Nonsense in the Chaos

Following last week's conversation with Ellen Groves, reporting from the front line of the protests in Paris, this week I'm continuing to explore what resistance, solidarity and people power really mean. Joining me is Corinna Edwards-Colledge, Joint Branch Secretary of Brighton and Hove UNISON, to talk about Undoing Othering. We live in a world that often encourages us to divide ourselves into us and them, to see difference as a threat rather than a source of strength. But what if we challeng...

This week I meet Ellen Groves, Guernsey journalist living in Paris, who has spent the last few weeks trying to protect her children from military force. My flight home to the Channel Islands was delayed until Monday, and somehow it feels utterly ordained. I was meant to be here in Paris today, at the protest, meeting Ellen and hearing her story. What a way to bring this year’s Pilgrimage for Armageddon to a close. After 38 days walking across France, following the lines of Michael and Apollo,...

I can hardly believe we've reached episode 100! That's rather snuck up on me, and I'm feeling incredibly proud to have made it this far. This week's episode of Nonsense in the Chaos takes an unexpected detour into the world of Big Brother, following the appearance of someone I know, Twinks Burnett, on the show. It's prompted me to reflect on just how much society has changed in recent years, the strange relationship we have with fame and visibility, and how grateful I am to be skirting ...

We're in the half-way hump of our pilgrimage, where bodies are aching, kit is falling apart, and the going is getting tough. But just as we're being pushed to our limits, the landscape is changing again, and rural France is opening its doors to us in unexpected ways. From dystopian towns and boiling hot roads to fairyland encounters, generous strangers and moments of perfect Kairos timing, we're discovering that pilgrimage has a rhythm of its own. Sometimes the magic arrives when we least ex...

It’s the Week of Michaelmas, and the pilgrimage has taken a distinctly autumnal turn. Rain, mud, long roads and some properly rough days have tested us — but they’ve also given us plenty of time to consider what it actually means to walk in relationship with Saint Michael. In this episode, we explore our own feelings about religion, the figure of Saint Michael, and the difference between following a religious tradition and forming a personal relationship with an archetype, a saint or a spiri...