Esther Maria Magnis: re-enchanting suffering

A raw account of the beauty of life and the ugliness of death.

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

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Esther Maria Magnis is a German writer whose book With or Without Me is a memoir of her journey with faith and the perception of reality.

With unflinching honesty Esther takes us through her childhood and adolescence as she, along with her brother and sister, deals with the grief of her father’s cancer diagnosis, her prayers, and her journey through the loss of faith, into materialism, self-deconstruction and finally the turn back to the idea of God.

Justin and Belle talk to Esther about her raw account of coming to terms with faith through the beauty of life, the ugliness of death, and even the apparent silence of God.

With or With Out Me is published by Plough.

With or With Out Me

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Podcast

Podcasts

Re-enchanting

Theatre

12 March 2025

1 min read

Kate Flaherty: re-enchanting... Shakespeare

How enchantment shows up in the playwright's iconic works.

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

A podcast guest holds up her hand and looks at it while speaking.

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Dr Kate Flaherty is Senior Lecturer in English and Drama at the Australian National University. She researches how Shakespeare’s works play on the stage of public culture. Her insights have been published in Contemporary Theatre Review, New Theatre Quarterly, Australian Studies and Shakespeare Survey. She is also the author of the book Ours as we play it: Australia Plays Shakespeare and of the latest volume of the Cambridge Elements series - Ellen Terry, Shakespeare and Suffrage in Australia and New Zealand.

So today Justin and Belle are going to be speaking with Kate about how enchantment shows up in the iconic works of Shakespeare.

Find about more about Kate's research.

Kate Flaherty