Review
Culture
3 min read

Most popular 2024: the contributors

From politics and media, to sporting controversy, our top writers’ takes on the year.

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

A painting of the Last supper showing Christ and the disciples at a table.
da Vinci's Last Supper.
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

We’re wrapping up the year reviewing what articles were most popular with Seen & Unseen readers. Our final analysis is of the top 10 contributor takes on the year’s events. What did our writers,  well,  write about?

Two interviews resonated with our readers. One with a volunteer surgeon in Gaza, while the  other got to the bottom of what’s kept a veteran politican going. Talking of which, we also gave Joe Biden some advice too.

We reviewed Kier Starmer’s favourite book, praised Sally Rooney’s new opus, and watched a Netflix blockbuster that gave the church a bad name. And took Disney to task for the Disneyfication of the monasteries.

On matters of the mind and heart  we took Ted and Taylor to task, while critiquing a dating app's shade-throwing ad.

And, like, our editor-in-chief’s top story, paganism high profile needed investigating too.

Over 170 writers have contributed to Seen & Unseen. Explore them using the Contributor List and their work through our Index of 800 articles.

10 - Celibacy, the Pope and the dating app

There’s a desperate need for a new sexual revolution.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Identity, Romance.

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9 - My open letter to Sally Rooney: dilatasti cor meum

You enlarge my heart.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Books, Wildness.

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8 - The book Keir Starmer says you must read

Will Hutton’s This Time No Mistakes surveys the thinking that could solve Britain’s ills.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Economics, Politics.

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7 - Stephen Timms: still on mission

The MP on five decades trying to prove a Christian Tory wrong.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Politics, S&U Interviews.

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6 - Self-belief: what Ted and Taylor get wrong

Psychologist Roger Bretherton questions whether believing in ourselves is all it’s cracked up to be, despite what culture icons might say.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Identity, Psychology, Taylor Swift.

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5 - Shardlake: the Disneyfication of the Monasteries

What works, and doesn’t, translating from page to screen.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Film and TV. Monastic Life.

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4 - Jonathan Aitken: I’m in my 80s and here’s what I’d tell Joe Biden

Don't succumb to this politicians' fantasy.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Ageing, Politics.

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3 - Christianity’s big PR problem

Dancing for the Devil is just the latest shock-jock exposé.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Film & TV.

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2 - Eye witness: life and death in Gaza’s European Hospital

 

Returning plastic surgeon Tim Goodacre reports on the struggles, the despair and the dignity of the people and the medics of Gaza during their long nightmare.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Gaza, Israel, Middle East, S&U interviews, Suffering, War & peace.

1 - Paris 2024 and Christianity’s opening ceremony

A subversive Olympic opening relies on Christianity’s own beginnings.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Paganism, Sport.

Read more from this author.  

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Alongside other benefits (book discounts etc.), you’ll receive an extra fortnightly email from me sharing what I’m reading and my reflections on the ideas that are shaping our times.

Graham Tomlin

Editor-in-Chief

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New episode: Seen & Unseen Aloud

Where are the mystics? What with the free speech? And the humanity of a dog. Listen now.

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

A cartoon scene depicts a robot gnome marching out a shed while its inventor and his dog look on.
A good boy is not convinced.

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As we start the year, we hear from Belle Tindall about some of the great mystics of the Christian faith; Cameron Wiltshire-Plant warns Elon Musk that there is always a cost to "free speech" and Jonathan Rowlands celebrates the deep humanity of Wallace & Gromit.

​​​​​​​Join with us - Behind the Seen

Seen & Unseen is free for everyone and is made possible through the generosity of our amazing community of supporters.

If you’re enjoying Seen & Unseen, would you consider making a gift towards our work?

Alongside other benefits (book discounts etc.), you’ll receive an extra fortnightly email from me sharing what I’m reading and my reflections on the ideas that are shaping our times.

Graham Tomlin

Editor-in-Chief

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