Richard Dawkins : NPR

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Can Celebrity Scientists Change The Way People Think About Science And Religion?

December 4, 2017 • Do people like Richard Dawkins and Francis Collins impact public opinion on how science and religion relate? Tania Lombrozo considers a study on the influence of big-name scientists on the debate.

The Need To Believe: Where Does It Come From?

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The Need To Believe: Where Does It Come From?

November 4, 2015 • Religious belief offers a sense of community with the unknown — with what transcends the confines of our humanity — as science aims to extend our reality, says astrophysicist Marcelo Gleiser.

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Are Scientific And Religious Explanations Incompatible?

April 13, 2015 • Commentator Tania Lombrozo says the answer to whether scientific and religious explanations are fundamentally at odds isn't a simple "yes" or "no" when it comes to explaining the world around us.

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The Mystery That Binds Us All

February 19, 2014 • The whole debate between science and religion is hitched to the wrong tree, says commentator Marcelo Gleiser. Common ground exists: each is a manifestation of humanity's attraction to the mysterious.

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How Real Is The Candy Witch?

October 28, 2013 • Halloween blurs the boundaries between what is real and what is not. Can children keep things straight? Researcher Tania Lombrozo tells the story of the Candy Witch and explains what it says about how children understand the fantastical beings that populate their lives.

Richard Dawkins' Delightful Memoir Dilutes The Poison

Richard Dawkins, founder of The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, speaks at the March 2012 "Reason Rally" on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Allison Shelley/Getty Images hide caption

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Review

Book Reviews

Richard Dawkins' Delightful Memoir Dilutes The Poison

September 19, 2013 • A joyful love of science permeates Richard Dawkins' new memoir. Reviewer Barbara J. King says the best-selling evolutionary scientist and famed atheist is at his best in An Appetite for Wonder as he tells the story of his early life, in Africa and England, and then details his passionate relationship with the world of reason.

Book News: Richard Dawkins Under Fire For Child Abuse Remarks

Author and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins made a March 2012 visit to NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C. Doriane Raiman/NPR hide caption

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The Two-Way

Book News: Richard Dawkins Under Fire For Child Abuse Remarks

September 11, 2013 • Also: Jennifer Weiner (kind of) apologizes to The New York Times; Edwidge Danticat on the Haitian earthquake.

Opinion

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

Is It Silly To Seek Purpose In The Natural World?

October 29, 2012 • Humans may well be programmed to seek purpose in everything — mountains, for instance — whether one exists or not. Commentator Tania Lombrozo says that it's not irrational to seek purpose in our scientific quest to understand the natural world, but that we won't always find it.

Opinion

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

Blackboard Rumble: Why Are Physicists Hating On Philosophy (and Philosophers)?

May 1, 2012 • There are those in the physics community who have no room for philosophy. At stake in their stance is a critical question living deep in the foundations of modern physics: What are the limits of science?

Opinion

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

Science, Questions And The Importance of Religion

March 27, 2012 • A truly interesting discussion about science and human spiritual endeavor (including its manifestations in religion) could go much farther than debates about cosmology.

Interview: Richard Dawkins Celebrates Reason, Ridicules Faith

Author and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Mar. 22. Doriane Raiman/NPR hide caption

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Barbara J. King speaks with Richard Dawkins at NPR on March 22, 2012

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February 16, 2012 • Next month, a non-believers' Woodstock comes to Washington. Commentator Barbara J. King considers whether headline speaker Richard Dawkins is the best person to lead The Reason Rally's fight against negative stereotypes of non-believers.