The Sacred

Teresa was our guest on episode 22 of The Sacred. She is Associate Professor of Political Theory in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Oriel College.

In this episode Teresa talks about how Oxford is being affected by the pandemic, whether acknowledging uncertainty is a form of knowledge, and if wisdom and knowledge are the same thing. This episode also features a short voice memo sent in by Tom, one of our listeners.

We would love to hear how you are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what you hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values. You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at [email protected]. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can.

Bim Afolami is Conservative MP for Hitchin and Harpenden since 2017. Before he became an MP he worked as a corporate lawyer in the city.

In this episode Bim speaks about what he means by one-nation conservatism, his Nigerian heritage giving him a sense of the importance of politics, and his sacred value of equality of opportunity.

Over the coming weeks we will be releasing short extra episodes in response to the strange times we are living through. Former guests will be returning to reflect on how they are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what they hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values.

We would love to hear your responses to these same questions. You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at [email protected]. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can.

Sarah was our guest on episode 49 of The Sacred. She is a DPhil researcher in the Department of Politics in Oxford and the Head of Content at The School of Life.

In this episode Sarah talks about adapting to life in lockdown and how her sacred value of learning is guiding her through this time. This episode also features a short voice memo sent in by Tom, one of our listeners.

We would love to hear how you are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what you hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values. You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at [email protected]. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can.

Ruth was the Chief Executive of Stonewall from 2014 to 2019 and worked there in various roles previously. She is now co–director of Deeds and Words and sits in the House of Lords as Baroness Hunt of Bethnal Green. She is also the curator of The Book of Queer Prophets which will be released in May this year.

In this episode she speaks about the joy her relationship with God brings her, her love of the Bible, leading Stonewall through a change in its position on trans issues and why defensive anger doesn’t get you very far.

Over the coming weeks we will be releasing short extra episodes in response to the strange times we are living through. Former guests will be returning to reflect on how they are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what they hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values.

We would also love to hear your responses to these same questions. You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at [email protected]. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can.

Over the coming weeks we will be releasing short extra episodes in response to the strange times we are living through. Former guests will be returning to reflect on how they are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what they hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values. In this episode, Elizabeth reflects on who we value and what we owe each other.

We would also love to hear your responses to these same questions - has this time changed or crystallised what you hold sacred, and/or what can this time tell us about the values we share? You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at [email protected]. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can, and if you need somewhere quiet to record, we recommend under a duvet!

Finally, in case you missed it, our filmmaker Emily Downe created this short film based on the poem Pandemic by Lynn Ungar, which Elizabeth read in a previous episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU65FsVDcKc.

Rabbi Sacks is an international religious leader, moral philosopher and author. He was the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth for 22 years, and has written books that have been formative for many including ‘The Dignity of Difference’ and ‘Not in God’s Name’. His most recent book is called ‘Morality: Restoring the Common Good in Divided Times.’

In this episode he speaks about the twin threads of his life in religious leadership and academic moral philosophy, and how those two things have worked together, what his own religious practice looks like, and why the Holocaust makes him doubt humans but not God.

In this short bonus episode Elizabeth Oldfield reflects on how peace building practices can help us in this unprecedented public health crisis, and offers some possible reasons for hope. She also reads Pandemic, by Lynn Ungar, which can be found here:

http://www.lynnungar.com/

Charles is a journalist, columnist and former editor of The Spectator, The Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph. He’s also the authorised biographer of Margaret Thatcher.

In this episode Charles speaks about his sacred value of orthodoxy, his conversion to Catholicism, and why he thinks a good adversarial argument is one way to the truth.

David is a comedian, screenwriter, author and television presenter. He’s written novels for children and adults, the play ‘My Family: Not the Sitcom’, and the film ‘The Infidel’ among many other things. His most recent play, ‘God’s Dice’, is about science, religion and quantum theory, and he’s currently touring with a new comedy show ‘Trolls: Not the Dolls’.

In this episode David speaks about his sacred value of truth, growing up only knowing Jewish people, why he’s an atheist who quite likes religion, and how he uses his public voice.

Beth is a novelist and the author of WHSmith's book of the year The Flatshare. She studied English at Oxford and worked in publishing before leaving to write full time. Her next novel, out in April, is called The Switch.

In this episode she speaks about which novels and which writers we take seriously and why, the experience of suddenly having a public voice and the power of fiction to make us feel better.