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Are the strikes on Venezuelan boats ‘war’ – and do the rules of war apply? : The NPR Politics Podcast
New questions have emerged surrounding the United States’ military strikes on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat in early September. We discuss what we know and why the White House appears to be distancing itself from the decision to order multiple strikes on the same boat.This episode: senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez, and national security correspondent Greg Myre.This podcast was produced by Casey Morell and Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye.Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.
House bill aimed to counter N.Y. all-electric buildings mandate moves forward
The Energy Choice Act passed the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday.
Key Trump ally attacks Speaker Johnson as GOP holds House narrowly
Elise Stefanik, a GOP candidate for New York governor, told the Wall Street Journal that House Republicans have underperformed under Mike Johnson.
Sabrina Carpenter flames White House over deportation video using her song
he White House posted a video celebrating migrant deportations, complete with federal agents “handcuffing, tackling and chasing people,” all set to Sabrina Carpenter’s song “Juno.”
Is a blue wave headed for Trump, GOP? Tennessee sends 'warning signs'
Democratic party leaders are sounding increasingly optimistic about 2026, while Republicans are the ones expressing concerns of a midterm wipeout.
SCOOP: Trump to unveil 'historic reset' of Biden fuel rules, touts $109 billion in savings
Trump unveils changes to CAFE fuel economy standards that the White House says will save American families $109 billion while meeting with Ford, GM and Stellantis executives.
Pleasanton Valley Greenhouses reaches 40 years in business
The family-owned Pleasanton Valley Greenhouses has been in business for 40 years. It continues to offer a variety of plants, products, services and events throughout the year.
Athens area voters to decide new state representative in special election
With a state House seat in Athens open, Republicans are looking to preserve the seat while Democrats are hoping to flip it.
OPENING ARGUMENTS: Republicans tout politics, critics say racial gerrymandering
By Colleen Steffen TheStatehouseFile.com December 2, 2025 Over and over, critics of Indiana House Republicans’ proposed new congressional map were met with the same phrase from Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn, at Tuesday’s hours-long hearing of the House Elections and Apportionment Committee. “We have drawn these maps to create a Republican political advantage.” Smaltz authored House Bill
Trump says Americans may soon pay ‘no income tax’ as White House explores alternative revenue streams
President Trump proposes eliminating income tax entirely, suggesting tariff revenue could replace traditional taxation in ambitious economic overhaul plan.
Republican Matt Van Epps wins House special election in Tennessee
Van Epps has won a nationally watched special election in Tennessee for a seat in the U.S. House, maintaining his party’s grip on the district with help from President Donald Trump.
Republican Matt Van Epps will win Tennessee special election, averting Democratic upset, CNN projects
Republican Matt Van Epps will win the special US House election for Tennessee’s 7th District, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, preventing an upset but emboldening Democrats as they were on track to over-perform in a normally deep-red district.
Republican Matt Van Epps holds deep-red House district in Tennessee special election
Van Epps defeated Democrat Aftyn Behn, NBC News projects, after an expensive campaign to replace former Rep. Mark Green.
Republicans want a health care plan. They don’t know what will go in it.
House and Senate Republicans need to build consensus around a health care proposal by the end of next week if they want to compete with a Democratic plan.
Feeling more at home on road, Nuggets take on Pacers
Home is usually a sanctuary for NBA teams, but Ball Arena has become a house of horrors for the Denver Nuggets.
College sports bill heads to final vote despite GOP defections
The 210-209 vote paves the way for House passage as soon as Wednesday.
Trump announces more restrictions on legal immigration after DC shooting : The NPR Politics Podcast
The Trump administration has announced more restrictions on the country’s refugee and asylum programs after a shooting of two National Guard members last week in Washington, D.C., allegedly by an Afghan immigrant. How do these changes advance Trump’s immigration policy agenda and his vision of what it means to be an American?This episode: senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, immigration policy correspondent Ximena Bustillo, and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro.This podcast was produced by Casey Morell and Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye.Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.
Tennessee election updates: Voters hit polls in tighter-than-expected race
Tennessee's House District 7 was supposed to be Democrat-proof, but a progressive state representative is looking for an upset over her GOP rival.
Doctors still unsure about Trump’s heart health after ‘weird’ memo
It is still unclear which imaging services President Donald Trump underwent to evaluate his cardiovascular health. The White House shared a memo Monday as an attempt to put this topic to bed—but questions remain.
Indiana's redistricting bill advances to a vote in the House with a lone Republican opposed
An overwhelmingly anti-redistricting crowd testified for hours Dec. 2.
3 reasons to watch Tennessee's special election
We've arrived at the sixth special election in the House this year. Here's what to know.
Ex-U.S. House candidate Adem Bunkeddeko running for N.Y. state comptroller
He joins a field of Democrats challenging longtime incumbent Tom DiNapoli.
Dave Coulier reveals he has tongue cancer, his 2nd diagnosis in a year, after beating non-Hodgkin lymphoma
The "Full House" star also shared that he created AwearMarket, a digital marketplace that sells toxin-free products.
Republicans punt on Stefanik’s legislation tied to 2016 Russia investigation, creating more problems for Johnson
A new headache is emerging for House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Amid anti-drug push, Trump pardons leader sentenced on cocaine charges
Trump said Nov. 28 that he planned to pardon the former Honduran leader, and a White House official confirmed Dec. 2 that the pardon had been issued.
Letters to the Editor: As production moves overseas, it’s American entertainment workers who suffer
'As with any business that goes to other countries, people here start losing their incomes and life possibilities. This leads to a downward spiral of any household, community, town, city or state now missing spending potential and tax benefits,' writes an L.A. Times reader.
White House defends Pete Hegseth | Latest US politics news from The Economist
The latest news in US politics, with coverage of Donald Trump’s second term.
National Science Foundation renews support for ecological powerhouse Cedar Creek
With its eighth funding renewal, the world-renowned Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve is primed for six more years on the forefront of ecosystem research.
NYT defends report on Trump's health after White House backlash
Fox News contributor Joe Concha calls out the New York Times' reporting on President Trump's 'fatigue,' contrasting their past coverage of President Biden's stamina.
Melania Trump was once the one making controversial White House design choices. Now, it's Donald Trump.
The 2025 White House Christmas decorations reflect Melania Trump's shift to a more low-key role while Donald Trump opts for bold design changes.
Live updates: Public will testify today on Indiana redistricting map
The Indiana House is launching the legislative process for mid-decade redistricting. Follow along for live updates.
White House distances Hegseth from second strike on alleged drug boat
Defence secretary gave order for strikes but did not say to ‘kill everybody’, according to White House spokesperson
White House Releases More Information on Trump’s MRI
The White House has released details about President Donald Trump’s recent MRI amid heightened scrutiny over his health.
Map unveiled as Indiana House gets down to redistricting business
Millions of Hoosiers would have different representation in the U.S. House under a proposed redrawing of Indiana’s congressional maps that aims to produce a 9-0 GOP delegation.
Congress set to vote on college sports bill that limits NIL, transfers
The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote Monday, Dec. 1 on the SCORE Act to give the NCAA more authority to set rules on NIL and transfers.
Trump’s quest for political retribution is impeding the Justice Department : The NPR Politics Podcast
President Trump has vowed to seek retribution from his perceived political enemies and to reward his political allies. We discuss how that focus is playing out at the Justice Department, where career prosecutors and other civil servants are no longer calling the shots. How does this partisan shift affect major court cases, from redistricting in Texas to James Comey’s prosecution?This episode: senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, justice correspondent Carrie Johnson, and senior national political correspondent Mara Liasson.This podcast was produced by Casey Morell and Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye.Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.
THE WEEK OF DEC 1, 2025
- Senate releases DOE funding proposals - House to examine competition with China in space - OSTP seeks input on accelerating science
White House gives new details on Trump’s health following exam
The White House released the results from the president’s October health exam on Monday.
Trump MRI results drop as White House confronts mounting questions over president’s health
President Donald Trump's October MRI scan found no cardiovascular abnormalities and confirmed excellent overall health, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced.
White House reveals new details on Donald Trump's MRI
President Trump’s MRI showed perfectly normal cardiovascular and abdominal results, with the White House saying he remains in excellent health.
At least 9 Indiana Republicans were targeted in swatting attacks amid redistricting pressure from Trump
The threats came after Trump publicly called on state lawmakers to pass new congressional maps that would benefit Republicans.
Jeffries seeks to raise pressure on GOP centrists over expiring health care subsidies
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is pressing centrist Republicans to help Democrats extend ObamaCare tax credits before they expire at the end of the month. Jeffries has offered…
Johnson and Trump Try to Avoid an Upset House Loss in Tennessee
Speaker Mike Johnson put the president on speakerphone during a Monday stop in the state, underscoring the unusual amount of national attention on a House special election.
André Carson drawn out of Indy House district in proposed redistricting map
Carson's home near downtown Indianapolis, currently in the 7th District, which he's held since 2008, would now be in the ninth congressional district.
I toured the White House to see Melania Trump's Christmas decorations. The East Wing is no more, but the display was still dazzling.
First lady Melania Trump unveiled the 2025 White House Christmas decorations centered on the theme "Home Is Where The Heart Is."
Inside this year’s White House holiday decor
It took 150 volunteers working for one week, with 25,000 feet of ribbon, 120 pounds of gingerbread, more than 10,000 butterflies and a 6,000-piece Lego portrait of President Donald Trump’s likeness to deck the White House halls this year.
In rare move, Gov. Jeff Landry intervenes in House GOP leadership race. Here's why.
Governors have often picked speakers of the House and presidents of the Senate, but weighing in on the Republican Caucus leadership is unusual.
Trump commutes sentence of private equity CEO convicted of fraud
President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of David Gentile, a private equity executive who was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison for a fraud scheme, according to a White House official.
'Do it right:' Trump posts cryptic message after ballroom setbacks
President Donald Trump and his chosen architect have clashed over the enormous construction project at The White House.
Indiana lawmakers convene with redistricting top of mind
Republicans who control the House chamber have said there's no doubt that redistricting will pass that chamber. But the fate of any proposal to emerge remains uncertain in the Senate.
Live updates: Trump administration news and the latest on Ukraine, Venezuela
President Donald Trump will hold a meeting at the White House this evening about next steps on Venezuela, sources told CNN, as his administration also seeks a peace deal in Ukraine. Follow for live updates.
Trump to hold Venezuela Oval Office meeting, sources say
President Donald Trump will hold a meeting at the White House on Monday evening about next steps on Venezuela, sources familiar with the matter told CNN, as the administration intensifies its pressure campaign on the country.
Capitol agenda: Health deal hinges on Trump
Capitol Hill factions are trying to figure out what the president wants and how to entice him to their side.
AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Tennessee's special congressional election
Less than a month after Democrats scored big victories in the Nov. 4 general election, voters in a heavily Republican Tennessee congressional district will fill a vacant seat Tuesday in the closely divided U.S. House
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.
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