The Sacred
Episodes
Nick Cave and Seán O'Hagan on grief, faith and navigating disagreement
18 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Nick Cave is a multi award-winning Australian rock singer-songwriter who over his 40+ year long career has seen the release of countless records, film...
Series Reflection: You'll never change someone's mind by shouting at them
30 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This past series Elizabeth Oldfield spoke to Paul Kingsnorth, Sathnam Sanghera, Zara Mohammed, Sarah Langford, Dante Stewart, Rowan Deacon, Jonathan P...
Dame Prue Leith on growing up during apartheid, and the importance of tolerance
16 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dame Prue Leith, DBE is a South African restaurateur, chef, television presenter/broadcaster, cookery writer, novelist and much more. Today she is wid...
Zing Tsjeng on Vice UK's unique voice, and unpacking problematic ESEA stereotypes
09 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Zing Tsjeng is the editor in chief of Vice UK. She is the author of the book series 'Forgotten Women' which profiles underrated historical women in va...
Jonathan Pageau on icons, political dehumanisation, and befriending Jordan Peterson
02 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jonathan Pageau is a French Canadian icon carver, public speaker and YouTuber exploring the symbolic patterns that underlie our experience of the worl...
Rowan Deacon on the power of storytelling and the ethics of making a documentary
26 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rowan Deacon is a documentary filmmaker. Her portfolio includes the multi award winning film How to Die: Simon's Choice, and most recently Jimmy Savi...
Danté Stewart on family, church and race in America
19 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Danté Stewart is a church leader and writer whose journalism has appeared in a variety of top newspapers across the America. His most recent book is ...
Sarah Langford on the importance of meaningful work, and how not to change someone's mind
12 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah Langford is a criminal and family barrister gone farmer, and the author of the best-selling book ‘In Your Defence: True Stories of Life and La...
Zara Mohammed on her muslim faith and the challenges of being a young woman leader
05 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Zara Mohammed is Secretary General for the Muslim Council of Britain. When elected, she was the youngest and first woman to lead the organisation. Sh...
Sathnam Sanghera on his Sikh faith, colonialism, and dealing with online abuse
28 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sathnam Sanghera is journalist for The Times, and best-selling memoirist. His most recent book, Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain,...
Paul Kingsnorth on environmentalism, converting to Christianity and his concerns about authoritarianism
21 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Paul is an award winning novelist and essaying, currently best known for his Substack - The Abbey of Misrule. He spoke about his deep environmental c...
Sacred Reflection: Queen Elizabeth II and her role in reconciliation
14 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The United Kingdom, Commonwealth and indeed the entire world were sent into shock after Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday 8 September at...
Jenny Odell on attention, where we put it, and how it can polarise society
08 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jenny Odell is an American multi-disciplinary artist, former art teacher at Stanford University and author of the New York Times best selling book, Ho...
Kate Maltby on her Jewish heritage, identity issues and the power of live theatre
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Kate Maltby is a columnist for The i Paper, theatre critic and senior research associate at Jesus College Cambridge. She spoke about her Jewish herit...
Francesca Stavrakopoulou on vegetarianism and studying theology as an atheist
25 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Francesca is Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Religion at the University of Exeter, and a patron of Humanists UK. Her latest book is called God: ...
Christie Watson on humour, compassion and why nursing and writing belong together
18 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Christie is an award-winning novelist, memoirist and professor of medical and health humanities at UEA. She was a registered pediatric nurse for 20 ye...
Danny Kruger MP on conservatism, Christianity and why running a charity is hard work
11 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Danny Kruger MP is a Conservative Member of Parliament for the Devizes constituency in Wiltshire. He and his wife founded and ran Only Connect, a char...
Frank Cottrell–Boyce on wonder, forgiveness and the writer's calling
04 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Frank Cottrell-Boyce is a screenwriter and novelist. He is best known for his screenplays for 24 Hour Party People, Welcome to Sarajevo and others, hi...
James Perry on interdependence and the purpose of business
27 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
James is co–chair and co–founder of COOK, the very fancy and very delicious frozen food company. He is also co–founder and board member of the B...
Jenn Ashworth on Mormonism, class and the universal experience of suffering
20 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jenn is an award-winning novelist, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Professor of writing at Lancaster University. In this episode s...
Charlie Gilmour on fatherhood and the cost of writing a memoir
13 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Charlie is a journalist and a critically acclaimed memoirist. His memoir, ‘Featherhood’ won all manner of awards. Charlie is the adopted son of Da...
Vanessa Zoltan on radical hospitality, atheist chaplaincy and treating texts as sacred
26 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Vanessa worked in education and nonprofits before attending Harvard Divinity School to become a non–denominational atheist chaplain. Whilst at Harva...
Rupert Read on nonviolence, the climate crisis and the power of emotions
19 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rupert is an associate professor of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia. He is author of over a dozen books on philosophy and the climate cris...
Minna Salami on feminism, racism and ‘sensuous knowledge’
12 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Minna is a social critic, feminist theorist and poet, and she’s founder of the blog, MsAfropolitan. She’s the author most recently of ‘Sensuous ...
Stuart Ritchie on scepticism, and the role and reliability of science
05 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Stuart is a lecturer at the Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Centre at King’s College London. He's been a researcher in human cogniti...
Eli Pariser on curiosity, the value of democracy and why we need shared public digital spaces
22 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Eli Pariser has had a long and distinguished career in tech entrepreneurship and is currently running the organisation New Public, which is trying to ...
Louise Perry on motherhood, consent and the case against the sexual revolution
15 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Louise is a writer and campaigner. She has a weekly column in the New Statesman and is press officer for the campaign group 'We can’t consent to thi...
David Brooks on his conversion, vulnerability and the challenges of talking about morality
08 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
David is an op ed columnist for the New York Times, a radio and television host, author of multiple bestselling books, and Chair of Weave the social f...
Ryan North on kindness, comics and the appeal of superheroes
01 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan North is a writer for television, video games, and especially comic books. Some of his most recent projects include 'How To Invent Everything: A ...
Sarah Eberle on what gardening teaches us and why nature is good for the soul
15 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the final episode of this series, Elizabeth speaks to Sarah Eberle, the most-decorated RHS garden designer. She has made RHS Chelsea Flower Show hi...
Jillian Richardson on the normality of loneliness and finding belonging outside religion
08 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jillian is a loneliness expert, facilitator and events host. She is the author of ‘Un-Lonely Planet’. She speaks about the drivenness of her Eas...
Tim Stanley on traditionalism, his journey to Catholicism and the role of a journalist
01 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Tim is a journalist, historian and broadcaster specialising in US history, politics and religion. He is leader writer for the Daily Telegraph, and con...
Arifa Akbar on freedom, the ethics of writing a memoir and what we can learn from the arts
25 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Arifa is the chief theatre critic at The Guardian. She is a former contributor to The Observer and previously worked as the arts editor at Tortoise Me...
Miriam Cates on conservatism, embracing complexity and the importance of family
18 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Miriam has been Conservative MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge since 2019. She was born and brought up in Sheffield, studied genetics at Cambridge and...
Mike McHargue on science, re-discovering God and disability in public life
11 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Mike Mchargue, also known as ‘Science Mike’, is a podcaster of very long-standing. He was formerly co-host of 'The Liturgists' and host of ‘Ask ...
Sohrab Ahmari on converting to Catholicism, political theology and freedom as surrender
04 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sohrab is an Iranian–American columnist, journalist, editor and author. He’s written or edited for the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and ...
New series coming soon
28 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this series we’ll be talking to Conservative MP Miriam Cates, journalist Sohrab Ahmari, ‘Science Mike’ Mike McHargue, writer Tim Stanley, the...
Sam Byers on the role of a novel, freedom and why we need both compassion and anger
19 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sam is a novelist and author of ‘Idiopathy’, ‘Perfidious Albion’ and most recently ‘Come Join Our Disease’, which the Sunday Times has sai...
Chris French on skepticism and the psychology of paranormal beliefs
12 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Chris is Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit in the Psychology Department at Goldsmiths University, a fellow at the British Psychol...
Grace Olmstead on rootedness, conservatism and what a consistent life ethic looks like
05 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Grace is an American journalist. She has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the American Conservative among...
Guvna B on toxic masculinity and not fitting into boxes
28 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Guvna B is a multi MOBO award-winning rapper, hip hop artist and author. He’s presented TV and radio documentaries for BBC, is a Sky Sports pundit a...
Suzanne Moore on rebellion, the role of a journalist and why anger is a good thing
21 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Suzanne is a journalist and columnist who for many years was at The Guardian, but has also written for the Mail on Sunday, Marxism Today and now write...
Rachel Mann on the goodness of bodies, poetry and challenging assumptions about identity
14 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Rachel is a poet and a priest in the Church of England. She lectured in philosophy before being ordained and has a PhD in 19th century women’s poetr...
Dina Nayeri on the experience of refugees and the nature of storytelling
07 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dina is a novelist and also the author of the non-fiction book ‘The Ungrateful Refugee’. In this episode, she speaks about her childhood in war-...
Omid Djalili on his Baha’i faith, racism and serving humanity through comedy
31 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Omid is a stand up comedian, actor, producer and writer. He grew up in Kensington with his Iranian Bahai family. He has appeared in Mamma Mia 2, Snatc...
The Sacred re-launch announcement
25 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Our sabbatical has lasted a little longer than expected, but we are so excited to be back very soon with some brand new episodes for you. We will be...
The Sacred is taking a sabbatical
16 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
To everything there is a season and The Sacred needs a season change. The podcast is not ending but it is pausing so that we can reflect and refresh, ...
#79 Rachel Clarke
02 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Rachel is a doctor with a specialism in palliative care. Before going to medical school, she was a television journalist and documentary maker. She is...
#78 Krithika Varagur
18 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Krithika is a columnist at the Wall Street Journal in New York and a former foreign correspondent based in Indonesia. She is a National Geographic Exp...
#77 Helen Lewis
04 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Helen Lewis is a journalist, staff writer at The Atlantic and former deputy editor at The New Statesman. She is the author of ‘Difficult Women: A Hi...
#76 Jules Evans
21 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Jules is a writer, speaker and practical philosopher. He’s a research fellow at the Centre for the History of Emotions, Queen Mary University of Lon...
#75 Sophia Smith Galer
07 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Sophia Smith Galer is currently working as the BBC World Services’ first ever visual journalist in faith and ethics. In this episode Sophia speaks a...
#74 Mark Vernon
22 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Mark is a psychotherapist who writes, lectures and broadcasts on philosophy with a focus on insights that illuminate our inner lives. He was formerly ...
#73 Myriam Francois
09 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Myriam Francois is a journalist, filmmaker and senior fellow at the Centre for Global Policy, an American think tank working on the intersection of Am...
#72 Ed West
25 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 deput...
#71 Willie Jennings
11 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Willie Jennings is a theologian and associate professor of systematic theology and Africana studies at Yale University. He’s an ordained Baptist min...
#70 Adam Wagner
28 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Adam is a human rights barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, a visiting professor at Goldsmiths University, Chair of the human rights charity EachOthe...
#69 Mary Harrington
14 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 agai...
#68 Jay Hulme
30 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Jay is an award-winning transgender performance poet, speaker and educator. Alongside his writing and regular performances he teaches in schools and s...
#67 Alistair Burt
16 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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...
The Sacred Reflections: Democracy and Non-Violence
09 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 sen...
#66 Glynn Harrison
02 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
The Sacred Reflections: Free-Thinking
26 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
#65 Rainn Wilson
19 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 Sacred Reflections: Altruism
12 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 lar...
#64 Satbir Singh
05 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Satbir is the CEO for The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and previously spent time developing campaigns and political strategies for the ...
The Sacred Reflections: Knowledge
28 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Teresa was our guest on episode 22 of The Sacred. She is Associate Professor of Political Theory in the Department of Politics and International Relat...
#63 Bim Afolami
21 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 epis...
The Sacred Reflections: Learning
14 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 Scho...
#62 Ruth Hunt
07 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
The Sacred Reflections
31 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 returnin...
#61 Jonathan Sacks
25 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Rabbi Sacks is an international religious leader, moral philosopher and author. He was the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commo...
An Update from Elizabeth Oldfield
18 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this short bonus episode Elizabeth Oldfield reflects on how peace building practices can help us in this unprecedented public health crisis, and of...
#60 Charles Moore
11 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Charles is a journalist, columnist and former editor of The Spectator, The Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph. He’s also the authorised biographer o...
#59 David Baddiel
26 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
David is a comedian, screenwriter, author and television presenter. He’s written novels for children and adults, the play ‘My Family: Not the Sitc...
#58 Beth O'Leary
12 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Beth is a novelist and the author of WHSmith's book of the year The Flatshare. She studied English at Oxford and worked in publishing before leaving t...
#57 Sameer Rahim
29 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Sameer is Managing Editor for Arts and Books at Prospect Magazine, and has been a judge for the Costa Poetry Book Prize, the Forward Prize for Poetry ...
#56 Richard and Lydia Ayoade
15 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode you’ll hear our very first episode with a married couple, Richard and Lydia Ayoade (Lydia is also known as Lydia Fox). Richard will ...
#55 Daniel Finkelstein
01 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Daniel is Baron Finkelstein, a Member of the House of Lords, and has a column in The Times newspaper. He is a former executive editor of The Times and...
#54 Elizabeth Oldfield
11 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to a special second birthday episode! This week we have turned the tables and former guest, Ian Dunt, has come in to interview host Elizabeth ...
#53 Sally Phillips
29 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s episode features a speech from our Annual Lecture given by actor Sally Phillips. You may recognise her name from Smack the Pony, Veep, C...
The Sacred - Annual Lecture Announcement
27 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, instead of a normal episode, we will be releasing the recording from tonight’s Theos Annual Lecture with Sally Phillips - actress, comedi...
#52 Gabriele Finaldi
13 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Gabriele Finaldi has been director of the National Gallery since August 2015. He was previously Deputy Director for Collections and Research at the...
#51 Linda Woodhead
29 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Note: we had some microphone issues with this episode, but we hope you'll listen as we deeply enjoyed the interview. Linda is Professor of Sociology ...
#50 Miroslav Volf
16 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Miroslav Volf is one of our best known contemporary theologians. He is Director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture and Professor of Theology at ...
#49 Sarah Stein Lubrano
01 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah Stein Lubrano is a DPhil researcher in the Department of Politics in Oxford and the Head of Content at The School of Life. The School of Life, f...
#48 Tom Holland
17 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Tom Holland is a historian, biographer and broadcaster. He is the author of Rubicon, Persian Fire, Millennium and In the Shadow of the Sword among man...
#47 Will Gervais and Penny Edgell
04 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This episode was recorded at The Cultures of Unbelief Conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in May 2019. The conference marked the...
#46 Rhik Samadder
20 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, you'll hear a conversation with Rhik Samadder, who's a journalist, actor, presenter, and author. He rose to public prominence writing...
#45 Douglas Alexander
06 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Douglas Alexander served as an MP for 18 years and spent 9 years in government under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, holding a range of cabinet positions...
#44 Tanya Muneera Williams
23 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Tanya Muneera Williams is one half of hip-hop, reggae and spoken work duo, Poetic Pilgrimage. She is an artist, a poet and an activist and regularly a...
#43 Pádraig Ó Tuama
09 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Pádraig Ó Tuama is a poet, theologian and peace maker. Until recently he was the leader of the Corrymeela community, which is Ireland’s oldest pea...
#42 Mim Skinner
25 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Mim Skinner is the author of ‘Jailbirds’ which contains stories of her time teaching art in a women’s prison. She currently runs the women’s p...
#41 Hussein Kesvani
11 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Hussein Kesvani is a journalist, editor and producer based in London. He is the Europe editor of MEL Magazine, has written for BuzzFeed, Vice, The Gua...
#39 Sanderson Jones
14 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sanderson Jones is a comedian, a social entrepreneur and the co-founder of Sunday Assembly, a worldwide movement of secular congregations. In this ep...
#38 Ash Sarkar
30 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ash Sarkar is a writer, broadcaster, journalist and lecturer. She is a Senior Editor at Novara Media, an independent left-wing media organisation, and...
#37 Justin Welby
16 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Justin Welby has been the Archbishop of Canterbury since 2013. Prior to this, he served as Bishop of Durham and Dean of Liverpool Cathedral. He spent...
#36 Matthew Taylor
09 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Matthew Taylor is the Chief Executive of the RSA, author of the 2016 Taylor Report review of modern employment commissioned by Theresa May, and panell...
#35 Sally Hitchiner
27 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Rev Sally Hitchener is an Anglican priest and Associate Vicar of St-Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square. She was previously co-ordinating Anglican ...
#34 David Allen Green
13 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
David Allen Green is a lawyer and legal commentator. He is a contributing editor at the Financial Times and a former legal correspondent for the New S...