Spirituality meets pop culture and politics in The Otherworldly. Storytelling on everything from Trump as the Messiah in QAnon to why the hashtag #witchtok has been used 26.8 billion times on TikTok.
Join us in our journey to discover how the esoteric collides with real-world issues.
THE EPISODES
Mother & Child
What are the secrets and coverups in Ireland's Mother and Baby Homes and are the Church and government responsible?
Guests: Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and bestselling author of Hideous Kinky, Esther Freud, on her book I Couldn’t Love You More alongside human rights lawyer Maeve O’Rouke, academic Lindsey Earner-Byrne and activist Anna Corrigan.
Demons & Psychosis
Do people really encounter God during psychotic episodes?
Guests: Author of Inferno, Catherine Cho, on her experience of seeing her newborn as the devil. She is joined by Oxford Theologian Joanna Collicutt to discuss the insights that might be found in suffering, alongside Perinatal Psychiatrist Dr Jessica Heron.
The Modern Witch
Why has the hashtag #witchtok been used 26.8 billion times on tik-tok and what is the appeal of online witchery to Gen Z?
Guests: Historians Julian Goodare from the University of Edinburgh and Michael Bailey from Iowa Sate University on the witch trials. They are joined by Jeffrey Kripal, J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University and influencer Estée Lalonde.
QAnon & The Apocalypse
How can a seemingly ungodly man like Trump be seen as the Messiah? And what are we getting wrong about our understanding of brainwashing?
Guests: Natalie Jackson, Director of Research at the Public Research Religion Institute, Paul Thomas Professor of religious studies at Radford University and right wing extremism expert Tal Lavin, author of Culture Warlords.
Queer Cosmos
Why have members of the LGBTQIA+ community found a spiritual home in astrology?
Guests: LGBTQIA+ astrologers including U.S. Cosmopolitan’s resident astrologer Colin Bedell, and academic Jeffrey Kripal, J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University on the concept of ‘queering’ spirituality and finding a home outside mainstream religions.
Paradise & Nature
Are we losing our spiritual connection to nature and what does the science tells us about why we feel so disconnected from it?
Guests: Lucy Jones, author of Losing Eden (a Times and Telegraph book of the year) and Dr Joost Joustra, The Howard and Roberta Ahmanson Fellow in Art and Religion at the National Gallery, help us explore the complicated spiritual legacies that have shaped how we view nature.
Reading List
“The point of fairy tales is not to put a beautiful shine on life, it's to hand down information vital to survival for women”
— Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity, Veronica O’Keane