TechnologyReligion & SpiritualityReligion

Belief in the Future

DZ Kalman

Technology and religion sometimes seem like oil and water, but they've been crossing paths for centuries and aren't going to stop. Hosted by DZ Kalman. New season coming June 2026.

Belief in the Future is a production of Sinai and Synapses. It was made with support from Templeton World Charity Foundation.

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21 episodes
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Avg 38 min
English

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S2 · E10
August 21 · 43 min
AI and Fear of Death
How does our inevitable deaths change how we live—and how does fear of loss change how we develop technology? Alex Sarkissian is a death doula and a co-founder of the Buddhism and AI Initiative; he joins us to discuss his recent article on AI and Dying. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
S1 · E8
August 6 · 44 min
AI loves Catholicism. Why? (w/ David Wingate)
How does AI portray religion? Does it talk about it in the way that most Americans do? Does it treat all religions the same? CEFE-AI (https://cefe.ai/) is a multi-university consortium that has been trying to answer these questions. For the last few months it has been developing benchmarks on how AI models treat faith, and the results are surprising. On this episode we talk with David Wingate, professor at BYU and academic lead for CEFE-AI, about the group's work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
S2 · E7
July 24 · 37 min
Faith and the Printing Press (w/ Michelle Margolis)
Yes, AI is new and unique—but we've been through an information revolution before. The printing press transformed religion, authority, and public life. Those upheavals offer insights into the age of AI. Michelle Margolis is the Norman E. Alexander librarian for Jewish studies at Columbia University, and she's the past president of the Association of Jewish Libraries. From censorship and misinformation to expertise and trust, we explore why history still matters when technology changes everything. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
S2 · E6
July 3 · 56 min
A next-gen religious chatbot (w/ Zohar Atkins)
The market in religious chatbots is now quite healthy. If you’re Episcopalian you can go to Ask Cathy; if you’re Catholic there’s Magisterium; if you’re a Latter-day Saint there’s LDSBot; if you’re Muslim there’s Ansari; and if you’re Jewish you can go to Rav Dicta, or one of the services that lets you talk to the avatars of famous historical rabbis. Zohar Atkins is the creator of Yochai, a chatbot designed for engaging with Jewish texts, rather than just getting answers to Jewish questions. We demoed the newly-launched product and talk about how AI might change Jewish learning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 26 · 46 min
Islam and AI (w/ Waleed Kadous)
As a decentralized faith, Islam does not have one single approach to AI. Muslim communities are constructing norms around AI usage in religious scholarship and sermon-writing through a mix of guidance from religious leaders and emergent communal practice. I talked to Waleed Kadous, the creator of Islamic AI assistant Ansari, about how the technology is shaping not only Islamic scholarship but our value systems and real world politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
S2 · E4
June 18 · 52 min
The Image of God in the Age of AI (w/ Tomer Persico)
The idea that human beings are created in the image of God is a central part of both Jewish and Christian theology, and with the rise of AI it has become perhaps the best example of how ancient religious wisdom can regulate modern technology by reminding us of what we value most of all. If human beings are created in the image of God—if we have something in us that separates us from animals—then we have an idea to rally around, a way to articulate that humanity’s special status needs to be preserved at all cost. The problem is, this theological idea is a lot more unstable than we’d like to admit. I talk to Tomer Persico, research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute and author of In God's Image: How Western Civilization Was Shaped by a Revolutionary Idea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 11 · 30 min
The Latter-day Saint Way on AI
There is more than one type of religious approach to AI. While the Catholic response has received by far the most media attention, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has been developing a response that has a stronger emphasis on practice. I spoke with Elder Gerrit Gong, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, about the church's approach. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
S2 · E2
May 29 · 1 hr 4 min
A Catholic and a Jew read the pope's AI encyclical together
On May 25, 2026, Pope Leo XIV issued Magnifica Humanitas, a major new document on AI for the world's biggest religion. I talked with Brian Green about what it says, why it was written this way, where it sits in the history of major church documents, and whether it is likely to effect change on the AI industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
S2 · E1
May 13 · 6 min
There's been an earthquake. We're coming back.
Religion and tech are crashing into each other. We'll explain it.
Aug 27, 2025 · 38 min
What Could Go Right?
To close out our summer episodes, we're talking with Kevin Kelly, founder of WIRED Magazine and writer about all things tech and culture. Kevin is a devout Christian with an eye toward the ethical good of technology. In our conversation, we cover technological skepticism, the AI identity crisis, the Amish, and much more. P.S. Check out host David Zvi Kalman's new YouTube channel, Sabbath Mode, for more in depth conversations about religion and technology. Resources: Kevin's website Kevin's books Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 20, 2025 · 33 min
The Two Codes
BIG NEWS: Belief in the Future now has a YouTube channel: Sabbath Mode. Go check it out before listening to the episode Coding is one part skill, one part magic, and one part tradition. But when AI use takes out the conversation of code -- the necessary language of the code itself -- can the tradition be kept alive? How do we keep something living and growing without passing along its stories, its trials and errors, and its complexities? On this episode, host David Zvi Kalman speaks with scientist Samuel Arbesman about his new book, The Magic of Code, and the ways that religion and coding reflect one another. Resources: The Magic of Code by Samuel Arbesman The poetic web Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
S1 · E14
Aug 12, 2025 · 32 min
Are AI Sermons a Good Thing?
Religious organizations, like all other organizations, are beginning to use AI. Some of these uses are unremarkable, but others bring AI into the business of delivering religious messages. In this episode, host DZ Kalman speaks with religion and AI evangelist Kenny Jahng about the tools he sees churches adapting and what it means to use AI as a tool for evangelism. Resources: Kenny Jahng's website Futureproof, by Kevin Roose Exponential NEXT Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
S1 · E13
Feb 26, 2025 · 45 min
The Wild World of Bible Apps
We often think about how technology has influenced religion, but we rarely question the opposite: how has religion pushed technological advancement? In the case of Christianity, software to share the Bible has been in development for decades and has been shaping tech advancement behind the scenes for even longer. On this episode, we're talking to John Dyer, a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary and the author of the new book People of the Screen that details the entwined history of software and evangelism. Reading and resource list: YouVersion Hebcal The Medium is the Message, Marshall McCluhan Geneva Bible The Scofield Study Bible Encountering Peace Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
S1 · E12
Jan 17, 2025 · 39 min
The Church that wants to build God
What if AI and religion had a converging relationship rather than a parallel one? In Professor Beth Singler's new book, Religion and Artificial Intelligence: An Introduction, she explores how enmeshed technology and religion are in our current era, and how we as a society may be heading toward the creation and worship of a god-like AI. Reading list: Roko’s Basilisk or Pascal’s? Thinking of Singularity Thought Experiments as Implicit Religion The TESCREAL bundle: Eugenics and the promise of utopia through artificial general intelligence Existential Conversations with Large Language Models: Content, Community, and Culture The Turing Church Theta Noir Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
S1 · E11
Dec 24, 2024 · 28 min
The Temptation of AI Christ
The confessional booth is usually a private space for reflection and human connection. But what if, on the other side of the wall, you discovered you were asking forgiveness from a robot? This week, we're talking to Marco Schmid, the theologian at St. Peter's Chapel in Lucerne, Switzerland, about how his church uses AI to guide people to and through their prayer. You can read more about St. Peter's Chapel and its AI program on NPR or The Guardian, or join AI Jesus for an interactive chat on Twitch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
S1 · E10
Dec 3, 2024 · 45 min
Does Religion Have Wisdom for Tech?
Does religion have a role in developing ethical frameworks around technology? On this episode, we're talking to Rabbi Zvika Kreiger, spiritual leader of Chochmat Halev and former Director of Responsible Innovation at Facebook. Zvika and host David Zvi Kalman dive into the Metaverse and discuss how religious leaders can lean into technology, and what separation of tech and religion looks like. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
S1 · E9
Nov 12, 2024 · 37 min
Is Tech Too Fast to be Governed?
Technology moves quickly – often times faster than governments can create laws to regulate it. So how do we adapt our lawmaking practices to keep up? We’re talking to Gideon Lichfield, a journalist and alum of MIT Technology Review, The Economist, and WIRED Magazine, about how lawmaking can keep up with the fast pace of our digital world, and how government and religion mirror each other when interfacing with new technology. Reading list: Gideon’s newsletter, Futurepolis. The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt Dune by Frank Herbert Karl Schroeder Kim Stanley Robinson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
S1 · E8
Oct 22, 2024 · 34 min
The Secret Synagogue Tapes
You're not allowed to record in synagogue. But what if you're saving a dying culture? Have a question/tip/criticism? Write to us at our fancy new website, beliefinthefuture.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
S1 · E7
Sep 30, 2024 · 15 min
The Cantor in the Brothel
What happens when you take synagogue music out of the synagogue? Works mentioned Jeremiah Lockwood, Golden Ages: Hasidic Singers and Cantorial Revival in the Digital Era Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
S1 · E6
Sep 10, 2024 · 38 min
What Silicon Valley Means by "God"
Why do tech CEOs and visionaries use religious language—and what, if anything, does it have to do with organized religion? We talk Mary-Jane Rubenstein, Professor of Religion and Science in Society at Wesleyan, about unity, infinity, simulated realities, NASA, and how human beings have sought to make meaning of their world. Reading List: Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari Astrotopia by Mary-Jane Rubenstein Worlds Without End by Mary-Jane Rubenstein Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin Penseés by Blaise Pascal Fear and Trembling by Søren Kierkegaard The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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