Other

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

Heart and Soul

Documentaries

Religion & Ethics

Personal approaches to spirituality from around the world.

GettyImages-173232774.jpg

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

Heart and Soul: Marilynne Robinson on Fear

Magazines & Reviews

Factual

Marilynne Robinson On Fear

25/03/2016 GMT

Marilynne Robinson on Fear

BBC World Service - Heart and Soul, Marilynne Robinson on Fear

Author Marilynne Robinson on the role fear plays in faith, politics, democracy, culture

Author Marilynne Robinson, who talks about the role fear may play in faith, politics, democracy and culture.

Marilynne Robinson is a highly acclaimed American novelist and essayist whose most famous fan is President Barack Obama. In 2013 he presented her with the National Humanities Medal and told her: “your writings have fundamentally changed me… I think for the better.” Her four novels – Housekeeping, Gilead, Home and Lila have all won major awards, including the Pulitzer and the Orange Prize. All of them engage deeply with the Bible. Her twin passions are America and Christianity. 

She teaches at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, and preaches the odd sermon in her local church, though she insists she prefers a writing desk to the pulpit. She thinks contemporary America has much to learn from the Puritans and laments the rise of the Religious Right, as well as a politics she says preys on people’s insecurities. In one of her latest essays, Fear, she asserts that while contemporary America is full of fear, fear is not a Christian habit of mind. 

In an intimate interview with Robinson, Jane Little explores faith and literature, politics and religion – and how Robinson’s unapologetically theistic world view engages both believers and non-believers around the world.

(Photo: Author Marilynne Robinson (L) and President Barack Obama (R). Credit: Pete Marovich/Getty Images)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Heart and Soul

Marilynne Robinson on Fear

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

About BBC World Service