Ye Gods with Scott Carter

Sam Harris is a  neuroscientist, philosopher, and bestselling author, who offers guided meditations on his Waking Up app, and a virtual Aristotle's Academy of Conversations and courses from Great Thinkers and Teachers.

His book is Subtitled, A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion, and it is a map of the continents of spiritual practices it explores a no man's land between science and religion. Harris explores what it means to live ethically and meaningfully without traditional belief. 

Scott Talks with actor, podcaster and voice-over artist Paul F. Tompkins. Paul has also acted on TV shows such as Bojack Horseman, Frasier, Weeds, The Sarah Silverman Program, Community and Curb Your Enthusiasm and in films, including Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and There Will Be Blood.

Besides hosting the podcasts Threedom, Stay F. Homekins, and The Neighborhood Listen, Paul regularly guests on other people’s shows, including over 200 episodes of Comedy Bang! Bang!

Scott talks with Bret Stephens, New York Times opinion columnist and founder and editor-in-chief of SAPIR, a quarterly that covers issues of Jewish concern. 

Starting in 2014, Brett co-authored, with fellow New York Times columnist Gail Collins, The Conversation, an edited transcript of a witty and substantive dialogue between two civilized colleagues from opposite ends of the political spectrum: Brett was the conservative, Gail, the liberal. Earlier this year, book projects for each paused The Conversation but, in September, the popular feature returned with Bret and a rotating panel of contributors including Times Opinion writer Frank Bruni. 

Earlier in his career Brett had two stints at the Wall Street Journal: first in 1998 as an op-ed editor, then in 2004 to write the Journal's "Global View" column. While with the Journal, he received the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2013 and the next year he released his book AMERICA IN RETREAT: THE NEW ISOLATIONISM AND THE COMING GLOBAL DISORDER.

Scott talks with Moon Unit Zappa, daughter of visionary musician Frank Zappa. Moon was just 26 when, in 1993 her father, then aged 52, died of prostate cancer. Two years later, Frank was posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame by the Velvet Underground’s Lou Reed. Moon's 2024 memoir Earth to Moon, which is an illuminating, often disillusioning, peak behind the Zappa family curtain.

Patricia Heaton, two-time-Emmy winner for Everybody Loves Raymond and The Middle, is a cradle Catholic whose sister is a nun. She talks with Scott about her spiritual and personal discovery developed after she her time on those series ended, and how it helped her through addiction.

Julia Sweeney is best known for her androgynous alter ego Pat on SNL and her one woman shows God Said Ha! and Letting Go of God. Her latest show Julia Sweeney: Older and Wider deals with religion but also parenting and feminism. 

Scott talks to Columbia Journalism School Dean and New Yorker staff writer Jelani Cobb.  His articles on race, the police and injustice won him the 2015 Sidney Hillman Prize for Opinion and Analysis. And in 2018 he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in for Commentary. Jelani has also received fellowships from the Fullbright and Ford foundations.

When he became Journalism Dean in 2022, Jelani had been teaching at Columbia since 2016. And when he was made a staff writer at The New Yorker in 2015, Jelani had been contributing articles on race, politics, history and culture, since 2012. In 2022, with New Yorker Editor-In-Chief David Remnick, he helped edit The Matter of Black Lives, an anthology of the magazine’s writing on race in America.

Rainn Wilson, best known for playing Dwight Schrute on The Office, has leveraged that fame and wealth that came to him in his forties to better himself and, perhaps, the world. 

Rainn talks with Scott about his 2023 book SOUL BOOM: WHY WE NEED A SPIRITUAL REVOLUTION, in which Rain makes a case for the radical re-conceiving of humanity. 

Rainn also recounts his leaving and return to the Baháʼí faith.

Claire Hoffman is a journalist, author, and a journalism professor at the University of California, Riverside. Her new book, Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson was hailed by The New Yorker’s Casey Cep as “magnificent,” “gripping”, and “wonderfully thorough, the type of biography in which you learn just the right amount of everything.” 

In her book, Claire dives into the story of how, for two months in 1926, Pentecostal superstar Sister Aimee’s disappearance from a Southern California beach dominated headlines across the world.

Claire also grew up in the 1980’s and ‘90’s in Fairfield, Iowa - ground zero for the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s Transcendental Meditation movement in America. Since her parents were devout practitioners, Claire and her brother were raised also as meditators. She recounts her childhood experiences in her 2016 book, Greetings from Utopia Park: Surviving a Transcendent Childhood

Renowned American sportscaster, Bob Costas talks about growing up on Long Island, how his introduction to the world of sports was inextricably linked to his father’s addiction to gambling, how his Catholic upbringing shaped his world view, how he pursued his dream of becoming a sports broadcaster, the people he most admired and how he decided to retire from being the best play-by-play baseball announcer of his generation.

Rabbi Sharon Brouse, named America's most influential Rabbi by Newsweek in 2013, shares her journey from an unaffiliated Jewish upbringing to co-founding the progressive IKAR Temple in Los Angeles. She delves into the profound wisdom of her 2024 bestseller, The Amen Effect: Ancient Wisdom to Heal Our Hearts, emphasizing ancient rituals and their relevance in modern times. The conversation highlights a sacred pilgrimage ritual from the Mishnah and its teachings on compassion and communal support. Rabbi Brouse addresses the challenges of maintaining tradition while advocating for inclusivity and justice. She recalls her emotional connection to Jewish practices, her parents' initial shock at her rabbinical path, and how Ikar aims to integrate spirituality with social activism. The episode also touches on broader themes of faith, human connection, and the transformative power of ancient wisdom.

Watch Scott Carter’s 2024 TEDx talk “Indivisible” on YouTube.