Inspiring Naturalism podcast

Loyal Rue, Michael Dowd, and Connie Barlow gather outdoors at Loyal's cabin in Iowa to share what too few are willing to discuss: a worldview shift that precludes the possibility of a bright future for our civilization. They begin with readings from "Dark Mountain Manifesto", then pose and challenge one another's ideas for how to speak to young people about the future. Watch this conversation in VIDEO format on youtube.

Theme song "Poetry of Reality" courtesy Symphony of Science.

Loyal Rue, professor emeritus of Luther College in Decorah Iowa, published his third book in 2000 titled, Everybody's Story: Wising Up to the Epic of Evolution. In August 2014, Connie Barlow and Michael Dowd conversed with Loyal about this book: how it is that the global scientific enterprise of science has given us a universally produced and evidentially based story that is not only meaningful but adaptive for these times. View the interview in VIDEO format on youtube: Loyal Rue pt 3: "Everybody's Story" 

Theme song "Poetry of Reality" courtesy Symphony of Science.

Loyal Rue, professor emeritus of Luther College in Decorah Iowa, published his second book, By the Grace of Guile: The Role of Deception in Natural History and Human Affairs, in 1994. In August 2014, Connie Barlow and Michael Dowd conversed with Loyal about this book. This is the second episode in what will become a 5-part series in the "Inspiring Naturalism" podcast. View this interview in VIDEO format on youtube: Loyal Rue pt 2: By the Grace of Guile.

Theme song "Poetry of Reality" courtesy Symphony of Science.

Loyal Rue, professor emeritus of Luther College in Decorah Iowa, wrote his first book, Amythia, in 1989. In August 2014, Connie Barlow and Michael Dowd conversed with Loyal about his book and the malady of modernism, amythia. View the interview in VIDEO format on youtube: Loyal Rue pt 1: "Amythia" (interviewed by Barlow and Dowd).

Theme song "Poetry of Reality" courtesy Symphony of Science.

Jan Dash introduces the Climate Portal, for which he is the Managing Editor. The portal is part of the Climate Initiative of the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office in New York City. The Climate Portal is a massive aggregator linking to reliable information online regarding the science, politics, finance, economics, human and environmental impacts, social costs, and ethics of climate change, along with what we can do and why responsible climate risk management is vital.

Theme song "Poetry of Reality" courtesy Symphony of Science.

Chris Henderson is one of Canada's foremost thinkers on innovation in the areas of business, cleantech, renewable energy, and corporate sustainability. His 2013 book, Aboriginal Power: Clean Energy and the Future of Canada's First Peoples is the topic of this conversation with Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow. Other websites he speaks of are: Excel Partnership, 1000 Solar Rooftops, and 3iSummit: Collaborating for Action in Ottawa. A Canadian television station recorded a superb interview with him on his work with in helping aboriginal communities develop renewable energy sources, available online as video.

Theme song "Poetry of Reality" courtesy Symphony of Science.

Jonathan Haidt is the author of the best-selling The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. A moral psychologist now at The Stern School of Business at New York University, Prof. Haidt writes, "My research in recent years focused on the moral foundations of politics, and on ways to transcend the "culture wars" by using recent discoveries in moral psychology to foster more civil forms of politics." A recent TED Talk of his is called, "How Common Threats Can Make Common (Political) Ground". 

Theme song "Poetry of Reality" courtesy Symphony of Science.

In this episode we dig beneath the evidence and ideas that support a modern, naturalistic perspective and seek out the patterns and emphases that propel concepts into the realm of inspiring. Our guide is Jonah Sachs, author of Winning the Story Wars: Why Those Who Tell (and Live) the Best Stories Will Rule the Future (2012, Harvard Business Review). As the co-founder and creative director of Free Range Studios, Jonah has helped hundreds of social brands and causes create breakthrough campaigns. His work on legendary viral videos like The Meatrix and The Story of Stuff series have brought key social issues to the attention of more than 60 million people. We have entered "the Digitoral Era", Jonah suggests, in which the best of the oral traditions that supported our ancestors return, thanks to leading edge opportunities of the digital landscape.

Theme song "Poetry of Reality" courtesy Symphony of Science.

Tom Clark, philosophical naturalist and consultant, is creator of naturalism.org, founder and director of the Center for Naturalism, author of Encountering Naturalism: A Worldview and Its Uses, and former host of the Philosophy Café at Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, MA. In this conversation, host Michael Dowd invites his guest to compare and constrast their understandings of worldview naturalism, how it applies to the subjective experience of freewill, meaningful interpretations of life, and why it is very helpful for those yearning to overcome addictions.

Theme song "Poetry of Reality" courtesy Symphony of Science.

Deirdre Barrett is a psychologist who conducts research at Harvard Medical School. Her 2010 book, Supernormal Stimuli: How Primal Urges Overran Their Evolutionary Purpose, is the subject of this interview. Here she explores the practical implications of evolutionary psychology for helping us all thrive in our modern world -- despite the Stone-Age instincts we still carry.

Theme song "Poetry of Reality" courtesy Symphony of Science.