Luke Bretherton... re-enchanting the election(s)

Can we re-enchant politics, democracy and our vote? Oxford's new Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology discusses.

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

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2024 will see more than sixty countries hold national elections and more than two billion people eligible to vote - including an imminent election in the UK and what looks to be a historic election in the US.

This calls for a special episode of Re-Enchanting.

Luke Bretherton is an author and theologian who currently splits his time between Duke University in the US and St Mellitus College here in London. It has just been announced that from January 2025 onwards, Luke will be the Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at Christ Church Oxford.

Specialising in political and moral theology, Luke’s books include the award-winning Christianity & Contemporary Politics, Resurrecting Democracy, and his latest offering - A Primer in Christian Ethics: Christ and the Struggle to Live Well.

Luke joins Belle and Justin to discuss the often-choppy waters of liberal democracy and to ponder whether we can re-enchant politics, democracy and our vote.

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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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