Anthony Magnabosco is best known as a Street Epistemologist. He’s like a preacher you might run across on your college campus, except he’s not trying to convert you. He just wants to ask you questions about religion and get you to think. He posts videos of these interactions on YouTube and they’re fascinating to watch, in part because he deconstructs what went right and wrong each time.

We spoke with Anthony about his surprising goals when it comes to chatting with people about religion, why people would ever talk to him at all, and whether debates about God are ever useful.

Phil Torres is a philosopher and author who writes extensively about the intersection of religion and technology. He’s a regular contributor at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. His latest book is called The End: What Science and Religion Tell Us About the Apocalypse.

We spoke with him about why super-intelligence could come back to haunt us, how religious thinking mixed with weapons could bring us closer to doom, and whether we can reason with those who want to get closer to the afterlife.

Kate Shellnutt is an associate editor at Christianity Today magazine. She helps run their social media accounts and she also edits their popular site for women, cleverly called Her.meneutics. Before this, she worked as a web producer for the Houston Chronicle’s religion site. She’s a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, where she earned her masters in reporting and online journalism.

We spoke with Kate about how Christianity Today deals with hot-button issues, what a faith-based publication can bring to the table that secular outlets can’t, and how comedy and religion go hand-in-hand.

Stephen Prothero is a professor in the department of religion at Boston University and the author of several books, including Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know — and Doesn’t. You may have seen him on his appearances on The Daily Show or The Colbert Report. His latest book is called Why Liberals Win the Culture Wars (Even When They Lose Elections).

We spoke with him about why conservatives back losing issues, what issues will get liberals out to vote this November, and what surprised him during his research for the book.

Notes:

We discussed an interview Bernie Sanders did on Jimmy Kimmel Live. You can see that interview here.