The Sacred

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!
🔗 Secure a ticket here:https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-sacred-live-ai-and-the-future-of-being-human-tickets-1994014009580?aff=oddtdtcreator&_gl=1*dliszw*_up*MQ..*_ga*NDA4NjcyMDgwLjE3ODQyMjA1ODI.*_ga_TQVES5V6SH*czE3ODQyMjA1ODIkbzEkZzAkdDE3ODQyMjA1ODIkajYwJGwwJGgw

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 ourselves
- What fairy tales can teach us about resilience and healing
- Why men need less heroic storylines
- The forgotten wisdom hidden in traditional myths
- Women's stories, identity and reclaiming lost voices
- Our 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.
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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.
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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👇
The Sacred is produced in partnership with Comment Magazine, and with support from The Jerusalem Trust and Open Society Foundations.
🎙️Listen to The Sacred: linktr.ee/sacredpodcast
📖 Follow Elizabeth Oldfield: www.elizabetholdfield.com/
💡Produced by Theos Think Tank in partnership with Comment Magazine
👉 See Dr Sharon Blackie's work: https://sharonblackie.net/
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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 flourishing
• Whether we really need wealth to be happy
• Does 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.
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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👇
The Sacred is produced in partnership with Comment Magazine, and with support from The Jerusalem Trust and Open Society Foundations.
🎙️Listen to The Sacred: linktr.ee/sacredpodcast
📖 Follow Elizabeth Oldfield: www.elizabetholdfield.com/
💡Produced by Theos Think Tank in partnership with Comment Magazine
👉 Follow Sam Bowman: https://x.com/s8mb?lang=en--
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 capitalism
• What it means to be visibly Muslim in Britain right now
• Why Mehreen is quietly rooting for the revival of Christianity in British public life

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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👇

The Sacred is produced in partnership with Comment Magazine, and with support from The Jerusalem Trust and Open Society Foundations.
🎙️Listen to The Sacred: linktr.ee/sacredpodcast
📖 Follow Elizabeth Oldfield: www.elizabetholdfield.com/
💡Produced by Theos Think Tank in partnership with Comment Magazine
👉 See Mehreen's writing: 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 question
• About being Jewish in public life since October 7th, and what it felt like when the people his community relied on weren't there
• The 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: linktr.ee/sacredpodcast
📖 Follow Elizabeth Oldfield: 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