Matters of Life and Death

Cryptocurrency 1: Bitcoin, warehouses of computers solving maths puzzles, the dot.com bubble, and FOMO

Recent news headlines have been full of discussion of the current ‘crypto winter’, a season where the value of cryptocurrencies has plummeted causing financial devastation and destroying what looked like thriving crypto institutions. This week we’re joined by Christian tech writer and Baptist minister Chris Goswami to try to unpick how we should feel as believers about cryptocurrencies and their dramatic fall in recent months. What is bitcoin, and is it any different to previous internet-based tech industries we could invest in which have boomed and gone bust over the years? Is crypto just a Ponzi scheme, a 21st century version of Tulipmania, or is there something useful and transformative being built on the blockchain?
Find more of Chris’s writing on tech and faith at his website – www.7minutes.net
Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Medical Assistance in Dying 2: Suicidal ideation, no crystal balls, conscientious objection, and Hippocrates’ successful medical practice

In our second conversation on Canada’s euthanasia regime, we chat with a Canadian doctor about the troubling expansion of Medical Assistance in Dying to those only suffering from mental illness. Can the families of mentally struggling patients be confident their loved ones will be met with compassion and a commitment to long-term treatment from their doctors, or will they simply be shuffled off to the quick and easy assisted suicide programme? How easy or difficult is it for doctors, including Christians, who reject euthanasia to continue to practice within Canadian hospitals? And what might the future look like if Christians in healthcare stood firm and demanded space to continue to practice pro-life, hope-filled medicine?
Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Medical Assistance in Dying 1: Judicial activism, a ‘reasonably foreseeable’ death, the unacceptability of suffering, and reasons to stay alive

Since 2016, Canada has offered assisted suicide through its public healthcare system. And the criteria for Medical Assistance in Dying has steadily expanded year on year, and will soon include not just those suffering from terminal conditions, but also those experience mental illness too. This week we speak with a Christian psychiatrist from Canada who has been involved in both the campaigning against the spread of euthanasia, and also figuring out on the ground how to care well for patients in a system which offers them the chance to take their own lives instead of receiving treatment. In particular, what can we in other countries yet to introduce such laws learn from the Canadian experience of sliding down the infamous slippery slope since 2016?
We briefly discussed Canadian euthanasia in a previous episode in 2021 about assisted dying, which you can listen to here - https://johnwyatt.com/2021/10/08/assisted-dying-the-meacher-bill-radicals-in-the-lords-canadas-slippery-slope-and-fragile-conscience-protections/
(Correction: Our guest on a few occasions accidentally says the expansion of MAiD to those with mental illnesses was due in 2022, when it was in fact originally scheduled to begin in March 2023, although it has now been delayed again.)
Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com
 

Martin Rees 3: Pre-emptive science fiction, the morality-reality gap, adventurers on Mars, and the mind of the Creator

In the third and final installment of John’s discussion with Lord Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal, they discuss Martin’s views on the future of space travel and astronauts, and whether some robotic future progeny of humankind will eventually replace us in exploring the universe. Would this be any bad thing, or should we resist efforts to gradually supplement and even supplant our biology with novel biotech? And without any Christian belief, how can we justify our ethical reservations about transhumanism or explain the correspondence between our minds and the cosmos we are understanding better every year.
This discussion was first broadcast as part of the Big Conversation podcast, hosted by Justin Brierley, which is also part of the Premier Unbelievable network - https://www.thebigconversation.show/
Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Martin Rees 2: Blurred humanity, re-dignifying care work, algorithms reading lung X-rays, and the risks of virtual life

Happy New Year! Today’s episode continues the Big Conversation between John and Martin Rees, the astronomer royal. In this part, they respond to robotics experts who welcome the arrival of non-human machines which could take over care work, healthcare, and even become our lovers. Is it healthy to replace jobs done by people with robots, especially when that work involves interacting with vulnerable people? How will we re-order society if widespread super-capable AI renders a lot of our white-collar industries redundant? And are the risks of blurring the lines between the real and the virtual, the human and the machine, being underestimated in our dash towards progress?
This discussion was first broadcast as part of the Big Conversation podcast, hosted by Justin Brierley, which is also part of the Premier Unbelievable network - https://www.thebigconversation.show/
Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Martin Rees 1: Advances in artificial intelligence, the Eliza effect, passing the Turing Test, and the problem of other minds

Today’s episode is a little different from normal as we’re going to begin a short series sharing a recent conversation John had with Lord Martin Rees, the astronomer royal. As well as a highly distinguished cosmologist and astrophysicist, Martin is also an author whose recent books have explored some themes familiar to Matters of Life and Death listeners, including the rise of artificial intelligence and the future of humanity.
Their chat was first broadcast as part of the Big Conversation podcast, hosted by Justin Brierley, which is also part of the Premier Unbelievable network - https://www.thebigconversation.show/
 
Support our End Of Year Appeal: https://gtly.to/aAxRk0kQs
 
Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Social media and politics 2: A mucky business, the ultimate conspiracy theory, ‘showbiz for ugly people’, and and atomised individuals

In the second half of our conversation with Tim Farron, we discuss his conviction that Christians should get stuck into politics despite its compromises and challenges. Why did his own term as leader of the Liberal Democrats come unstuck so badly, and does he believe there actually is a ceiling on ambition for Christian politicians who wish to hold onto their integrity? What impact is social media and our accelerating, atomised society having on our politics, and how can we as believers resist being dragged along with this?
 
Premier's End Of Year Appeal: https://gtly.to/aAxRk0kQs
 
Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Social media and politics 1: The judgemental society, 3,000 offensive tweets a day, freedom from vs freedom to, and Elon Musk’s Twitter

This week we’re joined by the former leader of the Liberal Democrats Tim Farron to discuss social media and politics. Research suggests UK members of parliament like Tim get sent thousands of offensive tweets every single day. Why have social networks become such toxic, hateful places? Is this a technology problem to be solved with better moderation, a policy issue solved by government regulation, or a spiritual affair reflecting the sinfulness of the human heart? And should Christians avoid these online worlds to remain unpolluted, or stick around to act as salt and light regardless?
Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Mental health 2: Emotional resilience, the bio-psycho-social model, the power of story, and depression in the Psalms

In the second half of our discussion with Christian psychiatrist Daniel Maughan, we work through some ways in which the church might play in role in supporting those struggling with their mental health back to fullness of life. But is there also a place for the church in gently pushing back on the medicalisation of ordinary emotions and modelling a greater sense of mental resilience? And what kind of narratives within the Christian faith and scriptural tradition might help us move away from damaging or judgemental stereotypes about mental health?
Some useful resources recommended by Daniel:
The Mind and Soul Foundation
Tackling mental illness together, by Alan Thomas
Christianity and Depression, by Tasia Scrutton
Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Mental health 1: Power dynamics, the psychiatrist as brick wall, casualties of social media, and over-pathologising distress

Since the covid pandemic there has been an alarming rise in people presenting with mental health problems. Today we speak with Christian psychiatrist Daniel Maughan to better understand why this might be happening, how our mental healthcare systems are coping (or not), and how his faith intersects with his work diagnosing and treating those with psychosis. Can professional mental healthcare workers bring their Christianity into the treatment room? What can we do to protect ourselves and especially our younger people from this tsunami of anxiety and depression? And has society over-corrected in its desire to eradicate mental health stigma?
Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com