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PODCAST

Reading Our Times

Reading Our Times is the podcast that explores the books and the ideas that are shaping us today. It is hosted by Nick Spencer, Senior Fellow at the think tank, Theos. We’re going to be talking to some of the world’s leading authors about issues like meritocracy, justice, populism, human rights, the brain, liberalism, and religion. Above all, we"ll be exploring what these books have to say about the times we live in and about the people we are. So listen with us, and we’ll introduce you to

society & culture philosophy

All Episodes

00:36:15

Does the universe have a purpose? In conversation...

Reading Our Times ·

2025/12/16

Human beings need a sense of purpose but differ strongly on whether that purpose is discovered or created, on whether the universe itself has a purpose or whether purpose is just the result of a hyperactive human mind?This disagreement often maps onto the theist/atheist divide - but not always and not necessarily. Perhaps the issue of purpose is wider than belief in God.So does the universe itself show signs of purpose? If so, how would we know? Or is all this simply a delusion of a hominid brain

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00:43:41

What is the ultimate nature of reality? In...

Reading Our Times ·

2025/12/09

What is the ultimate nature of reality? And how best to describe it? Is it fundamentally smooth and continuous, flowing seamlessly from one state to another? Or is it discrete, composed of distinct, separate units that interact across unbridgeable gaps?This ancient philosophical puzzle, which dates back at least as far back as Zeno and his famous paradoxes 2,500 years ago, remains surprisingly urgent and relevant today, shaping debates across physics, evolutionary biology, history, and even our

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00:41:44

What is consciousness? In conversation with Baroness...

Reading Our Times ·

2025/12/02

Consciousness is famously called the “hard problem” and it elicits a very wide range of (sometimes very strongly held) opinions. These range from the idea that it is little more than a trick played on us by our brain, to the idea that it is built into the very fabric of matter at the most fundamental level.How does consciousness differ from mindedness? It is all or nothing, or are there grades of consciousness? And how does it map on our ordinary, everyday lives?This week, Nick Spencer speaks to

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00:41:06

What does Quantum Theory mean? In conversation with...

Reading Our Times ·

2025/11/25

Everyone has heard of quantum physics. Many of us can parrot its key ideas – uncertainty, entanglement, collapsing the wave function, something to do with a cat…But when it comes to really understanding it, well that’s a different matter altogether. “Anyone who is not shocked by quantum mechanics hasn’t understood it”, wrote the eminent physicist Niels Bohr.So, what is quantum physics? How did it come about? What does it say about ultimate reality? And how might it transform our lives?This week on

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00:46:16

Can music redeem time? In conversation with Michael...

Reading Our Times ·

2025/11/18

The performance of Olivier Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time in a freezing WW2 prison camp is one of the most famous moments of 20th century music.The piece and performance spoke to audiences movingly, both then and now, of peace, God, time, and the power of music.Such questions remain powerful today. How imprisoned by time are we? In what sense does music and art enable us to transcend the constraints of our existence? What does the end of time mean?This week on Reading Our Times, Nick

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00:44:17

What can a life tell us about transcendence?

Reading Our Times ·

2025/11/11

The idea of transcendence is common, perhaps even universal, among human beings. But what it means (if anything) is much more debatable. There are different ways of understanding transcendence, some orthodoxly religious; others more heterodox and surprising.How should we understand transcendence? If you can be spiritual but not religious, can you experience transcendence without religion? What does it mean to live a transcendent life?This week, Nick speaks to Clare Carlisle, Professor of Philosophy

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00:42:14

Is God nothing? In conversation with Gilbert Markus

Reading Our Times ·

2025/11/04

Many of the New Atheist arrows fired in the religion wars of 2000s and 2010s hit their target well and hard. The question is, was it the right target?Believers often claim that atheists don't believe in the kind of God that they themselves don't believe in, and that the concept of God in Christian thought is altogether subtle and more sophisticated than critics give credit.What is the evidence for this? Is this more sophisticated understanding of God not simply a late, post-Enlightenment evasion? Or

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00:50:23

How does life work? In conversation with Philip Ball

Reading Our Times ·

2025/10/28

Recent decades have seen the gene as supreme in all discussions of what life is and how it works. Whether selfish, co-operative or eternal, it's genes that matter.But that picture is changing, in favour of a much subtler, more complex and more layered understanding. Life, it seems, goes all the way down (and up).So what role do genes play in life? Where, if anywhere, does agency reside? Are human beings more than mere propagation vehicles? How, in effect, does life work?This week, Nick speaks to

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00:01:54

Trailer: Series 11 of Reading Our Times

Reading Our Times ·

2025/10/21

Reading our Times is back – and this series we’re getting metaphysical. We're going to be talking about the building blocks of life, the universe and reality, with scientists, philosophers, theologians and poets. We’ll be talking to Clare Carlisle about transcendence and Susan Greenfield about consciousness. We’ll talk to Philip Ball about how life really works And to physicist Paul Davies about the quantum world. To philosophers Graham Harman and Philip Goff about the nature of reality and the

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00:45:14

What are children for? In conversation with Anastasia...

Reading Our Times ·

2025/07/15

Western societies have fallen out of love with (having) children, and all too often this is treated as a policy problem. But in reality, it's a much deeper personal and philosophical one. What has changed in our attitudes to having children? How do we understand the role and standing and "purpose" of children in society? What, in effect, do we think children are for? This week Nick Spencer talks with Anastasia Berg about her book co-authored with Rachel Wiseman, ‘What are children for

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00:51:22

How have we come to deify choice? In conversation...

Reading Our Times ·

2025/07/08

Choice is so important to who we are in the West is no longer feels like something we do, so much as something we are. Deny someone choice, and it feels like you are challenging their very humanity. Where does this obsession with choice come from, historically and philosophically? What are its foundations and justifications? And has it gone too far? Can you have too much of this particular good thing? This week Nick Spencer talks with Sophia Rosenfeld about her book ‘The Age of Choice: A History of

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00:39:11

Would it matter if Christianity were eclipsed? In...

Reading Our Times ·

2025/07/01

Strange things are happening to Christianity in the West. Some people are talking about revival whereas others are talking about extinction. Whoever is right, the ramifications for our culture will be immense.What is happening? If we are entering a period of eclipse for Christianity, would it matter? Would it simply be strike us through the loss of beautiful buildings and moving music? Or is there something more substantial in all this? This week Nick Spencer talks with Rupert Shortt about his book

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00:45:01

Are there limits to economic growth? In conversation...

Reading Our Times ·

2025/06/24

The idea that society should grow - and continue to grow, economically, without ending, without limits - is a relatively new and fiercely defended idea. It emerged first in Western countries but has captured much of the world today. How realistic is it? How "sustainable"? What should we think about “limits to growth”? Is it a narrative of declinism, best ignored? Or a warning we dismiss at huge peril? This week Nick Spencer talks with Richard McNeill Douglas about his book ‘The Meaning of

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00:44:44

Why is the Orthodox church so supportive of Putin's...

Reading Our Times ·

2025/06/17

The Russian Orthodox Church has been conspicuous in its support of Putin's war against Ukraine. The reasons seem as obvious as they are depressing. But behind the politics, there are centuries of history and theology. How did we get here? How is history of the church in Russia shaping the nation's present? How might it shape the future? This week Nick Spencer talks with Lucy Ash about her book ‘The Baton and the Cross: Russia’s Church from Pagans to Putin’. Purchase a copy of Lucy's book

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00:44:20

What is the future for democracy? In conversation...

Reading Our Times ·

2025/06/10

The UK has one of highest levels of dissatisfaction with democracy in the world, though other Western countries aren't far behind. Hopes that the rest of the world would naturally follow the West and democratise have all but evaporated. How serious is this decline in democratic sympathy? What lies behind it? What are the deep foundations on which democracy rests? And what, if anything, can be done about it? This week, Nick Spencer talks with Jonathan Sumption about his book ‘The Challenges of

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00:42:28

What has religion to do with sex? In conversation...

Reading Our Times ·

2025/06/03

One of the major changes in Western society in the last half century is the so-called sexual revolution, and one way of understanding that is to see it as the long, withdrawing roar of a Christian sexual ethic. But that makes two presuppositions: first, that we have indeed left Christian sexual ethics behind and second that there is such a thing as a single identifiable Christian sexual ethic.This week Nick Spencer talks with Diarmaid MacCulloch about his book ‘Lower than the angels: A history of

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00:44:17

Is it all over for the West? In conversation with...

Reading Our Times ·

2025/05/27

The idea of the West – its foundations, its values, its future – has become much debated over recent months. What does the political rise of China mean for us? What about the economic rise of the BRICS nations? Or the demographic rise of the global south? Where will power and influence tilt, and to what effect? Is it all over for “the West”? This week Nick Spencer talks with Samir Puri, Director of the Global Governance and Security Centre for Chatham House, about his book ‘Westlessness: the great

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00:02:03

Trailer: Series 10 of Reading Our Times

Reading Our Times ·

2025/05/20

Reading Our Times is back for its 10th series but this time, with a twist... Nick Spencer explores themes surrounding the West – its roots, its contours, and its future. Series 10 looks at the future of democracy with Jonathan Sumption, at the future of growth with Richard Douglas, and the future of Christianity with Rupert Shortt. Lucy Ash unpacks the threat from Putin and the ever-supportive Orthodox Church. The series asks the big questions about children, about choice and its deification, and

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00:01:30

Trailer: Motherhood vs The Machine

Reading Our Times ·

2025/03/06

Announcing a new four-part documentary podcast, Motherhood vs The Machine, where hosts Chine McDonald and Dr Madeleine Pennington look at what motherhood teaches us about what it means to be human.The work of motherhood has always been changed by technological advancement: from the nipple shield to the feeding bottle and breast pump. But as technological advancement accelerates and a future of artificial wombs and ‘bio bags’ does not seem as far-fetched as it once did, what of the humanity of

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12:33

Bookends: Unpacking Series 9 of Reading Our Times

Reading Our Times ·

2024/12/17

With series 9 of Reading Our Times coming to an end, Nick Spencer takes a look back on the series and shares his thoughts on the ideas espoused by the various guests.Should Britain pay slavery reparations? Are 'leftism' and 'wokeism' compatible? What do all these topics tell us about what it means to be human? Join us for all this and more!

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