If you want to grow spiritually, should you go to a monastery and withdraw from the world, or look for greater meaning, connection, and purpose in the loud messiness of life?  In other words, do you heal the world by working in it or praying for it? Philosophers and spiritual thinkers have debated it for centuries, but perhaps finding the right balance is the answer. 

On this episode of How God Works, we’ll talk with journalist Sigal Samuel, about the centuries old debate over the spiritual life and how best to pursue it - through contemplation or activity. We’ll also talk with Father Greg Boyle, a Jesuit priest and founder of the world's largest gang intervention, rehabilitation and prison reentry programs about how he finds a balance between an inner- and outer-focused life. 

Sigal Samuel is a Senior Reporter at Vox and Co-Host of Vox’s Future Perfect podcast, she also writes the advice column Your Mileage May Vary, which offers a framework for thinking through your ethical dilemmas and philosophical questions. Feel free to send Sigal your questions! And to learn more about her other work, check out her website.

Father Greg Boyle is a Jesuit priest and the founder of Homeboy Industries. Learn about their work here. 

We say friends are what make life worth living. But if that’s true, why are so many of us struggling to find and keep them these days? And what can we do to cultivate better friendships?

Join us as we talk to psychiatrist  Robert Waldinger about the importance of friendship to our health and happiness, and to philosopher Samuel Kimbriel about the keys to forming meaningful friendships and the helpful advice spiritual traditions offer. Along the way, we’ll also ask what it means to be a good friend… and what that means for society as a whole. 

Robert Waldinger is Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development and co-author, with Marc Schulz, of The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness. Learn more about his work at his website, and about his practice as a Zen priest with the Henry David Thoreau Sangha here. 

Samuel Kimbriel is Founding Director of the Aspen Institute’s Philosophy & Society Initiative and author of the book Friendship as Sacred Knowing: Overcoming Isolation. He is also Editor-at-Large at Wisdom of Crowds. 

Join us for Season 9 of How God Works, starting next week!

We will be back with a whole new season of How God Works on October 5th. In the meantime, we wanted to share some of our favorite episodes from the archives. 

A majority of people in the US believe that faith can heal. And while there isn’t any strong scientific data backing the idea of faith healing by divine intervention, there is a growing recognition that faith in the power of a person, religious ritual, or even medicine to heal can play a role in recovery via the placebo effect. Join Dave and his guests science writer Erik Vance and health psychologist Alia Crum to explore the surprising ways belief in placebos can heal, and how, if you’ve ever taken a medication, it’s already worked to your benefit.

We'll be back with a whole new season of How God Works on October 5th. But in the meantime, we wanted to share some of our favorite episodes from the archives.

Data shows that for many people, happiness takes a big dip around 50. But aging doesn’t have to be a crisis if we can figure out how to embrace who we’re becoming rather than hanging on to who we used to be. If done right, midlife can actually be a time of deepening joy and satisfaction. Join Dave as he talks to The Atlantic columnist Arthur C. Brooks and Swami Tyagananda, head of Boston’s Vedanta Society, about how to move into the second half of our life with grace.

To find out more about Swami Tyagananda, visit the Vedanta Society’s website. Click here to buy Arthur Brooks’s book From Strength to Strength and learn about his podcast and other writings.

How God Works will be back with all new episodes this fall. In the meantime, we're taking the opportunity to share episodes from some of our favorite shows with you, our listeners. Today, we're excited to feature an episode from our friends at The Science of Happiness podcast, hosted by Dacher Keltner.

Summary: We investigate how Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead,  rituals strengthen family ties and cultural identity, and learn about its evolution from a 3,000 year old practice to a global celebration. We look at key elements like the ofrenda and explore how commercialization—like Mattel’s Day of the Dead Barbie—raises questions about balancing tradition with modern influences. 

Transcript link.

How God Works will be back with all new episodes this fall. In the meantime, we're taking the opportunity to share episodes from some of our favorite shows with you, our listeners. Today, we're excited to feature a conversation from the podcast Kelly Corrigan Wonders, featuring Rainn Wilson, creator of the book and podcast Soul Boom. 

"Going Deep with Rainn Wilson on Spirituality"

Rainn Wilson (who you might know as Dwight Schrute) is making a serious call for a spiritual revolution based on joy, acts of service and being honest about our mixed natures. This is a conversation to share with anyone who is thinking seriously about how to elevate matters of the soul over the clang and bang of the modern world. Or maybe just someone who needs a laugh. (Previously aired)  

Special thanks to the Aspen Ideas Festival where this podcast was recorded.

As more Americans move away from organized religion, the moral and emotional needs once met by faith communities remain. What can secular society borrow from spiritual traditions — ritual, meaning, belonging and moral imagination — to nourish the human spirit and strengthen our shared civic life? In this conversation, recorded live at the 2025 Aspen Ideas Festival, Dave explores how sacred wisdom can still guide character, compassion, and community in a post-religious age with Krista Tippett, Father Greg Boyle, and Rabbi Shira Stutman.

Krista Tippet is the creator and host of the award winning podcast On Being and an awardee of the National Humanities medal. 

Father Greg Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries, a gang intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program in Los Angeles and author of the New York Times bestseller, Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion. 

Rabbi Shira Stutman is the founder of Mixed Multitudes, an organization that exposes diverse groups of Jews and fellow travelers to Jewish life, tradition, and conversation, and author of the acclaimed book The Jewish Way to a Good Life.

The spiritual practice of speaking in tongues –a form of communication with the divine through speaking words in an unknown or unrecognizable language– has invited a lot of speculation and skepticism over the years. To many, it seems like the stuff of horror movies, or old-timey religious revivals. But charismatic Christianity, for which speaking in tongues is a central practice, is one of the fastest growing Christian movements in modern history.  So why has it not only persisted, but recently gained momentum? What exactly is happening to the mind and body when people engage in this practice? 

We’ll talk to anthropologist Josh Brahinsky about his years researching people taking part in this practice, why it’s far less rare and extreme than many people think, and how neuroscience is showing real changes in the brain that point to tongues as an effective method of prayer and even mindfulness. We’ll also talk to Shavon Gartrell about what it feels like to let go, drop in and give her tongue to God.

Josh Brahinski has been studying charismatic communities for two decades. Find out about his forthcoming book Tongues of Fire: How Charismatic Prayer Changes Brains And Inspires Spirit-Filled Activism here, and read his academic publications here. 

Shavon Gartrell is a youth pastor at Glad Tidings Church in San Francisco.

What is prayer? And why do it? People pray for all kinds of reasons, and in all kinds of ways: alone, together, aloud, in silence, from memory, or from instinct. But whatever form it takes, there’s a reason prayer has been part of just about every spiritual tradition out there: its effects run deep. 

On this episode, we’re digging into the science and spirit of prayer. We’ll talk to neuroscientist Andrew Newberg about what prayer does to our minds and bodies, and how it helps shape us as people. And friend of the show Rabbi Shira Stutman will return to explore how people can find meaning, connection and growth through intentional practice, whatever their beliefs may be.

Andrew Newberg is the director of research at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health and a physician at Jefferson University Hospital. He is the author of several books on the neuroscience of spirituality, including How God Changes Your Brain and The Rabbi’s Brain. Find out more about his work on his website.

Shira Stutman is a nationally known faith-based leader and changemaker, currently serving as Senior Rabbi at Aspen Jewish Congregation. She is also co-host of the podcast Chutzpod and author of the book The Jewish Way to a Good Life: Find Happiness, Build Community, and Embrace Lovingkindness.