Humanize Me

This question is one about confidence:"I love the stuff you guys are doing about friendship, but I think it assumes a level of confidence in social situations that I don’t feel. How do I generate the kind of confidence that will enable me to initiate conversations or hold my own in social settings?"Bart has no fast-track to universal confidence to offer, but in this episode he shares a multi-point strategy that will give you a solid footing in social situations and lead to higher confidence.Takeaways: Set a goal for the conversation that is not impressing the other person; show up with questions to ask in hand, listen to the answers; stay focused on the other person. Be genuinely curious; asking the questions puts you in control; show humility and tell someone know when they tell you things you didn’t know, or are interested in; be aware of your body language, avoid unconfident movements; as a socially generous person, you can play a connecting role for others you’ve talked to.—Follow this podcast to stay up-

When a tragedy happens, people tend to run from the pain. Dr. Kate Wiebe runs toward it. Kate is the founder and director of the Institute for Trauma and Growth, which started with a focus on faith communities and has since expanded. When a mass shooting, disaster or other tragedy strikes, Kate and her team deploy to teach leaders restorative strategies for personal and group growth.In this episode, Bart Campolo talks with Kate about what she's learned about trauma and crises, why people don’t go to counseling, collective trauma, the bond of survivors, healing, the role of faith and (even secular) spirituality, being heard, resiliency and more.She is a self-described sherpa guiding people into the valley of death, and believes that people can "prepare for the kind of person they want to be in an emergency." She says that our bodies are "incessant truth tellers" which keep the score. That for some people, circumstances don't affect their quality of life one way or the other, but for others, they're important.

“I’m in no hurry to exit this world. I love this world, I love life, I love people, I love community, I love humanity, I love conversations, I love sex, I love all the things that make life good. I love a good cigar, I love to have my bourbon, I love a good meal, I love seeing a sunset at the ocean.” - Dave Warnock on Humanize MeDave Warnock is a former pastor turned humanist who earlier this year was diagnosed with ALS. In response to his diagnosis, a community of secular people rallied around Dave, and they believe his story and attitude is an inspiration. We agree!In this conversation with Bart Campolo, Dave talks about his life in the evangelical subculture, his deconversion from faith at 55 years old, the end of his marriage, discovering himself independently for the first time, finding a new community, getting a terminal diagnosis, death with dignity and the 'final exit', and how his illness has focused his mind on what's truly important.A website about Dave can be found at EveryonesAgnostic.com/Dave.ht

Why are we meanest to those we're closest to? 'Facebook Bob' asks whether we're monsters for this tendency, or whether we simply don't think there'll be any significant consequences for lashing out. Bart Campolo and John Wright talk about it, and the need for greater self-awareness.On Patreon this week: The 6th of 8 sessions of long-form conversation between Bart and his famous evangelical father, Tony Campolo, recorded for the film Leaving My Father’s Faith (available on Amazon). Get the new session at Patreon.com/HumanizeMe.—Follow this podcast to stay up-to-date:Twitter: @HumanizeMePodInstagram: @HumanizeMePodcastFacebook Group: Facebook.com/HumanizeMeGot a question for Bart to answer in a future show? Call the ‘Q Line’ at (424) 291-2092.Humanize Me is hosted by Bart Campolo and is produced by John Wright at JuxMedia.com.

Way back in April 2017, Hank Green joined us on the podcast. But chances are, many of you who listen in 2019 have never heard it! On this week's episode, Bart Campolo introduces that conversation, in which he and Hank talk about individuals versus groups, how to get on the same page with people in your life, how to make the most of your talents and opportunities, and how to humanize the internet. Hank Green is a web content producer, vlogger, and now author. His new book, out now, is called An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. On Patreon this week: The 5th of 8 sessions of long-form conversation between Bart and his famous evangelical father, Tony Campolo, recorded for the film Leaving My Father’s Faith (available on Amazon). Get the new session at Patreon.com/HumanizeMe. — Follow this podcast to stay up-to-date: Twitter: @HumanizeMePod Instagram: @HumanizeMePodcast Facebook Group: Facebook.com/HumanizeMe Got a question for Bart to answer in a future show? Call the ‘Q Line’ at (424) 291-2092. Humanize

Where was Bart last week, why didn't he answer anyone's emails or calls, and why didn't we release a new episode of the podcast? That's what producer John Wright demands to know at the start of this week's Q&A episode. In response, Bart lets us in on a week of private grief, and some of the thoughts that accompany it.We finish the episode with a 10-minute guided meditation / thought exercise with the aim of helping us love others more effectively.Takeaways: Some of life's experiences arrive with a 'gravity' that makes them especially hard, and especially disruptive. It really is true that you never know what people are going through, and so, loving people requires understanding them and making truly effective interventions. Follow the Platinum Rule!On Patreon this week: The 4th of 8 sessions of long-form conversation between Bart and his famous evangelical father, Tony Campolo, recorded for the film Leaving My Father’s Faith (available on Amazon). Get the new session at Patreon.com/HumanizeMe.—Follow this

A listener question prompts Bart Campolo to give some advice about how to open up good conversations with your children about sex and relationships.Our listener is the mother of a 12 year-old girl, who, it is discovered, is interested in a boy at school. The girl's father is panicking and concerned while the mother simply wants to ask how to keep her daughter out of trouble.Takeaways: Rather than trying to shut their sexuality down, ask good questions about the kinds of relationships they would like to have, what they want and how you can play a role in shaping it.On Patreon this week: The second of 8 sessions of long-form conversation between Bart and his famous evangelical father, Tony Campolo, recorded for the film Leaving My Father's Faith (available on Amazon). Get the new session at Patreon.com/HumanizeMe.—Follow this podcast to stay up-to-date:Twitter: @HumanizeMePodInstagram: @HumanizeMePodcastFacebook Group: Facebook.com/HumanizeMeGot a question for Bart to answer in a future show? Call the ‘Q Line’

Sex expert and therapist Dr. Marty Klein has a lot to say about pornography. In this conversation with Bart Campolo, Marty talks about porn and relationships, how people are ultimately responsible for the narrative they're telling themselves, the importance of novelty in human sexuality, the 'contracts' people have in relationships, how people respond to the aging process, and how to take the first step in addressing conflict over pornography.Marty has been a certified sex therapist for over 35 years and is a popular media figure and speaker. His book on the subject, His Porn, Her Pain, is so good that Bart has read it twice. Get it here. This is the first in a series of episodes about building better relationships.Starting this week, for the next 8 weeks, a new audio conversation between Bart and his father Tony Campolo will be released to all supporters of this podcast on Patreon. The long-form dialogues were recorded during production for the film Leaving My Father’s Faith. This is the first time they’re b

A listener named Benjamin calls to ask why Bart feels the need to 'reinvent the wheel' with secular community-building, rather than simply join a Unitarian Universalist congregation. Benjamin says that he himself has found what he's looking for at a UU church.Bart responds to Ben's question, saying that he loves the UU movement but it didn’t feel like a fit for him personally. Bart goes on to talk about some of the potential differences between communities.Bart will be speaking at the Freethought Festival in Madison, Wisconsin this Saturday. Tickets and info at https://ahauwmadison.org/freethought-festival/freethought-festival—Follow this podcast to stay up-to-date:Twitter: @HumanizeMePodInstagram: @HumanizeMePodcastFacebook Group: Facebook.com/HumanizeMeNot a supporter on Patreon yet? Join up at Patreon.com/HumanizeMe and get extra content for it!Got a question for Bart to answer in a future show? Call the ‘Q Line’ at (424) 291-2092..Humanize Me is hosted by Bart Campolo and is produced by John Wright at Jux

Gretta Vosper is an ordained minister of the United Church of Canada who, as a self-professed atheist, has survived an official review from her denomination and continues to serve as the pastor of her congregation.In this conversation, Bart Campolo talks with Gretta about the story of the last few years, why she stays in her church, what her congregation believes about a supernatural God (Gretta doesn't think it matters), whether the foundational narrative underlying the good morality Gretta is teaching is important or not, the differences between the United States and Canada and whether the social safety net has an effect on the amount of religiosity, and their shared mission.Gretta Vosper's website can be found at GrettaVosper.ca.—Follow this podcast to stay up-to-date:Twitter: @HumanizeMePodInstagram: @HumanizeMePodcastFacebook Group: Facebook.com/HumanizeMeNot a supporter on Patreon yet? Join up at Patreon.com/HumanizeMe and get extra content for it!Got a question for Bart to answer in a future show? Call

In episode 407, Bart and John attempted to answer the question of a 15 year-old listener who wondered aloud why people aren't freaking out more, and doing more, about climate change. In the wake of that episode, Bart heard from many other listeners who didn't think we nailed it. So, this is our attempt at a redo! Let us know what you think. — Follow this podcast to stay up-to-date: Twitter: @HumanizeMePod Instagram: @HumanizeMePodcast Facebook Group: Facebook.com/HumanizeMe Not a supporter on Patreon yet? Join up at Patreon.com/HumanizeMe and get extra content for it! Got a question for Bart to answer in a future show? Call the ‘Q Line’ at (424) 291-2092. Humanize Me is hosted by Bart Campolo and is produced by John Wright at JuxMedia.com.

Bart Campolo is a materialist, which means that he thinks that the physical universe and its movements are the basis of all reality, and that human consciousness, morality, meaning and everything else comes from physical nature. So you may consider it odd that Bart would have Mark Gober on his podcast, whose book argues that science has proven the existence of consciousness beyond the human body. Gober says that there is evidence for the existence of phenomena like telepathy, precognition, remote viewing and psychokinesis, and that this evidence has convinced him that consciousness transcends the human brain. Needless to say, Bart disagrees with this, but these kinds of views are common in our society, especially among people who are not part of 'organized religion'. So, while this conversation is not a debate, it's a lively discussion of why Mark thinks these claims are valid, particularly as someone who was once a materialist like Bart. They hit on: What scientific evidence Marks thinks show that conscio

The earth is in trouble and nobody seems to care. That's the observation of Josie, 15, who called the podcast after hearing more and more about humanity's biggest challenges during science class: "Hey Bart, I'm Josie, I just turned 15 and I am a big fan of your podcast. So I have this really great science teacher who is one of my favorite teachers ever, and he's really passionate about a lot of things and will sometimes go on long trains of thought during class. One of the things he comes back to is basically how the well-being of earth is spiraling downhill and we will all be in serious environmental trouble in the near future, what with the spiking population and climate change. And then, once he talks about this, he sort of moves back to whatever lesson we're doing - you know, Newton's Third Law or whatever - and then I can't really focus the rest of the class because I keep coming back to: Wow, we are in serious trouble. Everyone in the world is in serious trouble. Why isn't this everyone's first concern

Is it even a word? Bart Campolo’s reaction to the anti-semitic shooting in Pittsburg was to reach out to his Jewish friends and ask how they were doing. It made him wonder if there is a way to be actively pro-semitic, and to support Jews more.To answer this, Bart reached out to the hosts of the most popular Jewish podcast in existence, Unorthodox. Mark Oppenheimer, Stephanie Butnick and Liel Leibovitz chatted with Bart in this fun conversation about philo-semitism, stereotypes of Jewish people, the places where people can get to know more Jews, how to be part of a group identity, tribalism and bagel-sniffing.Unorthodox is a production of Tablet magazine and can be found at tabletmag.com/author/unorthodox and wherever podcasts are heard.--Follow this podcast on Twitter or Instagram to stay up-to-date:Twitter: @HumanizeMePodInstagram: @HumanizeMePodcastNot a supporter on Patreon yet? Join up at Patreon.com/HumanizeMe and get extra content for it!Got a question for Bart to answer in a future show? Call the ‘Q Li

A letter this week from a listener who says he's hungry for community with like-minded secular people is just the latest one like it. But this one couldn't have come at a better time, or landed on more fertile soil.Two Sundays ago, Bart Campolo and a team of like-minded people held their first content-driven gathering at his new house in Cincinnati. The theme of the event was, 'Paying Attention.' They have decided to hold these meetings once every 2 weeks, with a different theme each week. Bart has a hunch that their material may be of interest to the wider Humanize Me community, and his team are excited to share their format.In this episode, producer John Wright reads Phil's letter, and Bart answers by talking about what they're doing in Cincinnati and what he thinks may be of use to the wider community. If you'd like to read the letter Bart sent out to local friends describing the vision for the gatherings, go to bartcampolo.org/2019/02/letter. If the content was supplied by Humanize Me, would you be intere

You can be forgiven for not being familiar with 'pyrotheology', the lifelong philosophy project of Peter Rollins.In this episode of Humanize Me, Bart Campolo attempts a philosophical deep dive with Pete, a friend of the podcast for years. It’s a very lively, argumentative conversation on the differences between Bart and Pete on human drive and desire, humanism, religion, death, meaning and meaninglessness.Along the way, the pair touch on dialectics, human evolution, dual instincts, psychoanalysis, Sam Harris, Jordan Peterson, ontological antagonism, fundamentalism and the death of God.We recommend Pete's podcast, The Fundamentalists, where he lays out his ideas to the keen interest of his friend, the comedian Elliott Morgan. For more on pyrotheology and everything Pete, go to PeterRollins.com.—Follow this podcast on Twitter or Instagram to stay up-to-date:Twitter: @HumanizeMePodInstagram: @HumanizeMePodcastYou can also join our Facebook Group. Not a supporter on Patreon yet? Join up at Patreon.com/HumanizeMe

One of our listeners read an interview with Conan O'Brien in the New York Times last week. He sent us this excerpt: NYT: Is this how you want to go out, with a show that gets smaller and smaller until it’s gone? Conan: Maybe that’s O.K. I think you have more of a problem with that than I do. [Laughs.] At this point in my career, I could go out with a grand, 21-gun salute, and climb into a rocket and the entire Supreme Court walks out and they jointly press a button, I’m shot up into the air and there’s an explosion and it’s orange and it spells, “Good night and God love.” In this culture? Two years later, it’s going to be, who’s Conan? This is going to sound grim, but eventually, all our graves go unattended. NYT: You’re right, that does sound grim. Conan: Sorry. Calvin Coolidge was a pretty popular president. I’ve been to his grave in Vermont. It has the presidential seal on it. Nobody was there. And by the way, I’m the only late-night host that has been to Calvin Coolidge’s grave. I think that’s what se

James Croft is the Outreach Director of the Ethical Society of St. Louis, a longstanding humanist congregation, and one of the largest in the world.In this conversation with Bart Campolo, James talks about what his congregation is doing to engage with the issues of St. Louis, a place which has made many headlines in the past number of years for racial strife. James subscribes to 'deed before creed', an interest less in what people believe and more in what they commit to doing. His congregation is creating safe places to ask questions that people are worried about asking, or which may be loaded, in areas like LGBTQ matters or on topics like white fragility. In addition, he and Bart get into a discussion on the usefulness of protests and revolutions versus better conversations (spoiler alert: they eventually agree that both are of use).The Ethical Society of St. Louis can be found online at EthicalStL.org. He is on Twitter @JFLCroft.And, on this episode, we go out with a song! Eric Bachmann's song 'Mercy' is ve

It's a new year! A time for fresh ideas and new beginnings, and so much has been happening in Bart Campolo's life that this episode serves as an update and a reflection on various themes, including: How helping a parent cross life's finish line can focus the mind and change your plans. How the birth of a first grandchild a few days later can turn the whole thing into a 'circle of life' motif, while turning attention on the kind of world they're being born into. How suddenly becoming aware of your own habits and behaviors can give you a desire to change them. Also, Bart talks about the expectations we have to react in certain standard ways when going through life's journey, and how authenticity can cut through those expectations. — Follow this podcast on Twitter or Instagram to stay up-to-date: Twitter: @HumanizeMePod Instagram: @HumanizeMePodcast You can also join our Facebook Group. Not a supporter on Patreon yet? Join up at Patreon.com/HumanizeMe and get extra content for it! Got a question fo

A quick Christmas greeting from Bart Campolo, urging secular folks like himself to embrace the holiday for what it is, and be their best humanist selves during the season.--—Follow this podcast on Twitter or Instagram to stay up-to-date:Twitter: @HumanizeMePodInstagram: @HumanizeMePodcastYou can also join our Facebook Group. Not a supporter on Patreon yet? Join up at Patreon.com/HumanizeMe and get extra content for it!Got a question for Bart to answer in a future show? Call the ‘Q Line’ at (424) 291-2092.Humanize Me is hosted by Bart Campolo and is produced by JuxMedia.com.