Knox Peden returns to the show to discuss his interesting, and by today's standard unusual, journey from secular intellectual influenced by Spinoza and Marx to practicing Catholic.

Dr Knox Peden is an intellectual historian who has taught philosophy and history at the University of Melbourne, the Australian National University and the University of Queensland. He has published widely on French philosophy and on a variety of topics in intellectual history, including Spinozism and Marxism.

The Political Animals is hosted by Dr Jonathan Cole, a scholar, writer and translator specialising in political theology: the intersection of religion and politics. Jonathan was a senior terrorism analyst at Australian intelligence agency the Office of National Assessments where he worked on Islamist terrorism and the global jihadist movement. He is the author of The Reign of God: A Critical Engagement with Oliver O'Donovan's Theology of Political Authority and Christian Political Theology in an Age of Discontent: Mediating Scripture, Doctrine, and Political Reality.

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