The Veritas Forum

As we continue to wrestle with the reality of a changing climate, Wendell Berry’s invocation—”Be joyful, though you have considered all the facts”—is a great challenge. At a Veritas Forum in 2016, Dorothy Boorse (Gordon College) and John Nolt (University of Tennessee) discussed the nature of climate change and the hope that can guide our action. • Please like, share, subscribe to, and review this podcast. Thank you! • If you love our podcast, sign up for our newsletter! Each month, you'll receive thoughtful content about the ideas that shape our lives, updates from our student and faculty partners, and other Veritas news and events. Sign up here!

Beethoven’s presence and music still looms in our modern imagination, but we rarely think about the man behind the music. Mia Chung, a world-renowned pianist at the Curtis Institute, says that, in order to appreciate Beethoven’s genius, we must examine his relationship with suffering and faith. In this performance-presentation from Veritas at the University of Michigan, Chung explores the richness of Beethoven’s inner life. • Please like, share, subscribe to, and review this podcast. Thank you! • If you love our podcast, sign up for our newsletter! Each month, you'll receive thoughtful content about the ideas that shape our lives, updates from our student and faculty partners, and other Veritas news and events. Sign up here!

In the modern age, skepticism is often equated with intelligence. But is there room for belief in the contemporary mind? At a Veritas Forum from Claremont, the late philosopher Dallas Willard discusses both the dangers and benefits of doubt in our society. • Please like, share, subscribe to, and review this podcast. Thank you! • If you love our podcast, sign up for our newsletter! Each month, you'll receive thoughtful content about the ideas that shape our lives, updates from our student and faculty partners, and other Veritas news and events. Sign up here!

The line between science fiction and reality grows increasingly thin as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more prominent. While some fear an impending robot apocalypse, others wonder what this new technology means for everyday life. At a recent Veritas Forum at Brown University, Rosalind Picard (MIT) and Michael Littman (Brown) discussed the implications of AI for our understanding of what it means to be human. • Please like, share, subscribe to, and review this podcast. Thank you! • If you love our podcast, sign up for our newsletter! Each month, you'll receive thoughtful content about the ideas that shape our lives, updates from our student and faculty partners, and other Veritas news and events. Sign up here!

Dr. Francis Collins, world-renowned geneticist, physician, and Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is uniquely positioned at the intersection of science and faith. Formerly an atheist, his New York Times best-selling book, The Language of God, chronicles his conversion to Christianity and its impact on his scientific practice. In this talk, given at a Veritas Forum at Caltech, Collins explores the evidence that now informs his worldview. • Please like, share, subscribe to, and review this podcast. Thank you! • If you love our podcast, sign up for our newsletter! Each month, you'll receive thoughtful content about the ideas that shape our lives, updates from our student and faculty partners, and other Veritas news and events. Sign up here!

James K.A. Smith, a philosopher and author from Calvin College, explores how our desires shape our identity. He argues that asking 'What do you want?' reveals more about us than beliefs do. Delving into Tarkovsky’s film, he warns of the danger in being unaware of our true desires. Smith highlights how habits shape our behaviors unconsciously, influenced by consumerism and modern distractions. Ultimately, he presents Christianity as a response to our restless hearts, promising fulfillment and understanding of our deepest longings.

This October, over 1,000 students and community members packed out Shannon Hall at the University of Wisconsin in Madison to hear John Lennox (Oxford) and Larry Shapiro (UW-Madison) discuss, "Is There Truth Beyond Science?” In a conversation that featured as much humor as sincerity, Lennox and Shapiro fostered a unique space for honest dialogue and reflection, even in places of disagreement. • Please like, share, subscribe to, and review this podcast. Thank you! • If you love our podcast, sign up for our newsletter! Each month, you'll receive thoughtful content about the ideas that shape our lives, updates from our student and faculty partners, and other Veritas news and events. Sign up here!

In 2011, The Veritas Forum at Caltech hosted Satyan Devadoss, who, at the time, was an associate professor of math at Williams College. Devadoss talks about String Theory the way most people talk about their favorite piece of art. In the numbers and symbols of mathematical equations, he experiences beauty, unity, and wonder. In our post-Enlightenment world, we forget that the beauty in Michelangelo's sculptures draws from the same well as the beauty on display in quantum mechanics. When we learn to reunite these often divided realms, we may regain our vision of the Wellspring. Devadoss helps us bring these together in this wonderful Forum event. • Please like, share, subscribe to, and review this podcast. Thank you! • If you love our podcast, sign up for our newsletter! Each month, you'll receive thoughtful content about the ideas that shape our lives, updates from our student and faculty partners, and other Veritas news and events. Sign up here!

Earlier this year, we hosted New Testament theologian N.T. Wright in dialogue with professor of philosophy Heidi Lene Maibom at the Veritas Forum at the University of Cincinnati. • Please like, share, subscribe to, and review this podcast. Thank you! • If you love our podcast, sign up for our newsletter! Each month, you'll receive thoughtful content about the ideas that shape our lives, updates from our student and faculty partners, and other Veritas news and events. Sign up here! Unlike many Forums, where dialogue focuses on a singular topic or question, this Forum widened the purview. In the vein of a ‘greatest hits’ album, we asked these scholars the most fundamental human questions: Who are we? How do we know what we know? What is the meaning of life? While each of these questions could occupy an entire Forum, the scope of this conversation allowed for a meaningful survey of two different worldviews, while cultivating a space for further discussion.

Madeleine L'Engle, award-winning author of A Wrinkle in Time, defines "fantasy" as that which "pushes us, opens us, makes us aware of who we are and who the other is.” In this recording from 1998 at a Veritas Forum at UC Santa Barbara, L’Engle draws from her experiences in school, church, and life to explore the relationship between fantasy and truth. • Please like, share, subscribe to, and review this podcast. Thank you! • If you love our podcast, sign up for our newsletter! Each month, you'll receive thoughtful content about the ideas that shape our lives, updates from our student and faculty partners, and other Veritas news and events. Sign up here!