John Nelson earned a PhD in New Testament and Christian Origins from the University of Edinburgh in 2023. He writes for the Substack Behind the Gospels.

His thesis is the first book-length study of Jesus' physical appearance in the Gospels. He runs a weekly Substack called "Behind the Gospels" which aims to make Biblical studies accessible to all.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Was Jesus Really Born on Christmas Day?
2:51 - Are the Birth Narratives Attempts at History?
6:34 - Where Was Jesus Actually Born?
16:19 - Were the Birth Narratives Added Later?
20:54 - Was Mary Really a Virgin?
32:57 - Why Does Nobody Else Mention the Virgin Birth?
37:39 - Was Jesus a Product of Adultery? 
42:22 - Was Jesus Born in a Manger?
48:07 - Who Are the Magi?
54:05 - Was the Star Really a Star?
01:00:03 - Did Herod Really Order a Slaughter of Infants?
01:06:26 - Is the Christmas Story Anti-Imperial?
01:13:13 - Are Christmas Trees a Pagan Idol?
01:16:12 - John’s Book and the Upcoming Tour

Timestamps

0:00 - 1,778,795 Q&A
0:24 - How Are You?
5:12 - If You Could Choose Your Date of Birth, When Would It Be?
9:36 - Survival Tips From Bear Grylls?
10:21 - How Do You Remember so Much Stuff?
15:24 - What is Your Dream Podcast?
17:01 - Doesn’t Consciousness Just… Emerge?
29:26 - If You Clean a Vaccum, Are You a Vaccum Cleaner?
35:41 - Is Water Wet?
37:26 - How Many Holes Are In a Straw?
40:55 - Is a Hot Dog a Sandwich?
42:28 - Do You Edit Everything By Yourself?
43:23 - What Would It Be Like to Observe a Contradiction?
43:33 - Which Philosophical Concepts are Often Misunderstood?
50:29 - When I Changed My Mind Mid-Debate
01:01:49 - Would You Tour?

Hank Green (@hankschannel) is one of YouTube's most beloved creators. One half of vlogbrothers, he is also the co-creator and host of SciShow and Crash Course.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Where Are All the Aliens?
8:08 - What Makes Humans So Special?
17:22 - Has the US Lost its Cultural Identity?
29:34 - Martin Luther Wrong About God?
36:30 - Is the World an Illusion?
46:54 - Should We Believe Our Illusions?
53:58 - How Objective is Science?
59:41 - Does Science Explain Anything?
01:11:10 - Could We Explain Cold to an Alien?
1:22:03 - The Hard Problem of Consciousness
01:27:44 - Will Computers Ever Become Conscious?
01:35:58 - Do You Have Two Brains?
01:42:30 - Should We Be Worried About TikTok?
1:49:08 - Hank’s Video Ideas
01:59:39 - What’s it Like Meeting Your Old Heroes?
2:05:51 - Being a YouTuber

Michael Stevens is the creator of Vsauce, one of YouTube's most popular channels. Alongside Hannah Fry he hosts the newly-launched podcast The Rest is Science.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Does Anything Really Exist?
10:32 - Is Michael a Mereological Nihilist?
19:42 - Are Philosophers Overcomplicating Function Behaviour?
25:24 - Do “You” Really Exist?
41:57 - Free Will and the Bicameral Mind Theory
50:09 - Why the Future Isn’t Changing Like It Used To
59:11 - The Scientific Mystery of Torque?
01:17:46 - Consciousness

Timestamps

0:00 - What Existential Risks Does AI Pose?8:57 - How AI Systems Lie to Us26:04 - Why We Should Be Worried About AI33:28 - What Does It Mean for AI System to “Want” Something?43:41 - AI Weapons and Nuclear Warfare48:57 - Where Should We Focus Our Resources?53:35 - What Policies Should We Enact?

Philip Goff is a British author, panpsychist philosopher, and professor at Durham University whose research focuses on philosophy of mind and consciousness. Specifically, how consciousness can be part of the scientific worldview.

Buy Philip's books here.

- Timestamps

0:00 - Why Philip Became Religious

07:13 - Panpsychism and the Fine-Tuning Argument

18:46 - Why God’s Power is Limited

30:10 - The Problem of Suffering

42:53 - Non-Western Religious Positions

48:34 - What is the Role of Jesus in This?

57:35 - “Why Aren’t You Just a Hindu?”

01:02:23 - What is the Point in the Crucifixion?

01:09:41 - The Beautiful Uncertainty of Religion

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William MacAskill is a Scottish philosopher and author, as well as one of the originators of the effective altruism movement. Get his book. What We Owe the Future, here.

0:00 – The World Isn’t Ready for AGI

9:12 – What Does AGI

Doomsday Look Like?

16:13 – Alignment is Not Enough

19:28 – How AGI Could Cause Government Coups

27:14 – Why Isn’t There More Widespread Panic?

33:55 – What Can We Do?

40:11 – If We Stop, China Won’t

47:43 – What is Currently Being Done to Regulate AGI Growth

51:03 – The Problem of “Value Lock-in”

01:05:03 – Is Inaction a Form of Action?

01:08:47 – Should Effective Altruists Focus on AGI?

Bernardo Kastrup is a Dutch philosopher and computer scientist recognised for his contributions to consciousness studies, notably through his formulation of analytic idealism—a variant of metaphysical idealism rooted in the analytic tradition.

Buy his books here.

Timestamps:

0:00 - What is the World Really Made Of?
7:11 - Qualities vs Quantities
9:45 - Can Materialism Explain Anything?
25:06 - Is There More Than What We Perceive?
33:57 - Can We Exist Without a Brain?
42:15 - What is Personhood?
48:35 - Consciousness is not the Self
54:46 - Why is Mental Activity Localised?
01:10:39 - Why Panpsychism Doesn’t Make Sense
01:22:20 - Distinguishing Idealism and Panpsychism
01:32:20 - Are There Distinctions Between Material Objects?
01:39:14 - The Illusion of the Self
01:46:16 - The Biggest Misunderstanding of Analytical Idealism

Bear Grylls is a British adventurer, writer, television presenter and former SAS trooper who is also a survival expert. Widely known for his television series Man vs. Wild, he was also appointed as The Scout Association’s youngest-ever Chief Scout of the United Kingdom and Overseas Territories at the age of 35. His new book, The Greatest Story Ever Told, is a retelling of the life of Jesus through the eyes of five Gospel characters: Mary the mother of Jesus, Thomas, Peter, John, and Mary Magdalene.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Retelling Christianity in the First Person
12:36 - Faith and Doubt Come Together
16:46 - Did Bear’s Research Cause Doubt or Faith?
28:01 - Reconciling the Differences Between the Gospels
39:50 - On Not Putting Words in Jesus’ Mouth
48:59 - Where Alex’s Interest in the Gospels Began
55:24 - Travelling Back to the Time of Jesus: Where Would You Go?

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Andrew Mark Henry is a scholar of religious studies. His research focus is early Christianity and late Roman religion. He earned his PhD at Boston University.His YouTube channel is "Religion for Breakfast", find it here.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Was Jesus a Magician?

3:35 - The Origins of ‘Magic’

10:02 - Celsus, Christianity’s Earliest Critic

16:35 - The Wise Magi

19:59 - Did Jesus Use a Wand?

30:22 - Curses, Rituals, and Magical Formulas

40:43 - What Kind of “Magus” Was Jesus?

43:52 - Was Jesus a Freelance Ritual Expert?

48:34 - Charisma and the Origin of Exorcism

53:03 - Grimoires: The Magic of the Written Word

01:08:40 - The Religion Department

Dr. Qureshi-Hurst is a Philosopher of Religion and Science at the University of Cambridge. Her work focuses on the relationship between physics—and time in particular—and theology. Her forthcoming book, Decoding the Cosmos: God, Physics, and the Search for Deeper Explanation, explores this relationship in depth.

Improve your focus with Brain FM with 30 days free: https://www.brain.fm/withinreason.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Does the Bible Predict the Big Bang?2:37 - Scientists and Theologians10:18 - Where Did Biblical Literalism Come From?17:31 - How Does Science Conflict with Theology?23:47 - Does God Experience Time?29:27 - The A, B and C Series of Time38:38 - Timeless God, Timed Universe42:52 - Christianity and the End of the Universe48:35 - Intelligent Design and Modern Science55:58 - Is Biblical Literalism a Plausible Reading?58:32 - Why Emily is an Atheist