In Conversation with Edward Stourton

For more than 50 years the BBC’s flagship ‘Sunday’ programme on Radio 4 has investigated how religion impacts on world affairs. From the fall of Apartheid to 9-11, from the ordination of women to the war in Ukraine, from Ian Paisley to Philip Pullman ‘Sunday’ listeners have had insights to the role faith (or lack of faith) has played in the political, social and cultural movements of our time.

On the evening of October 19th, Edward Stourton who has been the programme’s main presenter since 2010 and Sunday’s former editor Amanda Hancox joined Chine McDonald, Director of the religion and society think tank, Theos for a special salon. In front of a live audience they reflected on the changing face of this Radio 4 stalwart, on how religion is reported in an ever-evolving religious-Britain and their new book “Sunday: A History of Religious Affairs through 50 Years of Conversations and Controversies”.

To listen to an audio recording of the discussion, click here.

Our guests:

Edward Stourton has worked in broadcasting for more than forty years, and has been a foreign correspondent for the BBC, ITN and Channel Four. He was a newscaster on BBC1 for seven years, and one of the main presenters of Radio 4’s Today programme for ten. He regularly presents The World at One, The World this Weekend and Analysis, and has written and presented numerous documentaries for BBC television and radio. He is the author of 12 books and is a regular commentator on religious affairs for a wide range of national and religious newspapers.

Amanda Hancox is an award-winning producer who joined the BBC in the 1980s. She has produced a wide range of factual programmes for Radios 2, 3 and 4, BBC1 and BBC4. In 1999 she became the Executive Producer for the Religious Department at BBC World Service. From 2001 to 2020 she was Series Producer of Factual and Music for the BBC’s Religion and Ethics Radio Department and had editorial responsibility for a wide range of documentaries and programmes such as Good Morning Sunday, Beyond Belief and Sunday.

Chine McDonald is the Director of the think tank Theos and a journalist, and has written for The Guardian, Independent, The Times, the Daily Mirror and the Big Issue. Her second book, God is not a white man: and other revelations was published in 2021 (Hodder & Stoughton)

This event was produced in partnership with the UK’s leading religion and society think tank Theos and SPCK Publishing, a recognised market-leader in the areas of Theology and Christian Spirituality.