Spirituality Episodes

This week’s episode highlights the relationship between religion, faith, and human flourishing. Our conversation today is with Steven Croft, Bishop of Oxford, Church of England, for whom a belief in God and faith and human flourishing — both individual and societal — are inextricably linked. Hear why he says faith is a bridge to human flourishing, and how a society's health is tied to how it cares for its most vulnerable people. More about this episode Read the transcript of this episode Sub...

This week we hear from Dr. Agnes Kalibata, a Rwandan agricultural scientist and policymaker. Dr. Kalibata draws on her personal history growing up in a refugee camp to shape her work as both UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy focusing on international food systems and the president of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. This leader uniquely offers her deep personal understanding of how communities and individuals can flourish when two of their essential needs — nourishing food and q...

This week we bring you a conversation with Dr. Angela Duckworth, pioneering professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and the CEO of Character Lab, a nonprofit that advances science to help children thrive. She was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2013, and in 2016 published Grit, a book that explores what elements lead to success. She makes the case that achievement is not dependent on genius, but instead, on The Power of Passion and Perseverance: grit. Dr. Duckworth believes that gr...

Our guest today is Dr. Deepak Chopra, founder of The Chopra Foundation, a non-profit entity for research on well-being and humanitarianism, and Chopra Global, a modern-day health company at the intersection of science and spirituality. He is a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation, and the author of over 90 books translated into over forty languages. In addition to holding a number of positions at medical schools across the US, Dr. Chopra has been at the fore...

Today’s guest is international superstar dancer/choreographer Judith Jamison. In 1964, at just 21 years old, Jamison made her dance debut in New York with the American Ballet Theater. She soon joined the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, eventually becoming the company’s principal dancer, then its artistic director, and, since 2011, she’s been artistic director emerita. Jamison shares her insights into the power of dance to facilitate connections between audience and performer that encourage b...

In today’s episode, we delve into how humans flourish through music and listening – and what music and listening teach us about ourselves – with internationally acclaimed musician, composer, and bandleader Wynton Marsalis. At the age of 60, after a long, international career, Marsalis identifies not only as a solo artist and a group leader, but as an educator and a leading advocate of American culture. Learn more: Wynton Marsalis Catch the video edition of this episode here: Adversity...

Today, we hear about human happiness from two of the world’s foremost researchers on the subject: Dr. Laurie Santos and Dr. Arthur Brooks. Each of the researchers shares what they see as the ingredients to a flourishing life. Santos and Brooks agree that a sense of meaning and purpose is essential to human happiness. Neither Brooks nor Santos ties happiness and flourishing to material comfort or to personal achievement. Rather, they emphasize that the investment we make in relationships with oth...

Today, we’re delving into a discussion with Casper ter Kuile and Reverend Sue Phillips, two of the co-founders of Sacred Design Lab, which describes itself as a “soul-centered research and development lab.” If you’re thinking, “Wait, how can you do R&D on the soul?!”, you’ll want to hear what ter Kuile and Rev. Phillips have to say about how spiritual practice shapes our lives. Rev. Sue Phillips is a graduate of Colgate University and the Episcopal Divinity School, and she has served as a Min...

Today we hear from Dr. Arthur C. Brooks, Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School and Professor of Management Practice at the Harvard Business School. In this fascinating interview, Dr. Brooks considers the question "can capitalism and spirit work together for good?" and discusses democratic capitalism, why the bottom 30% — those historically shut out of economic opportunity in the United States — are our country’s greatest untapped assets, and the gift of a p...

In this episode, we hear from Dr. Andrew Briggs, a professor of nanomaterials at the University of Oxford, and Dr. Dominic Burbidge, a lecturer in politics at the University of Oxford and director of the Canterbury Institute. Along with a team of scholars, their study of citizenship in a networked age has led to a carefully crafted report and a new vision for civic life, including seven recommendations in support of their Agenda for Rebuilding Our Civic Ideals. Learn more about Citizenship in...

In this episode, host Richard Sergay speaks to Joseph Bulbulia, professor at the University of Auckland and the MacLaurin Goodfellow Chair in Theological and Religious Studies. Professor Bulbulia discusses how religious interaction, worship, and teaching come together in different ways to facilitate group cooperation, and what we can learn from that to support us during the pandemic. It's all about how spirituality and belonging in crisis situations can help. This is the fourth episode in a s...

Host Richard Sergay speaks to Athena Aktipis, co-director of the Human Generosity Project, about the current results of her study of cooperation during the COVID-19 pandemic and how cooperation emerges in crisis. Professor Aktipis discusses the insights both past and current research offer about the extent and the limits of human generosity during catastrophic events. This is the third episode in a special, five-part Covid-19 conversation series. Learn more about Athena Aktipis and The Hum...