Theos Think Tank
A podcast about our Sacred values and how we can talk to people who are different from ourselves.
Each episode features a conversation with someone who has a public voice, from academics to journalists, playwrights and politicians. We ask them where they have come from, what they are trying to do and what might help heal our very divided public conversations.
The Sacred is hosted by Elizabeth Oldfield and produced in partnership with Comment Magazine, and with support from The Jerusalem Trust and Open Society Foundation
Sophia Smith Galer is currently working as the BBC World Services’ first ever visual journalist in faith and ethics. In this episode Sophia speaks about her experience as one of the first journalists in the UK to be experimenting with Tik Tok, why good religion reporting is so vital, and why journalism and opera singing have a surprising amount in common.
Mark is a psychotherapist who writes, lectures and broadcasts on philosophy with a focus on insights that illuminate our inner lives. He was formerly a priest in the Church of England and has written books on friendship, agnosticism, consciousness and love. His most recent book is ‘A Secret History of Christianity’ which is based upon the ideas of Owen Barfield. In this episode he speaks about why he left the Church of England, his time as ‘nearly an atheist’, and how he found his way back to experiencing the presence of the divine.
Myriam Francois is a journalist, filmmaker and senior fellow at the Centre for Global Policy, an American think tank working on the intersection of American foreign policy and Muslim geopolitics. She has made radio and television documentaries for the BBC, Sky and others, and presented a range of programmes related to religion. She is currently running the website and podcast ‘We need to talk about whiteness’. In this episode she speaks about the process which led to her embracing Islam after university, her experiences as a white woman in a headscarf, and why she will no longer take part in debates which she calls religious bear–baiting.
Ed is a journalist. He’s worked on Nuts Magazine, The Catholic Herald and as a columnist for The Telegraph and The Spectator. He’s currently deputy editor at Unherd and the author of a recent book called ‘Small Men on the Wrong Side of History: The Decline, Fall and Unlikely Return of Conservatism’. In this episode he speaks about his diverse career in journalism, his Catholic upbringing, why he thinks we are on a trajectory to greater progressivism and what he would like people to understand about conservatism.
Willie Jennings is a theologian and associate professor of systematic theology and Africana studies at Yale University. He’s an ordained Baptist minister and the author of ‘The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race’, ‘Acts: A Commentary’ and many other titles. His next book is entitled ‘After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging’ and is out later this year. In this episode he speaks about his love for the seasons, growing up with a racially divided church, why anger can be a force for good and why and how to understand the concept of whiteness.
Adam is a human rights barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, a visiting professor at Goldsmiths University, Chair of the human rights charity EachOther, and host of the Better Human Podcast. In this episode he speaks about why he is nervous of the concept of the sacred, his Jewish religious practice, how human rights frameworks temper our worst selves, and why he is still a fan of Twitter.
Mary is a writer and columnist for Unherd. She writes about how we navigate family life in an age of radical individualism, the emerging backlash against the regressive left and the crisis in modern democracy. In this episode she speaks about the influence of her Steiner school, the negative impact of post-modernism on her mental health, the challenges of speaking about motherhood in public, and what drew her to post-liberalism.
Jay is an award-winning transgender performance poet, speaker and educator. Alongside his writing and regular performances he teaches in schools and speaks at events and conferences on the importance of transgender inclusion and rights. This year Jay contributed a chapter to 'The Book of Queer Prophets' a collection of 21 essays on the intersection of LGBT+ identity and religious faith, curated by previous guest Ruth Hunt. In this episode Jay speaks about why poems give us permission to really feel things, why he thinks debates about transgender issues are currently so fraught and how he found faith after swearing at God in a cathedral.
Alistair is a British politician who served as MP for his native Bury North in Greater Manchester from 1983 until 1997 and for North East Bedfordshire from 2001-2019, when he was one of the 20 Conservative MPS to have the party whip withdrawn by Boris Johnson. He was Minister of State for the Department of Health in 2015-2016 and Minister of State for the Middle East at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office from 2017-2019. In this episode Alistair speaks about the dangers of polarisation, his Christian faith and why he thinks being a moderate isn’t just a cop out.
Our next episode of The Sacred Reflections is with Shadi Hamid. Shadi, who was our guest on episode 31 of The Sacred, is a political scientist and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, in their Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World in the Center for Middle East Policy. In this episode he speaks to Elizabeth about how this pandemic is revealing our individual and national characters, and how full obedience to an enforced lockdown would feel almost impossible for the American public character. This episode also features a short reflection from Iona on the difference between knowledge and wisdom. We would love to hear how you are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what you hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values. You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at sacredpodcast@gmail.com and we may use your reflections at the end of an episode. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can.
Glynn was former Professor and Head of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Bristol where he was also a practising psychiatrist. He is a past President of the International Federation of Psychiatric Epidemiology and acted as an advisor to the WHO. He is also the author of ‘A Better Story: God, Sex and Human Flourishing’ and ‘The Big Ego Trip: Finding True Significance in a Culture of Self–esteem’. In this episode he speaks to Elizabeth Oldfield about his career in psychiatry, his concerns about the self–esteem movement and what Christians can learn from the sexual revolution. During the pandemic we are releasing short extra episodes called ‘The Sacred Reflections’ in response to the strange times we are living through. Former guests are returning to reflect on how they are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what they hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values. We would love to hear your responses to these same questions. You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at sacredpodcast@gmail.com. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can.
Claire Fox is the director of the Academy of Ideas and a writer, broadcaster and panellist on the BBC’s “Moral Maze.” She has also served as an MEP for the Brexit Party, a position which ended in January. She was our guest on episode 14 of The Sacred. In this episode Claire speaks about the importance of free–thinking at this time and how you can have different views to someone while still having something in common with them. We apologise for the lower sound quality at the beginning of the episode (the downside of recording remotely) but it improves after a couple of minutes. This episode also features a short reflection from a listener on the sacredness of her own space. We would love to hear how you are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what you hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values. You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at sacredpodcast@gmail.com and we may use your reflections at the end of an episode. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can.
Rainn Wilson is an American actor, comedian, writer, director and producer. He is best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the American version of The Office. In 2008 he set up the creative agency Soul Pancake which makes content on a range of platforms and explores life’s big questions. In this episode Rainn speaks about how he grew up and returned to the Baha’i faith, the existential crisis he experienced after finding fame and riches, why he believes creativity is an expression of the divine, and his experience of the love of God. Over the coming weeks we will be releasing short extra episodes in response to the strange times we are living through. Former guests will be returning to reflect on how they are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what they hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values.We would love to hear your responses to these same questions. You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at sacredpodcast@gmail.com. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can.
Chine McDonald is the former media and PR lead and now head of community fundraising and public engagement for Christian Aid, one of the world’s largest and best known non profit organisations. She was our guest on episode 25 of The Sacred. In this episode Chine talks about how we have more in common than what divides us and how kindness becomes central in times of crises. This episode also features a short voice memo sent in by Andrew about using our lives as a means to others’ ends. We would love to hear how you are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what you hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values. You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at sacredpodcast@gmail.com. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can.
Satbir is the CEO for The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and previously spent time developing campaigns and political strategies for the people’s movements and working as an advisor to the UN and the World Bank. He studied at Oxford, SOAS and as a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia. In this episode he speaks about his mobile childhood, how his mother’s Sikh faith has formed him, and why rabble rousing and reconciliation are both necessary for change. Over the coming weeks we will be releasing short extra episodes in response to the strange times we are living through. Former guests will be returning to reflect on how they are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what they hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values.We would love to hear your responses to these same questions. You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at sacredpodcast@gmail.com. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can.
Teresa was our guest on episode 22 of The Sacred. She is Associate Professor of Political Theory in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Oriel College. In this episode Teresa talks about how Oxford is being affected by the pandemic, whether acknowledging uncertainty is a form of knowledge, and if wisdom and knowledge are the same thing. This episode also features a short voice memo sent in by Tom, one of our listeners. We would love to hear how you are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what you hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values. You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at sacredpodcast@gmail.com. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can.
Bim Afolami is Conservative MP for Hitchin and Harpenden since 2017. Before he became an MP he worked as a corporate lawyer in the city. In this episode Bim speaks about what he means by one-nation conservatism, his Nigerian heritage giving him a sense of the importance of politics, and his sacred value of equality of opportunity. Over the coming weeks we will be releasing short extra episodes in response to the strange times we are living through. Former guests will be returning to reflect on how they are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what they hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values. We would love to hear your responses to these same questions. You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at sacredpodcast@gmail.com. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can.
Sarah was our guest on episode 49 of The Sacred. She is a DPhil researcher in the Department of Politics in Oxford and the Head of Content at The School of Life. In this episode Sarah talks about adapting to life in lockdown and how her sacred value of learning is guiding her through this time. This episode also features a short voice memo sent in by Tom, one of our listeners. We would love to hear how you are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what you hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values. You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at sacredpodcast@gmail.com. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can.
Ruth was the Chief Executive of Stonewall from 2014 to 2019 and worked there in various roles previously. She is now co–director of Deeds and Words and sits in the House of Lords as Baroness Hunt of Bethnal Green. She is also the curator of The Book of Queer Prophets which will be released in May this year. In this episode she speaks about the joy her relationship with God brings her, her love of the Bible, leading Stonewall through a change in its position on trans issues and why defensive anger doesn’t get you very far. Over the coming weeks we will be releasing short extra episodes in response to the strange times we are living through. Former guests will be returning to reflect on how they are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what they hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values. We would also love to hear your responses to these same questions. You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at sacredpodcast@gmail.com. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can.
Over the coming weeks we will be releasing short extra episodes in response to the strange times we are living through. Former guests will be returning to reflect on how they are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what they hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values. In this episode, Elizabeth reflects on who we value and what we owe each other. We would also love to hear your responses to these same questions - has this time changed or crystallised what you hold sacred, and/or what can this time tell us about the values we share? You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at sacredpodcast@gmail.com. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can, and if you need somewhere quiet to record, we recommend under a duvet! Finally, in case you missed it, our filmmaker Emily Downe created this short film based on the poem Pandemic by Lynn Ungar, which Elizabeth read in a previous episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU65FsVDcKc.