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Online webinar: Kate Bowler in conversation with Graham Tomlin, 27th May

We’re bringing Seen and Unseen to life through a string of live events. And you’re invited.

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

New York Times bestselling author Kate Bowler in conversation with Seen & Unseen's Graham Tomlin
New York Times bestselling author Kate Bowler in conversation with Seen & Unseen's Graham Tomlin

Join three times New York Times bestselling author and award-winning podcast host Katie Bowler in conversation with Seen & Unseen's Graham Tomlin.

"What living with a death sentence can teach all of us about life"

Kate Bowler is a historian and expert in the stories we tell about success and failure, suffering and happiness. Her 2018 book, Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I've Loved, is a profound memoir by a young woman with a terminal illness. Bowler also works at Duke Divinity School as an associate professor of the history of Christianity in North America. 

Graham Tomlin is the Director of the Centre for Culture Witness, the initiative behind Seen & Unseen. He was Bishop of Kensington from 2015-2022. He taught theology at Oxford University for many years before becoming the founding Dean of St Mellitus College. He has written many books, most recently Blaise Pascal: The Man Who Made the Modern World

Details

Tuesday 27th May 2025 

7.30pm Webinar start 

8.30pm Webinar end 

This is a rare conversation, not to be missed. Reserve your free ticket now. This event is free to attend but if you're in a position to do so, any donations will grant you access to our Behind The Seen community, helping people everywhere encounter Christian perspectives on life and culture. 

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2 min read

Graham Tomlin's summer reading list

Seen & Unseen Editor-In-Chief shares his recommendations for a much-needed moment of pause

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

Niall Williams', John as picked by Graham Tomlin
Take a much-needed moment of pause this summer

I'm so glad that my Summer Reading List caught your eye. Whether you've got time now to dig into a new recommendation or want to bookmark this for an upcoming holiday, I hope at least one of these picks offers you some respite.

📖 Paul Bradbury, Why We Should Mourn The Death of the Semicolon 

Ordained pioneer minister, Paul Bradbury

I studied English at university, so I have always been interested in the way language works. I love how Paul Bradbury takes this tiny thing - a semicolon, and the evidence of its demise in English, and uses it as a sign of our need for pause, space, and reflection in our daily lives.

📖 Graham Tomlin, Blaise Pascal - The Man Who Made the Modern World

Bishop Graham Tomlin

I have been fascinated by Blaise Pascal ever since I read him as a teenager. I always wanted one day to write a biography of him, explaining his extraordinary life and piercing insights into human life and Christian faith. Maybe this might be a good book to take away on holiday; read on the beach, in the campsite or wherever you are!

📖Niall Williams, John

Author and playwright, Niall Willaims

From the author of History of the Rain and This Is Happiness, John is a wonderful novel depicting the elderly apostle as a man steeped in the simple yet extraordinarily revolutionary message that God is Love and that therefore we should not just tolerate, but love one another.

📖Hartmut Rosa, Uncontrollability of the World 

Sociologist and political scientist, Hartmut Rosa

The sequel to Rosa’s path-breaking work on social acceleration and resonance, this short book is a penetrating exposé of our cultural project to control everything and how it kills beauty and even ourselves in the end.

📖 Alan Kreider, The Patient Ferment of the Early Church

American Mennonite historian, Alan Kreider

If you're interested in history and what gave birth to the extraordinary Christian movement that transformed the world, then this is a great guide to those early years.

📖Paul Kingsnorth, Against Christian Civilisation

Former deputy editor of The Ecologist and author, Paul Kingsnorth

I read this lecture earlier in the year. It's a fascinating argument about the future of cultural Christianity. You might or might not agree with it, but it will make you think. 

📖Iain McGilchrist, Re-Enchanting Season 4, Ep 10

British psychiatrist, philosopher and neuroscientist Ian McGilchrist

Iain McGilchrist is such an interesting thinker whose work spans such a large area – neuroscientist, philosopher, historian, and much more, all expressed with a humility and sense of wonder. I loved his conversation with Belle and Justin. This would be a great one to listen to on the journey to your summer holiday this year.

📖Benjamin & Jenna Silber Storey, Why We Are Restless: On the Modern Quest for Contentment

University of Texas Research Fellows, Benjamin & Jenna Silber Storey

A brilliant, insightful and beautifully written account of modern discontentment through the lens of four crucial French thinkers - Montaigne, Pascal, Rousseau and de Tocqueville.