As more Americans move away from organized religion, the moral and emotional needs once met by faith communities remain. What can secular society borrow from spiritual traditions — ritual, meaning, belonging and moral imagination — to nourish the human spirit and strengthen our shared civic life? In this conversation, recorded live at the 2025 Aspen Ideas Festival, Dave explores how sacred wisdom can still guide character, compassion, and community in a post-religious age with Krista Tippett, Father Greg Boyle, and Rabbi Shira Stutman.

Krista Tippet is the creator and host of the award winning podcast On Being and an awardee of the National Humanities medal.

Father Greg Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries, a gang intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program in Los Angeles and author of the New York Times bestseller, Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion.

Rabbi Shira Stutman is the founder of Mixed Multitudes, an organization that exposes diverse groups of Jews and fellow travelers to Jewish life, tradition, and conversation, and author of the acclaimed book The Jewish Way to a Good Life.

The spiritual practice of speaking in tongues –a form of communication with the divine through speaking words in an unknown or unrecognizable language– has invited a lot of speculation and skepticism over the years. To many, it seems like the stuff of horror movies, or old-timey religious revivals. But charismatic Christianity, for which speaking in tongues is a central practice, is one of the fastest growing Christian movements in modern history. So why has it not only persisted, but recently gained momentum? What exactly is happening to the mind and body when people engage in this practice?

We’ll talk to Josh Brahinsky, anthropologist and author of a forthcoming book on speaking in tongues, about his years researching people taking part in this practice, and why it’s far less rare and extreme than many people think. And how neuroscience is showing real changes in the brain that point to tongues as an effective method of prayer and even mindfulness. We’ll also talk to Shavon Gartrell, youth pastor at Glad Tidings Church in San Francisco, about what it feels like to let go, drop in and give her tongue to God.

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 from instinct. But whatever form it takes, there’s a reason prayer has been part of just about every spiritual tradition out there: its effects run deep.

On this episode, we’re digging into the science and spirit of prayer. We’ll talk to neuroscientist Andrew Newberg about what prayer does to our minds and bodies, and how it helps shape us as people. And friend of the show Rabbi Shira Stutman will return to explore how people can find meaning, connection and growth through intentional practice, whatever their beliefs may be.

Andrew Newberg is the director of research at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health and a physician at Jefferson University Hospital. He is the author of several books on the neuroscience of spirituality, including How God Changes Your Brain and The Rabbi’s Brain. Find out more about his work on his website.

Shira Stutman is a nationally known faith-based leader and changemaker, currently serving as Senior Rabbi at Aspen Jewish Congregation. She is also co-host of the podcast Chutzpod and author of the book The Jewish Way to a Good Life: Find Happiness, Build Community, and Embrace Lovingkindness.