Podcast Episodes

The Unity of Being and the very great things Ibn ‘Arabi made of it

Ibn ‘Arabi is arguably the greatest philosopher in the Islamic world, though controversial; Seal of the Mohammedan Saints, as he is known, alongside Shaykh al-Akbar, he is becoming more important aga…

Published on 5 months ago

Andalusia and machine anxiety. How new technology in Moorish Spain sparked insights that help us now

The extraordinary spread of Islam after 632 - from Central Asia to North Africa in a century - reached Europe from the eighth century, generating issues still energising to this day. Not ones of reli…

Published on 5 months, 1 week ago

Jesus is the only God. And so am I and so are you. William Blake’s mystical Christianity

The first in a series of talks I’ll be posting in anticipation of my new book, Awake! William Blake and the Power of the Imagination, out in June/Sept (UK/US).

Do consider pre-ordering! (Thanks: it re…

Published on 5 months, 1 week ago

Christ the turning point. Owen Barfield in a secular age. A conversation with Ashton Arnoldy

Owen Barfield was the genius Inkling, said CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien. But why does he so much matter today?

They consider how Owen Barfield addresses the idea of secularism developed by Charles Taylor …

Published on 6 months ago

Living in an Age of Spiritual Crisis. A conversation with Rupert Sheldrake & Mark Vernon

Much of the modern world has become uncoupled from the transcendent in a cultural experiment Nietzsche called the death of God. But might this spiritual crisis prove to be a time of rebirth? 
In this …

Published on 6 months, 3 weeks ago

The Abolition of Man, That Hideous Strength, Till We Have Faces. CS Lewis as prophet of dark times

A discussion with Jason Baxter, Nicholas Colloff and Mark Vernon.

The Abolition of Man is a series of three lectures given by C.S. Lewis in defence of objective value, arguing that modernity has under…

Published on 7 months, 1 week ago

Evolution. From natural selection to omega point. A conversation with Rupert Sheldrake

Darwinian evolution shapes modern biology, but the notion of evolution has a wider history, too. 
In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon explore linear and…

Published on 7 months, 4 weeks ago

Physics and reality. Francis Lucille on the nature of matter, the flaws of panpsychism & God

Francis Lucille is teaching of Advaita Vedanta who brings together nonduality with science, amongst other subjects, his past having been in physics. Here, he talks with Mark Vernon about the universa…

Published on 8 months ago

On Mysticism. With Simon Critchley on his new book, inc. figures from Mother Julian to Annie Dillard

Mysticism is a modern word, as Simon Critchley discusses in his tremendous new book, On Mysticism. And its novelty is not a happy intervention in the history of mystics and their significance, Fundam…

Published on 8 months, 1 week ago

In Search of Wild Gods. Reflections on Nick Cave and Tom Holland in conversation about Christianity

Nick Cave and Tom Holland discussed Christianity in an event organised by Unherd entitled In Search of Wild Gods on Thursday 9th January 2025. Chaired by Freddie Sayers, the conversation revolved aro…

Published on 8 months, 2 weeks ago