The Sacred

Elizabeth Alker is a BBC Radio 3 presenter, and previously spent several years working at BBC Radio 6 Music.

Elizabeth spoke about growing up with parents who fostered, the role of faith in her life, fairness as a sacred value and her reflections on being northern.

Read the full transcript here: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2024/03/13/elizabeth-alker-on-fairness-foster-care-and-accent-stigma

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The Sacred is a podcast produced by the think tank Theos. Be sure to connect with us below to stay up-to-date with all our content, research and events.

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The Sacred: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sacred/id1326888108

Reading Our Times: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/reading-our-times/id1530952185

Freddie Sayers is Editor-in-Chief of UnHerd and host of the podcast UnHerd with Freddie Sayers. He was the former Editor-in-Chief of YouGov and founder of Politics Home.

Freddie spoke about his sacred value of beauty, his unconventional path into political journalism, why he began to question some of the underlying logic and culture of liberalism, his outspoken criticism of lockdown policy's during COVID-19, and how he navigates being unorthodox and questioning without descending into tribalism.

Read the full transcript here: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2024/03/06/freddie-sayers-on-political-tribalism-and-questioning-the-status-quo

** Listen to Freddie's podcast UnHerd with Freddie Sayers here https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/unherd-with-freddie-sayers/id1540134798

*****

The Sacred is a podcast produced by the think tank Theos. Be sure to connect with us below to stay up-to-date with all our content, research and events.

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CHECK OUT OUR PODCASTS

The Sacred: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sacred/id1326888108

Reading Our Times: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/reading-our-times/id1530952185

Katherine May is the author of multiple books, both fiction and memoir, including the much celebrated Wintering and The Electricity of Every Living Thing. She most recently authored the book Enchantment: Reawakening Wonder in an Exhausted Age, and is the host of the very popular podcast How We Live Now.

Katherine spoke about seasons of life, finding wonder in the everyday, class, autism, the weirdness of becoming a 'person of wisdom' to many and how to avoid becoming an internet guru.

** You can buy a copy of Katherine's book 'Enchantment' here: https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571378357-enchantment/ **

** And check out her podcast How We Live Now here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/how-we-live-now-with-katherine-may/id1516642192 **

Read the full transcript here: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2024/02/28/katherine-may-on-everyday-wonder-and-how-to-not-be-a-guru

*****

The Sacred is a podcast produced by the think tank Theos. Be sure to connect with us below to stay up-to-date with all our content, research and events.

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The Sacred: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sacred/id1326888108

Reading Our Times: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/reading-our-times/id1530952185

Chris Packham is a naturalist, nature photographer and TV Presenter best known for his 40 years of work in television on programmes such as CBBC's The Really Wild Show and the BBC's Springwatch.

Chris spoke about his childhood, and the challenges of growing up with undiagnosed autism, the influence punk had, and has, on him, and experiences of religious diversity in the home.

Find out more about Chris' work by visiting his website here: https://www.chrispackham.co.uk/

Read the full transcript here: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2024/02/21/chris-packham-on-love-grief-and-autism

*****

The Sacred is a podcast produced by the think tank Theos. Be sure to connect with us below to stay up-to-date with all our content, research and events.

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Website: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/

CHECK OUT OUR PODCASTS

The Sacred: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sacred/id1326888108

Reading Our Times: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/reading-our-times/id1530952185

*Content Note*

This episode briefly touches on early chapters of Clementine's life where she was sexually abused as a minor. Listener caution, especially if listening with young children around, is advised.

Clementine Morrigan is a writer and podcaster known for her active challenging of cancel culture from a leftist perspective. After her own cancellation in 2020 she began the Fucking Cancelled podcast with Jay Lesoleil, which looks to critique cancel culture, identitarianism, and 'social justice' orthodoxy.

Clementine spoke about her upbringing, how abuse and bullying sent her down a path of alcoholism at a young age, her recovery through Alcoholics Anonymous, what the 12 steps taught her about human dignity and forgiveness, and why that message left her at odds with 'cancel culture'.

You can listen to Fucking Cancelled here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/fucking-cancelled/id1549437914

You can read more from Clementine here: https://www.clementinemorrigan.com/

You can follow Clementine on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/clementinemorrigan/?hl=en

Read the full transcript here: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2024/02/14/clementine-morrigan-on-trauma-alcohol-recovery-and-challenging-cancel-culture-from-the-left

*****

The Sacred is a podcast produced by the think tank Theos. Be sure to connect with us below to stay up-to-date with all our content, research and events.

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The Sacred: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sacred/id1326888108

Reading Our Times: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/reading-our-times/id1530952185

Greg Wise is an actor and film producer best known for his roles in Sense and Sensibility and The Crown. In 2018 he published Not That Kind Of Love, a memoir co-written with his sister Clare about the process of her dying and him taking care of her. He is also known for standing next to his wife, Emma Thompson on the red carpet.

Greg spoke about his love for rock climbing and solitude in nature, the role actors play in our common life, and what he learnt about death after caring for his sister.

Read the full transcript here: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2024/02/07/greg-wise-on-the-transcendent-dimensions-of-nature-death-and-acting

*****

The Sacred is a podcast produced by the think tank Theos. Be sure to connect with us below to stay up-to-date with all our content, research and events.

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CHECK OUT OUR PODCASTS

The Sacred: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sacred/id1326888108

Reading Our Times: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/reading-our-times/id1530952185

Elizabeth Oldfield is joined by producer Daniel Turner to answer questions sent in by listeners of the show.

Thank you to Hannah Clifton, John Ablett, John Ranford, Jess Reid, AJ Bremner, Paul Mitchell, Marc Czerwinski, Anne Weinhold, Rishi Vaidya and Emily Rajeh for sending in your questions.

Special thanks Leanne Sedin for writing and producing the song Gather which you can listen to here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GWbq2ZIl2E

You can follow the rest of Leanne's work here: https://www.leannesedin.com/

CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Intro

00:06:48 Question 1 - Balancing communal acts with personal integrity

00:13:14 Question 2 - Is there anyone you'd like to invite back?

00:17:23 Question 3 - How do we do theology in the Anthropocene?

00:21:46 Question 4 - Finding community

00:30:06 Question 5 - How do you surrender? How do you believe?

00:44:22 Question 6 - Remaining positive about community after painful experiences

00:48:02 Question 7 - Church vs Nature

00:50:38 Question 8 - Sacred reflections

00:54:33 Question 9 - How can we counter a Christianity that is ideologically possessed?

00:59:00 Outro

01:01:30 Gather by Leanne Sedin

*****

The Sacred is a podcast produced by the think tank Theos. Be sure to connect with us below to stay up-to-date with all our content, research and events.

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This series of The Sacred Elizabeth spoke with nine fascinating individuals about their core values, and how the messages, philosophies and experiences from their childhood shaped them into the people they are today.

She spoke with Cole Arthur Riley, Thordis Elva, James Marriott, Tomiwa Owolade, Anne McElvoy, Tea Uglow, Iain McGilchrist and John Vervaeke.

In this reflection episode, Elizabeth takes a look back at all these conversations and dwells on a couple key threads that were prominent throughout.

Read 'Can there ever be a larger us in the Middle East?', which Elizabeth contributed to, here: https://larger.us/ideas/larger-us-middle-east/

CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Intro: Scheduling Beyond Demographic Boxes

00:03:00 Series Theme 1: Rigorous Particularity

00:03:59 Series Theme 2: Human Formation

00:07:52 Series Theme 3: Taking Time to Reflect

00:12:00 Series Theme 4: Anti–tribalism

00:15:29 Additional reflection: Israel and Gaza

*****

The Sacred is a podcast produced by the think tank Theos. Be sure to connect with us below to stay up-to-date with all our content, research and events.

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John Vervaeke is professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science at the University of Toronto. He is also the host of the popular YouTube channel ( @johnvervaeke ) where he explores what he has coined the #meaningcrisis.

John spoke about his upbringing in a fundamentalist Christian home and what he has learned from that experience after time in therapy, relationships and the nature of reality, and the rehoming of spiritual practises outside of "legacy religions".

Find out more about John's work here: https://johnvervaeke.com

*****

The Sacred is a podcast produced by the think tank Theos. Be sure to connect with us below to stay up-to-date with all our content, research and events.

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Website: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/

CHECK OUT OUR PODCASTS

The Sacred: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sacred/id1326888108

Reading Our Times: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/reading-our-times/id1530952185

Iain McGilchrist is a globally acclaimed psychiatrist and writer author of groundbreaking books ‘The Master And His Emissary’ and ‘The Matter With Things’.

Iain spoke with Elizabeth about the varying exposures he had to religion in his childhood, how he went from being an English academic to psychiatry, and the effect left-hemispheric dominant thinking has had on our society.

Find out more about Iain's work here: https://channelmcgilchrist.com/

*****

The Sacred is a podcast produced by the think tank Theos. Be sure to connect with us below to stay up-to-date with all our content, research and events.

CONNECT WITH THE SACRED

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CONNECT WITH ELIZABETH OLDFIELD

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethsaraholdfield/

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Website: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/

CHECK OUT OUR PODCASTS

The Sacred: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sacred/id1326888108

Reading Our Times: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/reading-our-times/id1530952185