Together for the Common Good Podcast

In this time of deep change, it is vital to find ways of staying human—and to do so within a constructive story of spiritual and civic renewal. Everything seems to be unravelling, including what it means to care for each other and even how we understand life and death. Serious questions lie before us: How can we restore our common life? How can we stay human?In this episode, Useful Lives, Dan Hitchens asks what the advance of assisted suicide really means. Dan addresses the profound cultural shift signaled by current legislation, marking a transition from the era of Cicely Saunders and the hospice movement to a new age where death is presented as a solution to what some advocates refer to as ‘useless lives.’ Setting the contemporary debate in its historical context, Dan prompts us to consider how we should respond to this hinge moment for British society.Dan Hitchens is the Senior Editor at First Things magazine and a contributor to Compact, Unherd, The New Statesman, The Spectator, The Critic, Christianity Magazine, and various other publications. Formerly, he edited the Catholic Herald. As a freelance journalist, Dan has been conducting a forensic examination into the issue of assisted suicide which can be found on X at @ddhitchens. He holds a PhD on the 18th-century author Samuel Johnson, who is the guiding spirit for his personal newsletter. Dan is also the co-author of The Cambridge Introduction to Samuel Johnson (Cambridge University Press, 2025). He writes on Substack here.Read Dan’s text here.This is the fourth in our Staying Human series. This event was convened and moderated by Jenny Sinclair, Founder Director of Together for the Common Good, and took place on 21 November 2025 in London before an invited audience.Learn more about Together for the Common Good at t4cg.substack.com.Listen to our sister podcast, Leaving Egypt, where we read the signs of the times and explore what it means to be God’s people in these times of unravelling: leavingegypt.com. Get full access to Together for the Common Good at t4cg.substack.com/subscribe

In this time of deep change, it is vital to find ways of staying human—and to do so within a constructive story of spiritual and civic renewal. As we recognize the failure of the hyper-liberal philosophy of the past forty years, people are feeling the loss of agency and we are seeing increasingly widespread discontent. With concentrations of money and state power intensifying, the breakdown of trust - and the rapid advance of AI - our political, cultural, and spiritual life is increasingly marked by confusion.Serious questions lie before us: How can we restore our common life? How can we stay human?In this episode, Being a Person in the Age of AI, Susannah Black Roberts addresses what it means to be human in terms of personhood - and what can be done at the personal and community level. She explores how we as Christians are called to live at this moment in our history - what kinds of practices we should adopt to live the way of Jesus in a world that threatens to make us obsolete.Susannah opens up the territory for a vital conversation about upholding the sacred and resisting the dehumanising potential of AI to prompt us to consider what this means for discipleship and Christian witness in the places where we live and work.Susannah is Senior Editor at Plough Quarterly and an editor at Mere Orthodoxy. Currently she is working on a book on living out the political virtues in our private lives, and several projects related to the development of a Christian humanism for today’s world. Susannah writes for many publications, including First Things, Front Porch Republic, and The American Conservative. A native Manhattanite, she is married to an Englishman and lives between New York and the West Midlands in the UK. She writes on the Substack Anchored in Argosy and can be found on X at @suzania.Download the text of Susannah’s lecture: Being a Person in the Age of AIThis is the third in our Staying Human series. This event was convened and moderated by Jenny Sinclair, Founder Director of Together for the Common Good, and took place on 21 October 2025 in London before an invited audience.Learn more about Together for the Common Good at t4cg.substack.com.Listen to our sister podcast, Leaving Egypt, where we read the signs of the times and explore what it means to be God’s people in these times of unravelling: leavingegypt.com. Get full access to Together for the Common Good at t4cg.substack.com/subscribe

In this time of deep change, it is vital to find ways of staying human—and to do so within a constructive story of spiritual and civic renewal. As we recognise the failure of the hyper-liberal philosophy of the past forty years, people are feeling the loss of agency and there a rising sense of discontent. With concentrations of money and state power intensifying, the rapid advance of AI, and the breakdown of trust, our political, cultural, and spiritual life is increasingly marked by confusion.Serious questions lie before us: How can we restore our common life? How can we stay human?In this episode, Jon Cruddas and Maurice Glasman explore Statecraft for the Common Good. Together, they examine how political economy and the state must be organised to address our current crises—and how to do so in light of the challenges and opportunities presented by AI. Rooted in the tradition of Catholic Social Thought, and with deep experience in the mechanics of government, grassroots and parliamentary politics, and as people of faith, they open up the territory for a vital conversation.Download the texts of both lectures here:* From Tragedy to Restoration - Shaping the New Era - Maurice Glasman* From Crisis to Meaning – Renewal and the Spirit of Justice - Jon CruddasJon Cruddas is currently Co-Chair of the Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion, and Co-Leader of the Future of the Left Project at Policy Exchange. Formerly MP for Dagenham for 23 years, Jon is now at the leading edge of the debate around modern industrial relations, work, and employment in the age of artificial intelligence. He is a Senior Fellow at the McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Life at the University of Oxford and the author of The Dignity of Labour.Maurice Glasman is the Director of the Common Good Foundation and the founder of the Blue Labour movement. Lord Glasman is a life peer and a key figure in the current battle for Labour’s soul, urging the party to reconnect with its founding principles. Alongside his academic and political work, he has for many years been involved in authentic community organising, most recently in Grimsby. He is the author of Blue Labour: The Politics of the Common Good.Just a heads-up: The sound quality in the Q&A part of the recording is a bit patchy. We’re very sorry about this, but we hope you’ll still enjoy this fascinating and informative conversation.This is the second in our Staying Human series. The event was convened and moderated by Jenny Sinclair, Founder Director of Together for the Common Good, and took place on 15 September 2025 in London before an invited audience.Learn more about Together for the Common Good at t4cg.substack.comListen to our sister podcast, Leaving Egypt, where we read the signs of the times and explore what it means to be God’s people in these times of unravelling: leavingegypt.comKnow someone who would like this? Feel free to share this post.This Substack is reader-supported. Please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Together for the Common Good at t4cg.substack.com/subscribe

In this time of deep change, it is vital to find ways of staying human, and to do so within a constructive story of spiritual and civic renewal. Politics is downstream of culture and so there is only so much governments can do - we are all called to play our part in building the common good. In this episode, Luke Bretherton helps the churches to recover the memory of the commons, the God-shaped space where we discover what it means to be human together with others. Framing the challenges ahead within a Christian understanding of political economy, Luke sets out why forms of local association are vital, both as means of staying human, and as a way of resisting the domination of market and state.Luke Bretherton is the Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at Christ Church, Oxford, where he also directs the McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Life. This appointment, which was approved by King Charles, also includes ordination – so Luke is a Canon of Christ Church Cathedral and has duties as a Church of England priest. Until recently Luke was the Robert E. Cushman Distinguished Professor of Moral and Political Theology at Duke University in the United States, and Visiting Professor at St Mellitus Theological College, London. He’s written many books, most recently A Primer in Christian Ethics and Christ and the Common Life. Alongside this, Luke draws on his long experience of community organising and from what he has learned from many collaborations with churches, charities and mission agencies.To download the slides that accompany this talk, click hereTo download the text of this talk, click hereThis lecture was held on 19 February 2025 and is the first of our Staying Human Series. Introduced by Jenny Sinclair, founder director of Together for the Common Good, this event was held in partnership with CCLA.Join our community on Substack: t4cg.substack.comListen to our sister podcast, Leaving Egypt, where we read the signs of the times and look to local stories of hope in these times of unravelling. Get full access to Together for the Common Good at t4cg.substack.com/subscribe

In this time of seismic change and instability, many of us are finding the scale of injustice overwhelming. It can be inspiring to look to the Christian martyrs for justice whose lives were “written in blood” – extraordinary people whose stories of truth, justice and peace, in the face of indifference and opposition, offered witness to a hope-filled future of solidarity and fraternity. But what are the causes of injustice in our time, and what does it mean to live a life written in blood today? This was the theme set for Jenny Sinclair for the 2023 Justice and Peace Europe General Assembly annual lecture. The lecture was given on 12 November 2023 in the oratory of St John’s co-Cathedral, Valletta, Malta, before the masterpiece the Beheading of St John the Baptist by Caravaggio.Learn more at www.togetherforthecommongood.co.ukListen to our sister podcast, Leaving Egypt where we read the signs of the times and look to local stories of hope in these times of unravelling.Connect with Together for the Common Good: Twitter: https://twitter.com/T4CGFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/TogetherForTheCommonGoodUKInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/t4cg_insta/Connect with Jenny Sinclair:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-sinclair-0589783b/ Get full access to Together for the Common Good at t4cg.substack.com/subscribe

Christian social action has grown significantly in the UK over the last two decades. But too often well-intentioned charitable initiatives are disconnected from justice, can deepen dependency and can drift in a secular direction. In a time of profound social and political change and increasing inequality, Jon Kuhrt opens up an honest conversation about impact, power and authentic Christian witness.Watch video here | Download Jon’s text here and a report of the event hereDrawing on the wisdom of the Christian traditions, including Catholic social thought and the theology of Lesslie Newbigin, Jon also reflects on the legacy of Frank Field, in whose honour this talk was given. MP for Birkenhead for forty years, Frank was a committed Christian who put his faith into practice, and was unequalled in his dedication to improving the lives of people trapped in poverty.Jon Kuhrt is Chief Executive of Hope into Action and host of the Grace and Truth Blog. Formerly Jon was the Rough Sleeping Adviser to the UK Government Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and before that, CEO of West London Mission, and Director of Community Mission for Livability. He lives with his family in South London, and loves cricket.This lecture was held on 15 July 2024, part of our 2024 series exploring the Christian vocation in these uncertain times. You may also be interested in Challenging Power, Changing Practice and Deepening Spirituality: The Future of UK Christian Social Action by Jenny Sinclair and Jon KuhrtJoin our community on Substack: t4cg.substack.comListen to our sister podcast, Leaving Egypt, where we read the signs of the times and look to local stories of hope in these times of unravelling.Help us continue this work. Please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Together for the Common Good at t4cg.substack.com/subscribe

Matt Petrusek demystifies the new secular ideologies, exploring their origins and features, offering a common good response rooted in the Catholic Social Thought tradition. He shows how this serves as an antidote to identity politics, providing us with not only a worldview shaped around the transcendent nature of the person, but also, in this moment of cultural confusion, an opportunity for evangelisation.Professor Matthew Petrusek is the Senior Director and Professor of Catholic Ethics at the Word on Fire Institute in the US. He writes and lectures on philosophical and theological ethics, Christian theology, politics, social issues and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. His latest book is Evangelisation and Ideology: How to understand and respond to the political culture.This lecture was held on 1 February 2024 and is part of our 2024 series exploring how Catholic Social Thought helps us stay human and build the common good in these uncertain times. Introduced by Jenny Sinclair, this was held in partnership with Word on Fire UK and CCLA.Join our community on Substack: t4cg.substack.comListen to our sister podcast, Leaving Egypt, where we read the signs of the times and look to local stories of hope in these times of unravelling. Get full access to Together for the Common Good at t4cg.substack.com/subscribe

Drawing on Catholic Social Teaching, Sr Helen Alford examines the causes of division from the perspectives of economy, anthropology, truth, freedom and natural law, and explores how the people of the church are called to respond.Sr Helen Alford is president of the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences and Dean of the Faculty for Social Sciences at the Angelicum, Rome’s Pontifical University. An economist, she teaches economic ethics, the history of technology, labour politics, and Catholic social thought. Sr Helen is from England, lives in Rome and is a sister of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Catherine of Siena of Newcastle, Natal.This lecture was given on 27 November 2023 as part a series of nine lectures featuring speakers from different traditions who draw on Catholic Social Thought to explore how the Christian tradition can be a blessing on public life and discourse. Introduced and curated by Jenny Sinclair, these talks were held in partnership with Lincoln Cathedral and CCLA.You can read the full lecture here: https://togetherforthecommongood.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Sr-Helen-Alford-Just-Peace-27Nov2023-FINAL.pdfJoin our community on Substack: t4cg.substack.comListen to our sister podcast, Leaving Egypt, where we read the signs of the times and look to local stories of hope in these times of unravelling. Get full access to Together for the Common Good at t4cg.substack.com/subscribe

Drawing on Catholic Social Teaching, Alison Milbank explores the common good approach to the conflicting interests of the environmental crisis and social injustice, and how the local church can be a part of the solution.Alison Milbank is Professor of Theology and Literature at the University of Nottingham and has authored many books. She is Priest Vicar and Canon Theologian at Southwell Minster, and co-founder of the Save the Parish movement. Alison is the author of many books, the latest of which is The Once and Future Parish (SCM, 2023).This lecture was given on 17 October 2023 as part a series of nine lectures featuring speakers from different traditions who draw on Catholic Social Thought to explore how the Christian tradition can be a blessing on public life and discourse. Introduced and curated by Jenny Sinclair, these talks were held in partnership with Lincoln Cathedral and CCLA.Join our community on Substack: t4cg.substack.comListen to our sister podcast, Leaving Egypt, where we read the signs of the times and look to local stories of hope in these times of unravelling. Get full access to Together for the Common Good at t4cg.substack.com/subscribe

Jon Cruddas explores why decent work must be the cornerstone of a politics of the common good and why work is fundamentally a spiritual activity through which people collaborate with God for the redemption of humanity.Jon Cruddas is the Labour MP for Dagenham and Rainham and author of The Dignity of Labour. Jon is an Honorary Professor at the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues at the University of Birmingham. He is also a visiting fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford and a visiting professor at the University of Leicester.This lecture was given on 14 September 2023 as part a series of nine lectures featuring speakers from different traditions who draw on Catholic Social Thought to explore how the Christian tradition can be a blessing on public life and discourse. Introduced and curated by Jenny Sinclair, these talks were held in partnership with Lincoln Cathedral and CCLA. NB. This was rescheduled from 11 July when Jon Cruddas was detained in Parliament.Join our community on Substack: t4cg.substack.comListen to our sister podcast, Leaving Egypt, where we read the signs of the times and look to local stories of hope in these times of unravelling. Get full access to Together for the Common Good at t4cg.substack.com/subscribe

Maurice Glasman addresses the nature of work and how it has changed, how corporations have gained power while workers have lost out. He explores how the framework of Catholic social thought can guide us towards a more just and stable settlement.Lord Glasman is an English political theorist, Labour life peer and Professor of Politics at St Mary’s University. He is author of Blue Labour: the Politics of the Common Good. He is also director of The Common Good Foundation.This lecture was given on 11 July 2023 as part a series of nine lectures featuring speakers from different traditions who draw on Catholic Social Thought to explore how the Christian tradition can be a blessing on public life and discourse. Introduced and curated by Jenny Sinclair, these talks were held in partnership with Lincoln Cathedral and CCLA. NB. Jon Cruddas MP was scheduled to give this lecture, but was detained at the House of Commons. Lord Glasman kindly stepped in and gave this talk off-the-cuff at the last minute. The Jon Cruddas lecture was rescheduled for 14 September 2023 (see below).Join our community on Substack: t4cg.substack.comListen to our sister podcast, Leaving Egypt, where we read the signs of the times and look to local stories of hope in these times of unravelling. Get full access to Together for the Common Good at t4cg.substack.com/subscribe

Adrian Pabst argues that Catholic Social Thought is the most coherent body of ideas for social renewal, a gift to the world. In practical, grounded terms, he sets out how this tradition not only conceptualises a more just economy anchored in the dignity of the person and of work, but also reconciles the estranged interests of capital and labour, finance and production.Adrian Pabst is Professor of Politics at the University of Kent, author of Postliberal Politics: The Coming Era of Renewal, and Deputy Director at The National Institute of Economic and Social Research. An acknowledged expert in Catholic Social Thought and political economy, Adrian is among the leading figures seeding a growing cross party consensus for economic and civic renewal.This lecture was given on 23 May 2023 as part of a series of nine lectures featuring speakers from different traditions who draw on Catholic Social Thought to explore how the Christian tradition can be a blessing on public life and discourse. Introduced and curated by Jenny Sinclair, these talks were held in partnership with Lincoln Cathedral and CCLA.Join our community on Substack: t4cg.substack.comListen to our sister podcast, Leaving Egypt, where we read the signs of the times and look to local stories of hope in these times of unravelling. Get full access to Together for the Common Good at t4cg.substack.com/subscribe

Addressing the mission of the Church of England in light of Catholic Social Teaching, Malcolm Brown explores the Anglican legacy for the common good and asks how it might become a church for England.Malcolm Brown is the Director of Mission and Public Affairs for the Church of England, and Visiting Professor in Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Winchester. He is author of Anglican Social Theology: Renewing the Vision TodayThis lecture was given on 18 October 2022 as part a series of nine lectures featuring speakers from different traditions who draw on Catholic Social Thought to explore how the Christian tradition can be a blessing on public life and discourse. Introduced and curated by Jenny Sinclair, these talks were held in partnership with Lincoln Cathedral and CCLA.Join our community on Substack: t4cg.substack.comListen to our sister podcast, Leaving Egypt, where we read the signs of the times and look to local stories of hope in these times of unravelling. Get full access to Together for the Common Good at t4cg.substack.com/subscribe

Looking through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching and its focus on human flourishing, Edward Hadas examines the effects of modernity on the human being, and asks whether, in the modern world, we can truly be who we were created to be.Edward Hadas is a Fellow at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford and a freelance journalist. An expert in Catholic Social Teaching, he teaches and lectures in Oxford and elsewhere and is the author of many books, including Counsels of Imperfection: Thinking Through Catholic Social Teaching.This lecture was given on 27 September 2022 as part of a series of nine lectures featuring speakers from different traditions who draw on Catholic Social Thought to explore how the Christian tradition can be a blessing on public life and discourse. Introduced and curated by Jenny Sinclair, these talks were held in partnership with Lincoln Cathedral and CCLA. Join our community on Substack: t4cg.substack.comListen to our sister podcast, Leaving Egypt, where we read the signs of the times and look to local stories of hope in these times of unravelling. Get full access to Together for the Common Good at t4cg.substack.com/subscribe

Maurice Glasman explores the forces undermining democracy and the importance of voluntary human association in defence of the sacred. Addressing reform of the polity through the lens of Catholic Social Thought's conception of political economy, he emphasises the civic inheritance of the vote, and its renewed significance in the abandoned places.Lord Glasman is an Englsh political theorist, Labour life peer and Professor of Politics at St Mary’s University. He is author of Blue Labour: the Politics of the Common Good (Polity, 2022). He is also director of The Common Good Foundation which is involved in local community organising work in Grimsby.This lecture was given on 12 July 2022 as part a series of nine lectures featuring speakers from different traditions who draw on Catholic Social Thought to explore how the Christian tradition can be a blessing on public life and discourse. Introduced and curated by Jenny Sinclair, these talks were held in partnership with Lincoln Cathedral and CCLA.Join our community on Substack: t4cg.substack.comListen to our sister podcast, Leaving Egypt, where we read the signs of the times and look to local stories of hope in these times of unravelling. Get full access to Together for the Common Good at t4cg.substack.com/subscribe

Jenny Sinclair is founder director of Together for the Common Good, a UK charity dedicated to spiritual and civic renewal. Drawing on Catholic social thought, T4CG helps people across the churches make sense of this time of seismic change and discern their unique vocation for the common good.Join our community on Substack: t4cg.substack.comListen to our sister podcast, Leaving Egypt, where we read the signs of the times and look to local stories of hope in these times of unravelling. Get full access to Together for the Common Good at t4cg.substack.com/subscribe

In the introductory lecture exploring the purpose of the series, and in the context of seismic change, Jenny Sinclair outlines the tradition of Catholic Social Thought as a framework to read the signs of the times and as a guide towards a coherent gospel-rooted response. She explores notions of justice, the common good, the vocation of the church and how we are each called to take responsibility.Jenny Sinclair is founder director of Together for the Common Good, a UK charity dedicated to spiritual and civic renewal. Drawing on Catholic social thought, T4CG helps people across the churches make sense of this time of seismic change and discern their unique vocation for the common good.This lecture was given on 7 June 2022 as part a series of nine lectures featuring speakers from different traditions who draw on Catholic Social Thought to explore how the Christian tradition can be a blessing on public life and discourse. Introduced and curated by Jenny Sinclair, these talks were held in partnership with Lincoln Cathedral and CCLA.Join our community on Substack: t4cg.substack.comListen to our sister podcast, Leaving Egypt, where we read the signs of the times and look to local stories of hope in these times of unravelling. Get full access to Together for the Common Good at t4cg.substack.com/subscribe

In this short opening episode, Ben Curran talks with Jenny Sinclair about her vision for the Lincoln Lecture Series, a series of nine lectures held in partnership with Lincoln Cathedral and CCLA.Jenny explains that Together for the Common Good is dedicated to spiritual and civic renewal and that the aim of this series is to show how the Christian tradition can be a blessing on public life and discourse. Jenny talks about the speakers who come from a range of traditions, each drawing on Catholic Social Thought to show how God calls us to engage with the world. Jenny describes briefly the focus of each lecture - from political participation and civic life, to what it means to be human, from economic reform to the dignity of work, from people and planet, to social peace.Jenny Sinclair is founder director of Together for the Common Good, a UK charity dedicated to spiritual and civic renewal. Drawing on Catholic social thought, T4CG helps people across the churches make sense of this time of seismic change and discern their unique vocation for the common good.Ben Curran is Head of Communications with Together for the Common Good.Join our community on Substack: t4cg.substack.comListen to our sister podcast, Leaving Egypt, where we read the signs of the times and look to local stories of hope in these times of unravelling. Get full access to Together for the Common Good at t4cg.substack.com/subscribe