Why Adam is crucial to Christian theology ... What happens when the Biblical Adam encounters modern genetics ... The “slippery slope” of critical inquiry ... What do you need to believe to be a Christian? ... Trying to reconcile God as Creator with natural selection ... Evolutionary psychology and the doctrine of original sin ...

Paul is pro-“compassion” but anti-“empathy" ... Different types of empathy: emotional vs. cognitive ... Two examples of the damage done by empathy ... The myth of pure evil ... Are humans naturally moral? ... The unconscious biases that inform our sense of justice ...

Michelle's new book, The Goddess Pose ... Is yoga more than just exercise? ... Indra Devi, the woman who helped bring yoga to the West ... The amazing story of the spiritual teacher Krishnamurti ... How yoga was cannily pitched to mid-century America ... Yoga's weird sort of non-attachment ...

The science behind meditation ... When meditation brings on the "dark night of the soul" ... Why meditation produces varying results ... When meditation was exported to the West ... The trouble with the "assembly line" approach to meditation ... Does meditation dull the activist spirit? ...

How understanding evolution can improve the real world ... Is human nature mismatched to the modern environment? ... Why we believe kooky things ... "Meaning systems”—religious or secular, everyone’s got one ... Can science and religion form a unified meaning system? ... David’s latest book, Does Altruism Exist? ...

Can you have religion without belief? ... Bob tries to convince Judith that she's not an atheist ... Judith: The Torah is true in the way that fairy tales are true ... Why "purpose" isn't talked about much in Judaism ... A Jew can't run away from being a Jew ... How atheists can create community traditions ...

Sheldon's roots in psychology ... Ernest Becker and the meaning of mortality ... Terror and death as motivating forces in life ... Studying death rituals around the world ... What happens when we're reminded of death ... Is there a path to eternity—or at least sanity? ...

Defining moral realism—it's harder than you'd think! ... Why Massimo is not a moral realist ... Are utilitarians moral realists? Are Kantians? ... Why we'll never arrive at a single ethical theory ... Human nature and why there's no Marxist utopia ... What happens to those who refuse to play the "moral game"? ...

Was Spinoza spiritual but not religious? ... Why Rebecca left Orthodox Judaism for atheism ... Transcendent experiences within a materialist universe ... Is science displacing philosophy? ... Finding Plato's mysticism ... Rebecca: In moments of despair, I turn to Spinoza ...

Joel wrassles with mortality ... Bob reflects on his two-week silent meditation retreat ... The existential angst of a broken iPhone ... Meditation and a toothache ... What gives Joel's life meaning ... All about MeaningofLife.tv! ...