Templeton Ideas Podcast

Olga Khazan is an author and staff writer at The Atlantic, where she publishes stories on health, social science, psychology, and other thought-provoking topics. In 2020, she published her first book, Weird: The Power of Being an Outsider in an Insider World, which draws on her experiences as both an immigrant and a natural introvert. Olga's latest book, Me, But Better: The Science and Promise of Personality Change, chronicles her year-long personal experiment to reshape her personality. Olga joins the podcast to discuss how she intentionally became more extroverted and how becoming a parent can change our personalities.  Does being a parent make you miserable, happy, or is that the wrong question entirely? Explore these ideas, and more, in an essay by psychologist Kendra Thomas entitled "Parenting is About Hope, Not Happiness." Join our growing community of 140,000+ listeners and be notified of new episodes of Templeton Ideas. Subscribe today. Follow us on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Jason Marsh is the executive director of the Greater Good Science Center at UC-Berkeley. Greater Good is committed to sharing science-based insights with educators, parents, and other professionals to foster meaningful lives and a thriving society. In recent years, Greater Good has received grants from the John Templeton Foundation to engage and promote virtues such as intellectual humility and love. He joins the podcast to discuss their research and how your life can be improved by practicing intellectual humility.  At their best, holidays fill us with hope, wonder, generosity, love, and joy. But what is joy, really, and can we experience it even when life is turbulent and tough going? To learn more, check out Alene Dawson's Templeton Ideas essay Unwrapping the Science of Joy. Join our growing community of 200,000+ listeners and be notified of new episodes of Templeton Ideas. Subscribe today.  Follow us on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn , and YouTube.    

Colin Allen is a professor of philosophy at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he specializes in cognitive science, particularly animal cognition and artificial intelligence. Among his many publications, Colin has authored books such as Moral Machines: Teaching Robots Right From Wrong. In his efforts to study diverse intelligences, Colin received Templeton funding for a project called "Joyful by Nature," which explores the evolution and function of joy in various animals. Colin joins the podcast to discuss the research behind animal emotion and behavior.  When it comes to animal emotions, no person stands out more than the naturalist Jane Goodall; Jane dedicated her life to studying the lives of primates and advocating for their dignity. To learn more about how Jane saw the world and our place in it, we invite you to watch a short video in honor of her winning the Templeton Prize. Join our growing community of 200,000+ listeners and be notified of new episodes of Templeton Ideas. Subscribe today.  Follow us on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn , and YouTube.

Vera is a professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southern California. As a cosmologist, she studies the entire universe as a physical system. In doing so, she explores the nature of dark matter, dark energy, and the birth of the universe. Vera is the project leader of a new $4M grant from the John Templeton Foundation that will bring together astrophysicists, computer scientists, artists, and philosophers in a new research hub to explore the nature of dark matter and the early universe. She joins the podcast to discuss dark matter, collaboration among scientists, observatories, and more.  What are the strangest objects in the universe? It's almost certainly black holes, objects that are so powerful that even light cannot escape them.  To learn more, check out our podcast episode with Shep Doelman, whose team produced the first-ever images of a black hole. Join our growing community of 200,000+ listeners and be notified of new episodes of Templeton Ideas. Subscribe today.  Follow us on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn , and YouTube.

Timothy Dalrymple is the new president of the John Templeton Foundation. Before assuming this role, he served as CEO of Christianity Today. Tim has led several innovative media ventures and worked closely with writers, scholars, and philanthropists to elevate ideas that enrich public life. A former national champion gymnast turned philosopher of religion, he holds degrees from Stanford, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Harvard, where his doctoral work focused on the nature of suffering and religious knowledge. He joins to podcast to discuss his history, transition to the role as president, and hopes for the future.  What inspires you to travel? Could you design a journey around the experience of awe? To learn more, we invite you to read Alene Dawson's Templeton Ideas essay, The Awe-Seeker's Guide to Travel. Join our growing community of 200,000+ listeners and be notified of new episodes of Templeton Ideas. Subscribe today.