New Books in Secularism
This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field.
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126
Victoria Smolkin, "A Sacred Space Is Never Empt...
The specter of the “Godless” Soviet Union haunted the United States and continental Western Europe throughout the Cold War...
57 min
127
McKenzie Wark, "General Intellects: Twenty-One ...
McKenzie Wark’s new book offers 21 focused studies of thinkers working in a wide range of fields who are worth your attention...
61 min
128
David P. Barash, “Through a Glass Brightly: Usi...
Human beings have long seen themselves as the center of the universe, as specially-created creatures who are anointed as above and beyond the natural world. Professor and noted scientist David P. Barash calls this viewpoint a persistent paradigm of our...
80 min
129
Stephen Batchelor, “Secular Buddhism: Imagining...
As the practice of mindfulness permeates mainstream Western culture, more and more people are engaging in a traditional form of Buddhist meditation. However, many of these people have little interest in the religious aspects of Buddhism,
68 min
130
Larry Shapiro, “The Miracle Myth: Why Belief in...
There are many who believe Moses parted the Red Sea and Jesus came back from the dead. Others are certain that exorcisms occur, ghosts haunt attics, and the blessed can cure the terminally ill. Though miracles are immensely improbable,
58 min
131
Leigh Eric Schmidt, “Village Atheists: How Amer...
A much-maligned minority throughout American history, atheists have been cast as a threat to the nation’s moral fabric, barred from holding public office, and branded as irreligious misfits in a nation chosen by God. Yet,
64 min
132
Steven and Ben Nadler, “Heretics!: The Wondrous...
This entertaining, enlightening, and humorous graphic narrative tells the exciting story of the seventeenth-century thinkers who challenged authority and contemporary thinking—sometimes risking excommunication, prison,
67 min
133
Elizabeth M. Sanders, “Genres of Doubt: Science...
The Victorians left an indelible stamp on culture that continues to be in evidence today, not least of which is their refinement of the realist fiction medium known as the novel and their innovations, which led to the birth of fantasy and science ficti...
76 min
134
Duncan Pritchard, “Epistemic Angst: Radical Ske...
How certain can you be that you’re actually sitting at your desk when it seems that you are? You might see your desk before you and feel it beneath your arms and yet, how can you prove that your senses are to be trusted? How can you know for sure...
55 min
135
Joseph O. Baker and Buster G. Smith, “American ...
A rapidly growing number of Americans are embracing life outside the bounds of organized religion. Although the United States has long been viewed as a fervently religious Christian nation, survey data shows that more and more Americans are identifying...
55 min
136
Bonnie Anderson, “The Rabbi’s Atheist Daughter:...
As a believer in free thought, a campaigner for women’s rights, and as a supporter of abolition, Ernestine Rose had no shortage of causes to advocate. In The Rabbi’s Atheist Daughter: Ernestine Rose, International Feminist Pioneer (Oxford University Pr...
45 min
137
Michael Shermer, “Heavens on Earth: The Scienti...
For millennia, religions have concocted numerous manifestations of heaven and the afterlife, and though no one has ever returned from such a place to report what it is really like—or that it even exists—today science and technology are being used to tr...
53 min
138
Michael Ruse, “On Purpose” (Princeton UP, 2017)
Can we live without the idea of purpose? Should we even try to? Immanuel Kant thought we were stuck with purpose, and while Darwin’s theory of natural selection profoundly shook the idea, it was unable to kill it. In fact,
55 min
139
Dan Barker, “God: The Most Unpleasant Character...
For those of us who pay close attention in Sunday school, a troubling dissimilarity may begin to appear between what we are told of God’s personality and what we learn of it from His actions. For example, we are told that God is merciful, just,
66 min
140
Abby Hafer, “The Not-So-Intelligent Designer: W...
Have you ever asked yourself why humans have an appendix that will sometimes explode and kill us? Why do men’s testicles hang outside the body where theyre arguably awkward and vulnerable? And if there is an Intelligent Designer,
87 min
141
Andrew Copson, “Secularism: Politics, Religion,...
Secularism is an increasingly hot topic in public, political, and religious debate across the globe. It is embodied in the conflict between secular republics—from the US to India—and the challenges they face from resurgent religious identity politics; ...
47 min
142
Raymond D. Bradley, “God’s Gravediggers: Why No...
In God’s Gravediggers: Why No Deity Exists (Ockham Publishing, 2016), Raymond D. Bradley takes a logical approach to examining the claim of most religions–Judeo-Christianity in particular–that there is a supernatural God of perfect wisdom and morality....
66 min
143
Christopher R. Cotter and David G. Robertson, e...
When undergraduate students look through a course catalog and see the title World Religions they probably have some idea what the course will be about. But why is that? Why do World Religions seem so self-evident in this historical moment?
60 min
144
Ronald A. Lindsay, “The Necessity of Secularism...
For the first time in human history, a significant percentage of the world’s population no longer believes in God. While its true that some societies are even seeing nonbelievers outnumber believers, it is extremely unlikely that we will see a total co...
63 min
145
Jon Mills, “Inventing God: Psychology of Belief...
There are many fronts in the argument against the existence of a god or gods and veracity of religious narratives. Some familiar approaches are to critique the philosophical underpinnings of religious ideology or to make a case from the perspective of ...
52 min
146
Greta Christina, “Coming out Atheist: How to do...
Coming out atheist isn’t always easy, but Greta Christina, atheist activist and blogger, has tips to make it easier for those who struggle. After scouring hundreds of coming-out-atheist stories, she comes to the conclusion that difficult as it may be,
43 min
147
James A. Lindsay, “Dot, Dot, Dot: Infinity Plus...
In the depths of the internet there is many an article discussing the infinity of God. Its authors argue that God is infinite and endless and knows no bounds (what the difference is among those attributes is not usually explained).
65 min
148
Raphael Lataster, “There was no Jesus, There is...
In the preface of There was no Jesus, There is no God (Amazon Digital Services, 2013),Raphael Lataster states that “it is not my job to disprove Christianity or any other religion. It is not my intention to destroy the fait of the faithful; nor do I de...
36 min
149
Aaron Adair, “The Star of Bethlehem: A Skeptica...
“And having heard the king, they went their way; and lo, the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them, until it came and stood over where the Child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
29 min
150
John W. Loftus, “The Outsider Test for Faith: H...
With so many religions in the world, how can you tell which one is correct? John W. Loftus tackles this question in his new book, The Outsider Test for Faith: How to Know Which Religion Is True (Prometheus Books, 2013).
48 min