Reading Our Times
Theos
Reading Our Times is the podcast that explores the books and the ideas that are shaping us today. It is hosted by Nick Spencer, Senior Fellow at the think tank, Theos.
We’re going to be talking to some of the world’s leading authors about issues like meritocracy, justice, populism, human rights, the brain, liberalism, and religion.
Above all, we'll be exploring what these books have to say about the times we live in and about the people we are.
So listen with us, and we’ll introduce you to authors, books and ideas that illuminate ourselves and our world today.
For more information about the people and ideas behind the podcast, visit https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/about/who-we-are or follow us on Twitter @theosthinktank and @theosnick.
We’re going to be talking to some of the world’s leading authors about issues like meritocracy, justice, populism, human rights, the brain, liberalism, and religion.
Above all, we'll be exploring what these books have to say about the times we live in and about the people we are.
So listen with us, and we’ll introduce you to authors, books and ideas that illuminate ourselves and our world today.
For more information about the people and ideas behind the podcast, visit https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/about/who-we-are or follow us on Twitter @theosthinktank and @theosnick.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Nov 22, 2022 • 33min
Have we got evolution wrong? In conversation with Simon Conway Morris
For all the fears over growing levels of creationism, evolution is widely accepted in the UK. But 'accepted' does not necessarily mean understood, particularly when the theory itself is subject to so many myths and fanciful interpretation.
In this episode, Nick Spencer talks to Simon Conway Morris about his book From Extra-terrestrials to Animal Minds: Six Myths of Evolution
Nov 15, 2022 • 37min
Does terrorism work? In conversation with Richard English
Everyone knows that terrorism is wrong but - a tough question to answer objectively - does it work? And, depending on your answer to that question, how then should we respond to it?
In this episode, Nick Spencer talks to Richard English about his book Does Terrorism Work?
Nov 8, 2022 • 33min
How is the digital world changing our brain? In conversation with Maryanne Wolf
Whereas once we read books and newspapers, and read them whole, the world is now mediated to us through screens, usually in much smaller gobbets. What is this doing to our brains - and does it matter?
In this episode, Nick Spencer talks to Maryanne Wolf about her book Reader, Come Home: The reading brain in a digital world
Nov 1, 2022 • 36min
What happened to the sexual revolution? In conversation with Louise Perry
The liberation of the sexual revolution is increasingly looking anything but liberating, particularly for young women who are suffering a culture of the endlessly commercialised female body, casual sex, and sometimes violent pornography.
What is going on, why, and what can we do about it? In this episode, Nick Spencer talks to Louise Perry about her book The Case Against the Sexual Revolution
Jun 21, 2022 • 36min
What will the world look like in 2050? In conversation with Hamish McRae
What will the world be like a generation from now? Warmer and more crowded, certainly. But… richer? More peaceful? Healthier? Better educated? On Mars? Or at war? Predicting the future is risky but also, arguably, necessary if we hope to navigate the path before us.
In this episode, Nick Spencer talks to Hamish McCrae about his book The World in 2050: How to Think About the Future
Jun 14, 2022 • 33min
What is the soul? In conversation with John Cottingham
Whatever else has happened to religious practice over the last 40 years, it doesn’t seem to have affected the way we talk about, or believe in, the soul, with as many people doing so today as they did 40 years ago. But what we mean by the ‘soul’ is far from clear. Is it a thing, a process, or just a figures of speech?
In this episode, Nick Spencer speaks to Prof. John Cottingham about his book In Search of the Soul.
Jun 7, 2022 • 32min
What do men want? In conversation with Nina Power
Even allowing for the fact that relationship between the sexes has never been easy, we surely live in strangely anxious times when it comes to such matters, with accusations of misogyny and toxic masculinity rife. Are men a problem? How do men and women differ? And what, if anything, do we want or need from each other?
In this episode, Nick Spencer speaks to Nina Power about her book What do men want?: masculinity and its discontents.
May 31, 2022 • 35min
Where does science end and pseudoscience begin? In conversation with Michael Gordin
Anti-vaxxers, creation science, astrology – for supposedly rational times, irrational and pseudoscientific beliefs appear to be doing quite well. Why? Which pseudosciences are flourishing, and for what reasons? And where even is the border between science and pseudoscience?
In this episode, Nick Spencer speaks to Prof. Michael Gordin about his book On the Fringe: Where Science meets Pseudoscience.
May 24, 2022 • 34min
How did we get into this mess? In conversation with Helen Thompson
We live in strange, unsettling, perhaps even exceptional times. How did we get here? In particular, how have our dependence on energy, our need for economic growth and our distrust in politics combined to shape our unstable 21st century.
In this episode, Nick Spencer speaks to Prof. Helen Thompson about her book Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century.
May 17, 2022 • 32min
Where did religion come from (and where is it going)? In conversation with Robin Dunbar
The more religion dies, the more it stays alive, predictions of its imminent demise being as popular now as they were a hundred years ago. Why? Where did religion come from? Why is it so deep rooted in human nature? And where, if anywhere, is it going?
In this episode, Nick Spencer speaks to Prof. Robin Dunbar about his book How Religion Evolved and why it endures.
