Humanism Now | Secular Ethics, Curiosity and Compassionate Change

“[Magical beliefs in childhood] serve an important function.”  - Dr Lois LeeFor our festive special, Dr. Lois Lee, Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Kent and one of the world’s leading scholars of non-belief, joins Humanism Now to explore why atheism spreads culturally and what Christmas reveals about humanist meaning in everyday life.Connect with Dr. LeeUniversity of Kent profileExplaining Atheism ProfileExplaining Atheism ProjectTopics we cover ✔︎ Why atheism still needs explaining in the 21st century ✔︎ Why socialisation and cultural visibility matter more than intelligence or education ✔︎ What children’s belief in Santa reveals about evidence, reason, and doubt ✔︎ Magical belief as a bridge between childhood and adult worldviews ✔︎ Christmas as a modern, child-centred ritual with humanist ethics ✔︎ Ritual, meaning, and non-religious culture ✔︎ Humanist privilege, school Christmas, and questions of inclusionResources & further readingBecoming Non-Believers (childhood research) – Dr. Lee & Dr. Anna StrhanTowards a Sociology of Irreligion – Colin Campbell (1971)A Christmas Carol – Charles DickensA Visit from St. Nicholas (“’Twas the Night Before Christmas”) The Snowman –  Raymond Briggs“Father Christmas Executed” – Claude Lévi-StraussSend us a textHard Hats & JusticeHard Hats & Justice is the podcast dedicated to New York's construction workers and...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the showSupport Humanism Now & Join Our Community! Follow @HumanismNowPod | YouTube | TikTok | Instagram | Facebook | Threads | X.com | BlueSky Humanism Now is produced by Humanise Live, making podcasting easy for charities and social causes. Contact us to get starting in podcasting today at humanise.live or [email protected]: Blossom by Light Prism Podcast transcripts are AI-generated and may contain errors or omissions. They are provided to make our content more accessible, but should not be considered a fully accurate record of the conversation.

“Humans didn’t evolve to believe in gods — we evolved to learn from culture, and sometimes culture points away from gods.”Dr Will M. Gervais, psychologist and author of Disbelief, joins Humanism Now to examine one of the most persistent puzzles in the study of religion: why a species capable of deep religiosity also produces millions of convinced non-believers. Drawing on cultural evolution, cognitive science, and cross-cultural data, Will shows why belief and disbelief are shaped less by raw rationality than by social signals, security, and learning environments.Contact & resources;Website – http://willgervais.com/University profile – https://www.brunel.ac.uk/people/will-gervaisResearchGate – https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Will-M-Gervais-16312567Disbelief – Gervais (2023) – https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Disbelief-by-Will-M-Gervais/9781633889248Topics we cover• Why humans evolved a capacity for religion, not a destiny to believe • The twin puzzles of belief and disbelief explained scientifically • Why comfort-based and “God-spot” theories fall short • Cultural signals, credible displays, and how communities transmit belief • Why atheism often emerges where signals are mixed or muted • Weak and fragile links between analytic thinking and non-belief • Moral distrust of atheists — and what behavioural data actually show • Differences in moral style rather than moral behaviour • Agnosticism as a distinct epistemic position, not a midpoint • Existential security and why stable societies secularise • Cultural evolution and the “big gods” hypothesis • Why scientific self-correction matters more than tribal loyaltySend us a textHard Hats & JusticeHard Hats & Justice is the podcast dedicated to New York's construction workers and...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the showSupport Humanism Now & Join Our Community! Follow @HumanismNowPod | YouTube | TikTok | Instagram | Facebook | Threads | X.com | BlueSky Humanism Now is produced by Humanise Live, making podcasting easy for charities and social causes. Contact us to get starting in podcasting today at humanise.live or [email protected]: Blossom by Light Prism Podcast transcripts are AI-generated and may contain errors or omissions. They are provided to make our content more accessible, but should not be considered a fully accurate record of the conversation.

 “Activism is the rent we pay to live on this world.”  Alavari JeevatholAJ  board member of Humanists International, founding trustee of the National Multifaith Youth Centre, and National Coordinator of Young Humanists UK — returns to Humanism Now to explore a humanism shaped by South Indian pluralism, UK youth organising, and a lifelong commitment to duty, solidarity, and awe. This conversation traces India’s rationalist heritage, the case for humanistic spirituality, and why resistance must be global, hopeful, and rooted in material realities.Connect with AJWebsite – alavari.infoInstagram – @alavarijFacebook – @alavariX (Twitter) – @alavarijLinkedIn – in/alavari/TikTok – @alavarijYoung Humanists UKNational Multifaith Youth Centre Resources & further readingDisenchanting India: Rationalist Criticism and Cultural Politics – Quack (2012) Humanist Society Scotland  Statement on Palestine & Israel (2023) AJ's events & talksHumanists UK Event: “India’s Rationalist Heritage” CLH Discussions | Gaza: genocide, ceasefire, and future prospectsCLH Talk:  Roots of RaSend us a textHard Hats & JusticeHard Hats & Justice is the podcast dedicated to New York's construction workers and...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the showSupport Humanism Now & Join Our Community! Follow @HumanismNowPod | YouTube | TikTok | Instagram | Facebook | Threads | X.com | BlueSky Humanism Now is produced by Humanise Live, making podcasting easy for charities and social causes. Contact us to get starting in podcasting today at humanise.live or [email protected]: Blossom by Light Prism Podcast transcripts are AI-generated and may contain errors or omissions. They are provided to make our content more accessible, but should not be considered a fully accurate record of the conversation.

 “We will lose a lot before we win — that’s just the reality of starting the race 50 years behind.” — Sarah M. LevinSarah M. Levin - strategist, lobbyist, founder of Secular Strategies and co-founder of The Secular Vote, joins us to explore how secular voters are reshaping U.S. politics. She breaks down the real demographics behind the “nones,” why neutrality protects both believers and non-believers, and how church–state separation is at the heart of today’s fights over rights, democracy, and pluralism.Connect with Sarah:Website: sarahmlevin.comSecular Strategies: secularstrategies.comThe Secular Vote: hesecularvote.comX (Twitter): @SarahMLevinLinkedIn: sarahmlevinTopics we cover ✔︎ Why Secular Strategies exists ✔︎ “Unaffiliated” vs “atheist”: what the data really shows ✔︎ Secularism in law and public life ✔︎ Media myths about religious “revivals” ✔︎ Connecting secular voters with messages that resonate (one life, one world) ✔︎ How Christian nationalism drives today’s policy rollbacks ✔︎ Relationship-led coalition building across deep differences ✔︎ Inside The Secular Vote: correcting media blind spots ✔︎ Debunking the “anti-Christian bias” narrative ✔︎ State-level wins: transparency for healthcare sharing ministries ✔︎ Practical ways to get involved for the long termResources & further reading“Religious ‘Nones’ in America: Who They Are and What They Believe,” Pew Research Center (2024) – https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2024/01/24/religious-nones-in-america-who-they-are-and-what-they-believe/Presidential Action on “Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias” – TheSend us a textHard Hats & JusticeHard Hats & Justice is the podcast dedicated to New York's construction workers and...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the showSupport Humanism Now & Join Our Community! Follow @HumanismNowPod | YouTube | TikTok | Instagram | Facebook | Threads | X.com | BlueSky Humanism Now is produced by Humanise Live, making podcasting easy for charities and social causes. Contact us to get starting in podcasting today at humanise.live or [email protected]: Blossom by Light Prism Podcast transcripts are AI-generated and may contain errors or omissions. They are provided to make our content more accessible, but should not be considered a fully accurate record of the conversation.

“Nursing is the most humanistic of professions — it operationalises the philosophical groundings of humanism.” — Jamie Bourgeois “Nurses have 24/7 eyes on the human experience — we see how policy shows up in real people’s lives.” — Melissa Anne DuBoisJamie Bourgeois and Melissa Anne DuBois are the co-hosts of Nursing the Nation — a podcast giving nurses a national voice in debates that shape health, policy, and our daily lives. Together they explore how an ethic of evidence and empathy can challenge wellness hype, inform better policy, and centre human dignity in every decision that touches a patient’s life.In this episode Melissa & Jamie discuss the historical erasure of women healers to today’s media blind spots — and what happens when they’re finally heard. They reveal how nursing science quietly powers trauma-informed practice, safer hospitals, and better education. Join us to hear how nurses bridge the gap between policy and people and why the world’s most trusted profession must lead public conversations.Connect with Jamie Bourgeois & Melissa Anne DuboisBlog – nursingthenation.substack.comPodcast Links – Nursing the NationInstagram – @nursing.the.nationLinkedIn – Melissa Anne DuboisResearch – ORCID | ResearchGateWriting – Writers CampResources & further readingWitches, Midwives & Nurses: A History of Women Healers – Barbara Ehrenreich (1973)Ann BurgessSend us a textHard Hats & JusticeHard Hats & Justice is the podcast dedicated to New York's construction workers and...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the showSupport Humanism Now & Join Our Community! Follow @HumanismNowPod | YouTube | TikTok | Instagram | Facebook | Threads | X.com | BlueSky Humanism Now is produced by Humanise Live, making podcasting easy for charities and social causes. Contact us to get starting in podcasting today at humanise.live or [email protected]: Blossom by Light Prism Podcast transcripts are AI-generated and may contain errors or omissions. They are provided to make our content more accessible, but should not be considered a fully accurate record of the conversation.