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A woman sits a a table with a microphone in front of her, she is talking and gestures with one raise hand upward.

Elizabeth Oldfield: re-enchanting... the seven deadly sins

On the Re-enchanting podcast, Elizabeth Oldfield talks about wisdom, our common life and the things that most deeply bind us.

Seven Deadly Sins

Seven Deadly Sins

Sin: explained

From rottweilers to North African bishops, Graham Tomlin kicks off the Seven Deadly Sins series with an introduction to the unpopular idea of ‘sin’.

Seven Deadly Sins

An abstract shadow of a human reaching an hand skyward is overlaid by a trace of orange line that becomes a circle

Reverse psychology: understand goodness then sin

Roger Bretherton

Psychologist Roger Bretherton concludes our series on the seven deadly sins with a subversive proposition: we don’t understand sin because we don’t understand goodness.

12 September 2023

Piles of money

Greed: “No, I’ll never have enough”

In the third of a series on the Seven Deadly Sins, Jane Williams highlights how Greed destroys both individuals and societies.

Ramen

Gluttony’s unconscious self-image of emptiness

In the seventh of a series on the Seven Deadly Sins, Graham Tomlin digests gluttony’s distorting obsession with food.

Seven Deadly Sins

Green Lime

Envy: jealousy’s evil cousin

Roger Bretherton

In the second of a series on the Seven Deadly Sins, Roger Bretherton investigates the psychological and moral impact of envy on its victims.

Seven Deadly Sins

Illustration of unmade bed

Sloth’s languid lack of passion

In the appropriately last in a series on the Seven Deadly Sins, Graham Tomlin looks at what’s lost to life when sloth sets in.

Seven Deadly Sins

Illustration of Aubergine

Lust: disordered desire

In the fourth of a series on the Seven Deadly Sins, Belle Tindall explores how Lust minimises or sensationalises sex and desire.

Illustration of skull

Pride: self-obsessed isolation

Jonathan Aitken

In the sixth of a series on the Seven Deadly Sins, Jonathan Aitken identifies Pride as egotism with a capital E and the cause of his own royal flush of crises.

Seven Deadly Sins

Illustration of a burning wick

Anger: the dragon’s wrath

In the fifth of a series on the Seven Deadly Sins, James Mumford encounters Anger, and reflects that its object is no mere object.

Head and shoulders image of a man with closed eyes, on his forehead is an ashen cross.

Identifying as human has deadly implications

Barnabas Aspray

The incarnation and an execution impacts humanity.

14 February 2024

A woman stand in front of a large video screen displaying the Space Invaders title, hold her hands out in front of her.

Fun is dead

When video games turn play into work, we need to play without fear of consequences.

An upset man holds his hands on his head as he misses a bus.

No mercy on the Megabus

Jennifer Lander

Why is sin such a sickly, sticky thing in the human heart?

a multi-paned window mural shows people while amid it are broken window panes.

In the city of broken windows

Our fractures become fractal, breaking bigger and bigger windows.

13 November 2024

Three actors stand on a stage, in costume, surrounding a metal conical structure.

Edinburgh's grim endurance test of character

How a comedian survived the Fringe and kept going back.

A man sits and talks to the camera.

Iain McGilchrist: re-enchanting the brain

Can we re-enchant our view of the world by re-engaging a ‘right hemispheric’ view of life, love and faith?

Under a tree, backlit by a sun set, two people sit in chairs outside and talk.

Recovery came softly

From Mockingbird

A vision of grace amid an eating disorder.

Christmas culture

A field of ploughed red soil leads down to a hedged lane.

Seen & Unseen Aloud: the editor's cut

Need a little Christmas day recuperation? Sit back, relax and listen to a little Christmas compilation picked by senior editor Nick Jones.

25 December 2023

From a darkly shadowed face, a single illuminated eye stares.

Seen & Unseen Aloud

Listen to narrated articles. The challenges of ADHD, how identifying as human has deadly implications, and some wisdom around fasting.

19 February 2024

In the style of a Rembrandt painting Prince Harry embraces his father King Charles.

Death focuses our minds on what really matters

From ballet tales to royal soap opera, stories shed light on Lent's dark mortality.

14 February 2024

The gaunt face of a dishevelled man stares into the distance

Small Things Like These: putting the spotlight on backstage goodness

What it means for a film to be good.

08 November 2024

Two stuffed cheeseburgers are carried on a tray.

When indulgence and inhibition are on the menu

Ryan Gilfeather

As the time of feasting concludes, and resolutions start to crumble, Ryan Gilfeather takes some lessons on how and when to say 'no more'.

03 January 2024

Swami Govinda Dev Giri Maharaj, Dr. Valeria Martano, and Archbishop Henry Ndukuba, are greeted by R20 founder Yahya Cholil Staquf.

Don't patronise: what the R20 means for development

The R20 meeting at the G20 global summit sheds light on development. Christopher Wadibia makes the case for a change in perception.

A patch depicting a angel in armour, wielding a sword, on camoflague uniform.

Which dragon does St Michael need to slay today?

Explore the cultural impact of the dragon killer.

26 September 2024

A medieval book illustration of a person dying in bed.

The lost art of dying well and what we can learn from it today

Living well in order to die well doesn’t simply happen. It takes work. It takes preparation. For All Souls Day, Lydia Dugdale asks if we are prepared for death.

01 November 2023

A collage of famous, rich, people such as King Charles, Elton John and others.

This revolting rich list is a freak show

What are we to make of this quite nauseating spectacle?

Through illuminated dry smoke, a figure stands tall, holding a light up to his head.

A day, night and dawn with Nick Cave’s lyrics

Does Adam Steiner’s rappel into Cave’s art help us understand its purpose?

A family arrive at an overnight stay, enter a room and look around uncertainly

Two terrible travelogues in search of their storylines

Yaroslav Walker

Yaroslav Walker would rather get to a monastery than recommend these threequels.

03 October 2023

A boy concentrates hard as he holds one candle to another to light it.

Beyond pancakes and chocolate: a sensory guide to Lent and Easter

Lianne Howard-Dace

It’s a time to discover the whole range of human experience and emotion.

13 February 2024

Planet Earth viewed in totality from space. Africa and Arabia are visible under some cloud in the south.

Why Climate Change is at heart, a spiritual problem

Climate change does not begin with technical solutions but with spiritual ones.

A fine art painting depicts a risen Jesus hold a flag in one hand and raising his other hand above his head, against a dark background

Beyond immortality there’s restoration

Barnabas Aspray

The resurrection strikes at the heart of the cold reality of the human condition.

A priest holds a cross up in his hand in a chaotic environment while a colleague looks on

Silly fun, serious question

Yaroslav Walker

The Pope’s Exorcist ask viewers what is it to have faith in the face of true and terrifying inexplicable evil. Priest Yaroslav Walker reviews.

A view of a lightly misted valley to mountains in a desert area.

The falcon’s call

Awed by an encounter with a bird of prey high above a Texas river, Anthony Baker ponders both the place and his place.

A politican stands holding a bible, in front of a committee room table. Behind him an audience waits expectantly

Sorry seems to be the hardest word

We all find ways of not simply saying sorry. Not just former prime ministers. Graham Tomlin unpacks why it’s getting harder to say sorry in our culture.

Around a table with microphones, three people record a podcast, one leans in talking and gesturing with a hand while the others listen.

My conversation with... Frank Skinner

Re-Enchanting... Comedy. Frank Skinner is only interested in the weird. In the un-graspable. In the outrageous. Belle Tindall gets a lesson in "super poetry" from Frank.

07 October 2023

A cleaner sweeps between large white interior walls of a concourse.

Cleaning up cleaning: the problem with split shift work

Ryan Gilfeather

Unhealthy and unnecessary working practices impact unseen cleaners. It doesn’t have to be like that argues Ryan Gilfeather.

A young couple lounge on floating rings in a swimming pool.

Perpetually present in Palm Springs

Beatrice Scudeler

A movie's time loop explores the meaning in the mundane.

Split-screen on TC shows many different news channels in English, Arabic and Hebrew.

Israel-Gaza war anniversary: why peacemakers need a touch of doubt

Which narrative do you believe?

04 October 2024

Dozens of candles in cloured jars and holders litter the ground of a cemetry.

How Christianity transformed attitudes towards death

Once we buried bodies outside cities. Then we started burying loved ones inside them. This is why.

01 November 2023

A man and woman speaker on a stage greet and embrace each other.

The difference between Richard Dawkins and Ayaan Hirsi Ali

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

A statue of a Medieval women wearing a headscarf, and holding a book inscribed: revelation of divine love.o

Trusting her experience

Daring and passionate thought is not the province of modern writers alone. Jane William introduces Julian of Norwich, Britain’s first female author.

A group of protesters march behind a banner waving flags.

Untouchable: experiencing discrimination around the world

In America it’s in the headlines, while in India it continues to influence. Rahil Patel explores caste discrimination and finds out who helped craft constitutional protections for those affected.

10 January 2024

A mosaic shows a saint with a beard holding a bible and his hand held up in a blessing.

The 4th century social justice warrior

Ryan Gilfeather

He was the first to condemn slavery, over 1,500 years ago. Gregory of Nyssa critically examined society, looking at the relationships and structures everyone takes for granted.

01 February 2023

A head teacher sits at her desk, holding her hands in a gesture in front of her.

My conversation with... Katharine Birbalsingh

A stubborn hopefulness drives Katharine Birbalsingh. Belle Tindall reflects on her conversation with the controversial headteacher for the Re-Enchanting podcast.

A medieval painting of a suffering Christ surrounded by two angels looking concerned.

Christianity, suffering and the morality of the victim

Graham Tomlin explores the real reason why Christianity seems fixated on suffering.

on a stage a woman kneels on a bed amid frantic action around her.

The ancient drama of rehab

People Places & Things is a modern play with old stories.

On a misty beach, people comb the tide line to remove rubbish.

When creation and justice converge

In a world of climate catastrophe, what does the message of Easter have to offer? N.T. Wright contemplates the hope of a new heaven and a new earth.

Two podcast hosts in different rooms appear on a split screen talking to each other

The Rest is Luther

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