The Sacred

Greg Wise, actor and film producer known for Sense and Sensibility and The Crown, discusses his love for rock climbing and solitude in nature. He also talks about the role actors play in shaping society and shares insights on death after caring for his sister.

Elizabeth Oldfield is joined by producer Daniel Turner to answer questions sent in by listeners of the show. Thank you to Hannah Clifton, John Ablett, John Ranford, Jess Reid, AJ Bremner, Paul Mitchell, Marc Czerwinski, Anne Weinhold, Rishi Vaidya and Emily Rajeh for sending in your questions. Special thanks Leanne Sedin for writing and producing the song Gather which you can listen to here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GWbq2ZIl2E You can follow the rest of Leanne's work here: https://www.leannesedin.com/ CHAPTERS 00:00:00 Intro 00:06:48 Question 1 - Balancing communal acts with personal integrity 00:13:14 Question 2 - Is there anyone you'd like to invite back? 00:17:23 Question 3 - How do we do theology in the Anthropocene? 00:21:46 Question 4 - Finding community 00:30:06 Question 5 - How do you surrender? How do you believe? 00:44:22 Question 6 - Remaining positive about community after painful experiences 00:48:02 Question 7 - Church vs Nature 00:50:38 Question 8 - Sacred reflections 00:54:33 Question 9 - How can we counter a Christianity that is ideologically possessed? 00:59:00 Outro 01:01:30 Gather by Leanne Sedin ***** The Sacred is a podcast produced by the think tank Theos. Be sure to connect with us below to stay up-to-date with all our content, research and events. CONNECT WITH THE SACRED Twitter: https://twitter.com/sacred_podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sacred_podcast/ CONNECT WITH ELIZABETH OLDFIELD Twitter: https://twitter.com/ESOldfield Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethsaraholdfield/ CONNECT WITH THEOS Theos monthly newsletter: https://confirmsubscription.com/h/d/E9E17CAB71AC7464 Twitter: https://twitter.com/Theosthinktank Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theosthinktank LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theos---the-think-tank/ Website: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/ CHECK OUT OUR PODCASTS The Sacred: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sacred/id1326888108 Reading Our Times: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/reading-our-times/id1530952185

This series of The Sacred Elizabeth spoke with nine fascinating individuals about their core values, and how the messages, philosophies and experiences from their childhood shaped them into the people they are today. She spoke with Cole Arthur Riley, Thordis Elva, James Marriott, Tomiwa Owolade, Anne McElvoy, Tea Uglow, Iain McGilchrist and John Vervaeke. In this reflection episode, Elizabeth takes a look back at all these conversations and dwells on a couple key threads that were prominent throughout. Read 'Can there ever be a larger us in the Middle East?', which Elizabeth contributed to, here: https://larger.us/ideas/larger-us-middle-east/ CHAPTERS 00:00:00 Intro: Scheduling Beyond Demographic Boxes 00:03:00 Series Theme 1: Rigorous Particularity 00:03:59 Series Theme 2: Human Formation 00:07:52 Series Theme 3: Taking Time to Reflect 00:12:00 Series Theme 4: Anti–tribalism 00:15:29 Additional reflection: Israel and Gaza ***** The Sacred is a podcast produced by the think tank Theos. Be sure to connect with us below to stay up-to-date with all our content, research and events. CONNECT WITH THE SACRED Twitter: https://twitter.com/sacred_podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sacred_podcast/ CONNECT WITH ELIZABETH OLDFIELD Twitter: https://twitter.com/ESOldfield Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethsaraholdfield/ CONNECT WITH THEOS Theos monthly newsletter: https://confirmsubscription.com/h/d/E9E17CAB71AC7464 Twitter: https://twitter.com/Theosthinktank Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theosthinktank LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theos---the-think-tank/ Website: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/ CHECK OUT OUR PODCASTS The Sacred: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sacred/id1326888108 Reading Our Times: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/reading-our-times/id1530952185

John Vervaeke is professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science at the University of Toronto. He is also the host of the popular YouTube channel ( @johnvervaeke ) where he explores what he has coined the #meaningcrisis. John spoke about his upbringing in a fundamentalist Christian home and what he has learned from that experience after time in therapy, relationships and the nature of reality, and the rehoming of spiritual practises outside of "legacy religions". Find out more about John's work here: https://johnvervaeke.com ***** The Sacred is a podcast produced by the think tank Theos. Be sure to connect with us below to stay up-to-date with all our content, research and events. CONNECT WITH THE SACRED Twitter: https://twitter.com/sacred_podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sacred_podcast/ CONNECT WITH ELIZABETH OLDFIELD Twitter: https://twitter.com/ESOldfield Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethsaraholdfield/ Substack: https://morefullyalive.substack.com/ CONNECT WITH THEOS Theos monthly newsletter: https://confirmsubscription.com/h/d/E9E17CAB71AC7464 Twitter: https://twitter.com/Theosthinktank Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theosthinktank LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theos---the-think-tank/ Website: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/ CHECK OUT OUR PODCASTS The Sacred: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sacred/id1326888108 Reading Our Times: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/reading-our-times/id1530952185

Dr. Iain McGilchrist discusses his exposure to religion, transition to psychiatry, left-hemispheric dominant thinking's impact on society, concept of the sacred, values of truth, goodness, and beauty, role of spirituality and literature in shaping childhood, influence of hemisphere differences in perception, state of divisiveness and tribalism, importance of formation and resisting binary thinking, moral act of attention, and significance of embracing marginalized perspectives.

Tea Uglow is the former Creative Director for Google's Creative Labs in Sydney and one of Deloitte's #OUT50 LGBTI+ Leaders for 2018. They are also the author of the books 'A Curiosity of Doubts' and 'Loud and Proud: LGBTQ+ Speeches that Empower and Inspire'. Tea spoke about their childhood, prior to transitioning, and the difficulties of growing up during Margaret Thatcher's Section 28 legislation in the UK. They also spoke about the influence of technology in our lives, the power it has to shape our society and where we might have missed the boat on legislating Artificial Intelligence. ***** The Sacred is a podcast produced by the think tank Theos. Be sure to connect with us below to stay up-to-date with all our content, research and events. CONNECT WITH THE SACRED Twitter: https://twitter.com/sacred_podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sacred_podcast/ CONNECT WITH ELIZABETH OLDFIELD Twitter: https://twitter.com/ESOldfield Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethsaraholdfield/ Substack: https://morefullyalive.substack.com/ CONNECT WITH THEOS Theos monthly newsletter: https://confirmsubscription.com/h/d/E9E17CAB71AC7464 Twitter: https://twitter.com/Theosthinktank Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theosthinktank LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theos---the-think-tank/ Website: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/ CHECK OUT OUR PODCASTS The Sacred: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sacred/id1326888108 Reading Our Times: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/reading-our-times/id1530952185

Anne McElvoy is a journalist and broadcaster, and host of the BBC Radio 4 series 'Across the Red Line'. Her career has seen her writing and presenting for numerous outlets including Politico, The Economist, The Spectator and The Evening Standard. Anne spoke about her childhood growing up going to a Catholic comprehensive school, her journey in the world of journalism, why she's increasingly concerned about the way we have public debates and what she's trying to do about that. Listen to Across The Red Line, here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09m2bj1 ***** The Sacred is a podcast produced by the think tank Theos. Be sure to connect with us below to stay up-to-date with all our content, research and events. CONNECT WITH THE SACRED Twitter: https://twitter.com/sacred_podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sacred_podcast/ CONNECT WITH ELIZABETH OLDFIELD Twitter: https://twitter.com/ESOldfield Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethsaraholdfield/ Substack: https://morefullyalive.substack.com/ CONNECT WITH THEOS Theos monthly newsletter: https://confirmsubscription.com/h/d/E9E17CAB71AC7464 Twitter: https://twitter.com/Theosthinktank Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theosthinktank LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theos---the-think-tank/ Website: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/ CHECK OUT OUR PODCASTS The Sacred: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sacred/id1326888108 Reading Our Times: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/reading-our-times/id1530952185

Tomiwa Owolade is a journalist and critic, and writer of the highly acclaimed book 'This is Not America: Why Black Lives in Britain Matter'. Tomiwa spoke about his upbringing and moving from Nigeria to Britain as a boy, why we should approach racism differently in the UK to America, and why he doesn't like being seen solely through the lens of race. You can get a copy of This is Not America here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/This-Not-America-Britain-Matter/dp/1838956212 Read the full transcript here: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2023/10/11/tomiwa-owolade-on-why-black-lives-in-britain-matter CHAPTERS 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:53 What is sacred to you? Tomiwa Owolade’s answer 00:05:29 Roots of Faith and Culture: Growing Up Christian in Nigeria 00:10:59 From Nigeria to London: Smooth Transitions and Cultural Surprises 00:15:51 Settling with ease in the UK, being Christian, and the irony of African Christian identity 00:21:58 Journey to University and Navigating Identity and Education 00:26:37 This is Not America: Why Black Lives in Britain Matter 00:32:42 Diversity of Black British population, and unhelpful generalisations 00:49:18 Academic fisticuffs and unhelpful racial pigeonholing 00:59:01 Outro: Many things can be true at the same time ***** The Sacred is a podcast produced by the think tank Theos. Be sure to connect with us below to stay up-to-date with all our content, research and events. CONNECT WITH THE SACRED Twitter: https://twitter.com/sacred_podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sacred_podcast/ CONNECT WITH ELIZABETH OLDFIELD Twitter: https://twitter.com/ESOldfield Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethsaraholdfield/ Substack: https://morefullyalive.substack.com/ CONNECT WITH THEOS Theos monthly newsletter: https://confirmsubscription.com/h/d/E9E17CAB71AC7464 Twitter: https://twitter.com/Theosthinktank Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theosthinktank LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theos---the-think-tank/ Website: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/ CHECK OUT OUR PODCASTS The Sacred: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sacred/id1326888108 Reading Our Times: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/reading-our-times/id1530952185

James Marriott is a columnist and book/podcast critic for The Times. His columns cross a variety of topics from culture to ideas and observations of our society. James spoke about his deep reverence for literature, the objectives of critics, and the role of nihilism in shaping who he is today. Read the full transcript here: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2023/10/04/james-marriott-on-literature-and-the-art-of-review You can read more from James in his column, here: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/profile/james-marriott?page=1 ***** The Sacred is a podcast produced by the think tank Theos. Be sure to connect with us below to stay up-to-date with all our content, research and events. CONNECT WITH THE SACRED Twitter: https://twitter.com/sacred_podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sacred_podcast/ CONNECT WITH ELIZABETH OLDFIELD Twitter: https://twitter.com/ESOldfield Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethsaraholdfield/ Substack: https://morefullyalive.substack.com/ CONNECT WITH THEOS Theos monthly newsletter: https://confirmsubscription.com/h/d/E9E17CAB71AC7464 Twitter: https://twitter.com/Theosthinktank Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theosthinktank LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theos---the-think-tank/ Website: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/ CHECK OUT OUR PODCASTS The Sacred: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sacred/id1326888108 Reading Our Times: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/reading-our-times/id1530952185

*EPISODE DISCLAIMER* This episode was recorded before brand allegations emerged. It feels very timely but also potentially a difficult time for us to be releasing it. In the end, we wanted to leave as is because Thordis and her story is about more than sexual violence, and because the topic of sexual violence itself is about more than one person and their story. But we're also very aware there are a lot of complex and conflicting thoughts following the allegations emerging. So as ever please do get in touch and let us know your thoughts. Thordis Elva is a writer and speaker best known for her powerful story of forgiving and reconciling with her rapist, Tom. Her Ted Talk, given alongside Tom, has been viewed over six million times. Thordis spoke about her story of sexual assault and journey to forgiveness, the challenge of recognising the human nature of those who hurt you, and the uniting force that is hope. Watch Thordis' Ted talk here: https://www.ted.com/talks/thordis_elva_and_tom_stranger_our_story_of_rape_and_reconciliation Buy a copy of Thordis' book, South of Forgiveness, here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/south-of-forgiveness/thordis-elva/tom-stranger/9781911344056 ***** The Sacred is a podcast produced by the think tank Theos. Be sure to connect with us below to stay up-to-date with all our content, research and events. CONNECT WITH THE SACRED Twitter: https://twitter.com/sacred_podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sacred_podcast/ CONNECT WITH ELIZABETH OLDFIELD Twitter: https://twitter.com/ESOldfield Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethsaraholdfield/ Substack: https://morefullyalive.substack.com/ CONNECT WITH THEOS Theos monthly newsletter: https://confirmsubscription.com/h/d/E9E17CAB71AC7464 Twitter: https://twitter.com/Theosthinktank Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theosthinktank LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theos---the-think-tank/ Website: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/ CHECK OUT OUR PODCASTS The Sacred: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sacred/id1326888108 Reading Our Times: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/reading-our-times/id1530952185