Today’s episode goes deep. A listener writes in with the question: is life worth living? This is not an uncommon question. But, have people always struggled with life’s worthwhileness and meaning? I talk about the idea of meaning and why people today are more convinced life is meaningless than ever before. I also offer some surprising paths forward out of the philosophical abyss. (Important note, I don't presume to be able to solve mental health disorders and wouldn’t dare to.) --------- To ente...
Oct 10, 2019•19 min
Did you know that relativism, capitalism, and consumerism were all born at the same time? It was in the 1500s, during the period we now know as the Protestant Reformation. This Reformation started humbly: people like Martin Luther just wanted Church officials to be less corrupt. But it ended up creating spiritual, philosophical, and economic chaos from which we have not--and may not ever--recover. Are we in a climate crisis because of some 400 year old religious disputes? Today I have on histori...
Oct 07, 2019•58 min•Ep. 41
This week a listener asks me about how to be happy. She’s got a steady job, friends, romance--what gives? Why isn’t she happy? I talk about advertising in the modern world, the demand that you be happy, the illusions of social media, and why chasing happiness all make you sad. I reflect on my own journey and argue that the secret to happiness isn’t to seek it, but to seek something far more important instead. --------------- To enter the weekly giveaway for a FREE book, write a review of the pod...
Oct 03, 2019•17 min
Mark Juergensmeyer is a leading expert on religion and violence. In today’s episode, Professor Juergensmeyer and I dig deep into the psychology of violence in religion: what is it about religion that enables, facilitates, and exacerbates violence? What is it about humans that make us so susceptible to violent narratives? We also chat about American politics, the dangers of globalization, and how to turn a terrorist into a mechanic. --------- To enter the weekly giveaway for a FREE book, write a ...
Sep 30, 2019•51 min•Ep. 40
Tasneem Zehra Husain is the first female Pakistani string theorist, and if that’s not impressive enough, she’s also the author of an extraordinary work of fiction . In this episode Dr. Husain and I chat about the role of exploration and discovery in the creation of our modern world, focusing on the deep emotional bonds Dr. Husain and other scientists end up building with their work. Also on the table are flaws in the public understanding of science, the power of storytelling, and how multiverse ...
Sep 16, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 39
Are you constantly busy? Stressed? Over-worked and over-committed? In this episode, a listener asks me how to balance commitments so she can be less stressed and feel better. I respond by questioning the idea of keeping busy altogether. Being busy for the sake of busyness is practically a national past time--but it’s far from healthy. What we should do instead is ask what is worthwhile and good, and learn to prioritise meaningful acts, while letting others slide. ------------------------ To ente...
Sep 12, 2019•15 min
How much do you trust other people? The answer depends on where you live. Today, political scientist Peter Thisted Dinesen tells me all about the importance of trust for a functioning society. Some societies, like Denmark, have uniquely high amounts of social trust. Unfortunately, many of the world’s most powerful countries are seeing unprecedented amounts of distrust, the United States in particular, which might be why the world is falling apart at the seams. ---------------------- To enter the...
Sep 09, 2019•55 min•Ep. 38
This week, X episodes turn into listener questions! Our first listener question is from Suzy. Suzy gave up Catholicism, but now she’s worried about losing her friendships and finding her way without traditional religion. I share what I know about religious communities and beliefs in the modern world, and offer a few potential solutions to optimize happiness, friendship, and spiritual fulfillment moving forward. --------- To enter the weekly giveaway for a FREE book, write a review of the podcast...
Sep 05, 2019•21 min
In this episode I share some facts and figures about the horrifying charade of academic journal publishing. If you want to read any of most journal articles today you have to pay between thirty and sixty dollars; if you want a subscription it’ll be several hundred dollars per year. Institutions have to pay millions, tens of millions, to provide students with journal access. Why is this relevant? Because humanity will not be able to make progress if we don’t break down the barriers between the ac...
Aug 29, 2019•17 min
Why are we so indifferent and passive when it comes to protecting the environment? Today I chat with specialist in Native American literature Siobhan Senier. We lean into Senier’s keen insights about the nature of human relationships, rituals, and stories to get to the heart of difference between the “modern” world and traditional cultures. We wander into deep and reflective territory about the nature of the human species and ask hard questions of one another about the future of humanity, making...
Aug 26, 2019•54 min•Ep. 36
We tend to think that science robs the world of meaning. But today’s guest, world famous biologist (who’s met with the Dalai Lama) Ursula Goodenough has changed the way that we see nature forever. This is because Goodenough interprets scientific facts in unique and powerful ways that many people find spiritually fulfilling. She knows how to make sense of the world without God. Goodenough argues that what we’ve learned about nature through science is non-negotiable; we have to accept the way thin...
Aug 19, 2019•58 min•Ep. 35
Power is the most important but least talked about part of what it means to be human. Power is everywhere and in everything in your life, from your romantic relationships to your religion and to your political beliefs and practices. No matter what you do, someone's going to have more power than someone else. In this brief episode Stefani describes how academics discovered the importance of thinking about relationships in terms of power, and what that means for how we think about our governments,...
Aug 15, 2019•15 min
Surveys just confirmed that as of 2019 exactly the same number of Americans claim “no religion” as evangelical Christianity--a first in all of our history. Spirituality has transformed in extraordinary ways in recent decades, and today Stefani has on one of the world’s leading theorists of religion--Linda Woodhead--to discuss these changes, and why they’re happening. They chat about the return of ancient pagan faiths, the pros and cons of the internet, and how the youngest generation seems to be...
Aug 12, 2019•59 min•Ep. 34
We often talk about ending suffering--but would that really be good for us? In this podcast, Stefani argues that suffering is necessary for a good, meaningful, and happy life. ---------- To enter the weekly giveaway for a FREE book, write a review of the podcast on iTunes (http://stefaniruper.com/listen), take a screen shot of your review, then email it to stefani@nakedhumanity.org. Then you'll be PERMANENTLY entered into the drawing! Check out the list of books you can get @ http://stefaniruper...
Aug 08, 2019•17 min
Why do we believe what we believe? What happens when our beliefs are tested? In this fascinating episode, Stefani chats with cognitive neuroscience Jonas Kaplan about the brain and how it steers our experience of the world. They discuss the fact that when presented with alternative evidence people will often become more entrenched in their beliefs, the importance of stories in how we make sense of things, how much the story we tell about our identity influences our behavior, and why meditation m...
Aug 05, 2019•54 min•Ep. 33
Stefani argues that the modern West is--in some ways--the most lonely society to ever have existed. This means contrasting it with ancestral hunter-gatherers and telling the story of how we moved from there, to nuclear families, to Greek city states, to capitalistic trade and the arts, to a modern world in which our narratives and identities--once forces for unity--have become stressful choose-your-own adventure stories. To enter the weekly giveaway for a FREE book, write a review of the podcast...
Aug 01, 2019•19 min
Loneliness: Mother Teresa once said that it was the great disease of the West. Was she right? Today experimental psychologist Dr. Eiluned Pearce discusses the one pain we all know: the pain of being lonely. Dr Pearce and Stefani discuss the origins of loneliness, why and how singing became an important antidote to loneliness, the unique loneliness of the modern world, and what we might be able to do to fix it all. --------------------- To enter the weekly giveaway for a FREE book, write a review...
Jul 29, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 32
Three common myths about capitalism are that it’s racist, that it’s the cause of a wide variety of problems in the world including depression, and that its libertarian proponents hate all government and hate all organizing and are basically just selfish misers. Stefani talks through the reasoning of each of these myths and describes why they’re wrong in this podcast, which is important because if you’re going to be for or against something, you need to understand it thoroughly.
Jul 25, 2019•19 min
Americans are obsessed with working hard, but why? And how deep does this run? Today’s guest, Dr. James Dennis LoRusso, is a specialist in the ways in which Americans intertwine religion (and spirituality) with work. Stefani and Dr. LoRusso chat about the religious qualities of work and also Google, Hobby Lobby, homophobic bakeries, and why when your boss offers yoga classes it might be kind of a problem.
Jul 22, 2019•50 min•Ep. 31
If there’s one thing we get wrong today, it’s religion. In today’s episode, Stefani discusses five common myths concerning religion, disproving things you might assume like that religion helps people feel better about dying.
Jul 18, 2019•18 min
Do men and women experience religion differently? Why? How was and is Catholicism distinct from other Christian religions, and is that valid? Stefani chats with historian Dr. Erin Bartram about the association between women and irrationality, the “weirdness” of Catholic ritual, and what we get wrong about sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church.
Jul 15, 2019•53 min•Ep. 30
It is commonly assumed that social media creates echo chambers, which play a role in making us more polarized and entrenched in our own viewpoints. But today Stefani challenges this assumption, and actually argues that something totally else is to blame for our polarized and angry political landscape: our humanity. It's just us. And specifically, our propensity to jump to conclusions. Learn more about how this all plays out in the Twitterverse in today’s episode.
May 16, 2019•17 min
What are the impacts of technology on our health, wellness, and efforts to live a good life? Stefani chats with philosopher of cognition and technology Chris Burr to probe the depths of our relationships with technology, focusing on smartphones and social media. They chat data mining, news feeds, user consent, and the ways in which our relationships with each other, the world, and ourselves are rapidly changing.
May 13, 2019•55 min•Ep. 29
Philosophy was once the source of our world’s best solace. It was the source of our best advice, our best systems of meaning and beauty, and our best inspirations. Today it is an academic discipline that has all but disappeared from public conversation about the stuff that matters most: who we are, what we should value, how to live our best lives. In some ways philosophy has really died, and with tragic consequences. Today Stefani maps some factors that contributed to this death, and the carnage...
May 09, 2019•16 min
Ever get the advice to just “find yourself”? In this fascinating podcast Stefani chats with scholar Amod Lele about how Western society romanticizes individualism. Why are we obsessed with being unique, and are there more or less healthy ways to do it? To explore these ideas they dive deep into the relationship Being Yourself has with capitalism, with cultural appropriation, and with identity politics. Also discussed are transgender rights, the Budddhist notion of selfhood, Frozen, and Monty Pyt...
May 06, 2019•48 min•Ep. 28
Most people understand that we are easily manipulated by fear. But just how far does this reach? How pervasive is fear in today’s world, and how does it affect our politics, relationships, and personal strength and resilience? In this episode Stefani traces the history of fear, the relationship between fear and evil, and the way in which our society has become religiously obsessed--to a dangerous degree--with the need to sanitize the world and keep everybody safe.
May 02, 2019•20 min
How do words affect you? How does grammar and punctuation affect you? It does a whole lot more than you might think. In today’s episode, specialist in English literature and affect theory Samantha Morse explores how language is subconsciously felt and causes us to feel and believe things we might not even know we’re feeling and believing. Stefani and Samantha also discuss the anatomy of a tweet, Stefani’s own manipulation of language, and how concerns about the power of political rhetoric have b...
Apr 29, 2019•59 min•Ep. 27
Science may be imperfect, but it’s honestly pretty great. Why do so many people hate and distrust it, then? In this episode Stefani gets to the bottom of it by exploring 1) how science often threatens people’s worldviews and emotional stability, and 2) how the West became a world that so distrusts its once cherished institutions.
Apr 25, 2019•20 min
We can hardly trust anything anymore. We can’t trust our banks, our media, our governments. But what about science? Even though it has its problems, science has remained more trustworthy than other institutions. Why? In this episode, member of the British Royal Academy and expert social scientist Harry Collins teaches us what’s special about science and how it has the potential to be the glue that holds our fraying democracy together.
Apr 22, 2019•54 min•Ep. 26
You might THINK that objectivity exists and that you rationally find your way to truth with the powers of pure reason, but in this episode Stefani demonstrates why that’s false. Philosopher David Hume hinted at this reality a few hundred years ago, but it wasn’t until very recently that neuroscientists have begun to explore how deeply intertwined thoughts and emotions are. Why do we believe what we believe? Because knowing is a feeling.
Apr 18, 2019•18 min
