Helen Lewis: re-enchanting feminism and the culture wars

On the Re-enchanting podcast Helen Lewis talks with Belle and Justin about the religious instincts that seems to underlie secular activism, and whether she sees any way forward in re-enchanting feminism and the culture wars.

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

a woman sits at a table, with a mic in front of her, talking and holding her hands together in front of her.

Listen now

Helen Lewis is a journalist, broadcaster and staff writer for The Atlantic. She is the author of Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights and has been writing and speaking about feminism, gender, and the culture wars for several years... and occasionally gets caught up in them herself, including a viral interview with Jordan Peterson for GQ.

Justin and Belle chat to Helen about the religious instincts that seems to underlie secular activism on both the left and right, and whether she sees any way forward in re-enchanting feminism and the culture wars of our day.

For more about Helen Lewis visit her website.

There’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?

Watch now

Podcast

Podcasts

Re-enchanting

Theatre

12 March 2025

1 min read

Kate Flaherty: re-enchanting... Shakespeare

How enchantment shows up in the playwright's iconic works.

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

A podcast guest holds up her hand and looks at it while speaking.

Listen now

Dr Kate Flaherty is Senior Lecturer in English and Drama at the Australian National University. She researches how Shakespeare’s works play on the stage of public culture. Her insights have been published in Contemporary Theatre Review, New Theatre Quarterly, Australian Studies and Shakespeare Survey. She is also the author of the book Ours as we play it: Australia Plays Shakespeare and of the latest volume of the Cambridge Elements series - Ellen Terry, Shakespeare and Suffrage in Australia and New Zealand.

So today Justin and Belle are going to be speaking with Kate about how enchantment shows up in the iconic works of Shakespeare.

Find about more about Kate's research.

Kate Flaherty