Re-Enchanting

Alex O'Connor is a well known atheist Youtube and podcast host with over 800 thousand subscribers to his channel. Unlike many online new atheists he has sought to genuinely understand his Christian and religious counterparts. This included studying theology at Oxford University, helping to re-establish a Socratic debating society in the mould of the one created by CS Lewis, and counting many Christians as his friends and acquaintances.

Belle and Justin talk to Alex about atheism, the changing tides of culture and what it would take for Alex to believe...

Alex O'Connor: https://www.youtube.com/@CosmicSkeptic

For Re-Enchanting: https://www.seenandunseen.com/podcast

There’s more to life than the world we can see. Re-Enchanting is a podcast from Seen & Unseen recorded at Lambeth Palace Library, the home of the Centre for Cultural Witness. Justin Brierley and Belle Tindall engage faith and spirituality with leading figures in science, history, politics, art and education. Can our culture be re-enchanted by the vision of Christianity?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Francis Collins is a physician and geneticist whose groundbreaking work has led to the discovery of the cause of cystic fibrosis among other diseases. He led the Human Genome Project which first sequenced the entire human DNA, established the science-faith organisation BioLogos, and has gone on to serve 3 US presidents as the director of the National Institutes of Health

Francis’ new book is titled ‘The Road To Wisdom: On truth, science, faith and trust’ and covers some of the controversies and challenges he has faced personally in his public role as a scientist and government advisor leading the USA’s Covid response during the height of the pandemic.

In the light of the 2024 presidential election Justin and Belle talk to Francis about whether we can re-enchant truth, trust and wisdom in an increasingly polarised world.

Francis Collins: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Road-Wisdom-Truth-Science-Faith/dp/1399822314

For Re-Enchanting: https://www.seenandunseen.com/podcast

There’s more to life than the world we can see. Re-Enchanting is a podcast from Seen & Unseen recorded at Lambeth Palace Library, the home of the Centre for Cultural Witness. Justin Brierley and Belle Tindall engage faith and spirituality with leading figures in science, history, politics, art and education. Can our culture be re-enchanted by the vision of Christianity?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr Krish Kandiah OBE is the founder of The Sanctuary Foundation, a charity supporting refugees to find welcome, work and worthwhile housing in the UK. Krish has also been at the forefront of many other initiatives including the fostering and adoption charity Home For Good, as well as writing multiple books on theology, activism and faith.

Following a summer marred by riots over immigration, Justin and Belle talk to Krish about re-enchanting compassion for the 'orphan, widow and foreigner' in an increasingly divided culture.

Krish Kandiah: https://krishk.com/

For Re-Enchanting: https://www.seenandunseen.com/podcast

There’s more to life than the world we can see. Re-Enchanting is a podcast from Seen & Unseen recorded at Lambeth Palace Library, the home of the Centre for Cultural Witness. Justin Brierley and Belle Tindall engage faith and spirituality with leading figures in science, history, politics, art and education. Can our culture be re-enchanted by the vision of Christianity?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rupert Shortt is an author and research associate at the Von Hugel Institute, University Of Cambridge and a former Religion Editor for the Times Literary Supplement.

His latest book ’The Eclipse of Christianity... and why it matters’ has been praised by Tom Holland as ‘ A brilliant survey of Christianity’s decline in Britain- how it happened and why it matters, by one of our most learned and stimulating apologists’.

Belle and Justin talk with Rupert about why mainstream churches are in decline across the West and why Europe’s historic faith remains critical to the survival of humane culture.

Rupert Shortt: https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/rupert-shortt/the-eclipse-of-christianity/9781399802765/

For Re-Enchanting: https://www.seenandunseen.com/podcast

There’s more to life than the world we can see. Re-Enchanting is a podcast from Seen & Unseen recorded at Lambeth Palace Library, the home of the Centre for Cultural Witness. Justin Brierley and Belle Tindall engage faith and spirituality with leading figures in science, history, politics, art and education. Can our culture be re-enchanted by the vision of Christianity?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Professor Lady Sue Black is one of the world’s leading forensic scientists. Police forces, the Foreign Office and the UN have called upon her evidence in countless high-profile investigations. She is currently President of St. John’s College, Oxford, and in 2021 entered the House of Lords as a cross-bench peer.

She has penned numerous books, including the Saltire Prize winning ‘All That Remains: A Life in Death’ and her latest book, ‘Written in Bone: hidden stories in what we leave behind’. In 2024, Professor Lady Black was also appointed to the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle – the highest honour in Scotland.

In this episode of Re-Enchanting, Justin and Belle speak to Sue about her first time working on a dead body, the stories that our bodies tell after death, her work in the wake of the Kosovo war and the 2004 tsunami, and - ultimately - how our reluctance to look death in the eye is profoundly hurting us.

There’s more to life than the world we can see. Re-Enchanting is a podcast from Seen & Unseen recorded at Lambeth Palace Library, the home of the Centre for Cultural Witness. Justin Brierley and Belle Tindall engage faith and spirituality with leading figures in science, history, politics, art and education. Can our culture be re-enchanted by the vision of Christianity?

For Re-Enchanting: https://www.seenandunseen.com/podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.