Holy Smoke

By: The Spectator
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  • Summary

  • The most important and controversial topics in world religion, thoroughly dissected by a range of high profile guests. Presented by Damian Thompson.
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Philosophy Social Sciences Christianity Spirituality
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Episodes
  • The Pope announces 21 new cardinals. Is he trying to pack the conclave?

    The Pope announces 21 new cardinals. Is he trying to pack the conclave?
    Oct 18 2024
    This month Pope Francis announced that’s he’s creating 21 cardinals, and once again his list includes unexpected names that will baffle commentators who assume that he’s determined to stack the next conclave with liberals.

    For example, Australia now finally has a cardinal – but he’s a 44-year-old bishop from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic diaspora rather than the actual head of the Ukrainian Church in Kiev. There’s also a new English cardinal who isn’t even a bishop, the Dominican theologian Timothy Radcliffe. He’s nearly 80, so will soon have to step down as an elector – but, believe it or not, one of the new cardinals is 99 and therefore old enough to be his father.

    In this episode of Holy Smoke, Vatican analyst Serre Verweij joins Damian Thompson to discuss the significance of this consistory. He suggests that this Pope, famously hostile to traditionalists, is nonetheless moving to the right at this late stage in his pontificate. But why?
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    26 mins
  • Could religious voters in the swing states decide the US election?

    Could religious voters in the swing states decide the US election?
    Oct 4 2024
    The US presidential election looks as if it’s coming down to the wire in a handful of battleground states. Neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump has established a clear lead, and that raises the question of whether, even in today’s increasingly secular America, evangelical Christians could give former president Trump a crucial advantage in the rust belt. On the other hand, could his role in the demise of Roe v Wade tilt the race towards Harris?

    In this episode of Holy Smoke, Damian Thompson talks to Dr Melissa Deckman, CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute, a specialist in the influence of religion on US politics, and Justin Webb, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, widely respected as an impartial commentator on presidential campaigns.

    Produced by Patrick Gibbons.
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    30 mins
  • How pistols in St Paul’s Cathedral shaped the science of sound

    How pistols in St Paul’s Cathedral shaped the science of sound
    Sep 20 2024
    In the winter of 1951 shots from a Colt revolver rang out in St Paul’s Cathedral in an experiment designed to solve the mystery of how architecture shapes sound. In this episode of Holy Smoke, Damian Thompson talks to Dr Fiona Smyth, author of a new book on the subject, and choral musician Philip Fryer, about the perfect acoustic – an increasingly important topic for churches, since many of them rely on the income from hiring themselves out as concert and recording venues. And it raises the question: should we think of a church as a musical instrument?
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    17 mins

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