The Age of Spiritual Awakening: Rabbi Simon Jacobson in Conversation | Explorations
Release Date: 04/14/2025
A Woman's Choice: Agency and Meaning in The Scarlet Letter, Chap. 4-6 | Ep. 5
Becoming Human
What if what Hawthorne called the supernatural is actually a profound way of showing in literature what modern psychology has proven to be the case? In episode five of The Scarlet Letter series, Alexandra Barylski discusses the mental health crisis, why Hawthorne might have understood our moden moment better than us, and how Hester Prynne can help us see that choice is the key to our spiritual freedom.
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Who Was John the Baptist? | A Conversation with Dr. James F. McGrath
Becoming Human
Who really was John the Baptist? A prophet? An antiestablishment rebel and activist? Jesus' teacher? In this Becoming Human Conversation, philosopher and scholar of religion Samuel Loncar interviews the scholar James F. McGrath about his groundbreaking research on John the Baptist. James F. McGrath, author of "Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist" and "John of History, Baptist of Faith: The Quest for the Historical Baptizer," and the Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, shows how John is a fascinating religious figure in his own...
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Fear and Trembling: Self-Knowledge Begins in Recognition, Ch. 3 The Scarlet Letter, Ep. 4
Becoming Human
In this episode of The Poetry Peddler Scarlet Letter series, poet, writer, and editor Alexandra and discusses why the path to self-knowledge begins with aknowledging our fear.
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The Witch, the Gossips, & the Madonna: Chapter 2 of The Scarlet Letter
Becoming Human
Public shaming is central to The Scarlet Letter, and it's one of the reasons that the story of Hester Pryne feels so relatable to our world today. In this episode of The Poetry Peddler series on Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Alexandra Barylski - the show's host, a poet, and long time English teacher - explores the psychological effects of public shaming and how women must learn to navigate their public and private lives while learning to avoid (or carry) archetypal female labels.
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Halloween, Hawthorne, and the Supernatural: Introduction & Ch. 1 The Scarlet Letter, Ep. 2
Becoming Human
In this episode, Alexandra Barylski, host of The Poetry Peddler, introduces Nathanial Hawthorne and The Scarlet Letter through a discussion of the often skimmed (or totally skipped) introductory chapter, “The Custom House” before her discussion of “Chapter One: The Prison.” She reads some ghostly passages from introduction directly, which are perfect for Halloween, so you’ll get a taste of Hawthorne’s own language through her audio.
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How the Scarlet Letter Tells Us Who We Are: A Poetry Peddler Conversation, Ep. 1
Becoming Human
You may not think that The Scarlet Letter, a novel set in Puritan America, has much to say about our contemporary crisis around what it means to human, and therefore what it means to be a woman, the plummeting literacy rates, and the ongoing debates about feminism. But, I think, it does. And I will prove it to you in these series. As part of the project, I am recording every chapter of the book with my commentary. As English teacher of many years, this is one the primary ways that I taught my students how to read deeply and think philosophically. So, this series is also very much...
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Why Ignorance Rules the World: Socrates, Euthyphro, and the Search for Knowledge, Ep.1
Becoming Human
Ignorance, humanity's greatest enemy, yet also the secret source of wisdom according to Greece's greatest influencer, Socrates, whose ideas went viral, caused a cultural crisis, and led to his prosecution for impiety, disturbing the peace of a social order that refused to ask: what is real knowledge? Shortly before his trial, Socrates encountered an expert in piety, Euthryphro, and asked: what is piety? What is justice? How do we know what something really is? Euthyphro's answer might shock you. Presented by Samuel Loncar, Ph.D. (Yale University), Becoming Human Project Founder Plato...
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Christian Wiman on AI, Conciousness, and the Power of Life (part 2), Poetry Peddler Ep.2
Becoming Human
The Poetry Peddler podcast is a show celebrating living language as an expression of the human spirit. The show explores poetry’s crucial role in resisting the global language crisis. Each episode invites listeners into a world where language is a vital force of human spirit, freedom, and creativity, featuring original poems, and conversations on the transformative magic of words. This episode features part two of my conversation with Christian Wiman who is the author, editor, or translator of fourteen books, most recently, Zero at the Bone, Fifty Entries Against Despair. ...
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Christian Wiman on the Wonder of the Unknown in Love and Poetry, Poetry Peddler Ep. 1
Becoming Human
The Poetry Peddler podcast is a call to revive the living power of language through poetry as a way of life. Hosted by poet and editor Alexandra Barylski, this show explores poetry’s crucial role in resisting the global language crisis. Each episode invites listeners into a world where language is a vital force of human spirit, freedom, and creativity, featuring original poems, and conversations on the transformative magic of words. This inaugural episode features part one of her conversation with Christian Wiman who is the author, editor, or translator of fourteen books, most...
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Becoming Human Today: Reasons for Hope
Becoming Human
Why bother becoming human? In difficult times, it's easy to lose hope. After 5 years since launching this show with Becoming Human: Origins, I decided it's time for an update. This episode shares some of the impact of the work, its relevance today, and how you can access Becoming Human Origins right now.
info_outlineAccording to Rabbi Simon Jacobson of The Meaningful Life Center, technology is catalyzing a spiritual awakening, making spiritual knowledge the “key commodity of the future.”
Rabbi Jacobson is a best-selling author of Towards a More Meaningful Life and reaches hundreds of thousands daily through his YouTube channel.
In this far-reaching Becoming Human Conversation, we explore anxiety and “healthy angst,” why religion is declining and spirituality is growing, what the spirit is, why the “messianic age” is about the elevation of human consciousness, and how he would respond if he was representing humanity to a delegation of ethically advanced aliens, and they asked, “What is the matter with humanity?”
Support the Becoming Human Project Conversations by becoming a Project member, subscribing to the Becoming Human Project’s Substack, and supporting on Patreon.
MISSION ➤https://www.samuelloncar.com/mission
MEMBERSHIPS ➤ https://www.samuelloncar.com/memberships
🎧 LISTEN to BECOMING HUMAN ORIGINS Ep. 1-2 for FREE How Philosophy Remade Science and Religion
➤https://www.samuelloncar.com/podcast Becoming Human: Origins tells the story of how an atheistic revolution in philosophy, beginning with Socrates and Jesus, remade religion and science, and set the stage for our post-human age. It argues that the dominant story of reason, science, and religion is a modern myth, and must be replaced if we are to make real progress.
BIO
Samuel Loncar, Ph.D. (Yale) is a philosopher of science and religion, poet, and Editor of the Marginalia Review of Books. ➤ MRB https://marginaliareviewofbooks.com