Seth Andrews is a broadcaster, storyteller, author, activist, and public speaker best known as host of the popular website, podcast, and online community, The Thinking Atheist.

Members of the LGBTQ+ community are frequently socialized in the context of “hard.” A copious amount of time is spent discussing how we face disproportionate levels of discrimination, higher rates of mental health challenges, and other hardships. However, we are more than the hurdles we face. Ky Miller will lead us through an exploratory celebration of queer culture, allowing us to connect with what is actually a really fascinating – and fun – culture. We will spend intentional time dedicated to honoring the sacred and transformational magic that is experienced in connecting with ourselves authentically and expand our perspective of Revolutionary Queer Joy as a fundamental component of liberation.

Missouri, like most states in the center of the U.S., has no extant tribes like some other states have. Therefore, the knowledge of either the history of Natives or the experience of contemporary Native Americans is one step further removed from people’s consciousness. Using startling facts as stepping stones to fascinating and forgotten stories, this presentation starts to remedy this phenomenon.

As an analogue to our special Mother’s Day Platform last month, please join us for a special Father’s Day Platform. We will engage with reflections on themes of “fatherhood,” both what it is and what it could be: protection, wisdom, tenderness, strength. Interim Director Amy L. Miller will present a short talk while our musical guest will reflect musically on the theme.

Is Diet Culture actually a cult? And are most Americans signing on for an accidental membership in the cult? Is it possible that the majority of us have been indoctrinated with the powerful propaganda of this 90 billion dollar a year industry and we have little awareness that the same tactics used by high-control religious organizations and cults are employed in the ways that we engage with food and our bodies? In this conversation, we will examine the classic components of cults and how these same methodologies are used to keep the American populace engaged in Diet Culture.

This presentation is driven by the necessity to seize the moment. The formula for flight is speed + thrust + lift – drag = Flight! Our region will never reach its full capacity unless we can mitigate the economic drag that plagues our Black and brown communities. That economic drag was caused by generations of (conscious and unconscious) disinvestment in these communities. In order to grow this region robustly and equitably, we must reinvest in those communities.

Interim Director Amy L. Miller presents a special Platform honoring the values of unconditional positive regard, nurturing, love, and protection that are associated with the “mother,” (while leaving space for those who have complicated feelings about Mother’s Day).

Facts, myths, and opportunities related to Earth’s climate and our species include key concepts of weather and climate, greenhouse gases, carbon footprints and policy options. St. Louis enviro-educator Green Jean Ponzi weaves these threads with perspective on human patterns and impacts toward finding paths to just, responsible action. Local examples offer courage to engage and persist in change-making.

Contrary to common belief, the conflict in Palestine is not ancient nor is it religious. Rather, it’s the result of Western empires intervening to facilitate a settler colonial project in the Holy Land over the last 100 years. This talk will discuss the history of settler colonialism, what it looks like, and why it’s relevant when discussing Palestine today.

An overview of psychedelic pharmacology and then a look into the clinical and neuroscientific data that have led to growing interest in psychedelics and psychedelic-assisted therapy.” Dr. Siegel will present the risks and challenges of psychedelics for treatment in mood and addiction disorders, and consider what impacts these treatments may have on the mental health system.