Chine McDonald is the former media and PR lead and now head of community fundraising and public engagement for Christian Aid, one of the world’s largest and best known non profit organisations. She was our guest on episode 25 of The Sacred.

In this episode Chine talks about how we have more in common than what divides us and how kindness becomes central in times of crises. This episode also features a short voice memo sent in by Andrew about using our lives as a means to others’ ends.

We would love to hear how you are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what you hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values. You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at sacredpodcast@gmail.com. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can.

Satbir is the CEO for The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and previously spent time developing campaigns and political strategies for the people’s movements and working as an advisor to the UN and the World Bank. He studied at Oxford, SOAS and as a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia.

In this episode he speaks about his mobile childhood, how his mother’s Sikh faith has formed him, and why rabble rousing and reconciliation are both necessary for change.

Over the coming weeks we will be releasing short extra episodes in response to the strange times we are living through. Former guests will be returning to reflect on how they are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what they hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values.We would love to hear your responses to these same questions. You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at sacredpodcast@gmail.com. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can.

Teresa was our guest on episode 22 of The Sacred. She is Associate Professor of Political Theory in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Oriel College.

In this episode Teresa talks about how Oxford is being affected by the pandemic, whether acknowledging uncertainty is a form of knowledge, and if wisdom and knowledge are the same thing. This episode also features a short voice memo sent in by Tom, one of our listeners.

We would love to hear how you are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what you hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values. You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at sacredpodcast@gmail.com. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can.

Bim Afolami is Conservative MP for Hitchin and Harpenden since 2017. Before he became an MP he worked as a corporate lawyer in the city.

In this episode Bim speaks about what he means by one-nation conservatism, his Nigerian heritage giving him a sense of the importance of politics, and his sacred value of equality of opportunity.

Over the coming weeks we will be releasing short extra episodes in response to the strange times we are living through. Former guests will be returning to reflect on how they are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what they hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values.
We would love to hear your responses to these same questions. You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at sacredpodcast@gmail.com. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can.

Sarah was our guest on episode 49 of The Sacred. She is a DPhil researcher in the Department of Politics in Oxford and the Head of Content at The School of Life.

In this episode Sarah talks about adapting to life in lockdown and how her sacred value of learning is guiding her through this time. This episode also features a short voice memo sent in by Tom, one of our listeners.

We would love to hear how you are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what you hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values. You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at sacredpodcast@gmail.com. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can.

Ruth was the Chief Executive of Stonewall from 2014 to 2019 and worked there in various roles previously. She is now co–director of Deeds and Words and sits in the House of Lords as Baroness Hunt of Bethnal Green. She is also the curator of The Book of Queer Prophets which will be released in May this year.

In this episode she speaks about the joy her relationship with God brings her, her love of the Bible, leading Stonewall through a change in its position on trans issues and why defensive anger doesn’t get you very far.

Over the coming weeks we will be releasing short extra episodes in response to the strange times we are living through. Former guests will be returning to reflect on how they are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what they hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values.

We would also love to hear your responses to these same questions. You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at sacredpodcast@gmail.com. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can.

Over the coming weeks we will be releasing short extra episodes in response to the strange times we are living through. Former guests will be returning to reflect on how they are processing this season, if this crisis has crystallised or even changed what they hold sacred, and what it might tell us about our collective sacred values. In this episode, Elizabeth reflects on who we value and what we owe each other.

We would also love to hear your responses to these same questions - has this time changed or crystallised what you hold sacred, and/or what can this time tell us about the values we share? You can send us your thoughts in a voice note to 07778160052 or you can email us at sacredpodcast@gmail.com. Please keep your responses to under a minute and a half if you can, and if you need somewhere quiet to record, we recommend under a duvet!

Finally, in case you missed it, our filmmaker Emily Downe created this short film based on the poem Pandemic by Lynn Ungar, which Elizabeth read in a previous episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU65FsVDcKc.

Rabbi Sacks is an international religious leader, moral philosopher and author. He was the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth for 22 years, and has written books that have been formative for many including ‘The Dignity of Difference’ and ‘Not in God’s Name’. His most recent book is called ‘Morality: Restoring the Common Good in Divided Times.’

In this episode he speaks about the twin threads of his life in religious leadership and academic moral philosophy, and how those two things have worked together, what his own religious practice looks like, and why the Holocaust makes him doubt humans but not God.

In this short bonus episode Elizabeth Oldfield reflects on how peace building practices can help us in this unprecedented public health crisis, and offers some possible reasons for hope. She also reads Pandemic, by Lynn Ungar, which can be found here:

http://www.lynnungar.com/

Charles is a journalist, columnist and former editor of The Spectator, The Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph. He’s also the authorised biographer of Margaret Thatcher.

In this episode Charles speaks about his sacred value of orthodoxy, his conversion to Catholicism, and why he thinks a good adversarial argument is one way to the truth.