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Every Sunday at 3:00amAbout the Show
Inspired
Inspired is the nation's leading public radio show about faith, ethics and spirituality. Each week we offer you analyses of the big headlines alongside lesser-told stories – those of Orthodox Jewish artists and African-American atheists, Muslim feminists and spiritual seekers. Through these stories, a rough sketch of our country’s religious landscape begins to emerge. It’s a marketplace of beliefs and ideas too complex for sound bites, and too important to ignore.
Michael Shermer on the Roots of Moral Progress
Michael Shermer is one of the world’s most articulate debunkers of all things supernatural: from ghost sightings and ESP to the entire concept of religion. This week, he shares his new book on the origins of moral progress, which he argues is firmly rooted in science and empiricism. And he tells us the strange story of a dead radio coming to life that shook his famous skepticism to the core. Michael Shermer’s new book is titled The Moral Arc: How Science and Reason Lead Humanity toward Truth, Justice, and Freedom.
On Losing Faith and Leaving Orthodoxy
If you’ve ever had a crisis of faith, felt like an outsider, or found yourself making up for years of lost time, you’ll probably identify with Shulem Deen’s story. The 40-year-old writer spent his formative years in the Skever community of Four Square, NY, one of the most insular Hasidic sects in America. He talked to our associate producer, Libby Boulter, about his painful realization that he could no longer believe in God. Shulem Deen is the author of All Who Go Do Not Return: A Memoir.
The Hasidic Soulsters of Zusha
Following in the footsteps of Matisyahu, the Brooklyn-based members of Zusha infuse their music with soulful niggun (nee-goon): the wordless Jewish melodies sung in synagogue and around the Shabbat table. Their mix of Hasidic mysticism and folk-rock harmonies has launched their debut EP to the top ten of Billboard’s world music chart. They joined us from the Radio Foundation studios for a special in-studio performance.
