Re-enchanting... reading and writing

"We are culture making creatures", says Francis Spufford, on the latest episode of Re-enchanting - Seen & Unseen's new podcast series.

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

A man sits and speaks into a microphone beside him on a table, while gesturing with his hand. Behind, Big Ben is on the skyline.

Francis Spufford interviewed at Lambeth Palace Library.

Seen & Unseen

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"Showcasing Spufford's gift for the old-fashioned alchemy of creating flesh-and-blood characters we care about deeply."

Anthony Cummins

The Literary Review

About this episode

This episode of Re-enchanting sits down with Francis Spufford, the author of Golden Hill and Light Perpetual.

Ranging from what books he is is reading at the moment, the podcast covers Spufford's journey into writing and the nature of disenchantment, as well as whether "Christianity belongs in some quiet corner of the human zoo."

It then moves on to explore the nature or re-enchanting, why it is what humans do, and and how our culture rewards it.

About the podcast series

The Re-enchanting podcast sees hosts, Justin Brierley and Belle Tindall, talk with guests about how Christianity can re-enchant culture, politics, the arts, the sciences, history, and so much more.

Despite the increasingly scientific and secular age we live in, many people are still searching for a bigger story to live by. The podcast features a mix of guests - both with and without faith - and explore how those who have tired of modern materialism are the ones seeking to 're-enchant' the world. This podcast is about tracing their journey and work.

Series one features conversations with the likes of Tom Holland, Louise Perry, Francis Spufford, Sally Phillips and Marilynne Robinson.

Hosted by Belle Tindall and Justin Brierley, it's recorded for Seen & Unseen at Lambeth Palace Library, home of the Centre for Cultural Witness.

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Culture

Death & life

Podcasts

Re-enchanting

12 February 2025

1 min read

Dame Sue Black: re-enchanting death

The leading forensic scientist talks with Justin and Belle about her work and our reluctance to look death in the eye.

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

A woman guest on a podcast sits at a table with a mic in front, gesturing to the side with both hands.

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Professor Lady Sue Black is one of the world’s leading forensic scientists. Police forces, the Foreign Office and the UN have called upon her evidence in countless high-profile investigations. She is currently President of St. John’s College, Oxford, and in 2021 entered the House of Lords as a cross-bench peer.

She has penned numerous books, including the Saltire Prize winning All That Remains: A Life in Death and her latest book, Written in Bone: hidden stories in what we leave behind. In 2024, Professor Lady Black was also appointed to the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle – the highest honour in Scotland.

In this episode of Re-Enchanting, Justin and Belle speak to Sue about her first time working on a dead body, the stories that our bodies tell after death, her work in the wake of the Kosovo war and the 2004 tsunami, and - ultimately - how our reluctance to look death in the eye is profoundly hurting us.

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?