Episode description

For evolutionary scientists studying religion, it's more fruitful to examine what people do in religious contexts, rather than listen to what they say they believe. There's a new recognition that as well as looking at behaviour, people studying religion must take account of the religious experience of believers. But how do you do that? And what does doing it tell us? Rana Mitter is joined by an evolutionary psychologist, an anthropologist, a historian and a poet to discuss.

Robin Dunbar is an evolutionary psychologist who’s written a book called Why Religion Evolved: And Why It Endures.

Dimitris Xygalatas is an anthropologist whose book is called Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living

Anna Della Subin has investigated people who have been declared divine in her book Accidental Gods

Poet Kaveh Akbar is editor of The Penguin Book of Spiritual Verse.

Producer: Luke Mulhall