How to Humanist

Alyssa Grenfell grew up knowing three things: coffee was basically heroin, God had a very specific plan for her life, and that plan included Italy. Denver... same difference.In this episode, Alyssa and Shay get into what it actually costs to leave the Mormon church: the wrong husband God recommended, the sister who didn't spontaneously combust when she accidentally drank coffee, and where exactly sin is hiding in the furniture at West Elm. Alyssa wrote the book on leaving Mormonism. Literally. It's called How to Leave the Mormon Church and it’s the necessary guide to ever tasting that sweet, sinful, macchiato.ABOUT ALYSSA GRENFELLAlyssa Grenfell is a writer, content creator, and speaker exploring the intersections of faith, culture, and personal transformation. Raised in a devout Mormon family, she attended Brigham Young University, served a full-time mission, and married in the temple before ultimately leaving the church in her mid-twenties. Now based in Texas, Alyssa creates commentary, essays, and videos that unpack high-demand religions, social dynamics, and the challenges of rebuilding identity outside of faith.How to Leave the Mormon Church by Alyssa Grenfell: https://bit.ly/exmormonbookYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@alyssadgrenfellTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@alyssadgrenfellInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/alyssadgrenfellLEARN MOREAmerican Empathy Project: https://americanempathyproject.orgFor more on humanism: https://linktr.ee/americanhumanist

For years, Shawn Towers ate the mustard. Didn't ask them to take it back, didn't make a fuss, just swallowed it because that's what a good Christian man did. Turns out that burger was a metaphor for every indignity he'd been quietly absorbing in the name of forgiveness, righteousness, and not going to hell. Shawn is a former devout believer, a father, and a man who has done enough work on himself to know exactly where forgiveness ends and self-preservation begins.In this episode, Shawn and Shay get into why forgiveness has always been a Christian project, why Black Americans have been handed a disproportionate bill for it, why your kids are hiding things from you because you made yourself into a superhero instead of a human, and why forgiving yourself for skipping the gym might actually be where all real freedom starts. Also, he's getting the burger remade. Every time. No exceptions.ABOUT SHAWN TOWERSShawn Towers is a speaker, creator, and former preacher turned agnostic, creating space for honest conversations after deconstruction. He shares vulnerable stories about faith, identity, and fatherhood beyond belief.TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@mannanite LEARN MORE:American Empathy Project: https://americanempathyproject.orgFor more on humanism: https://linktr.ee/americanhumanist

A Jesuit priest called Joe Gerstein lazy in 1989 and accidentally launched a global sobriety movement in 38 countries and 16 languages. Joe is a retired Harvard Medical School professor, a man who can't quite pronounce the thing he invented, a mango gardener in Miami, and the person responsible for sobering up the entire Scottish prison system — none of which was the plan.Also there were toes. Diabetic ones. They matter. So does the Australian wife he met in the Bronx, the Irish guy who was unconscious in the foyer, and the Pope's throne room ceiling, which apparently explains everything about addiction if you know where to look. Dr. Joe Gerstein is pushing 90, running two meetings a week, and has absolutely no intention of stopping.ABOUT DR. JOE GERSTEINFounding President of SMART Recovery [Self-Management Addiction Recovery Training], a non-profit, secular mutual aid group program now available in 38 countries and in 16 languages. Retired Harvard Medical School Professor who has facilitated over 4,000 SMART meetings, 800 in prisons.  SMART Recovery: https://smartrecovery.orgLEARN MORE:American Empathy Project: https://americanempathyproject.orgFor more on humanism: https://linktr.ee/americanhumanist

When Charlie Kirk died, Shay had feelings about her feelings. Specifically, the feeling that humanism was standing in the driveway blocking the parade float.That spiral led us straight to Elisa Rosoff — a humanist chaplain who spends her days inside the place we send the people we've decided are bad, asking the one question nobody outside those walls wants to sit with: what actually makes somebody bad? Turns out it's a lot more complicated than the mug shot, and a lot less satisfying than a clean answer. Elisa talks about delivering three death notifications before lunch, feeling safer inside the prison than at the gas station, and why curiosity might be the most radical thing you can bring into a room. Also: the Second Look Act in North Carolina, which you should absolutely look up after this. (link below)ABOUT ELISA ROSOFFElisa Rosoff is the Chaplaincy Training and Education Coordinator for the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction and the first humanist chaplain to work in the North Carolina prison system. Drawing from her master of divinity in psychology and religion, she specializes in reentry chaplaincy — walking alongside incarcerated people and supporting them as they transition back into society.RESOURCES MENTIONED2nd Look Act: https://bit.ly/2ndlooklaw The New Jim Crowe: https://bit.ly/newjimcrowbookLEARN MOREFor legal support: https://americanhumanist.org/legalFor more on humanism: https://linktr.ee/americanhumanist

Hear us out... what if Allah was an aspiring hairdresser who flunked out of beauty school, and rather than dealing with that loss in therapy like a normal god, he spent the next 1,400 years making women cover their hair? We're not saying it's confirmed. We're just saying it explains a lot. Enter Sammy of Haram Doodles, who was told as a child that drawing living beings was sinful — so she threw out all her art supplies and tried to become a better Muslim instead. Oops. So much for that plan.In this episode, Sammy and Shay get into why "Islamophobia" is actually a word you should stop using, why hijab is and isn't a choice depending on who you're asking, and God's deeply suspicious relationship with women's hair. Is it a fetish? Is he balding? We can't say for sure. What we can say is that Sammy's been hard at work creating resources for Ex-Muslims around the world, so we'll list all those resources down below.Oh, and please visit FreeBetty.org. Sammy's friend Betty is sitting in a Moroccan prison right now for wearing a t-shirt. ABOUT SAMMY OF HARAM DOODLESSammy is an ExMuslim atheist, activist and artist behind Haram Doodles, a collection of forbidden (haram) doodles, comics, stories and content created with and for courageous ExMuslims.Official Site: https://haramdoodles.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/haramdoodlesMORE RESOURCES MENTIONEDFree Betty Lachbar: https://FreeBetty.orgShare your ExMuslim Story: https://exmuslim.me/LEARN MOREAmerican Empathy Project: https://americanempathyproject.orgFor more on humanism: https://linktr.ee/americanhumanist

After a stranger suggests that maybe two plus two equals five in another universe, Robert Affinis decides he is officially done debating God’s existence with anyone. Ever.From telling Mormons “no thank you” with full chest to growing up in a deeply religious Black household that still made room for questions, Robert and Shay get into what it actually takes to say “I’m a humanist” out loud. They unpack churches as one-stop shops, religion as infrastructure, why humanists are oddly afraid to wear their own T-shirts, and why the better question is not “Does God exist?” but “Who gets hurt when belief shapes power?”Enjoy this episode and be sure to monitor your volume as these two Jerseyans discover they share a home state in common.ABOUT ROBERT AFFINISRobert Affinis is a writer and speaker who explores the deeply personal journey of religious deconstruction and what it means to build a meaningful life beyond belief. Through candid reflection and thoughtful analysis, he examines the emotional, intellectual, and social dimensions of questioning faith, offering insight for those navigating similar transitions.Website: https://robertaffinis.comKwasi Wiredo: https://bit.ly/kwasipdfLEARN MOREAdvocate With Us: https://americanhumanist.org/advocatewithusAmerican Empathy Project: https://americanempathyproject.orgFor more on humanism: https://linktr.ee/americanhumanist

What if the secret origin story of humanism is just... ancient people getting tired of handing over their goats? In this episode, Greg Epstein — Harvard and MIT's Humanist Chaplain and author of the NY Times bestseller Good Without God — joins us to break down what humanism actually is, where it came from, and why humans have been quietly side-eyeing authority since long before anyone had a podcast to complain about it. Greg brings the kind of clarity that makes you realize some of our biggest existential questions have been getting wrestled with for millennia, by regular people who just wanted to live a good life without being strong-armed into it. It's part philosophy crash course, part history lesson, and entirely the conversation you didn't know you needed.ABOUT GREG EPSTEINGreg M. Epstein serves as Humanist Chaplain at Harvard & MIT, where he advises students, faculty, and staff members on ethical and existential concerns from a humanist perspective. TechCrunch's first “ethicist in residence,” he has been called “a symbol of the transition in how Americans relate to organized religion” (The Conversation). He is author of the New York Times-bestseller Good Without God, and the multi-award-winning Tech Agnostic, and has written for TIME, CNN, and The Boston Globe.Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregmepsteinGood Without God: https://bit.ly/goodwithoutgodbookTech Agnostic: https://bit.ly/techagnosticbookLEARN MOREAmerican Empathy Project: https://americanempathyproject.org For more on humanism: https://linktr.ee/americanhumanist 4v9uWL4qONT8HsZBc10K

In this debut episode of How to Humanist, Shay Leonia introduces herself as the mildly terrified new podcast host representing a nearly century-old institution, the American Humanist Association, admits she had no clue who Thomas Paine was, and unpacks how growing up with a radically hospitable mother shaped her understanding of empathy long before she had language for it. It’s a funny, tender reflection on impostor syndrome, inherited kindness, and the dangerous possibility that offering someone cake might be more revolutionary than we think. American Empathy Project: https://americanempathyproject.orgFor more on humanism: https://linktr.ee/americanhumanist