Category: Video+discussion

What Is ICE Doing on America’s Streets?

Federal agents after Jonathan Ross, ICE, killed Renée Good

11 a.m., February 8, 2026

Join us this Sunday, only online, as we watch and discuss three videos about the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and what’s happening in the U.S. now.

The first is a 5-minute opening skit from Saturday Night Live on January 1. This comedy skit conveys the wide-spread perception of ICE. You can it at https://www.socialnews.xyz/2026/02/01/ice-meeting-cold-open-snl-hd-video.

The second video is a 10-minute BBC production, What is ICE doing on America’s streets? | Global News Podcast. It covers what is happening, the administration’s rational, and how the American people are reacting. You can see it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hyNfGPD2zM.

The third is a 6-minute animated video from the ACLU, WE HAVE RIGHTS: Inside Our Homes. Showing what to expect and how to react if ICE agents knock on your door. You can see it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_tLoRdoECM.

Attend Online
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Boredom, Loneliness, and Addiction

Portrait of Manoush Zomorodi by Zovi Ong

11 a.m., February 1, 2026

Join us this Sunday, either in person or online, as we watch and discuss two videos; one that examine the beneficial effects of boredom and the downside of avoiding it, and another video looks at compulsions and how stress and loneliness feed addiction.

In the first video, How boredom can lead to your most brilliant ideas, Manoush Zomorodi contrasts what she felt was the mind-numbing monotony she felt when all her time was spent caring for her infant with the lack of inspiration when she was finally able to work podcasting a public radio show.

She concludes that when your body goes on autopilot, your brain gets busy forming new neural connections that connect ideas and solve problems. Learn to love being bored as Manoush Zomorodi explains the connection between spacing out and creativity.

Manoush Zomorodi is a journalist, podcast host and author. She was the host of theWNYC podcast Note to Self, which explores humans’ relationship with technology through conversations with listeners and experts. In 2018, Zomorodi quit WNYC to start a media company, Stable Genius Productions, with her colleague Jen Poyant. The process of starting their company is documented in the podcast ZigZag, which is also their first production. As of March 2020, she is the host of NPR’s TED Radio Hour.

You can view this 16-minute, 2017 video at https://www.ted.com/dubbing/manoush_zomorodi_how_boredom_can_lead_to_your_most_brilliant_ideas.

The second video, is How isolation fuels opioid addiction. In it, Rachel Wurzmah discusses the nature of compulsion, including normal habits we all have, and addiction as a reaction to stress and loneliness.

Wurzman shows how social isolation contributes to relapse and overdose rates and reveals how meaningful human connection could offer a potentially powerful source of recovery.

Rachel Wurzman is a neuroscientist and neuroethicist who joined the Dana Foundation in 2022 as a Neuroscience & Society Fellow. She also holds appointments as a senior fellow with the Institute for Biodefense Research and as affiliate faculty with the Neuroethics Studies Program of the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University. Over the past decade, she has served as a subject matter expert and neuroethics advisor to the military, as well as multiple public and industry neuroscience initiatives, programs, projects, and working groups. She was also a co-founder and director of science for SeekHealing, a nonprofit focused on improving relational social health in communities to address the root causes of addiction, suicide, and radicalization. She is also the author of over 30 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and white papers.

You can view this 19-minute, 2017 video at https://www.ted.com/talks/rachel_wurzman_how_isolation_fuels_opioid_addiction.

Attend in Person
Join fellow Humanists in the Neutra House Conference Center, 181 Hillview Ave, Los Altos, CA 94022-3742. Lunch will be served after the forum. We request a $10 donation.

Attend Online
Also, we will continue to present our forums on Zoom. To join and be able to ask questions and make comments, click here.
No password is needed — our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer (if it’s not already installed), and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smartphone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
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Join the meeting by phone: +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
Find an international phone number to call: here.

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Canada’s PM “The old order is not coming back.”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney 

11 a.m., January 25, 2026

Join us this Sunday, either in person or online, as we watch and discuss Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He discussed the collapse of the old world order and how Canada and our other former allies should react.

Immediately after his talk, he participated in further discussion on the topic with Gideon Rachman, associate editor and chief foreign affairs commentator at The Financial Times.

You can preview this 31-minute address and interview at: https://www.cpac.ca/headline-politics/episode/world-economic-forum-special-address-by-pm-mark-carney?id=a5157ccf-d1f1-457a-89fd-46a6bd651479.

Attend in Person
Join fellow Humanists in the Neutra House Conference Center, 181 Hillview Ave, Los Altos, CA 94022-3742. Lunch will be served after the forum. We request a $10 donation.

Attend Online
Also, we will continue to present our forums on Zoom. To join and be able to ask questions and make comments, click here.
No password is needed — our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer (if it’s not already installed), and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smartphone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
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Join the meeting by phone: +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
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Secularization of Society

Prof. Phil Zuckerman

11 a.m., January 11, 2026

Join us this Sunday, either in-person or online, as we watch and discuss an interview by Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker, co-presidents of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, with Professor Phil Zuckerman about the growing secularization of the United States and of the world. The interview is from an August 2023 airing of Freethought Matters.

Phil Zuckerman is Professor of Secular Studies and Sociology at Pitzer College in Claremont, California. Thanks to his pioneering work, Pitzer College was the first college in the United States to offer a secular studies program, created in 2011. Prof. Zuckerman is the author of many groundbreaking books, including Living the Secular Life, Faith No More, Society Without God, and What It Means to Be Moral.

You can preview this 28-minute video at https://youtu.be/x19e47DOo6g

Attend in Person:
Join fellow Humanists in the Sequoia Room of the Los Altos Community Center, 97 Hillview Ave, Los Altos, CA 94022. Lunch will be served after the forum. We request a $10 donation.

Also, we will continue to present our forums on Zoom. To join and be able to ask questions and make comments, click here.
No password is needed — our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer (if it’s not already installed), and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smartphone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
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The Nones

Ryan Burge by Portland Seminary – https://www.flickr.com/photos/35459775@N04/54578902215/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php

11 a.m., December 14, 2025

Join us this Sunday, either in person or online, for a fascinating discussion of the data surrounding religion and nonbelief in the United States, and how these trends intersect with politics. It also offers an intriguing look at the growing polarization in both religious and political spheres.

We will watch and discuss an April 2022 talk from the Freedom from Religion Foundation, in which Ryan P. Burge discusses the “Nones”, those who don’t identify with any religion.

Prof. Burge teaches political science, especially religious demography, at Eastern Illinois University. He wrote the 2021 book, The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going. His newest book is 20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America, in which he postulates that the way most people think about religion and politics is only loosely connected to the actual empirical data.

You can preview this video at https://youtu.be/cTlDGddklw8

Attend in Person:
Join fellow Humanists in the Sequoia Room of the Los Altos Community Center, 97 Hillview Ave, Los Altos, CA 94022. Lunch will be served after the forum. We request a $10 donation.

Also, we will continue to present our forums on Zoom. To join and be able to ask questions and make comments, click here.
No password is needed — our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer (if it’s not already installed), and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smartphone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

Join the meeting by phone: +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
Find an international phone number to call: here.

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