The Case for Religious Belief (Robert Wright & Ross Douthat)
Robert Wright's Nonzero
Nonzero
4.7 • 618 Ratings
🗓️ 20 March 2025
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
0:28 Ross’s new book, Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious 7:17 An argument for cosmic purpose 14:59 The mysterious persistence of weird s**t 18:34 Does human consciousness point to something bigger? 24:33 Tensions between science and Christian orthodoxy 28:03 A few more words about consciousness 34:50 A few more words about weirdness 41:56 Why doesn’t the weirdness show up in controlled studies? 48:44 Heading to Overtime
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Ross Douthat (The New York Times, The Decadent Society, Believe). Recorded March 18, 2025.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to Robert Wright's Non-Zero podcast. You're listening to Robert Wright's Non-Zero Podcasts. |
| 0:27.6 | Hello, Ross. |
| 0:30.7 | Hello, Bob. |
| 0:31.4 | How are you? |
| 0:32.9 | I can't complain. |
| 0:34.8 | Let me introduce us. |
| 0:36.7 | Why are you laughing? |
| 0:38.1 | Did you think I gain complaining? No, I mean, if you if you can't, if you are prevented from complaining by... |
| 0:45.3 | No, it's literally true. They put a chip in my brain. It got that bad. It got that bad. My wife demanded it. |
| 0:55.3 | So let me introduce this. I'm Robert Wright, publisher of the Nogero Newsletter. |
| 0:59.0 | This is a non-zero podcast. You're a Ross Douthat. Famous columnist at the New York Times. |
| 1:04.1 | I think Andrew Sullivan recently called you what? What did he call you the best columnist at the New York Times and the intro to his podcast conversation? |
| 1:10.9 | Andrew. |
| 1:11.1 | The best in the world. He is given to overstatement, I think. Well, I wouldn't say that. I wouldn't say you too sure a conservative. He's given to enthusiasm, maybe. He was enthusiastic. He's a good host. He's a conservative like you, so maybe he has a soft spot in his heart for you. But I got to say, your column is excellent and distinctive ways. |
| 1:10.5 | It has a more spot and it's hard for you. But I got to say, your column is excellent and distinctive ways. |
| 1:30.6 | It has a more cerebral vibe than pretty much any newspaper column I'm aware of. |
| 1:36.4 | Has anybody ever said that to you? |
| 1:39.0 | People have said that. |
| 1:40.2 | People have framed it in slightly less polite ways. |
| 1:43.6 | I met a man on the street in new york |
| 1:46.8 | the other day who said you're too smart for your own good so you know there's a lot of different |
| 1:54.3 | there's a lot of different interpretations i would accept that i would that would that would raise my |
... |
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