The Sacred

Andrew Copson is Chief Executive of Humanists UK, previously known as the British Humanist Association, and was formerly Director of Education and Public Affairs at the same organisation. He is also President of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, the global umbrella body for atheist, humanist, sceptic and secularist organisations. He has contributed to several books on secularism and humanism and is the author of Secularism: Politics, Religion, and Freedom.

In this episode he discusses his childhood in the midlands, his sacred values of freedom, family and community, and how Blair’s backing of faith schools in the late nineties felt like a disruption of destiny. The episode also covers the pressures on campaigning organisations around integrity, navigating adversarial situations productively and the sometimes unspoken challenges of being friends across divides.

This episode was edited for content and clarity. If you would like to listen to the full version, you can access it here: https://soundcloud.com/thesacredpodcast/28-andrew-copson-full-interview/s-EFaPh

Remona Aly is a journalist who writes for the Guardian, presents Pause For Thought on BBC Radio 2, Something Understood on BBC Radio 4, and the podcast Things Unseen. Previously, she was the deputy editor of emel, a glossy Muslim lifestyle magazine, and is director of communications of the Exploring Islam Foundation.

In this episode she discusses how she finds riches and wisdom in a wide range of faith traditions — but is ultimately “in love” with Islam, how she deals with the abuse she gets as a public Muslim woman, and why she loves going to Friday night dinner with her Jewish friends.

Dr Seth Anziska an American historian living in London. He is the Mohamed S. Farsi-Polonsky Lecturer in Jewish-Muslim Relations at University College London and a visiting fellow at the U.S./Middle East Project. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Foreign Policy, and Haaretz, and He is the author of Preventing Palestine: A Political History from Camp David to Oslo

In this episode, Seth talks about his orthodox Jewish upbringing, the role of historical records in understanding ourselves, and why powerless populations often lose access to their past through lack of archives or reliance on oral history. He discusses why he resists commenting on every controversy, the “noble dream” of objectivity, and why he is an academic willing to be open about his personal story.

Chine McDonald is the media and PR lead for Christian Aid, one of the world's largest and best known non profit organisations. She was previously director of communications & membership for the Evangelical Alliance, overseeing the editorial and fundraising teams, as well as the team that looks after 3,600 church and 600 organisation members. She read theology at Cambridge University, where she was also news editor of the university newspaper Varsity.

In this episode, Chine talks about growing up in Lagos, Nigeria before moving to South London, her experiences growing up with faith in her household, and how she navigated that faith when attending university. She also talks about how race and gender are essential parts of any discussion around common values, and how "opting out of identity politics" is much easier said than done, especially if you are a woman of colour.

Casper ter Kuile is a host of the "Harry Potter and the Sacred Text" podcast, a show that dissects J.K. Rowling’s classic series as if it were the Torah or the Bible. He was a Ministry Innovation Fellow at Harvard Divinity School and is also a strategist at the podcast "On Being" with Krista Tippett.

In this episode, Casper talks about growing up in a non- religious environment but coming to religion on his own terms, his history in climate activism and how that led him to divinity school, as well as why it's useful explore texts like Harry Potter as 'sacred', as a way to appreciate its nuances and more subtle, but still prescient, messages.

Michael Wear is the founder of Public Square Strategies LLC, a consulting firm that helps businesses, non-profits, foundations, and Christian organizations at the intersection of faith, politics, and culture. Wear directed faith outreach for President Obama's historic 2012 re-election campaign and was one of the youngest White House staffers in modern American history, leading evangelical outreach and helping manage the White House's engagement on religious and values issues, including adoption and anti-human trafficking efforts. He holds an honorary position at the University of Birmingham's Edward Cadbury Centre for the Public Understanding of Religion, and serves on the national board of Bethany Christian Services.

In this episode, Elizabeth talks to Michael about growing up as a Catholic in the Mid West, converting to Evangelicalism, working in the White House under Barack Obama and how religion fits into identity politics - something that he argues will be fundamental in the run up to the 2020 Presidential election.

"The Sacred" will be performing its first live recording at the Church and Media conference, on the 18th October 2018. To book your tickets, follow the Eventbrite link here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/church-and-media-conference-2018-tickets-35571817263

Teresa Bejan 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. Her book, Mere Civility: Disagreement and the Limits of Toleration (Harvard University Press) examines contemporary calls for civility in light of seventeenth-century debates about religious toleration in England and America. Many of the pressing questions facing liberal democracies today—such as what the proper scope of religious liberty should be, or how to handle partisanship and hate speech—closely recall early modern concerns about the limits of toleration and so-called “persecution of the tongue.”

In this episode, Teresa talks to Elizabeth about her book, the importance of building resilience when being confronted with ideas different from our own, and why not having a thick skin when it comes to critique, might be a good thing.

John Lloyd is a television producer best known for his work on such comedy television programmes as Not the Nine O'Clock News, Spitting Image, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Blackadder and QI. He is also the presenter of the BBC radio 4 series "The Museum of Curiosity".

In this episode, Lloyd talks about growing up in a secular household but not calling himself an atheist, the role of comedy in presenting new ideas and challenging dogma, and what he's learnt from studying other religions - including from Sufi poetry.

This podcast is a project of Theos Think Tank (@theosthinktank) and is hosted by Elizabeth Oldfield (@theoselizabeth).

Timandra Harkness is a journalist, comedian and statistician. She is a regular on BBC Radio 4, writing and presenting How To Disagree, a beginner’s guide to having better arguments and FutureProofing, a series looking at the social impact of new big ideas. She also presents documentaries such as Data, Data Everywhere and Personality Politics, and was resident reporter on social psychology series The Human Zoo.

In this episode, she talks to Elizabeth about her childhood, why its important to hear ideas you don't like so that yours are better informed, and why she chose to study mathematics and statistics as a way of finding out answers to life's bigger questions. She also talks about Artificial Intelligence, and why it's no replacement for human enquiry and empathy.

Follow Elizabeth at @theoselizabeth and Theos Think Tank at @theosthinktank to keep up to date with future episodes, events and research.

Ian Dunt is editor of politics.co.uk. He specialises in issues around immigration, civil liberties, democracy, free speech and social justice. He also writes for other publications, including the Erotic Review, and regularly features in British newspapers and television programmes.

In this episode Ian talks about the future of liberalism, what studying philosophy and taking drugs taught him about faith, and his short stint as a Christian. He also talks about the rise of political extremism, and the dangers of letting it grow by ignoring it.

This episode also features a conversation with Theos researcher Simon Perfect, about the state of religious education in British schools, and why there are so few qualified RE teachers across the country.

Follow Elizabeth Oldfield on Twitter at @theoselizabeth, and The Sacred at @Sacred_Podcast. You can also follow Theos on Twitter @Theosthinktank, or check out www.theosthinktank.co.uk.