Having begun his career with positive songs that affirmed his Christian faith, the Welsh singer’s music has become more nuanced. The self-proclaimed ‘liberal backslider’ talks to Alison Hilliard about his journey from answers to questions through his favourite Bible readings, read by David Suchet. He explains how a trip to Thailand and some preaching on John the Baptist turned his world ‘from black and white to full colour’, and his feelings about criticism, and even a death threat, from some Ch...
Oct 05, 2016•33 min
Astrophysicist and theologian, Revd David Wilkinson looks at a number called Omega. Omega is the name physicists give to one of several constants embedded in the laws of the universe which seem to have been incredibly fine-tuned to allow stars, galaxies, and ultimately us to exist. Are these pointers to a Creator God, or is there another extraordinary explanation?
Sep 28, 2016•5 min
Munisha has been working for many years as a lecturer and communicator for Buddhism. So she was used to explaining the central teachings of the faith, including the ‘4 Noble Truths’, which deal with suffering, and our response to it. When the severe anxiety she suffered from took her to her GP, the therapy she was prescribed turned out to be directly based on the teachings of her own faith. Happily, the counselling, along with her own regular Buddhist practice, gave her the help she needed, and ...
Sep 20, 2016•5 min
With a background in maths and physics, the Hindu teacher Jay Lakhani is fascinated by the concept of nothing. He traces the 7th century roots of the idea as a placeholder in counting systems, and explores Hindu stories about the origins of the universe, when something came from nothing. Jay asks ‘What caused the Big Bang?’ and finds a surprising answer.
Jul 28, 2016•5 min
Martin Palmer has spent decades exploring and translating Chinese historical and philosophical texts. For Things Unseen he explains the Daoist concepts of Yin and Yang and our role in maintaining balance, in the world and in ourselves.
Jul 14, 2016•5 min
The factual rigour of the world of numbers and maths, and the more intuitive nature of faith may not seem like a comfortable combination. But numbers have played a significant role in religious traditions, and in the lives of those with a faith. The author and broadcaster Trevor Barnes has been looking into the subject for a new book, and here he introduces our ‘Faith By Numbers’ podcasts, with a brief tour of digital divinity.
Jun 28, 2016•5 min
The Rev Kate Bottley came to national attention by leading a flash mob dance routine at a wedding. Since then her musings on the week’s TV on Channel 4’s Gogglebox, alongside her dog Buster and equally taciturn husband Graham, have propelled her into a world very different from her original work as an RE teacher. Through the prism of her favourite Bible passages, Kate shares with Alison Hilliard how she came to church and to the priesthood, what drives her, and what she worries about.
Jun 14, 2016•27 min
The storyteller Sita Brand separates the fact from the fiction of Zen meditation, and shares her favourite story about the way not to go about it. She explains that Zen Buddhist meditation is about being aware of the present moment, through the practice of ‘mindfulness’. Contrary to popular belief, she says, it’s not about blanking your mind, but about being aware of your thoughts.
May 04, 2016•5 min
Shaunaka Rishi Das from the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies reflects on the life lessons he learnt from the Yamuna, one of India’s sacred rivers. His memories include a close encounter with a snake, and how he came to accept his wife’s death after scattering her ashes in the Yamuna.
Apr 26, 2016•5 min
Following a chance remark from a Ukranian flatmate on the stereotypical characteristics of her neighbouring countries (sleazy Lithuanians, tidy Hungarians...), the comedy writer Paul Kerensa decided to investigate the global nature of our tendency to pigeon-hole nationalities. With stand-up comedians replacing jokes aimed at minorities with ones at the expense of celebrities and nearby towns, he compares tribal attitudes in parts of the Christian Bible, and thinks about victimless comedy.
Apr 19, 2016•5 min
Sisters Caroline Clare and Susan Elizabeth of the Community of Saint Clare in Freeland, Oxfordshire, show us how they make communion wafers, from preparing the batter to using ‘the Church of England’s equivalent of a waffle iron’. They also explain how prayer goes into each batch of wafers.
Apr 12, 2016•5 min
Ian Knowles is an artist and founder-director of the Bethlehem icon centre. Most of his icons are created on wood, but his most famous icon was painted on the separation wall dividing Israel from the West Bank. ‘Our Lady Who Brings Down Walls’ was made to bring hope into a hopeless situation, he says, to bring something good into the midst of suffering and fear.
Apr 05, 2016•5 min
Faraz Yousafzai is the lead singer and guitarist of the folk-rock band, SilkRoad. For our A-Z, he gives free rein to his poetic side to draw out connections between physical vibrations (such as those of the heart and cells in the body) and the way human beings respond to certain musical chords.
Mar 29, 2016•4 min
At the beginning of Lent we asked our listeners to look forward to the events to come in the Christian calendar – Good Friday and Easter. We set them a challenge to write haiku in response, three-line Japanese-inspired poems following a strict 5-7-5 syllable format. We’ve now recorded some of them, adding music and sound-effects. The poet Stewart Henderson joined Alison Hilliard in the Things Unseen studio to share his own haiku, and respond to those which were sent in.
Mar 25, 2016•27 min
Chine McDonald (nee Mbubaegbu) of the Evangelical Alliance examines why unity is important for people of faith – and why it need not lead to uniformity.
Mar 08, 2016•4 min
Journalist and broadcaster Emma Barnett on how her tactile nature led her to question the Orthodox Jewish laws that govern physical contact between wives and husbands.
Feb 24, 2016•5 min
Playwright, actress and artistic director Rani Moorthy reflects on the sari, a garment closely bound up with Hindu identity. She rejected it as a teenager, but has now made it the subject of a funny and poignant play – and sometimes wears it combined with doc marten boots.
Feb 12, 2016•5 min
We are setting our listeners a creative challenge - to write haiku, three line poems, about Good Friday and Easter. Here are full details of how to get involved, along with some taster haiku.
Feb 10, 2016•3 min
Fr Christopher Jamison, a Benedictine monk and former abbot, reflects on treating sacred texts as a delicacy best savoured slowly – and allowing them to challenge and transform us.
Feb 09, 2016•5 min
Ruth Scott has been an Anglican priest since 1994, yet a traumatic experience drew her to the silence which is at the heart of Quaker meetings. Here she explains why.
Feb 02, 2016•5 min
Ayisha Malik, author of the romantic comedy, Sofia Khan is Not Obliged, reflects on patience through the prism of Islam and how it helps answer life’s biggest question.
Jan 26, 2016•5 min
Christian gospel hip-hop artist Faith Child on how he draws encouragement from the Bible and writing gospel songs to overcome personal struggles.
Jan 19, 2016•5 min
A Protestant who grew up in Ian Paisley’s Northern Ireland, where any devotion to Mary was scorned; a cradle Catholic and former friar; and a Muslim who loves Christmas, but approaches Mary very much from a Qur’anic perspective: these three go on pilgrimage together to England’s most important shrine to the Mother of Christ, Walsingham. In the course of their journey, some astonishing stories emerge.
Dec 21, 2015•39 min
What’s in a name? Rabbi Naftali Brawer considers the naming and not-naming of God, and explores the meaning of those names. He explains how the names he has used for God have charted his own spiritual journey, and suggests a surprising interpretation of the very first words of the Bible.
Dec 17, 2015•5 min
Minna Salami, a blogger popularly known as Ms Afropolitan, explains how an automatic writing experience led her to explore mysticism, and why artists like Fela Kuti and Frida Kahlo have helped her on her mystical journey.
Dec 08, 2015•5 min
Alison Hilliard, a regular Things Unseen presenter, tells the story of Ethiopia’s astonishing rock-hewn churches, which were created in a mere 23 years in the 12th century and remain one of the most extraordinary pilgrimage sites for Orthodox Christians.
Dec 01, 2015•5 min
Khalsa Aid is a humanitarian relief agency which has helped destitute people in disaster areas from Haiti to Iraq and Bosnia. Its founder, Ravi Singh, was inspired by the teachings of the Sikh gurus, who taught their followers to strive for the well-being of all humanity, not just Sikhs.
Nov 25, 2015•4 min
Jim al-Khalili is the son of a Muslim father and a Christian mother. He is also a public atheist - the outgoing President of the British Humanist Association - a science writer and broadcaster and Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Surrey. Here he talks to Abdul-Azim Ahmed about how his mixed-faith background has shaped his outlook on religion and atheism, and why he has no wish to convert everyone to the Humanist world view.
Nov 17, 2015•26 min
Ruth Gledhill, who used to be the Times’ religious affairs correspondent and now works for the news website, Christian Today, reflects on combining her love of religion and journalism and has some advice for those who want to walk in her footsteps.
Nov 10, 2015•5 min
In this addition of our A to Z, Mohammed Ali Amla, founder of Christian and Muslim Encounters – an interfaith network that seeks to bring together academics and activists in shaping dialogue and research - discusses his life journey and lessons of interfaith encounters. From first encountering his “white” neighbors as a little boy - the start of interactions and encounters with other faith communities as opportunities to demystifying attitudes and educate one another in shared values. For Ali, t...
Nov 03, 2015•5 min
