Christmas countdown day 6: Father Christmas origin story

Red radical: the tales behind the Santa we see today

Graham Tomlin

Graham is the Director of the Centre for Cultural Witness and a former Bishop of Kensington.

A Lego Stanta figure strolls across a table holding a wrench

Artem Maltsev on Unsplash.

Listen or read

Read now

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.

Subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or Amazon.

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.

Support Seen & Unseen

"If you were able to support us on Seen & Unseen with a regular gift of £5 or £10 a week, that would be a great encouragement for us and enable us to continue to produce the content we offer."

Graham Tomlin, Editor-in-Chief

Give now

Podcast

Culture

Re-enchanting

Royalty

18 November 2023

1 min read

Re-enchanting... kings, queens and the church

Justin and Belle talk to historian Suzannah Lipscomb about devoting her life to understanding the past, the way the British monarchy shaped Christendom, and how she puts faith and the tumultuous history of the church together.

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

A seated podcast guest talks into a mic while stretching out a hand for emphasis.

Suzannah Lipscomb is an award-winning historian, author and broadcaster who has brought the loves, lives and intrigues of the sixteenth century to millions of people through TV shows, podcasts and writing. She is the author of several books, including 1536: The Year that changed Henry VIII and The Voices of Nîmes: Women, Sex, and Marriage in Reformation Languedoc.

Justin and Belle talk to historian Suzannah about why she has devoted her life to understanding the past, the way the British monarchy shaped Christendom, why she is focussed on uncovering the real stories of women in our history books, and how as a Christian she puts faith and the tumultuous history of the church together. Look out for a bonus conversation at the end of the show when Suzannah reflects on the problem of suffering as a Christian.

For Suzannah Lipscomb: https://suzannahlipscomb.com/

For Re-Enchanting: https://www.seenandunseen.com/podcast T

here’s more to life than the world we can see. Re-Enchanting is a podcast from Seen & Unseen recorded at Lambeth Palace Library, the home of the Centre for Cultural Witness. Justin Brierley and Belle Tindall engage faith and spirituality with leading figures in science, history, politics, art and education. Can our culture be re-enchanted by the vision of Christianity?