We live in a time of anger. Yet most of us feel guilty for getting angry, wishing we could stay calm and turn the other cheek. But though anger can never be fully morally pure, we still need it because it alerts us to injustice and catalyzes change. GuestsAgnes Callard is an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Chicago and a columnist at The Point. Myisha Cherry  is an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of California, Riverside.This episode was produced in partnership with Boston Review.Ministry of Ideas is a proud member of Hub & Spoke.Visit us online at www.ministryofideas.org.

Ministry of Ideas

Anger Management

Many of the earliest time technologies were used to mark sacred time -- time set apart for the divine. But with the Industrial Revolution, efficient time use became its own sacred value. We now live in the age of capitalist time, where time is money and must be spent as productively as possible. As we struggle with a global pandemic, it’s time to rethink what we hold sacred.GuestsAhmed Ragab, Richard T. Watson Associate Professor of Science and Religion, and affiliate associate professor of the history of science at Harvard University.Mary Gray, associate professor of informatics at the University of Indiana at Bloomington, fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society and a Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research.

Out Of Time

We have usually relied on public intellectuals to provide facts, ideas, and cultural leadership--though not all have lived up to the ideal of “speaking truth to power.” Today, however, online networks and social media mean we are all public intellectuals, and we have new responsibilities that come with this role.  Guests Dr. Cornel West, professor at Union Theological Seminary and author of, among other works, Black Prophetic Fire.George Scialabba, author of What Good Are Intellectuals Good For?, and many other works.

Public Thinking

The work of Ibram X. Kendi distinguishes between two forms of racism: segregationism and assimilationism. Segregationists argue that some groups are inferior by nature; assimilationists, on the other hand, argue that some groups are inferior by 'nurture,' but can overcome this inferiority if they conform to another group's cultural standards -- in America, always a White cultural standard. Black leaders past and present have challenged these racist assumptions while revealing the liberatory potential of a cultural engagement based on equality and mutual exchange.GuestsIbram X. Kendi,  director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, contributing writer to The Atlantic and author of "How To Be An Antiracist" and "Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America 1619-2019."Max Mueller, assistant professor in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies  at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln  and author of "Race and the Making of the Mormon People."Dr. Anika Prather,  adjunct professor in the Classics Department at Howard University and author of "Living in the Constellation of the Canon: The Lived Experiences of African American Students Reading Great Books Literature."

Above the Veil

Linking morality and science can conjure up disturbing histories around social Darwinism, eugenics, and genetically engineered humans. But scientists today are making discoveries that moral agents shouldn’t ignore: how to overcome aggression and tribalism, and how to sustain cooperation in a modern pluralist world. GuestsDiane Paul, professor emerita of the University of Massachusetts, Boston and research associate at the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. Author of The Politics of Heredity and Eugenics at the Edges of Empire, among others.Ben Allen, associate professor of mathematics at Emmanuel College. Steven Pinker, professor of cognitive psychology at Harvard University  and best-selling author of  The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Language Instinct, The Blank Slate, and many others.

Dissecting Morality, Part II

Linking morality and science can conjure up disturbing histories around social Darwinism, eugenics, and genetically engineered humans. But scientists today are making discoveries that moral agents shouldn’t ignore: how to overcome aggression and tribalism, and how to sustain cooperation in a modern pluralist world.GuestsDiane Paul, professor emerita of the University of Massachusetts, Boston and research associate at the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology.Ben Allen, associate professor of mathematics at Emmanuel College.  Steven Pinker, professor of cognitive psychology at Harvard University  and best-selling author of  The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Language Instinct, The Blank Slate, and many others.

Dissecting Morality, Part I

During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,  vulnerable communities have been hit especially hard by disruptive online attacks. But calling these attacks "violent" could jeopardize the future of disruptive protests designed to protest those same communities. GuestsErica Chenoweth, professor of human rights and international affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and author of Civil Resistance: What Everyone Needs To Know.Dr. Joan Donovan, research director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University. Oren Segal, vice president of the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism.

Virtually Violent

Heathenry, a modern movement drawing on pre-Christian pagan religions, has become associated with the violent, racialized politics of the alt-right. Less well known is the fight to make heathenry — and the progressive values it can promote — inclusive and open to all.GUESTSRobert Schreiwer, Heathen activist, founder of the Heathen tradition of Urglaawe, Manager of Huginn’s Heathen Hof and Heathens Against Hate, and Steer of the Troth (2016-2019 and again in 2020). Founder of In-Reach Prison Services.Michael Strmiska, associate professor in global studies at SUNY-Orange and author of Modern Paganism in World Cultures.Lauren Crow, co-host of the Heathen History podcast.Ben Waggoner, co-host of the Heathen History podcast.Thomas Engelmann, outreach specialist at Life After Hate’s ExitUSA.

Welcome To Valhalla

Literary canons have come under fire for perpetuating privilege and exclusion. But some artists — including William Shakespeare and Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda — show us how canons can actually build community and democracy. GuestsStephen Greenblatt, Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University and editor of the Norton edition of Shakespeare’s works and the Norton Anthology of English Literature.Oskar Eustis, artistic director of New York City’s Public Theatre.John Ray Proctor, actor and drama professor at Tulane University. Rory Loughnane, senior lecturer in Early Modern Studies at the University of Kent and associate editor of the New Oxford Shakespeare.  

Stealing the Canon

Human-caused climate change is real and growing in impact. Yet many Americans see climate change as a belief that they can opt out of. Two belief structures are to blame: American Protestantism and postmodernism.GuestsTanya Luhrmann, professor of anthropology and psychology at Stanford University and author of When God Talks Back.Gary Aylesworth, professor emeritus of philosophy at Eastern Illinois University.Lee McIntyre, Research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University and author of Post-Truth.

Climate of Denial

Religious people have played an important role in progressive politics in the US for its entire history. Contemporary leftists should look to build bridges and include religious voices in the pursuit of a more just and sustainable society. (Part Two of Two) Guests Elizabeth Bruenig, Washington Post columnist EJ Dionne, Washington Post columnist and Professor at Georgetown University Dan McKanan, Professor at Harvard Divinity School

Progressive Souls, Part 2

Religious people have played an important role in progressive politics in the US for its entire history. Contemporary leftists should look to build bridges and include religious voices in the pursuit of a more just and sustainable society. Guests Elizabeth Bruenig, Washington Post columnist EJ Dionne, Washington Post columnist and Professor at Georgetown University Dan McKanan, Professor at Harvard Divinity School

Progressive Souls, Part 1

Many think modernity is about the rise of science, the spread of democracy and capitalism, or the decline of religion or superstition. But those stories ignore the bigger picture about colonialism and race. Guests Mayra Rivera, professor of Religion and Latinx Studies at Harvard University. Jared Hickman, professor of English at Johns Hopkins University. Author of the book, Black Prometheus: Race and Radicalism in the Age of Atlantic Slavery.

The Myth of Modernity

Ever since early scientists began experimenting with immortality elixirs in the middle ages, religion has been influencing transhumanism. Now, we’re beginning to see transhumanism influencing religion. Guests Calvin Mercer, Professor of Religious Studies at East Carolina University Meghan O’Gieblyn, writer Blaire Ostler, Director and Former President of the Mormon Transhumanist Association 

Spiritual Machines

We claim to judge people for what they intentionally do, but accidents often influence our judgments. In our justice systems, people can be harshly and unfairly blamed for bad luck—but in our personal lives, taking on blame isn’t always a bad thing. Guests Fiery Cushman, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University Daniel Statman, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Haifa 

Shifting Blame

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