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El-Sayed, Stevens trade pointed barbs in Democratic US Senate debate
With four weeks to go until the Aug. 4 primary, the two Democrats held a debate in Grand Rapids hosted by WOOD-TV8
El-Sayed and Stevens clash over AIPAC and other takeaways from the Michigan Senate debate
Rep. Haley Stevens pitched herself as a “workhorse” on Capitol Hill. Abdul El-Sayed said he represents “a threat to politics as usual.”
Dem civil war hits primary debate stage as El-Sayed and Stevens clash: 'What are you hiding?'
Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens clashed in a fiery Michigan Senate debate as the Democratic primary exposes a rift between progressives and moderates.
Stevens courts McMorrow supporters, leans into electability pitch at small business visit
U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, a Democratic candidate in a U.S. Senate primary that is now a two-person race, drew hard lines between herself and her primary opponent, former Wayne County Health Department executive Abdul El-Sayed, in a visit to Sea Leveaux, a Cajun boil restaurant in downtown Lansing that opened on Thursday.
Brad Stevens Press Conference: Celtics President Addresses Jaylen Brown Trade
Follow along right here for Brad Stevens' most notable comments from Monday's press conference.
Mallory McMorrow ends bid for Democratic Senate nomination in Michigan
The state senator’s decision sets up a two-person Aug. 4 primary showdown between former public health official Abdul El-Sayed and Rep. Haley Stevens.
Mallory McMorrow to end her U.S. Senate campaign
Mallory McMorrow's departure would make it a two-way race between U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and former Wayne County health chief Abdul El-Sayed.
Brad Stevens Messed Up Badly With Awful Jaylen Brown Trade
What were the Boston Celtics thinking? What was going through team president Brad Stevens' mind when he decided to trade Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers? On July 1, the internet broke when ESPN's Shams Charania revealed that Brown -- the subject of trade rumors ever since the Celtics were ...
Former SPASH science teacher charged with possessing child pornography
USA TODAY NETWORK STEVENS POINT – A former Stevens Point Area Public School District teacher was charged June 24 with 10 felony counts of possession of
Business 51 reconstruction to begin July 6; full closure starts July 8 in Stage 1
The first stage of Stevens Point’s Business 51 reconstruction project is set to begin Monday.
To reduce wait times, UVM Health is demanding its docs see more patients
A recent report commissioned by a state-appointed overseer largely blames long wait times on low productivity among the network’s doctors, and argues wait times also contribute to unnecessarily high prices.
Brad Stevens discusses ‘excitement’ surrounding Chris Cenac Jr.
“I hope we’re good enough that it’s hard for any 18-year-old or 19-year-old to come in here and be really good out of the gate.”
Utah GOP Rep. Trevor Lee, known for inflammatory posts, ousted in GOP primary
Bob Stevenson beats incumbent state Rep. Trevor Lee in the Republican primary for Utah's House District 16 race.
Board Approves Changes to Winter Sports Season Regulations
STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Board of Control approved limited use of the shot clock in basketball in 2026-27 and acted on other recommendations...
Go the route of Coach K or Brad Stevens? Dusty May's NBA jump shouldn't shock anyone — and neither should any success he has there
A full-circle moment for Bay Port grad Alec Jeffers
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) — For new Green Bay YMCA Swim Team head coach Alec Jeffers, the journey to leading the program feels like the natural next step in a lifetime spent around the pool. Jeffers, a Bay Port High School graduate and former standout swimmer at UW-Stevens Point, was introduced to the sport at […]
Trusting Brad Stevens: (an open thread on Celtics trade rumors)
I don’t know what Brad Stevens is going to do, but he’s pretty good at his job
WNBA to Fine Azura Stevens $500 After Chicago Sky-New York Liberty Game
Azura Stevens struggled against the New York Liberty and even received a technical foul.
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management: Science, Stewardship, and Shared Successes
One of the most innovative aspects of the Magnuson-Stevens Act was the establishment of eight regional councils to manage fisheries. Across the country, regional councils are tackling their own unique challenges, each shaped by their local coastal communities and united under a shared framework.
Building Scientists in the AI Era
Stevens Institute of Technology’s newly launched AI in Biology and Chemistry Community helps students explore AI’s role in health care, biotech and ed-tech careers.
Swansea City to make Crystal Palace's Ben Stevens sporting director
Swansea City are set to appoint Crystal Palace assistant sporting director Ben Stevens as their new sporting director.
Sunday Patriots Notes: Pats seek to ‘weaponize’ Drake Maye’s mind
Notes and thoughts on Drake Maye’s development, Rhamondre Stevenson’s leadership, and more.
Pro-Israel Group Pushes for Haley Stevens in Michigan Senate Race
The main super PAC tied to the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee released its first ads backing Ms. Stevens, a moderate congresswoman locked in a tight three-way primary.
Can AI Agents Replicate Science? Argonne's Rick Stevens Puts Them to the Test
Have we reached a point where AI agents can reliably function as scientific collaborators? Can they go one step further and work as autonomous scientists? Stevens is an Associate Laboratory […]
Chuck Schumer Privately Backs Haley Stevens in Michigan Democratic Senate Primary
Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader, has remained officially neutral on the race, but in conservations with donors, he has been clear about which candidate he supports.
Digging out: One man’s recovery and the business it inspired
Craig Stevens was just a kid when he started to build worlds. While growing up in West Brookfield, he’d take the blocks he was always given for Christmas and construct cities in his backyard. He used the garden hose to make flowing rivers, his hands to sculpt the land. When he was 10, he wanted […]
Patriots players offer honest take on A.J. Brown rumors
Wide receiver DeMario Douglas and running back Rhamondre Stevenson shared their thoughts on A.J. Brown potentially joining the Patriots.
Marshfield Clinic invests $90K in community health through United Way
Marshfield Clinic donated $90,000 to United Way of Wisconsin to boost community health initiatives within its service area.
Work begins this week on Business 51 reconstruction project in Stevens Point
Drivers in Stevens Point will begin seeing closures this week as the Business 51 reconstruction project gets underway.
Lake Stevens dual-sports star was destined for college baseball. Then last fall happened
Lake Stevens' Blake Moser always expected to play baseball in college, but a big junior season as the Vikings' quarterback suddenly has college football coaches taking notice.
Chad Stevens Full GAME LOG
View Chad Stevens's full Game Log from the null MLB season
OPM’s top official for healthcare and insurance resigns
Shane Stevens, who has been serving as associate director of healthcare and insurance at OPM since last summer, is voluntarily resigning from the role.
SF business owners in Mission District say drug use, encampment fires are worsening
Small business owners on Clinton Park and Stevenson Street in the Mission say conditions have worsened in recent months as enforcement and encampment cleanups at major hotspots increase in other parts of the city.
Santa Clara University, Sutter Health to open new medical school
The new institution, to be named the Mark and Mary Stevens School of Medicine, will be located in northern Santa Clara near a planned Sutter Health medical complex.
Sutter, Santa Clara Launch New Medical School
Sutter Health and Santa Clara University to Launch the Mark & Mary Stevens School of Medicine Funded in part by a $175 million gift from Mark and Mary Stevens, it will be the first new medical school in the San Francisco Bay Area in more than a century. SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Sutter Health and […]
Learn more about Business 51 South project at May 19 meeting
A public meeting on May 19 will provide information on the Business 51 South improvements project in Stevens Point.
Riverfront Rendezvous adds drone show and more entertainment for 2026
Riverfront Rendezvous will feature a drone light show, bigger fireworks display and more in 2026 to celebrate the country's 250th anniversary.
Penn State Health names Bradley Stevens vice president of ambulatory services
Penn State Health has appointed Bradley Stevens as vice president of ambulatory services. In his new role, Stevens will help ensure that Penn State Health’s ambulatory strategy supports both the organization’s mission and long-term sustainability.
Penn State Health names Bradley Stevens vice president of ambulatory services
Penn State Health has appointed Bradley Stevens as vice president of ambulatory services. In his new role, Stevens will help ensure that Penn State Health’s ambulatory strategy supports both the…
Technical college students pitch new business ideas in Stevens Point
Wisconsin technical college students pitched business ideas at the New Ideas Pitch Challenge in Stevens Point, gaining real-world experience.
Celtics' Brad Stevens Reveals Severity of Jayson Tatum's Injury
The Boston Celtics were eliminated by the Philadelphia 76ers in seven games in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, and Jayson Tatum missed Game 7 of the series.
Stevens: Politics and vulgarity not a good mix
If you have sensed that our politicians are using more vulgarity in public discourse in the last 10 years, you are right. In the past, politicians have only occasionally used
Breese Stevens Field is still breaking the rules, 100 years later
Breese Stevens, Madison’s downtown sports and recreational stadium, celebrates 100 years on May 5. Since it opened, the field has defied definition.
Minocqua Brewing owner Bangstad says he's launching run for governor
Liberal activist Kirk Bangstad said he is launching a campaign for governor, days after the FBI interviewed him over a Trump assassination remark.
Ypsilanti Lincoln vs Jackson | HS Boys Lacrosse Highlights
Airdate: April 29th, 2026 Ypsilanti Lincoln vs Jackson | HS Boys Lacrosse Highlights | JTV SportsApril 30, 2026Tim & Torri Meunier, Jackson First United Methodist ChurchApril 30, 2026Katie Osman & Megan Stevens, VCL Schools Yes CommitteeApril 30, 2026Today’s News – Thursday April 30th – The Morning ShowApril 30, 2026Girls Soccer Ypsilanti Lincoln at Jackson, 04-29-2026…
Entertainment Committee’s TechFest 2026 with Rachel Chinouriri
On April 8, as the end of the spring semester approached, Stevens Entertainment Committee (EC) hosted the highly anticipated musical event to kick off the summer festivities: TechFest 2026 Each year, the student-run Entertainment Committee works to coordinate a memorable event filled with fun activities, performances from students, and top musicians. Previous years’ headliners included
How a must-win Michigan Senate race turned messy for Democrats
Sitting in a coffee shop in his hometown of Ann Arbor, Abdul El-Sayed is ready to dispel the notion that he’s unelectable. “I think there is this notion that electability is about being the least offensive,” he told CNN. “If that were true, why would Donald Trump have won the presidency twice?” Whether he’s right could have enormous ramifications for control of the Senate. Michigan’s open Senate seat is now emerging as a GOP hedge against a potential takeover for Democrats, who need to net four seats to flip the chamber. Losing Michigan would make the Democrats’ task almost impossible, a major reason why a leading Republican outside group just announced plans to pour $45 million into the state this summer and fall to boost former Rep. Mike Rogers, the likely GOP nominee. El-Sayed faces US Rep. Haley Stevens and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow in a battle already riven by divides over Israel, immigration enforcement and health care.
Charlotte's Black developers describe challenges
Three prominent Black Charlotte real estate developers spoke at the weekly Sarah Stevenson Tuesday Forum, sharing insights on why they remain outliers in an industry that they said remains dominated by white males.
Thaddeus Stevens College to launch online small business management program
Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology prides itself on integrating its students into central Pennsylvania trade and technical programs, to the point that many are working for local businesses before they
Brad Stevens embraces Celtics role, shuts down college coaching rumors
Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens made it clear that he's not going anywhere, despite the rumors.
Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Ray Stevens recovering after breaking neck
i a e n celebrity country-music music grammy-awards entertainment u-s-news general-news | Talk Radio 1210 WPHT
The Rest Is Science: how evolution is shaping cancer research
In a special episode of The Rest Is Science, Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens discuss the story behind cancer’s rapid evolution and how it is helping scientists backed by Cancer Research UK to beat the disease at its own game
Titans scheduled private workout with top Big 10 kicker
The Tennessee Titans are turning over every stone to add talent, and reportedly scheduled a private workout with Iowa kicker Drew Stevens.
Stevens Point to share final plans for Business 51 redesign
The north and south ends of Business 51 in Stevens Point are getting a makeover this year.
Patriots Insider Reveals Why New England Should Add Running Back
New England has Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson as its one-two punch
Brad Stevens quickly removes himself from consideration in North Carolina's coaching search
Not even one of the three best jobs in college basketball is moving Stevens out of Boston
Stevens Point to host open house about Business 51 reconstruction project
The city of Stevens Point will present the final design for the upcoming Business 51 reconstruction project at an open house next week.
Scholar Athlete of the Week: Andra Stokes, Stevens High School
KSAT 12 Sports and CHRISTUS Children’s shine a spotlight on a local senior student athlete
Christy Carlson Romano says 'Even Stevens' costar Shia LaBeouf 'doesn't deserve' Disney GOAT status
Christy Carlson Romano is firing shots at her old 'Even Stevens' costar Shia LaBeouf's direction, agreeing with Demi Lovato that LaBeouf 'doesn't deserve' to be counted among the all-time Disney Channel greats.
Centennial Students Earn 3rd Place at Iowa Regional Science Bowl
Michael Stevens, Ian Anderson, Anna Bruns, Jared Bond, Alice Baghdasaryan and teacher Madison Greif. (Not pictured: Team Manager Vivian Zhang.) Congratulations to our outstanding team for earning 3rd place at the 2026 Iowa Regional High School Science Bowl, held on the campus of Iowa State University on March 7! We’re proud of these students for representing our school with excellence in this challenging academic competition that tests knowledge in science, mathematics, and teamwork.
Marquette wins 78-56 over Providence
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) Adrien Stevens' 21 points helped Marquette defeat Providence 78-56 on Wednesday.
Brad Stevens deserves praise for the Boston Celtics' recent success
Brad Stevens continues to build high-level rosters
Stevens set for Pirates return after 17 months out
Cornish Pirates captain John Stevens could return to the side in the next few weeks after spending 17 months recovering from serious injury.
Democrats vying for Michigan Senate seat clash over corporate money at first forum
Mallory McMorrow no longer accepts donations from corporate PACs. Abdul El-Sayed boasts that he never did. Haley Stevens, who does, sidestepped a question about the issue.
From 'Wait, What' to 'Here's Why,' Stevens-Truss Champions Science
Once a 'wait, what' kid, Regina Stevens-Truss, the Dorothy H. Heyl Professor of Chemistry at K, tells her students to follow their dreams.
Kevin Stevens, longtime Press & Sun-Bulletin sports reporter, dies
Kevin Stevens, a beloved and award-winning sports reporter and columnist for the Press & Sun-Bulletin for over 40 years, has died at 62.
NBA trade deadline winners and losers: Celtics in strong spot, Heat join Kings as disappointments
The 2026 NBA trade deadline has come and gone, here are the biggest winners and losers of trade season
AND NEW! Stevenson Dominates Lopez To Become Four-Division Champion
If there was ever any doubt as to how good Shaker Stevenson really is he put it all to rest last night (Sat., Jan. 31, 2026) in New York City against Teofimo Lopez, dominating “The Takeover” for pretty much the whole fight inside Madison Square Garden. From the jump Stevenson made it clear to Lopez […]
Teofimo Lopez vs. Shakur Stevenson full fight video highlights
Shakur Stevenson remains unbeaten with win over Teofimo Lopez
Face Off! Lopez Stares Down Shakur In New York!
Teofimo Lopez and Shakur Stevenson came face-to-face earlier today (Thurs., Jan 29, 2026) at the conclusion of the pre-fight press conference ahead of their light welterweight title fight this Saturday (Jan. 31) inside Madison Square Garden in New York City, streaming live on DAZN PPV. Watch the press conference video replay here. Stevenson is out […]
Manchester Kings prevail, improve to 5-3
Four players scored goals and goalie Cam Roberge made 10 saves as the Manchester Kings beat Lebanon/Stevens/Mascoma 4-1 in a boys hockey game on Monday at Campion Rink.
Could Catholics be the key to Trump’s opposition?
The wild card that could scramble America’s political alliances.
Politics of the personal
Once a high-flying financial trader, Gary Stevenson now leverages his platform and personal experience to advocate for targeted wealth tax on fortunes over £10m. This article explores his mission to shift public debate away from polarisation and toward social justice
Stevens Athletics To Celebrate National Girls And Women In Sports Day
Hoboken, N.J. – The Stevens Institute of Technology Department of Athletics will celebrate the annual National Girls & Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) when the women's and men's basketball teams host Misericordia at Canavan Arena on Saturday, February 7, 2026.
'Even Stevens' actor claims Universal Studios fired him, ex-coworkers call him 'menace to work with'
Disney star Steven Anthony Lawrence, who played Beans on 'Even Stevens,' claimed he was fired from Universal Studios for reporting a pedophile, but staff called him an alleged 'menace to work with.'
Watch: Rhamondre Stevenson torches Dolphins defense for third TD
Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson powered through Dolphins defenders for a 35-yard touchdown run.
Partial reopening of Highway 2 brings little relief to local businesses in Gold Bar
A long-awaited, partial reopening of about 20 miles of Highway 2, between Leavenworth and Stevens Pass, starts at 6 a.m. Monday morning.
Stevenson School hopes for more learning opportunities with new math and science building
The center will make a nice connection between Stevenson and the community but also give students a program that many schools do not have – a preparation for future research.
Central Wisconsin officials earn Packers, WIAA November honors
Stratford and Stevens Point officials lead a group honored by Green Bay Packers and WIAA as November’s high school football crew of the month.
UW-Stevens Point launches sport business program in fall 2026
UW-Stevens Point will launch a sport business major, minor and certificate in fall 2026, preparing students for careers in a $600B industry.
House Democrat Seeks to Impeach RFK Jr. for Undercutting Public Health
The move by Representative Haley Stevens, a Michigan Democrat who is running for Senate, does not have the support of her party’s leaders and is all but certain to fail.
House Democrat Seeks to Impeach RFK Jr. for Undercutting Public Health
The move by Representative Haley Stevens, a Michigan Democrat who is running for Senate, does not have the support of her party’s leaders and is all but certain to fail.
Science must move from materialism to mystery
Theoretical physicist and neuroscientist Àlex Gómez-Marín argues that modern science has become trapped in a framework that mistakes matter for the whole of reality. In this wide-ranging interview, Gómez-Marín challenges the foundations of materialism, defends the scientific study of near-death experiences, and calls for a new type of science grounded in mystery and a renewed sense of the sacred. He suggests that abandoning materialism could open the door to a deeper understanding of consciousness, death, and the purpose of human existence. Simon Custer: You are both a theoretical physicist and a neuroscientist, and you have also been fiercely critical of materialist theories of mind and consciousness. What do you think the ultimate nature of reality is?Àlex Gómez-Marín: I don't know what the ultimate nature of reality is, but what I try to first assess is whether the stories that they [mainstream science] have told us about it are right, or maybe whether there are other alternatives. That's why I've been a fierce critic of materialism. As a scientist, I realized that they had sold us this idea that to be a good scientist you also had to subscribe to many other -isms, like materialism, reductionism, and even secularism. And so first I think one needs to unmount these -isms, and then, as is happening today in consciousness studies, we have a huge landscape where there isn't only one game in town, the idea that matter is the only thing that really exists. But because we are studying the hard problem of consciousness, it may be the case that other views of reality, like idealism, or even dualism, or other theories like dual aspect monism... these are philosophical ideas that now, I think, have room in science to be taken seriously. How does something like materialism relate to dualism or idealism? What is materialism in the first place?Well, materialism is the philosophical position that matter is the only really ‘real’ thing in the universe. And I think that worked kind of well because science started 400 years ago and Galileo made that split, I call it the foundational wound. It was a great business move.He said, let's start doing science on that portion of reality that lends itself more easily to mathematization and measurement. So, for some reason, the solidity of this table or the movement of planets lend themselves very well to this foundational idea of science. But as time went on, 400 years later, we realized that we had forgotten the other side, which is what really matters.What really matters is pain, is love, is feelings, sensation, consciousness, which is very hard to define, but very intimate. We all know what it is. It's that thing that disappears when we go into deep sleep and comes back in the morning. SUGGESTED VIEWING On the edges of knowledge With Michael Shermer, Rupert Sheldrake, Güneş Taylor It's what it is like to be, as Nagel said. It's the feeling of being alive. So, materialism is good to study certain things, but then when it ossifies into this ideology and then is dressed like science, now it's preventing us from understanding these key questions that are really that everybody wants to know.Why are we here? Why do we feel reality? Where do we go when we die? And so we need other ways. We need pluralism. I'm only asking for having more options on the table and taking them seriously. Why does materialism fail to explain consciousness? For example, if you were to lobotomize me, I would not be a functional human being. What do you say to someone who might think that materialism adequately explains the mind?Well, here we could speak about different things. We could talk about physics or about neuroscience. I happen to have training with both.For instance, for neuroscientists, 99% of them, I'm not included in that portion, believe that the brain can only be a productive organ. It's an organ that somehow, somewhere, consciousness emerges. It's like a lamp. And then something happens, magic happens, and then consciousness emerges.That's the position you need to be if you're a materialist because if the only really ‘real’ thing is matter, then you need to say, just give us some more time and money and we'll figure out how mind emerges or is produced from matter. There are many philosophically sophisticated ways of criticizing this.Now there's another option, which is the brain as a permissive organ. This was said by William James more than 100 years ago.Now then the brain wouldn't be like this machine, like for instance, a heat engine whose smoke is consciousness, which is what we would have in the first big model, the productive model. But in the permissive model, the brain would be a kind of a filter. And so the brain would still have a very important role in consciousness, but it wouldn't be a productive role.It would be permissive, much like a filter or much like a prism which would receive light. And - I'm speaking metaphorically - it would receive the light of the mind and then it could reflect it and refract it.Now, with these two big options on the table, I think we can make progress into what I call the edges of consciousness, which are all these experiences, weird experiences that many people have, but we don't talk about enough, like near-death experiences, precognitive dreams, synchronicities. These experiences are very important for humans and they have a place in the permissive hypothesis and they are literally impossible in the productive hypothesis. So that's yet one more reason to explore alternatives to materialism. There may be anecdotal evidence for near-death experiences, but is there robust evidence that would be accepted by the majority of scientists who subscribe to the scientific method?Sure. And the plural of anecdotes, someone said, is data.And there's a lot of data. Actually, this year is the 50th anniversary, half a century, since Dr. Raymond Moody realized that we have two ears and one mouth and started listening to what his patients had to say about their experiences while they were clinically dead.The heart had stopped, breathing had stopped in these patients. These patients would come back and tell him these amazing stories that some people may say are hallucinations, but for the patients were hyper-real, like seeing light at the end of the tunnels, seeing deceased family members waiting for them, feeling bliss.___I would say the evidence suggests that the mind can survive the death of activity of the brain.___And so he and others started taking them seriously and writing their accounts down. And then you can do a science based on that material of experience that people have. Now, on the more objective side, more recently people have started to measure what's going on in the brain when people are clinically dead and brought back. This has opened a proper field of study, which is near-death studies.Evidence is a difficult word, because sometimes people think that when you say evidence, this is just the final proof. Evidence is like in a jury. You bring testimony, you bring pieces of data that point in one direction or another.I would say the evidence suggests that the mind can survive the death of activity of the brain. When brains are broken or shut off, there can still be mind going on. And that's revolutionary.That would entail that when we die, it's not game over, which, by the way, is the thesis of materialism. If consciousness survives, materialism dies. It's game over for materialism if something of us continues after we die. Do you think that there is mental continuity after death?Well, I think so, and I believe so, and I could also say I may have experienced it myself, because four years ago I had a near-death experience. I was in the hospital, I lost a lot of blood, and I saw those beings at the end of the tunnel, three beings, and there was yellow light. I was in a well, I was looking upwards, and I hadn't read about NDEs by then, but when I came back from this experience, I decided I would try to integrate this also in my professional life. Not just my personal life, of course, but my professional life as a physicist and as a neuroscientist. So I may have had the experience of glimpses of what an afterlife would be, and I'm not ashamed to say it in this way, and then one can do science of it, and then one can do philosophy of it.One can think about what -isms we were discussing, what views on reality would allow those experiences to be really ‘real,’ as opposed to, well, poor guy, the brain was kind of broken, it must have been a hallucination. Do you have a view about whether individuality or “the ego” persists after death, or whether we sort of merge into some sort of cosmic consciousness instead?I don't know, but my view would be along those lines you're suggesting. I think we could speak about a kind of universal mind, and then the problem is not how we emerge from matter, but how we fragment from a more holistic consciousness into these individual eddies and then when we die, this kind of dissipates.But I'm not sure. For instance, idealism would promote that view, but then what would survive of us after these eddies just vanish and become again the big Consciousness, I'm not sure what that would be. I don't know for sure, but I would tell you I believe something of us survives.And there are other lines of research, not just near-death experience, that can address this really hard question of survival. For instance, there are children who remember previous lives. This was studied by Ian Stevenson at the University of Virginia for more than 50 years.___Research takes place within a selection mechanism that also sometimes reinforces things that are not very scientific.___It's amazing research. He went all over the world, especially in the East, and collected all these case studies, all these stories. In plural, these were data of kids, very young age, who would describe up to 40 items that then he could go and verify.There was no internet. There was really no way the kid could know. Why would the kid say that when I was living in this other body and I was a woman and that's how my house would look like or that's how I would die, right? Again, there is evidence, not proof, but there's evidence not only that something weird and interesting is happening as we cross the threshold, but also when we come back to this life.Scientists should not be afraid of studying this, but they are because there's stigma. There's usually stigma upon the enigma, and this is so unfortunate. And one of the reasons is because of the ideology of materialism, because those things cannot be possible. What is wrong with the politics of science such that they have generated this stigma?So many things. Science is a human activity to begin with.So it falls prey to all our passions and ego and greed. That's one thing. Science is a job for the good and for the bad.You need to get a salary. You need to get grants. Research takes place within a selection mechanism that also sometimes reinforces things that are not very scientific.And then, we didn't have time to unpack this, but science for many years become entangled, as I was suggesting before, to other -isms, materialism, secularism. So anything that smells like the afterlife, people may think has to do with God, and then they freak out.Anything that suggests that there's something about the mind that may not need a physical material substrate to exist, it smells like non-materialism. So, all these -isms are ideologically blocking that kind of research, and then there are all these sociopolitical constraints as to what should be studied and what shouldn't be studied.I call it the backstage of science. Sometimes we scientists or science communicators seem to speak as if the data is the only thing that matters. We say, well, data and theory.But then there's a third leg of this stool, which is all the politics that goes behind the scenes. And we often don't speak about this, and it's quite vicious and petty, and it's very real. Why is materialism so attractive to most scientists?Well, an easy answer is because we've grown up with it.It's what the educational system promotes, and that's what you hear when you go to university. So it's like growing in a culture. It feels like the air in which you breathe.So it's very hard to begin with to detect, well, maybe there's another alternative. Maybe there are other ways of doing science, other environments in which one could do science. That's one reason.And other reasons maybe are more profound, and I'm not qualified to explain them, but I could say, looking at this 400-year history of science, since it started around 1623 with Galileo's book The Assayer, that science went and coupled with all what's going on in the West.And so the fall of religion, you could say, and science presented us this new alternative that then could be coupled very well with other -isms, and this idea of growth, and then science losing its good twin brother, which was philosophy. There's a whole natural history of science starting as philosophy, kind of emancipating or breaking out from philosophy, and then marrying technology, and then marrying other social systems.From that point of view, materialism is a very convenient idea to propose. There were attempts, like the German idealists tried to do a more romantic science. But no, the idea prevailed, like Francis Bacon said: You should pursue nature through all her corners, he said, and make her spill her secrets.Our attitude towards nature in the science that dominates is very much reflecting how we treat nature in our society, in our culture, like a resource to extract secrets by force and then dominate it. How is materialism related to the notions of growth and progress? What's wrong with having a productive citizenry?This is another very interesting and very difficult question to answer.But there's this recent book coming out by Paul Kingsnorth. In it, he explains this idea of the machine and this idea of progress. And this, again, this conflation of more is better, of we need to go forward always, and convincing us that the way to do that is to continually extract more from nature. But because we don't have the religious context anymore, because God is dead, then what do we have? We have what we can do as humans with our own gadgets.It's kind of the story of the Promethean fire. We will just build anything to make ourselves God.A good example today is transhumanism. Transhumanism is this pseudo-religion dressed in technoscientific language whose goal is very religious. They promise immortality, they promise redemption, they promise transformation of the entire natural world, but it's done by human means through technology. Are you suggesting that we can't have ethics without religion?Well, we should have ethics with or without religion. That's another pruning that has happened in science. We say, forget about aesthetics, although some physicists still think that beautiful means probably true, and forget about politics. We pretend there's no backstage of science, and even let's forget about ethics.___Science needs to be in the service of mankind.___Scientists, when they become more like engineers, they're just thinking how to make things work so that they can go to the moon, go to Mars, make machines that think, but they don't think whether that's a good idea.And also consider metaphysics. Many scientists for a long time pretended, and maybe that comes from the stream of positivisms, that really one doesn't need metaphysics at all, except that materialism is always the metaphysics running the system.You see, it's not just ethics. It's the pruning of all of these, you could say, five main legs of philosophy that just makes a kind of unconscious science, a science that doesn't really know what it's doing. It's doing it very well locally, but it just doesn't know what it's doing globally. Do you think science has to have an ultimate vision and purpose behind it for it to be effective or for it to be meaningful and transformative?Yes, a way I would say that is that science needs to be in the service of mankind. And it hasn't been that. And we can see it through, you know, when we discovered the secrets of the atom, and all of a sudden, the Manhattan Project, and then we create nuclear weapons.And now we're trying to crack how machines may think, and now we're creating this mess, right? So science needs to be in service of mankind, not in service of a few ideas that maybe want to make more money or just dominate upon nature. What about planes, trains, automobiles, and modern medicine? Hasn't science served mankind by helping us develop those technologies?Yes and no. I see where you're going, and it's fair.I came here by plane, and it's a blessing. When I almost died, the surgeons did their job, and they saved my life. But these two forced choices between Luddites and Silicon Valley types, I think, of course, it's a false dichotomy.Progress, in a way, it's good, but we often don't speak about the dark side of the moon. We say the great things that progress has brought, and we don't speak about the disasters, the side effects that it has come with, and the same when we promise new technologies. We tend to think that any technology is great, that email is going to save us so much time because we don't need to write letters and send them anymore.Is that true? I spend so many hours a week writing emails. Let's just say there are great things about it and bad things about it. People like Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, for example, argue that we've made moral progress over time because of the Enlightenment. Do you think that's totally wrong-headed?I think he's emphasizing a side of the moon, and he does that very well, and you can find tons of plots where there's a slope going up and say it's great. But I think he should also tell the not-so-friendly story.But if your ideology is just to resist and continue to explain that the Enlightenment is the best thing ever and reason is the best thing ever… this feels to me like you're worshipping these abstractions.I'm very critical of it and also of these, again, science communicators and scientists that say, Oh, science says, in the name of science, experts say. It's like, come on, let's be careful because we can shoot ourselves in the foot by putting forth to the people an image of science that we know is not really true. Recently there's been a resurgence of spirituality and of people who say that they're spiritual but not religious, especially in the United States. If materialism is going away, what is going to fill that gap? Are we going to return to traditional religion? Do you see that being connected with the rise of the political right?I'm not a fortune teller, so I don't know what's going to happen. But, yeah, we could say we're in this post-materialist age and even post-secular age. One cannot come back to the past, but maybe just to contact with the roots is a good idea.What do I mean by that? I think we need to do a science 2.0, a science that says thank you to Galileo and thank you to materialism, but we need to reinvent even a new kind of scientific method. We need to do so in a culture where we realize humans cannot thrive in a vacuum where there's this idea that the sacred has to be removed.Now, how do we do that without bringing in back all the vices of religion? I don't know. I'm from a Catholic country.Here we are in England, so there are differences and interreligious dialogue has always been a challenge. But I think maybe a way of putting it is: after all these conflicts and branchings I was quickly alluding to, science from philosophy and then also from religion, now there's a time of reconciliation perhaps and maybe debates in the proper sense, like exchange of ideas in service of learning and getting into something higher than both poles. We need science to talk to religious people and it's interesting when people say they're spiritual and not religious.I think this is just a way of saying, no, I don't want to go back, I want to go forward. But at the end of the day, religions have offered us practices and grounding that we now desperately need. Everybody can and should just meditate or pray or do whatever they want, but we're in a crisis and it's time for reconciliation. What do you say to critics that say you are merely projecting our need for meaning onto a fundamentally indifferent universe?Yeah, I know that the typical science communicator says something like this. But we're not projecting. Human beings feed on meaning.It's the other way around. If you're a materialist, because the only thing that there is is matter, all that comes next, free will, consciousness, meaning, this is a kind of illusion that we need to explain.They're just craving for meaning, but there isn't really for them. I would also like to remind my materialist friends that for decades, if not centuries, they've said in the name of science, we know that this and this and this doesn't really exist. I think now they sense they're forced to say, well, actually, we don't know. We've been saying, for instance, that there's nothing after you die, and now probably they need to admit that they don't know the answer.___We need to do a science 2.0, a science that says thank you to Galileo and thank you to materialism, but we need to reinvent even a new kind of scientific method.___So it's a moment to open up possibilities and also to gently but fiercely critique these claims that I think harm society. If you say in the name of science, get on with it, when your father dies, you'll never see him again. Well, what the F do you know about it? You haven't studied the literature, you haven't had any of those experiences, and basically what you're doing is you're just doing marketing on ideology. This needs to stop. Do you think that it's scarier for some people to entertain the thought that there might be life after death, compared to a materialist worldview where you just die, given that there might be consequences for unsavory behaviour?Well, death and dying is scary. It's maybe the ultimate ending. It's a limit on life, and when we're in this conquest mode, we don't like limits.And it also has, there's a shockwave backwards, so I think if you change your notion of what death is or may be, you live differently. It also has consequences, as you're saying, for the future because this is not our only goal here and we come back in whatever form. And again, different religions would say different things. I the East, they are more happy with the idea of reincarnation, and here in the West, there are other preferences. But in any case, it changes how we live, and that's really what matters.It's not about just projecting or imagining what we'll be after, but how we live now and also how we treat those who are dying. So it goes from the individual to the families, to the hospitals.Now in the near-death research I do, this has ramifications at all these levels, all the way to society.But our society is thanatophobic. It has a phobia of death. We don't want to hear about death, and this is another thing we need to put on the table and be willing to talk about it. Do you think that we might get closer to answering ultimate questions like why is there anything at all if we jettison materialism?That’s an excellent question, Simon. Two things: we should stop treating reality, I believe, as a great sudoku, as an enigma, as something that with intelligence, money, and time that we will crack and instead treat reality more like a mystery. And what you do for in front of a mystery is not to be the clever guy in a class and say “I’ll solve you” but more like “I will bow and you will transform me.”I know this sounds a bit like a scientist speaking like a mystic. But I think this reorientation is needed. In the end, we won’t crack the big questions, but they will transform us. If we free ourselves from this prison of materialism, the way we will explore these questions will be freer, more creative, and in service of mankind. Do you think exploring mystery is the reason why we are here?I think we are here because, and this pseudo-theological argument I’m making off the cuff, But the One, the Absolute, if there is such a thing, had everything except limitation. We are that absolute experiencing that contingency. It’s like an act of divine proprioception. It’s a wonderful adventure, it’s just incredible to be alive. Perhaps we have forgotten why we are here and the whole point is to experience the flesh.Let me end by saying this. I criticize materialism harshly. I bang on this dead horse, because I think it’s dead. But matter is a great mystery. So maybe my invitation is as follows: hey materialist friends, come here, let’s work on materialism 2.0! Consciousness is a mystery, but matter is also a mystery. The fact that we can have an intersubjective experience consensus, the fact that we can apply mathematics, that we can measure things... the physical world we take for granted, but it is a great mystery too.Maybe that’s related to your last question: why are we here? Why did spirit decide to incarnate? Being in the flesh may be a great thing if spirit decided to do so.Àlex Gómez-Marín, thank you very much.My pleasure.