This episode start a new sub-series on the relationship between religion and civil society. The series is a collaboration with Chine McDonald from the think tank Theos. We have benefited from help and insight from Liz Slade, head of the Unitarians, and who also contributes to the series.

At its core, the series explores the ways in which religion extends and restricts civil society. The impetus is Robin Dunbar’s recent book How Religion Evolved. It is built on what is known as Dunbar’s number -which is 150- that refers to the number of people that the human species can meaningfully interact with at any one time. Robin’s book explains how religion has contributed to our evolution and extending social networks beyond that number. Robin joins the podcast next week to explain these ideas.

In this episode, Chine and I simply and briefly set the scene and outline what is coming.

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