On The Posner Show, Sarah talks with Katie about the successes and challenges of the Sunday Assembly, the “atheist megachurch.” How did the Sunday Assembly spread from East London to forty cities around the world? What caused a split between the Sunday Assembly and a group in New York, which complained about prohibitions on talking about atheism? They discuss why atheist church is appealing—or not—to atheists. Katie says when you create a new church, schisms are inevitable. What is the role of charismatic leaders in keeping churches afloat? Finally: What does the future hold for atheist churches?

On The Mind Report, Laurie interviews Dan Ariely about his recent book, The Honest Truth About Dishonesty. They explore the psychology of cheating and lying in competitive cycling, at Harvard, and in business. Dan explains how non-human animals are more rational than we are, and Laurie asks whether the media has contributed to people cheating more lately. Dan reveals how his research on dishonesty has affected his personal life. In closing, Dan offers some tactics to fight the eroding trust that threatens society.

Joshua talks to Dave about his research on whether people are innately selfish or cooperative. It seems intuitive that thoughtful people would be kinder—but is this so? What’s the psychology behind being nice or mean to a stranger? Joshua and Dave analyze whether cooperation is part of human nature or mediated by culture. Could Americans teach cynical Romanians to be more cooperative? Finally, they consider the true source of our values.

Being good without God Faith and reason Religion as pathology The problem of evil   Robert Pollack is a Professor of Biological Sciences at Columbia University.

Being good without God Consciousness Direction in evolution Gratitude Religion in a global age The problem of evil   Ursula Goodenough is a professor of biology at Washington University.

Evolution of religion Limits of science Quantum weirdness Religion in a global age Self-transcendence The Godhead The problem of evil   Keith Ward is Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University.

Being good without God Consciousness Direction in history Limits of science Purpose in history Religion in a global age   Francis Fukuyama is the Bernard L. Schwartz Professor of Political Economy at the School of Advanced International Studies.

Faith and reason Karma Quantum weirdness Self-transcendence The problem of evil Why meditate?   Sharon Salzberg is a cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, where she is one of the resident guiding teachers.

Free will Islam and the west Mystical experiences Religion in a global age Sufism The problem of evil The problem of pleasure What good is religion? What is God?   Omid Safi teaches in the Religion and Philosophy Department at Colgate University.

Direction in evolution Faith and reason Free will Pantheism Religion in a global age The problem of evil What is God?   Arthur Peacocke, formerly a biochemist and a member of the theology faculty at Oxford University, is honorary canon of Christ Church Cathedral at Oxford and a past winner of the Templeton Prize.

Being good without God Faith and reason Limits of science Mystical experiences Quantum weirdness Religion in a global age The Godhead The problem of evil   Huston Smith is Thomas J. Watson Professor of Religion and Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, at Syracuse University.

Cosmic evolution Death Light Quantum weirdness Religion in a global age Science and religion The anthropic principle What is God?   Brian Swimme is a mathematical cosmologist on the graduate faculty of the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco.

Death Direction in history Evolution of religion Religion in a global age What is God?   Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete, formerly a physicist, a professor of theology at St. Joseph’s Seminary in New York, and president of the Catholic University of Puerto Rico, is now national director of the lay movement Communion and Liberation. His essays have appeared in the New Yorker and the New York Times Magazine.

Free will Quantum weirdness Religion in a global age The anthropic principle The perennial philosophy The problem of evil What is God?   John Polkinghorne, formerly a theoretical physicist at Cambridge University, is an Anglican priest.

Being good without God Consciousness Death Emergence Free will Intelligent Design Passion Science and religion The biology of religion   Edward O. Wilson is Pellegrino University Professor emeritus at Harvard. His awards include the National Medal of Science and two Pulitzer Prizes

Consciousness Direction in history Faith and reason Limits of science Science and religion The anthropic principle   Freeman Dyson is professor emeritus of physics at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Fundamentalism Mystical experiences Myth Purpose in history Religion in a global age Science and religion Self-transcendence What is God?   Karen Armstrong, a former nun, teaches Christianity at Leo Baeck College for the Study of Judaism.

Consciousness Death Direction in evolution Direction in history Free will Science and religion   John Maynard Smith, who died in 2004 at the age of 84, was one of the major figures in 20th century evolutionary biology. He was professor emeritus at the University of Sussex.

Being good without God Consciousness Death Direction in evolution Free will Quantum weirdness

Can anyone meditate? Faith and reason Free will Living in the moment The problem of evil The problem of pleasure What is God? Why meditate?   Joseph Goldstein is a cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, where he is one of the resident guiding teachers.