Things Unseen

We like to think we don’t judge a book by its cover. But is that really true? Sally Phillips hears insights from Vicky Balch, a young woman who lost a limb in the Alton Towers roller coaster accident, but then chose to show her scars in a nude photo shoot. And Rev Joanna Jepson shares how growing up with a facial deformity has made her think deeply about inner beauty, outer beauty, and the fashion industry.

‘In Christ Alone’, co-written by Stuart Townend, has been sung around the world, from underground churches to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s enthronement. Alongside the musician’s favourite Bible readings, read for Things Unseen by David Suchet, Stuart Townend talks to Alison Hilliard about the loss of his father, gay marriage and his most controversial line on ‘the wrath of God’.

Babar Ahmad spent 8 years in UK prisons fighting extradition to the US. Having allowed his website to host articles supporting the Taliban he was eventually transferred to solitary confinement in the US, before pleading guilty to ‘providing material support to terrorism’. He was released shortly afterwards and returned to the UK. In conversation with Mark Dowd, Babar Ahmad talks about how he came to set up the website in question, and how he managed to mark Ramadan in the most difficult circumstances.

Harris J has been dubbed the Muslim Justin Bieber. With 100 million YouTube hits, and over half a million followers on Instagram, he’s taken the global Islamic music scene by storm. Here he talks to Things Unseen’s Remona Aly about his music, his faith and how chewing gum is his Achilles heel when it comes to fasting. And he shares his newly released single, Save Me From Myself.

Former Tory Minister Baroness Warsi on balancing faith and fasting with life in the political arena and her views on multicultural Britain.

Carl Franklin is dead. But it’s not the end of the story. Broadchurch actor Joe Sims stars in Nick Warburton's drama which reflects the themes of the Easter story in a modern setting. The fictional story is told in documentary format, using interviews improvised by the cast, which also includes Emerald O’Hanrahan (Emma Grundy in BBC Radio 4’s The Archers). Cast in order of appearance: Charlie Hammond: Joe Sims; Joseph Masters: Sam Dale; Nat Martindale: Emerald O’Hanrahan; DI Frances MacLaurin: Tracy Wiles; Sgt Ashkan Karimi: Arian Nik; Dean Midwinter: Michael Imerson Additional Sound Effects: freesound.org (thatBelle, mzui) Story by Nick Warburton; Presenter: Mark Dowd; Producer: Paul Arnold

One year on, what's the truth behind the West Trent tragedy? Broadchurch actor Joe Sims stars in Nick Warburton's drama which reflects the themes of the Easter story in a modern setting. The fictional story is told in documentary format, using interviews improvised by the cast, which also includes Emerald O’Hanrahan (Emma Grundy in BBC Radio 4’s The Archers). Cast in order of appearance: Charlie Hammond: Joe Sims; Joseph Masters: Sam Dale; Nat Martindale: Emerald O’Hanrahan; DI Frances MacLaurin: Tracy Wiles; Sgt Ashkan Karimi: Arian Nik; Dean Midwinter: Michael Imerson Additional Sound Effects: freesound.org (thatBelle, mzui) Story by Nick Warburton; Presenter: Mark Dowd; Producer: Paul Arnold

Presenter Mark Dowd quizzes the team behind our upcoming Easter drama - writer Nick Warburton, producer Paul Arnold and Broadchurch actor Joe Sims, who plays the part of Charlie Hammond. Together they discuss the links between the Easter story and the drama, and Charlie’s ‘lightbulb moment’.

At this time of year, millions of Christians around the world turn their minds to the events that took place in the “little town of Bethlehem” over 2000 years ago. Yet few stop to consider what life is like for those born in Bethlehem today. In this Christmas edition, Mark Dowd meets two young people from Bethlehem who are united in their love of an ancient spiritual art: icon painting, or “writing”, as it’s known. Nicola and Noura have come to Britain to write two large icons for Lichfield Cathedral in Staffordshire. Together with their teacher Ian Knowles they explain what this prayerful art form means to them and offer a glimpse of life in modern-day Bethlehem – a West Bank town with a dwindling Christian population surrounded by the Israeli security barrier on three sides.

The writers of Channel 4’s Humans get together with Artificial Intelligence experts to plan the construction of our very own android, or ‘synth’. What rights should it have? Is it even a good idea in the first place? Can we baptise it? Or have sex with it? Our panel is made up of the Humans writers, Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley; Kate Devlin of Goldsmiths, University of London, researcher into robots and sexuality; and Beth Singler from the Faraday Institute for science and religion at Cambridge University, where she’s exploring the social and religious implications of advances in AI. Mark Dowd stands ready to test for replicants.

Regarded by many as one of the world’s most influential living theologians, Stanley Hauerwas has always been opinionated and outspoken, not least on his pacifist convictions. On a trip from his native US to London to give a lecture at St Martin-in-the-Fields church, he shares his views on the perplexing, certainly to UK listeners, state of US politics at the moment. ‘I don’t think Trump has ever had a serious encounter with Jesus’, he says.

If you put together everything that the Bible records Jesus saying as he was being crucified, you find there are seven sayings, or ‘last words’. As well as finding hope in what Jesus said, the Anglican priest Lucy Winkett is also inspired by the fact that Jesus said anything at all. As a trained musician, she draws parallels between Jesus’ cries from the cross and the blues tradition of singing out your troubles, and shares her experience of singing the liturgy in a cathedral against considerable opposition from within the church.

Having begun his career with positive songs that affirmed his Christian faith, the Welsh singer’s music has become more nuanced. The self-proclaimed ‘liberal backslider’ talks to Alison Hilliard about his journey from answers to questions through his favourite Bible readings, read by David Suchet. He explains how a trip to Thailand and some preaching on John the Baptist turned his world ‘from black and white to full colour’, and his feelings about criticism, and even a death threat, from some Christians.

Astrophysicist and theologian, Revd David Wilkinson looks at a number called Omega. Omega is the name physicists give to one of several constants embedded in the laws of the universe which seem to have been incredibly fine-tuned to allow stars, galaxies, and ultimately us to exist. Are these pointers to a Creator God, or is there another extraordinary explanation?

Munisha has been working for many years as a lecturer and communicator for Buddhism. So she was used to explaining the central teachings of the faith, including the ‘4 Noble Truths’, which deal with suffering, and our response to it. When the severe anxiety she suffered from took her to her GP, the therapy she was prescribed turned out to be directly based on the teachings of her own faith. Happily, the counselling, along with her own regular Buddhist practice, gave her the help she needed, and transformed her life.

With a background in maths and physics, the Hindu teacher Jay Lakhani is fascinated by the concept of nothing. He traces the 7th century roots of the idea as a placeholder in counting systems, and explores Hindu stories about the origins of the universe, when something came from nothing. Jay asks ‘What caused the Big Bang?’ and finds a surprising answer.

Martin Palmer has spent decades exploring and translating Chinese historical and philosophical texts. For Things Unseen he explains the Daoist concepts of Yin and Yang and our role in maintaining balance, in the world and in ourselves.

The factual rigour of the world of numbers and maths, and the more intuitive nature of faith may not seem like a comfortable combination. But numbers have played a significant role in religious traditions, and in the lives of those with a faith. The author and broadcaster Trevor Barnes has been looking into the subject for a new book, and here he introduces our ‘Faith By Numbers’ podcasts, with a brief tour of digital divinity.

The Rev Kate Bottley came to national attention by leading a flash mob dance routine at a wedding. Since then her musings on the week’s TV on Channel 4’s Gogglebox, alongside her dog Buster and equally taciturn husband Graham, have propelled her into a world very different from her original work as an RE teacher. Through the prism of her favourite Bible passages, Kate shares with Alison Hilliard how she came to church and to the priesthood, what drives her, and what she worries about.

The storyteller Sita Brand separates the fact from the fiction of Zen meditation, and shares her favourite story about the way not to go about it. She explains that Zen Buddhist meditation is about being aware of the present moment, through the practice of ‘mindfulness’. Contrary to popular belief, she says, it’s not about blanking your mind, but about being aware of your thoughts.