As @ezraklein.bsky.social points out, all of this is an assault on hope. The point is to wear people out -- to give them a sense they have no control to stop it and thereby remove hope & the will to act. But there is a way to overcome that despair... 1/2 @nytimes.com

Why you’re wise on Tuesday and foolish on Sunday: Practising #wisdom in uncertain times - a brief sunday read & a mild rant against "one trick" gurus & substakers. theconversation.com/why-youre-wi... @theconversation.com

AI developers have been leveraging psychology to make chatbots seem like ideal social partners. But what our minds find most immediately attractive isn’t always in our long term best interest. As Samuel Kimbriel notes, philosophy can be a guide for design (or at least regulatory constraints). 1/2

For 2026, There’s a Better Way to Be Hopeful — one the world’s spiritual traditions figured out long ago. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/01/o...

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com “Our modern conception of hope is flawed,” the research psychologist David DeSteno writes. “It practically invites hopelessness when the stakes are greatest.”

Psychologists & self-help gurus advise limiting hopes to ward off despair. But that keeps us from working on big challenges. As the world’s faith traditions realized long ago, hope is about fighting the darkness daily without expecting success. @nytimes.com

For 2026, There’s a Better Way to Be Hopeful — one the world’s spiritual traditions figured out long ago. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/01/o...

“In the long run, resolutions that keep others in mind tend to have greater staying power.”-Valerie Trapp. There’s something special about making resolutions together. And what better time than now!

Dec. 31 brings up thoughts of endings, but also of renewal for the year ahead. As Dr. Kim Haines-Eitzen points out, the same is true for the ancient understanding of the apocalypse. It wasn’t the end of everything, as we think of it now, but rather a transition. www.howgodworks.org/podcast/seas...

⌛️ Two days left to double your donation to @give-directly.bsky.social for #PodsFightPoverty! Donate: givedirectly.org/pods

Why do many people think the End Times & Rapture are just around the corner? I talk with writer Dina Nayeri about what it's like to live with that expectation, and Cornell Prof. Kim Haines-Eitzen about what we get wrong about religious views of the apocalypse. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

Richard Davidson & me on The Spiritual Power of the In-Between Times (and how to find more of them). www.templeton.org/news/the-spi... @templetonfdn.bsky.social

Great piece by @davidfrenchjag.bsky.social. Religions offer a powerful technology to move hearts & minds. Whether it’s for good or for ill often depends on the motives of those wielding it. BUT, if you engage with the practices deeply, they point to compassion. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/o...

Science & religion can work together. On this episode, we look at how Tibetan Buddhist monks & American neuroscientists are working together to study lucid dreaming using a practice called dream yoga which allows control of dreams. www.howgodworks.org/podcast/seas... @mindandlife.bsky.social

Can you control your dreams? Tibetan Buddhists found a way centuries ago. I talk with neuroscientist Ken Paller (paller.bsky.social) about lucid dreaming, and with neuroscientist Robin Nusslock & Geshe Thabkhe about how monks & scientists are studying it together. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

Can you control your dreams? Tibetan Buddhists found a way centuries ago. I talk with neuroscientist Ken Paller (paller.bsky.social) about lucid dreaming, and with neuroscientist Robin Nusslock & Geshe Thabkhe about how monks & scientists are studying it together. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

New preprint: Empathy, Thick and Thin papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... It is perhaps foolhardy to attempt to say something new about a topic as widely studied as empathy. I tried anyway! 1/

Shamanism isn't just part of small faiths. As @mnvrsngh points out, you can find some elements of it in fast growing areas of Christianity too. On this week's episode of How God Works, we explore the how's & why's of shamanism's continued re-emergence. www.howgodworks.org/podcast/seas...

Shamans have always been with us. This week, we explore how shamanism works with @manvir.bsky.social and why forms of it pop up in some surprising places, from modern medicine and CEO culture to charismatic Christianity. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

When things are difficult, gratitude can feel out of reach. That's when it's important to remember that gratitude isn't an act of complacency. It can be an act of resistance - a way to know you matter, a way to find strength and resilience. www.wbur.org/onpoint/2025...

Link now available: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/o...

Just in time for Thanksgiving, Meghna Chakrabarti and I explore the science of gratitude, how to cultivate it (even in difficult times), and why feeling grateful isn’t just about giving thanks for the past, but about ensuring a better future. Tune in to @wbur.org / @npr.org On Point’s episode today.

Men are facing a crisis of meaning. Many are turning to more conservative forms of Christianity to find it. But the success of that journey, and what it means for the gender divide, depends on what answers they find (and from whom). I talked with @drmoore.bsky.social & @richardreeves.bsky.social 🧵

Religions always influenced diet. But Christian influencers like Alex Clark are taking modern diet & wellness ideas and dressing them up in theological claims, with a big one being: God doesn't want you to be fat. I talk with @jessgrose.bsky.social about it on HGW podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

Diet has always mixed with morality in religion. But today's Christian influencers are taking it to new & potentially problematic levels. I talk with @nytimes.com writer @jessgrose.bsky.social & religious historian Catherine Newell about the history of food & faith podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

Wisdom isn’t about what you think; it’s about how you think. It’s using a set of mental tools. On this week’s episode of How God Works, we explore the science behind wisdom with @igi.bsky.social and take a look at modern & centuries old ways of cultivating it. www.howgodworks.org/podcast/seas...

When it comes to making better decisions, science backs up what St. Ignatius figured out centuries ago: distancing yourself by taking a 3rd person or other perspective helps. This week, I talk with @bostoncollege.bsky.social Father Bart Geger about seeking wisdom www.howgodworks.org/podcast/seas...

What does it mean to be wise? How do you become so? On today's episode, we explore the science of wisdom with Igor Grossmann (@igi.bsky.social) & see how some Christian traditions developed exercises for it long ago with @bostoncollege.bsky.social Fr. Bart Geger podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

On this week’s episode of How God Works, we explore views of what it means to be spiritual. Here’s Father Greg Boyle with his: Be in the world as God would be. Do in the world what God would want you to do. Cherish each other. Don’t focus on piety. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

Is withdrawing from the world into a life of contemplation or being in the world trying to heal it the best route to growing spiritually? Turns out, as @sigalsamuel.bsky.social notes, they're not mutually exclusive. The two paths can reinforce each other. More here podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

Does being spiritual mean withdrawing from the world to a life of contemplation, or being in the world actively trying to heal it? I talk with @sigalsamuel.bsky.social and Father Greg Boyle about this age old question and how to find balance.

Happy to say How God Works continues to be recognized as one of the best religion/spirituality shows by podcast pros. A two time @podcastacademy.bsky.social Ambies finalist and now a silver for best religion/spirituality pod from the @signalawards.bsky.social. Thanks to the team & @prx.org!

This week on How God Works, we explore friendship. Right now, that includes implications of AI chatbot friends. While people report feeling more heard & valued by chatbots, that’s not what makes for a good friend philosopher Samuel Kimbriel (and Aristotle) note. www.howgodworks.org/podcast/seas...

Loneliness is on the rise. That's not news. But maybe part of the reason is: we're no longer sure what it means to be a good friend or lack tools to make it happen. I talk with Samuel Kimbriel & Robert Waldinger about what science, philosophy, and religion offer. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

A beautiful essay from @davidfrenchjag.bsky.social on what a thick practice of faith is as opposed to a thin one. The latter is treating it as a label that can be co-opted by politics. The former is a practice requiring grappling with a faith’s true meaning.

While many understandably criticize calls for prayer after mass shootings in the absence of changes to gun laws to prevent harm, they miss the point that prayer has value for all affected by such tragedies - one that science backs up. My latest for @wsj.com www.wsj.com/health/the-p...

While many understandably criticize calls for prayer after mass shootings in the absence of changes to gun laws to prevent harm, they miss the point that prayer has value for all affected by such tragedies - one that science backs up. My latest for @wsj.com www.wsj.com/health/the-p...

Excellent piece from @michaelluo.bsky.social👇🏻. Like most sacred texts, the Bible contains many voices, some vengeful & some merciful. But the heart of the tradition & its daily practices nudge the mind toward mercy. It’s a thin practice of Christianity, as Volf notes, that allows it to be co-opted🧵

It's fall, and that means How God Works is back with a new season! We'll explore the wisdom the world's faith traditions offer to improve our friendships, our decision-making, and lots more about our lives. Plus, why shamans are everywhere & how Tibetan monks control their dreams.

Happy to say that How God Works is a @signalawards finalist for best podcast in the Religion & Spirituality category. That means we're also competing for a Listener's Choice award. So if you're a fan, please head on over and give us a vote! vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting...

A good explanation for the jarring juxtaposition of vengeance and mercy from @davidfrenchjag.bsky.social. Also, research shows that when people feel their way of life is threatened, they come to see God as more punitive, making it easier for hate to rise.

On #RoshHashanah, Jews celebrate the new year. But in preparing to make it a better one, they pause to remind themselves it might be their last. That’s good advice for anyone to follow. www.nytimes.com/2023/09/13/o... @nytopinion.nytimes.com

Awe’s links to spiritual renewal from @peter-wehner.bsky.social. Just in time for Judaism’s Days of Awe. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Many evangelicals work to hear God through a long practice of having conversations with Him. The growing popularity of spiritual AI chatbots is making this desire easier for everyone. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/u... @nytimes.com 1/2

This is how you do it. @jamestalarico.bsky.social is bringing the language of faith back to the left. It should never have been ceded to the right.

I'm often asked what to do if you want to start a spiritual path but feel like you just can't believe in a higher power. Here's Rabbi Shira Stutman with my favorite answer. Sometimes it's the doing - and doing good - that comes first. From @aspenideas.bsky.social www.aspenideas.org/sessions/los...

From my conversation with @hubermanlab.com, here's why you shouldn't believe any scientist who says they know for certain that God doesn't exist. Science can & does adjudicate ideas about how the world works. But it can't answer whether God is out there. www.hubermanlab.com/episode/scie...

Data show that happiness drops at midlife. But, according to Arthur Brooks and Swami Tyagananda, it doesn't have to if you make the right changes. We explore the science & spiritual wisdom of thriving at midlife. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

Prayer & action should go together. But the left makes a mistake when it cedes spiritual language & motives to the right or says things that seem to condemn faith practices -- practices that help people in times of distress. From my session at @aspenideas.bsky.social, here's Rabbi Shira Stutman 1/2

Interesting piece with great insights form @gregmepstein.bsky.social