Seen & Unseen Aloud

Christmas Countdown Day 3: continuing yesterday's theme, today we consider how this Christmas, we might be closer than ever to the Nativity story's origins. Terror. Surveillance. Poverty. Genocide. Julie Canlis asks whether perhaps it's time to add a dragon to tame Christmas crib scenes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christmas Countdown Day 2's episode of the Christmas Countdown, Yaroslav Walker puts forward his defence of the traditional nativity play and what it brings to us at Chr istmas Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Christmas Countdown begins! Day 1: Alianore Smith talks Advent Calendars Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we start with Josh Richards asking why snow still generates awe and wonder in even the most grown up of us; Jamie Mulvaney tells us that crows can hold a grudge for up to 17 years and considers the consequences of human grudges being held; finally James K. A. Smith writes an open letter to Sally Rooney to thank her for opening his heart. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more in...

This week's smorgasbord includes Graham Tomlin's claim that Trump's win may be neither total triumph nor total disaster; Jack Chisnall discusses national leadership from Henry VIII in Wolf Hall to present day; Krish Kandiah unpacks the Paddington Paradox and Kevin Hargaden shines a spotlight on the backstage goodness of Small Things like These Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inform...

This week we mark Remembrance with Simon Cansdale as he suggests that hospitals are home to the truth of war; Belle Tindall helps our psychological state post-US election sharing some political wisdom from Luke Bretherton and Yaroslav Walker reviews the Trump movie and how it comments on the President's recent election success. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's episode includes the burning question: is Donald Trump a fascist or a buffoon? asked by George Pitcher; Alex Ross takes us into the world of surveillance that is China and Belle Tindall explores Miranda Hart's diagnosis of the unseen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Ryan Stark points out some of the pitfalls in dating a vampire; Jack Nicholson pays beautiful tribute to W.H. Auden's poetry and its ability to give us words for current world trauma; and Jack Chisnall cracks the puzzle of our love of puzzles in his article about BBC's drama, Ludwig. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, George Pitcher asks why we still bother celebrating Harvest; Jane Williams explains why the Nicene Creed was such a total game-changer and Henna Cundill explores the proposed legislation around Assisted Dying from the point of view of Conscientious Objectors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's particularly eclectic episode, Natalie Garrett contemplates the power of real joy; Theodore Brun gives us a thoughtful review of Netflix's "Kaos" and Matthew Hall challenges us to think again about Assisted Dying Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Belle Tindall gets cosy and looks to make the mundane meaningful; Katherine Amphlett tells a very personal and poignant story of a grieving family finding solace and God's presence in natural beauty; on the anniversary of the conflict in the Middle East, Graham Tomlin urges the importance of loving our enemies and embracing a touch of doubt about the certainty of our moral case. H...

This week week Elizabeth Wainwright asks whether the Google impulse started in the Garden of Eden - to know all immediately; Mark Meynell visits Ukraine and tells us a bit about "normal" life there; James Cary considers what the dragon-slaying St Michael might have to say about our culture's battle between good and evil. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In our first Seen & Unseen Aloud Short, Graham Tomlin narrates his own article "Watching Grenfell - the lost art of penitence". Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we start with Jared Stacy unpacking how projections and polls cannot capture the power of stories shaping identity and US election politics; Roger Bretherton asks why it is that "sorry" just might be the hardest word and Helen Cowan dives into a poem by JRR Tolkien which speaks to her, poignantly, about the experience of living with dementia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mo...

In this episode, George Pitcher tracks the cultural story of Oasis and two Labour Prime Ministers; Katherine Amphlett visits her aging parents and needs to put on an armour of feathers while James Lawrence finds a surprising story amid the cynical desert of Deadpool and Wolverine's nihilism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we enter a world of high drama - internally we voyage with Henna Cundill through the spiritual potential of the Inside Out films; Belle Tindall takes us on an emotional ride through Nick Cave's new album, Wild God; and Graham Tomlin challenges us to see The Grenfell Tower Inquiry as a significant cultural moment to reflect personally and nationally on the way we treat each other. Hosted...

This week we contemplate the challenges of winning and losing as Julia Kendal asks what Simone Biles might be doing today; Oliver Wright explores the relationship between religion and music and Silvianne & Barnabas Aspray ask why religion and faith aren't dying any time soon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's episode finds George Pitcher hoping that faith and religion are being given a revival in the world of publishing and Graham Tomlin explores the Paris Olympics for evidence of the choice between faith, secularism and modern paganism Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Summer Box Set Special, Jamie Mulvaney thinks about third spaces and when the journey is the destination; Natalie Garrett makes a case for taking a holiday and Roger Bretherton talks us through how to get the best out of our downtime Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Summer Box Set Special is dedicated to Emerson Csorba. He talks us through US politics with a focus on James Baker; he asks what's the point of purpose and how do we find it? and he contemplates the power of supposedly random encounters with people. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the second of our Summer episodes, Simon Horobin unpacks CS Lewis's assertion that great stories allow ideas to be experienced rather than merely thought about; James Cary explores the Disneyfication of the Monasteries in Shardlake and Sylvianne Aspray asserts that it's our mistakes that set us apart from the machines. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we make a nod to the events of the week as Joel Pierce asks if political practice can capture something heavenly; Sam Tomlin talks national identity amidst the Euros; Abigail Frymann Rouch asks whether we may be we moving beyond the secular scepticism of religion and James Sampson-Foster invites us to place a bet on our eternal destination. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy f...

This week, we slow down with Jessica Brown and consider the companionship to be found in reading with others; Henna Cundill asks whether loving our enemies (even within the political realm) can be beneficial for personal growth and Natalie Williams contemplates the extraordinary power of mercy within the workings of society Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we take a close look at how we think: Graham Tomlin considers the different thought paradigms of Richard Dawkins and Ayaan Hirsi Ali; Simon Burton-Jones delves into the psychology of football fans and Barnabas Aspray thinks about what happens when political dialogue gives way to animal-like culture war. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Yaroslav Walker argues that Democracy and Dairy just don't mix; Roger Bretherton explores the philosophy / theology of Netflix's The Three Body Problem and Jane Cacouris is moved by artist Hannah Thomas' visceral and moving portraits which offer a glimpse into suffering, and healing, souls. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.