Wonderful conversation :-) ... and I loved your final reflections after the conversation. It seems somehow perverse to say something about what I wish could have been delved into more, because it may have subverted that lovely "feeling tone" that was achieved, but ... maybe risking that would've been worth it. Her comment "And as long as you’re not hurting other people, then so what, I don’t care what you think or believe, as long as you’re not hurting anyone, and someone’s not bullying you or hurting you, then yeah, doesn’t matter. ". For me, the natural follow-up would be something like ... But surely you care what people think or believe, when they propagate that thought and belief, and when you know what they are saying is illogical, or not based in fact, or otherwise dubious. Doesn't spreading bullshit ideas hurt other people, by filling the world with bullshit? Sure, in countering such ideas, one would hope that bullying and belittling could be avoided, and those behaviours should not be the "cost of doing business" in the contest of ideas, but ... you probably get my drift. Anyway, thanks for the conversation, and for your willingness to engage and connect with someone, and to grapple so honestly with your own perspective on how challenging it was for you. Here in Australia, we've just come out of a federal election, with all the tribalism and one-upmanship and pettiness that one expects these days, so it was refreshing to hear two people talk with curiosity and respect and with a "weapons down" attitude. Good job :-)

A very interesting and enjoyable episode. Like Prof Stavrakopoulou I'm an atheist, but I've always been intellectually curious about the subject of religion. I think her latest book (God: An Anatomy) is superb, revealing in forensic detail the real God of the Bible (OT), about which Jews and Christians have evidently long forgotten...