Within Reason

Latest Episodes:

#127 Bear Grylls - Retelling Jesus' Life as a Thriller Oct 26, 2025

Show notes

Bear Grylls is a British adventurer, writer, television presenter and former SAS trooper who is also a survival expert. Widely known for his television series Man vs. Wild, he was also appointed as The Scout Association’s youngest-ever Chief Scout of the United Kingdom and Overseas Territories at the age of 35. His new book, The Greatest Story Ever Told, is a retelling of the life of Jesus through the eyes of five Gospel characters: Mary the mother of Jesus, Thomas, Peter, John, and Mary Magdalene.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Retelling Christianity in the First Person
12:36 - Faith and Doubt Come Together
16:46 - Did Bear’s Research Cause Doubt or Faith?
28:01 - Reconciling the Differences Between the Gospels
39:50 - On Not Putting Words in Jesus’ Mouth
48:59 - Where Alex’s Interest in the Gospels Began
55:24 - Travelling Back to the Time of Jesus: Where Would You Go?

#126 Was Jesus an Ancient Magician? - Religion for Breakfast Oct 19, 2025

Show notes

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Andrew Mark Henry is a scholar of religious studies. His research focus is early Christianity and late Roman religion. He earned his PhD at Boston University.His YouTube channel is "Religion for Breakfast", find it here.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Was Jesus a Magician?

3:35 - The Origins of ‘Magic’

10:02 - Celsus, Christianity’s Earliest Critic

16:35 - The Wise Magi

19:59 - Did Jesus Use a Wand?

30:22 - Curses, Rituals, and Magical Formulas

40:43 - What Kind of “Magus” Was Jesus?

43:52 - Was Jesus a Freelance Ritual Expert?

48:34 - Charisma and the Origin of Exorcism

53:03 - Grimoires: The Magic of the Written Word

01:08:40 - The Religion Department

#125 Emily Qureshi-Hurst - Does God Know What Time It Is? Oct 12, 2025

Show notes

Dr. Qureshi-Hurst is a Philosopher of Religion and Science at the University of Cambridge. Her work focuses on the relationship between physics—and time in particular—and theology. Her forthcoming book, Decoding the Cosmos: God, Physics, and the Search for Deeper Explanation, explores this relationship in depth.

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TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Does the Bible Predict the Big Bang?2:37 - Scientists and Theologians10:18 - Where Did Biblical Literalism Come From?17:31 - How Does Science Conflict with Theology?23:47 - Does God Experience Time?29:27 - The A, B and C Series of Time38:38 - Timeless God, Timed Universe42:52 - Christianity and the End of the Universe48:35 - Intelligent Design and Modern Science55:58 - Is Biblical Literalism a Plausible Reading?58:32 - Why Emily is an Atheist

#124 Sisyphus 55 - So You're Having an Existential Crisis Oct 05, 2025

Show notes

Ben Thomas is @Sisyphus55, a YouTuber creating videos about philosophy, existentialism, nihilism, absurdism, and meaning. His new book, So You're Having an Existential Crisis: a Roadmap for Lost Souls, is available now.

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#123 Candida Moss - Were Early Christians Really Persecuted by Rome? Sep 28, 2025

Show notes

Candida Moss is a historian of Christianity and author of The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a Story of Martyrdom.

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#122 Robert Greene - Near-Death Experiences and the Mind Apart From the Brain Sep 21, 2025

Show notes

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Robert Greene is an American author of books on strategy, power, and seduction. He has written seven international bestsellers, including The 48 Laws of Power. He is working on a book about the concept of the sublime, and speaks today about its relation to near-death experiences, dreaming, consciousness, and religious belief. Buy his books here.

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#121 John Cottingham - The Father of Modern Philosophy: René Descartes Sep 16, 2025

Show notes

John Cottingham (born 1943) is an English philosopher. The focus of his research has been early-modern philosophy (especially Descartes), the philosophy of religion and moral philosophy. He is a Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Reading, Professorial Research Fellow at Heythrop College, University of London, and Honorary Fellow of St John's College, Oxford. He is also a current Visiting Professor to the Philosophy Department at King's College, London.

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#120 Brant Pitre - Jesus DID Claim to be God Sep 10, 2025

Show notes

Brant Pitre is an American New Testament scholar and Distinguished Research Professor of Scripture at the Augustine Institute. He has written extensively on the historical Jesus, the Virgin Mary, Paul the Apostle, the origin of the Eucharist, and the canonical Gospels. His book, Jesus and Divine Christology, is available here.

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#119 Jim Al-Khalili - The Strange World of Quantum Physics Sep 01, 2025

Show notes

Jim Al-Khalili is an Iraqi-British theoretical physicist and science populariser. He is professor of theoretical physics and chair in the public engagement in science at the University of Surrey.

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#118 Joe Folley - Everything You Need to Know About Logic Aug 24, 2025

Show notes

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Joe Folley runs the YouTube channel Unsolicited Advice. He graduated from Cambridge University in 202with an MPhil in Philosophy, specialising in logic.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - What is Logic?
5:04 - Aristotelian vs Stoic Logic
12:47 - How Logic Provides Clarity
18:42 Ambiguities in Logical Language
29:07 - Validity vs Soundness in a Logical Argument
39:40 Why Anything Follows From a Contradiction
47:42 - The Law of Non-Contradiction
56:27 - What is Truth and Falsity in Logic?
58:36 - Does Your Mum Know You’re Gay?
1:05:05 What is Fuzzy Logic?
01:08:14 - What is Modal Logic?
01:13:40 - Informal Rules of Logic
01:29:15 - Resources to Learn About Logic

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