"Am I a Humanist?" Shay Leonia on Discovering Humanism in Public

"I've never heard of humanism, but is this what I've been all along?"

What happens when you discover the word for what you've believed your whole life? Shay Leonia came to humanism only recently, and rather than hide the learning curve, she has made it the heart of her work. In this episode, James Hodgson talks with Shay about her journey into humanism, the art of admitting what you don't know, and how to bring humanist values to people who have never heard the term.

We discuss growing up with everyday kindness as a lived value, letting go of the supernatural without losing what matters, the AHA Creator Program and building coalitions beyond the secular space, and why humanism needs to become more accessible and more representative if it is going to grow.

About the guest

Shay Leonia is the communications manager at the American Humanist Association (AHA), where she hosts the How to Humanist podcast and runs AHA's Creator Program, partnering with content creators to bring humanism to new audiences. A lifelong musician based in Philadelphia, she founded the media company 44th Minute Media and came to humanism recently, arriving, as she puts it, curious, a little confused, and glad she stayed.

In this episode

How Shay discovered humanism through a job posting and realised it named the values she'd held all along

Learning out loud: the "fourth wall break" behind How to Humanist, and why admitting what you don't know builds trust

The AHA Creator Program, giving people a "soft landing" into humanism, and why the movement must become more accessible and representative

Chapters

00:00 Introduction: meet Shay Leonia

01:18 Growing up, and early humanist values