Simnel cake, culture wars, Amandaland and singing along.

New episode: Katherine Amphlett, Graham Tomlin, Beatrice Scudeler, and Natalie Garrett write.

Natalie Garrett

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

A close up of a Simnel Cake shows 12 balls on top.

James Petts, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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In this week's particularly eclectic mix, Katherine Amphlett shares what she's learnt about forgiveness from a Simnel Cake; Graham Tomlin brings Blaise Pascal into play in today's culture wars; Beatrice Scudeler finds the reality of Amandaland, and Natalie Garrett lets loose with some Primary school assembly bangers.

Podcast

Podcasts

Seen & Unseen Aloud

8 September 2025

1 min read

Ed Sheeran's Irishness, being school-ready, and Tim Burton's Wednesday

The latest episode of Seen & Unseen Aloud

Natalie Garrett

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

Listen now

About this episode

This week, Julia Kendal looks beyond the flags flying to Ed Sheeran's (and our own) sense of national belonging; Henna Cundill asks whether the Education Secretary's new plans will genuinely help our children become school ready and life ready; Lauren Westwood explores Tim Burton's world of the outsider in Netflix's Wednesday.

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