Reading Our Times

Even as formal religious adherence wanes (at least in the West), people go on talking about God and spiritual matters. But how is that even possible? How can you talk about someone (or something) that is beyond language? Is all God-talk literally nonsense? In this episode, Nick Spencer speaks to Prof. Janet Soskice about her classic 'Metaphor and Religious Language' and her forthcoming 'Naming God' about how on earth we can hope to talk about God.

Secularism is supposed to epitomise reasonableness and fairness – the refusal to favour one (non/religious) group over another. Yet, it is coming under fierce pressure across the world. Why? In this episode Nick Spencer talks to Prof. Sumantra Bose about his book 'Secular States, Religious Politics' and looks at the future of secularism in the 21st century.

Debates around sex, gender and identity have emerged as some of the most important, and heated, of our time. But what are the issues – scientific, philosophical, ideological, anthropological – that lie beneath them? In this episode, Nick Spencer talks to the journalist and author Helen Joyce about her book Trans, and the tensions underlying the debate.

Iain McGilchrist, an esteemed author known for his insights on the divided brain's influence on Western thought, shares captivating ideas with Nick Spencer. They discuss the clash between materialism and a rich understanding of existence. McGilchrist emphasizes how the left and right hemispheres of the brain shape our perception and consciousness. The conversation also explores the evolving nature of truth and the importance of experiential knowledge over mere facts. Listeners are invited to reflect on what it truly means to know and understand.

There was a time (and not so long ago) we thought animals were 'mere machines’, incapable of inner life or emotions. Now we know better and are beginning to understand the extraordinarily rich inner life of primates and some other species. In the first episode of this series of Reading Our Times, Nick Spencer talks to the eminent primatologist Frans de Waal about his book 'Mama's Last Hug' which explores the moving and fascinating world of animal emotions and what they tell us about ourselves.

The last 30 years have seen liberalism fall from heights of triumph at the end of the Cold War to a place of genuine fragility. Both in Western countries and even more so elsewhere, liberalism appears to be in retreat. What comes next? Some argue that liberalism will bounce back. Others that populism or authoritarianism are set to dominate things for the foreseeable future. But still others have argued for a ‘postliberal’ alternative, which spans the traditional left and right, and integrates the best of the liberal tradition but without its errors and problems. In the final episode of series two of Reading Our Times, Nick Spencer speaks to Adrian Pabst, one of the leading thinkers of this movement about his book, Postliberal politics: The coming era of renewal: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Post-Liberal-Moment-Manifesto-Post-Pandemic-Politics/dp/1509546804

People today often like to be considered “spiritual but not religious”. But what could that actually mean? All too often, the spiritual is juxtaposed against the material. But in reality, the two are inseparably linked. In this episode of Reading our Times, Nick Spencer talks to Rowan Williams about his latest book [Looking East in Winter](https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/looking-east-in-winter-9781472989246/), in a conversation that covers the spiritual life, the potential for politics, and the need for Christian humanism today.

Given how much richer we are today than, say, 50 years ago, it is remarkable how many people think ‘the system’ is not working for them. Particularly in high income countries, there is a pervasive sense that neither the market nor the state are providing citizens with the security and welfare that they could and should. In this episode of Reading our Times, Nick Spencer talks to Minouche Shafik, former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England and current Director of the London School of Economics, about her book 'What We Owe Each Other' and the need to build “a new social contract” for the 21st century: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/111/1119278/what-we-owe-each-other/9781847926272.html

Languages come and languages go – but mostly nowadays they go. According to the Cambridge Handbook of Endangered Languages, nearly 90% may have died out by the end of the century. What do we lose when we lose a language? Indeed, what is a language? What does it do? How does it work? And what does it say about human beings and our shared culture? In this episode of Reading our Times, Nick Spencer talks to Alexandra Aikhenvald, Foundation Director of the Language and Culture Research Centre and Distinguished Professor at James Cook University in Australia, about her book I Saw the Dog: How language works: https://profilebooks.com/work/i-saw-the-dog/#:~:text=In%20I%20Saw%20the%20Dog,be%20human%20%2D%20and%20what%20we

Lockdown does strange things to people. After 20 years of marriage, Nick and his wife bought two cats for the family. They love them but they are mystifying. What is going on in there? Luckily for Nick and his family, John Gray, formerly Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics, recently published his new book ‘Feline Philosophy: Cats and the Meaning of Life.’ In this episode Nick talks to John about sin, the fall, self–awareness, morality, philosophy, Montaigne, Blaise Pascal… oh, and cats. You can buy the book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/feline-philosophy/john-gray/9780241351147 Unfortunately the audio quality for this episode is not up to our normal standard and for this we apologise.