8 Billion and Counting

LOVE THE OTHER can mean many things. For a psychologist it can imply two contrasting personalities coming together in a complementary and constructive relationship. It can also be construed as avoiding excessive self- love. But as Sam Victor and Ruby Naji-Naif see it can be about coming to terms with difference and understanding the other in such a profound way that it can become love and even bring about peace. Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

How practical is Jesus's advice to turn the other cheek? Some see it as an example of the excessive passivity of Christianity. Others think it's the only way to get out of an endless spiral of violence. Meryem Kalayci and Tim Stevens discuss the matter without coming to blows... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

Music - that most abstract of arts - can of course express religious feeling but it can also be directly or obliquely political, especially when lyrics are involved. Think, National Anthems or protest songs ... With Ed Kessler, Dunya Habash and Jonas Otterbeck reflect... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

Can positive thinking create its own momentum, or to put it another way, does negativity reap its own bad harvest? Esther-Miriam Wagner and Robert Tombs read the runes Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

If you asked the Astronomer Royal, Martin Rees, to discuss cosmology with a "flat-Earther", he would probably politely decline. But when it comes to more nuanced matters than scientific truth, is there ever a case for calling a halt to dialogue? Alfred Moore and Chris Wadibia consider the question... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

The United Nations recently announced that by their estimate World population passed the 8 billion mark in November 2022. World population is predicted to continue growing, peaking at just over 10 billion in the 2080s. Is this too high a number and if so what should we do about it? Abdallah Rothman and Ed Kessler reflect ... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

The system for those seeking asylum in the UK is not working, with damaging effects across society and for refugees. That's why the Woolf Institute has just launched its Commission on the Integration of Refugees with an aim to improve the refugee and asylum system for everyone, including refugees. Two of the Commissioners, Janice Lopatkin and Jehangir Malik share their thoughts. Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

Since the COVID pandemic, satisfaction ratings with the National Health Service have plummeted. Should we look to other countries for alternative models? And Social Services, which have never been properly integrated into the NHS system, are on the brink of collapse, despite the claims of politicians to have "sorted" the problem. Sarah Smith and Gurch Randawa tackle a thorny problem... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

What do people of faith think about the psychological and psychiatric approach to dealing with mental health problems? Is there a sense for some that one's faith, one's God should be enough to quell any inner turmoil? Jamilla Hekmoun and Danny Smith reflect on the secular and the religious approaches to mental ill health... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review

Modern slavery is going on all around us. Brothels, nail bars, car wash outlets and some wealthy households all need victims who they can exploit, and people traffickers happily supply them. Kevin Hyland and Lauren Saunders square up to the problem... Like this podcast? Please help us by writing a review