Lots of us feel the need to believe in something in order to make sense of the world whether it takes the form of religious faith, the provability of science, or some singular strongly-held theory. But belief does not necessarily satisfy another great human need, the need to belong to a community. Joining Ed Kessler, Danny Smith and Grace Davie explore... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

"Without forgiveness there is no future." So said the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. But do we have it in us to forgive the most egregious sins? Some think that is in God's realm. Kitty O'Lone and Justin Lane tackle the F word... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

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Compassion, common sense and expert knowledge are what we would hope a good doctor would bring to the process of managing a death. But with more and more life prolonging technologies available, the danger of litigation and the growing need to consider different religious traditions, things are not straightforward. Philip Lodge and Ruwaida Randeree talk about getting ready to die... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

To read the KAMA SUTRA or the SONG OF SONGS you might feel religion is obsessed with sex. Yet so often the discussion of sex has been a problem in Churches, Temples, Synagogues and Mosques. The relatively new phenomenon of gender dysphoria presents another problem for religious traditionalists. Sonia Leach and Shanon Shah survey the territory... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

The twentieth century was littered with genocides. Those in Armenia, Nazi Germany, Rwanda and Bosnia are the most notorious ... Meryem Kalayci and James Smith discuss this most distressing of subjects. The Podcast includes some unique witness from a survivor of the Srebrenica massacre... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

We have Alexa, we have drones in the sky, killer robots on the battlefield and creepy algorithms designed to anticipate our every need. But do we lose sight of the potential benefits of A.I? Beth Singler and Hope McGovern throw some light on a much discussed subject... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

At one point in the summer of 2021, wild fires were raging all around the Mediterranean from Greece to Spain and from France to Morocco. Even the most stubborn of climate change sceptics must be starting to worry. Madeleine Ary and Shannon Shah offer some much needed policy ideas... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

It's a long way from Victorian synagogues to Twentieth Century recording studios but both provided a catalyst for musical sharing and cultural enrichment bringing, respectively, Jewish and Muslim music into the mainstream. Danielle Padley and Jonas Otterbeck survey the scene... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

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How do we measure what wisdom scientists, religious leaders or politicians have? Sometimes we intuit it without quite knowing why. Sometimes we are wrong to do so. Esther- Miriam Wagner and Tim Stevens bring their wisdom to bear on understanding wisdom... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

Where do religious beliefs come from? It's a perfectly reasonable question, and it's a question that even the fervent atheist might ask, although Richard Dawkins would come to a very different conclusion from the Archbishop of Canterbury. Kitty O'Lone and Rabbi Danny Smith reflect on an age old question... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

In the Abrahamic tradition, God is nearly always referred to with a male pronoun, though presumably God has no gender. One of the dominant scientific institutions, the Linnean Society, proscribed women until 1904. Lea Taragin- Zeller and Shanon Shah consider the charge sheet... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

Stephen Hawking, who died in March 2018, was no ordinary scientist. His book A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME was an international best seller and he became a very unusual sort of international celebrity, even starring in an episode of THE SIMPSONS. Marika Taylor and Hélène Mialet discuss his legacy... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

Light is one of the fundamental mysteries of our world. We still don't fully understand it. As an idea it is central to both philosophy and theology. At the darkest time of the year, Ilaria Bernocchi and Christopher Wadibia explore the theological and aesthetic significance of light in all its forms... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

LIVING IN HARMONY is a Woolf Institute outreach project which promotes understanding between Jews Muslims and Christians by demonstrating the shared musical heritage of the three faiths in the Middle East. Dunya Habash and Mohammed Ahmed explain how it works and play some examples... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

Was there a reluctance to follow government guidance and a tendency towards vaccine scepticism in strictly observant Jewish and Muslim communities? And does this underpin high rates of disease transmission among these groups? Speaking with Ed Kessler, the Woolf Institute's Julian Hargreaves and Shaima Hassan have each conducted some research... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

What finally made the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland work? Is it now coming under threat? Should we think of peace as a continuing process rather than as a goal? The historian Niamh Gallagher and leader of the Alliance Party John Alderdice reflect on a complex situation... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

Dealing with climate change presents a huge challenge but we focus on one aspect of the problem. Tim Winter, Chair of the board of trustees of Cambridge Mosque and the architect Sam Turner discuss building more sustainably and more imaginatively... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

It is Interfaith week in the UK and two practitioners, David Hampshire and Kitty O'Lone, talk about the principles of the movement which can range from high profile diplomacy to local get togethers... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

Rhetoric used to be a subject for study at schools and universities. These days, eloquence seems to be under threat from social media and the public can be suspicious of persuasive scientists and religious leaders. To mark the 100th edition of NAKED REFLECTIONS Rowan Williams and Chris Smith come together to discuss the merits and dangers of eloquence. Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

Paganism was omnipresent in the worlds of ancient Greece and Rome and their gods and myths have come down to us as part of our cultural inheritance. In northern Europe it took different forms but its traditions underpin many aspects of Christian ritual and symbolism. Kitty O'Lone and Ronald Hutton join Ed Kessler to explain a much misunderstood religion... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

A disagreement over a trivial or domestic matter may be easily overcome, but what about a disagreement over something that goes to the core of your religious or ethical beliefs? Julie Siddiqi and Alissa Symon discuss the hard won art of disagreeing... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

Following an increase in anti-Semitic postings on social media, the anti-Semitism Policy Trust looked into it and asked the Woolf Institute to analyse the material they discovered. Julian Hargreaves discusses what he found with Daniel Staetsky... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

When Samson inveigled his way into the Temple of Dagon, he used his superhuman strength to pull the whole thing down, killing everyone inside and himself too. Remind you of anything? Samson has been characterized as a purveyor of awesome religious terror, a sort of proto suicide bomber. This week, Lord Carlile and Hadiya Masieh get to grips with terrorism... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review