Jo Swinney: re-enchanting... hospitality

Jo talks about how sharing food is at the heart of a shared life.

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

A woman sits at a table and talks with a microphone on a stand in front if her,

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Jo Swinney is director of communications for the Christian environmental conservation charity A Rocha International.

Jo's parents Miranda and Peter Harris were the founders of A Rocha. Miranda's tragic death in 2019 was a shock to all those who knew her. Jo’s book ‘A Place At The Table: Faith, hope and hospitality’ pairs her own words with writings she discovered of her mother’s to celebrate her life and to explore how sharing food is at the heart of a shared life.

Justin and Belle hear about the events the led up to Jo writing the book and how we can re-enchant the gift of hospitality in an increasingly lonely world.

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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