Charles Murray - Taking Religion Seriously

A Book with Legs

Smead Capital Management

Investing, Business, Management

4.2 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 1 December 2025

⏱️ 63 minutes

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Summary

In this episode, Bill Smead and Cole Smead are joined by author Charles Murray to discuss his book, “Taking Religion Seriously.” The three discuss Murray’s personal journey with religion and Christianity, as well as how modern explanations of the universe’s origins align with biblical accounts, what it means to be “tone-deaf spiritually,” and more.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to A Book with Legs, a podcast presented by Smead Capital Management.
0:07.9	At Smead Capital Management, we advise investors who play the long game.
0:12.3	You can learn more at Smeadcap.com or by calling your financial advisor.
0:27.2	Welcome to a book with legs podcast. I'm Cole Smead, CEO and portfolio manager here at Smead Capital Management.
0:32.6	At our firm, we are readers, and we believe in the power of books to help shaped, informed investors.
0:41.3	In this podcast, we speak to great authors about their writings. The late great Charlie Munger prescribed using multiple mental models and analysis. We analyze their work through the lens of business, markets, and people.
0:45.8	Hosting this alongside of me is our chairman and chief investment officer, my dad, Bill
0:49.3	Smead.
0:50.3	Dad, thanks for joining me today.
0:51.3	Great to be here.
0:52.3	In this episode, we will discuss the whole
0:55.5	part of the human being, not just the material part. I'm reminded that Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones,
1:01.9	who is a famous pastor, was also a trained doctor. He left his successful medical career
1:07.5	after witnessing the limitations of physical healing and realizing the spiritual
1:11.8	needs of his patients were more profound. We will discuss this same concept today. Charles Murray is
1:18.2	joining us to discuss his newly released title, Taking Religion Seriously. A little background,
1:23.7	some of you might be aware of Charles. He first came to notoriety with his work, the book
1:28.5	Losing Ground in 1984. His 1994 book, Belkirv, argued the role intelligence currently plays in America's
1:35.7	social structures. His other titles include Coming Apart in Pursuit, Human Accomplishment, and others.
1:42.6	He is currently the Hayak Emeritus Scholar at the American
1:45.6	Enterprise Institute. He also has a PhD from MIT and a BA from Harvard. Charles, thanks for
1:52.1	joining us today. Glad to be with you. So just to start, I mean, you know, this has been
	...

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