I host a podcast called Matters of Life and Death. Each episode I sit down with my dad, the doctor and writer John Wyatt, to discuss the ethics of emerging issues in science, technology, society and the church, and to think about how Christians can respond thoughtfully and faithfully to our fast-changing world. It’s part of the Premier network and you can listen to the most recent episodes below.
The hollowed-out state: Can the church reinspire public service? – Matters of Life and Death
Our conversation today begins with a report into the significant deterioration of healthcare systems across the Western world in the six years since the covid pandemic. Regardless of billions being poured into them, public satisfaction and health outcomes are steadily declining in hospitals around the world in the aftermath of the covid crisis, as a “doom loop” of waiting lists, more sick patients, and burned out staff cycles round. And it’s not just healthcare: large parts of the modern state seems fragile or crumbling under the strain prompted by our series of geopolitical shocks in recent years, from pandemics and trade wars to shooting wars and energy crises. We then reflect on why it might be harder to encourage people into working for their government or local council these days, and if the church has a role to reinspire interest in public service. Or has the church too become trapped in the hyper-individualism and grasping obsession with self-fulfilment which characterises 21st century culture?
Read The Economist article which inspired our conversation here: https://www.economist.com/international/2026/04/09/hospitals-are-stuck-in-a-deadly-doom-loop
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com
- The hollowed-out state: Can the church reinspire public service?
- The Book of Revelation: Make Christianity Weird Again
- ADHD: Should Christians enhance their brains with stimulants?
- What can the church do for children with additional needs?
- Faith under fire: Following Christ in the military, with Maj Gen Tim Cross
I previously had a second show on the Premier network, called Premier Christian Newscast. It was a weekly podcast unpacking and explaining one big story from the Christian world, going behind the immediate headlines to try to understand why things are happening in the church and beyond. You can listen to episodes below.
Sexuality, persecution, abortion and mission: Has Christian journalism got it right? – Premier Christian Newscast
Sadly, today’s episode will be the last episode of the Premier Christian Newscast. To wrap the show up, we looked back over the last two years at what stories and topics have come up the most. What has been making waves in church news? What issues are we unable to move on from? And what might this tell us about what is going to be hitting the headlines in the years to come? Has the Christian media got too distracted by culture war political nonsense, and missed the more important stories right under our nose? How do we faithfully go about trying to decide what to cover and what to ignore?
We’ll be joined by Sam Hailes and Emma Fowle from Premier Christianity magazine to look back at what the Newscast feed tells us about the state of the church, and to consider what stories we expect to be keeping us busy throughout the rest of 2024 and into the future.
T I M _ W Y A T T 