The Sacred

Lizzie Damilola Blackburn is a British Nigerian author, and writer of 'Yinka, Where is your Huzband?' a book which explores the experience of a young Nigerian woman living in London and wrestling societal/family expectations of faith, life and love. She spoke about her experience growing up in a Nigerian, Christian household, the way her faith shapes her writing, and why representation matters in...

Katharine Birbalsingh is the founder and headmistress of the Michaela Community School. She is known for promoting ’small-c’ conservative values in the her school, and has subsequently been dubbed Britain’s Strictest Headmistress, which later became the title of an ITV documentary exploring her and her methods. She spoke about the underlying philosophy of Michaela Community School, her journey fro...

Baroness Tanni Grey Thompson DBE DL is an 11 time gold-winning Paralympian, and cross-bench peer in the House of Lords. Her highly successful career has seen her become one of Great Britain's most accomplished athletes, to sitting on and chairing various boards, including @_ukactive, to politics, to her active role in politics. She spoke about the joy of sport and the role it plays in society, her...

Yoram Hazony is a political analyst and writer from Israel. He is the President of the Herzl Institute, Chairman of the Edmund Burke, and author of a number of books, most recent of which is 'Conservatism: A Rediscovery'. He spoke about Orthodox Judaism and his path to reclaiming it, the fundamental differences between Conservatives and Marxists, and how Nationalism is frequently misunderstood. Re...

Jared Yates Sexton is an American writer and political commentator. Having begun his career writing and teaching fiction, things changed as his investigative journaling in the run up to the 2016 Presidential election plunged him into the world of politics. He is also the host of the Muckrake Podcast. He spoke about his childhood in a fundamentalist Christian church, the need for 'good brokership'...

Clover Stroud is a journalist and best-selling author of three books, the most recent of which is The Red of my Blood. She spoke about spoke about her upbringing, grappling with death, and the intertwined relationship between grief, God, creativity and horses. Read the full transcript here: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2023/01/25/clover-stroud-on-grief-god-creativity-and-horses Purchas...

Nick Cave is a multi award-winning Australian rock singer-songwriter who over his 40+ year long career has seen the release of countless records, film scores, and writings. Seán O’Hagan is an award-winning journalist for the The Guardian with a speciality in photography. The two of them spoke about faith and religion, the transformative nature of grief, and the experience of writing their book Fai...

This past series Elizabeth Oldfield spoke to Paul Kingsnorth, Sathnam Sanghera, Zara Mohammed, Sarah Langford, Dante Stewart, Rowan Deacon, Jonathan Pageau, Zing Tsjeng and Prue Leith. This wide range of guests brought with them a variety of sacred values, but also some common themes of thought and reflection. This episode Elizabeth pulls together all she learnt from these guests, their values, id...

Dame Prue Leith, DBE is a South African restaurateur, chef, television presenter/broadcaster, cookery writer, novelist and much more. Today she is widely known for being a judge on Channel 4’s The Great British Bake Off. She is also the mother of Conservative MP, and former guest, Danny Kruger. She spoke about growing up in South Africa during apartheid, and the importance of tolerance when speaki...

Zing Tsjeng is the editor in chief of Vice UK. She is the author of the book series 'Forgotten Women' which profiles underrated historical women in various fields, and is the host of the BBC podcast United Zingdom. She spoke about her experience of growing up in Singapore and the way in which the government monitor the media, what she feels Vice UK's role and unique voice is, and the many problema...

Jonathan Pageau is a French Canadian icon carver, public speaker and YouTuber exploring the symbolic patterns that underlie our experience of the world. He spoke about his journey to creating religious art, the different ways people on the political spectrum dehumanise each other, and his friendship with Jordan Peterson.

Rowan Deacon is a documentary filmmaker. Her portfolio includes the multi award winning film How to Die: Simon's Choice, and most recently Jimmy Savile: A Very British Horror Story, which was in the top 10 globally on Netflix. She spoke about what drew her to documentaries, the power of storytelling and the ethical questions at play when producing a documentary. Read the full transcript here: http...

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/...

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 agricultur...

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/2022/10/0...

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...

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-environmenta...

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 deat...

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.th...

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-the...

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...

Danny Kruger MP is a Conservative Member of Parliament for the Devizes constituency in Wiltshire. He and his wife founded and ran Only Connect, a charity that works with men and women in prison or recently released, with the aim of helping them live crime-free lives. Prior to this he worked as a speechwriter for the Conservative party, for a think tank, and as a journalist. He speaks about his con...

Frank Cottrell-Boyce is a screenwriter and novelist. He is best known for his screenplays for 24 Hour Party People, Welcome to Sarajevo and others, his award–winning children’s books, including Millions, and for being the writer of the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony, one of many collaborations with his friend, Danny Boyle. He speaks about his sacramental faith, the place of forgiveness in society,...

James is co–chair and co–founder of COOK, the very fancy and very delicious frozen food company. He is also co–founder and board member of the B Corp, co–chairman of B Lab UK and a founding partner of Snowball, which is a multi–asset impact investment manager. He has also been deputy chairman of the social Stock Exchange. Wherever people have been thinking about how business and capital can be use...