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Humanize with Wesley J. Smith from Discovery Institute's Center on Human Exceptionalism, where human rights meet human responsibilities. We speak on the controversial issues of human life and human thriving that impact our daily lives.
83 Episodes
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The existence of the human soul is usually described as a matter of faith unprovable by science. But is that true? What if evidence exists that we each do indeed have souls and even, that life continues after death? Whether we have souls and what happens to us after death — obliteration, reincarnation, heaven, hell — is a question about Read More ›
It is a hard fact of life that — if we live long enough — we or those we love will receive a devastating medical diagnosis. How we cope in such difficult circumstances can both impact the course of our personal recovery and, in some cases, uplift the human condition. Christian apologist and journalist Megan Basham has walked this difficult Read More ›
Religious freedom — the ability to live and act according to one’s faith — is one of our most fundamental human rights. But as Western society has secularized, the importance of religious freedom seems to have been eclipsed by other concerns. Indeed, freedom of religion is too often devalued in the public square, and in some places in the world, Read More ›
These days, hedonism strikes a beat in society. We have long been told that if it feels good, if it is what we want, so long as we aren’t hurting others, then, we should do it. But does that kind of self-indulgence really lead to a successful and satisfying life? Wesley’s guest on this episode of Humanize, Dr. Andrew V. Read More ›
Homelessness has become a crisis in the United States. We live in the richest country in the world, and yet one can drive down main thoroughfares of our most prosperous cities and be confronted with tent encampments lining streets, squalor, open-air drug markets, and destitute people begging. The crisis is multifaceted as it is seemingly intractable. What is the role Read More ›
Childhood in America today is often troubled. Children are experiencing mental health crises, suicidal ideation, educational underperformance, social discord, sexualization at young ages, and unprecedented social challenges. What to do? Wesley’s guest on this episode of Humanize, Katy Faust, has invested years of her life to solving the crisis of contemporary childhood. Faust believes the time has come to put Read More ›
For those who may not remember, Terri Schiavo was a profoundly cognitively disabled woman who became the subject of a legal and cultural battle that made international headlines. The case became a bitter and protracted conflict between Michael Schiavo, Terri’s husband who wanted to pull her feeding tube, and the Schindler family that fought to save their child and sister’s Read More ›
The creation of the modern hospice movement was a major advance in the care for people with terminal illnesses. Alas, in recent years, hospice has entered something of a crisis, with too many facilities offering inadequate care and some patients receiving short shrift of services to which they are entitled. To get to the bottom of the problem, Wesley invited Read More ›
The public health sector has been roiled by controversy and political turmoil in the last few years, what with the COVID pandemic, the fight over vaccine mandates, and questions about politicization of the sector. Beyond that, viruses make the news like never before. So, Wesley turned to an expert in both fields to learn more about virology, the government’s response Read More ›
What is the “mind”? Is it a pure product of raw brain activity? Or, is it something “other” — that can be experienced, but not measured, observed but not fully defined? Does free will exist? Are our brains just so many meat computers? A new anthology, Minding the Brain, explores these and related issues in depth — both from philosophical Read More ›
Medicine and healthcare have become one of the most contentious sectors of modern society. Doctors have greater scientific knowledge with which to help patients than at any time in history. But at the same time, the field seems to be heading in a more crassly technocratic direction, in which the human being seeking care may become lost in the attempt Read More ›
Religious persecution continues to afflict the world. Anti-Semitism abounds. Certain Islamic countries suppress minority faiths while Muslims face persecution in countries like India. Non-Orthodox Christians are persecuted in Russia, while some American Christians claim that they are discriminated against because of living out their faith precepts. In this episode of Humanize, Wesley focuses on the suppression of the Catholic Church Read More ›
People with serious mental health issues often face years, if not a lifetime, of debilitating symptoms. These traumas can sometimes be difficult to treat, much less cure. And that has some people looking for new avenues of care beyond standard medicines, including — controversially — psychedelic substances such as Psilocybin, LSD, and the like. Enthusiasts believe that these substances offer Read More ›
It’s no secret that American education is experiencing a profound crisis. Many of our children can’t read, do mathematics, or learn basic life skills. At the same time, many accuse the education establishment of imposing radical ideological views on children such as gender ideology and anti-Americanism. The good news is that concerted efforts are underway to reform education to better Read More ›
American institutions are less trusted than ever before, our society is deeply divided, and much of the world is in turmoil. The problem isn’t religion, atheism, or ideology, per se. Rather, the real culprit — and one that receives far too little attention in public discourse — is the widespread embrace by social activists of utopianism, a zealous belief in Read More ›
Whether to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia is one of the most culturally contentious — and important — public policy debates of our time. Supporters of legalization call it a compassionate “last resort” means of preventing unnecessary suffering and promoting autonomy. Opponents see the intentional ending of the lives of the ill as a profound abandonment and a path to Read More ›
In the modern era, religious freedom — the ability to live and act according to one's faith — has been seen as a profoundly important human right. To a disturbing degree, that is no longer true. No one has put more thought into this urgent matter of human freedom than my guest today, Sam Brownback.
For the last Humanize episode of the season, I thought it would be edifying to explore how Discovery Institute's institutional programs dovetail with the work of the Center on Human Exceptionalism. Who better to ask than our intrepid president, Steven J. Buri?
In this episode of Humanize, Wesley focuses on AI — artificial intelligence. Are we on the verge of an era if incalculable human progress because of the power of AI? Or are we threatened with being made obsolete and perhaps extinguished in an age of intelligent machines? Or, perhaps, a combination of both? The program features two experts who have Read More ›
Most people support responsible environmental policies but may be unaware of how radical the leading edge of the movement has become as an increasing number of activists support granting personhood rights to nature. Is nature rights a subversive threat to human exceptionalism and our thriving or is it the next necessary step in society’s moral growth and key to preventing Read More ›
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I appreciate this discussion. I found it thought provoking. I appreciate the view of each person as an individual, not a number or label, regardless of the choices they have made. Thank you.