A Philosopher Finds God in Seoul: Samuel Barnes Interview

A Philosopher Finds God in Seoul: Samuel Barnes Interview

From SENSESPACE by Jacob Kishere

November 12, 2025 · 1h 22m

About this episode

A dialogue with Samuel Barnes exploring his experiences of conversion and critiques of consumer culture.

A dialogue with Samuel Barnes, Author of 'Missing Axions' and 'The Iconoclast: An anti-philosophy'. We explore the experience we both share of leaving our homeland the U.K to distant lands. Samuel presents his assessment of our consumer culture and it's 'god shaped hole' before sharing his surprising experience of conversion in Seoul, Korea.Find Samuel Barnes writing at:https://barnes.substack.com/Books at:https://samuelbarnes.com/ Youtube @smlbarnes 1:13 The call beyond your homeland and philosophy of homelessness10:00 Being an identity mutant and rooting into a place14:40 Going beyond tourist mode23:00 Freedom through responsibility & The God shaped hole’34:00 Resurgence of Christianity in the liminal web and mainstream culture 44:00 The ‘me me’ consumer individual culture and God48:00 Attentional shift of being ‘turned on’ to God53:00 Reconsidering the notion of repentance58:00 Tolkien, Ayahuasca and Experiencing the Eucharist1:00:00 Finding an Anglican Cathedral in Seoul 1:03:00 Sam’s Conversion experience 1:08:00 The perennial dilemma of sensemaking vs wisdom work1:11:45 Entering the Attention Age1:19:00 Our wonderful opportunity

People in this episode

Guest: Samuel Barnes

Topics covered

  • philosophy
  • consumer culture
  • conversion
  • identity
  • Christianity

Keywords

  • Seoul
  • U.K.
  • God shaped hole
  • Christianity resurgence
  • attention age

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Missing Axions, The Iconoclast

Books & works: A Philosopher Finds God in Seoul, Missing Axions, The Iconoclast: An anti-

Places: U.K, Seoul

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