The Archbishop of Canterbury in conversation with the musician Nick Cave. The songwriter, poet and author, Nick Cave has a conversation about grief, faith and the spirituality of music with the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. Nick writes hauntingly beautiful songs – the themes of which tackle deep questions about humanity – often drawing from biblical sources. He was born in rural Victoria in Australia in the late '50s – a Cathedral chorister turned chaotic teenager who dropped out of art school to pursue a music career. After his first band The Birthday Party broke up in 1983, he formed Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - and went on to have hits including The Mercy Seat, Where the Wild Roses Grow, and Into my Arms. He and his second wife Susie moved to Brighton in the early 2000s, where they raised their twin sons, Arthur and Earl. In 2015, Arthur died in a tragic accident, at the age of 15, after falling from a cliff. Last year, Nick’s eldest son Jethro also died in Melbourne at the age of 31. Much of Nick’s art in recent years has dealt with grief, suffering and forgiveness. He reflects on this in his remarkable book, ‘Faith, Hope and Carnage’, written during the pandemic with the journalist Sean O’Hagan. And he openly explores love and loss with those who write to him on his online forum called, ‘The Red Hand Files’.

Personal approaches to spirituality from around the world. Heart and Soul is a weekly half-hour programme that has the scope and understanding to explore different experiences of spirituality from around the world. Whether examining religious faith or any other belief-system, the programme talks to believers and non-believers, and tries to get beyond superficial notions of spirituality and religion.