Ross Douthat on why religion is making a comeback in the West

On this special episode of Hub Dialogues, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat spoke to The Hub's editor at large Sean Speer while in Ottawa to deliver the inaugural 2025 Ian Shugart Lecture on Faith in the Public Square, hosted by the Cardus Institute. In the conversation, he discusses the key topics from his lecture, from the current moment of religious reconsideration in the West to why secularization has plateaued and the benefits of religion itself. He also covers the relationship between declining religious faith and political polarization, and how the rise of artificial intelligence may interact with these trends. Finally, Douthat explores some of the interesting intellectual and political debates occurring within Anglo-American conservatism. The Hub is Canada's fastest growing independent digital news outlet. Subscribe to The Hub's podcast feed to get our best content when you are on the go: https://tinyurl.com/3a7zpd7e (Apple) https://tinyurl.com/y8akmfn7 (Spotify) Want more Hub? Get a FREE 3-month trial membership on us: https://thehub.ca/free-trial/ Follow The Hub on X: https://x.com/thehubcanada?lang=en CREDITS: Amal Attar-Guzman - Producer and Video Editor Elia Gross - Sound Editor Sean Speer - Host To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts email [email protected]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.