Re-enchanting... public life

People have lost confidence in leaders and institutions. Can politics and public life be re-enchanted? Lord Michael Hastings talks about bending the power of the prosperous for the poor, with Belle TIndall and Justin Brierley.

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

A man in conversation laughs and throws his head back

Michael Hastings being interviewed at Lambeth Palace Library.

People have lost confidence in leaders and institutions. Can politics and public life be re-enchanted? Lord Michael Hastings of Scarisbrick is an independent peer in the House of Lords who has worked in business, education and international development. He tells Justin Brierley and Belle Tindall about growing up in Jamaica and the UK, and how his faith has led him to 'bend the power of the prosperous to the potential of the poor'.

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?

Podcast

Podcasts

Re-enchanting

4 June 2025

1 min read

Re-enchanting... the end of the world - Alex Evans

New episode. In a perma-crisis era do climate change, war, technology, immigration and extremism threaten to destabilise the world?

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

A video grab of a man talking with text beside him reading: it's not the end of the world.

Alex Evans is the founder and Executive Director of Larger Us - a community of change-makers seeking to bridge divides and bring people together. Alex has previously worked as a think tank researcher, as a special adviser to two cabinet ministers, in the UN Secretary-General’s office and as a consultant for organisations from Oxfam to the US National Intelligence Council.

It’s given Alex a perspective on just how bad things can be in the world. Many have described our era as a ‘polycrisis’ or ‘permacrisis', as climate change, war, technology, immigration and the rise of extremism threaten to destabilise the world.

So how do we deal with 24 hour doom-scrolling? And how can Christian faith speak to a world where everything seems to be falling apart?

Last year Alex began a Substack titled ’The Good Apocalypse Guide’ about how we can survive and thrive to unlock a 'breakthrough' rather than 'breakdown' future.

Alex joins Belle and Justin as they attempt to re-enchant… the end of the world.

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