Unbelievable?

In this New Year’s classic edition of Unbelievable? author Jessica Kelly discusses the story behind her book Lord Willing: Wrestling with God’s Role in My Child’s Death. Jessica recounts the gradual onset of symptoms, the shock of an aggressive brain tumour diagnosis in her four-year-old son Henry, and the decision to bring him home with hospice care. She explains why she could not accept “God pla...

Bad theology, great tunes - who cares? We bring you the truth about Christmas carols in this festive bonus from Ask NT Wright Anything, theologian Tom Wright and host Mike Bird take a playful yet thoughtful look at our favourite (and not-so-favourite) Christmas hymns. Many people love singing carols even if they’re unsure what they believe, but are some beloved hymns actually theologically mislead...

In a replay Christmas special Justin Brierley is joined by priest and physicist Revd Gillian Straine and agnostic astronomer Mark Kidger of the European Space Agency. They discuss the scientific theories for the star of Bethlehem, who the Magi were and how scientists reconcile the miracles of Christmas with science. And… cute kids alert! We hear the Christmas story retold by 6 and 7yr olds. Toward...

In this live edition of Premier Unbelievable? from Aylesbury High School in the UK, stand-in host Sam McKee moderates a thought-provoking dialogue between: Caleb Woodbridge – Christian writer, editor and cultural apologist John Richards – President of Atheism UK Together they wrestle with questions of meaning, value, morality, evolution, human rights, animal ethics, suffering and religion as comfo...

Lord Nigel Biggar joins Premier Unbelievable? – The Interview host Luke Martin for a wide-ranging conversation on Christianity, politics, and the moral foundations of Western society. A priest in the Church of England, Emeritus Regius Professor of Moral Theology at Oxford, and now a Conservative peer in the House of Lords, Biggar has become one of the UK’s most prominent public intellectuals. We d...

As Advent approaches, John Nelson hosts Dr Jonny Rowlands (St Mellitus College, UK) and Rabbi Prof Marc Shapiro (University of Scranton, USA) to ask: did Jesus fulfil scriptural prophecy? They explore what ‘fulfilment’ means, challenge checklist claims, and show how Second Temple Judaism held diverse Messianic hopes. Topics include Bethlehem and Micah 5, Isaiah 7:14 (alma vs parthenos), typology v...

- The fine-tuning of the Universe: Big Conversation - Episode 4 | Season 3. Many physicists have pointed out the extraordinary ‘fine tuning’ of the physical laws of the universe that have allowed life to develop within the cosmos. Luke Barnes believes it gives evidence for a designer behind the cosmos, whereas Sabine Hossenfelder disagrees, questioning whether we can even speak of ‘fine tuning’ as...

Is belief in God rational, or is it something no reasonable person should accept? In this live Unbelievable? school debate recorded in Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School in Aylesbury, Andy Kind hosts philosopher Dr Joshua Sijuwade (University of Birmingham) and physician-educator Julius Weinberg (Trustee, National Secular Society) for a rigorous and fiery exchange on the sanity of belief. They tackle...

Luke Martin sits down with medieval historian and pastor’s wife Prof Beth Allison Barr (Baylor University) to explore how her research on women in late medieval England reshaped her views on “biblical womanhood”. Beth shares her journey from committed complementarian to outspoken critic, the personal cost of her husband losing his church job over a woman teaching Sunday school, and the backlash th...

Christian thinker Joe Boot and Muslim scholar Hafsar debate what Christianity and Islam each teach about the identity of Jesus — from His birth and miracles to the crucifixion, resurrection, and second coming. They discuss: • Jesus in the Qur’an vs the New Testament • Tawhid and the oneness of God • The Trinity and divine nature • Whether Jesus was crucified or taken up to heaven • Salvation, sin-...

Revisiting another classic show from 2021, and asking has the ‘sea of faith’ ebbed for good, and what might replace it—new atheism, ‘woke’ moralism, or a rediscovery of Christianity’s story? Douglas Murray and N.T. Wright discuss identity, myth and meaning in a post-Christian West. Murray, an “uncomfortable agnostic,” values the Christian inheritance yet laments a church that echoes the culture ra...

Can a Christian ever support war? In this episode, host Dr. John Nelson brings together pastor and peace advocate Brian Zahnd (A Farewell to Mars) and theologian Andrew Hronich (Once Loved, Always Loved) for a challenging and profound conversation about pacifism, just war theory, and Christian discipleship in a world at war. From the Sermon on the Mount to the streets of Gaza, this debate probes t...

In this intimate and wide-ranging conversation, Kathy Keller speaks with Luke Martin about life, faith, and the theological vision she shared with her late husband, Tim Keller. Kathy revisits her teenage correspondence with C.S. Lewis, the formative influences that shaped Tim’s preaching, and why “contextualisation” has been so widely misunderstood. She introduces Tim’s new posthumous book, What I...

Can we really know whether God exists... or is belief just a product of evolution and psychology? In this powerful Unbelievable? debate filmed at a UK school, Andy Kind hosts philosopher and atheist Dr Stephen Law and Christian biologist Sam McKee for a fascinating and heartfelt conversation about belief, meaning, and the human search for truth. From the problem of evil and the evolution of belief...

In this classic Unbelievable? from The Big Conversation, Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom (Future of Humanity Institute; Superintelligence) and MIT pioneer Rosalind Picard (Affective Computing) discuss God, AI and the future of humanity—could technology be the key to immortality? They weigh near-term benefits and risks, from alignment and governance to the temptation of power. Do machines feel or b...

What is really real? In this wide-ranging conversation, Dr Zachary Ardern (evolutionary biologist, Wellcome Sanger Institute), Dr Alex Carter (philosopher, University of Cambridge), and Dr Sam McKee (science historian, Manchester Metropolitan University) sit down to revisit one of the oldest debates in human thought — the relationship between science, religion, and ultimate reality. This one will...

In our inaugural episode of Premier Unbelievable: The Interview, host Luke Martin sits down with modern hymn writers Keith and Kristyn Getty—the duo, alongside Stuart Townend, behind the global hymn “In Christ Alone.” From Belfast roots to life in Nashville, Luke explores their craft, calling, and why congregational singing forms the grammar of belief. The Gettys reflect on the partnership of poet...

Premier Unbelievable guest-hosted by Dr. Sam McKee heads to John Colet School in Wendover, UK for a lively debate on science, religion and reality with Oxford atomic & laser physicist Prof Paul Ewart (Christian; former Faraday Institute director, ex-president of Christians in Science) and UCL biophysics & imaging expert Prof Simon Walker-Samuel (trustee, Humanists UK). Together they explore whethe...

Today we’re dipping back into a Classic Unbelievable? / The Big Conversation episode: Bishop Robert Barron vs Alex O’Connor on the question, “Christianity or atheism — which best explains who we are?” Recorded when Alex was still a student at Oxford, this lively, good-humoured exchange set the tone for countless thoughtful dialogues to come. Since then, Alex’s Cosmic Skeptic platform has grown mas...

Can Christianity save democracy? Vince Vitale hosts a frank, generous exchange between social critic Os Guinness and author Jonathan Rauch about faith’s civic foundations, liberalism, and power. This is one we’ve been looking forward to! Rauch, a scientific materialist, argues that democracy needs Christianity’s deepest teachings; Guinness locates America’s virtues in the Hebrew–Christian traditio...

In this classic Unbelievable? Big Conversation, atheist broadcaster Matt Dillahunty (The Atheist Experience) and Christian evangelist Glen Scrivener (Speak Life) clash over the foundations of morality. Is secular humanism enough, or does Christianity uniquely ground human dignity? They test claims about wellbeing, the is–ought gap, intrinsic vs extrinsic religiosity, “cancel culture,” and whether...

In today's Unbelievable? school debate, Zachary Ardern, a christian biologist, and Alex Carter, an atheist scientist, face off on whether scientific progress has made belief in God obsolete. Hosted by Andy Kind, the discussion dives into the biggest questions of all: Can science explain everything, or does it point beyond itself? Is faith irrational in the age of reason? What counts as evidence fo...

Tom Holland and philosopher A.C. Grayling differ deliciously in this classic Big Conversation part of Premier's Unbelievable? Podcast. Where does the West’s moral compass really come from? Drawing on Holland’s bestselling Dominion and Grayling’s secular humanism, they spar over the roots of dignity, equality and rights. Was the cross a moral revolution that overturned Rome’s hierarchy reshaping at...

A bestselling French engineer argues that modern cosmology points to a Creator — but a leading physicist says science explains it all without God. Unbelievable? podcast John Nelson hosts cosmologist Dr Niayesh Afshordi and entrepreneur-author and engineer Michel-Yves Bolloré for a lively clash on cosmic origins. Afshordi outlines ideas that our universe may have emerged from a black hole and surve...

How did the universe come into being, and why are we part of it? Sir Roger Penrose (atheist-leaning Nobel laureate) and Christian philosopher William Lane Craig come together for this mind-stretching Big Conversation: “Did the universe begin and what is its origin and purpose in it?” Penrose outlines his three “mysteries” (physics, mind, mathematics) and his Conformal Cyclic Cosmology, while Craig...