TED: Doubt versus Belief (audio)

Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; NPR/TED Staff (NPR.org, 11-24-13); SCPR.org

Believers and Doubters

Why do some of us believe in something greater than ourselves, while others of us do not? Can our doubts bring our beliefs into sharper focus? Or what is the difference between belief and faith? TED speakers, courtesy of Guy Raz and National Public Radio, offer personal perspectives on belief from all ends of the spectrum, from ardent atheists to the devout faithful.

Devil vs. Super Devil ("Family Guy")

First, the daughter of the Christian televangelist Billy Graham, Anne Graham Lotz, speaking for her elderly father on the difference between (rational) belief and (emotional) faith. Lesley Hazleton asks, Is doubt essential to faith? Former Catholic and SNL comedienne Julia Sweeny explores the journey, How does a person go from believer to atheist? Then Alain de Botton asks, What can atheism learn from religion? Finally, Indian Hindu intellectual Devdutt Pattanaik wants to know, Are there any universal beliefs and truths? LISTEN

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Kimberly Reed (themoth.org, 11-12-13)

A high school quarterback leaves Montana as a promising son and returns years later to reveal a shocking secret; a boy from Sierra Leone describes his transformation from innocent child to cold-hearted soldier; a teenage girl discovers how to control her errant parrot; and a construction worker discovers the up-side of his girlfriend’s one-year prison sentence. LISTEN

Storytelling with a Beat

(SnapJudgment.org) American life is much richer and diverse than we usually get to hear on NPR. Host Glynn Washington is doing something, bringing us Snap Judgment's amazing array of stories with extras only available to the podcast audience and the story-behind-the-stories on Facebook.

 

This American Life

(512: House Rules, 11-22-13) Where we live is important. It can dictate the quality of the schools and hospitals we have access to, as well as things we will experience -- like cancer rates, unemployment statistics, or whether the city repairs roads in our neighborhood. On this week's show, stories about "destiny by geography." Much of this story is told to Nancy Updike by ProPublica reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones, whose series on the Fair Housing laws in modern America -- with more stories, research, and interviews — is here.

 

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