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What Does It Take to Create a Shared Home in a Divided City? In Jerusalem, two women from opposite sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide, Riman Barakat and Karen Brunwasser, have spent more than a decade building FeelBeit, a shared arts and cultural space where Israeli and Palestinian artists and communities are invited to ‘feel at home’ together. In this moving conversation, recorded live at Aspen Ideas Festival, we explore what it takes to build trust across a profound divide—and what happens when that trust is tested by violence, grief and fear. We also cover: Friendship and why relationships can be a form of peacebuildingWhat happened at FeelBeit after October 7 and in the years sinceThe power of art to hold grief, anger, joy and hope at the same timeWhy “compassion over righteous indignation” and “self-love and self-critique” might be some of the hardest—and most necessary—practices for our societies 🎙️ Listen to The Sacred: linktr.ee/sacredpodcast 📖 Follow Elizabeth Oldfield: www.elizabetholdfield.com/ 💡 The Sacred is produced by Theos Think Tank in partnership with Comment Magazine, and with support from The Jerusalem Trust and Open Society Foundations 👉 Check out FeelBeit: https://feelbeit.com/underconstruction/ Our guests and listeners to our podcast come from all kinds of perspectives and what draws us together is a desire to be self-aware about our own values and curious about other peoples. Comment your reflections below, we read them all 👇

Can you really vote your way to a good society - or does it have to be built house by house, street by street? Dr James Vitali - Head of Political Economy at Policy Exchange, a Sandhurst-trained army reservist, local councillor, and author of The Ownership Society: How Bourgeois Values Can Save Britain - talks about the Dorset church at the heart of his childhood, what military service taught him about sacrifice and leadership, and why he believes Britain's real crisis is moral, not economic. In this conversation we also explored: • Growing up between Navy deployments, and the community that stepped in • "Servant leadership" and why politics keeps failing to practise it • Home ownership, responsibility, and not being able to buy • Thatcher, Tocqueville, and where conservatism lost the plot • The human cost of localism - and what to do with the suffering in between 🎙️ Listen to The Sacred: linktr.ee/sacredpodcast 📖 Follow Elizabeth Oldfield: www.elizabetholdfield.com/ 💡 The Sacred is produced by Theos Think Tank in partnership with Comment Magazine, and with support from The Jerusalem Trust and Open Society Foundations 👉 Read James' book, The Ownership Society: How Bourgeois Values Can Save Britain https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=the-ownership-society-how-bourgeois-values-can-save-britain--9781509569526 👇 Our guests and listeners to our podcast come from all kinds of perspectives and what draws us together is a desire to be self-aware about our own values and curious about other peoples. Comment your reflections below, we read them all. Chapters: 00:00 – Intro: meeting James Vitali 01:56 – What is sacred to you? 04:13 – A rooted military childhood in Dorset 10:32 – Faith, and how it shapes his politics 15:27 – Sandhurst and learning servant leadership 18:37 – Why politics became technical instead of moral 20:43 – Thatcher's legacy and "no such thing as society" 29:24 – Almshouses and the Vale Pantry: ownership in action 32:24 – The Ownership Society: why "bourgeois values"? 37:30 – A state that isn't neutral: "statecraft is soulcraft" 44:12 – Elizabeth's own story, and why ownership matters to the soul 53:07 – Closing reflections: "biography over beliefs" COPYRIGHT: "Video Cat Jazz" - Pär Hagström (Licensed by Epidemic Sound) & "Beyond the Veil" (feat. Khamir Music) by Simon Wester (Licensed by Musicbed).

What does it mean to prepare to die—and then discover that you need to prepare to live again? In this conversation, poet Christian Wiman reflects on faith, poetry, love, mortality, and his experience of living for more than 20 years with cancer.  He talks about his turbulent childhood, how poetry transformed his anger into something creative, and why he believes poems can open us to something beyond ourselves. The conversation also explores: Wiman’s journey from economics to poetryWhat a poem actually is—and why sound can matter more than meaningAttention and his idea of “productive inattention”Faith, suffering, and writers including Simone Weil and Etty Hillesum Wiman also reads three poems: Five Houses Down, 2047 Grace Street, and In the Time of Fire. --- 🎙️ Listen to The Sacred: linktr.ee/sacredpodcast 📖 Follow Elizabeth Oldfield: www.elizabetholdfield.com/ 💡 The Sacred is produced by Theos Think Tank in partnership with Comment Magazine, and with support from The Jerusalem Trust and Open Society Foundations 👉 See Christian Wiman's Poetry: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/christian-wiman -- 👇 Our guests and listeners to our podcast come from all kinds of perspectives and what draws us together is a desire to be self-aware about our own values and curious about other peoples. Comment your reflections below, we read them all.

What are we losing by spending so much of our lives behind screens? COVID-19 brought the whole world online, and as a podcast we kind of stayed there. This season, we made a commitment to only recording in person, mostly at Elizabeth’s community house in south London. As a result, we sensed a big shift in our connection with guests and we thought we’d take an opportunity to reflect on a few things that we’d forgotten along the way: Being in-person is key to meeting people as real humans and creating non-transactional relationshipsSomething shifts when we eat snacks together and see each other’s homes Screens and the ease of our digital lives mean we spend less time in our bodies. It’s much more convenient — but what’s the hidden cost?We shrink when were alone, and we trust others less We feel challenged to spend more time with people in our bodies — looking each other in the eye, sharing physical space, and being present. We’d love to hear whether you’ve sensed a difference in our latest in-person episodes and your thoughts on being together in person. --- 🎙️Listen to The Sacred Podcast: https://linktr.ee/sacredpodcast 📖 Follow Elizabeth Oldfield: https://www.elizabetholdfield.com/ 💡Produced by Theos Think Tank in partnership with Comment Magazine and with support from The Jerusalem Trust and Open Society Foundations

What do you do when you feel like an outsider? We spoke to Rabbi Angela Buchdahl who turned her experience of being a cultural and religious outsider into a source of strength. Raised in a biracial, mixed-faith American-Korean family, her identity was both welcomed and questioned in Korean and Jewish communities. She later would later go on to become one of the most prominent and influential public rabbis in the United States, the first female East Asian senior rabbi at NYC's Central Synagogue, and writer of the bestselling memoir Heart of a Stranger. We spoke about: Owning multiple identities, not fitting in and how to create a steady sense of selfThe religious conversion instinct and how to have religious humility Key Hebrew ideas that Rabbi Angela lives byThe radical offering of religious communities in our divided times: community, awe, proximityNavigating tokenism as the first East Asian ordained rabbi--- 🎙️Listen to ⁠The Sacred Podcast⁠: https://linktr.ee/sacredpodcast 📖 Follow ⁠Elizabeth Oldfield: https://www.elizabetholdfield.com/ 💡Produced by ⁠⁠Theos Think Tank⁠⁠ in partnership with ⁠⁠Comment Magazine⁠⁠ and with support from ⁠⁠The Jerusalem Trust⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Open Society Foundations 👉 Follow Rabbi Angela Buchdahl: https://www.instagram.com/rabbibuchdahl/?hl=en Our guests and listeners to our podcast come from all kinds of perspectives and what draws us together is a desire to be self-aware about our own values and curious about other peoples. Comment your reflections below, we read them all👇

We talk a lot about the harms and benefits of AI, but we don’t talk enough about what the conversations about AI might actually be doing to us. Perhaps the biggest challenge in the mix may not be the technology itself, but how it changes the way we think, communicate, and relate to each other as humans. We’re creating some space for a different kind of conversation about AI with Jamie Bartlett on 8th September in London. We’d love to see you there! 🔗 Grab a ticket here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-sacred-live-ai-and-the-future-of-being-human-tickets-1994014009580 - use code: SACRED-EARLY-BIRD for a £12 ticket! Promo ends 8.08.26

Why do stories matter? Why have human beings always told stories - and what if the oldest stories still have something vital to teach us? In this episode of The Sacred, Elizabeth Oldfield sits down with psychologist, mythologist and bestselling author Dr Sharon Blackie to explore why myths and fairy tales aren't just relics of the past, but tools for making sense of life today. From a childhood marked by hardship to decades studying narrative psychology, Sharon shares how stories help us navigate change and uncertainty by showing us how people find courage, resilience and meaning in the face of life's hardest moments. ⚠️ Content note: This episode includes discussion of rape, sexual violence and domestic abuse. Listen with care. Together they explore: Why stories shape the way we understand ourselvesWhat fairy tales can teach us about resilience and healingWhy men need less heroic storylinesThe forgotten wisdom hidden in traditional mythsWomen's stories, identity and reclaiming lost voicesOur relationship with nature and what ancient stories reveal about living well today Whether you love folklore or have never picked up a fairy tale since childhood, this conversation is ultimately about how to make sense of suffering, rediscover hope, or find meaning in uncertain times. — Dr Sharon Blackie is an award-winning psychologist, mythologist and author of If Women Rose Rooted, Hagitude, Wise Women and The Enchanted Life. Her work explores mythology, psychology, ecology and the stories that shape who we become. — Our guests and listeners to our podcast come from all kinds of perspectives and what draws us together is a desire to be self-aware about our own values and curious about other peoples. Comment your reflections below, we read them all👇 🎙️Listen to ⁠The Sacred Podcast⁠: https://linktr.ee/sacredpodcast 📖 Follow ⁠Elizabeth Oldfield: https://www.elizabetholdfield.com/ 💡Produced by ⁠⁠Theos Think Tank⁠⁠ in partnership with ⁠⁠Comment Magazine⁠⁠ and with support from ⁠⁠The Jerusalem Trust⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Open Society Foundations 👉 See Dr Sharon Blackie's work: https://sharonblackie.net/ -- Chapters: 0:00 — What is Sacred to you? Dr Sharon Blackie answers 2:30 — Finding the divine in everything 4:16 — Growing up with poverty, violence, and resilience 5:43 — The working-class values we’ve forgotten 6:13 — The formidable women who raised her 8:29 — Living with an alcoholic parent 9:50 — The fairy tale that changed her life 10:47 — Why every great story begins with catastrophe 12:03 — Grimm’s fairy tales vs Disney 13:02 — Why we need the original fairy tales 14:10 — Fairy tales were never just for children 15:06 — What fairy tales teach us about surviving hard times 16:14 — Leaving corporate life to find her real calling 17:39 — Learning to stop being afraid of life 20:47 — From neuroscience to narrative therapy 26:39 — When women were the wisdom keepers 28:28 — Christianity, myth, and the loss of women’s voices 31:29 — Rethinking masculinity and femininity 33:08 — Can we still talk about "women"? 38:14 — What fairy tales teach us about work and resilience 39:57 — Healing without getting stuck in your wounds 43:15 — Becoming whole through story 45:06 — Why good parents are missing from fairy tales 49:44 — Beyond the Hero’s Journey: a new way to live COPYRIGHT: "Burn Out" - Victor Lundberg (Licensed by Epidemic) & "Beyond the Veil" (feat. Khamir Music) by Simon Wester (Licensed by Musicbed)

Whether we know it or not, economics shapes almost every part of our lives - where we live, whether we can afford children, how much time we have with the people we love, and even the choices we think are available to us. But most of us rarely stop to ask what economics is actually for. In this episode, Elizabeth Oldfield sits down with economist and Works in Progress editor Sam Bowman for a conversation that goes far beyond markets, GDP and public policy. Together we explore freedom, human flourishing, progress, and the surprising moral questions that sit beneath economic thinking. We spoke about: Why economics is really about people, not money The relationship between freedom, wealth and human flourishingWhether we really need wealth to be happyDoes the pursuit of prosperity comes at the expense of the things that make life meaningful? Whether economics fascinates you or completely intimidates you, this conversation offers a fresh take on one of the most significant forces shaping modern life. --- Our guests and listeners to our podcast come from all kinds of perspectives and what draws us together is a desire to be self-aware about our own values and curious about other peoples. Comment your reflections below, we read them all👇 --- 🎙️Listen to ⁠The Sacred Podcast⁠: https://linktr.ee/sacredpodcast 📖 Follow ⁠Elizabeth Oldfield: https://www.elizabetholdfield.com/ 💡Produced by ⁠⁠Theos Think Tank⁠⁠ in partnership with ⁠⁠Comment Magazine⁠⁠ and with support from ⁠⁠The Jerusalem Trust⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Open Society Foundations 👉 Follow Sam Bowman: https://x.com/s8mb Chapters: 0:00 — Intro: How Economics Is Secretly Shaping Your Life 1:37 — What Is Sacred To You? Sam Bowman Answers 6:50 — Why Freedom Isn’t Just “Leave People Alone” 8:48 — What If People Choose Harmful Things? 11:37 — Ozempic and the New Meaning of Self-Control 15:25 — Can You Have Morality Without God? 21:30 — No Child Should Grow Up Worried About Money 25:22 — Is Travel Overrated? 31:51 — Why Most People Are Too Risk-Averse 35:14 — The Real Purpose of Economics 38:42 — Who Gets to Decide What Gets Built? 43:32 — What “Neoliberal” Actually Means 50:31 — Can Growth Continue Forever? 54:11 — Are Emissions Rising Because of AI? 57:41 — Does Wealth Really Make Us Happier? 61:32 — Britain’s Biggest Problem: Housing 65:18 — Elizabeth's Reflections

What does it mean to be visibly Muslim in British public life right now? Mehreen Khan has been living that question since she was eleven years old - when 9/11 turned her faith into something she had to defend. She's now Economics Editor at The Times, the first woman and first person of colour in the role, and one of the most outspoken Muslim voices in mainstream British journalism. We cover: What Islam really means to her — the concept of fitrah and why faith makes you a better journalist How 9/11 turned Islam into a punk identity for Mehreen and ego death Being the first woman and first person of colour as Economics Editor at The Times Davos, elite financial circles, and what you see when you're inside the room Money: why economics is never morally neutral, and what it might look like to bring moral imagination back to capitalismWhat it means to be visibly Muslim in Britain right nowWhy Mehreen is quietly rooting for the revival of Christianity in British public life--- Our guests and listeners to our podcast come from all kinds of perspectives and what draws us together is a desire to be self-aware about our own values and curious about other peoples. Comment your reflections below, we read them all👇 🎙️Listen to ⁠The Sacred Podcast⁠: https://linktr.ee/sacredpodcast 📖 Follow ⁠Elizabeth Oldfield: https://www.elizabetholdfield.com/ 💡Produced by ⁠⁠Theos Think Tank⁠⁠ in partnership with ⁠⁠Comment Magazine⁠⁠ and with support from ⁠⁠The Jerusalem Trust⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Open Society Foundations 👉 See Mehreen's work: https://www.thetimes.com/profile/mehreen-khan

Hugo Rifkind has spent his career observing power. He also grew up inside it — and never quite felt he belonged there. In this episode, he talks about: The Scottish boarding school where violence was a point of pride... until a public inquiry forced the questionAbout being Jewish in public life since October 7th, and what it felt like when the people his community relied on weren't thereThe thing he values most — connection — and his honest admission that what he often really means is something more one-sided than that 🎙️Listen to ⁠The Sacred Podcast⁠: https://linktr.ee/sacredpodcast 📖 Follow ⁠Elizabeth Oldfield: https://www.elizabetholdfield.com/ 💡Produced by ⁠⁠Theos Think Tank⁠⁠ in partnership with ⁠⁠Comment Magazine⁠⁠ and with support from ⁠⁠The Jerusalem Trust⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Open Society Foundations 👉 Follow Hugo Rifkind: https://www.instagram.com/p/DXmPHlqo1Jf/?hl=en-gb

Michael Pollan tried psychedelics at 55. What he found changed everything he thought he knew. Michael is not a mystic or a guru. He is the kind of writer that scientists, doctors and serious intellectuals trust - someone who changed the way millions of people think about food, farming and the natural world. So when Michael Pollan tried psychedelics at 55 and came back saying the certainties had started to dissolve - the world began to listen in a way they simply wouldn't have for anyone else. In this conversation, Michael and Elizabeth explore what it actually means to be conscious — and whether we're squandering it. Why does every psychedelic trip seem to arrive at the same slightly cliché and yet, beautiful conclusions? What have we lost by building a science of the mind that brackets out the body, the emotions and everything that actually feels like something? Why is the cool, analytical part of our brain so much louder than the part that knows how to be present — and who benefits from keeping it that way? And what are the algorithms really stealing when they steal our attention? They cover: Why science keeps getting within reach of explaining consciousness — and then losing its nerve What psychedelics reveal that embarrasses serious researchers (and why that embarrassment is the clue) The Silicon Valley bid to upload consciousness How to protect your attention in an age designed to steal itWhy not-knowing might be the most important skill of our time-- Our guests and listeners to our podcast come from all kinds of perspectives and what draws us together is a desire to be self-aware about our own values and curious about other peoples. Comment your reflections below, we read them all👇 --- 🎙️Listen to ⁠The Sacred Podcast⁠: https://linktr.ee/sacredpodcast 📖 Follow ⁠Elizabeth Oldfield: https://www.elizabetholdfield.com/ 💡Produced by ⁠⁠Theos Think Tank⁠⁠ in partnership with ⁠⁠Comment Magazine⁠⁠ and with support from ⁠⁠The Jerusalem Trust⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Open Society Foundations 👉 See Michael Pollan's work: https://michaelpollan.com/ -- Chapters: 0:00 - Intro trailer 01:45 - What is Sacred to you? Michael Pollan answers 3:45 - When the ego dissolves: what psychedelics actually do 4:25 - Growing up with an alcoholic father and becoming the man with all the answers 6:01 - 'How to Change Your Mind; shifted culture 6:25 - Michael's lifelong obsession with nature 7:22 - Why feelings became an embarrassment to science 8:16 - First experience of psychedelics 9:18 - Is consciousness being polluted — and do we even notice?10:18 - Silicon Valley wants to upload the soul. Here's why that's terrifying 26:13 - Why being a sceptic, not an expert, made the psychedelic book so influential 28:33 - How writers sense a cultural shift before it happens 30:25 - The president who colonised our consciousness and won't leave 32:06 - Elizabeth's encounter with God at age 11 36:33 - The Zen cave, Roshi Joan Halifax, and learning to not know 41:27 - We can't afford to be anything less than present 43:24 - How men get scripted out of their own inner lives 46:10 - Consciousness as the secular word for soul 49:04 - Protect your inner life from the algorithm 52:12 - Why don't they just make a baby? The funniest moment in the book 54:24 - Ayahuasca, idealism and the scientist who changed his mind twice 56:06 - Cultivating the don't-know mind 56:32 - Elizabeth's reflections

What happens after winning Bake Off? Jasmine Mitchell joins us to talk about perfectionism, alopecia, self-image, and learning to be fully yourself in a world obsessed with image. Jasmine reflects on growing up in a home shaped by hospitality, losing her hair as a teenager, learning to let go of perfection, and the unexpected journey that took her from medical school to winning British Bake Off 2025. Elizabeth Oldfield and Jasmine explore: Why “go slow” became Jasmine’s grounding philosophy Her journey with alopecia and being fully seenReality TV, public image and is Bake Off different from the rest?Why hospitality and shared meals matter so deeply-- 🎙️Listen to ⁠The Sacred Podcast⁠: https://linktr.ee/sacredpodcast 📖 Follow ⁠Elizabeth Oldfield: https://www.elizabetholdfield.com/ 💡Produced by ⁠⁠Theos Think Tank⁠⁠ in partnership with ⁠⁠Comment Magazine⁠⁠ and with support from ⁠⁠The Jerusalem Trust⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Open Society Foundations 👉 Follow ⁠Jasmine Mitchell: https://www.instagram.com/jasmine.mitchell/tagged/?hl=en

Nearly a decade into The Sacred, we’re still doing the same thing: having honest and curious conversations with people who see the world differently. We're wondering why - like the return of spring - seeking to understand another person at a deep level never seems to get old. There's something about learning to truly understand people outside our “tribe” that feels challenging and pleasurable all at once and we're seeing (nine years later!) just how much we need these conversations today. As Maff Potts says, “the answer to our problems is each other.” So this is a practice, a community and a place to sit with the hard questions and we're really glad you’re doing it with us. — The Sacred Team - Elizabeth, Josh, Amari & Joe 👀 You may notice that our visuals have been levelled up. We’re delighted that our team is growing and The Sacred will be getting a lot more beautiful and creative! ✍️ Substack: https://thesacredpodcast.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips 💡 Theos Think Tank: www.theosthinktank.co.uk/

The world wasn’t built for everyone. Leah Libresco Sargeant on feminism, care, and the myth of the “neutral” human. Join our community of people listening curiously to different perspectives: https://www.youtube.com/@thesacredpodcast/videos Leah has spent her life following philosophy to its limits, from Kantian questions of moral truth to reckoning with human vulnerability. Her journey reveals what happens when the world is built for a ‘neutral human’ - and who it leaves behind. This conversation explores feminism, gender difference, care, and what it really means to take morality seriously. Leah is the writer of Dignity of Dependence, works in of family policy and is the host of Other Feminisms on Substack. -- ✍️ Find us on Substack: https://thesacredpodcast.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips 📖 Follow Elizabeth Oldfield: www.elizabetholdfield.com/ 💡 Produced by Theos Think Tank: www.theosthinktank.co.uk/👉Check out Leah's substack: https://www.otherfeminisms.com/

What actually shapes the life you’re living - your own choices, or the ones you inherited? In this episode of The Sacred, we are with Dr Rangan Chatterjee exploring the moments that force our values to the surface - births, deaths and major life events - and how they can reset the direction of our lives. An Indian immigrant doctor, his father worked relentlessly to give his family opportunities — but it also came at a cost and contributed to the illness that ended his career and eventually his life. This left Dr Rangan with the question 'Dad, was it worth it?" This conversation opens up topics that many of us choose to avoid: • Workaholism and the drive for more • What it really means to define “success” for yourself • What it takes to consciously choose what we carry forward from our parents Dr Rangan Chatterjee is a former GP, bestselling author and one of the UK’s most recognisable voices on a holistic approach to health. -- 🎙️Listen to The Sacred: linktr.ee/sacredpodcast\ 📖 Follow Elizabeth Oldfield: www.elizabetholdfield.com/ 💡Produced by Theos Think Tank: www.theosthinktank.co.uk/👉 Check out Dr Rangan's podcast, Feel Better Live More: https://drchatterjee.com/podcast-epis... Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:50 What is Sacred to You? Dr. Rangan Chatterjee answers 1:31 Staying connected to family roots 2:09 Career sacrifices and setting boundaries 5:14 Being non-judgmental around boundaries 6:23 Understanding empathy from a most-wanted criminal 9:11 Everyone's story makes sense 12:06 Indian upbringing vs western culture at school 13:41 Integrating eastern values into modern life 15:35 Teaching respect and kindness to children 17:29 Father's work ethic and health impact 19:41 "Was it worth it?" 22:29 Recognising overworking and knowing what is enough 24:51 Surprising personal interests and finding joy 27:30 Spiritual awakening, introspection and personal growth 29:19 Whose life are you leading? 33:39 Are you religious? 36:23 Responding to negative comments with kindness 39:56 Meaningful living and the importance of relationships, humour, and belief Keywords:values, grief and growth, redefining success, what is enough, living with intention, family and sacrifice, work life balance, burnout and overwork, meaning of life, personal growth, self reflection, life purpose, inner work, emotional wellbeing, mental health, lifestyle medicine, holistic health, parenting and values, legacy and inheritance, immigrant family story, identity and belonging, cultural identity, compassion and empathy, curiosity over judgment, relationships and connection, modern life stress, slowing down, presence and mindfulness, gratitude practice, life transitions, dealing with loss, grief and clarity, success vs happiness, redefining ambition, work ethic rethink, conscious living, self awareness, asking better questions, deep conversations, philosophy of life, spirituality and meaning, living authentically, personal values, making better choices, life design, happiness and contentment, avoiding burnout, healing generational patterns, carrying forward what matters