Uploaded January 2011 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
In this interview, Greg Epstein talks about what it means to be focused on living a good life. Greg grew up in Flushing, Queens as an assimilated and disinterested Reform Jew. He studied Buddhism and Taoism and in college went to Taiwan, aiming to study Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism. Finding that Eastern religions do not necessarily have greater access to truth than Western ones, Greg returned to the US, recording and singing professionally for a year after college. Soon thereafter, he learned about Humanism and the possibility of a career as a Humanist rabbi and chaplain. In 2005, Greg received ordination as a Humanist Rabbi from the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism. Greg serves as the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University and is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe . He chairs the Advisory Board of the Secular Student Alliance, joining Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. Greg's work has been featured by ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, Al Jazeera, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, NPR, BBC Radio, USA Today, Newsweek, The Boston Globe, The Guardian, and many more. (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
Interview & Camera by Erin Williams / Editing by Matt Lauterbach / Produced by Erin Williams
In this interview, Greg Epstein talks about what it means to be focused on living a good life. Greg grew up in Flushing, Queens as an assimilated and disinterested Reform Jew. He studied Buddhism and Taoism and in college went to Taiwan, aiming to study Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism. Finding that Eastern religions do not necessarily have greater access to truth than Western ones, Greg returned to the US, recording and singing professionally for a year after college. Soon thereafter, he learned about Humanism and the possibility of a career as a Humanist rabbi and chaplain. In 2005, Greg received ordination as a Humanist Rabbi from the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism. Greg serves as the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University and is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe . He chairs the Advisory Board of the Secular Student Alliance, joining Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. Greg's work has been featured by ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, Al Jazeera, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, NPR, BBC Radio, USA Today, Newsweek, The Boston Globe, The Guardian, and many more. (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
Interview & Camera by Erin Williams / Editing by Matt Lauterbach / Produced by Erin Williams
