Episodes

Humanist ceremonies—weddings, namings, and funerals—are growing rapidly worldwide, offering non-religious, deeply personal ways to mark life’s most significant moments. Laimingas Žmogus (Happy Human) is a social enterprise based in Lithuania, dedicated to making these ceremonies accessible and meaningful.


This week we are delighted to be joined by Urtė Žukauskaitė-Zabukė, Founder and CEO, and Gerda Surgautaitė, Co-Founder of Laimingas Žmogus to share insights into establishing meaningful non-...

Welcome back to Humanism Now for a special episode coinciding with the critical upcoming UK Parliament vote on assisted dying — a pivotal moment we've long campaigned for and debated. In this episode we hear how what the bill entails, why it matters and how safe assisted dying aligns with values of compassion and autonomy.

Joining us is Nathan Stilwell, Humanists UK's Assisted Dying Campaign Coordinator, Campaigns and Communications Manager at My Death My Decision and a member of The Assisted D...

"It's difficult to think of an area of work life that isn't connected to humanistic thought. If you start with ideas around the dignity of each human, compassion, kindness, ambitions, ways to behave, being evidence-based and being equitable, fair and not biased wherever possible, you start to understand that those are the foundational concepts of humanism" - Paul Harrison, Humanists in Business Network

This week on Humanism Now, new panellist Christian joins AJ to discuss activism and campaigni...

"A key tenet of humanism is empathy. Whether that's empathy for those around us or to all humans, but also we should extend that to all life of exists, and then forward in time, to future generations." - Lori Marriott

This week, Katia & Mark join the panel to discuss the merits of identifying with the humanist label. Plus we hear from Lori Marriott, Coordinator of Humanist Climate Action.

References:

Humanists UK: Defining Humanism
Humanists International: What is Humanism?
Humanists UK: How ...

"It's really not as hard as people think to have a peaceful conversation with somebody who disagrees profoundly with you on deep questions." - Ariel Pontes

This week on Humanism Now we share our wide ranging interview with Ariel Pontes, a writer, podcast host and advocate for humanism, effective altruism, animal welfare and productive dialogue to counter polarisation. Ariel shares a wealth of experience and learnings from leaving Kardecist Spiritism to supporting Humanist groups in Brazil & Rom...

"Humanism is about human goodness, appreciating reason & potential" - Ojas Singh Bhanot This week on Humanism Now, Mark & Nicole join the panel to discuss how illegal faith schools deny children the right to science, the importance of promoting scientific literacy across society and the impact of scientific fraud. This week's interview is with Ojas Singh Bhanot, Politics and Data Science student at the London School of Economics, where he Founded the Humanist Open ...

“The irony of man's condition is that the deepest need is to be free of the anxiety of death and annihilation; but it is life itself which awakens it, and so we must shrink from being fully alive.” ― Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death

Episode References:

BBC News: New extremism definition unveiled by government
Humanists UK: Extremists ‘negate the fundamental rights and freedoms of others’ – humanists analyse new definition
‘Resisting extremism means defending a tolerant society’, Andrew Copso...

Welcome back to Humanism Now! This week AJ & Mark from the Central London Humanists join the panel to discuss the latest news, plus our interview with Monica Belițoiu, Chair of The Romanian Secular Humanist Association (ASUR) .

Episode References

Humanist UK; Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes awarded Darwin Day MedalRebecca Wragg Sykes Interview

Humanists UK; Assisted Dying CampaignAssisted Dying Inquiry Report | Everything you need to know

BBC News; Greece legalises same-sex marriage
Matthew Walker; W...

Welcome to Humanism Now's International Women's Day Special hosted by Audrey Simmons (Association of Black Humanists & CLH) and featuring Lola Tinubu (Assoc. Black Humanists & CLH), Katia Urquiza (Central London Humanists) & Nicole Shasha (Leicester Humanists and Young Humanists) who discuss;

The importance of IWD today

Does being humanist imply being a feminist?

Highlighting influential women's voices

Talking more about women's health

Episode references:

Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Ca...

"We should acknowledge that humanism is something that beats in the heart of every human being" Dr Leo Igwe This week James, Lola & AJ are joined by legendary human rights activist, Leo Igwe. We discuss the merits of Darwin Day, Leo's decades of campaigning for freethought and against superstition and Leo's vision for a new future for atheism and humanism in Africa. Episode references Guardian; How should we address Charles Darwin's complicated legacy?JC Candnedo; Tai Solarin DayH...

Welcome back to Humanism Now. This we learn practical tips for engaging in good faith dialogues with people of different beliefs with expert insight from Jeremy Rodell, Director of Humanist UK's Dialogue Network and our regular panellists Lola & Nicole.

Episode references:
Humanists UK: Exploring Common Ground, Dialogue with others
Humanists UK: Dialogue Training Application
About Jeremy Rodell:
🎤 Humanists UK Interview
🐦 @jeremyr1
📌 South West London Humanists

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This week on Humanism Now, Audrey & AJ join the panel to discuss personal and group activism and support for Social Justice campaigns. The panel discuss; How do humanist vales align with these causes? How do we prioritise issues to best influence changes? and what role should Humanist groups play in leading or supporting campaigns?

We delve deeper into these topics with this week's guest Anya Overmann. Anya is a writer, consultant, speaker and digital nomad driven by her values as a progressive...

"Peace is more than just the absence of war. Peace requires respect for the worth and dignity of our fellow human beings, tolerance among individuals, and harmony within each person." Humanist International's Oslo Declaration on Peace

This week, AJ and Mark tackle Humanist perspectives on global conflicts such as the current Israel-Palestine crisis and the role of religion in exacerbating or potentially resolving this deep-seated conflict.

Our interview with journalist Scott Jacobson, whose bo...

Join us as we review the 2023 year in Humanism and preview the events for 2024 with our regular panellists, Mark, Nicole & Katia.

Together with host James, they discuss; insights from 2023 meetups and conventions, inspiring personal experiences, a varied events calendar and the important role of humanist voices in 2024's major democratic elections.

Finally we pay a special thanks to our Producer Rob, who is moving on to bigger things in 2024!

This week's panel only discussion is themed around...

"I know so many people whose lives got better when they learned how to use a crock pot and make a decent chili"

Welcome back to Humanism Now. This week we are delighted to share an extended interview with Bart Campolo, host of the inspirational podcast, Humanize Me!

After decades as a Christian evangelist, Bart embraced humanism and now uses his platform to advocate for a more compassionate, curious and connected society. Together, we dissect the intricacies of growing a humanist community in ...

"When we're upholding secularism, we're making sure that that is freedom of religion or belief for all, and not just for the non-religious to be safe" - Emma Wadsworth-Jones

On this week's Humanism Now we are delighted to be joined by Emma Wadsworth-Jones, Casework & Campaigns Manager Of Humanists International and principle editor of the Freedom of Thought Report. The FOTR assesses every country in the world on the basis of human rights and the legal status with regard to humanists, atheists, ...

"Conscious morality cannot exist in any being except so far as it can look behind, before, and around; and can remember, compare, and reason about right and wrong so as to choose for itself, and for those it can influence, a given course." - Zona Vallance
What does it mean to be a humanist in the modern world? Join James, Mark and new contributor Katia as we test the definition of humanism and assess how the term has evolved and what additions we'd like to see to reflect changing societal needs....

“If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.” ― George Bernard Shaw This week on Humanism Now, Nicole and AJ join James to discuss the relationship between comedy, freethought and humanism. We discuss the role of comedy in challenging authority and changing social norms, our personal comedy heroes and what should be off-limits to joke about? Plus we're fortunate to present our interview with the incredibly talented London-based comedian, Li...

Welcome to Humanism Now. This week James is joined by Mark from Central London Humanists and Nicole of Leicester & Young Humanists to tackle more common misconceptions about humanism. The panel counter some of the frequent critiques of a humanist worldview; from misleading definitions of Humanism (by prominent thinkers!) to misperceptions of how humanists view religious people and whether we all politically aligned. In an enlightening conversation, Lucy Potter, a PhD candidat...

This week on Humanism Now as we welcome Lola Tinubu, Co-Founder of the Association of Black Humanists and Nicole Shasha, Founder of Leicester Humanists to discuss their experiences creating and cultivating secular communities and challenging misconceptions.

We also discuss the implications of Ayaan Hirsi Ali's recent article Why I am Now a Christian, the critiques of atheism contained within and Hirsi Ali's impact, influence and legacy for global Humanists and freethinkers.

In our guest interv...

This week on Humanism now, Audrey & Mark join the panel to discuss taking a humanistic approach to issues around Free Speech and free expression, drawing on recent international news items.

Our guest this week is Terri O'Sullivan from Faith to Faithless. Terri shares her deeply personal journey to humanism and her role as Apostate Services Development Officer, at FTF (part of Humanists UK). She also provides detailed advice for those seeking support when leaving high-control groups or experienc...

On this episode of Humanism Now, we're exploring the inspiring world of young humanists. Our co-host AJ and new panellist Nicole, fellow coordinators of Young Humanist UK share what campaigns and activities motivate Humanists in the 18-35 age range.

Nicole also shares her experience of starting a new humanist group in Leicester and the joys of bringing humanist values to life through meaningful Humanists Ceremonies.

AJ & Nicole share how they became engaged with Humanism and offer advice for a...

This week on Humanism now, Mark & AJ join the panel to discuss the role of science communication & humanism in education, with insights gathered from the New Scientist Conference.

Dr. Emma Park, Editor of The Freethinker, provides a deep dive into the essence of freethought & the consequences of placing any views on an untouchable pedestal. Emma shares insights into the relationship between freethought & free speech, challenges to these freedoms & reviews the current status of non-religious mov...

This week's episode focusses on humanistic approaches to both human and animal rights issues. Following recent proposed changes to the UK's asylum policy, AJ, Audrey (Assoc. Black Humanists) & James explore humanistic perspectives on immigration, climate change and the role of empathy in approaching global political issues. In our guest interview with Jamie Woodhouse of Sentientism.info, we explore how animals rights should be incorporated into Humanism, the goals...