Beauty At Work

This is the closing panel of our international symposium "Can beauty save the world?" held at McGill University, Oct 24-25, 2025, and focuses on ritual and spirit in the age of disenchantment. We open with a song from singer-songwriter Tiffany Thompson. Ayodeji Ogunnaike (McGill), Julian Carrón (Sacro Cuore, Milan), Matt Miller (Dzeici Theater), and Mauro Magatti (Sacro Cuore, Milan) cal...

This is a panel on the transformative power of art and architecture as part of the international symposium "Can beauty save the world?" held at McGill University, Oct 24-25, 2025. The session begins with poetry from Olivia Wood, who moderated the panel. Anjan Chatterjee (University of Pennsylvania) examined our vocabularies to express aesthetic experience and the relationship between tra...

In this panel during the international symposium "Can beauty save the world?" held at McGill University, Oct 24-25 2025, Jean-Sébastien Vallée (McGill), Katie Bank (Birmingham), Rebekah Wallace (Oxford), Ian Corbin (Harvard), and Jonathan Berger (Stanford) explored the transformative power of music. The panel was moderated by Stephen Bullivant (St. Mary's London). We began with a pe...

This is the opening panel for the international symposium "Can beauty save the world?" held at McGill University, Montreal, Oct 24-25, 2025. We begin with introductions from Dan Cere (McGill), Brandon Vaidyanathan (Catholic University of America), Charles Taylor (McGill), and Tara Isabella Burton (Catholic University of America), followed by a panel discussion between Sean Kelly (Harvard...

Helen and Dave Edwards are co-founders of the Artificiality Institute, a nonprofit research organization that helps people stay human in the age of AI. They explore how AI changes the way we think, who we become, and what it means to be human. Through story-based research, education, and community, they help people choose the relationship they want with machines, so they remain the authors of thei...

Artificial intelligence is not only changing what we can do, but may be changing how we think. As AI systems increasingly participate in writing, reasoning, and decision-making, it becomes more urgent to ask what it means to retain human agency and ensure we're not losing our fundamental capabilities. My guests today, Helen and Dave Edwards, have been working seriously on this question. Helen...

Dr. Marco Ventura is Professor of Law and Religion and Religious Diplomacy at the University of Siena in Italy. Trained in bioethics and biolaw at the University of Strasbourg, he has advised the European Parliament, the OSCE, and various governments on the intersection of religion and rights. He directed the Center for Religious Studies at the Fondazione Bruno Kessler in Trento and chairs the G20...

Dr. Marco Ventura is Professor of Law and Religion and Religious Diplomacy at the University of Siena in Italy. Trained in bioethics and biolaw at the University of Strasbourg, he has advised the European Parliament, the OSCE, and various governments on the intersection of religion and rights. He directed the Center for Religious Studies at the Fondazione Bruno Kessler in Trento and chairs the G20...

Dr. Allison Pugh is Professor of Sociology at Johns Hopkins University and author of The Last Human Job, winner of the 2025 Best Book Award from the American Sociological Association. Her work examines how automation, efficiency, and quantification reshape work that relies on presence, dignity, and visibility. She introduces the concept of connective labor—the mutual, human work of recognizing ano...

Dr. Allison Pugh is Professor of Sociology at Johns Hopkins University and author of The Last Human Job, winner of the 2025 Best Book Award from the American Sociological Association. Her work examines how automation, efficiency, and quantification reshape work that relies on presence, dignity, and visibility. She introduces the concept of connective labor—the mutual, human work of recognizing ano...

What does innovation look like in the field of spiritual care, when fewer people belong to congregations, yet more people still need meaning, accompaniment, and spiritual support? My two guests today have been researching this question extensively. Wendy Cadge is President of Bryn Mawr College and a nationally renowned sociologist of religion and spirituality. She is the founder of the Chaplaincy...

What does innovation look like in the field of spiritual care, when fewer people belong to congregations, yet more people still need meaning, accompaniment, and spiritual support? My two guests today have been researching this question extensively. Wendy Cadge is President of Bryn Mawr College and a nationally renowned sociologist of religion and spirituality. She is the founder of the Chaplaincy...

Scott D. Anthony is a globally recognized expert on navigating disruptive change and a passionate optimist about humanity’s capacity to adapt in a constantly evolving world. He is a Clinical Professor of Strategy at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, where he teaches courses on leading disruptive change, horizon scanning, and AI-enabled decision-making. Scott’s work builds on more than two decad...

Scott D. Anthony is a globally recognized expert on navigating disruptive change and a passionate optimist about humanity’s capacity to adapt in a constantly evolving world. He is a Clinical Professor of Strategy at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, where he teaches courses on leading disruptive change, horizon scanning, and AI-enabled decision-making. Scott’s work builds on more than two decad...

Jaron Lanier, E. Glen Weyl, and Taylor Black join Beauty at Work for a wide-ranging conversation on artificial intelligence, innovation, and the deeper questions of meaning, faith, and human flourishing that surround emerging technologies. Jaron Lanier coined the terms Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality and is widely regarded as a founding figure of the field. He has served as a leading critic of d...

Jaron Lanier, E. Glen Weyl, and Taylor Black join Beauty at Work for a wide-ranging conversation on artificial intelligence, innovation, and the deeper questions of meaning, faith, and human flourishing that surround emerging technologies. Jaron Lanier coined the terms Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality and is widely regarded as a founding figure of the field. He has served as a leading critic of d...

Alan Moore is a craftsman of beautiful business. He is a business innovator, author, and global speaker whose life’s work centers on one simple but radical idea: beauty is not a luxury in business, but a necessity. He has designed everything from books to organizations, working across six continents with artists, entrepreneurs, and leadership teams. He has advised companies including PayPal, Micro...

Alan Moore is a craftsman of beautiful business. He is a business innovator, author, and global speaker whose life’s work centers on one simple but radical idea: beauty is not a luxury in business, but a necessity. He has designed everything from books to organizations, working across six continents with artists, entrepreneurs, and leadership teams. He has advised companies including PayPal, Micro...

Lisa Z. Lindahl is an award-winning inventor, artist, author, and entrepreneur best known for transforming women’s sports with her 1977 invention of the first sports bra, the Jogbra. As CEO of JBI Inc. from 1977–1992, she helped shape a global industry, earning ten patents and seeing her invention archived at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and even displayed at The Metropolita...

Lisa Z. Lindahl is an award-winning inventor, artist, author, and entrepreneur best known for transforming women’s sports with her 1977 invention of the first sports bra, the Jogbra. As CEO of JBI Inc. from 1977–1992, she helped shape a global industry, earning ten patents and seeing her invention archived at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and even displayed at The Metropolita...

John C. Havens has spent years at the heart of the global conversation on AI ethics. As the Founding Executive Director of the IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems, he led the creation of Ethically Aligned Design, a document that went on to influence the United Nations, OECD, IBM, and dozens of organizations shaping the future of AI. He also helped build the IEEE...

John C. Havens has spent years at the heart of the global conversation on AI ethics. As the Founding Executive Director of the IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems, he led the creation of Ethically Aligned Design, a document that went on to influence the United Nations, OECD, IBM, and dozens of organizations shaping the future of AI. He also helped build the IEEE...

In Episode 3 of this season, we explore the evolving landscape of spiritual innovation, what it means to design meaningful spiritual life in a rapidly changing world, with guests Casper Ter Kuile and Angie Thurston from Sacred Design Lab, a nonprofit dedicated to nurturing the future of spiritual life. Casper Ter Kuile shares insight and inspiration on the future of community, ritual, and spiritua...

In Episode 3 of this season, we explore the evolving landscape of spiritual innovation, what it means to design meaningful spiritual life in a rapidly changing world, with guests Casper Ter Kuile and Angie Thurston from Sacred Design Lab, a nonprofit dedicated to nurturing the future of spiritual life. Casper Ter Kuile shares insight and inspiration on the future of community, ritual, and spiritua...

In Episode 2 of this season, we explore the evolution of beauty (especially in birds) and the beauty of innovation, with guest Matt Ridley. Matt Ridley's books have sold over a million copies, been translated into 31 languages and won several awards. His books include The Red Queen, Genome, The Rational Optimist , The Evolution of Everything , How Innovation Works , and Viral: the search for...