The Sacred

Danté Stewart is a church leader and writer whose journalism has appeared in a variety of top newspapers across the America. His most recent book is Shoutin' in the Fire: An American Epistle.

He spoke about his Southern Pentecostal childhood, his experience in a white majority church, parenting while black and much more.

Read the full transcript here: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2022/10/19/dant-stewart-on-family-church-and-race-in-america

Sarah Langford is a criminal and family barrister gone farmer, and the author of the best-selling book ‘In Your Defence: True Stories of Life and Law’. Her most recent book, 'Rooted: Stories of Life, Land and a Farming Revolution’, is an account of her experience farming after moving to the countryside in 2017 and the stories of the farmers she’s met at a time of unprecedented change in agriculture.

She spoke about the importance of meaningful work, how we should view those needing criminal defence with dignity, and why we should meet people where they are at when trying to change their mind.

Read the full transcript here: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2022/10/12/sarah-langford-on-the-importance-of-meaningful-work-and-how-not-to-change-someones-mind

Zara Mohammed is Secretary General for the Muslim Council of Britain. When elected, she was the youngest and first woman to lead the organisation.

She spoke about her childhood, her muslim faith and the significance of putting on the headscarf, and the challenges of being a young woman leader running an organisation.

Read the full transcript here: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2022/10/05/zara-mohammed-on-her-muslim-faith-and-the-challenges-of-being-a-young-woman-leader

Sathnam Sanghera is journalist for The Times, and best-selling memoirist. His most recent book, Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain, has been showered with awards and endorsements.

He spoke about growing up in Wolverhampton, his Sikh faith, dealing with online abuse, and his exploration of the history of colonialism.

Read the full transcript here: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2022/09/28/sathnam-sanghera-on-his-sikh-faith-dealing-with-online-abuse-and-learning-about-colonialism

Paul is an award winning novelist and essaying, currently best known for his Substack - The Abbey of Misrule.

He spoke about his deep environmental commitments, his conversion to the Orthodox Church and his concerns about authoritarianism brought about through technological expansion.

Read the full transcript here: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2022/09/21/paul-kingsnorth-on-environmentalism-converting-to-christianity-and-his-concerns-about-authoritarianism

The United Kingdom, Commonwealth and indeed the entire world were sent into shock after Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday 8 September at the age 96, and after 70 years on the throne.

Elizabeth Oldfield reflects on Her Majesty’s role in the area of reconciliation throughout the many years she reigned, and how we might show compassion to those who have responded differently to her death.

Jenny Odell is an American multi-disciplinary artist, former art teacher at Stanford University and author of the New York Times best selling book, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy.

She spoke about attention, where we put it, how it shapes and forms us, and how it could be the key to understanding our increasingly polarised societies.

Read the full transcript here: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2022/06/08/jenny-odell-on-attention-where-we-put-it-and-how-it-forms-us

Kate Maltby is a columnist for The i Paper, theatre critic and senior research associate at Jesus College Cambridge.

She spoke about her Jewish heritage, the power and (almost) sacredness of live theatre and of dealing with identity issues.

Read the full transcript here: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2022/06/01/kate-maltby-on-her-jewish-heritage-identity-issues-and-the-power-of-live-theatre

Francesca is Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Religion at the University of Exeter, and a patron of Humanists UK. Her latest book is called God: An Anatomy.

She spoke about her vegetarianism, her experience of growing up in a single parent household with not a lot of money and studying theology as an atheist at the University of Oxford.

Christie is an award-winning novelist, memoirist and professor of medical and health humanities at UEA. She was a registered pediatric nurse for 20 years spending most of her career in pediatric intensive care and as a resuscitation officer.

She speaks about humour as an antidote to darkness, why nurses’ stories are so rarely told, how she found meaning in the practice of care, and why compassion is what we should be judged on.