Beauty At Work

A discussion at the New York Encounter 2025 on the role of wonder in scientific research with Martin Nowak, Professor of Mathematics and Biology, Harvard University, and Rob Phillips, Professor of Biophysics, Biology, and Physics at the California Institute of Technology, moderated by Evelyn Tang, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University It has become increasingly difficult to...

How do you find true love—within yourself and in your relationships? To answer this question, we’re joined by Francesca Hogi, a love coach, TED speaker, and host of the Dear Franny Podcast . Francesca’s journey from corporate lawyer to internationally recognized dating and relationships expert is nothing short of inspiring. With her upcoming book, How to Find True Love , releasing in April 2025, F...

How do you find true love—within yourself and in your relationships? In this Valentine’s Day episode, we’re joined by Francesca Hogi, a love coach, TED speaker, and host of the Dear Franny Podcast . Francesca’s journey from corporate lawyer to internationally recognized dating and relationships expert is nothing short of inspiring. With her upcoming book, How to Find True Love , releasing in April...

How do we foster healing in communities impacted by trauma? And how can leaders and educators adopt a healing-centered approach to their work?   In this episode, we’re joined by Deepa Gulrukh Patel, a creative facilitator blending arts, sciences, and social justice. Her work spans refugee camps, cultural diversity, bereavement support, and contemplative education, collaborating with organizations...

How do we foster healing in communities impacted by trauma? And how can leaders and educators adopt a healing-centered approach to their work?   In this episode, we’re joined by Deepa Gulrukh Patel, a creative facilitator blending arts, sciences, and social justice. Her work spans refugee camps, cultural diversity, bereavement support, and contemplative education, collaborating with organizations...

What are the barriers to pursuing our spiritual yearnings in a disenchanted age?  Dr. Galen Watts addresses this question in this final presentation from our international symposium held at McGill University in November 2024. Galen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Legal Studies at the University of Waterloo. His research focuses on cultural and institutional change in l...

This episode is the sixth presentation in our series from the international symposium on Spiritual Yearning in a Disenchanted Age.  Dr. William Barbieri teaches in the Religion and Culture and Moral Theology/Ethics programs in the School of Theology and Religious Studies and directs the Peace and Justice Studies Program at The Catholic University of America. He is also a fellow of the Institute fo...

The Lost Word: Magic, Reality-Creation, and the Pursuit of God’s Language This is the fifth presentation from our international symposium on Spiritual Yearning in a Disenchanted Age, held at McGill University in November 2024. Dr. Tara Isabella Burton is the author of the novels Social Creature, The World Cannot Give, and Here in Avalon, as well as the nonfiction books Strange Rites: New Religions...

Is science a path to cosmic connection?  In this fourth episode of our series from the November 2024 symposium on Spiritual Yearning in a Disenchanted Age held at McGill University, I share results of an ongoing study on Meaning and Mystery in Science, which explores the spiritual experiences of non-religious scientists, and how the practice of science might evoke awe, wonder, and a sense of the t...

In this presentation, Prof. Robert Gilbert, Professor of Biophysics in the Nuffield Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford, explain how science, for the scientist, is a source of enchantment. Prof. Gilbert and his team work on molecular mechanisms underlying pathology in humans, specifically cancer and membrane pore formation and cell adhesion. Their work is funded by Cancer Research U...

Naomi Fisher is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Loyola University Chicago. She earned her Ph. D in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame in 2016, and prior to that earned her M.S. in physics from UC Davis. Her research focuses on Kant and German Idealism and Romanticism, specifically the relationship between nature, freedom, and rationality in Kant and Schelling. Currently, she is work...

This episode is the first of a series of presentations from an International Symposium on “Spiritual Yearning in a Disenchanted Age” held at McGill University in Montreal in November 2024. In this first episode, Dr. Charles Taylor, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at McGill University, shares the motivations and long history behind his new book Cosmic Connections: Poetry in the Age of Disenchantme...

This episode is the second part of my conversation with Dr. Francis Collins, a pioneer physician-scientist who led the Human Genome Project and has been director of the National Institutes of Health during the tenures of three U.S. presidents.  Dr. Collins shares insights from his impressive career: from the discovery of genes linked to many diseases to addressing public health challenges during t...

Can science, beauty, and faith converge in our quest for truth? Joining us to discuss this topic is Dr. Francis Collins: a pioneer physician-scientist who led the Human Genome Project and has been director of the National Institutes of Health during the tenures of three U.S. presidents. Dr. Collins shares insights from his impressive career: from the discovery of genes linked to many diseases to a...

Human beings are meaning-seeking creatures. This search is at the heart of religions all around the world. Over the past century or so, however, religion, especially in the West, has been in decline, and many commentators have marked the rise of the “nones” and “dones”--those who have no religious affiliation and those who have abandoned religion with no intention to return. What factors are behin...

Human beings are meaning-seeking creatures. This search is at the heart of religions all around the world. Over the past century or so, however, religion, especially in the West, has been in decline, and many commentators have marked the rise of the “nones” and “dones”--those who have no religious affiliation and those who have abandoned religion with no intention to return. What factors are behin...

This episode is the second part of the conversation between Brandon Vaidyanathan and Robert Lawrence Kuhn. Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn is the creator, writer, host and executive producer of Closer To Truth, the long-running PBS/public television series and leading global resource on Cosmos (cosmology/physics, philosophy of science), Life (philosophy of biology), Mind (consciousness, brain/mind, philo...

What does it look like to live a life in pursuit of understanding? Our guest today exemplifies this quest across a wide range of domains.  Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn is the creator, writer, host and executive producer of Closer To Truth, the long-running PBS/public television series and leading global resource on Cosmos (cosmology/physics, philosophy of science), Life (philosophy of biology), Mind (...

Maggie Jackson is an award-winning author and journalist with a global reach. Her new book, Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure , explores why we should seek not-knowing in this era of angst and flux. Nominated for a National Book Award and named to multiple “Best Books of 2023” lists, Uncertain is an official selection of the Next Big Idea Club curated by Malcolm Gladwell, Dan Pink,...

Maggie Jackson is an award-winning author and journalist with a global reach. Her new book, Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure , explores why we should seek not-knowing in this era of angst and flux. Nominated for a National Book Award and named to multiple “Best Books of 2023” lists, Uncertain is an official selection of the Next Big Idea Club curated by Malcolm Gladwell, Dan Pink,...

Daniel McInerny is associate professor and chair of the philosophy department at Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia. He is also a novelist and dramatist. As a scholar, Daniel is foremost interested in reactivating an Aristotelian understanding of mimetic art, long out of favor among philosophers. His latest book is Beauty and Imitation: A Philosophical Reflection on the Arts. At Christen...

How is art relevant to our yearning for flourishing? In this episode, I interview philosopher Daniel McInerny about his new book, Beauty and Imitation. Dr. Daniel McInerny is associate professor and chair of the philosophy department at Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia. He is also a novelist and dramatist. As a scholar, Daniel is foremost interested in reactivating an Aristotelian unde...

In this episode, sociologist Brandon Vaidyanathan interviews MIT Physicist Dr. Alan Lightman about his spiritual materialism. Alan Lightman is an American physicist, writer, and social entrepreneur. He holds a PhD in physics from Caltech. He has served on the faculties of Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and was the first person at MIT to receive dual faculty appointment...

In this episode, sociologist Brandon Vaidyanathan interviews MIT Physicist Dr. Alan Lightman about his spiritual materialism. Alan Lightman is an American physicist, writer, and social entrepreneur. He holds a PhD in physics from Caltech. He has served on the faculties of Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and was the first person at MIT to receive dual faculty appointment...

Elizabeth Oldfield is the author of Fully Alive: Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times . She has spent her career trying to lever open space for deeper conversations - about what it means to be a human being, where we can find wisdom and how we build a society where we hate each other a little less. She has worked at BBC Radio 4, led a Westminster think tank, and is now the host of The Sacred pod...