Seen & Unseen Aloud

Day 4 of the Christmas Countdown brings us Belle Tindall with her plans for Christmas binge watching

Christmas Countdown Day 3: continuing yesterday's theme, today we consider how this Christmas, we might be closer than ever to the Nativity story's origins. Terror. Surveillance. Poverty. Genocide. Julie Canlis asks whether perhaps it's time to add a dragon to tame Christmas crib scenes.

Christmas Countdown Day 2's episode of the Christmas Countdown, Yaroslav Walker puts forward his defence of the traditional nativity play and what it brings to us at Christmas

The Christmas Countdown begins! Day 1: Alianore Smith talks Advent Calendars

This week we start with Josh Richards asking why snow still generates awe and wonder in even the most grown up of us; Jamie Mulvaney tells us that crows can hold a grudge for up to 17 years and considers the consequences of human grudges being held; finally James K. A. Smith writes an open letter to Sally Rooney to thank her for opening his heart.

This week's smorgasbord includes Graham Tomlin's claim that Trump's win may be neither total triumph nor total disaster; Jack Chisnall discusses national leadership from Henry VIII in Wolf Hall to present day; Krish Kandiah unpacks the Paddington Paradox and Kevin Hargaden shines a spotlight on the backstage goodness of Small Things like These

This week we mark Remembrance with Simon Cansdale as he suggests that hospitals are home to the truth of war; Belle Tindall helps our psychological state post-US election sharing some political wisdom from Luke Bretherton and Yaroslav Walker reviews the Trump movie and how it comments on the President's recent election success.

This week's episode includes the burning question: is Donald Trump a fascist or a buffoon? asked by George Pitcher; Alex Ross takes us into the world of surveillance that is China and Belle Tindall explores Miranda Hart's diagnosis of the unseen.

In this episode, Ryan Stark points out some of the pitfalls in dating a vampire; Jack Nicholson pays beautiful tribute to W.H. Auden's poetry and its ability to give us words for current world trauma; and Jack Chisnall cracks the puzzle of our love of puzzles in his article about BBC's drama, Ludwig.