Ministry of Ideas – Details, episodes & analysis

The great English essayist and linguist Samuel Johnson was writing during the Enlightenment – the period some historians identify as the beginning of the modern age. American author and philosopher David Foster Wallace worked more than two centuries later, in the “post-modern” style. But these two writers shared a common problem: once modernity fractured society’s sense of shared moral norms, how could you write persuasively about morality? This episode looks at how Johnson and Wallace attempted to solve this problem; what struggles plagued their solutions; and why our modern, pluralistic landscape makes their work more valuable than ever. Researcher, writer, and episode producer: Kirsten Hall Herlin Featured Scholars:  Walter Jackson Bate (1918-1999), Professor of English, Harvard University Matt Bucher, Managing Editor, The Journal of David Foster Wallace Studies Jack Lynch, Professor of English, Rutgers University D. T. Max, Staff Writer, The New Yorker Special thanks: Dutton Kearney For transcript, teaching aids, and other resources, click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The problem of gun violence is as old as guns themselves. According to historian Priya Satia, America’s present epidemic of gun violence has its roots in the industrial revolution. Satia tells the story of British gun-maker Samuel Galton, Jr., who was called to task by his Quaker community for manufacturing rifles. As a professed pacifist, Galton had to wrestle with the large-scale uses to which his weapons were put. So where do we look for answers about how to regulate guns? Some claim the answer has to lie in the past, in the nation’s founding documents. Others argue that novel technologies demand novel solutions. Solving the problem of gun violence may be a case where we need to make a strong modernity claim.  Researcher, writer, and episode producer: Christopher Nygren, Associate Professor, History of Art and Architecture, University of Pittsburgh Featured Scholars:  Catherine Fletcher, Professor of History, Manchester Metropolitan University Priya Satia, Professor of History, Stanford University Special thanks: James DeMasi, Chloé Hogg, Jonathan Lyonhart, Pernille Røge, Jennifer Waldron, Catherine Yanko. For transcript, teaching aids, and other resources, click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The story of Galileo has long been cited as evidence the Catholic Church is inherently opposed to scientific research. But in fact, astronomy has been built into the history of the Catholic Church – sometimes built literally into the churches themselves.  Guests Guy Consolmagno, Director of the Vatican Observatory Ann Blair, Harvard Professor of History John Heilbron, Historian of Science Emeritus, University of Berkeley Stephen Barr, Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Delaware Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Scientific origin stories promise to tell us who we really are. But that deepest question of human existence can never fully be answered by science.  Guests Erika Milam, Princeton University Cecilia Heyes, Oxford University This episode was produced by Simon Brown and Maria Devlin McNair. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A sense of divine destiny drove Americans to expand West. A similar spirit is behind the modern quest to conquer space.  Guests Lois Rosson, Bergruenn Institute (Los Angeles) Catherine Newell, University of Miami Joni Kinsey, University of Iowa Episode produced by Liya Rechtman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

God, we know, is outside space and time. But the need to date one faith’s most sacred feast drove a cutting-edge technological quest to accurately locate ourselves in time.  Guests Simon Brown Philipp Nothaft Robert Poole Producers Simon Brown Maria Devlin McNair Voice Talent Blair Hodges Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What’s the spiritual significance of quantum mechanics? One answer comes from the Dalai Lama - a surprising but genuine lover of scientific investigation.  Guests Jose Perillan - Associate Professor of Physics and Science, Technology and Society and the Pauline Newman Director of Science, Technology, and Society at Vassar College Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s common to feel that technology removes the magic of the world, but Hindu worshippers in Bangalore have shown that it's all in the approach.  Guest Tulasi Srinivas, associate professor of anthropology at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies at Emerson College. Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and the Indian Sociological Society. Author of Winged Faith: Rethinking Globalization and Religious Pluralism, among other books. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do scientists ever reject science? Research data on the controversial topic of extraterrestrial life has met with resistance from some in the scientific community and openness from communities of faith.  Guests Avi Loeb, professor of astrophysics and cosmology at Harvard University, where he serves as the Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science. Author of Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth.  Kate Dorsch, associate director of Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Pennsylvania . Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), longtime U.S. Senator (1987-2017) from the state of Nevada and former Senate Majority Leader (2007-2015. *The Senator died in December 2021.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have faith and science always been enemies? The story of Robert Hooke, a revolutionary working in the Scientific Revolution, exemplifies the ways in which Christianity has actually provoked scientific inquiry.  Robert George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. Patricia Fara, director of studies and affiliated lecturer at the University of Cambridge’s Department of the History and Philosophy of Science. Jim Bennett, Keeper Emeritus at the Science Museum, London and professor emeritus of the history of science, University of Oxford. Brother Guy Consolmagno, director of the Vatican Observatory and president of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. Stephen Barr, professor emeritus at the University of Delaware’s department of physics and astronomy. This episode was produced by Rosalind Rei and Maria Devlin McNair. Illuminations is supported by the John Templeton Foundation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices