Religion, Rituals, and Rubbish

Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show! This week, we’re digging through the layers of history, ritual, and relics to uncover the surprising ways we make meaning and find home.

First up, we’re joined by Dr. Andrew Irving, Director of the Groningen Centre for Religion and Heritage, who takes us on a journey through the sacred and the forgotten. From medieval manuscripts to the relics we toss aside, he shares how ancient rituals shape our sense of connection and community. Andrew also spent time studying ancient codices in the Vatican Library, where he witnessed firsthand how sacred texts have shaped centuries of ritual.

Then, it’s the return of Sean Clark the Mudlark, who takes us to the banks of the River Thames, where a curious find links modern-day London to medieval Spain. This week’s artefact? A Pilgrim Badge Mount dating back to the 1400s, its scallop shell design bearing the mark of Saint James. But the real twist? Sean sent it back to Santiago for a blessing —over 600 years after it last made the pilgrimage!

Next, Assistant Producer Adam Wright hits the streets to catch up with our Roving Correspondent Ahmad Wonly, whose journey from Burundi to London is a story of resilience and reinvention. Whether he’s on the football pitch or in the lecture hall, Ahmad shows how to stay deeply connected to community, no matter where life takes you.

And finally, Rishi Rian brings us a Poetic Parish Notice titled ‘My Kitchen Mirror’—a haunting meditation on self-image, memory, and the strange ways we see ourselves in the everyday.

Want more behind-the-scenes content, guest links, and a chance to read Rishi’s poem in full? Sign up at thebigsmokevariety.com for our fortnightly Periodical.

Thanks for joining us in The Big Smoke. We’ll see you in a fortnight! 

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Chapters

(00:00) Religion?

(04:54) Intro

(06:00) Andrew Irving Interview

(52:38) Sean Clark the Mudlark's Latest Find

(59:26) Parish Notices

(1:06:27) My Kitchen Mirror by Rishi Rian

(1:15:08) Outro

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Credits

Hosted & Exec Produced by Kevin Bennett

Produced & Edited by Alex Graham

Assistant Produced by Adam Wright

Roving Correspondent Ahmad Wonly

'Religion?' featuring Jolyon Coy

Original music by Giles Terera

Music arranged and played by Joseph Atkins