The Veritas Forum
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Description
At the Veritas Forum, we believe we were made to seek truth and be changed by it. We are a community of students, faculty, campus ministers, and more, who are pursuing a vision of the university that seeks and stewards truth and invites people of all backgrounds to explore the ideas that shape our lives. Since 1992, we’ve shared lectures and conversations with a firm belief that generous dialogue is essential for universities and the Christian faith alike.
In this podcast, we're pulling from our archives of recorded events. Learn more about each episode in the show notes and visit veritas.org to learn more about the mission of the Veritas Forum and join us as we explore the ideas that shape our lives.
255 Episodes
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In today’s episode, two moral philosophers explore our everyday ethical choices. Are your gut-level reactions about right and wrong a signal from a higher reality—or just a chemical reaction in your brain? And if God isn’t the foundation for our morality, do our values actually mean anything?
In this throwback Veritas Forum, you’ll hear from Peter Singer, a philosopher and emeritus professor at Princeton, and John Hare, a philosopher at Yale. Drawing from their atheist and Christian worldviews, they explore where moral intuitions come from, whether morality can stand apart from religion, and how questions of happiness, suffering, and the life and teachings of Jesus shape their understanding of what it means to live well. You’ll hear both of their opening statements followed by an excerpt of their moderated discussion.
This forum was held at MIT in 2010. Thank you to the student planning team for making this event possible.
Find additional resources and quotes on the podcast episode page here.
On today’s episode, our speakers discuss the topic of friendship: what it looks like on a practical level and why it’s so important in our culture today.
You’ll hear from John Hendrix, an author, illustrator, and art professor at Washington University in St. Louis. This forum focuses on John’s new graphic novel titled The Mythmakers, which tells the story of the friendship of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. In this conversation moderated by Pepperdine professor April Marshall, they explore how Lewis and Tolkien’s friendship fueled their greatest works and the importance of community in our daily lives.
This forum was held at Pepperdine in April 2025. Thank you to the student planning team for making this event possible. As a heads up, there are a few visual aids in today’s episode that rely on John’s illustrations from his novel. To see them, watch the YouTube video here.
Find additional resources and quotes from this forum here.
In today’s episode, two philosophers explore this question: How should we understand suffering? Is it simply the opposite of human flourishing, or is there a deeper meaning? And what does suffering mean for belief in a good God?
You’ll hear from Meghan Sullivan, a philosopher at Notre Dame, and John Stuhr, a philosopher at Emory University. Drawing on both personal experience and philosophical commitments, they reflect on how Christian and naturalistic worldviews make sense of suffering in human life.
This forum was held at Emory in April 2025. Thank you to the student planning team for making this event possible.
Find additional resources and quotes on the podcast episode page here.
In today’s episode, our speakers explore some core questions about what it means to be human: What are we made for? What is the role of suffering in our lives? And is there something beyond ourselves that can give us purpose?
You’ll hear from Rowan Williams, a theologian and the former Archbishop of Canterbury, and Chigozie Obioma, a novelist and professor at the University of Georgia. Their conversation is moderated by Mia Chung-Yee, a former concert pianist and executive director of the Octet Collaborative at MIT. In this discussion, both speakers share how their Christian faith impacts their view of what it means to be human, and what it means to live “fully alive” in a dehumanizing world.
This forum was put on in partnership with the Duke Initiative on Theology and the Arts and was held at the Carolina Theater of Durham in September 2025.
Find additional resources and quotes from this forum here.
Talking about religion can feel outdated, close-minded, or just irrelevant. Yet for thousands of years, humans have been a religious species looking beyond ourselves in search of meaning. So should religion still matter today? And is it simply a coping story, or could it point to something real?
In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Ross Douthat, a New York Times opinion columnist and author of Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious. He’s in dialogue with Damon Linker, a lecturer in political science at Penn and creator of the Notes from the Middleground Substack. In this conversation moderated by Penn Law professor Karen Tani, they share their own Christian and agnostic worldviews and explore their thoughts on truth, religious experience, and committing to a religion in a pluralistic society.
This forum was held at the University of Pennsylvania in November 2025. Thank you to the student planning team for making this event possible.
Find additional resources and quotes on the podcast episode page here.
The Christmas season, at its heart, is about giving. We spend days—even weeks—searching for thoughtful, personalized gifts to bring joy to those we love.
For Christians, the ultimate gift was given on Christmas: God becoming human in Jesus. This wasn’t an abstract idea, but a deeply personal act—one that changed the world forever.
In today’s episode, you’ll hear a conversation between pastor and author Tim Keller (1950 — 2023) and Yale law professor Anthony Kronman about gifts, grace, and gratitude. Drawing from their Christian and humanist worldviews, they explore the character of God and reflect on how our understanding of the divine—personal or not—shapes the way we live today.
This forum was held at Yale in 2017. Thank you to the student planning team for making this event possible.
Find additional resources and quotes on the podcast episode page here.
We’ve reached the end of another amazing year on the podcast — all thanks to you, our listeners! In 2025, we had over 100,000 listens and over 6 million YouTube views across 140 different countries. We’re so grateful for the thousands of you who listen to the podcast and watch our forums online every week.
In this episode, Seth (our podcast host and Senior Media Manager at The Veritas Forum) shares some stats from the podcast in 2025 and our favorite three episodes of the year. We feature excerpts from Esau McCaulley (Wheaton), Gary Saul Morson (Northwestern), Angel Adams Parham (UVA), Roosevelt Montás (Bard), and Ross Douthat (NYTimes).
Links to the full episodes featured in this wrap-up episode can be found here.
In today’s episode, two physicians explore the problem of suffering in medicine. They address questions like: What does it mean to care for those who suffer? And what would it take to restore dignity to every patient interaction?
You’ll hear from Lydia Dugdale, a primary care physician and medical ethicist at Columbia, and Michael Menchine, an emergency care physician and professor at the University of Southern California. In this conversation, they reflect on the role of clinicians in caring for patients, how our healthcare system can better respond to personal suffering, and explore how their religious and nonreligious worldviews help them make sense of suffering.
This forum was held at USC in May 2025. Thank you to the student planning team for making this event possible.
Find additional resources and quotes on the podcast episode page here.
In today’s episode, two Stanford leaders open up about the personal costs and course corrections in their professional lives. Is it possible to lead with integrity and still compete at the highest level? And what do you hold onto when you fail?
You’ll hear from John Hennessy, the former president of Stanford, and Pat Gelsinger, the former CEO of Intel. In their conversation moderated by Stanford student Elli Schulz, they share their stories of finding purpose in the middle of failures, explore the intersection of their Christian faith and work, and offer their thoughts about pursuing meaning in your career.
This forum was held by the Veritas at Stanford Club in April 2025. Thank you to the Veritas at Stanford Club for permission to co-release this recording.
Find additional resources and quotes on the podcast episode page here.
In today’s episode, an atheist and a Christian explore the plausibility of miracles. Do miracles actually happen? What kind of evidence supports them? And if they do occur, how should that shape the way we live today?
You’ll hear from Sean McDowell, a professor of apologetics at Biola, and Paul Rinzler, professor emeritus at Cal Poly. In this conversation moderated by Cal Poly professor Todd Long, they explore why miracles are so hard to believe and what’s ultimately at stake if miracles, like the Resurrection, are real.
This forum was held at Cal Poly in May 2025. Thank you to the student planning team for making this event possible.
Find additional resources and quotes on the podcast episode page here.
In today’s episode, two professors reflect on what a college education is really for. Is it just about mastering content—or can it shape who we’re becoming and how we live? And what is the role of religious texts in this formative process?
You’ll hear from Roosevelt Montás, a professor of American Studies at Columbia, and Angel Adams Parham, a sociologist at UVA. In this episode, moderated by Columbia professor Dhananjay Jagannathan, they explore what a liberal arts education is, what we get wrong about college today, and why the university is an essential place to ask some of life’s biggest questions about meaning, purpose, and what we believe.
This forum was held at Columbia University in April 2025. Thank you to the student planning team for making this event possible.
Find additional resources and quotes on the podcast episode page here.
In today’s episode, a scientist and a philosopher explore what it means to be human. Is our distinctiveness rooted in biology, consciousness, or something more? And why have humans always been curious about this question?
You’ll hear from Praveen Sethupathy, a genomics professor at Cornell, and Scott Aikin, a philosophy professor at Vanderbilt. In this conversation, they explore the question of human uniqueness and whether our desire for meaning is tragic or part of a larger story.
This forum was held at Vanderbilt in February 2025. Thank you to the student planning team for making this event possible.
Find additional resources and quotes on the podcast episode page here.
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In today’s episode, a philosopher explores this question: Is belief in God irrational?
You’ll hear from Meghan Sullivan, a philosophy professor at the University of Notre Dame. In this talk, she explores what led her to become a Christian in college, how she responds to common objections about her faith, and why she thinks it’s rational to believe in Christianity.
This forum was held at Middlebury College in 2016. Thank you to the student planning team for making this event possible.
Find additional resources and quotes on the podcast episode page here.
In today’s episode, we’ll explore some of the most basic questions about science: Why do we do science? Does science rely on any foundational truths? And is it possible to be a scientist and believe in God?
You’ll hear from John Lennox, emeritus professor of mathematics at Oxford. He explores the history of modern science, the philosophical assumptions that shape science today, and why he thinks that believing in God broadens his scientific worldview rather than shrinking it.
This forum was held at Georgia Tech in 2014. Thank you to the student planning team at Georgia Tech for making this event possible.
Find additional resources and quotes on the podcast episode page here.
In today’s episode, our speakers explore the possibilities and limits of politics. How can politics be used as a force for good in society? And when our political systems fail us, where should we look for hope?
You’ll hear from Michael Wear, the founder and CEO of the Center for Christianity and Public Life, and Hahrie Han, a professor of political science at Johns Hopkins. In this conversation, they explore why agency and community matter in politics, why misplaced political hope can be dangerous, and where they find hope beyond politics as a Christian and a seeker.
This forum was held at Johns Hopkins University in March 2025. Thank you to the student planning team for making this event possible.
Find additional resources and quotes on the podcast episode page here.
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.
Find additional resources and quotes on the podcast episode page here.
In today’s episode, our speakers explore this question: In a world with so much pain, is it naïve to have hope? And where can we find hope when circumstances are out of our control?
You’ll hear from Esau McCaulley, a New Testament scholar at Wheaton College, and Gary Saul Morson, a Russian literature scholar at Northwestern. In this discussion moderated by The Gospel Coalition editor-in-chief and Northwestern alumnus Collin Hansen, the speakers explore theological and Russian literary perspectives on hope, where they find hope based on their worldviews, and what it means for us to live hopeful lives today.
This forum was held at Northwestern in May 2025. Thank you to the student planning team for making this event possible.
Find additional resources and quotes on the podcast episode page here.
College is a time for searching. For jobs, friends, meaning, and purpose. But when these searches fail us, or when we suffer from things outside our control, where does that leave us? Is there something more — something spiritual or transcendent— that can give us hope?
In today’s episode, you’ll hear from two journalists who have thought about these questions. The first is Ross Douthat, a New York Times Opinion columnist and author of the new book, Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious. He’s in dialogue with Frank Bruni, an opinion contributor at the New York Times and a professor of journalism and public policy at Duke. In this discussion, moderated by UNC historian Molly Worthen, Ross and Frank share their experiences with suffering, their perspectives on spirituality and religion, and their search for meaning throughout their lives.
This forum was held at UNC Chapel Hill in April 2025. Thank you to the student planning team for making this event possible.
Find additional resources and quotes on the podcast episode page here.
In today’s episode, an MIT professor explores the topic of success. How do we deal with the constant pressure to succeed in our careers? And what happens if we fail?
You’ll hear from Cullen Buie, a mechanical engineer and entrepreneur. In this talk, Cullen shares his unlikely story of becoming a college professor, his struggle to find fulfillment amid academic pressures, and how his Christian faith helps him find an identity that isn’t founded on success or failure.
This forum was held at CalTech in 2015. Thank you to the University Partnerships team for making this event possible.
Find additional resources and quotes on the podcast episode page here.
In today’s episode, a theologian and a philosopher discuss some of life’s biggest questions, like: Who are we? What’s wrong with the world? And what can make it right?
You’ll hear from N. T. Wright, a senior research fellow at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford, and Heidi Maibom, a philosophy professor at the University of Cincinnati. In this conversation, they explore what philosophical traditions and the Christian story say about human identity, the problem of evil, and our ability to fix the world’s problems.
This forum was held in 2017 at the University of Cincinnati. Thank you to the forums team for making this event possible.
Find additional resources and quotes on the podcast episode page here.
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This podcast, like so many other voices in America are getting "woke" Christianity. C.S. Lewis would say the most progressive thing to do would be to turn around and go back if you are going the wrong way.
I am so glad this podcast is back.