Episodes

  • 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
  • Can poetry save us? In conversation with Charles Taylor

    Can poetry save us? In conversation with Charles Taylor
    Nov 5 2024
    For many people, many of whom would not call themselves religious or even spiritual, poetry is somehow able to enchant, to inspire, to heal– to give them a glimpse of connection, of transcendence that transforms their life. Particularly today, in “A secular age” in the West, it is poetry and indeed the arts more widely that often boast the greatest ability convey that sense of connection and transcendence that seems so important and hard-wired in humans. What is going on here? How does it work? And what does it say about us as human beings? 💬 Follow Theos here: https://linktr.ee/theosthinktank 📚 Buy a copy of Charles Taylor's book 'How the World Made the West' here: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674296084
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    40 mins
  • How Did the World Make the West? In conversation with Josephine Quinn

    How Did the World Make the West? In conversation with Josephine Quinn
    Oct 29 2024
    About 30 years ago, the American political philosopher Samuel Huntington wrote a hugely influential book entitled The clash of civilizations in which he predicted that the ideological wars of the 20th century would give way to civilisational ones in the 21st. The book drew criticism for the way it talked about “civilizations” as if they were hard edged and obviously identifiable things. Because the general idea of civilizations is a relatively recent one, and if we peer into the mists of time, we can make out the many streams and tributaries that have poured into the West over the centuries to make it what it is. So, where exactly is our civilisation, “the West”? How has it been shaped by “other” cultures? And what does that mean for us today? 💬 Follow Theos here: https://linktr.ee/theosthinktank 📚 Buy a copy of Josephine Quinn's book 'How the World Made the West' here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/how-the-world-made-the-west/josephine-quinn/9781526605184
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    57 mins