James and Barry have words about what unbelievers really believe. Tara Isabella Burton has written a stimulating book called Strange Rites about people in the States who identify as "spiritual but not religious". She argues that America is not "secular" at all, but "spiritually self-focused".

Does that explain why people currently seem so willing to believe in phenomena such as ghosts, UFOs, and all things "woooooo"? And does it explain why the hyper-rational arguments of the new atheists seem not to have won the day?

Review of Strange Rites: https://www.solas-cpc.org/book-review-strange-rites-new-religions-for-a-godless-world/

Article by Tara Isabella Burton about post-rationalists: https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/rational-magic

Uncanny radio show: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m0010x7c

Guardian article on the growth of religious belief in recent years: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/aug/27/religion-why-is-faith-growing-and-what-happens-next

Terrifying AI generated woman, LOAB: https://techcrunch.com/2022/09/13/loab-ai-generated-horror/

Paul Kingsnorth's spooky article on AI, The Universal: https://paulkingsnorth.substack.com/p/the-universal

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