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Elizabeth Oldfield: re-enchanting... the seven deadly sins

On the Re-enchanting podcast, Elizabeth Oldfield talks about wisdom, our common life and the things that most deeply bind us.

1 min read

2024-05-22

Explainer

Creed

Seven Deadly Sins

Sin: explained

Graham Tomlin

From rottweilers to North African bishops, Graham Tomlin kicks off the Seven Deadly Sins series with an introduction to the unpopular idea of ‘sin’.

2023-07-10

Reverse psychology: understand goodness then sin

Roger Bretherton

Psychologist Roger Bretherton concludes our series on the seven deadly sins with a subversive proposition: we don’t understand sin because we don’t understand goodness.

2023-09-12

Greed: “No, I’ll never have enough”

Jane Williams

In the third of a series on the Seven Deadly Sins, Jane Williams highlights how Greed destroys both individuals and societies.

2023-07-24

Gluttony’s unconscious self-image of emptiness

Graham Tomlin

In the seventh of a series on the Seven Deadly Sins, Graham Tomlin digests gluttony’s distorting obsession with food.

2023-08-21

Envy: jealousy’s evil cousin

Roger Bretherton

In the second of a series on the Seven Deadly Sins, Roger Bretherton investigates the psychological and moral impact of envy on its victims.

2023-07-17

Sloth’s languid lack of passion

Graham Tomlin

In the appropriately last in a series on the Seven Deadly Sins, Graham Tomlin looks at what’s lost to life when sloth sets in.

2023-08-28

Lust: disordered desire

Belle Tindall

In the fourth of a series on the Seven Deadly Sins, Belle Tindall explores how Lust minimises or sensationalises sex and desire.

2023-07-31

Pride: self-obsessed isolation

Jonathan Aitken

In the sixth of a series on the Seven Deadly Sins, Jonathan Aitken identifies Pride as egotism with a capital E and the cause of his own royal flush of crises.

2023-08-14

Identifying as human has deadly implications

Barnabas Aspray

The incarnation and an execution impacts humanity.

2024-02-14

Fun is dead

Simon Walters

When video games turn play into work, we need to play without fear of consequences.

2024-03-18

Anger: the dragon’s wrath

James Mumford

In the fifth of a series on the Seven Deadly Sins, James Mumford encounters Anger, and reflects that its object is no mere object.

2023-08-07

No mercy on the Megabus

Jenny Lander

Why is sin such a sickly, sticky thing in the human heart?

2024-04-11

Edinburgh's grim endurance test of character

James Cary

How a comedian survived the Fringe and kept going back.

2023-08-22

Iain McGilchrist: re-enchanting the brain

Nick Jones

Can we re-enchant our view of the world by re-engaging a ‘right hemispheric’ view of life, love and faith?

2024-07-16

In the city of broken windows

Jamie Mulvaney

Our fractures become fractal, breaking bigger and bigger windows.

2024-11-13

Recovery came softly

From Mockingbird

A vision of grace amid an eating disorder.

2024-08-27

Seen & Unseen Aloud: the editor's cut

Nick Jones

Need a little Christmas day recuperation? Sit back, relax and listen to a little Christmas compilation picked by senior editor Nick Jones.

2023-12-25

Seen & Unseen Aloud

Nick Jones

Listen to narrated articles. The challenges of ADHD, how identifying as human has deadly implications, and some wisdom around fasting.

2024-02-19

Death focuses our minds on what really matters

George Pitcher

From ballet tales to royal soap opera, stories shed light on Lent's dark mortality.

2024-02-14

Small Things Like These: putting the spotlight on backstage goodness

Kevin Hargaden

What it means for a film to be good.

2024-11-08

It’s OK to be angry about this, right?

Anthony Baker

Anger's real gift is the desire for action.

2024-02-19

How to do the Devil’s work in modern America

Giles Gough

The Bondsman ‘literal evil’ fits so easily into today.

2025-04-09

When indulgence and inhibition are on the menu

Ryan Gilfeather

As the time of feasting concludes, and resolutions start to crumble, Ryan Gilfeather takes some lessons on how and when to say 'no more'.

2024-01-03

Don't patronise: what the R20 means for development

Chris Wadibia

The R20 meeting at the G20 global summit sheds light on development. Christopher Wadibia makes the case for a change in perception.

2023-04-04

Which dragon does St Michael need to slay today?

James Cary

Explore the cultural impact of the dragon killer.

2024-09-26

This revolting rich list is a freak show

George Pitcher

What are we to make of this quite nauseating spectacle?

2024-05-23

Grenfell: how long should we remember?

Graham Tomlin

There are good and bad ways of remembering.

6 min read

2025-02-06

Article

Culture

A black and white list of music tracks reads: IS THIS WHAT WE WANT. THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT MUST NOT LEGALISE MUSIC THEFT.

As creativity and AI battle, greed is the true enemy

Alexandra Kytka-Sharpe

Every string plucked, stitch sewn, brushstroke painted, is a sign we’re made for more than utility.

2025-03-03

The lost art of dying well and what we can learn from it today

Lydia Dugdale

Living well in order to die well doesn’t simply happen. It takes work. It takes preparation. For All Souls Day, Lydia Dugdale asks if we are prepared for death.

2023-11-01

Why hold on to Veganuary anymore?

Trystan Owain Hughes

As commercial promotion of plant-based diets falter Trystan Owain Hughes digs for the real roots around a ‘reverence for life’.

2024-01-23

Do you have a right to be remembered?

Jack Nicholson

Our desire to be in control might not survive our demise.

2025-04-17

Why are we so obsessed with true crime?

Jamie Mulvaney

Our prurience often mistakes curiosity for compassion

2025-07-01

Two terrible travelogues in search of their storylines

Yaroslav Walker

Yaroslav Walker would rather get to a monastery than recommend these threequels.

2023-10-03

A day, night and dawn with Nick Cave’s lyrics

Jonathan Evens

Does Adam Steiner’s rappel into Cave’s art help us understand its purpose?

2024-03-01

Beyond pancakes and chocolate: a sensory guide to Lent and Easter

Lianne Howard-Dace

It’s a time to discover the whole range of human experience and emotion.

2024-02-13

Beyond immortality there’s restoration

Barnabas Aspray

The resurrection strikes at the heart of the cold reality of the human condition.

2024-03-26

Why Climate Change is at heart, a spiritual problem

Mark Scarlata

Climate change does not begin with technical solutions but with spiritual ones.

2024-05-30

Silly fun, serious question

Yaroslav Walker

The Pope’s Exorcist ask viewers what is it to have faith in the face of true and terrifying inexplicable evil. Priest Yaroslav Walker reviews.

2023-05-09

The corrosive effect of profuse profanity

Yaroslav Walker

The coarsening of speech prompts Yaroslav Walker to remember that what you say influences who you are.

2024-01-19

Harry Potter and the mysteries of death

Jonny Torrance

Horcruxes and our digital consciousness

2025-04-14

The falcon’s call

Anthony Baker

Awed by an encounter with a bird of prey high above a Texas river, Anthony Baker ponders both the place and his place.

4 min read

2023-04-12

Essay

Culture

A garish tinplate robot lists to one side.

Frankenstein’s bed partner: AI and sex

Lauren Windle

When it comes to sex, AI is destroying the connection.

2024-02-21

Sorry seems to be the hardest word

Graham Tomlin

We all find ways of not simply saying sorry. Not just former prime ministers. Graham Tomlin unpacks why it’s getting harder to say sorry in our culture.

2023-06-14

My conversation with... Frank Skinner

Belle Tindall

Re-Enchanting... Comedy. Frank Skinner is only interested in the weird. In the un-graspable. In the outrageous. Belle Tindall gets a lesson in "super poetry" from Frank.

2023-10-07

Cleaning up cleaning: the problem with split shift work

Ryan Gilfeather

Unhealthy and unnecessary working practices impact unseen cleaners. It doesn’t have to be like that argues Ryan Gilfeather.

2023-05-04

A fan’s eye view of the fall of Sean Combs

Giles Gough

We believed he was a good guy because we wanted to believe someone was

2025-07-02

How Christianity transformed attitudes towards death

Andrew Davison

Once we buried bodies outside cities. Then we started burying loved ones inside them. This is why.

2023-11-01

The difference between Richard Dawkins and Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Graham Tomlin

How we decide what is true rests on where we start from.

2024-06-12

Perpetually present in Palm Springs

Beatrice Scudeler

A movie's time loop explores the meaning in the mundane.

2024-03-06

How to be (un)successful

Pete Portal

Could busyness really be the counterfeit of significance?

2024-04-12

Israel-Gaza war anniversary: why peacemakers need a touch of doubt

Graham Tomlin

Which narrative do you believe?

7 min read

2024-10-04

Article

Creed

William Blake's illustration of Satan, a winged angel, flying over a prone Eve.

John Smyth: how evil masks itself as goodness

Graham Tomlin

Be alert to the cloaked and warped wherever it occurs.

2024-11-18

Understanding the power of blood

Helen Cowan

From hospitals to hymn books, it's significant for a reason.

2025-04-14

The Easter series, on Seen & Unseen Aloud

Natalie Garrett

Listen to eight daily articles on what Easter means, especially selected for Holy Week.

2025-04-13

Trusting her experience

Jane Williams

Daring and passionate thought is not the province of modern writers alone. Jane William introduces Julian of Norwich, Britain’s first female author.

2023-03-23

Untouchable: experiencing discrimination around the world

Rahil Patel

In America it’s in the headlines, while in India it continues to influence. Rahil Patel explores caste discrimination and finds out who helped craft constitutional protections for those affected.

2024-01-10

The 4th century social justice warrior

Ryan Gilfeather

He was the first to condemn slavery, over 1,500 years ago. Gregory of Nyssa critically examined society, looking at the relationships and structures everyone takes for granted.

2023-02-01

When creation and justice converge

N.T. Wright

In a world of climate catastrophe, what does the message of Easter have to offer? N.T. Wright contemplates the hope of a new heaven and a new earth.

2023-04-09

My conversation with... Katharine Birbalsingh

Belle Tindall

A stubborn hopefulness drives Katharine Birbalsingh. Belle Tindall reflects on her conversation with the controversial headteacher for the Re-Enchanting podcast.

5 min read

2023-06-10