In college, it's common to feel the pressure to do everything—overload classes, join clubs, apply to internships, and more. But rarely do we stop to ask why. Behind all of our striving, what’s the purpose of our work anyway?

The speakers in this episode ask this question. You'll hear from Lydia Dugdale, a primary care physician and director of the Center for Medical Ethics at Columbia University, and Mike Fontaine, professor of Classics at Cornell. They discuss our desire to cling to life, how to find a purpose that transcends the daily striving of school and career, and what ancient wisdom might offer us that the “grindset mindset” can’t. This forum was held at Cornell in Fall 2023. Thank you to the forums team at Cornell for making this event possible.

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What if there was a way to alleviate the symptoms of depression in just five days by changing a person’s brain activity? Obviously, this kind of shift would radically change a person’s life, finally letting them find happiness and satisfaction.

Our guest today in this episode is David Carreon. He’s the co-founder of Acacia Clinic, a mental health clinic in Silicon Valley that uses a radically fast treatment for mental illness. He’s just released a new book called The Opposite of Depression to share what he’s learned.

In this conversation, David and Seth discuss how depression affects more than just the mind, why removing symptoms of depression doesn’t remove habits of depression, and what the opposite of depression really is. We also talk about how Jesus is an emotional exemplar for us today.

• Find additional resources and a link to David's book on the podcast episode page here.

One of our faculty partners and frequent Veritas Forum speakers, John Inazu (WUSTL), has a new book out — Learning to Disagree: The Surprising Path to Navigating Differences with Empathy and Respect.

His book isn’t about the election per se, but so many of his ideas and tools will be helpful this year. As November approaches, we'll have to decide not just who or what we will vote for, but how we will engage in political conversations, especially with people we love.

In this episode, you’ll hear about his book and the empathy we need, the challenges of compromise, and his recommendations for difficult conversations. He also talks about the model of Jesus for how to disagree in truth and love.

• Find additional resources and a link to John's book on the podcast episode page here.

It would be great if the world was a better place. More kindness and friendship. Less war and injustice. For “everything sad to become untrue” (to paraphrase Tolkien). 

Our speaker in this episode is Mary Poplin (Claremont), and she cares about making the world a better place. In fact, she’s dedicated her life to it. Yet her dedication was challenged when she encountered someone else who was dedicated to social justice but was going about it in a completely different way. That person? Mother Teresa.

In this episode, you’ll hear Mary Poplin share how her life was changed by Mother Teresa. Mary walks us through her personal faith journey, her time spent working with Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, and how this experience led her to better understand the inextricable role of Jesus in making the world a better place.

This forum was held at the University of Michigan in 2012. Thank you to the Forums planning team at University of Michigan for making this event possible.

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We spend — on average — 90,000 hours of our life working. So it’s no wonder we want our jobs to bring us happiness. Yet, all too often, work doesn’t make us happy. Why is that? And is there anything we can do about it?

In this episode, we discuss just that.

You’ll hear from social scientist and New York Times bestselling author, Arthur Brooks (Harvard). Arthur talks with Dean of Harvard Medical School, Bernard S. Chang, about happiness, vocation, faith, and physician burnout. They discuss Arthur’s empirical research on happiness, explore the role of transcendence in a happier life, and how to best set expectations about the role of work in our lives.

This Forum was held at Harvard Medical School in February of 2024. Thank you to the Forum planning team at Harvard Medical School for making this event possible.

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The concept of a “multiverse” — formerly an obscure idea in philosophy and theoretical physics — is now mainstream. Movies like best-picture winner Everything Everywhere All at Once or Marvel’s Spider Man: Into the Spiderverse invite us into an expansive vision of the cosmos: one where there are infinite worlds, possibilities, and comparisons. Even though these multiverse films feature outlandish sci-fi story lines (like hot dog fingers), their characters wrestle with many of the same questions we do, like, are we living in the best possible world?

In this episode, we discuss just that.

You’ll hear from mathematician John Lennox (Oxford) and moderator Daniel Lowenstein (UCLA) in a Forum event at UCLA in 2015. Together, they explore the toughest questions surrounding our existence. What do we do in the face of tragedy? Why do we experience pain? And, if there is a God who created the world, why did he make it like this?

Thank you to the Forum planning team at UCLA for making this event possible.

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Meaning can be straightforward — a red octagon means “Stop!”, a hand wave with a smile means “Hello,” or adding two and two equals four.

But meaning is often more complicated — a friend saying they’ll eat “whatever” for dinner or a significant other texting, “We need to talk.”

In this episode, our speakers invite you into the messiness of meaning — and discuss how best we can search for it.

You’ll hear a conversation between mathematician Satyan Devadoss (U San Diego) and biologist Stuart Firestein (Columbia). Satyan and Stuart bring their scientific backgrounds and religious perspectives as they explore the role of reason in the search for meaning, what can and can’t be taken at face value, and what strategies can help us find truth — from the scientific method to literary analysis to religious tradition.

This Forum was held at Columbia University in 2014. Thanks to the forums planning team at Columbia for making this event possible.

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The "group projects" of high school and college never fully go away. Even outside of the classroom, we still have to depend on people who may disappoint us, wade through tricky relational dynamics, and face goals that can’t be accomplished on our own.

One of the speakers in today’s episode invites us to embrace these group projects. In fact, he suggests that they're what we’re made for and that, ultimately, they help us better know who we are.

You’ll hear from Curt Thompson, a practicing psychiatrist, and Jill Stratton, the self-described “Dean of Joy” at Vanderbilt. Drawing from their own work, experience, and faith traditions, Curt and Jill explore the question “Who am I… really?” Their conversation touches on the role of community in identity, how to live with vulnerability, and what redemption might look like.

This conversation was held at Vanderbilt University in Spring 2023 and moderated by student moderator Alexys Ahn. Thank you to the Forum planning team at Vanderbilt for making this event possible.

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While the beginning of the year often inspires a hopefulness and expectancy for life, New Years isn’t all excitement and courage. For you personally, this year may be a continuation of past sickness, relational strife, or financial uncertainty. For listeners in the United States, 2024 is an election year — which may mean fractured friendships, families, and even communities of faith ... none of which made your resolution list. Given all this, what is there to hope for in 2024?

As we enter into the new year, the speakers in today’s episode meet you in this uncertainty through an invitation to consider who you are — from your genetic makeup, to your relationships, to your beliefs about life’s biggest questions. In their discussion, today’s speakers explore the limits of our wills, the role of reason, and where true hope can be found.

You’ll hear from genomics researcher Praveen Sethupathy (Cornell), BioScience professor Yousif Shamoo (Rice), and moderators Rabbi Oren Hayon and Dr. Elaine Ecklund (Rice). This forum was hosted at Rice University in 2016, and a link to the full discussion is shared in the episode description. Thank you to our Forums planning team at Rice for making this event possible.

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This year has been another incredible one for The Veritas Forum podcast — all thanks to you, our amazing listeners. Thanks for making The Veritas Forum podcast be in the top 1% of all podcasts worldwide.

In this episode, host Carley and special guest Seth share some top stats from the podcast in 2023 (300,000 listens!), discuss the recent changes to our format and release schedule, and count down our top three episodes of 2023. Listen to hear excerpts from Praveen Sethupathy (Cornell), Ken Miller (Brown), and John Lennox (Oxford). Links to the full episodes featured in this wrap up episode are shared below.

• Listen to episode #3 here.
• Listen to episode #2 here.
• Listen to episode #1 here.
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• Visit veritas.org to learn more about the mission of the Veritas Forum and find more resources to explore the ideas that shape our lives

This time of year, fantasy is in the air — tales of a red-nosed reindeer, a jolly North Pole resident, a virgin birth of God incarnate, and more.

In this episode, we explore the role of fantastic stories in our lives — and what believing in them can mean for us. You’ll hear from Madeleine L’Engle, the best-selling author of A Wrinkle in Time, in a Forum presentation at UC Santa Barbara in 1998. Weaving together tales from her life and work, Madeleine invites us to consider the gift of the fantastical — and how the Christian story might be more than a fairy tale.

Thank you to the Forum planning team at UC Santa Barbara for making this event possible! The full forum is linked in the episode description.

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• Visit veritas.org to learn more about the mission of the Veritas Forum and find more resources to explore the ideas that shape our lives