Episodes

  • Trailer: Series 10 of Reading Our Times

    Trailer: Series 10 of Reading Our Times
    May 20 2025

    Reading Our Times is back for its 10th series but this time, with a twist...

    Nick Spencer explores themes surrounding the West – its roots, its contours, and its future.

    Series 10 looks at the future of democracy with Jonathan Sumption, at the future of growth with Richard Douglas, and the future of Christianity with Rupert Shortt. Lucy Ash unpacks the threat from Putin and the ever-supportive Orthodox Church.

    The series asks the big questions about children, about choice and its deification, and about sex and religion with Diarmaid Macculloch.

    Next week, episode 1 gives an overview of the future of the West – or rather of the prospect of Westlessness – with Samir Puri.

    Tune in weekly from 27 May. Find Reading Our Times on all podcasting platforms.

    🎙️ Follow Dr Nick Spencer @theosnick

    💡 Produced by ‪@theosthinktank https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/

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    2 mins
  • Trailer: Motherhood vs The Machine

    Trailer: Motherhood vs The Machine
    Mar 6 2025

    Announcing a new four-part documentary podcast, Motherhood vs The Machine, where hosts Chine McDonald and Dr Madeleine Pennington look at what motherhood teaches us about what it means to be human.

    The work of motherhood has always been changed by technological advancement: from the nipple shield to the feeding bottle and breast pump. But as technological advancement accelerates and a future of artificial wombs and ‘bio bags’ does not seem as far-fetched as it once did, what of the humanity of motherhood might be lost if it is outsourced to machines? What might we miss when the maternal doorway is closed to profound and rarely expressed spiritual ideas - such as sacrifice, love, care, value, dignity, and hope?

    Out weekly from 13 March. Find it on all podcasting platforms.


    🎙️ Follow Chine McDonald: @ChineMcDonald

    🎙️ Follow Dr Madeleine Pennington: @mlmpennington

    💡 Produced by the ‪@thinktanktheos‬ www.theosthinktank.co.uk/
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    2 mins
  • Bookends: Unpacking Series 9 of Reading Our Times

    Bookends: Unpacking Series 9 of Reading Our Times
    Dec 17 2024
    With series 9 of Reading Our Times coming to an end, Nick Spencer takes a look back on the series and shares his thoughts on the ideas espoused by the various guests. Should Britain pay slavery reparations? Are 'leftism' and 'wokeism' compatible? What do all these topics tell us about what it means to be human? Join us for all this and more!
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    13 mins
  • How has our evolutionary past shaped us? In conversation with Harvey Whitehouse

    How has our evolutionary past shaped us? In conversation with Harvey Whitehouse
    Dec 10 2024
    The claim that evolution can help us understand, even explain, the modern world and modern mind has not always had a happy history, veering between overclaim and catastrophe. But the opposite idea - that everything is culture and nothing nature - is hardly more convincing. So, can we threat this needle? Can we have nuanced and realistic understanding of the impact of evolution on us today without going down the rabbit hole of determinism. So, what impact has evolution had on us - our communities and societies, our morality and our religion. Purchase Harvey's book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Inheritance-Evolutionary-Origins-Modern-World/dp/1529152224/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0
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    49 mins
  • What is (The) Enlightenment? In conversation with Jonathan Clark

    What is (The) Enlightenment? In conversation with Jonathan Clark
    Dec 3 2024
    The Enlightenment has become weaponised over recent years. Numerous public figures, not all of them historians, have lined up to state defiantly that it needs protecting from... postmodernity? populism? religion?... take your pick. But what is - or was - The Enlightenment? What are we being called to defend here? Is The Enlightenment actually a thing? Was it even “a thing” in the first place? And if not, when did we start talking about it, and why? Purchase a copy of Jonathan's book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Enlightenment-Idea-Its-History/dp/0198916280
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    53 mins
  • Should Britain pay reparations for slavery? In conversation with Michael Banner

    Should Britain pay reparations for slavery? In conversation with Michael Banner
    Nov 26 2024
    The demand for post-colonial nations to pay reparations to, and for their treatment of, their former colonies has grown increasingly loud over recent years. And although many dismiss the idea as textbook liberal guilt and bandwagon wokery, there are some serious claims behind it. The topic kicks up some big moral issues. You can’t talk about colonial reparations without working through what you think about moral responsibility, collective identity, and the effect of time on liability, all of which reflect on the underlying question of how we see ourselves. So, what is the nature of our relationship to other countries, to the past and to whatever moral norms we pride ourselves on? The demand for post-colonial nations to pay reparations to, and for their treatment of, their former colonies has grown increasingly loud over recent years. And although many dismiss the idea as textbook liberal guilt and bandwagon wokery, there are some serious claims behind it. The topic kicks up some big moral issues. You can’t talk about colonial reparations without working through what you think about moral responsibility, collective identity, and the effect of time on liability, all of which reflect on the underlying question of how we see ourselves. So, what is the nature of our relationship to other countries, to the past and to whatever moral norms we pride ourselves on? Purchase Michael's book here: https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9780198889441/britains-slavery-debt
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    42 mins
  • What is "woke"? In conversation with Susan Neiman

    What is "woke"? In conversation with Susan Neiman
    Nov 19 2024
    Depending on who you are, you might understand “woke” to mean “concerned with fundamental human justice”. Alternatively, you might think its means obsessed with identity politics, tribal, angry, and inclined to cancel and censor. Either way, you probably associate the term with the left. After all, “lefty” and “liberal” and the words most commonly paired with “woke”. But what if that isn’t the case? What if it’s an oversimplification? What if woke isn’t left and left isn’t woke? Where does that leave the left? And where does it leave wokery? Depending on who you are, you might understand “woke” to mean “concerned with fundamental human justice”. Alternatively, you might think its means obsessed with identity politics, tribal, angry, and inclined to cancel and censor. Either way, you probably associate the term with the left. After all, “lefty” and “liberal” and the words most commonly paired with “woke”. But what if that isn’t the case? What if it’s an oversimplification? What if woke isn’t left and left isn’t woke? Where does that leave the left? And where does it leave wokery? Purchase a copy of Susan's book 'Left is not Woke' here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Left-Not-Woke-Susan-Neiman/dp/1509558306
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    39 mins
  • Assisted Dying: What's really at stake? In conversation with Ilora Finlay and Julian Hughes

    Assisted Dying: What's really at stake? In conversation with Ilora Finlay and Julian Hughes
    Nov 12 2024
    Assisted Dying is back on the legislative agenda, with parliament voting on it this autumn. It is a profound and contentious debate about which good and well-meaning people can and do disagree deeply. What is really at stake here? Apart from the obvious, the debate kicks up some profound and difficult questions about most important ideas concerning human life. For example, how far should we respect people's autonomy and choice? What constitutes a meaningful life? And what is the meaning of human dignity? 💬 Follow Theos here: https://linktr.ee/theosthinktank 📚 Buy a copy of Ilora and Julian's book 'The Reality of Assisted Dying' here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reality-Assisted-Dying-Julian-Hughes/dp/0335253172
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    43 mins