Skip to content

Social capital

EPISODE: 5

Social capital

with Andrew Leigh

Andrew Leigh thinks Australia is disconnected, and he’s written a book about it. In Disconnected, Andrew spends a whole chapter outlining why the decline of religion is making social cohesion worse, and the benefits to society of having more religious believers.

To be clear, Andrew says in his book that he’s an atheist. That made John Dickson want to speak to him more. While Andrew can’t sign on to the churches’ theological views, he can see the good that religion does in society, and he’s done a bucket load of research to prove it.

Links related to this episode:

“I just had a cracking conversation with Australia’s ‘social capital’ expert Dr Andrew Leigh, the Member for Fenner and Shadow Assistant Minister for Charities. We explored the sad decline of community connectedness in Australia, the remarkable effect church attendance has on volunteering and philanthropy in this country (for secular as well as religious causes), the logic of seeing ‘advancing religion’ as a genuine charitable cause, and the importance of street parties for your neighbourhood!” — John Dickson

More on Andrew’s updated research on Australia’s social connections:

Get to know our guest

Andrew-Leigh

Andrew Leigh is the Shadow Assistant Treasurer and Federal Member for Fenner in the ACT. Prior to being elected in 2010, Andrew was a professor of economics at the Australian National University. He holds a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences. His books include Disconnected (2010), Battlers and Billionaires (2013), The Economics of Just About Everything (2014), The Luck of Politics (2015), Choosing Openness: Why Global Engagement is Best for Australia (2017) and Randomistas: How Radical Researchers Changed Our World (2018). Andrew is a keen marathon runner, and hosts a podcast titled “The Good Life: Andrew Leigh in Conversation”, which is available on Apple Podcasts.

UN Logo-RGB-enLarged
Social Capital

UNDECEPTIONS SINGLE SERIES

SUBSCRIBE TO UNDECEPTIONS PODCAST

SEND US  A QUESTION

Oh boy, does John love questions. So don’t be afraid to send them in. At the end of each season we dedicate an episode or two for John to answer all your burning questions about Christianity. Want to know something more about a previous episode? Or perhaps you’ve got a question about faith that you’ve been struggling to find an answer for?
Let us know here.

or send us an email

Back To Top
Become an Undeceiver