smallVOICE

By smallVOICEReligion & Spirituality Christianity

smallVOICE episodes

November 08 svs podcast – ‘a safe place to land’
For our November podcast, Darren & Holly are delighted to welcome back Laura Gilmour as their conversation partner. They are all tackling a review of ‘Live Laugh Love’, the latest book (just out!) by historian and writer, Kristin Kobes du Mez. In it, du Mez traces the history of white Christian womanhood in the USA. Does ‘positive thinking, or becoming a ‘Trad Wife’ looking after the needs of home and hearth, have any theological basis? We then run with some of the issues and themes from the book… What is the overlap between mainstream culture and organised religion? Can we create safe spaces in our communities of faith for discussion and disagreement? Where will we find a safe place to land?
It’s not as heavy as it sounds! And let us know what you think. Have you read/will you read the book? Get in touch!
This podcast was recorded on Thursday 5 November 2026. Available from Apple Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, and via your favourite podcast App. Theme music and stings by Nicolai Heidlas. Duration: 60 minutes.
Links
Pebbles on the Beach – Laura Gilmour’ on Substack
Kristin Kobes Du Mez website
Kristin Kobes Du Mez is the New York Times bestselling author of Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation. She holds a PhD from the University of Notre Dame and serves as Professor of History at Calvin University and Senior Democracy Fellow at the Public Religion Research Institute. Her research focuses on the intersection of gender, religion, and politics, and she has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Religion News Service, and Christianity Today.
smallVOICE review of Jesus & John Wayne by Kristin Kobes Du Mez (October 2024)

Photo of Kristin Kobes du Mez by Jen VanderHeide

1 hr 1 min
October 03 sv podcast – life happens
Hello faithful listener, it’s suddenly October and we’re doing not one, but TWO, reviews this month as we take a look at landmark TV documentary 70 Up and also have a listen to the podcast, The Obit Project, where students are challenged reimagine obituaries. Darren and Holly have a chew over some of the themes about life and living that come out of both series ….
Have you seen / heard these? If so, let us know what you think!
It’s really about making strangers feel things about other strangers.” Jule Banville
Artwork copyright Max Mahn
Links
The Obit Project
Review of The Obit Project
70 Up on STV Player (in Scotland)
The whole series of documentaries on ITVX
‘7 Up’ series information (Wikipedia)
Review of 70 Up in The Guardian
Child of Our Time
This podcast was recorded on Thursday 1 October 2026. Available from Apple Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, and via your favourite podcast App. Theme music and stings by Nicolai Heidlas. Duration: 60 minutes.
1 hr 1 min
September 08 sv podcast – act, believe, create
Welcome to September’s podcast wherein we’ll be pondering Christianity and the creative arts, as Holly shares some reflections from her visit to the Greenbelt Christian Arts Festival at the end of August. Greenbelt describes itself as “somewhere artistry meets activism, where the political meets the practical… somewhere to come together once a year, where we’re as likely to dream up a better world as we are to dance and debate, to pray and to party.”
Darren & Holly also review Virginia Evans’ novel, The Correspondent, which has just won the Women’s Prize for Fiction. It’s a book told entirely in letters and emails exchanged between 73 year-old Sybil van Antwerp, and, well, all manner of people! Over time we learn the story of Sybil’s life, as well as a few secrets, and discover that this irascible character is a good deal more complicated than we originally thought…
All this AND we have music from our favourite ‘feminism, folk, faith’ trio, Siskin Green. Siskin Green, as regular listeners will know, are the talented Jane Bentley, Suzanne Butler and Margaret McLarty. They were at Greenbelt too where they launched their new album. We’re really grateful for their permission to feature an exclusive album track for this very podcast… Have a listen!
Links
Greenbelt Festival
Siskin Green
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
Shibboleth magazine
Flamy Grant
P.S. Longer Letter Later by Paula Danziger and Ann M. Martin
Blue Rose Code
Grace Petrie
This podcast was recorded on Thursday 3 September 2026.
Available from Apple Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, and via your favourite podcast App.
Theme music and stings by Nicolai Heidlas.
Duration: 24 minutes.
‘act, believe, create’ photo copyright Greenbelt Festival
54 min
August 26 sv podcast – The Friday Club
There’s care running through the DNA of Aberfeldy.”
That’s a big claim to make for a small town, but our roving reporter Margaret decided to check it out, and set off for the hills of Highland Perthshire to see for herself. She visited the Friday Club, which operates every week for the benefit of those affected by dementia, including the family members who care for them. She found out about Dementia Friendly Aberfeldy, Coco the therapy dog, and the mysteries of rhubarb crumble. The Friday Club operates in an atmosphere of friendship, laughter, chatter and caring, which is evident throughout…
Links
Dementia-friendly Aberfeldy Friday Club
on Facebook
Meeting Centres Scotland: Dementia-friendly Aberfeldy
Duration: 24’17 minutes. Theme music by Nicolai Heidlas. All photos: Dementia-friendly Aberfeldy.
Perhaps you have a suggestion for a ‘small voice’ who we can feature? We’d love to hear from you! You can leave a comment on this website or get in touch on Facebook. You can also subscribe to our Substack email and chat with us there.
The smallVOICE podcast is available from Apple Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, and via your favourite podcast App.
25 min
August 11 sv podcast – talking A.I. with Pete Phillips
Hello faithful listener, it’s late summer and AI is top of the agenda everywhere … So we are delighted to have Dr Pete Phillips to chat with Darren & Holly all about digital theology and AI. Pete is an honorary research fellow at the University of Durham, a Lecturer at Cliff College and Academic Visitor at Manchester University (and has been on the podcast before). It’s a wide-ranging chat about technology, the environment, and what it might mean to remain fully human in an age of artificial intelligence. Should we worry about our future? Is it ok to use AI to write your church newsletter?
There’s also some extended, nerdy, stuff about fountain pens… and we finish with a quote from the Pope.
Get in touch! Let us know what you think about the importance (or not) of AI. Or pens.
Links
Dr Peter Phillips
Cory Doctorow, The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI
Karen Hao, Empire of AI
Offline Podcast
Joanna Stern, I am not a Robot
Hank Green Summary
BBC documentary with Chris MacAusland
Practice of the presence of God by Brother Lawrence
Maori speech recognition programmes
My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
The Tent Peg by Aritha van Herk

This podcast was recorded on Thursday 6 August 2026. Available from Apple Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, and via your favourite podcast App.
Theme music and stings by Nicolai Heidlas.
Duration: 63’30 minutes.
1 hr 4 min
July 07 sv podcast – keeping on the sunny side
It’s July and we serve up a fine summer smorgasbord of recommendations for listening, reading and viewing from Holly & Darren. A little bit of resistance to all the bad stuff going on in the world. Some music, too, from friends of the podcast Siskin Green and the Mairs Family Band.
And you can join in … What are you enjoying just now, faithful listener? Any recommendations? Let us know!
Oh, and we would like it to be known, despite what Darren claims, that we are NOT able to digitally track individual listeners wherever they are in the world. A wee joke. (This, and many other things, are beyond us.) Hello to the robots.
Links
Siskin Green
Karine Polwart
Villa Coco, Andrew Sean Greer
Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas,
on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence
Key Changes, BBC Radio 3
For the Record, Youtube
River Kelvin Walkway
Saturday Kitchen, BBC
The Lost Words – Spell Songs
The Mairs Family Band
John Green
Jacob Collier
Kirk Hamilton Strong Songs
Year of Wonder by Clemency Burton-Hill
Greenbelt
This podcast was recorded on Thursday 2 July 2026. Available from Apple Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, and via your favourite podcast App.
Theme music and stings by Nicolai Heidlas.
Duration: 52’31 minutes.
Photo of Pope Leo XIV (c) Vatican Media
World Cup Photo by Dar ius from Pexels
53 min
June 10 sv podcast – new life
Margaret was recently surprised to discover – courtesy of the Scottish Bible Society magazine, no less – that Glasgow City Mission celebrates its 200th Anniversary this year. Not only that, but that it was a pioneer of similar missions in other parts of the UK, Europe and the USA. The Glasgow City Mission is now based in Crimea Street in the city centre of Glasgow, and around 500 people every weekday pass through the doors for food, support, English lessons, even haircuts … and a lot more. Margaret took her digital recorder along to talk to Jack Geddes, Marketing and Fundraising Manager and find out about the Mission’s activities today.
Links
Glasgow City Mission
Facebook Page (has great photos of some 200-anniversary celebrations!)
The smallVOICE podcast is available from Apple Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, and via your favourite podcast App.
Duration: 27 minutes. Theme music by Nicolai Heidlas.
27 min
June 04 sv podcast – ‘all killer, no filler’
It’s June and it’s a special clips show! Introduced by Darren (while Holly is on, er, hollyday), we’ve enjoyed putting this together for you – mixing up some more recent material and delving into our archive, there are connections everywhere.
We revisit last year’s review of Lamorna Ash’s book, Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever, which is now out in paperback; Jared Stacey’s ‘Thousand Words’ interview is just as sharp and challenging today as it was when Anne spoke with him back in 2022; and we enjoy our chin-wag with Dave Tomlinson on the subject of prayer. We hope you enjoy it too!
Links
Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever by Lamorna Ash (Bloomsbury Publishing)
Jared Stacy links
OMG! A Bad Christian’s Book of Prayers by Dave Tomlinson
This compilation podcast was recorded on Tuesday 2 June 2026. Available from Apple Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, and via your favourite podcast App.
Theme music and stings by Nicolai Heidlas.
Duration: 67 minutes.

1 hr 8 min
May 03 svs podcast – extra! extra!
It’s a podcast extra, folks! We were delighted to track down Rev Steve Stockman for a lovely chat about U2, after they had dropped their SECOND surprise EP of the year – Easter Lily. You’ll remember we got all excited about the first EP on Ash Wednesday, and in fact had hoped to speak with Steve then, but the stars did not align. But, gob-smacked by the appearance of the Easter Lily EP on Good Friday, we finally all got together online for a really good natter.
Steve Stockman is the minister of Fitzroy Presbyterian Church in Belfast, Northern Ireland and author of Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2. He’s also the co-founder of the 4 Corners Festival, which encourages connection from all across Belfast through discussion, music, story-telling, poetry, drama and prayer.
Listen to the conversation and get in touch … Have you heard the songs? What did you think?
Links
Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2 by Steve Stockman (Goodreads)
Steve Stockman on Substack
Steve Stockman on Facebook
The 4 Corners Festival
Official U2 website
Easter Lily feels like the strongest collection of material U2 have mustered in at least 20 years…” Mojo Magazine
This podcast was recorded on Thursday 15 April 2026. Available from Apple Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, and via your favourite podcast App.
Theme music and stings by Nicolai Heidlas.
Duration: 21’47 minutes.
22 min
April 27 sv podcast – help, hope, and healing
Welcome to our latest ‘small voice’ feature and, this month, we find out more about an organisation that connects with people in the remotest of places …
The Mission Aviation Fellowship – also known as MAF – has been around for a long time. The experiences of the Second World War had shown that aircraft could bring aid in to remote places or evacuate people needing medical attention from those places. Missionaries could also be flown in, bringing the good news of the gospel where it had never been heard before. From a very small start, MAF is now the world’s largest humanitarian air operator, getting to places in minutes where other transport – or walking – would take days.
Our roving reporter, Margaret, spoke to James Petticrew, MAF’s Church Engagement and Volunteer Manager, based in Glasgow, to find out about MAF’s work, 80 years on. And she found out from Eddie and Rosemary Watt what it was like working with MAF, uprooting themselves from Shetland in Scotland to be able to serve God in East Africa.
If you would like to learn more about MAF, there’s lots more information on their website at https://maf-uk.org/.
Bringing help, hope, and healing through aviation so that isolated people can experience Jesus’s love.”
We’d love to hear from you! You can leave a comment on this website or get in touch on Facebook. You can also subscribe to our Substack email and chat with us there.
Perhaps you have a suggestion for a ‘small voice’ who we can feature?
The smallVOICE podcast is available from Apple Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, and via your favourite podcast App.
Duration: 24’01 minutes. Theme music by Nicolai Heidlas.
All photos copyright MAF.
25 min