How God Works: The Science Behind Spirituality
Episodes
Doubt (Part II)
26 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Uncertainty about faith can be anxiety provoking and even cause people to leave religion altogether. But that's not the way it works in all traditions...
Doubt (Part I)
12 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Religion can help provide answers to many questions in life - big and small. And in doing so, give a sense of security and understanding of the wo...
What Women Want
29 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In conversations about women’s rights, religion and feminism are often cast as incompatible. But religious women tend to see it differently. In thi...
DIY Spirituality?
15 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
About 70% of all Americans consider themselves spiritual in some way, whether it be a belief in the soul, spirits or just the idea that something's go...
Season 10 Trailer
08 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Join us for Season 10 of How God Works, starting next week!
Uniter or Divider? Explore Religion in Modern America. A How God Works Live Event (From the Archive)
22 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We’ll be back on March 15 with an all-new season of How God Works! In the meantime, we’re excited to share one of our favorite episodes — our ve...
The Spiritual (and Political) Crisis in the US (From the Archive)
08 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A brand-new season of How God Works returns March 15! In the meantime, we’re revisiting a powerful episode from our archive that feels particularly ...
Mattering
25 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Feeling that our life is meaningful - that we add value to the world and are valued by the people around us, isn’t just a good feeling, it's a funda...
Rethinking Sin (From the Archive)
11 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
For many people, the word “sin” is associated with harsh judgment and shame. Or, it’s used to talk about guilty pleasures like consuming decaden...
The End of the World As We Know It
28 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
These days, it feels like the end of the world is always just around the corner. From RaptureTok to climate doom and geopolitical upheaval, someone al...
Dream Yoga
14 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We spend about a third of our lives sleeping and yet the question of why we sleep and dream has remained a mystery for much of human existence. But...
Shamanism
30 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When life feels uncertain, who do you turn to? Across cultures and throughout history, many of us have looked to people who seemed to have a special s...
Give Us This Day Our Daily Kale
16 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For most of human history, religion guided people’s choices about health and food. Then with the rise of modern nutritional science in the 19th cent...
Becoming Wise
02 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We often think of wisdom as something that comes with age, or as a gift reserved for a chosen few. But what if wisdom is more like a muscle… one tha...
Seeking the Spiritual Life
19 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you want to grow spiritually, should you go to a monastery and withdraw from the world, or look for greater meaning, connection, and purpose in the...
The Friendship Cure
05 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We say friends are what make life worth living. But if that’s true, why are so many of us struggling to find and keep them these days? And what can ...
Season 9 Trailer
28 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Join us for Season 9 of How God Works, starting next week!
Healing Rituals: There's Power in Belief (From the Archive)
14 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We will be back with a whole new season of How God Works on October 5th. In the meantime, we wanted to share some of our favorite episodes from the ar...
Midlife: Leaning Into the Change (From the Archive)
02 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We'll be back with a whole new season of How God Works on October 5th. But in the meantime, we wanted to share some of our favorite episodes from the ...
HGW Presents: How Rituals Help Us Process Grief (The Science of Happiness)
17 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How God Works will be back with all new episodes this fall. In the meantime, we're taking the opportunity to share episodes from some of our favorite ...
HGW Presents: Kelly Corrigan Wonders (with Rainn Wilson)
03 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How God Works will be back with all new episodes this fall. In the meantime, we're taking the opportunity to share episodes from some of our favorite ...
Bonus: Losing Our Religion or Finding What Matters?
20 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As more Americans move away from organized religion, the moral and emotional needs once met by faith communities remain. What can secular society borr...
Speaking in Tongues
29 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The spiritual practice of speaking in tongues –a form of communication with the divine through speaking words in an unknown or unrecognizable langua...
The Soul and Science of Prayer
15 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What is prayer? And why do it? People pray for all kinds of reasons, and in all kinds of ways: alone, together, aloud, in silence, from memory, or fro...
Of God and Men
01 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There's a lot of talk these days about a crisis of masculinity. But is it a genuine problem or just another culture war talking point? In this specia...
Adolescence: How to Build an Adult (From the Archive)
18 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hey listeners, we'll be back in two weeks with a special episode looking at the multiple challenges facing men in America today. But while you wait,...
The Conscious Cosmos
04 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For centuries, Western science and philosophy have struggled to explain what consciousness is and where it comes from. What if the answer to both thos...
Found By Faith
20 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
People find faith or change faiths for many reasons: marriage, raising a family, dealing with grief or crisis. But sometimes it happens the other wa...
Fasting for the Soul
06 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Many would agree there are few things better than sharing a delicious meal with the people you love, which is one reason why breaking bread together i...
Origins of Belief
23 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We often think of belief as a religious or cultural idea that is a hallmark of modern humans. But what if the early sparks of belief burned in our anc...
Marriage, Monogamy and the Modern Mind
09 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to finding happiness, many religions see marriage as the gold standard: a path to love, stability, and fulfillment. But is that really t...
Season 8 Trailer
02 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Join us for Season 8 of How God Works, starting next week!
Every Breath You Take (From the Archive)
23 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We'll be back with a whole new season of How God Works on March 9th. But in the meantime, we wanted to share shows from our archives that speak to som...
Moving Beyond Us vs Them (From the Archive)
09 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We'll be back with a whole new season of How God Works starting in early March. But in the meantime, we wanted to share a few shows from our archives ...
Religion and Robots and AI … Oh My! (From the Archive)
26 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Artificial Intelligence, and its possible applications to religion, have been in the news a lot lately, so while we're busy working on Season 8, we th...
Why Spirituality is Important in our Increasingly Secular World (Dave on the How to Be a Better Human Podcast)
12 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Faith has always been a strong force in human history – but in modern times, it may feel antiquated to have it. This is an episode of the How to Be ...
Finding Holiday Happiness
15 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The holidays are supposed to be a time of joy. But all too often, the darker, colder days of winter, and even the stress of preparing for the holidays...
Finding Hope in Dark Times (From the Archive)
08 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode from 2023 is one of our all-time listener favorites. We're sharing it again for anyone who may have missed it, or could do with a refresh...
The Bad Place
24 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Lots of religions embrace the idea of hell – a place of eternal punishment for wrong doers. But where did that idea come from? How has it changed th...
Near Death Experiences
10 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
People have been having Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) all over the world for as long as we can look back into history. And the strange thing is… the...
So You say You’re a Cynic
27 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
There’s no question we’re living in difficult times that lead many of us to adopt a cynical outlook. But while cynicism might feel smart, science ...
Succeeding Without Trying
13 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We spend a lot of time on How God Works talking about how spirituality can offer tools to become better versions of ourselves. And while learning to...
Rethinking Regret
29 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Regret can be a double-edged sword. It can be painful, and enduring, but we can also learn important lessons from it - IF we treat it right. Most re...
Rethinking Sin
15 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For many people, the word “sin” is associated with harsh judgment and shame. Or, it’s used to talk about guilty pleasures like consuming decaden...
Season 7 Trailer
08 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Join us for Season 7 of How God Works, starting next week!
Making God Real (2022)
25 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We've had a lot of new listeners join us of the past year, so while we're hard at work on our next season, we thought we'd share some favorites you mi...
Death (2022)
11 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We've had a lot of new listeners join us of the past year, so while we're hard at work on our next season, we thought we'd share some favorites you mi...
Transcendence (2021)
28 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We've had a lot of new listeners join us of the past year, so while we're hard at work on our next season, we thought we'd share some favorites you mi...
A Holiday From Tech Addiction (2022)
14 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We've had a lot of new listeners join us of the past year, so while we're hard at work on our next season, we thought we'd share some favorites you mi...
How God Works Survey!
24 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hey Listeners, as we plan future seasons, we'd love to know what you appreciate most about the show... and what you think we can improve or would like...
The Spiritual (and Political) Crisis in the US
10 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hey Listeners, we also want to hear from you! Please take a few minutes to fill out our audience survey and be a part of shaping future seasons. Ange...
Live Event: Can Religion & Science Get Along in the 21st Century?
27 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Science and religion can often seem at loggerheads. But does it have to be that way? Dr. Francis Collins, one of the world’s leading scientists, doe...
How God Works… for Animals?
13 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to how we treat other animals, humanity’s track record is spotty at best. Has it always been that way? And how do the beliefs we hold ...
Modern Witchcraft
29 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Do you feel connected to nature’s rhythms and the peace that they provide? Are cooking, crafting, or other small daily rituals a form of spell work ...
Tiny Religions
15 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ever heard of the Bartonian Metaphysical Society? How about the Druze? If you’re like most people, you probably haven’t. On this episode, we ask: ...
U.F.Whoa!
01 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Religion is often about powerful beings coming down from the skies and humans yearning to go up to join them. Does that mean we can swap aliens in for...
The Power of Pilgrimage
18 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What makes a trip a pilgrimage? And why have people from across the globe made these treks for millennia? Is it the destination that makes these journ...
Is War Holy?
04 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Is religion a source of conflict, or a way to end it? From the tragic situation in the Middle East to rising Christian Nationalism in the US, it might...
Season 6 Trailer
26 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Join us for Season 6 of How God Works, starting next week!
How God Works Presents: No Small Endeavor with Lee C. Camp
28 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hey How God Works listeners! While we’re hard at work on Season 6, we’d like to invite you to check out No Small Endeavor, a podcast that explores...
Finding Hope in Dark Times
31 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Surveys show feelings of sadness and despair peaked in 2023. So as we look to the new year, it's understandable why any of us might be feeling pessimi...
Religion & Mental Health Part 2: Addiction
17 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to treating addiction, twelve-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous are some of the most often used in the US. But while twelve-step p...
Religion & Mental Health Part 1: Psychotherapy
03 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For most of the past 200 years, religion and psychiatry didn’t get along too well. Or so the story goes. But if you go back far enough, the two ha...
Every Breath You Take
19 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s no accident that the Hebrew word for breath is the same as the word for spirit (ruach). Breath doesn’t just give us life: it helps regulate e...
Touching the Transcendent
05 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve all heard of spiritual experiences – moments of feeling intense awe and deep love and connection. People who’ve had them – and it’s a ...
Introducing: Mother is a Question
29 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today we’re featuring an episode from the new PRX podcast Mother is a Question. What is Unteachable about Mothering? Our journey into this territo...
From Two Spirit to Bissu, Gender Diversity Has Deep Roots
22 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Around the world, gender diversity isn't the exception; it's fairly common. It’s also not a new invention. Many indigenous societies have long recog...
Queer and Here!
08 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Christianity and Judaism have had long standing theological concerns with LGBTQ+ issues. BUT from the Vatican to certain Jewish denominations, there a...
Seeking Silence
24 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When’s the last time you actually heard silence? We’re flooded with noise everyday, so much so that we don’t even realize it. And it's not just ...
Season 5 of How God Works is Coming
17 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How God Works is coming back to your feed on September 24th! Tune in this season as we tackle topics like the value of silence, how different faiths v...
Is Burning Man a Party or a Pilgrimage? (2022)
27 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Every year, thousands of people head to Nevada's Black Rock Desert for a week at Burning Man. And while from the outside, it might seem like a place f...
Soul-ercise
09 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The lights are dimmed, candles are lit, bodies begin to sway together as the voice from the stage says a spirit-lifting, soul-stirring affirmation…a...
What’s Old is New Again
25 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It's not news that the US is becoming more secular. People have been drifting away from religion for decades, and that trend is accelerating right now...
Can Ancient Wisdom Help Gen Z's Stress & Unhappiness?
11 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is an edited version of a live event held at WBUR’s Cityspace on May 15, 2023. A full-length video of the event is available here. For...
Moving Beyond Us vs Them
28 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Hate and prejudice based on ethnicity, religion, gender and sexual orientation are all too common in our world. But are we doomed to be this way? Or i...
Sacred Sound
14 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Music has the power to transform and connect us, no matter our native tongue. In many ways, it's a language unto itself. It ties us to memories...to p...
The Flow of Craft
30 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What do we get out of making things with our hands? Traditions the world over incorporate crafts into their religious practice, and for secular people...
God is Green
16 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Were the Earth and all its resources created just for our benefit? Do plants and animals exist solely for us to consume? Or should we be viewing our r...
The Power of Awe
02 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Awe fills us with wonder -- we feel small in the face of things that seem vast, inspiring, almost beyond comprehension. So it makes sense that spiritu...
Season 4 Trailer
26 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Season 4 is coming on Sunday, April 2!Can learning to experience awe more often be good for us? Does learning to make pottery, sing in a choir, or pla...
From The Happiness Lab: Yoga of the Mind
20 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
While we’re working on Season 4, we wanted to share a special episode from another podcast we love, The Happiness Lab. On The Happiness Lab, Dr. La...
How to be a Great Ancestor
05 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What do we owe future humans? In principle, it seems obvious that we should do what we can to make life better for the generations that follow, just a...
Grief: Moving Through Loss (2022)
22 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Sooner or later, most of us experience grief from losing someone we love. It’s always painful, and sometimes even debilitating. But there is plenty ...
Uniter or Divider? Explore Religion in Modern America. A How God Works Live Event.
08 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you ask people what they think about religion, you often get one of two answers: Religion is the source of war, violence, abuse, and hypocrisy OR a...
A Holiday from Tech Addiction
25 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Time with family, friends and loved ones is supposed to be at the center of the holiday season… but in our screen-dominated world, how many of us ca...
How to Forgive
11 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
‘Tis the season for giving and…forgiving. But while forgiveness is something to which we often aspire, it can be harder than it seems at times. It...
How God Works Live Event!
04 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Join us for the very first How God Works live event this Wednesday, December 7th at 7:30pm, at The Greene Space in New York.For tickets and more infor...
How to Fix Work
27 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Work is becoming a “religion” for many people these days. It’s worship of the efficient, productive, and almighty dollar. But that doesn’t mak...
Religion and Robots and AI…Oh My!
13 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Can you pray with a robot? Will people worship AI like a god? It's not science fiction. It's starting to happen now. But what does it mean if robots b...
Making God Real
30 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever heard a voice, seen an image, or felt a presence around you that you couldn’t explain? If you have, you’re not alone. More people th...
How God Works Live Event!
23 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Join us for the very first How God Works live event on Wednesday, December 7 at The Greene Space in New York.For tickets and more information, click h...
Is Burning Man a Party or a Pilgrimage?
16 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Every year, thousands of people head to Nevada's Black Rock Desert for a week at Burning Man. And while from the outside, it might seem like a place f...
Season Three Trailer
02 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How God Works will be back with Season 3 starting October 16th! This season we’ll continue to explore some of life’s deepest questions through sci...
Death: Embracing the Last Transition
22 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As a society that fears death, we tend to avoid the subject. But the key to having a positive end-of-life experience might come in doing just the oppo...
Grief: Moving Through Loss
08 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sooner or later, most of us experience grief from losing someone we love. It’s always painful, and sometimes even debilitating. But there is plenty ...
Midlife: Leaning Into the Change
24 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Data shows that for many people, happiness takes a big dip around 50. But aging doesn’t have to be a crisis if we can figure out how to embrace who ...
Relationships and Marriage (Part 2): Keeping the Fire Burning
10 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
To hear Hollywood tell it, good sex is a clothes-ripping race to the finish line, often between people who barely know each other. But the version we’...
Relationships and Marriage (Part 1): Finding the Right Balance
27 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The definition of a “good” marriage has changed drastically over time and today it seems our expectations for our partner are higher than ever. ...
Adolescence: How to Build an Adult
13 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When you're a teenager, you're kind of between two worlds. You're leaving the comforts and carefree days of childhood behind and stepping into the cha...
Childhood: Growing the Moral Muscle
27 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Do children need religion to grow into ethical, caring adults? Sixty-five percent of Americans think so, but the relationship between religion and mor...