What really strikes me the most is that philosopher Shelly Kagan never says the obvious: Humans have assigned themselves souls while denying the same to other animals, because otherwise routinely slaughtering animals for food or fun would simply be morally reprehensible. In addition, giving desperately poor masses eternal souls has been used to prevent them from uprising and rebelling against aristocracy. On top, believing in something eternal and the chance of meeting again in some afterlife might be soothing to those of us, who have to deal with death of a loved one. While the whole idea of eternal souls doesn't make any evolutionary sense, especially if not extended to all living things, there are some serious practical difficulties that appear quite impossible to overcome. Instead of these straight forward arguments the interview goes into the weeds of philosophical theories (against) and polling of believes of Americans (pro). Even so the latter has nothing to do with factuality or could be used as predictor... As can easily be seen in the previously common believe that electing a criminal and not a prosecutor as President is going to make America great. Regardless, looks like the article isn't paywalled and might be a welcomed break from the usually soulless news about the latest adventures of the fascist clown show known as US government. https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/2026/10/do-human-beings-have-souls/688931/