United by Hope: Live from the World Humanist Congress 2026 Part 2

Support Humanism Now & Join Our Community! Part two of our dispatches from the World Humanist Congress 2026 in Ottawa. On the second and final day, James Hodgson caught up with more attendees, from the humanist chaplains bringing secular pastoral care into the Canadian Armed Forces, to the local Ottawa organisers who hosted the event, an Icelandic politician on humanist values in turbulent times, and two returning Humanism Now guests reflecting on the movement's past and future. Across every conversation the theme of the Congress, humanism as resistance, keeps surfacing: resisting the erosion of truth, the normalisation of dehumanising rhetoric, and the complacency that assumes rights won can never be lost. "It just takes one person in a room to change a whole conversation and change the course of history." — Roslyn Mould Featured in this episode Silvana Morales-Boiardi, humanist chaplain with Humanist Canada, training as a military humanist chaplain in the Canadian Armed Forces Buela Nokutubo, member of Humanist Ottawa Dr Richard Thain, Humanist Ottawa, long-time humanist and recipient of a service award at the Congress Arndís Anna Kristínardóttir Gunnarsdóttir, President of Siðmennt (the Icelandic Humanist Association) and former member of Iceland's parliament Chris Cameron, historian and author, representing the Association of Black Humanists Roslyn Mould, of Accra Atheists and outgoing Vice President of Humanists International Highlights Building humanist chaplaincy in the Canadian Armed Forces, and how the first humanist military chaplain opened the door for the next generation Why local groups matter: Humanist Ottawa on community, and Dr Richard Thain on four decades in the movement Arndís Anna on resisting the normalisation of dehumanisation, and Roslyn Mould reflecting on stepping down after years of leadership at Humanists International CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 01:06 Silvana Morales-Boiardi, Humanist Canada, humanist chaplaincy in the Armed Forces 08:12 Buela Nokutubo, Humanist Ottawa, finding community 13:50 Dr Richard Thain, Humanist Ottawa, four decades in the movement 20:17 Arndís Anna Kristínardóttir Gunnarsdóttir, Siðmennt, humanist politics as resistance 29:02 Chris Cameron, Association of Black Humanists, humanism and history 35:15 Roslyn Mould, reflections on leaving the Humanists International board Support Humanism Now & Join Our Community! www.humanism.now Follow @HumanismNowPod | YouTube | TikTok | Instagram | Facebook | Threads | X.com | BlueSky Humanism Now is produced by Humanise Live, a podcast production agency based in London, serving charities, companies, and individuals across the globe. Contact us to get started in podcasting today at humanise.live or [email protected]. Music: Blossom by Light Prism Podcast transcripts are AI-generated and may contain errors or omissions. They are provided to make our content more accessible, but should not be considered a fully accurate record of the conversation. World Humanist Congress, Humanists International, humanism, resistance, Ottawa, humanist chaplaincy, military chaplaincy, Humanist Canada, Humanist Ottawa, Siðmennt, Arndís Anna Kristínardóttir Gunnarsdóttir, Chris Cameron, Association of Black Humanists, Roslyn Mould, Accra Atheists, secularism, Humanism Now Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices