Discussion Sunday
2025-06-08 14:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Virtual Program using Zoom
This Sunday we will be having a roundtable discussion, focusing on current events and the ethics involved. There will be discussion points to get things started; however, your own topics are welcome, and of course everyone’s perspectives and opinions are vital to a good discussion. Come ready to rumble (in a good way)!
This program will be presented via a Zoom session. You do not need a Zoom account to “attend” this virtual meeting. If you would like to be a participant in the meeting, please use our contact us form (https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/) to make your request.

Climate Challenges in North Carolina and Success Stories
2025-06-15 14:00 - 16:00 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Lisa Sorg, N.C. Reporter for Inside Climate News, will talk about climate challenges here in North Carolina. She will also tell us about successful citizen mobilization regarding some of these challenges. A journalist for 30 years, Sorg covers energy, climate environment and agriculture, as well as the social justice impacts of pollution and corporate malfeasance. In 2022, she received the Stokes Award from the National Press Foundation for her two-part story about the environmental damage from a former missile plant on a Black and Latinx neighborhood in Burlington.
This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please use our contact us form (https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/) to make your request.

Could The War in Vietnam Have Turned Out Differently?
2025-06-22 14:00 - 16:00 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Jim Buie will present us with an exploration of how the war in Vietnam may have turned out differently. He writes on Substack (Slender Threads), and this presentation is based on his post back in May. Here’s an excerpt from that post:
“The most convincing and disturbing thesis was by historian Max Boot’s “The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam (2017). It profiled the CIA operative who was so successful in thwarting a leftist revolt in the Philippines and who was an early architect of Vietnam policy. Landsdale was a constructive, benign adviser to South Vietnamese President Diem, Boot contends. But he was shifted to the Cuban crisis in 1956, and then returned to Vietnam after that fiasco — takeover by the communist revolutionary Fidel Castro — to salvage Vietnam.
“If the US had followed Lansdale’s early Vietnam strategy, Vietnam’s course might have been different, Boot wrote. Without Lansdale’s influence, Diem became paranoid and reactionary, and set his country to become, within a decade, “a failing state kept alive only with heavy infusions of American blood.”
This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please use our contact us form (https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/) to make your request.

Arguably Better: Video and Discussion
2025-07-13 14:00 - 16:00 | Virtual Program using Zoom
Today’s meeting will start with the first two (short) videos from Professor Sherman J. Clark, the Kirkland & Ellis Professor of Law at the University of Michigan, in his “Arguably Better” series. Here is the write-up that describes this series:
In this six-part series, Professor Sherman Clark talks about efficacy, empathy, and ethics in argumentation. Why do arguments so often fail to persuade? How can we learn to argue more effectively? What responsibilities ought to accompany efforts at persuasion? And how might learning to argue better help us learn how to live better lives—both as individuals and as a community?

We will follow these videos (25 minutes total) with discussion regarding arguing, discussion, and how to reach greater understanding with people whose world views are very different from our own. One point of view suggests that this isn’t possible. Please think about your own life and experiences, and come prepared to discuss!

Conversations, Conflicts, Discussions, and Arguments
2025-07-20 14:00 - 16:00 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
In today’s world, with extreme polarization as well as wild conspiracy theories, it is often difficult to have civil discussions with people on the other side of the divide. Maura Breidt will give a short presentation on techniques to overcome differences in conversations (and when to walk away). This will be followed by (hopefully) vigorous conversation on this subject!

This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please use our contact us form (https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/) to make your request.

No Meeting Today
2025-07-27 14:00 - 16:00
EHST is not meeting today. Our meeting will resume on August 2nd.

AEU Assembly Wrap-Up and EHST in the Future
2025-08-03 14:00 - 16:00 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Jan Broughton and Maura Breidt recently attended the 110th Assembly of the AEU, hosted by the Philadelphia Ethical Society. They will report back on their experiences. Following this brief account, our president, Fred Breidt, who attended virtually, will add his take-aways.
Additionally, Fred will give a synopsis of current EHST board initiatives and would like to know what members and friends want from our society. What questions might you have about EHST’s current framework? What direction would you like our society to take in the future?
Join us and please bring your questions and comments!
This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please use our contact us form (https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/) to make your request.

Arguably Better: Video and Discussion, Continuation of a Series
2025-08-10 14:00 - 16:00 | Virtual Program using Zoom
In July, we featured the first two videos in a series of videos called “Arguably Better,” created by Professor Sherman J. Clark, the Kirkland & Ellis Professor of Law at the University of Michigan.
This Sunday, we will be featuring the third video in this series, entitled “Arguably Better: Empathy and Thriving.” In this short (under 20 minutes) video, Professor Clark asks that we “empathetically engage with your opponent (or friend or uncle), even when they may not do the same. Why do it then? Because it’s worth it.”
We will follow the video with a discussion dissecting Professor Clark’s suggestions, and consider whether or how much we agree with him. Please consider your own lives and experiences, and come ready for a lively discussion!!
This program will be presented via a Zoom session. You do not need a Zoom account to “attend” this virtual meeting. If you would like to be a participant in the meeting, please use our contact us form (https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/) to make your request.

Is this it? Entering the “Economic Idiocracy”
2025-08-17 14:00 - 16:00 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
John Delafield, founder and former CEO of Renewable Energy Services, will talk about renewable energy in three parts:
1) Where do we find ourselves?
2) Why are we here?
3) What are we up against? and why it matters.
He will illustrate these points by referencing the Solar Energy industry.
Renewable Energy Services (RES) has been delivering clean power solutions to U.S. communities since 2013. Based in Durham, RES has completed dozens of solar-based installations in North and South Carolina as well as Virginia. Many more are being planned. And the projects will not only help reduce carbon emissions. They will provide jobs. John is passionate about the impact of solar energy on the economy because he has the facts. Currently, the U.S. has about 45,000 people working in the coal industry, but six times that many are employed with solar energy. Sticking with fossil fuels rather than solar – a move being championed by the Trump administration – is a losing proposition in John’s opinion. A graduate of UNC, John has spent years working with community leaders to bring renewable energy solutions and jobs to our towns.
This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please use our contact us form (https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/) to make your request.

The Importance of Art in Our Lives
2025-08-24 14:00 - 16:00 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
We are featuring four strong artistic women, all of whom are members of EHST:

Melody (Mel) Machen will be displaying and discussing examples of a few of her watercolor paintings, which range from still life through scenes all over Europe and on to quiet nature scenes.
Steevie Jane Parks shows us a different view of the world in her abstract paintings, conveying emotion and symbolism through her use of color.
Gretchen Niver is a glass artist, working both in stained glass and in fused glass, methods that she will elaborate on for us.
Jane Kaman is a long-time quilter who now possesses the quilter’s Holy Grail: a longarm quilting machine. In addition to examples of her beautiful work, Jane will be focussing on quilting as an art, showing us some examples of fresh new quilting from some of her colleagues.

Please come support our artists this Sunday. It will be a fantastic program!!
This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please use our contact us form (https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/) to make your request.

No EHST Meeting Today
2025-08-31
EHST is not meeting today. We do not meet on the 5th Sunday of the month.
Please join us at our next meeting on September 7th.

Labor Power Can Beat Facism
2025-08-31 11:00 - 12:30 | Virtual Program using Zoom
Our national organization, the American Ethical Union, is sponsoring this talk. This Labor Day, the outlook for organized labor power in America is grim. Already, the Trump administration has decimated the federal work force, torn up union contracts, broken our system of labor law enforcement, and pushed us down the road to fascism and oligarchy. Despite all that, however, one fundamental, structural truth has not changed: Labor power is still one of the only things that can pull us back from this precipice. What would that look like?
The talk will be given by Hamilton Nolan. Hamilton Nolan is an author and journalist who writes about labor, politics, and class war. He has written for Gawker, In These Times, The Guardian, and many other publications. Today, he runs his own site, How Things Work, at HamiltonNolan.com. In 2015, he and his colleagues made Gawker Media the first major online media company in America to unionize. Hamilton has remained a union activist ever since. He is the author of the 2024 book, The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor. He lives in Brooklyn.
You must register to attend this program; here’s the link (below) to register.
Register for Labor Power Can Beat Fascism, Aug 31 All-Societies Platform

A Humanist Approach to Mindfulness and Presence
2025-09-07 14:00 - 16:00 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Join us for a thoughtful talk on how meditation can enrich our humanist journey. We’ll explore mindfulness and presence in a down-to-earth way and see how these practices fit beautifully into an ethical, connected life. Everyone’s welcome!
This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please use our contact us form (https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/) to make your request.

Gun Violence: An Analysis of the Available Data
2025-09-14 14:00 - 16:00 | Virtual Program using Zoom
Gun-related injury and death is a dangerous and persistent problem in the United States and has many facets. Fred Breidt will address gun violence, with particular attention to the available data that he has been analyzing. He will discuss the implications for the circumstances we find ourselves in now, how we got here, and how we could change and improve our situation. There will be ample time for discussion on this very important topic.
This program will be presented via a Zoom session. You do not need a Zoom account to “attend” this virtual meeting. If you would like to be a participant in the meeting, please use our contact us form (https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/) to make your request.

Aging Services
2025-09-21 14:00 - 16:00 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Kendall McMillan, Orange County Dept of Aging: An overview of services offered to seniors by Orange County.

This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please use our contact us form (https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/) to make your request.

LGBTQ+ Issues 101
2025-09-29 14:00 - 16:00 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Eliazar Posada of EqualityNC will tell us what we need to know about the current state of LGBTQ+ rights, both nationally and in NC. EqualityNC is the nation’s oldest statewide organization committed to securing rights and protections for the LGBTQ+ community. It aims to ensure that every North Carolinian sees themselves reflected in this movement, working together to create a safer, more equitable world for all marginalized individuals.
This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please use our contact us form (https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/) to make your request.

Building Alliances to Strengthen Ourselves and Others
2025-10-05 14:00 - 16:00 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
This week, Maura Breidt will give a brief presentation on the importance of seeking out and working with other like-minded groups, as well as advocating for groups that share our values. What does this mean? What does it look like? Is it even worth the effort? We will be discussing these questions and others. Please join us for a vigorous discussion!
This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please use our contact us form (https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/) to make your request.

Ask Me Anything: A Black Perspective
2025-10-12 14:00 - 16:00 | Virtual Program using Zoom
As an African American actor, Sol Gibson has several decades worth of experiences that helped shape his view on life in general and on the American South in particular. He will share his unique perspective on any questions you may have!

Sol Gibson III was raised in Ohio and relocated to the Chapel Hill area as a young man. He has a long and varied career as an actor, including film, television, stage, and mystery dinner theater.

This program will be presented via a Zoom session. You do not need a Zoom account to “attend” this virtual meeting. If you would like to be a participant in the meeting, please use our contact us form (https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/) to make your request.

Fall Members Meeting
2025-10-19 14:00 - 16:00 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
We will hold our annual fall members meeting on October 19th. We encourage all EHST members to attend in person or online if possible. And we always welcome friends and visitors. We have several important items on the agenda, including a report on meeting attendance, the idea of joint meetings with other “like minded” societies, what members like or dislike about our weekly meetings, and a call for candidates for officers for next year. We hope to see you all there!

This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please use our contact us form (https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/) to make your request.

Community Day!
2025-10-26 14:00 - 16:00 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
We hold community days as a way for our members, friends, and visitors to participate in small group discussions around topics that allow each to share their ideas and experiences with others. There is a theme the discussion is organized around. The theme is usually announced on the community day to ensure that everyone is equally prepared (or unprepared) to address the topic. After the small groups meet, we convene as a larger group, and share core ideas or experiences while respecting everyone’s privacy.
This meeting is in-person only. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures. Doors will open at 2:00 pm and our program will start by 2:15.

Do We Live In A Machiavellian World?
2025-11-02 14:00 - 16:00 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Fred Breidt will present an historical analysis of Machiavelli’s political theories and how they may manifest in our current world. Niccolò Machiavelli completed The Prince In the year 1513. Originally dedicated to Giuliano de’ Medici of Florence, the book is now cited as a founding document of realpolitik. Machiavelli passionately wanted to make Florence great again, and he thought that political action should be judged primarily by whether it successfully achieved desired ends, regardless of means. We will discuss whether world nations are currently guided by Machiavellian principles and consider what role ethics should play in global politics.

This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please use our contact us form (https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/) to make your request.

Ted Talk & Discussion: An ethicist’s guide to living a good life by rabbi Ira Bedzow
2025-11-16 14:00 - 16:00 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
It’s easy to say you have values — but how can you actually put them into action? Ethicist and rabbi Ira Bedzow helps people wrestle with this big question so they can navigate life with a sense of meaning and direction. He sits down with Shoshana Ungerleider, physician and host of the “TED Health” podcast, to discuss why you may have more than one singular purpose, how to define success on your own terms and the role of community in a fulfilling life.

This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please use our contact us form (https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/) to make your request.

Foods of the Americas Potluck and Social Sunday
2025-11-23 14:00 - 16:00 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
EHST will start the holiday season with a New World Potluck. We will meet at our usual venue, Extraordinary Ventures. Attendees are asked to bring a dish to share that features foods of the Americas (See list below for inspiration!) Also, feel free to bring beverages or something store bought to share. (Please note, bringing something to share is not required.) Come one, come all, and celebrate our secular community!

This meeting is in-person only.

Foods of the Americas: An Abbreviated List

Fruits & Vegetables:
* Avocado * Corn * Squash & Pumpkin * Hot & Sweet Peppers * Tomato * White Potato * Cranberries * Blueberries * Pineapple * Papaya * Blackberries * Sweet Potato * Dragonfruit ** Jicama * Chayote * Sweet Potato *

Meat & Fish:
* Cod * American Bison * Wild Turkey * California Quail *

Nuts & Seeds:
* Peanut * Cashew * Pecan * Brazil Nut * Walnut * American Hazelnut * Sunflower Seeds *

Grains:
* Corn/Maize * Quinoa * Wild rice *

Legumes:
* Pinto Beans * Black Beans * Kidney Beans * Navy Beans * Scarlet Runner Beans *

Miscellaneous (But Important!):
* Cocoa * Vanilla * Honey * Maple Syrup * Agave *

Abortion in the United States after Roe v. Wade was Overturned
2025-12-07 14:00 - 16:00 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
EHST member Stanley Henshaw will discuss now Americans responded to the Dobbs decision and the consequences for the legality of abortion, access to services, and women’s health.
Stanley Henshaw has a PhD in sociology and worked for many years as Deputy Director of Research for the Guttmacher Institute in New York. His work centered on abortion services where one of his responsibilities was to testify as an expert witness in many lawsuits challenging state abortion restrictions. Although now retired, Stan maintains an interest in this topic and stays up to date with developments.
This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please use our contact us form (https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/) to make your request.

Discussion Sunday: Growing Old Ain't for Sissies: The Push and Pull of Independence vs Safety
2025-12-14 14:00 - 16:00 | Virtual Program using Zoom
We will have a discussion on the triumphs and pitfalls of aging in the modern time. This will include such subtopics as housing choices, accessibility, and pressure from adult children for safe choices rather than independent ones. Join our conversation, listen, learn, discuss!
This program will be presented via a Zoom session. You do not need a Zoom account to “attend” this virtual meeting. If you would like to be a participant in the meeting, please use our contact us form (https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/) to make your request.

Secular Potluck and Winter Solstice Party
2025-12-21 14:00 - 16:00 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
It’s a party! Please bring a dish to share at our Secular Winter Solstice end-of-year gathering! (Coffee, tea, and dishes/flatware/napkins are provided.)
Here’s the link to RSVP. Please do so if you plan to come, or think you might.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0949A8AE2FA1F4C70-60803308-winter
This event is in person only; there will be no Zoom access.
This is our last event of 2025, so please plan to come and enjoy this time of year with your fellow humanists, deists, atheists, and similarly oriented nontheists!

Food for Life: Nutrition Essentials - CANCELLED
2025-12-28 14:00 - 16:00 | Virtual Program using Zoom
OUR EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED.
We wish everyone a good day!
We will return with our programs in January 2026.

TED TALK: Six Ways to Give that Aren't About Money
2026-01-04 14:00 - 16:00 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Please join us to view an inspiring TED TALK by TED leader Chris Anderson, based on his new book Infectious Generosity. What’s your most creative way to give? Did you hear anything in the TED Talk that you are already doing or intend to start doing? The presentation will be followed by a discussion.
This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please use our contact us form (https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/) to make your request.

Discussion of programs for 2026
2026-01-11 14:00 - 16:00 | Virtual Program using Zoom
What programs would you like to see EHST provide in 2026? We will pool our thoughts and come up with ideas (the more specific the better). Our programming change for 2026 is to not meet at Extraordinary Ventures on the 4th Sundays (but January is one exception). Instead, we will either have a Zoom session or do some form of ethical action.
This program will be presented via a Zoom session. You do not need a Zoom account to “attend” this virtual meeting. If you would like to be a participant in the meeting, please use our contact us form (https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/) to make your request.

Working to End Hygiene Insecurity
2026-01-18 14:00 - 16:00 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
What is hygiene insecurity? Why is it a problem? Mary Baldwin Morris will speak about the work of The Confidence Project which she founded. Its mission is to ensure all children and families have equal access to basic hygiene products, positively impacting their self-esteem, health, and well-being. Hygiene insecurity, defined as the inability to afford everyday hygiene products, has far-reaching consequences. A lack of access to basic hygiene can negatively impact a child’s self-esteem, creating enduring effects on their learning and emotional well-being. Without assistance, these innocent children face compromised physical health and confidence, perpetuating a distressing cycle. One in three families struggle to afford their most basic needs. Accessing hygiene products for families living in poverty proves surprisingly challenging, especially since many of these items cannot be obtained using benefits such as food stamps.
This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please use our contact us form (https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/) to make your request.
