review Beyond the Forum on Apple Podcasts to help more people discover our episodes. And, get updates on more ideas that shape our lives by signing up for our email newsletter at veritas.org. Thanks for listening!

Is A.I. intelligent? | Rosalind Picard

PART OF A SPECIAL 6-WEEK SERIES | A recent survey from Pew suggests that 59% of Americans perceive science and religion as “often in conflict.” But, our second season guests have all seen their Christian faith and scientific pursuits work together. In this episode, we try to get to the bottom of this perceived conflict between science and God with our guest, Dr. Ted Davis, a historian of science and religion. Listen to hear how this perceived conflict began and how you can think about the compatibility of science and God going forward.

Like what you heard? Rate and review Beyond the Forum on Apple Podcasts to help more people discover our episodes. And, get updates on more ideas that shape our lives by signing up for our email newsletter at veritas.org. Thanks for listening!

Why are science and God at odds? | Ted Davis

PART OF A SPECIAL 6-WEEK SERIES | This season, we’ve talked with people at the intersection of science and God — scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and a historian of science — all of whom are Christians. For them, they see no fundamental conflict between their faith in God and their faith in science. But what about you? Are you skeptical? For our final episode, we talk with Dr. Praveen Sethupathy, a genomics researcher and professor at Cornell University, about his journey to Christianity. Praveen’s interest in Christianity grew as he was developing his skills as a scientist — and he used those skills to approach the Christian faith. Listen to learn how you can reason through what you believe — and why — and what to do when you find yourself with gaps of knowledge in front of and behind you.

Like what you heard? Rate and review Beyond the Forum on Apple Podcasts to help more people discover our episodes. And, get updates on more ideas that shape our lives by signing up for our email newsletter at veritas.org. Thanks for listening!

Should you take a leap of faith? | Praveen Sethupathy

This program was recorded at a Veritas Forum event on University of Cincinnati in 2021. The original title was, "Imagination & What It Means to Be Human" and featured Josh Swamidass, Professor in the department of Immunology and Pathology at WashU, and Peter Langland-Hassan, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cincinnati. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe. And, if you’re interested in more content from Veritas, check out our Beyond the Forum podcast. 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.

Imagination & What It Means to Be Human

This program was recorded at the annual Veritas Weekend 2022 event in Boston. The original title was, "Is Christianity Good for the Scientific University?" and featured Cullen Buie, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, Karin Öberg, Professor of Astronomy at Harvard, and Tyler VanderWeele, John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Epidemiology at Harvard. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe. And, if you’re interested in more content from Veritas, check out our Beyond the Forum podcast. 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.

Is Christianity Good for the Scientific University? | Veritas Weekend 2022

This program was recorded at a Veritas Forum event at Columbia in 2021. The original title was, "Living with Uncertainty in Science and Religion" and featured John Lennox, Professor of Mathematics at Oxford, and George Church, Professor of Genetics at Harvard. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe. And, if you’re interested in more content from Veritas, check out our Beyond the Forum podcast. 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.

Living with Uncertainty in Science and Religion | John Lennox & George Church

This program was recorded at a Veritas Forum event at NYU in 2017. The original title was "The Closing of the Modern Mind" and featured Tim Keller, Pastor, and Jonathan Haidt, NYU Professor. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe. And, if you’re interested in more content from Veritas, check out our Beyond the Forum podcast. 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 Closing of the Modern Mind | Tim Keller & Jonathan Haidt

This program was recorded at a Veritas Forum event on Northwestern University in 2022. The original title was "AI, Religion, & Humanity: How Might (or Should?) We Shape the Future?" and featured Rosalind Picard, Director of Affective Computing Research, Sylvester Johnson, Professor and Director of the Center for Humanities, and Robert Geraci, Professor. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe. And, if you’re interested in more content from Veritas, check out our Beyond the Forum podcast. 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.

AI, Religion, & Humanity: How Might (or Should?) We Shape the Future?

PART OF A SPECIAL 6-WEEK SERIES | To kick off our third season, we’re starting with the question we’ve all asked ourselves: “Am I a good person?” Our guest, Dr. Christian Miller, has an answer — and it might not be what you think. Christian is a philosophy and ethics professor at Wake Forest University, and he’s spent over a decade studying character and virtue. Starting in 2010, Christian led the Character Project — a research group dedicated to the advancement of the scientific study of character. Recently, he’s honed in on one virtue in particular, honesty, through his direction of the Honesty Project.

You can order Christian’s trade book on character and virtue, The Character Gap, here: https://www.amazon.com/Character-Gap-Good-Philosophy-Action/dp/0190264225/

Like what you heard? Rate and review Beyond the Forum on Apple Podcasts to help more people discover our episodes. And, get updates on more ideas that shape our lives by signing up for our email newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/veritas/newslettersubscribe_pd. Thanks for listening!

I’m a good person…right? | Christian Miller

PART OF A SPECIAL 6-WEEK SERIES | What academic study can help you live a better life today? Medicine, Business, Anthropology, Social Science… Our guest this week, Dr. Meghan Sullivan, argues that philosophy should be on that list. Meghan is a philosophy professor at Notre Dame — she teaches the popular course, God and the Good Life, the freshman intro philosophy course — and she discusses with us four philosophical skills that can help you live a better, happier, even Good, Life.

You can order Meghan and her co-author Paul’s new book, The Good Life Method, here: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Life-Method-Reasoning-Questions/dp/1984880306

Like what you heard? Rate and review Beyond the Forum on Apple Podcasts to help more people discover our episodes. And, get updates on more ideas that shape our lives by signing up for our email newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/veritas/newslettersubscribe_pd. Thanks for listening!

Why should you care about philosophy? | Meghan Sullivan

PART OF A SPECIAL 6-WEEK SERIES | Career searches often begin with the same question: “What’s my passion?” If you’re in a period of job transition — maybe you’re about to graduate, retire, or have felt like a new job is on the horizon — we want to help. And, we don’t think that “passion” is the best place to start. Join us as we talk with Dave Evans, New York Times best-selling author of Designing Your Life and Stanford professor, about what questions we should be asking when it comes to making our next steps vocationally.

You can order Dave’s book, Designing Your Life, here: https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Your-Life-Well-Lived-Joyful/dp/1101875321/

See more of Dave’s books on his website, https://designingyour.life/
Like what you heard? Rate and review Beyond the Forum on Apple Podcasts to help more people discover our episodes. And, get updates on more ideas that shape our lives by signing up for our email newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/veritas/newslettersubscribe_pd. Thanks for listening!

Is "what's my passion" the right question? | Dave Evans

PART OF A SPECIAL 6-WEEK SERIES | People today reach the standard markers of adulthood — finishing education, getting married, becoming financially independent — later compared to people 50 years ago. Does that mean that kids these days are “behind” in their development? Or should these standard markers be rethought? Our guest today, Dr. Nancy Hill, is a Harvard professor and developmental psychologist. She invites us to consider how attending college might change how we develop — not just in our twenties, but for the rest of our lives.

You can order Nancy and her co-author Alexis’s book, The End of Adolescence, here: https://www.amazon.com/End-Adolescence-Lost-Delaying-Adulthood/dp/0674916506

Like what you heard? Rate and review Beyond the Forum on Apple Podcasts to help more people discover our episodes. And, get updates on more ideas that shape our lives by signing up for our email newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/veritas/newslettersubscribe_pd. Thanks for listening!

What’s up with kids these days? | Nancy Hill

PART OF A SPECIAL 6-WEEK SERIES | The pandemic upended all of our lives. As a response, we started different habits — and perhaps even formed addictions — that helped us to cope. But, after two years of pandemic living, is it possible to change? In this episode, we talk with Dr. Nii Addy, a researcher at Yale specializing in addiction, depression, and anxiety. And he says we can have hope — according to his research, it is possible to rewire our brains for greater mental health.

If you’re curious to hear more from Nii, check out his podcast, Addy Hour, wherever you listen to podcasts!

Like what you heard? Rate and review Beyond the Forum on Apple Podcasts to help more people discover our episodes. And, get updates on more ideas that shape our lives by signing up for our email newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/veritas/newslettersubscribe_pd. Thanks for listening!

Can we change our brains for good? | Nii Addy

PART OF A SPECIAL 6-WEEK SERIES | This season is all about character and virtue — and how we can close our “character gaps” to become better people. But, what does it look like to grow more virtuous in a world with pain, trauma, and grief? Our guest for this episode, contemporary artist Makoto Fujimura, approaches this question through the lens of a centuries-old art form: kintsugi.

Mako’s most recent book, Art + Faith, is available here: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Faith-Theology-Makoto-Fujimura/dp/0300254148

Like what you heard? Rate and review Beyond the Forum on Apple Podcasts to help more people discover our episodes. And, get updates on more ideas that shape our lives by signing up for our email newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/veritas/newslettersubscribe_pd. 
Thanks for listening!

What do we do when things break? | Makoto Fujimura

Two weeks ago, we hosted a Veritas Forum moderated by Willie Jennings at Yale with Tim Keller and Anthony Kronman, former Dean of the Yale Law School and author of Confessions of a Born-Again Pagan. Naturally, the pairing of Kronman and Keller held the potential for a timely and thought-provoking discussion. We were not disappointed. What unfolded at Yale struck us as a vitally important conversation for the university but also an invitation for more conversations like this in the public square.

Disenchanted? | Tim Keller & Anthony Kronman at Yale

Notre Dame philosophy professor, Meghan Sullivan, shares the journey by which – to her own surprise – she became convinced by the truth-claims of the Christian faith, and explores the top three questions she has wrestled with in terms of the rationality of holding to a “thick” and complex belief-system.

Is Belief in God irrational? | Meghan Sullivan

Madeleine L'Engle, award-winning author of A Wrinkle in Time, defines "fantasy" as that which "pushes us, opens us, makes us aware of who we are and who the other is.”

In this recording from a Veritas Forum at UC Santa Barbara, L’Engle draws from her experiences in school, church, and life to explore the relationship between fantasy and truth.

Searching for Truth Through Fantasy | Madeleine L'Engle

What do you want? Our answer to this question, argues author and philosopher James K.A. Smith (Calvin), reveals the habits that shape our lives. Yet we often remain unaware of those habits and how they motivate us. In this talk, from a recent Veritas Forum at the University of Michigan, Smith helps us to recognize the structure of desire and reorient its place within the human person.

You Are What You Love | James K.A. Smith

The data says we’re lying to each other about a third of the time. Philosopher Christian Miller thinks that number is actually higher.
 
After years of researching hundreds of psychological studies that put people’s character to the test, Christian concluded that a gap exists between how good we should be and how good we actually are.
 
On our latest podcast episode, we sit down with Christian to discuss his latest book, The Character Gap, and what we can do to become better people.

Are You as Good as You Think You Are? | Christian Miller

From the Crusades to the conflicts in Northern Ireland, Christianity’s relationship to violence is troubling. How can we make sense of Jesus's call to "love your enemies” when so much violence has been committed in his name?

Yale theologian Miroslav Volf believes that blaming religion for violence ignores the larger problem. At a Veritas Forum from UC Santa Barbara, Volf explores the relationship between God, religion, and violence.

How to Love Your Enemies | Miroslav Volf

For the religious believer and atheist alike, the problem of evil is troubling. If there is a God, why does he allow evil? And if there isn’t a God, how we can say that anything is evil? At a Veritas Forum from Harvard Medical School, Oxford Mathematician John Lennox addresses one of the most challenging human questions: Why do we suffer?

Where is God in Suffering? | John Lennox

Before we believe that Christianity is true, philosopher Greg Ganssle thinks that we should want it to be true. He says that our longings for beauty, goodness, and freedom, are “at home in the Christian story.” At a Veritas Forum from the University of California-Irvine, Ganssle examines how our desire to flourish can lead us to faith in Jesus.

Our Longings Find a Home in Jesus | Greg Ganssle

For over 25 years, Ian Hutchinson (MIT) has been a speaker at Veritas Forums across the country. Throughout those years, he’s answered countless student questions about science, theology, and his Christian faith. In his latest book, Can a Scientist Believe in Miracles?, Hutchinson compiled every question asked of him at a Veritas Forum and set out to answer them. On our latest podcast, we sit down with Hutchinson to discuss his book, his journey to Christianity, and his hopes for the next generation of scientists.

Can a Scientist Believe in Miracles? | Ian Hutchinson

Americans spend over $11 billion on self-help every year, but philosopher Jennifer Frey says that if you want to be happy, you should read philosophy instead. For Dr. Frey, if we want to uncover a more holistic vision of the good life, we need to go back to the classics—to Aristotle, Augustine, and Aquinas. When we do that, she says, we discover that happiness is less about feeling good all the time and more about cultivating a vision of life that gets you outside of yourself.

Happiness Is Not Self-help | Jennifer Frey

Bill Burnett and Dave Evans teach the most popular class at Stanford. The course, entitled “Designing Your Life,” aims to reframe the way students think about the question, “How do I live a meaningful life?” Burnett, an atheist, and Evans, a Christian, both believe the key to a joyful and fulfilling life starts with thinking like a designer.

As we kick off this new year, enjoy this throwback episode featuring Dave Evans and Bill Burnett as they discuss their methods for living a life worth living.

Please like, share, subscribe to, and review this podcast!

Designing Your Life Worth Living | Dave Evans & Bill Burnett

Dr. Curt Thompson, a board certified Psychiatrist and Neurologist, discusses the power of the narrative we tell ourselves and how it affects us throughout our lives. A lecture and conversation covering mental health, human flourishing, and religion.
•
Please like, share, subscribe to, and review this podcast. Thank you!

Mental Health, Human Flourishing, and Religion | Dr. Curt Thompson

In this episode we hear from mathematician, philosopher, and theologian, Dr. John Lennox. In a discussion titled “Did Science Kill God?” Lennox thoughtfully probes the idea that God and science is an either or decision. Recorded in 2015 from the stage at UCLA.
•
Please like, share, subscribe to, and review this podcast. Thank you!

Did Science Kill God? | John Lennox

Every generation must be challenged to assess whether its assumptions about God must be reexamined. Join N.T. Wright, Peter Thiel, and moderator Ross Douthat in a discussion on hope, technology, politics, and theology.

Please like, share, subscribe to, and review this podcast. Thank you!

What is the Hope for Humanity? | N.T. Wright & Peter Thiel

Some say that claiming to know God or truth is too exclusive in a pluralistic society and too divisive in a free democratic one. People who hold such exclusive beliefs, they say, tend to impose them on others and oppress those who disagree. How can Christians, then, justify their faith that says Jesus is the one true way to God? Can they fit in and operate in a free society? Tim Keller dives into these questions on the stage at UC Berkeley.

Please like, share, subscribe to, and review this podcast. Thank you!

Is Christianity Divisive? | Tim Keller

Oxford Professor Emeritus John Lennox, Mathematician and Philosopher of Science presents his reasoning for the link between science and belief in God. Presented from the stage at the Claremont Center for Reason, Religion, and Public Affairs.
•
Like, share, review, and subscribe to this podcast. Thank you.

Cosmic Chemistry: Do Science and God Mix? | Dr. John Lennox

MIT Professor of Mechanical Engineering Cullen Buie discusses his journey through science, God and making a name for himself at The Veritas Forum at Caltech.
•
Please like, share, subscribe to, and review this podcast. Thank you.

The Accidental Academic | Dr. Cullen Buie

At the Veritas Forum, we believe we were made to seek truth and be changed by it. We are a community of students, faculty, campus ministers, and more, who are pursuing a vision of the university that seeks and stewards truth and invites people of all backgrounds to explore the ideas that shape our lives. Since 1992, we’ve shared lectures and conversations with a firm belief that generous dialogue is essential for universities and the Christian faith alike.  

In this podcast, we're pulling from our archives of recorded events. Learn more about each episode in the show notes and visit veritas.org to learn more about the mission of the Veritas Forum and join us as we explore the ideas that shape our lives.

The Veritas Forum

Pinned to spotlight

Popular tracks