"Woke" has become one of the most contested words in contemporary culture, deployed as a badge of honour by some, a term of abuse by others. But what does it actually mean, and does it constitute a serious ideological movement or merely a passing fashion?

In today's episode, Nick talks to writer, comedian and broadcaster Andrew Doyle, best known as the creator of satirical persona Titania McGrath, whose latest book The End of Woke examines the origins, methods and possible decline of the movement. They discuss how woke ideology captured institutions, weaponised language, and confused equity with equality - and why the real threat, left or right, is always authoritarianism in disguise.

You can buy a copy of his book here: https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/andrew-doyle/the-end-of-woke/9781408723968/

Unpalatable truth as it may be, there are some, especially today, who draw on the Bible to exclude and vilify others, as a way of protecting and the "pure" Christian culture of Europe or the West.

It's not an altogether new phenomenon - people have deployed the Bible for militaristic ends since the Crusades - but it appears to be growing once again, as the Europe comes under "attack" from immigrants and Islam.

How does this happen? What Bibles do the Far Right use? What texts do they quote? What principles underlie that usage? And what can be done about it?

In today's episode, Nick talks to theologian Hannah Strømmen, whose latest book The Bibles of the Far Right, examines just these questions.

You can buy a copy of her book here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-bibles-of-the-far-right-9780197789896?cc=gb&lang=en&

Buddhism is often seen in the West as a religion of peace and serenity - rarely, if ever, associated with violence. But that comforting image has obscured a darker and more complex reality playing out across Southeast Asia.

Journalist and author Sonia Faleiro joins Nick Spencer to explore her latest book The Robe and the Sword, which examines how Buddhist nationalism has fuelled ethnic tension, discrimination, and outright genocide in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Thailand. From the militant monks who emerged out of Sri Lanka's brutal civil war, to the Facebook-driven hatred that preceded the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar, the patterns Faleiro uncovers are uncomfortably familiar to anyone watching the rise of religious nationalism elsewhere in the world.

You can buy Sonia's book, The Robe and the Sword: How Buddhism is Shaping Modern Asia, here: https://globalreports.columbia.edu/books/the-robe-and-the-sword