Religious scholar Michael Muhammad Knight thinks that most religions, including his own Islamic faith, have a secret history of magical practice.More
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Religion and Philosophy
Shulem Deen was a Skverer— a member of one of the most insular Hasidic sects in the U.S. Then he got curious about secular life and the world outside his small village in Rockland County, NY. The community branded him a heretic and expelled him.More
Writer Rod Dreher on how his faith compelled him to return home in search of forgiveness.More
Psychologist Robert Enright breaks down cognitive steps to letting go of trauma.More
The story of one famous mathematician’s obsession with the ancient and mystical and numerical world of the Kabbalah, from Shlomo Maital of the podcast "Israel Story."More
During the last two years of his life, Philip K. Dick tried to make sense of a series of strange visionary experiences. Jonathan Lethem explains how these events changed Dick's life.More
The central question of Philip K. Dick's fiction is "What is reality?" Literary critic Umberto Rossi explains that Dick's work often contains many possible realities.More
If people were more empathetic, the world would be a better place, don’t you think? Paul Bloom thinks perhaps not.More
Martha Nussbaum may be one of the most well-respected living philosophers in the world today. She tells Steve Paulson that retribution and payback aren't compatible with true justice.More
Philosopher Jason Brennan offers a provocative idea: let's bring back flogging as an alternative to imprisonment.More
Thordis Elva reached out to the man who raped her, ultimately setting her on a journey towards forgiveness.More
TTBOOK summer intern Caryn McKechnie spoke to a few people about how they felt the last time they forgave someone.More
It means “a couldn’t-care-less attitude,” and it’s a personal mantra for comedian Norm MacDonald.More
Laird Hunt has written what is really three stories wrapped around each other: A famous lynching in Marion, the story of a song about it, “Strange Fruit,” and a new novel, which begins on that terrible day. More
Robert Leonard, a radio news director in Pella, Iowa, argues that behind all the issues we argue about today there's an even more fundamental divide. Could a 1500-year-old Christian doctrine really have that much effect on lives and politics today?More
In a new book called "Born Bad," historian James Boyce argues that the concept of original sin is the foundation of Western thought. More
For theologist Danielle Shroyer, what happened in the Garden of Eden is a story of original blessing. More
Writer Pankaj Mishra traces the roots of contemporary political rage back to a surprising source: the 18th century Enlightenment. More