Andrew Copson is Chief Executive of Humanists UK, previously known as the British Humanist Association, and was formerly Director of Education and Public Affairs at the same organisation. He is also President of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, the global umbrella body for atheist, humanist, sceptic and secularist organisations. He has contributed to several books on secularism and humanism and is the author of Secularism: Politics, Religion, and Freedom. In this episode he discusse...
Dec 12, 2018•49 min
Remona Aly is a journalist who writes for the Guardian, presents Pause For Thought on BBC Radio 2, Something Understood on BBC Radio 4, and the podcast Things Unseen. Previously, she was the deputy editor of emel, a glossy Muslim lifestyle magazine, and is director of communications of the Exploring Islam Foundation. In this episode she discusses how she finds riches and wisdom in a wide range of faith traditions — but is ultimately “in love” with Islam, how she deals with the abuse she gets as ...
Nov 28, 2018•38 min
Dr Seth Anziska an American historian living in London. He is the Mohamed S. Farsi-Polonsky Lecturer in Jewish-Muslim Relations at University College London and a visiting fellow at the U.S./Middle East Project. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Foreign Policy, and Haaretz, and He is the author of Preventing Palestine: A Political History from Camp David to Oslo In this episode, Seth talks about his orthodox Jewish upbringing, the role of historical records in understanding ourselv...
Nov 14, 2018•43 min
Chine McDonald is the media and PR lead for Christian Aid, one of the world's largest and best known non profit organisations. She was previously director of communications & membership for the Evangelical Alliance, overseeing the editorial and fundraising teams, as well as the team that looks after 3,600 church and 600 organisation members. She read theology at Cambridge University, where she was also news editor of the university newspaper Varsity. In this episode, Chine talks about growing up...
Oct 31, 2018•37 min
Casper ter Kuile is a host of the "Harry Potter and the Sacred Text" podcast, a show that dissects J.K. Rowling’s classic series as if it were the Torah or the Bible. He was a Ministry Innovation Fellow at Harvard Divinity School and is also a strategist at the podcast "On Being" with Krista Tippett. In this episode, Casper talks about growing up in a non- religious environment but coming to religion on his own terms, his history in climate activism and how that led him to divinity school, as we...
Oct 17, 2018•40 min
Michael Wear is the founder of Public Square Strategies LLC, a consulting firm that helps businesses, non-profits, foundations, and Christian organizations at the intersection of faith, politics, and culture. Wear directed faith outreach for President Obama's historic 2012 re-election campaign and was one of the youngest White House staffers in modern American history, leading evangelical outreach and helping manage the White House's engagement on religious and values issues, including adoption ...
Oct 03, 2018•36 min
Teresa Bejan is Associate Professor of Political Theory in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Oriel College. Her book, Mere Civility: Disagreement and the Limits of Toleration (Harvard University Press) examines contemporary calls for civility in light of seventeenth-century debates about religious toleration in England and America. Many of the pressing questions facing liberal democracies today—such as what the proper scope of reli...
Sep 19, 2018•37 min
John Lloyd is a television producer best known for his work on such comedy television programmes as Not the Nine O'Clock News, Spitting Image, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Blackadder and QI. He is also the presenter of the BBC radio 4 series "The Museum of Curiosity". In this episode, Lloyd talks about growing up in a secular household but not calling himself an atheist, the role of comedy in presenting new ideas and challenging dogma, and what he's learnt from studying other religions ...
Aug 29, 2018•41 min
Timandra Harkness is a journalist, comedian and statistician. She is a regular on BBC Radio 4, writing and presenting How To Disagree, a beginner’s guide to having better arguments and FutureProofing, a series looking at the social impact of new big ideas. She also presents documentaries such as Data, Data Everywhere and Personality Politics, and was resident reporter on social psychology series The Human Zoo. In this episode, she talks to Elizabeth about her childhood, why its important to hear...
Aug 15, 2018•57 min
Ian Dunt is editor of politics.co.uk. He specialises in issues around immigration, civil liberties, democracy, free speech and social justice. He also writes for other publications, including the Erotic Review, and regularly features in British newspapers and television programmes. In this episode Ian talks about the future of liberalism, what studying philosophy and taking drugs taught him about faith, and his short stint as a Christian. He also talks about the rise of political extremism, and ...
Aug 01, 2018•48 min
Krista Tippett is an American journalist, author, and entrepreneur. She created and hosts the public radio program and podcast On Being, a podcast about spirituality, politics, ethics and faith. In 2014, she was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama. In this episode, Krista talks about growing up in a faith community in Oklahoma, her time as a journalist working in East Germany, and the genesis of On Being as a public radio programme. She also talks about the ways in wh...
Jul 18, 2018•54 min
Dr Lois Lee is Research Fellow in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Kent. She is a sociologist whose work focuses on the empirical study of nonreligion and atheism and, more widely, on the theory and study of culturally diverse and differentiated societies. Lois is founding director of the Nonreligion and Secularity Research Network and co-edits the journal Secularism and Nonreligion. In this episode, Lois talks about what its like to study Nonreligion as an academic term,...
Jul 04, 2018•48 min
Tom Shakespeare, is an English sociologist and broadcaster. He is Professor of Disability Research in the medical faculty at the University of East Anglia (UEA)and a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. He is also known for his work and activism around disability rights in the UK. In this episode, he talks about the role of religion in his upbringing, agnosticism and finding solace in Quakerism. He also talks about his work as an activist, and the challenges that people with disabilities...
Jun 20, 2018•42 min
Ronan is the founder of Alter Ego, a global network of progressive leaders exploring the connection between personal, cultural and political renewal. He is also the Head of Strategy at Perspectiva, a research institute building the intellectual foundations for a more conscious society. His background is in political strategy and organisational change. Before the age of 28, he was a consultant scenario planner to the British Foreign Office, and a Director of Futures, Strategy and Animation at RPC...
Jun 06, 2018•49 min
Claire Fox is a British writer, and the head of the Institute of Ideas think tank. She was formerly the editor of LM magazine, and is a panellist on the BBC's "Moral Maze'. In this episode, Claire talks about her childhood, growing up with parents on both sides of the political spectrum. She talks about her time as a Trotskyist in university, and how her passion for free expression led her to found the Institute of Ideas, which holds its festival each year in London. She also talks about the nat...
May 23, 2018•54 min
Tom Chivers is a writer, who specialises in the intersection of science, philosophy and politics. He was a former staff writer at BuzzFeed UK and an assistant comment editor at the Telegraph. He's currently writing a book about Artificial Intelligence. In this episode, he talks about atheism, the value of truth and verification. He also talks about attaining truth through scientific methods, taking principles from both classical philosophy and computer science to interrogate the hard questions. ...
May 09, 2018•1 hr 5 min
Jonathan Derbyshire is Executive Comment Editor at the Financial Times. He was previously Managing Editor of Prospect, Britain’s leading monthly magazine of politics and ideas, and Culture Editor of the New Statesman. Jonathan has also written for a number of other publications, including the Guardian, the Observer and the Times Literary Supplement. In a previous life, he taught philosophy in several British universities. In this episode, He talks with Elizabeth about his youth, what it means to...
Apr 25, 2018•51 min
Sally Phillips is an English actress, television presenter and comedian. She co-created and was one of the writers of sketch comedy show Smack the Pony. She is also known for her main role in Miranda as Tilly, Parents as Jenny Pope and Set the Thames on Fire as Colette in 2015. Phillips has also worked on films such as Burn Burn Burn as Ingrid alongside Laura Carmichael. Since 2004, she has played the title role in the BBC Radio 4 comedy show Clare in the Community. Since 2018, she has been cura...
Apr 12, 2018•55 min
Neil Griffiths is a British novelist, and the founder of the Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses. He is the winner of the Authors' Club First Novel Award, and has been shortlisted for best novel in the Costa Book Awards. In this episode, Neil talks about love as a sacred value, how writing helped him explore religious ideas and conversations in absence of a religious household. He also talks about his inspirations for writing novels, and how literature can teach patience and compas...
Mar 27, 2018•48 min
In this episode, Elizabeth is joined by Guardian columnist and writer, Dawn Foster. Dawn writes on politics and social affairs, and was one of the leading journalists covering the aftermath of the Grenfell tower fire. She talks about her childhood, growing up in poverty, her relationship with catholicism in confrontation with new atheism, and whether social media can facilitate better public conversations. Follow the Sacred on Twitter at @Sacred_Podcast, and follow Theos at @Theosthinktank on Tw...
Mar 14, 2018•45 min
Andy Crouch is a writer, editor, author and musician based in the United States. He was the editor of Christian Today, one of America's largest faith based publications, and made headlines when he wrote an editorial criticising Evangelical support for Donald Trump. In this episode, Elizabeth talks to Andy about his life in publishing and why he values language so much. He talks about the state of US politics, and why the virtue of patience is more valuable than ever in times of crisis and strife...
Feb 28, 2018•47 min
David Goodhart is a writer, researcher, author and journalist, who currently serves as head of Integration Hub & Demography at Policy Exchange. He was one of the founding editors of Prospect magazine, and the centre-left think tank Demos. In this episode, Elizabeth speaks to David about his work between different areas of the political spectrum, and how his childhood experiences shaped the way he understood the communities around him. He also speaks about the consequences of his changing views o...
Feb 14, 2018•59 min
Benjamin Ramm is a writer, broadcaster and journalist who has produced work for the BBC, The New York Times and OpenDemocracy. He also used to edit 'The Liberal' magazine. In this episode, Elizabeth talks to Benjamin about his identity as a 'non-religious, atheist Jew' who loves to go to Russian Orthodox mass, his religious and spiritual upbringing, and why he thinks poetry might provide a pathway for some who don't identify as religious, but believe in the value of faith. They also speak about ...
Jan 31, 2018•43 min
Giles Fraser is an Anglican priest, a columnist, author, and broadcaster. It's unlikely you haven't come across his work in one way or another. He wrote a frequent column in the Guardian called 'Loose Canon', dealing with issues around faith, spirituality and progressive politics. He's also a panellist on BBC Radio 4's 'Moral Maze' and has contributed to 'Thought for the Day'. In this episode, Elizabeth speaks to Giles about growing up with a Jewish identity, how bullying during his childhood sh...
Jan 17, 2018•34 min
This is a remastered edition of our conversation with award winning author Francis Spufford. Francis is a professor at Goldsmiths University, and the author of a number of books including "Golden Hill" and "Unapologetic: Why, despite everything, Christianity can still make surprising emotional sense" Please follow us on Twitter @Sacred_Podcast, and our host, Elizabeth Oldfield (@theoselizabeth). This podcast is supported by Theos, the UK's leading religion and society think tank (@theosthinktank...
Jan 02, 2018•41 min
In this episode, your host Elizabeth Oldfield (@theoselizabeth) talks to professor Francis Spufford. Francis teaches creative writing at Goldsmiths University in London, and has also written a number of acclaimed, award winning books. In 2016, he won the Costa debut novel prize for his fiction volume "Golden Hill", and he has received high praise for his defence of religion in "Unapologetc : Why, Despite Everything, Christianity Can Still Make Surprising Emotional Sense". In his office at Goldsm...
Dec 31, 2017•42 min
Welcome to The Sacred, a new podcast about the things we cherish, hold dear, and how they bring us together. In this episode, Elizabeth speaks to former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, who led the party until 2017, when he stepped down after claiming he could not be a committed political leader and a committed Christian. This came after a controversial interview in which he was grilled on his position on same-sex relations. 7 months on, Tim reflects back on that moment, as well as British po...
Dec 17, 2017•21 min
In the second episode of The Sacred, Elizabeth talks to comedian, writer and founder of the Sunday Assembly, Pippa Evans. Pippa is a regular on BBC radio 4 and has written and presented series for other broadcasters and networks. She also helped found the Sunday Assembly, which had been dubbed the "atheist church" on its inception. The organisation has grown to become a global movement for people who value faith and spirituality, in spite of not identifying as 'religious'. This episode also feat...
Dec 10, 2017•58 min
Jonathan Rowson is a Scottish Chess grandmaster, an author, and the director of Perspectiva, an organisation that aims to "research the relationship between complex global challenges and the inner lives of human beings and highlight why this matters in society". In the first episode of The Sacred, hosted by Elizabeth Oldfield, Jonathan talks about his religious and spiritual past, how chess helped him make sense of himself, and how talking to people of faith made him reevaluate his own. We also ...
Dec 08, 2017•47 min
Hello, and welcome to The Sacred. The Sacred is a new podcast hosted by Elizabeth Oldfield, the director of Theos, the UK's leading religion and society think tank. This podcast is interested in the state of our public conversations, the way we might do them better and the role the things that we hold sacred but don’t always know how to talk about might play. Each episode will feature an in depth interview with writers, thinkers, activists, comedians, community leaders and others, in which we di...
Dec 06, 2017•2 min
