Derek Beres
Derek Beres is a freelance writer. Based in Portland, Oregon, he has served in senior editorial positions at a number of tech companies and has years of experience in health, science, and music writing. He is the co-host of the Conspirituality podcast and co-author of Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracies Became a Health Threat.
If you ask an American politician, God is crushing hard on America.
A complete refusal to accept basic facts has made a religion of our gun obsession.
Alan Watts recognized that money was only an abstract idea compared to actual wealth. Will we ever learn the same?
Forensic anthropologist Richard Neave has given us the most accurate portrayal of Jesus to date. This still will not change the ways we misrepresent his identity.
A big part of our current mess has to do with how little about religion we actually know.
Religion is part of the problem. But the bigger picture is much larger than any one book.
Robert Dear’s murders at a Planned Parenthood are only the latest in a long string of terrorist attacks by Americans.
The author of The Purpose Driven Life has a theory about why Paris happened: We haven’t accepted Jesus.
Is religion the problem? Sometimes. Is religion the solution? Sometimes. The real problem begins when you emphatically respond “yes” to either of these questions.
When a trophy just for showing up does more damage than good.
Ben Carson has recently surged in the polls. Should we be concerned about his apocalyptic visions?
Skeptic Michael Shermer presents ten major arguments for the existence of God — and counters each one.
Prosperity preachers like Creflo Dollar and Joel Osteen are only the latest incarnations of a long lineage of American hucksters.
Can history offer us clues on happiness? Yes, argues Yuval Noah Harari, if we’re willing to listen.
Over 700 pilgrims were killed by a stampede en route to Mecca. Why do some choose to celebrate such tragedies?
The Argentine leader is expected to discuss gay marriage and abortion while in Philadelphia, but will he confront the systemic abuses plaguing his Church?
Rupert Murdoch now owns 73 percent of National Geographic. What does this mean for the organization’s future?
In Singapore, National Night is a night for baby-making. What happens when governments sponsor procreation?
Public shaming can be powerful medicine. But used in the wrong context it can kill.
While we usually associate yoga with flexibility-inspired exercise, evidence shows a lack of psychedelic mushroom tea could lie at the foundation of this discipline.
College campuses have become a breeding ground of intolerance and shame — vigilant liberalism is destroying free speech.
AI will throw a wrench into many of our theological foundations. How will we adapt?
The separation between our reality and the reality of the rest of animal life — the “man given dominion” nonsense — is a façade that’s slowly eroding.
Researchers advanced the fields of social science by working together and peer reviewing the evidence. Couldn’t the same benefits be attained by treating religion in the same manner?
Marijuana might steal the headlines, but psychedelics are making headway in the American consciousness. DMT: The Spirit Molecule producer/director Mitch Schultz discusses this trend.
Philosophy professor and Buddhist scholar Evan Thompson discusses the concepts behind his latest book, Waking, Dreaming, Being: Self and Consciousness in Neuroscience, Meditation, and Philosophy.
Every year in Japan, a giant penis festival is held, while in America, Chrissy Teigen’s nipple is banned. When will we get over our sexual Puritanism?
Growing older and accepting death can make you value your life or cause you to scream and run the entire time.
Liberals and conservatives unite when thinking of America’s Golden Age — a fictionalized time whose history we constantly rewrite.