Review
Culture
3 min read

Most popular 2024: the contributors

From politics and media, to sporting controversy, our top writers’ takes on the year.

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

A painting of the Last supper showing Christ and the disciples at a table.
da Vinci's Last Supper.
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

We’re wrapping up the year reviewing what articles were most popular with Seen & Unseen readers. Our final analysis is of the top 10 contributor takes on the year’s events. What did our writers,  well,  write about?

Two interviews resonated with our readers. One with a volunteer surgeon in Gaza, while the  other got to the bottom of what’s kept a veteran politican going. Talking of which, we also gave Joe Biden some advice too.

We reviewed Kier Starmer’s favourite book, praised Sally Rooney’s new opus, and watched a Netflix blockbuster that gave the church a bad name. And took Disney to task for the Disneyfication of the monasteries.

On matters of the mind and heart  we took Ted and Taylor to task, while critiquing a dating app's shade-throwing ad.

And, like, our editor-in-chief’s top story, paganism high profile needed investigating too.

Over 170 writers have contributed to Seen & Unseen. Explore them using the Contributor List and their work through our Index of 800 articles.

10 - Celibacy, the Pope and the dating app

There’s a desperate need for a new sexual revolution.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Identity, Romance.

Read more from this author.

9 - My open letter to Sally Rooney: dilatasti cor meum

You enlarge my heart.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Books, Wildness.

Read more from this author.

8 - The book Keir Starmer says you must read

Will Hutton’s This Time No Mistakes surveys the thinking that could solve Britain’s ills.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Economics, Politics.

Read more from this author.

7 - Stephen Timms: still on mission

The MP on five decades trying to prove a Christian Tory wrong.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Politics, S&U Interviews.

Read more from this author.

6 - Self-belief: what Ted and Taylor get wrong

Psychologist Roger Bretherton questions whether believing in ourselves is all it’s cracked up to be, despite what culture icons might say.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Identity, Psychology, Taylor Swift.

Read more from this author.

5 - Shardlake: the Disneyfication of the Monasteries

What works, and doesn’t, translating from page to screen.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Film and TV. Monastic Life.

Read more from this author.

4 - Jonathan Aitken: I’m in my 80s and here’s what I’d tell Joe Biden

Don't succumb to this politicians' fantasy.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Ageing, Politics.

Read more from this author.  

3 - Christianity’s big PR problem

Dancing for the Devil is just the latest shock-jock exposé.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Film & TV.

Read more from this author.

2 - Eye witness: life and death in Gaza’s European Hospital

 

Returning plastic surgeon Tim Goodacre reports on the struggles, the despair and the dignity of the people and the medics of Gaza during their long nightmare.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Gaza, Israel, Middle East, S&U interviews, Suffering, War & peace.

1 - Paris 2024 and Christianity’s opening ceremony

A subversive Olympic opening relies on Christianity’s own beginnings.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Paganism, Sport.

Read more from this author.  

Join with us - Behind the Seen

Seen & Unseen is free for everyone and is made possible through the generosity of our amazing community of supporters.

If you’re enjoying Seen & Unseen, would you consider making a gift towards our work?

Alongside other benefits (book discounts etc.), you’ll receive an extra fortnightly email from me sharing what I’m reading and my reflections on the ideas that are shaping our times.

Graham Tomlin

Editor-in-Chief

Review
Culture
4 min read

Most popular 2024: Graham Tomlin

From princes to politicians, Graham's top takes of the year.

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

A young man wearing a dark suit talks to a minister wearing regalia.
Prince William talks with the Dean of Westminster Abbey, 2019.
LPhot Belinda Alker, OGL 3, via Wikimedia Commons.

We’re wrapping up the year reviewing what articles were most popular with Seen & Unseen readers. Our first analysis is of Bishop Graham Tomlin’s takes on the year’s events. What did our editor-in-chief write about?

2024 was billed as the year of elections, so it’s no surprise to see two takes on the US presidential election. And back in the United Kingdom, Graham also commented on the age old tension between politicians and clerics.  Public scandals also caught his eye, from the  injustice meted out by the Post Office, to the pure evil of abuse.

Away from the politics of the public realm, Graham explored the perennial themes of the sacred and secular views of the world. However, this year, he also wrote on paganism. If your first image that comes to mind is of ancient cultures, think again. And in the very personal realm of belief, Graham’s take on Prince William’s doubts

Finally, could a 2024 review not mention podcasts? As a scholar of theologian Martin Luther, Graham, of course had views on The Rest is History’s episode about Luther – The Rest is Luther...

In reverse order...

10 - Did God tell Joe Biden to stand down?

His story teaches us to listen a little more intently to what comes our way.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Ageing, Politics, Providence.

9 - The Church and the State need to disagree on asylum seekers

Politicians don’t always get how church and state relate, but both have a vital and different role to play when it comes to immigration.

The Church and the State need to disagree on asylum seekers | Seen & Unseen

Explore more articles on themes in this article:  Church and state, Politics.

8 - Are we Secular, Christian or Pagan?

After the Paris Olympics, Graham Tomlin wonders whether a full-on secularism could veer back towards a modern paganism. 

Explore more articles on themes in this article: BeliefPaganism.

7 - After the fall: the Post Office scandal and the search for justice

Falls from grace, like that of the Post Office’s CEO, prompt Graham Tomlin to dissect the problems of justice and mercy.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Creed, Ethics, Justice.

6 - John Smyth: how evil masks itself as goodness

Be alert to the cloaked and warped wherever it occurs.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Creed.

5 - Did God save Donald Trump?

In the aftermath of the assassination attempt, Graham Tomlin asks whether or not we can see the hand of God in it.

Did God save Donald Trump? | Seen & Unseen

Explore more articles on themes in this article: BeliefDeath & Life, Politics, Providence.

4 - The difference between Richard Dawkins and Ayaan Hirsi Ali

How we decide what is true rests on where we start from.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Atheism, Belief, Epistemology.

3  - God in the garbage: Egypt's unlikely megachurch

Cairo's Church of the Zabballeen is the largest Church, and one of the most unusual in the Middle East. Graham Tomlin tells its story and that of the remarkable priest who inspired it.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Coptic Church, Identity, Middle East.

2 - The Rest is Luther

Did 'The Rest is History' get Luther right? Graham Tomlin gives his verdict

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Creed, Faith, Justification.

1  - Prince William's doubt is normal - it's impossible to be certain whether there is a God

Our limited human understanding means we will never fully understand God in this life, writes Graham Tomlin.

Prince William's doubt is normal - it's impossible to be certain whether there is a God | Seen & Unseen

Explore more articles on themes in this article: BeliefDoubt, Faith, Royalty.

0  - A history of Israel and Palestine – 4,000 years of history in 2,500 words

First published in late 2023, this analysis remains the most popular Seen & Unseen article to date.

The land at the heart of the Middle Eastern crisis is at the centre of world attention again. For those whose grasp on the history behind the situation is hazy, Graham Tomlin offers a brief survey.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Gaza, Israel, Middle East, Old Testament, War & Peace.

Browse all Graham's articles

Explore more than 80 articles.

​​​​​​​Join with us - Behind the Seen

Seen & Unseen is free for everyone and is made possible through the generosity of our amazing community of supporters.

If you’re enjoying Seen & Unseen, would you consider making a gift towards our work?

Alongside other benefits (book discounts etc.), you’ll receive an extra fortnightly email from me sharing what I’m reading and my reflections on the ideas that are shaping our times.

Graham Tomlin

Editor-in-Chief