Religion: it’s at the centre of world affairs, but profound questions still remain. Why are you here? What happens when you die? Does God matter? God Forbid seeks the answers.
The long border dispute between science and religion
In 1927, a Catholic priest told Albert Einstein the universe was expanding. Einstein though that was a crazy idea. But the priest was right.
And when the Pope claimed this as proof of creation, the tables were turned again. The priest told the pontiff, keep your religion out of my physics.
There’s the simple idea that we had religion to explain the world, until we upgraded to science, which did the trick far more effectively.
But as the priest and Einstein anecdote illustrates, that simple idea does not explain the very complex story: the relationship between science and religion.
Nick Spencer is Senior Fellow at the London think tank Theos. His latest book is The Landscapes of Science and Religion – What are we disagreeing about?
Peter Harrison is Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Notre Dame Australia and Emeritus Professor at UQ. His latest book is Some New World: Myths of Supernatural Belief in a Secular Age
They’ll both be Keynote speakers opening the 2026 ISCAST biennial Conference on Science and Christianity.
This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation.
2 Oct 2026
How can media gain back lost trust?
The world has trust issues with it's media.
3 in 5 Australians trust TV and radio news, and what's in the newspapers,.
But in North America it's fewer than 3 in 10.
Are we doing something better here, OR are we just a decade behind them?
Is it an economic problem? After all, ownership of our media has been contracting to just a few players. That alone has had some huge implications for the quality of news and who it speaks to.
The online podcast world has arguably meant a democratisation of the way people are finding their news.
How can lost trust in media be regained?
GUESTS:
Tara Henley, Canadian journalist, broadcaster and author of "The Trust Spiral"
Jonathan Holmes, journalist, writer, former ABC TV presenter and broadcaster
Scott Mitchell, former ABC journalist and now co host of the podcast "Lamestream"
This program was recorded on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation
25 Sept 2026
Will toleration or tribalism define this era of enlightenment?
Is intolerance tightening its grip on public life?
The twentieth century was among the most intolerant in human history; the Holocaust, Stalinism, empires collapsing in blood.
So why, in the twenty-first century, is tolerance still so elusive?
In the final episode of a two-part series on toleration, God Forbid looks at the ever-growing allure of tribalism, cementing division along contentious political fault lines.
Guests:
Dr Shaun Blanchard, Senior Lecturer in Theology, University of Notre Dame Australia. Author of the forthcoming Catholicism and Enlightenment.
Dr Devleena Ghosh, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Communication and Social Sciences, University of Technology Sydney.
Dr Abdullah Kunde, Founder and President of the Muslim Debate Initiative Australia.
This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation
Who has been a guest on God Forbid
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Shaun Blanchard
Jürgen Overhoff
Francisco (Paco) Garcia-Serrano
Renae Barker
Greg Melleuish
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
