Diarmaid MacCulloch on Christianity, Sex, and Unsettling Settled Facts

About this episode

Tyler interviews historian Diarmaid MacCulloch about his work on Christianity, sex, and the challenges of established historical narratives.

Tyler considers Diarmaid MacCulloch one of those rare historians whose entire body of work rewards reading. This work includes his award-winning Cranmer biography, his sweeping histories of Christianity and the Reformation, and his latest on sex and the church, which demonstrates what MacCulloch calls the historian's true vocation: unsettling settled facts to keep humanity sane. Tyler and Diarmaid explore whether monotheism correlates with monogamy, Christianity's early instinct towards egalitarianism, what the Eucharistic revolution reveals about the cathedral building boom, the role of Mary in Christianity and Islam, where Michel Foucault went wrong on sexuality, the significance of the clerical family replacing the celibate monk, why Elizabeth I—not Henry VIII—mattered most for the English Reformation, why English Renaissance music began so brilliantly but then needed to start importing Germans, whether Christianity needs hell to survive, what MacCulloch plans to do next, and more. Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full vi deo on the new dedicated Conversations with Tyler channel. Recorded October 29th, 2025 . This episode was made possible…

People in this episode

Host: Tyler

Guest: Diarmaid MacCulloch

Topics covered

• Christianity
• history
• monotheism
• monogamy
• sexuality
• Reformation
• egalitarianism

Keywords

• Christianity
• Diarmaid MacCulloch
• Reformation
• monogamy
• sexuality
• history
• Eucharistic revolution
• Elizabeth I
• Michel Foucault

Sponsors

John Templeton Foundation

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Cranmer biography, Christianity, the Reformation, Eucharistic revolution

More episodes of Conversations with Tyler

• Craig Newmark on Institutional Maintenance, Giving Away Control, and the Internet We Were Promised (Live at 92NY) · April 29, 2026 · 47 min
• Kim Bowes on the Economic Lives of Rome's Ninety Percent · April 15, 2026 · 1h 1m
• Arthur Brooks on Reinvention, Religion, and the Science of Happiness · April 1, 2026 · 60 min
• Paul Gillingham on Why Mexico Stays Together · March 25, 2026 · 1h 5m
• Harvey Mansfield on Machiavelli, Straussianism, and the Character of Liberal Democracy · March 18, 2026 · 49 min
• Henry Oliver on Measure for Measure, Late Bloomers, and the Smartest Writers in English · March 4, 2026 · 59 min