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Audiobooks by Robert Lawrence Kuhn
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Join Deepak Chopra and twelve other brilliant minds in answering the universe's most confounding questions.
To what extent can we know anything about the universe's great mysteries-how it was created, whether it is finite, and what our role is within it, to name a few? The truth eludes us in such matters, but if anyone could find it, it would be the great thinkers featured in this compelling audio series.
Can a computer become conscious? Are religion and science mutually exclusive? What is ultimate reality? Join Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn, creator and host of the hit PBS series Closer to Truth, as he examines these and other perplexing mysteries of the universe with 13 luminaries in a range of disciplines.
Among Kuhn's interviewees are Templeton Prize-winning physicist and cosmologist George Ellis, coauthor with Stephen Hawking of The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time; renowned physician, author, and alternative medicine practitioner Deepak Chopra; and Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek, a theoretical physicist and mathematician known for his research in particle physics, astrophysics, and condensed matter physics.
Kuhn excels at demystifying complex concepts through thoughtful and precise dialogue. As you listen to his conversations with other great minds, you'll reconsider your own views on the universe's ultimate questions.
This course is part of the Learn25 collection.
Join NIH Director Francis Collins in exploring the intersection of science and religion.
For some, science and religion occupy separate, irreconcilable spheres. For others, they share a common goal: to explore big questions, discover meaning, and synthesize knowledge.
In this captivating audio course, Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn, creator and host of the hit PBS series Closer to Truth, interrogates the relationship between religion and science with 13 experts across fields. While some consider religion irrelevant to science, many find fulfillment in harmonizing their work with their beliefs.
Francis Collins is one such example. Once an atheist, Collins-the Director of the NIH-is now a believer. Best known for spearheading the Human Genome Project, he is adamant that reason is not the pure province of the scientific mind.
Kuhn also interviews Ian Barbour, a scholar on the relationship between science and religion, who is credited with inaugurating the contemporary debate between the two fields through his book Issues in Science and Religion (1966).
In a conversation with Robert John Russell, founder and director of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, Kuhn asks how Russell reconciles his roles as a physicist and an ordained minister.
As you listen to a fascinating array of perspectives, you'll understand Kuhn's claim that "the nexus of science and theology is the place where we explore human reality."
This course is part of the Learn25 collection.
Join Nobel physicist Steven Weinberg and twelve other amazing minds in a continuation of the popular series 10 Big Questions of Philosophy.
Is causation a fundamental principle that orders the universe, or a construct invented by human beings? What does it mean to exist? In this provocative audio series, Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn, creator and host of the hit PBS series Closer to Truth, probes causality, existence, and other heady philosophical topics in intimate conversations with 13 of the world’s greatest thinkers.
Among Kuhn’s interlocutors are Alvin Plantinga, the John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame, whom Time magazine has called “America’s leading orthodox Protestant philosopher of God”; Sarah Coakley, Norris Hulse Professor of Divinity at Cambridge University from 2007 to 2018 and the author of numerous books including Sacrifice Regained: Reconsidering the Rationality of Religious Belief; and Nobel physicist Steven Weinberg, recipient of the National Medal of Science and the Benjamin Franklin Medal of the American Philosophical Society, and author of the history of science To Explain the World.
Known for his erudite yet down-to-earth interviews, Kuhn takes you on a fascinating and accessible journey into the world of philosophy. As you theorize about the universe—from the subatomic to the supergalactic—with Kuhn and his respondents, you’ll find your own philosophical curiosity awakened.
This course is part of the Learn25 collection.
Join NIH Director Francis Collins and other luminaries as they explain their answers to the question "Does God Exist?"
Do you believe God exists? This bold audio series invites you to join some of the world's leading thinkers in taking on this profound question. In 13 riveting episodes, your host, Robert Lawrence Kuhn, tackles this topic in one-on-one interviews with leading figures across fields.
Among many other provocative questions, Kuhn asks, Does belief in God need to be justified? Does God make sense? and What are the most persuasive arguments for atheism?
A gifted moderator, he creates equilibrium through his even-handed questions and eagerness to give everyone a seat at the table. You'll hear from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim philosophers as well as prominent atheists.
Topping the chart of Christian philosophers are Alvin Plantinga and Peter van Inwagen, both professors at the University of Notre Dame. From the atheistic camp you'll meet the founder of The Skeptics Society, Michael Brant Shermer. You'll also hear from thinkers who bridge the science/religion divide, such as Robert John Russell, Director of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences.
Addressing issues ranging from the problem of evil to how the discovery of alien life might affect our belief systems, this series will engage your mind and heart in some of the universe's biggest questions.
This course is part of the Learn25 Collection.
Join Pulitzer-Prize-winning, bestselling author Jared Diamond in asking some of the biggest questions of our existence.
Do you create your own destiny? Or do you merely play whatever hand the universe has dealt you? This provocative audieries will stimulate your mind by raising these and other timeless questions about free will and determinism. As you analyze these competing philosophies, you will find that every answer raises fascinating new questions about morality, fate, consciousness, and the existence of a higher power.
In this series, host Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn welcomes a total of 13 guest experts to discuss free will, identity, and the possibility of the afterlife. Each episode is crafted as a series of one-on-one interviews.
Kuhn's interlocutors include Jared Diamond, Peter van Inwagen, and Daniel Clement Dennett III. A Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of field-spanning books on human societies, Diamond is a professor of geography at UCLA. Meanwhile, Notre Dame philosophy professor van Inwagen is a leading figure in contemporary metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and philosophy of action. Dennett, a philosophy professor and cognitive scientist, is director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University.
Recent neuroscientific discoveries have fanned the flames of the free will debate. The implications of this debate are far-reaching and potentially paradigm-shifting. Explore its vital questions with the world's greatest minds.
Note: Lectures 1 and 3-"Is Free Will an Illusion?" and "Why Is Free Will a Mystery?"-were funded in part by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.
This course is part of the Learn25 Collection.
Join National Humanities Medal recipient Rebecca Newberger Goldstein and a host of other brilliant minds as they seek to answer ten perennially mystifying questions of philosophy.
What is truth? As humans, how can we know what is real? How can the philosophies of science, cosmology, and biology help us understand the mysteries of our existence? In this compelling audio series, Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn, creator and host of the hit PBS series Closer to Truth, probes the nature of truth and other heady philosophical questions in intimate conversations with 13 of the world’s greatest thinkers.
Kuhn’s respondents include novelist and philosophy professor Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, recipient of the National Humanities Medal and author of Plato at the Googleplex: Why Philosophy Won't Go Away; John Cardinal O’Hara Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame Peter van Inwagen, celebrated for his many contributions to contemporary metaphysics; and professor of philosophy at Australian Catholic University and the University of Southern California John Hawthorne, author of the acclaimed collection Metaphysical Essays.
Kuhn’s intellect and down-to-earth approach to understanding the complexity of the human condition make him an exceptionally gifted interviewer. As you gaze into the cosmos with Kuhn and his interlocutors, you’ll find your own philosophical curiosity awakened.
This course is part of the Learn25 collection.
Is there other intelligent life in the universe, or are we all alone? Now you can explore this question through 17 compelling conversations with leading experts on extraterrestrial life.
The prospect of alien intelligences has long captivated cosmologists, perplexed theologians, and provided rich fodder for science fiction writers. While we may doubt that the large-eyed, green-skinned figures of sci-fi films will one day descend to Earth in UFOs, it is far harder to reject wholesale the possibility that intelligent life-in some form yet unknown-exists.
Alongside host Robert Lawrence Kuhn of Closer to Truth (PBS), you'll discover that whether or not we're alone is but one of a myriad of questions raised by the possibility of other intelligent life forms.
Kuhn's guest experts-among them renowned astrophysicists, computer scientists, and philosophers-explore various facets of alien life through key inquiries such as the following:
-If the probability that other intelligent life exists is so high, why is there no evidence of it?
-What effect would discovering other forms of life have on our culture and belief systems?
-If we are indeed alone, does that mean we're destined to colonize the universe?
Taking you on a mind-bending journey through theories and galaxies, this audio series illuminates the profound implications of finding out if we are the universe's sole travelers.
This course is part of the Learn25 collection.
Join some of Earth's leading scientists in exploring one of the universe's biggest mysteries. There is little more humbling than contemplating the magnitude of the known universe. That is, until you consider the possibility of worlds beyond that universe.
Join Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn, celebrated author and host of the hit PBS series Closer to Truth, as he probes the limits of the cosmos with 15 luminaries in astrophysics, cosmology, and astronomy.
The series begins with explorations of the universe's boundaries. Astronomer Royal Martin Rees raises the possibility that multiple big bangs may have created multiple universes, while Templeton Prize-winning physicist Paul Davies expresses doubt that we can access multiple universes from our own universe.
Discussing the origins of the cosmos, Gruber Prize-winning astronomer Wendy Freedman elucidates the residual evidence of our universe's fiery beginning. MIT physicist Alan Guth explains how his inflationary universe theory suggests that the Big Bang was not the beginning of all creation.
Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku invokes poet Robert Frost to ask whether the universe will end in fire or ice. Introducing the concept of "dark energy," MIT physics scholar Max Tegmark proposes three other possible world-ending scenarios.
Woven together by Kuhn's awed musings on cosmic vastness, these conversations will guide your imagination across galaxies and into different dimensions. As you listen, you may, like Kuhn, find yourself "taken by the plenitude of all reality. "
This course is part of the Learn25 collection.
Why has science - religion dialogue gotten so heated? What do the world's leading experts see as the path forward?
For some, science and religion occupy separate, irreconcilable spheres. For others, they share a common goal: to explore big questions and synthesize knowledge.
Now, in this series of 17 one-on-one interviews, you have the privilege of hearing from leading voices in the debate. Most of the featured experts are professional scientists. While some consider religion irrelevant to science, many more find fulfillment in harmonizing their work with their beliefs.
Francis Collins is one such example. Once an atheist, Collins - the Director of the National Institutes of Health - now calls himself a believer. Best known for spearheading the Human Genome Project, Collins is adamant that reason is not the pure province of the scientific mind.
Ian Barbour is another example. A scholar on the relationship between science and religion, Barbour is credited with inaugurating the contemporary debate between the two fields through his Issues in Science and Religion (1966).
Meanwhile, Marvin Minsky - co-founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's artificial intelligence laboratory - argues that religion and science should give each other a wide berth. According to science, all knowledge is provisional - subject to testing, revision, and refutation. In Minsky's view, theology is just the opposite.
As you listen to arguments from all sides, you'll rise above the hostility of the debate and see that, in the words of Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn, "the nexus of science and theology is the place where we explore human reality."
This course is part of the Learn25 collection.
Have you ever wondered what's "new" about New Atheism?
Coined in 2006, the term New Atheism has been used to describe the shared sentiments of prominent 21st-century atheists - perhaps most notably the "Four Horsemen" and talk-show host Bill Maher. In popular perception, the term has also garnered a negative connotation - implying hostility towards religion at large.
Now, in this series of 14 one-on-one interviews, you have the rare opportunity to listen in on conversations with some of the leading actors in New Atheism, including Anthony A. C. Grayling of New College of the Humanities (London) and "Horseman" Daniel Clement Dennett III of Tufts University.
Over the course of the interviews, you'll evaluate some of the most fundamental questions posed by non-believers: Is religion irrational? Does religion have a propensity to lead to violence? Has science superseded the need for God? In other words, have advances in science simply made belief in God unnecessary by accounting for things that mystified our more primitive ancestors?
On the whole, the interviews are light-hearted and jocular. Your host, Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn, is practiced in the art of playing devil's advocate and fostering discussion.
By the end of the series, you will gain insight into all of the usual arguments for and against the existence of God. Discover for yourself how New Atheism has fueled a healthy cultural conversation around belief and non-belief.
This course is part of the Learn25 collection.
How do you know whether there is a God?
Whether you're a believer or nonbeliever, you've undoubtedly struggled to understand the existence of evil in our world. Now, in light of huge strides in psychology and neuroscience, this compelling series invites you to reconsider the problem of evil with today's leading minds.
In simplest terms, the "problem of evil" questions whether an almighty, all-knowing, and benevolent God can coexist with the evil we witness in the world. For Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike, the debate around evil has yielded fascinating philosophical arguments - in theology as well as ethics.
As you listen to this series of 15 one-on-one interviews, you will explore the most profound questions about God and creation. How do we distinguish between natural evil and moral evil? Does original sin explain everything? Why didn't God prevent the Holocaust? What are we to make of Hell? And where does free will fit in?
One of the most interesting takes on the problem of evil belongs to the philosopher Richard Swinburne. His 2013 book Mind, Brain, and Free Will uses neuroscience to argue that humans have free will to choose between good and evil. You will hear from Swinburne in episodes one and two of this series.
Now is your chance to learn more about how the latest scientific advances are shedding light on the "Epicurean paradox". This dazzling series will revolutionize your understanding of the problem of evil.
This course is part of the Learn25 collection.
Does God exist? How do you justify your belief or unbelief to others? A delicate matter, you rarely have the occasion to fully explore these questions in daily life. Now, this special series invites you to join some of the world's leading thinkers in the serious civil conversation you crave.
Daring to ask the big questions, your host, Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn, holds 18 riveting one-on-one interviews with the leading figures of our day.
As you listen to these discussions about the existence of God, you will probe compelling questions. Does belief in God really need to be justified? How does God make Himself known? What are the most persuasive arguments atheists put forward? How have believers refuted those arguments, and how successfully?
A gifted moderator, Dr. Kuhn creates equilibrium through his even-handed questions and eagerness to give everyone a seat at the table. You'll hear from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim philosophers as well as prominent atheists.
Topping the chart of Christian philosophers are Alvin Plantinga and Peter van Inwagen, both professors at the University of Notre Dame. From the atheistic camp you'll meet Daniel Clement Dennett III-one of the contrarian "Four Horsemen of New Atheism"-and the founder of The Skeptics Society, Michael Brant Shermer.
From the problem of evil to the Freudian notion of wish fulfillment, these three episodes will engage your mind and your heart in some of the most profoundly important questions ever asked.
This course is part of the Learn25 collection.
