While religion and science often seem at odds, there’s one thing they can agree on: people who take part in spiritual practices tend to live longer, healthier, and happier lives. The big question is: Why? In How God Works, professor Dave DeSteno takes us on a journey to find out how spirituality impacts our minds and bodies, as well as the world in which we live. He speaks to leading scientists and philosophers, religious thinkers, and thought leaders to explore what we can learn from the wo ...
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Join us for Season 7 of How God Works, starting next week!द्वारा PRX
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We've had a lot of new listeners join us of the past year, so while we're hard at work on our next season, we thought we'd share some favorites you might have missed from the archives. Have you ever heard a voice, seen an image, or felt a presence around you that you couldn’t explain? If you have, you’re not alone. More people than you might think …
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We've had a lot of new listeners join us of the past year, so while we're hard at work on our next season, we thought we'd share some favorites you might have missed from the archives. As a society that fears death, we tend to avoid the subject. But the key to having a positive end-of-life experience might come in doing just the opposite. On this e…
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We've had a lot of new listeners join us of the past year, so while we're hard at work on our next season, we thought we'd share some favorites you might have missed from the archives. For centuries, many cultures have used psychedelics to induce mystical states. And while in the US they’ve mostly been used as recreational drugs, interest in their …
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A Holiday From Tech Addiction (2022)
38:31
38:31
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
पसंद
पसंद
38:31
We've had a lot of new listeners join us of the past year, so while we're hard at work on our next season, we thought we'd share some favorites you might have missed from the archives. Since this episode was first published, the Surgeon General has issued an advisory about the effects of social media on youth mental health, and, more recently, call…
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Hey Listeners, as we plan future seasons, we'd love to know what you appreciate most about the show... and what you think we can improve or would like to see us cover. If you have five minutes to spare, please consider responding to our audience survey. Thanks!द्वारा PRX
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The Spiritual (and Political) Crisis in the US
39:09
39:09
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
पसंद
पसंद
39:09
Hey Listeners, we also want to hear from you! Please take a few minutes to fill out our audience survey and be a part of shaping future seasons. Anger, loneliness, and despair are hitting record levels in the US. Our social and political fabrics are fraying. Is the turn away from religion in the US part of the problem? And if so, might a spiritual …
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Live Event: Can Religion & Science Get Along in the 21st Century?
50:08
50:08
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
पसंद
पसंद
50:08
Science and religion can often seem at loggerheads. But does it have to be that way? Dr. Francis Collins, one of the world’s leading scientists, doesn’t think so. As an internationally renowned geneticist, a recent past director of the US National Institutes of Health (where he helped guide the U.S. response to COVID), and an avowed Christian, he’s…
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When it comes to how we treat other animals, humanity’s track record is spotty at best. Has it always been that way? And how do the beliefs we hold about animals shape how we treat them? Are they really as different from us as Western culture has long suggested? Join Dave as he speaks with anthropologist Dave Aftandilian about how different religio…
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Do you feel connected to nature’s rhythms and the peace that they provide? Are cooking, crafting, or other small daily rituals a form of spell work or spirituality for you? If you’re a witch, the answers are a definite yes. Long in the shadows, Wicca and witchcraft are now on the rise. Join Dave as we explore what’s driving interest in these religi…
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Ever heard of the Bartonian Metaphysical Society? How about the Druze? If you’re like most people, you probably haven’t. On this episode, we ask: What’s it like to be a member of a tiny religion in a world dominated by “Big God”? From the early days of new religious movements to the precarious old age of ancient faiths, join Dave as we explore the …
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Religion is often about powerful beings coming down from the skies and humans yearning to go up to join them. Does that mean we can swap aliens in for God? More and more people seem to think so. In fact, many spiritually-minded people are looking to UFOs as opportunities to commune with enlightened alien teachers. Some believe they’re even aliens t…
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What makes a trip a pilgrimage? And why have people from across the globe made these treks for millennia? Is it the destination that makes these journeys so important to so many cultures? Or is it the community and meaning-making that happen along the way? And how are people changed by the experience after they come home? Join Dave as he talks with…
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Is religion a source of conflict, or a way to end it? From the tragic situation in the Middle East to rising Christian Nationalism in the US, it might seem the former. But for faiths that emphasize love, compassion, and forgiveness, might the latter also be true? Join Dave as he talks with theologian Miroslav Volf about how religion blurs with poli…
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Join us for Season 6 of How God Works, starting next week!द्वारा PRX
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How God Works Presents: No Small Endeavor with Lee C. Camp
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49:30
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
पसंद
पसंद
49:30
Hey How God Works listeners! While we’re hard at work on Season 6, we’d like to invite you to check out No Small Endeavor, a podcast that explores what it means to live a good life, hosted by professor of theology and ethics Lee C. Camp.द्वारा PRX
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Surveys show feelings of sadness and despair peaked in 2023. So as we look to the new year, it's understandable why any of us might be feeling pessimistic, even hopeless. But these feelings aren't written in stone. We always have a choice. It's in these darkest of times, when all feels lost, that hope helps us find our way...not just to heal oursel…
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Religion & Mental Health Part 2: Addiction
36:13
36:13
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
पसंद
पसंद
36:13
When it comes to treating addiction, twelve-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous are some of the most often used in the US. But while twelve-step programs have several components, one of the most central is surrendering control to a higher power. But how important is that idea? Does relying on a divine influence help or hurt? And might there be …
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Religion & Mental Health Part 1: Psychotherapy
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31:22
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
पसंद
पसंद
31:22
For most of the past 200 years, religion and psychiatry didn’t get along too well. Or so the story goes. But if you go back far enough, the two have more in common than you might think. On this episode, we’ll hear about the deep history of integrating spirituality into mental health treatments, and how it’s being rediscovered today at some of the w…
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It’s no accident that the Hebrew word for breath is the same as the word for spirit (ruach). Breath doesn’t just give us life: it helps regulate everything from vital organ functions to cognition and emotional states. That’s why spiritual traditions the world over incorporate it as a practice to help heal body and mind and walk the path towards pea…
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We’ve all heard of spiritual experiences – moments of feeling intense awe and deep love and connection. People who’ve had them – and it’s a lot more than you might think – see them as some of the most profound moments of their lives. Moments that change them for the better in enduring ways. But what’s going on in our brains when these experiences h…
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Today we’re featuring an episode from the new PRX podcast Mother is a Question. What is Unteachable about Mothering? Our journey into this territory of mothering begins. Tasha searches out someone whose deep wisdom about mothering was totally lost on her when they first met ten years ago. Back then, Teourialier Johnson—who Tasha met as “T”—was a te…
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From Two Spirit to Bissu, Gender Diversity Has Deep Roots
38:49
38:49
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
पसंद
पसंद
38:49
Around the world, gender diversity isn't the exception; it's fairly common. It’s also not a new invention. Many indigenous societies have long recognized a wide variety of gender expressions, and given leadership roles in spiritual life to gender fluid people. And while colonization has often influenced gender norms, leading to discrimination and v…
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Christianity and Judaism have had long standing theological concerns with LGBTQ+ issues. BUT from the Vatican to certain Jewish denominations, there are movements afoot to be more open, tolerant, and accepting. In the first of a two-part series on gender and spirituality, we’ll talk with Father James Martin and Rabbi Shira Stutman about the history…
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When’s the last time you actually heard silence? We’re flooded with noise everyday, so much so that we don’t even realize it. And it's not just bad for our ears, it's not great for our health or wellbeing either. We’ll take a look at how noise (and its absence) affect the workings of our mind and our emotions. Why silence can make us feel more conn…
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How God Works is coming back to your feed on September 24th! Tune in this season as we tackle topics like the value of silence, how different faiths view gender and sexuality, the power of mystical experience and connecting to the breath, and much more. And in the meantime, feel free to catch up on older episodes, and rate and review the show where…
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Is Burning Man a Party or a Pilgrimage? (2022)
38:19
38:19
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
पसंद
पसंद
38:19
Every year, thousands of people head to Nevada's Black Rock Desert for a week at Burning Man. And while from the outside, it might seem like a place for partying, drugs, and debauchery, to many, it offers something deeper, even life changing. We’ll ask neuroscientist Molly Crockett and Episcopal minister Alex Leach, both burners themselves: Is Burn…
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The lights are dimmed, candles are lit, bodies begin to sway together as the voice from the stage says a spirit-lifting, soul-stirring affirmation…and then screams “Now sprint for 10!”. Group fitness classes have, for many, become something more than just a good way to get the blood pumping and pounds dropping. On this episode we take a look at why…
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It's not news that the US is becoming more secular. People have been drifting away from religion for decades, and that trend is accelerating right now in people under 40. But there is a small but growing trend in those same generations of people who are seeking just the opposite. These people are looking to older and more orthodox forms of faith to…
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Can Ancient Wisdom Help Gen Z's Stress & Unhappiness?
45:10
45:10
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
पसंद
पसंद
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This episode is an edited version of a live event held at WBUR’s Cityspace on May 15, 2023. A full-length video of the event is available here. For decades, studies from around the globe showed that happiness followed a U-shaped curve across the lifespan. For many people, the teens and twenties were some of the happiest and most carefree times of l…
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Hate and prejudice based on ethnicity, religion, gender and sexual orientation are all too common in our world. But are we doomed to be this way? Or is it possible to create a world where cooperation and peace are the norm? Join Dave as he talks to NYU professor Jay van Bavel about the deeper mechanisms at work when it comes to group conflict (and …
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Music has the power to transform and connect us, no matter our native tongue. In many ways, it's a language unto itself. It ties us to memories...to people....to places. It heals us, promotes compassion and empathy. It unites us not only to each other, but according to many people, perhaps even to something greater. On this episode we’ll take a loo…
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What do we get out of making things with our hands? Traditions the world over incorporate crafts into their religious practice, and for secular people, that experience of getting “in the zone” while weaving or working with wood or clay can also feel meditative, even spiritual. So maybe it’s worth asking: Is there a craftsperson in all of us that we…
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Were the Earth and all its resources created just for our benefit? Do plants and animals exist solely for us to consume? Or should we be viewing our role on this planet differently? When it comes to protecting the environment and addressing climate change, religion has had mixed results. Why is that? With Earth Day almost upon us, we thought it wou…
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Awe fills us with wonder -- we feel small in the face of things that seem vast, inspiring, almost beyond comprehension. So it makes sense that spiritual experiences often inspire awe. But new science is showing it can also work the other way around. Awe from any source -- nature's beauty, art and music, even others’ noble acts -- can actually nudge…
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Season 4 is coming on Sunday, April 2! Can learning to experience awe more often be good for us? Does learning to make pottery, sing in a choir, or play a group sport give us some of the same benefits as being part of a religious community? Does being Christian make you more or less likely to taking a stand on climate change? What does Buddhism hav…
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From The Happiness Lab: Yoga of the Mind
38:40
38:40
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
पसंद
पसंद
38:40
While we’re working on Season 4, we wanted to share a special episode from another podcast we love, The Happiness Lab. On The Happiness Lab, Dr. Laurie Santos explores all the ways we get our happiness wrong and what we can do to really feel better. She walks through the latest evidence-based strategies for improving your mental health, sharing pra…
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What do we owe future humans? In principle, it seems obvious that we should do what we can to make life better for the generations that follow, just as our ancestors did for us. But while most of us agree that doing this is the right thing, it can be hard to put into practice while also avoiding some of the pitfalls that often afflict growing philo…
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Sooner or later, most of us experience grief from losing someone we love. It’s always painful, and sometimes even debilitating. But there is plenty we can do to help ourselves and others be resilient. Join Dave as he talks with Columbia University psychologist George Bonanno and Rabbi Angela Buchdahl about ways to promote a healthy mourning process…
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Uniter or Divider? Explore Religion in Modern America. A How God Works Live Event.
1:23:12
1:23:12
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
पसंद
पसंद
1:23:12
If you ask people what they think about religion, you often get one of two answers: Religion is the source of war, violence, abuse, and hypocrisy OR a route to love, kindness, tolerance, and mercy. Put another way, it’s either what divides us or it’s the thing that can actually bring us together. In a country deeply divided over social, political, …
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Time with family, friends and loved ones is supposed to be at the center of the holiday season… but in our screen-dominated world, how many of us can say that’s still true? Our devices are purposefully designed to monopolize our attention and make themselves hard to put down. So even though we know that spending too much time staring at screens is …
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‘Tis the season for giving and…forgiving. But while forgiveness is something to which we often aspire, it can be harder than it seems at times. It's human to feel the tension between the urge for revenge and the intent to forgive, especially when the hurt or betrayal is great. That tension shows up in many religions too, though forgiveness usually …
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Join us for the very first How God Works live event this Wednesday, December 7th at 7:30pm, at The Greene Space in New York. For tickets and more information, click here. If you can’t make it in person, not to worry, we’ll be livestreaming the event here.द्वारा PRX
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Work is becoming a “religion” for many people these days. It’s worship of the efficient, productive, and almighty dollar. But that doesn’t make people very happy. And organizations filled with miserable employees aren’t ideal for making the world a better place either. Can anything be done to fix it? We’ll talk to Sacred Design Lab co-founder Angie…
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Can you pray with a robot? Will people worship AI like a god? It's not science fiction. It's starting to happen now. But what does it mean if robots become priests, or AIs start offering ethical advice? And how do we know when to trust them? We’ll talk to MIT social roboticist Cynthia Breazeal about how technology can manipulate our minds and emoti…
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Have you ever heard a voice, seen an image, or felt a presence around you that you couldn’t explain? If you have, you’re not alone. More people than you might think report having these kinds of experiences. For some, it can be easy to write these off as tricks of the mind. But for others, especially the religious and spiritually-inclined, these eve…
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Join us for the very first How God Works live event on Wednesday, December 7 at The Greene Space in New York. For tickets and more information, click here. If you can’t make it in person, not to worry: we’ll be livestreaming the event too.द्वारा PRX
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1
Is Burning Man a Party or a Pilgrimage?
37:43
37:43
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
पसंद
पसंद
37:43
Every year, thousands of people head to Nevada's Black Rock Desert for a week at Burning Man. And while from the outside, it might seem like a place for partying, drugs, and debauchery, to many, it offers something deeper, even life changing. We’ll ask neuroscientist Molly Crockett and Episcopal minister Alex Leach, both burners themselves: Is Burn…
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continue reading
How God Works will be back with Season 3 starting October 16th! This season we’ll continue to explore some of life’s deepest questions through science and spirituality. But we’ll also have another big question in mind - What comes next?द्वारा PRX
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Death: Embracing the Last Transition
32:56
32:56
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
पसंद
पसंद
32:56
As a society that fears death, we tend to avoid the subject. But the key to having a positive end-of-life experience might come in doing just the opposite. On this episode, we’ll hear from philosopher Simon Critchley, Boston-area chaplains Ruth Delfiner, Sarah Byrne-Martelli, and Maude Quinn, and Threshold Choir singer Leigh Davis about what makes …
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