Matters of Life and Death

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‘Childfree’ not ‘childless’: The changing culture around choosing not to have children

August 12, 2026

Two quickfire topics for today’s episode. A listener writes in with some concern about a BBC article which explored the growing trend of people celebrating their choice to not have children, known online as being ‘childfree’. Is it a problem if people wish to rid the social stigma or shame about not having kids, in a world in which birthrates continue to plummet? And what does the Christian tradition think about people opting out of parenthood because they want to focus on their career, be ab...

Are smartphones really damaging our children? with Andy Crouch

August 05, 2026

Tim is still away so this week we're bringing you a classic episode from 2024 where we interview the influential writer Andy Crouch on a question which was everywhere that year and is only become more pressing since: are smartphones damaging our children? A growing number of writers and thinkers are arguing that our digital technology, most notably social media and smartphones, are responsible for rocketing rates of mental illness and epidemics of bullying among young people. Andy has written...

What does it mean to be made in the image of God?

July 29, 2026

Tim’s on holiday this week, so here’s an episode from the MOLAD archive we hope you will enjoy. Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.”’ These famous words from the first chapter of Genesis are the touchstone of the theology of the image of God, or Imago Dei. Christians throw this reference out a lot, but we’re often a bit unclear about it really means to say humans are made in the image of God. Is it about certain things we can do that God also does? Is it about...