Helen Lewis: re-enchanting feminism and the culture wars

On the Re-enchanting podcast Helen Lewis talks with Belle and Justin about the religious instincts that seems to underlie secular activism, and whether she sees any way forward in re-enchanting feminism and the culture wars.

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

a woman sits at a table, with a mic in front of her, talking and holding her hands together in front of her.

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Helen Lewis is a journalist, broadcaster and staff writer for The Atlantic. She is the author of Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights and has been writing and speaking about feminism, gender, and the culture wars for several years... and occasionally gets caught up in them herself, including a viral interview with Jordan Peterson for GQ.

Justin and Belle chat to Helen about the religious instincts that seems to underlie secular activism on both the left and right, and whether she sees any way forward in re-enchanting feminism and the culture wars of our day.

For more about Helen Lewis visit her website.

There’s more to life than the world we can see. Re-Enchanting is a podcast from Seen & Unseen recorded at Lambeth Palace Library, the home of the Centre for Cultural Witness. Justin Brierley and Belle Tindall engage faith and spirituality with leading figures in science, history, politics, art and education. Can our culture be re-enchanted by the vision of Christianity?

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Podcast

Podcasts

Re-enchanting

2 April 2025

1 min read

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