Humanize Me
309 episodes - English - Latest episode: 7 days ago - ★★★★★ - 202 ratingsA podcast about making the most of this life by reframing your story, building better relationships, and cultivating wonder and gratitude. Hosted by longtime counselor and community builder Bart Campolo, the show features warm, thoughtful conversations about generating love and meaning in a universe that doesn’t always provide it.
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Episodes
620: Some people are hard to feel empathy for
December 28, 2021 00:36 - 46 minutes - 52.7 MBLet's be honest: some people just don't inspire our empathy! In this last episode of 2021, Bart responds to a post on the Humanize Me Facebook Group, in which a woman feels unempathetic about consequences suffered by her sister due to the sister's own bad decisions. She feels like a bad person, she says, but should she? And how should we feel about our own lack of empathy in such situations?
619: We're creating meaning as we speak!
December 07, 2021 00:07 - 40 minutes - 45.8 MBBart with a solo episode on how we create meaning in our lives, and get access to meaning as we live in connection to the universe.
618: Should we form friendships with people who don't share our values? with Chrissy Stroop
November 02, 2021 21:00 - 1 hour - 92.2 MBChrissy Stroop is a writer and scholar who, despite being an 'exvangelical', remains interested in, and critical of, evangelical culture. When she recently mentioned Bart Campolo in an article, we reached out to ask her if she wanted to have a conversation about how evangelicals think and talk about those who leave the faith. But the conversation took a different turn, becoming a friendly disagreement over whether or not we should try to form friendships with people who don't share our core ...
617: Re-evaluating time in Christian urban ministry
October 18, 2021 23:58 - 41 minutes - 47.9 MBBart responds to a question from a listener who wants to know why he doesn't talk more about his time as a Christian minister in poor urban neighborhoods, and what his experiences make him think about the possibility of future change.
616: Using emotional intelligence like a hostage negotiator, with Derek Gaunt
September 23, 2021 20:44 - 1 hour - 80.7 MBDerek Gaunt in an educator and author with 20 years of experience as a hostage negotiator for law enforcement agencies in the Washington DC metro area. In this conversation with Bart Campolo, Derek talks about 'tactical empathy', emotional intelligence, controlling how someone feels about you, building trust, truly listening to someone's story, understanding motivation, looking for hidden messages and meaning, how to respect the person even if you don't respect their decisions or actions, an...
615: Recorded live at the Wild Goose Festival
September 12, 2021 21:15 - 54 minutes - 62.1 MBBart tells his story at the progressive Christian Wild Goose Festival.
614: Mental blocks
September 09, 2021 21:03 - 36 minutes - 41.6 MBBart talks about a 'combo platter' leading to a big mental block recently, and asks whether we can learn to overcome them more effectively when they happen.
613: Mental Immunity, with Andy Norman
July 18, 2021 00:08 - 1 hour - 107 MBDoes the mind have an immune system? It turns out it does, according to Andy Norman, who applies the emerging science of cognitive immunology to our divided, post-truth culture. In this conversation with Bart Campolo, Andy is pushed to explain how the concepts in his book 'Mental Immunity' can help people navigate our chaos of disinformation, propaganda, hate, and division.
612: Life after lockdown
July 02, 2021 18:24 - 36 minutes - 42.1 MBBart and John talk about the current status of life in a waning pandemic, including: the psychology of lockdown, the permanency or otherwise of the changes, appetite for social life, impact on infants and high school seniors, the prospect of a rebounding economy and whether or not we took advantage of the 'magic' of the pause.
611: Israel and Palestine, with Salwa Duaibis and Gerard Horton
June 01, 2021 02:04 - 1 hour - 126 MBBefore recent events in Israel and Palestine, Bart Campolo had this conversation with Salwa and Gerard of an organization called Military Court Watch in Jerusalem. In it, we hear about Salwa's experiences growing up in the region, and what drew Gerard to working there as an attorney. There are no easy answers about the conflict there, and we don't offer any in this episode. But human rights, humanist ideas and a focus on children are highlighted in a very insightful way.
610: Do you believe in miracles?
May 21, 2021 21:10 - 49 minutes - 56.5 MBBart and John discuss the a question from a listener called Paolo about believing in miracles. Even though he has many issues with the rational case for Christianity, Paolo's own experiences make him inclined to hold onto his faith. And let's be honest, we live in a world where weird things sometimes happen. Do you believe in miracles?
609: Lost Connections, with Johann Hari
April 30, 2021 21:18 - 1 hour - 125 MBJohann Hari is an international best-selling author, journalist and thinker who has written two books we especially love: Chasing the Scream (about drugs and addiction) and Lost Connections (about what produces depression). So he may be one of the most fitting guests we've had. In this conversation with Bart Campolo, Johann talks about the purpose of pain, the value of community, understanding despair, how people learn social skills and friendship, why our intuitions on addiction may bewrong...
608: Transgender listener calls us out...
April 15, 2021 21:22 - 33 minutes - 38.9 MB...in the nicest possible way. On a recent episode, Bart Campolo casually referred to a bar full of people you might like to strike up a conversation with, saying, 'There's a woman, there's a man, there's a woman who used to be a man.' A trans woman called Rya wrote us an email, in the process giving us the perfect model for how to address someone you disagree with. It was so perfect we thought we'd share it. Also on this episode, the music of New Tycoon (a song called Ancient from the album...
607: Political Junkies, with Claire Potter
April 09, 2021 21:27 - 1 hour - 95.6 MBHow do we recapture political nuance, thoughtfulness and open-mindedness at a time when alternative media has hooked us on politics and broke our democracy? Claire Potter is a Professor of History and co-Executive Editor of Public Seminar at The New School for Social Research in Greenwich Village, New York City. In this conversation, she and Bart Campolo talk about the state of our political discourse and the attitudes that can promote the change we all want to see.
606: Secular communities survey, with Joe Blankholm
March 19, 2021 15:42 - 58 minutes - 67.4 MBBart talks to Joe Blankholm, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who with his colleagues is conducting a survey of secular communities across the United States. Take the survey at http://secularcommunities.com/scs
605: Connection after deconstruction
March 03, 2021 19:41 - 56 minutes - 64.9 MBA question from a former church pastor about finding connections and community with other people on the other side of faith. Bart thinks it's harder as an adult than when you were in high school or college, but has some thoughts that may inspire some practical moves. Things we mention during the episode: https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/resources http://clergyproject.org https://www.facebook.com/groups/1772151613053280 https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_the_power_of_vulnerabili...
604: Constructive disagreements, with David C. Smalley
February 17, 2021 00:03 - 1 hour - 81.1 MBHow can we learn to have our disagreements across ideological divides more constructively and respectfully? David C. Smalley may be something of an expert at this point, having conducted hundreds of long-form conversations - many of them with Christians - on his podcast for the last 11 years. In this episode with Bart Campolo, David talks about how he approaches these on-air disagreements, and what allows him to stay friends with many of his guests after they hang up the phone.
603: Thoughts on the Inauguration
January 22, 2021 02:19 - 41 minutes - 47.9 MBBart and John share thoughts about the Inauguration of President Biden, the emotions it raises, what is entailed in turning the page as a nation, how to begin to bring Trump's most fervent supporters back into conversation, the importance of rituals like this, the Inauguration as a civic religious ceremony, and the actual religion in the ceremony - including the biggest bible we've ever seen.
602: Coping with insecurity, with songwriter Ali Tamposi
January 14, 2021 22:35 - 51 minutes - 58.9 MBWhat does it take to cope in a high-pressure, competitive environment... without falling into harmful behavior? Ali Tamposi is a grammy-nominated songwriter who has written for some of the biggest names in pop music: Kelly Clarkson, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, John Legend, Ozzy Osbourne and many others. She's also Bart Campolo's daughter-in-law-to-be. Bart and Ali talk about what it's like to be in a songwriting session, how high-pressure, competitive environments can bring out everyone's in...
601: Progressive Christians ALWAYS become atheists
January 07, 2021 16:35 - 1 hour - 62 MBBart joins Konrad Benjamin, host of the Australian podcast Ideas Digest, to talk about why he isn't a progressive Christian but rather a secular humanist, and to assert that they ALWAYS become atheists. Subscribe to Ideas Digest wherever you listen to podcasts! Follow the podcast on Instagram: @ideasdigest
601: Progressive Christians ALWAYS become atheists, with Konrad Benjamin
January 07, 2021 16:35 - 1 hour - 63 MBBart joins Konrad Benjamin, host of the Australian podcast Ideas Digest, to talk about why he isn't a progressive Christian but rather a secular humanist, and to assert that they ALWAYS become atheists.
530: A very COVID Christmas
December 18, 2020 21:40 - 51 minutes - 58.5 MBA coronavirus story, Bart’s contention that Christmas should be once every 4 years, and a reminder that life isn’t ‘supposed to’ be perfect.
529: Better conversations II, with David Fleischer
December 07, 2020 18:51 - 1 hour - 137 MBThe second of two classic installments of this podcast that we’re posting on the topic of better conversations. Last week, we heard about the method called 'street epistemology'. This time, we're hearing about 'deep canvassing', used by our guest David Fleischer of the Los Angeles LGBT Center to change votes. We hope it’ll help you think about how to engage with people more productively, and enable some good interpersonal outcomes! Note: This is an edit comprised of TWO separate conversation...
528: Better conversations, with Anthony Magnabosco
December 01, 2020 01:53 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBIn a reprise of this classic conversation with Anthony Magnabosco, we talk about a conversational tool which can change the course - and productivity - of those most difficult exchanges, the ones between people who disagree on fundamental things in life. Anthony is an advocate of 'street epistemology', and it could be a very useful idea in these divided times. This is the first of two 'classic' episodes we're posting on the topic of better conversations. We hope it'll help you think about ho...
527: Stream of consciousness
November 17, 2020 21:29 - 34 minutes - 39.9 MBBart gives a stream-of-consciousness update from under his rock, including stark thoughts about the recent attempted suicide of a close friend, an unexpected gift from another, and an attempt to recenter around gratefulness. The classic article on chess Bart mentions (circa 1992) can be found at https://vault.si.com/vault/1992/03/02/the-child-is-the-master-playing-a-young-chess-prodigy-rekindled-the-authors-love-for-the-game
526: Re-Enchantment
October 21, 2020 23:57 - 1 hour - 62.4 MBThis week we air Bart's interview on the podcast Re-Enchantment with host Daniel Shkolnik. We don't do this often, but we liked this interview a lot, and Daniel is a guy committed to the ideas we share so passionately. Subscribe to Re-Enchantment wherever you listen to podcasts, and at ReEnchantmentPod.com.
526: Re-Enchantment, with Daniel Shkolnik
October 17, 2020 21:32 - 1 hour - 62.4 MBThis week we air Bart's interview on the podcast Re-Enchantment with host Daniel Shkolnik. We don't do this often, but we liked this interview a lot, and Daniel is a guy committed to the ideas we share so passionately.
525: Similar values, but contentious under the hood
October 05, 2020 16:35 - 42 minutes - 48.6 MBBart and John attempt to answer a listener question whose family, despite practically compatible values, insists on framing everything with respect to their religious beliefs. This is causing contentious conversations, and the listener wants to know how to handle it.
524: Lessons from Haiti, with John Engle
September 28, 2020 21:20 - 1 hour - 103 MBJohn Engle, known for his work with Haiti Partners, joins Bart to answer the question, 'What have you learned from your work in Haiti that may be relevant to the tough times we're going through here in the United States this year?'
523: The Death of the Artist
September 10, 2020 00:23 - 1 hour - 82.2 MBBill Deresiewicz is an award-winning essayist and critic who has written a new book. The book warns that the art we all love - music, books, films and much more - is in jeopardy. Based on his own deep research and interviews with artists and content creators, Bill is worried that the digital economy isn't supporting that art that sustains our souls, and that we are in the middle of a big transformation. In this conversation with Bart Campolo, Bill talks about art as a secular religion, "huma...
523: The Death of the Artist, with Bill Deresiewicz
September 10, 2020 00:23 - 1 hour - 82.2 MBBill Deresiewicz is an award-winning essayist and critic who has written a new book. The book warns that the art we all love - music, books, films and much more - is in jeopardy. Based on his own deep research and interviews with artists and content creators, Bill is worried that the digital economy isn't supporting that art that sustains our souls, and that we are in the middle of a big transformation.
522: How should a humanist respond to the Falwell scandal?
August 31, 2020 21:40 - 45 minutes - 51.8 MBA scandal for the ages has emerged about of one of the most prominent evangelical Christian leaders of the Trump era. In this episode, Bart and John attempt to answer the question, 'What would make a humanistic response to the situation with the Falwells?'
521: Christian culture, authenticity and Mega, with Holly Laurent and Greg Hess
August 26, 2020 15:19 - 1 hour - 92.2 MBMega is an improvised satire from the staff of a fictional mega church, hosted by Holly Laurent and Greg Hess. In this conversation with Bart Campolo, Holly and Greg talk about satirizing American Christianity, what makes it funny, and the mental gymnastics it takes to twist Jesus into a capitalist. But it doesn't take long before they're also talking - very personally - about being haunted by the evangelicalism of childhood, how to live authentically, recovery from trauma, undoing some of t...
520: Speech, tolerance and open debates, with Mark Oppenheimer (Part 2)
August 11, 2020 19:57 - 1 hour - 104 MBIn this Part 2 with Mark Oppenheimer, recorded later after both had listened back to their first conversation, Mark and Bart return to take the earlier convo in a practical direction. Including: Facebook versus Letter to the Editor, steel-manning, don’t act in ways you wouldn’t let your kids act, diversity including identity and ideology, features of the 'new puritanism', the importance of hearing from the young and old, keeping kids off social media, how we may be living in the most humorle...
519: 'Tragic optimism' by Esther Perel, unauthorized edit by Bart Campolo
August 05, 2020 23:04 - 11 minutes - 13.7 MBA recent blog post by Esther Perel caught Bart Campolo's eye. In this brief, bonus episode, Bart reads his unauthorized edit of Perel's piece, which is about what we've lost in the pandemic, and how to cultivate collective resilience and 'tragic optimism'. Perel's original essay can be found at: https://estherperel.com/blog/anticipatory-grief?fbclid=IwAR3rD-qfdtNrUdQPgehl2f6156YJOEMTNooRjgZIaOcNtrUw1D5mnXuXxPM
518: Speech, tolerance and open debates, with Mark Oppenheimer (Part 1)
August 03, 2020 22:39 - 1 hour - 70.1 MBMark Oppenheimer is a friend of this podcast who is a signatory to a recent open letter published by Harper's Magazine, in praise of open debate and tolerance for differing opinions, and against some aspects of 'cancel culture', dogmatism and censoriousness. In this conversation with Bart Campolo, Mark chats about why he signed the letter, the limits and boundaries of free speech, the likeliest paths to progress, the effects of added scrutiny on writers at present and some of the reasons he ...
517: Is intimacy possible between people who have different worldviews?
July 20, 2020 21:37 - 1 hour - 90.1 MB'Hi Bart, I know in your podcast you talk a lot about people in 'suddenly interfaith' marriages, where one is a believer and the other has since left, and obviously there are obstacles, but what I want to know is: Does anything work? Is intimacy possible between people of radically different worldviews?' Bart's perspective: Sometimes. And there are some things that make it harder and other things that make it easier.
516: Should we deconvert people on the brink? with Leah Helbling
July 01, 2020 03:32 - 1 hour - 81.4 MBLeah Helbling is a close friend of Humanize Me and a member of the team at the humanist community Cincinnati Caravan with Bart Campolo. In this episode, the two chat about Leah's instinct to attempt to 'deconvert' those who are questioning their faith, and Bart's belief that many people are better off staying where they are. The friendly disagreement started when Bart answered a question in Episode 504 from a listener called Craig who found himself in that position.
515: Facing up to collective trauma
June 15, 2020 21:42 - 33 minutes - 38.3 MBIn this solo episode, Bart talks about seeing the current wave of protest and uprising - the most significant moment ever for the Black Lives Matter movement - in the context of collective trauma.
514: What are we to make of anti-natalism?
May 23, 2020 23:10 - 41 minutes - 47.6 MBAfter talking a bit about insomnia, shaking hands with a local dog owner and dating in the pandemic, we turn to a voicemail asking Bart's opinion of anti-natalism, the philosophical position that ascribes a negative value to having babies.
513: Heaven and hell, with Bart Ehrman
May 13, 2020 19:27 - 1 hour - 90.7 MBWhere did our popular ideas of heaven and hell come from? Did Jesus teach a doctrine of eternal torture? How did our ideas of the afterlife evolve? Bart Ehrman is the author of over 30 books, including six New York Times bestselling books explaining critical biblical scholarship to a popular audience. In this conversation with Bart Campolo, Ehrman talks about the difference between agnosticism and atheism and why he considers himself both, why the words translated 'hell' don't mean what we t...
512: Missing Jesus in the pandemic
May 04, 2020 21:49 - 1 hour - 73.6 MBTwo questions about missing prayer and church during the COVID-19 pandemic. Includes an update on life during lockdown.
511: Aftermath of Roman, and relationships in lockdown
April 20, 2020 22:03 - 1 hour - 79.2 MBBart reflects on two recent episodes that have generated the most mail ever for this podcast, and offers some thoughts on how to improve relationships during this extended lockdown.
510: "You're out to ******* lunch, dad," with Roman Campolo
April 09, 2020 22:56 - 1 hour - 92.5 MBIt's been a hard week for Bart! Episode 509 of this podcast featured his conversation with Michael Dowd, a fellow 'apocalyoptimist' who shares Bart's belief that a great societal collapse is inevitable, and that the current pandemic represents the beginning of a difficult time for humanity. Bart's son Roman Campolo listened, and hated the episode. Not only did Roman have strong criticisms of Dowd, collapse-thinking, and the tone and content of the conversation itself, but he feels that Bart ...
509: Post doom, with Michael Dowd
April 04, 2020 22:07 - 1 hour - 83.2 MBThree years ago to the week, Michael Dowd talked with Bart on this podcast about our modern way of life, sustainability and the future of civilization. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, Bart could think of nobody he wanted to talk to about it more than Michael, so he's back! In this conversation, Bart and Michael talk about their shared sense that the pandemic will be followed by an economic recession or even depression, and that it signals the beginning of the end of our current way of lif...
508: Connecting from afar
March 26, 2020 22:10 - 1 hour - 71.3 MBBart and John are socially distancing, like most of America. What does that mean for our all-important human connections? In this episode, Bart talks about his humanist community, Caravan in Cincinnati, and how they're handling the crisis. Bart emphasizes the importance of listening to each other, reaching out, asking how people are doing and genuinely hearing the answer, and more.
507: Initial thoughts on an emerging global crisis
March 18, 2020 00:31 - 59 minutes - 68.5 MBIt was a bad week to be away. But while Bart Campolo was gone on a family trip, the world changed. After coming back, Bart shares his thoughts about the emerging global crisis being caused by COVID-19. Quick note: We briefly talk about our worst fears for our modern way of life, including Bart's long-held belief that the economy is unsustainable and could collapse into an economic depression. If you don't want to hear negative thoughts right now, and want to go straight to the more hopeful a...
506: When to tell people you've deconverted, and 2 other questions
March 03, 2020 21:08 - 39 minutes - 44.9 MBOn this Q&A episode of the podcast, we take 3 questions in a row! Question 1 is about why Bart decided to tell his parents he wasn't a Christian anymore at the time he did, and how the calculation would have been different if he wasn't a 'professional Christian'. Questions 2 is about starting humanist communities like Caravan in Cincinnati. Bart talks about Caravan and how one may go about using it as a template for new communities. Question 3 is about the impulse to avoid hanging with old f...
505: A journey in human rights, with Greg Asbed
February 24, 2020 00:17 - 2 hours - 140 MBGreg Asbed is a human rights strategist developing a new model—worker-driven social responsibility (WSR) for improving conditions for low-wage workers within the twenty-first-century labor market.
504: In the pew but questioning
February 10, 2020 22:15 - 34 minutes - 39 MBBart takes a call from a questioning Christian looking for advice on who and what to listen to. It's a reminder that our listeners aren't all in the same place on their religious journey, and Bart shares some thoughts on the many paths ahead.