Christmas countdown day 16: a philosophical Christmas

Raise a glass to the invasion of history.

Charles Foster

Professor Charles Foster is a Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford, and a member of the Oxford Law Faculty.

A fish eye lens view of a person standing silhouetted, looking up to a colourful night sky with the Milky Way across it

Greg Rakozy on Unsplash.

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The Christmas Countdown

It’s the season to be jolly, stressed, and all round Christmassy. On the Seen & Unseen Aloud podcast, we’re here for you with our Aloud Christmas Countdown!

Every day in December, we’ll drop some of the best seasonal content from Seen & Unseen Aloud. From how to survive Christmas, reviews of the best Christmas movies and the origin story of Santa Claus.

For when you’ve got your hands full of mince pies and baubles, but you still want to hear some thoughtful content, subscribe to Seen & Unseen Aloud for the Christmas Countdown.

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Throughout the year, the Seen & Unseen Aloud brings you the week’s best articles, in a short 20 minute podcast episode. Browse the index for episodes from Seen & Unseen Aloud, Re-enchanting and GodPod.

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Podcasts

Seen & Unseen Aloud

23 June 2025

1 min read

Love is not an order, who prays, and The Salt Path

Exploring love from three very different perspectives

Natalie Garrett

Natalie produces and narrates The Seen & Unseen Aloud podcast. She's an Anglican minister and a trained actor.

A protester wearing a Union Jack flag and hat and holding a cross, points while a man looks on.

Far right protesters, Portsmouth.

Tim Sheerman-Chase, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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In this episode we explore love from three very different perspectives: Barnabas Apsray considers Christian Nationalism - is it an oxymoron? Roger Bretherton talks about how 1-in-4 people pray or meditate daily and how beneficial that is to their life; Roger Standing walks us through The Salt Path - from real life to book to movie - the story of love against all odds and what it teaches us about ourselves.

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Since Spring 2023, thousands of people have enjoyed hundreds of podcast episodes and over 1,500 articles.

All for free.

This is made possible through the generosity of our amazing community of supporters.

If you enjoy Seen & Unseen Aloud, would you consider making a gift towards our work?

Do so by joining Behind The Seen. Alongside other benefits, you’ll receive an extra fortnightly email from me sharing my reading and reflections on the ideas that are shaping our times.

Graham Tomlin
Editor-in-Chief

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