More to Lent than giving up chocolate

Ruth and Liz discuss Liz’s new Lent book and the future of liberalism – and for the first time we have a guest, Theo Hobson

This is our first podcast of 2026 and we start by discussing Sister Liz’s Lent book, Easter in Disguise, published by Bloomsbury.

There will be more on this in our next podcast as well, but basically, Liz believes there is more, lots more, to Lent than giving up chocolate! For the first time also, we have a guest and we hope that this will be a regular feature of The Wise and the Wherefores as we move forwards into our second season. Where did last year go so fast?

So, in this week’s Tablet, our cover is by theologian, writer and Anglican ordinand ⁠Theo Hobson⁠. Headlined “The dark night of liberalism”, Theo unpacks why the word “liberal” has become associated with a demand for absolute personal autonomy and an unregulated economic free-for-all.

Might Christian ideas be what is needed to create a space that brings freedom of conscience together with the common good?

Read Theo’s feature here: https://www.thetablet.co.uk/features/the-dark-night-of-liberalism/

Subscribe to The Tablet https://www.thetablet.co.uk/subscribe/

Buy Easter in Disguise by Sister Liz Dodd CSJP, published by Bloomsbury, from The Tablet Bookshop. Discount available if you cite The Tablet, for the next two months. 020 7799 4064 or email bookshop@chbookshop.co.uk.

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