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The Sacred

The Sacred

By: Theos
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The Sacred is a podcast about our deepest values, the stories that shape us and how we can build empathy and understanding between people who are very different. Each episode features a conversation with someone who has a public voice, from academics to journalists, playwrights and politicians. We ask them where they have come from, what they are trying to do and what might help heal our very divided public conversations. The Sacred is hosted by Elizabeth Oldfield, former director of Theos. For more information about the people and ideas behind the podcast, visit https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/about/who-we-are or follow us on Twitter @theosthinktank, @sacred_podcast and @ESOldfield.Theos Relationships Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Are You Living a Life You Didn’t Choose? With Dr Rangan Chatterjee

    Are You Living a Life You Didn’t Choose? With Dr Rangan Chatterjee
    Mar 18 2026
    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 parentsDr 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 Intro00:50 What is Sacred to You? Dr. Rangan Chatterjee answers1:31 Staying connected to family roots2:09 Career sacrifices and setting boundaries5:14 Being non-judgmental around boundaries6:23 Understanding empathy from a most-wanted criminal 9:11 Everyone's story makes sense12:06 Indian upbringing vs western culture at school13:41 Integrating eastern values into modern life15:35 Teaching respect and kindness to children17:29 Father's work ethic and health impact19:41 "Was it worth it?"22:29 Recognising overworking and knowing what is enough24:51 Surprising personal interests and finding joy27:30 Spiritual awakening, introspection and personal growth29:19 Whose life are you leading?33:39 Are you religious?36:23 Responding to negative comments with kindness39:56 Meaningful living and the importance of relationships, humour, and beliefKeywords: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
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    1 hr
  • I Don’t Believe in the Sacred | Doubt, Reading and Muddling Through with Stig Abell

    I Don’t Believe in the Sacred | Doubt, Reading and Muddling Through with Stig Abell
    Mar 4 2026

    We spoke to Stig Abell on how to live if nothing is ultimately sacred.


    Elizabeth Oldfield and Stig explore detective fiction and our longing for justice, the consolations of books in an age of infinite scroll, the quiet crises many of us are living through, and whether “muddling along” might be the most honest way live.

    This is a conversation about meaning and what remains when you’re not sure there is any.


    We talk about:

    • Why Stig feels more profane than sacred

    • Books as portals out of panic

    • Detective fiction and our longing for resolution

    • The exhausting, competitive condition of modern life

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    🎙️Listen to The Sacred: linktr.ee/sacredpodcast

    📖 Follow Elizabeth Oldfield: www.elizabetholdfield.com/

    💡Produced by Theos Think Tank: www.theosthinktank.co.uk/

    👉 Check out Stig’s work: https://www.instagram.com/thestigabell/?hl=en


    Chapters:

    00:00 Intro

    01:28 What is Sacred to You? Stig Abell Answers02:48 Questioning the Concept of the Sacred

    04:32 Suspicion of Institutions and Freedom in Randomness

    06:13 The Principles of Fairness and Kindness

    08:56 Work ethics, Loughborough roots, and the story behind “Stig"

    12:11 Reading and the Pre-internet childhood

    14:35 Reading as Empathy and Sacred Practice

    15:58 The Nature of Doubt and Certainty

    17:42 Evolution, Randomness, and Meaning Without Agency

    19:59 Do “holy” moments require God?

    23:54 The Press and Public Appetite For Bad News

    29:56 Navigating the Complexities of Journalism

    32:02 Navigating the Media Landscape

    36:05 Being unboxable, tribal politics, and scepticism as a way of life

    37:58 Highbrow, Lowbrow, and the Freedom to Read Widely

    39:32 Imposter Syndrome and Self-Perception

    43:17 The Comfort of Genre Fiction

    46:42 The Search for Justice in Storytelling

    49:24 The Human Need for Narrative

    54:03 The Crisis of Modern Existence

    56:41 Quiet Struggles and the Fear of Being Useless

    58:51 Recognising Flaws in Ourselves and Others


    Keywords:

    A wide-ranging conversation with Stig Abell on doubt, belief, meaning, secularism, faith and scepticism, fairness and kindness, journalism and media ethics, detective fiction and crime novels, books and reading as refuge, panic attacks and anxiety, modern life and burnout, human rights and Christianity’s cultural legacy, tribalism and political identity, institutions and individual conscience, and how to live well - or at least muddle through - in an age of uncertainty and infinite scroll.

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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • Can We Save the Family by Abolishing It? With Sophie Lewis

    Can We Save the Family by Abolishing It? With Sophie Lewis
    Feb 18 2026

    In this episode, Elizabeth Oldfield is joined by political theorist and author Sophie Lewis to explore one of the most provocative ideas: the abolition of the family.

    Reflecting on her own complicated adolescence, Sophie asks what it would mean to reorganise society around love and collective care rather than accumulation?

    Drawing on her book, Abolish the Family, Sophie argues that the nuclear family carries impossible burdens in a capitalist society - privatising care, exhausting women, and quietly treating children as property. Could we imagine a world where love, care, and kinship extend beyond the walls of the nuclear family?

    Together, they talk about:

    • Why “utopia” is a practice, not a destination

    • The hidden labour inside the private household

    • Surrogacy, reproduction and the myth of “unassisted” motherhood

    • Are autonomy and care are opposites, or inseparable?

    • Jesus’ radical redefinition of family and the overlap between Christianity and communism

    • What Sophie really means by abolition

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    🎙️ Follow The Sacred: linktr.ee/sacredpodcast

    📖 Follow Elizabeth Oldfield: www.elizabetholdfield.com/

    💡 Produced by the ‪@thinktanktheos‬ www.theosthinktank.co.uk/

    👉 Check out Sophie Lewis' work: https://www.instagram.com/reproutopia/?hl=en--


    Chapters:00:00 Intro01:30 What is Sacred to you? Sophie Lewis answers12:15 - Sophie’s complex family history and personal struggles17:08 - Educational journey and radicalisation at university 20:28 - The meaning of utopia as a non-attachment process 24:22 - Connections between faith, love, and collective action 31:42 - Dissecting the concept of "Full Surrogacy Now" 36:39 - The biological myths around kinship and their political implications 43:46 - The paradox of abolition47:01 - Abolishing slavery through a radical reimagining of humanism 50:04 - Redefining family and kinship beyond blood ties 58:37 - How revolutionary care structures could have supported Sophie’s mother 60:45 - Sophie’s dedication to collective love and care as sacred practices 65:55 - The importance of shared purpose, synchronised action, and community

    Keywords:

    Sophie Lewis interview, abolish the family, radical feminist theory, Marxist feminism, political theory podcast, communisation of care, collective care, kinship networks, utopian thinking, libertarian communism, red love, family abolition, post-capitalist society, rethinking family, surrogacy ethics, gestational labor, parenthood and care, children belong to all of us, abolitionist thought, freedom and care, communal living, shared responsibility, parenting in modern society, radical theory for everyday life, anti-capitalist ideas, feminist politics, climate activism and radical thought, human geography theory, political philosophy podcast, queer runaway experiences, care as politics, social justice ideas, ethical community building, friendship as radical practice, collective freedom, family and society, abolitionist feminism, pregnancy and labor politics, communal childcare, mutual aid networks, parenting beyond the nuclear family, utopian visions, practical radicalism, human interconnection, radical love, ethics of kinship, parenting as shared labor, post-nuclear family ideas, political critique of capitalism, community-centered society, love and autonomy, humanism and care, social reproduction theory, feminist philosophy, radical theory conversation, future of family, abolitionist imagination
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    1 hr and 19 mins
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