Brian Swimme is an evolutionary cosmologist whose latest book, Cosmogenesis, is autobiographical, but is also an attempt to tell the story of the universe as science knows it, placing human beings inside the story. Brian believes that, properly told, the story is awe-inspiring, beautiful and unifying, and potentially a foundation for a better world. In this episode, Bart tries to understand Brian's work, and how he seeks to 'turn others on' to what inspires him about our universe.

In the last of three episodes on 'high disclosure relationships', Bart gets to know someone in depth from scratch - a Humanize Me listener called Patti, who turns out to be as wonderful as we could have hoped - and in the process, provides an example of such conversations to inspire you to do the same.

Bart shares a tool he's used often to connect with people in the manner discussed in episode 901 with Rich Slatcher.

Rich Slatcher is a psychologist who is the current Gail M. Williamson Distinguished Professor in the Behavior and Brain Sciences area of the Department of Psychology at the University of Georgia. In this conversation with Bart Campolo, he talks about the power of self-disclosure in relationships, and the other factors which draw people closer to each other.

There’s doom and gloom in the ether, and many people aren't feeling too great about the world. What to do?

Bart thinks the best move is to swing to the stoics, with a sense of separating what we can control versus what we can’t. Simply 'doing the next right thing'. Some things we can control: our next moves, our vote, our transactions, the ways we communicate, the protections we give our children, and what we pay attention to.

To the point of what we pay attention to, Bart has a list of recommendations for some content on the theme of doing the next right thing, along the lines of some of the lists often shared in the media around this time of year. These are the podcasts, TV shows, movies and songs mentioned in this episode:

1. Invisibilia: 'An Unlikely Superpower'
2. Radiolab: 'From tree to shining tree'
3. The Last of Us: 'Long, Long Time'
4. This is Actually Happening: 'What if you witnessed a thousand deaths?'
5. The Bear: 'Forks'
6. Reservation Dogs: 'Frankfurter Sandwich'
7. Kristen Bell: '⁠The Next Right Thing⁠'

We'll have one more episode this year for patrons of the show at Patreon.com/HumanizeMe. And with that, from us, a happy new year! See you in 2024.

Thanksgiving is here in the United States, set aside for the emotion of gratitude. We wonder what other emotions would be worth setting aside some time to express? Mentioned in the episode: this video and this 'emotion wheel.'

A 'Q&R' episode where a listener question about truth leads to morality via Dan Dennett.

Kate Cohen is a contributing columnist at The Washington Post whose new book, We of Little Faith: Why I Stopped Pretending to Believe (And Maybe You Should Too), is of obvious interest to us at Humanize Me. Kate's book can be found on Amazon and wherever else books are sold.

Bart talks with prominent evangelical Christian author Philip Yancey, whose books have been instrumental in supporting the faith of many Christians and whose recent memoir, Where the Light Fell, led to this conversation. In it, the two talk about their upbringings, their faith journey and Bart's deconstruction of faith, their values and more.

Is it right, or not, to have biological children? The last time Bart addressed this issue in the podcast (Episode 514), it generated lots of passionate replies, including one listener in particular whose angry email we read aloud in this episode. Since we didn't feel we did the subject justice last time, or the people for whom it's an important question, we're revisiting it, having received some newer emails seeking clarification on whether Bart thinks humanists should be having biological children. (Content warning: there are a few swears within this episode.)

Back from a summer vacation and into a wide-ranging conversation with Lisa Kentgen, a psychologist who's written a book called The Practice of Belonging: Six Lessons from Vibrant Communities to Combat Loneliness, Foster Diversity, and Cultivate Caring Relationships.