Matters of Life and Death Premier Unbelievable?

Society has been on a long and slow journey in recent decades into a richer and more sympathetic understanding of how abuse and coercion work within relationships. We are much better at both identifying and prosecuting this kind of abuse, and at being more attuned to the needs of victims and understanding why they find it difficult to just walk away. But domestic violence and controlling behaviour are also prevalent, sadly, within the church context too. How are we doing at identifying and confronting these toxic relationships, and looking after those traumatised by them? This week we interview Natalie Collins, an author, activist and expert in gender violence and church to find out more.
Natalie’s website, with details on her courses and book, is www.nataliecollins.info.
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Our first topic in this Q&A episode is a recent study which found that in 2023, the first full calendar year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade and the constitutional right to an abortion, total abortions actually increased. Despite 21 states enacting full or partial abortion bans, more women not fewer are ending their pregnancies. How can this have happened, and what might it tell the pro-life movement about its tactics and priorities if it seeks to make abortion not simply unlawful, but unthinkable?
Next we respond to a listener who is wondering if we might have got food culture a bit wrong in a church setting? Hospitality and sharing meals together is a huge part of Christianity, but is it possible to do so while making fresh, nutritious food from scratch? Should Christians be wary of ultra-processed food? Have we accidentally baptised our existing middle-class preferences for organic produce and home-made recipes, and pretended it is somehow more virtuous or moral?
The Guttmacher Institute's research on abortion statistics: https://www.guttmacher.org/2024/03/despite-bans-number-abortions-united-states-increased-2023
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the faster growing mental health diagnoses of our age. More and more people, including those well into adulthood, are seeking out and being diagnosed with ADHD. And the typical treatment plan involves taking powerful amphetamine-based stimulant medication, effectively turbocharging parts of the brain’s cognitive capacity. In this episode, we’re joined by Christian psychiatrist Daniel Maughan to discuss how ADHD works, what impact it has on people, and why diagnosis rates seem to be rising. Should we share concerns around over-diagnosis or the supposed rise of ADHD as a ‘fashionable’ lifestyle or identity? And how should Christians in particular think about taking cognitive enhancing drugs to aid concentration or work faster, rather than to just to treat medical conditions?
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

We’re both away for our Easter breaks, so this week we’re bringing you a classic episode from the MOLAD archive, when we were joined by the former leader of the Liberal Democrats Tim Farron to discuss social media and politics. Research suggests UK members of parliament like Tim get sent thousands of offensive tweets every single day. Why have social networks become such toxic, hateful places? Is this a technology problem to be solved with better moderation, a policy issue solved by government regulation, or a spiritual affair reflecting the sinfulness of the human heart? And should Christians avoid these online worlds to remain unpolluted, or stick around to act as salt and light regardless? We also dig into why Tim’s time as leader of the Lib Dems came unstuck so badly and whether there is a ceiling on the ambitions of Christian politicians who will not compromise on their convictions.
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

A new wave of anti-obesity drugs led by Wegovy (also known as Ozempic) are causing huge ripples in the medical world and popular culture. Astonishingly successful at helping people lose weight, these drugs both offer a tantalising solution to the obesity epidemic and its associated public health crisis, and have also made the pharma companies which own them staggeringly rich as demand rockets ever upwards. But ‘curing’ obesity with a weekly injection massively challenges how our culture has long viewed it, as not a medical condition to be treated but a moral failure of self-control to be repented of. Is it unwise to encourage a pharmacological fix to obesity and abandon the age-old method of ‘eat less, exercise more’? And, as our understanding of the hormonal and neuroscientific roots of cravings for food, alcohol and drugs improves, what will this mean for a Christian understanding of free will? Can we still hold onto the idea of personal responsibility for sin, if science can explain how our genetics led us to make those bad choices?
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

As is probably obvious from previous episodes, John is extremely interested in generative AI and thinks it will be the next transformative technology to entirely up-end how society works. Tim, however, is much more sceptical and thinks a lot of the rhetoric around AI is overblown. So, prompted by Tim sharing an AI-sceptical blog, in this episode we talk through the anatomy of a tech hype bubble, looking at previous cases such as the internet, cryptocurrency and smartphones to figure out where AI might be on the ‘S-curve’ of tech adoption. How can Christians live responsibly and faithfully through these moments, where culture is running away with itself about something new and flashy? Is it incumbent on us not to get left behind and languish in ignorance about something which could change the world? Or should we be consciously opting out of the techno-optimist hype and preferring prudent caution over giddy excitement?
• The Ed Zitron blog on AI scepticism https://www.wheresyoured.at/sam-altman-fried
• Marc Andreessen’s Techno-Optimist Manifesto https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com