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.

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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.

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.

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Podcast

Podcasts

Seen & Unseen Aloud

9 June 2025

1 min read

Assisted dying, Jane Austen and how to solve the Gaza conflict

New episode: the silent campaigns groups, Jane Austen inspires, and why only politics can solve Gaza.

Natalie Garrett

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

A suicide prevention advert.

CALM.

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About this episode

This week's thought-provoking selection starts with Jamie Gillies asking suicide prevention organisations to get involved in the Assisted Dying debate; Beatrice Schudeler introduces us to Jane Austen-inspired novels of different times and genres, and Graham Tomlin tracks the political history of Gaza back to the Roman Empire and still suggests that only politics can find a long term solution.

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Since Spring 2023, thousands of people have enjoyed hundreds of podcast episodes and over 1,000 articles. All for free.
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Graham Tomlin
Editor-in-Chief

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