Karen Swallow Prior: re-enchanting evangelicalism

Belle and Justin speak to Karen about imagination in faith.

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

Karen Swallow Prior is a Professor of English Literature and an award-winning author. Her most recent book is The Evangelical Imagination: How stories, images and metaphors created a culture in Crisis.

Belle and Justin speak to Karen about the role of the imagination in faith, what the term evangelical means today and whether it can be re-enchanted…

Visit Karen Swallow Prior's web site.

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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Podcasts

Seen & Unseen Aloud

3 November 2025

1 min read

Eccles, Older Brothers and a King and a Pope

Listen to articles by Derek Hughes, Will Fagan and Graham Tomlin

Natalie Garrett

Natalie produces and narrates The Seen & Unseen Aloud podcast. She's an Anglican minister and a trained actor.

Two brothers look at each other in front of their ironworks.

Sibling rivalry House of Guinness style.

Netflix.

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About this episode

This week, Derek Hughes tells the story of how a tiny congregation in a forgotten town tried something that changed their community for the better; Will Fagan watches Peaky Blinders and House of Guinness, to see how Steven Knight shows being needed—not being perfect—transforms people; and Graham Tomlin unpacks the historical significance and the cultural hope of King Charles and the Pope praying together.

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