Are We Living Through the Failure of Secularism?

Sam Harris speaks with Ross Douthat about religion, modernity, and what can steady a culture that feels increasingly unmoored. They discuss the case for faith in an age of digital disembodiment, declining birthrates, and looming AI-driven upheaval. They also debate tribalism and dogmatism, whether secular societies can generate durable moral consensus, the foundations of ethics, consciousness and well-being, mathematics as a clue to ultimate reality, and, briefly, demonology.

Ross Douthat is the host of “Interesting Times,” from New York Times Opinion. The show explores a future that feels more open and uncertain than ever, mapping both the New Right and the new world order through interviews and conversations with leading thinkers and newsmakers. He is the author of Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious, which was published in 2025. His other books include The Decadent Society and The Deep Places: A Memoir of Illness and Discovery.

Website: www.nytimes.com/column/interesting-times

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