Best Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon Podcasts (2025)

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Ep 92 Inner Christianity: Returning to Our Roots W/Mark Vernon 52:30

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13h ago52:30

52:30

Episode Summary: Growing up evangelical required a preoccupation with external behaviors and moral performance, or what I now understand as sin management. My spiritual life was fear based. Behaviors like sexuality, masturbation, swearing, or drinking were litmus tests of spiritual maturity. The more you controlled, hid, or projected your external …

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The most insightful poet that ever lived. Iain McGilchrist & Mark Vernon on William Blake 1:00:54

6d ago1:00:54

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Iain McGilchrist calls William Blake “the least cosy of poets and one of the most insightful that ever lived.” Blake is cited more often than most figures in Iain’s great book, "The Matter With Things". So what did Blake express that might much matter now? How did he understand key features of our humanity such as the imagination and inspiration, a…

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Does nature obey laws? 41:52

15d ago41:52

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The conviction that the natural world is obedient, adhering to laws, is a widespread assumption of modern science. But where did this idea originate and what beliefs does it imply? In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon discuss the impact on science of the Elizabethan lawyer, Francis Bacon. His New Instr…

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Ep 91: The Resistance is Alive and Well w/Jesse Nickel 1:02:27

16d ago1:02:27

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Episode Summary: Today is June 14, 2025, a day that will live in infamy. A sitting United States president is hosting a military-style parade in Washington D.C. that every crack-pot dictator from Adolf Hitler to Vladimir Putin would admire. Making matters worse, since re-gaining power in January, Trump’s regime has dismantled democracy, extended th…

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How to Live like William Blake! 55:14

17d ago55:14

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A conversation from History with Chris Harding. In Mark Vernon's new book "Awake!", he argues that we’re missing something from our view of the great visionary artist William Blake. It’s that word - ‘visionary.’ Mark argues that Blake’s extraordinary art reveals an expanded experience of the world that Blake lived with every day: angels, fairies, r…

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Awake! Albion awake! And let us awake up together! 3:35

18d ago3:35

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Recorded in St James’s Piccadilly, the church in which William Blake was baptised, with his life mask also present. Thoughts on Blake’s great call to us today from the launch of my new book, “Awake! William Blake and the Power of the Imagination”.By Mark Vernon

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Top 10 William Blake quotes! The full countdown 3:44

18d ago3:44

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A taste of Blake’s genius and what he might mean for us. Celebrating the release of "Awake! William Blake and the Power of the Imagination" by Mark Vernon. The full countdown: 10. I’ll sing to you to this soft lute, and shew you all alive The world, where every particle of dust breathes forth its joy. 9. I give you the end of a golden string; Only …

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On the Right Track. Liberty from left-brained analysis. William Blake’s path of perceptual expansion 26:49

23d ago26:49

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Acknowledging that there are complementary modes of perception has become commonplace. But left-hemisphere analysis can diagnose the problem without offering much sense of how better to incorporate the right. Which is where William Blake comes in. He describes the narrowing of perception from the perspective of the wider involvement. The result is …

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Loosening the mind-forged manacles. William Blake in words and songs 41:20

30d ago41:20

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A live conversation with Mark Vernon, Katy Carr and Dexter Bentley from the Hello Goodbye Show. Who was William Blake? What might his music have sounded like? What did he say about the imagination? Why might he understand our predicament today? Mark Vernon and Katy Carr joined Dexter Bentley on Resonance FM to talk William Blake on Saturday 31st Ma…

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The saint who ripped reality and rose like a sun. Francis and the apocalyptic fears of chaotic times 42:42

1M ago42:42

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Saint Francis was born into a world in a panic. The stabilities of the feudal world had collapsed with the rise of mercantilism. The gap between rich and poor was unsustainable and a new underclass was tearing apart the fabric of society. Then, there were the looming presence of the Mongols to the east and the transformative impact of the Islamic e…

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Does nature really obey laws? A dialogue with Rupert Sheldrake 41:52

1M ago41:52

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The conviction that the natural world is obedient, adhering to laws, is a widespread assumption of modern science. But where did this idea originate and what beliefs does it imply? In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon discuss the impact on science of the Elizabethan lawyer, Francis Bacon. His New Instr…

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"Enemies of the Human Race" William Blake on the disaster of atheism 24:38

1M ago24:38

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William Blake opens the third part of his epic poem, Jerusalem: the Emanation of the Giant Albion, with an astonishing remark. “He never can be a friend of the Human Race who is the Preacher of Natural Morality or Natural Religion.” The declaration is shocking because today, two hundred years since he first printed these lines, naturalistic explana…

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Merely Christianity? Discerning the Spirit of a Revival. A conversation with Elizabeth Oldfield 42:35

2M ago42:35

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There is undoubtedly a new spirit of interest in Christianity abroad in the presumed secular world. Some increases in church-going are even showing up in the stats. But what can be made of the curiosity? Is it straightforwardly to be welcomed? Are there dark sides to newfound enthusiasms? Elizabeth Oldfield is the author of Fully Alive and host of …

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The Unity of Being and the very great things Ibn ‘Arabi made of it 33:38

2M ago33:38

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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 again, especially against a backdrop of fundamentalism. Born into a noble family in Anadalusian, Moorish Spain, he adopted the Sufi way of life after a re…

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Andalusia and machine anxiety. How new technology in Moorish Spain sparked insights that help us now 27:36

2M ago27:36

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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 religion, though, but of technology. Within a few generations, the devices of the new civilisation hit the Iberian peninsula: vertical axis windmills, the …

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Jesus is the only God. And so am I and so are you. William Blake’s mystical Christianity 18:30

2M ago18:30

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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 really helps early sales and so bookshop notice.) “The best overall study of Blake I have encountered in a very long time. A joy to read, well worthy of…

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Ep 90: A Call For Bravery, Peace, and Self Love w/Regina Cates 53:33

3M ago53:33

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Episode Summary: Regina Cates joins me on the show to discuss her latest book The Real Conversations Jesus Wants Us to Have: A Call to Bravery, Peace, and Love. This episode is part memoir, part social commentary, and part call to action for those of us who grew up in religious fundamentalism and have found our way out to a bigger, broader, and mor…

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Christ the turning point. Owen Barfield in a secular age. A conversation with Ashton Arnoldy 1:32:04

3M ago1:32:04

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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 and why that might matter in a cultural moment that feels like a folk in the road. They speak personally of how Barfield touched them and why his insi…

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Ep 89: We’re Done: Womanism in MAGA America w/Dr. Angela Parker 56:17

4M ago56:17

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Episode Summary: You need to sit down for this episode. Mercer University’s Dr. Angela Parker joins me today on the podcast for a heart-wrenching conversation about white supremacy, intersectionality, womanist theology, authoritarian Christianity, decolonization, Kamala Harris, and her sought-after book, If God Still Breathes, Why Can’t I? Accordin…

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Living in an Age of Spiritual Crisis 52:56

4M ago52:56

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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 episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, recorded live at an event organised by the Temenos Academy, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon discuss the evo…

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Living in an Age of Spiritual Crisis. A conversation with Rupert Sheldrake & Mark Vernon 57:07

4M ago57:07

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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 episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, recorded live at an event organised by the Temenos Academy, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon discuss the evo…

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Ep 88: The Historical Jesus w/John Dominic Crossan 1:02:21

4M ago1:02:21

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Episode Summary: John Dominic Crossan is the world’s most prominent Jesus scholar. He joins me today on Holy Heretics to discuss what we can, and what we cannot, know about the life of this first century Jewish peasant. Unlike traditional theological portrayals of Jesus, which center primarily on his death and resurrection, Crossan’s scholarship fo…

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Ep 87: MAGA Christians and the Sin of Empathy w/Gary Alan Taylor 51:36

4M ago51:36

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Episode Summary: I wrote an article almost two weeks ago titled, Trump’s Willing Executioners. Drawing on my graduate work in Holocaust Studies, I compared and contrasted the MAGA movement and Nazi Germany, and in particular, the glaring lack of empathy championed by both cults. The article went viral, encouraging me to consider a more robust analy…

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The Abolition of Man, That Hideous Strength, Till We Have Faces. CS Lewis as prophet of dark times 1:18:52

5M ago1:18:52

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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 undermined our humanity by uncoupling intellect from instinct. With hearts divorced from minds, first the world empties of presence, then life empties of m…

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Evolution. From natural selection to omega point. A conversation with Rupert Sheldrake 35:13

5M ago35:13

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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 cyclical conceptions of human and cosmic evolution and ask what they can mean in the modern world, where innovation and evolution appear to be escalat…

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Evolution: From Natural Selection to Omega Point 35:13

5M ago35:13

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Watch: https://youtu.be/_ywyQIFMtQE 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 cyclical conceptions of human and cosmic evolution and ask what they can mean in the modern world, where innovatio…

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Ep 86: The Science of Spirituality w/Dr. Rupert Sheldrake 1:00:43

5M ago1:00:43

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Episode Summary: For ten years running, Dr. Rupert Sheldrake has been recognized as one of the “most spiritually influential living people in the world” by Watkins Mind Body Spirit magazine. His work has been featured in many magazines, newspapers and broadcast media, including New Scientist, The Guardian, Discover magazine, The Spectator, The Wash…

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Physics and reality. Francis Lucille on the nature of matter, the flaws of panpsychism & God 1:17:14

5M ago1:17:14

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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 universality of consciousness and how that fits with modern physics, theories of consciousness and the inspiration of wisdom traditions. For more on Francis se…

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On Mysticism. With Simon Critchley on his new book, inc. figures from Mother Julian to Annie Dillard 1:22:51

5M ago1:22:51

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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, Fundamental aspects of the insights pursued by figures such as Mother Julian and Meister Eckhart are obscured by the focus on peak or exceptional experiences…

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Ep 85: Ecospirituality and ReWilding w/Dr. Rachel Wheeler 49:46

6M ago49:46

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Episode Summary: Dr. Rachel Wheeler joins me today on Holy Heretics to discuss ecospirituality and the practice of rewilding both our life and faith. Let’s be honest, Christians have a horrendous relationship with the natural world, best understood through a combination of harmful historical, theological, and cultural influences. Growing up evangel…

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In Search of Wild Gods. Reflections on Nick Cave and Tom Holland in conversation about Christianity 30:19

6M ago30:19

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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 around whether and why there is renewed interest in Christianity. Tom Holland’s book Dominion has become a staple of learned comment, with its thesis that…

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Ep 84: Created to Create w/Ally Markotich 48:44

6M ago48:44

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Episode Summary: I distinctly remember sitting in the back row of sixth grade art class in Jonesboro, Arkansas and saying to myself, “I am NOT CREATIVE!” I couldn’t draw a lick. While my friends brought forth beautiful sketches and lovely paintings their parents would proudly hang on the refrigerator, I looked down at my work with disdain. My paren…

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Meister Eckhart's Christmas Sermon One. Where is the Word born and how? 33:23

7M ago33:23

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Sermon One (in Walshe, Complete Mystical Works) has become known as capturing the essence of Meister Eckhart’s thought. “Here, in time, we are celebrating the eternal birth which God the Father bore and bears unceasingly in eternity, because this same birth is now born in time, in human nature.” And why does this lofty thought matter? “What does it…

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Ep 83: Finding God in an Errant Bible w/Liz Charlotte Grant 54:28

7M ago54:28

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Episode Summary: If I had a guess, I’m betting one of the main reasons why you deconstructed evangelicalism is because of the Bible. Growing up evangelical, the Bible was the center of faith. It was the key to unlocking the Divine. This big black book held all the secrets to a good life. Just open it up, ask it a question, and out popped God’s answ…

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Forms and the Reformation of Science 39:15

7M ago39:15

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Forms are all around us: clouds, flowers, creatures, even systems of thought and logical relations. And yet the nature of forms is rarely part of the modern scientific conversation. In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon discuss the importance of forms and how they work. The need for form to account for …

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Forms and the Reformation of Science. A conversation with Rupert Sheldrake 39:15

7M ago39:15

39:15

Forms are all around us: clouds, flowers, creatures, even systems of thought and logical relations. And yet the nature of forms is rarely part of the modern scientific conversation. In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon discuss the importance of forms and how they work. The need for form to account for …

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"Enemies of the Human Race." William Blake on how to know God 11:38

7M ago11:38

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The new issue of VALA, the magazine of the Blake Society, is all about God. I've an article in it on Blake's mystical knowledge of God. "I am in you, you are in me, mutual in love divine." Blake could hardly have been stronger in his views that naturalistic explanations for religion, and what would now be called non-real theologies, are inadequate …

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Ep. 82: Celtic Spirituality w/John Philip Newell 1:00:01

7M ago1:00:01

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Episode Summary: John Philip Newell is best described as “a wandering teacher with the heart of a Celtic bard and the mind of a Celtic scholar.” Formerly the Warden of Iona Abbey in the Western Isles of Scotland, John Philip joined me from his home in Edinburgh to offer a new, yet ancient way forward in a time when the empire has once again wedded …

Rupert Sheldrake And Mark Vernon Podcasts