Episode 137, Between God and Atheism: Live in London (Part II - Further Analysis and Discussion)

Welcome to ‘Episode 137 (Part II of II)’, where our live debate continues and is followed by a Q&A from the audience.

This is a live recording from our recent show at The Royal Institution Theatre in London.

The panel includes returning guests Philip Goff (professor of philosophy at Durham) and Rowan Williams (former Archbishop of Canterbury), as well as two new panellists, Elizabeth Oldfield (the popular writer) and Alex O’Connor (the popular YouTuber).

It’s a very warm and good-spirited debate exploring the problems with traditional religion and atheism. The main arguments discussed are the argument for God from design and the argument against God from evil. Veteran listeners will be familiar with these arguments; still, in each case, it’s fascinating to hear the responses from both sides of the aisle on what their opponents take to be the strongest objections to their view.

Without further ado, here’s the audio from our live show…we hope you enjoy the conversation.

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Episode 137, Between God and Atheism: Live in London (Part I - The Debate)

Welcome to ‘Episode 137 (Part I of II)’, where we’ll be discussing the problems of fine-tuning and evil.

This is a live recording from our recent show at The Royal Institution Theatre in London.

The panel includes returning guests Philip Goff (professor of philosophy at Durham) and Rowan Williams (former Archbishop of Canterbury), as well as two new panellists, Elizabeth Oldfield (the popular writer) and Alex O’Connor (the popular YouTuber).

It’s a very warm and good-spirited debate exploring the problems with traditional religion and atheism. The main arguments discussed are the argument for God from design and the argument against God from evil. Veteran listeners will be familiar with these arguments; still, in each case, it’s fascinating to hear the responses from both sides of the aisle on what their opponents take to be the strongest objections to their view.

Without further ado, here’s the audio from our live show…we hope you enjoy the conversation.

The file size is large, please be patient whilst the podcast buffers/downloads/traps itself in a cage of concepts

Episode 133, 'Vulture Capitalism' with Grace Blakeley: Live at Glastonbury Festival

Welcome to Episode 133, where Jack speaks to returning guest Grace Blakeley about her new book, Vulture Capitalism, live from Glastonbury Festival.

They say money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy power, freedom, and security. The one per cent – who control nearly half of the world’s wealth – understand this better than anyone. In capitalist democracies, corporations spend billions on political donations and lobbying to influence economic policies in line with their own interests. The trillions spent by governments in propping up the banks following the 2008 financial crash – and the bailing out of the largest corporations through the Covid Corporate Financing Facility – speak volumes: the state and the economy are not separate entities. The goal of the state is clear: “Steady the ship and maintain course.”

Corporations don’t just pose a threat to our economic freedoms, but the future of the natural world. Just a handful of firms are responsible for over seventy per cent of carbon emissions, and despite public pressure, corporate action on the climate crisis has been largely ineffective. We shouldn’t be surprised; after all, industry holds the power, and turkeys don’t vote for Christmas.

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Episode 120, The Mystery of Existence (Part II - Further Analysis and Discussion)

Welcome to ‘Episode 120 (Part II of II)’, where we continue our live debate – and take audience questions – at the Royal Institution Threate.

This episode features Jack Symes in conversation with four of the biggest names in philosophy: Richard Dawkins (representing science and atheism), Jessica Frazier (on Hinduism), Silvia Jonas (speaking on Jewish philosophy), and Richard Swinburne (defending Christianity).

With over six-hundred people registering for tickets, we were absolutely overwhelmed by your support; thank you to everybody who came along! A very special thank you to our Patrons and the Global Philosophy of Religion Project at the University of Birmingham for making the event possible. We hope you enjoy the show!

‘The origin of our universe is the greatest mystery of all. Why is there something rather than nothing? Further still, how did we come to exist in a world with such precise laws of nature and complex creatures? As we shall see, how we answer these questions determines everything: from the meaning of our lives to the secrets of our futures.’

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Contents

Part I. The Debate

Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion

Episode 120, The Mystery of Existence (Part I - The Debate)

Welcome to ‘Episode 120 (Part I of II)’, the first instalment of our live show at the Royal Institution Theatre.

This episode features Jack Symes in conversation with four of the biggest names in philosophy: Richard Dawkins (representing science and atheism), Jessica Frazier (on Hinduism), Silvia Jonas (speaking on Jewish philosophy), and Richard Swinburne (defending Christianity).

With over six-hundred people registering for tickets, we were absolutely overwhelmed by your support; thank you to everybody who came along! A very special thank you to our Patrons and the Global Philosophy of Religion Project at the University of Birmingham for making the event possible. We hope you enjoy the show!

‘The origin of our universe is the greatest mystery of all. Why is there something rather than nothing? Further still, how did we come to exist in a world with such precise laws of nature and complex creatures? As we shall see, how we answer these questions determines everything: from the meaning of our lives to the secrets of our futures.’

The file size is large, please be patient whilst the podcast buffers/downloads/holds itself in existence

Contents

Part I. The Debate

Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion

Episode 109, The Mystery of Consciousness (Part II - Further Analysis and Discussion)

Welcome to ‘Episode 109 (Part II of II)’, the final instalment of our debate – featuring Rowan Williams, Anil Seth, Laura Gow, and Philip Goff – in which our panelists take questions from our live audience.

In this episode, you’ll be treated to a live performance of The Panpsycast. The event took place at Liverpool’s beautiful Tung Auditorium on 20th May 2022. Over three hundred of you purchased tickets to the event, with some of our most loyal patrons travelling thousands of miles to be with us in person.

Before you listen to the audio, we just wanted to say a huge thank you to those who came along, as well as all of our wonderful panellists – Rowan Williams, Anil Seth, Laura Gow, and Philip Goff – for participating in the debate.

A special thank you to Q Quartet, The Department of Philosophy at Liverpool University, and Premier Christian Radio for making this episode possible – as well as all of our incredible patrons. Thank you again for your support; we hope you enjoy the show.

The file size is large, please be patient whilst the podcast buffers/downloads/finds its spark of life

Contents

Part I. The Debate

Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion

Episode 109, The Mystery of Consciousness (Part I - The Debate)

Welcome to ‘Episode 109 (Part I of II)’, the first instalment of our live show featuring Rowan Williams, Anil Seth, Laura Gow, and Philip Goff.

In this episode, you’ll be treated to a live performance of The Panpsycast. The event took place at Liverpool’s beautiful Tung Auditorium on 20th May 2022. Over three hundred of you purchased tickets to the event, with some of our most loyal patrons travelling thousands of miles to be with us in person.

Before you listen to the audio, we just wanted to say a huge thank you to those who came along, as well as all of our wonderful panellists – Rowan Williams, Anil Seth, Laura Gow, and Philip Goff – for participating in the debate.

A special thank you to Q Quartet, The Department of Philosophy at Liverpool University, and Premier Christian Radio for making this episode possible – as well as all of our incredible patrons. Thank you again for your support; we hope you enjoy the show.

The file size is large, please be patient whilst the podcast buffers/downloads/finds its spark of life

Contents

Part I. The Debate

Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion

Episode 59, God and Suffering: Live in Liverpool

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Welcome to 'Episode 59’, in which hosts Jack Symes and Gregory Miller discuss the existence of God live at the University of Liverpool.

Believe it or not, humans have been debating questions concerning God for as long as couples have been discussing what they fancy for dinner. Does God exist? Is God all-power, all-knowing and all-loving? Shall we try that new Mexican restaurant on Bold Street?

In this episode, we’re going to be discussing the existence of God in relation to the problem of evil, more specifically, on what has come to be known as ‘the evil-god challenge’. Roughly stated, our question is as follows: why is belief in a good-god significantly more reasonable than belief in an evil-god?

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Contents

Part I. For God’s Sake: Paradise and the Snake.

Part II. Weighing the Scales of Evil: How Heavy is God’s Heart?

Part III. Audience Questions, Further Analysis and Discussion.