Christmas countdown day 17: the shadow under the Christmas tree

The challenge of spending time with the family at Christmas.

Roger Bretherton

Roger is a Clinical and Coaching Psychologist.

A light green pine tree stands amidst dark green forest and its black shadows

Evgeni Evgeniev 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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Re-enchanting

9 July 2025

1 min read

Re-enchanting... belief - Ross Douthat

New York Times columnist Ross Douthat joins Belle and Justin to talk about why religion is good for us

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

A video title card shows a guest and the quote; 'I am not surprised byre-enchantment

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About this episode

Ross Douthat is a columnist for the New York Times and the author of Believe: why everyone should be religious. He joins Belle and Justin to talk about why religion is good for us, and to give some pointers for how the average agnostic may be able to find their way to faith.

Find out more about Ross

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Graham Tomlin
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