Comedian and Saturday Night Live alum Julia Sweeney returns to Freethought Radio for a new interview about her "beautiful loss of faith story," and her monolog, "Letting Go of God," soon to be released as a film!
Dan and Annie Laurie play sound bites from GOP candidates genuflecting before the Religious Right. They also discuss the monopolization of words like "morality" and "values" by the Christian right with nonbeliever Eric Zorn, columnist for the Chicago Tribune.
Irreverent Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Steve Benson of the Arizona Republic, who is the grandson of Ezra Taft Benson, the late president of the Mormon church, talks about why he left that church in a highly-publicized break and is now an atheist. Also, attorney Robert R. Teirnan talks about FFRF's newest federal lawsuit, challenging the promotion of churchgoing by a school district in Colorado. Photo by Brent Nicastro.
In honor of "Nobel Week," Freethought Radio talks with Paul D. Boyer, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 1997, about why he is an atheist, as well as discussing statistics revealing that the overwhelming number of elite scientists are nonbelievers. Prof. Boyer also talks about his support of death with dignity in the face of church opposition to physician-assisted suicide. Photo by Brent Nicastro. (MP3, 38 min, 34.7 MB)
An interview with Ron Reagan about his atheism. Reagan, a radio host and TV commentator, is the son of Ronald and Nancy Reagan. Also featuring 17 year old Emma Martens, a high school senior who is leading a walkout of students in Boulder, Colo., to protest "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. And a discussion about the Freethought Renaissance--how unbelief and atheism are increasing in the United States and its popular culture. (MP3, 37 min, 33.8 MB)
Freethought Radio's featured guest is Christopher Hitchens, author of the bestselling "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything." Freethought Radio is the first nationally-broadcast radio show from the secular point of view! Freethought Radio broadcasts weekly. The show offers programming for nonreligious listeners, as well as countering the religious-right domination of our public airwaves. Freethought Radio features a regular "Theocracy Alert," Dan's "Pagan Pulpit," "Freethinkers Alma...
Debra Sweet, whose statement to Pres. Nixon as a 19-year-old made international headlines, talks about her continuing activism with the groups Refuse & Resist, and World Can't Wait, both of which are concerned with attacks on the separation between church and state. The show also marks the birthdate of celebrated composer George Gershwin, and airs a current "Theocracy Alert." (MP3, 50 min, 45.7 MB)
Two timely guests: Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers talks about his slightly tongue-in-cheek lawsuit, Chambers v. God, commanding headlines this week! And schoolteacher Alan Ginsberg, who teaches third grade in Madison, Wis., talks about the complaint he and the Freedom From Religion Foundation have launched over the distribution of "Jesus Flyers" in Madison public schools. (MP3, 44 min, 40.8 MB)
Jim Haught, author of Holy Hatred, Holy Horror, Honest Doubt: Essays on Atheist and editor in chief of the Charleston Gazette, W.Va., is the guest. There is an important announcement about Freethought Radio going national, and a clip of comedian Kathy Griffin, whose irreverent remarks were censored at some of the Emmy awards. The show also features Irving Berlin's revue song from the 1920s, "Pack Up Your Bags and Go to the Devil in Hades." (MP3, 55 min, 50.3 MB)
Freethought Radio interviews Mikey Weinstein, the retired Air Force attorney who has formed the Military Religious Freedom Foundation to fight high-ranking evangelism in the military. The show covers recent exposes his group has uncovered, including the filming of a video for the Christian Embassy at the Pentagon, "soul saving" by a ministry group in a Pentagon commons, and halting a Pentagon plan to help distribute the "Left Behind" videogame to all soldiers in Iraq. The show also marsk the bir...
Freethought Radio features veteran investigative reporter Michael Reynolds, author of "Abstinence Gluttons," The Nation Magazine, June 2007. The show also features some timely news updates and commentary. (MP3, 49 min, 22.4 MB)
Freethought Radio features southern secular activist Ed Buckner, Ph.D., talking about how to combat the myth that America is a Christian nation. Ed has a chapter in the new book, "Everything You Knew About God Is Wrong." The show also features some timely news updates and commentary. (MP3, 51 min, 23.5 MB)
Dan and Annie Laurie Gaylor interview Bill Lobdell, whose page-one article for the Los Angeles Times in July announced he is retiring from the Los Angeles Times religion page because his beat turned him into an atheist. The show also covers developments exposing the Christianization of the U.S. military, and advance word on a major legal victory for the Freedom From Religion Foundation. (MP3, 53 min, 24.1 MB)
Freethought Radio features an interview with Prof. Brad J. Bushman, of the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, about his studies linking religious belief and scriptural reading with violence. The show reports on the related attack this week upon atheist author Taslima Nasrin by Muslim lawmakers in Hyperabad, India. The show, airing on the birthdate of Robert G. Ingersoll, takes a look at this 19th century freethinker's illustrious life. A new song, "Adrift on a Star," words by...
Guest is August Brunsman, whose Secular Student Alliance works with 80 campus affiliates and provides support and ideas to freethinking students around the country. The show debuts a new song by lyricist and atheist Yip Harburg ("Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "It's Only a Paper Moon"), music by Dan Barker, who set to music a number of Yip's clever rhymes from "Rhymes for the Irreverent" (FFRF, 2006). Ongoing censorship and discrimination against freethinkers are discussed. Dan's Pagan Pulpit chal...
Emily Lyons, the Birmingham, Ala., nurse who was nearly murdered by "Army of God" antiabortion terrorist/bomber Eric Rudolph, talks about her experience, religious terrorism and ongoing assaults against abortion rights in Alabama and around the nation in a memorable interview. The program also analyzes candidate responses on state/church issues popping up on Monday's CNN-YouTube debate. A cameo appearance by Madison's "Raging Grannies" addresses the topical question of "The Rapture." Don't miss ...
Brian Flemming, director of "The God Who Wasn't There" documentary (2005) is interviewed. The broadcast also airs clips of Christian fanatics disrupting the first-ever Hindu prayer to open the U.S. Senate last week, discusses the unconstitutional chaplaincies in Congress, and covers the largest-ever settlement to victims of priestly sexual abuse, by the Los Angeles Archdiocese, among other news updates. The weekly show is hosted by Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-presidents of the Freedom...
Freethought Radio features an interview all the way from Iceland, with Hope Knutsson, president of the Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association, about the remarkable lack of fundamentalists in Iceland! News includes an update on the cover-up of priestly crimes against children by the Roman Catholic Church, including a brief excerpt of a moving documentary on church culpability by the BBC. Phonecalls from "loving" Christians to the Foundation are also broadcast. The weekly show is hosted by Dan Bar...
Everybody's favorite Eagle Scout, Darrell Lambert, talks about what it was like to be kicked out of Boy Scouts of America for being an atheist. The show includes more coverage of the fallout from the Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation Supreme Court ruling, a quick response to Bush's stem-cell veto and a look at how Mitt Romney prays and why on earth that is part of his campaign PR! The secular underpinnings of the Declaration of Independence, which just had a birthday, is also discussed. T...
Midwest topical folksinger, feminist and freethinker Kristin Lems ("Days of the Theocracy") is the featured guest. The show includes a post-mortem of the Supreme Court's ruling in Hein v. the Freedom From Religion Foundation . Tune in to hear what other media, including the Jon Stewart Show, are saying. In homage to July 4, the secular underpinnings of the Declaratin of Independence is briefly discussed. The weekly show is hosted by Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-presidents of the Freedo...
Barbara G. Walker, author of "The Skeptical Feminist" and the landmark "Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets", talks about what turned her into a skeptic and nonbeliever. The show includes updates on the Foundation's newest faith-based challenges, including a federal lawsuit filed this week, and a "Pagan Pulpit" freethought sermon on the trinity by Dan Barker, a former minister. The show is hosted by Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-presidents of the Freeom From Religion Foundation, w...
Veteran freethought activist Catherine Fahringer, a pithy interview, talks about being an atheist activist in Texas, her rejection of the "Big Spook in the Sky," and some recent Texas state/church violations. Tune in to hear how Charles Colson is defaming atheists these days with an except of his speech before the Southern Baptist Convention, as well as a segment from the Jon Stewart Show about Bush's meeting with the Pope that will make you smile. The show will be the broadcast debut of Dan Bar...
Guest Michelle Goldberg, lively Salon.com journalist and author of Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism, returns for an encoure interview to talk about the new creation museum and the status of the religious right assault against secularism in America today. The show includes a clip of Bill O'Reilly attacking "secular progressives," and an indepth analysis of the CNN-TV presidential "forum on faith and values" (June 4), and the broader implications of a de facto religious test for p...
Guest Hector Avalos, who went from Mexican child evangelist to an atheist and leading bible scholar, talks about his book, Fighting Words: The Origins of Religious Violence, as well as his academic activism at Iowa State University to counter creationism and a sports chaplaincy. For fun, a clip of Bill Maher as "meteroevangelist" plays. A dividend: an excerpt of Kingdom Coming author Michelle Goldberg's excellent speech to the 2007 FFRF convention, "The Rise of Christian Nationalism." The timely...
Special guest: atheist Janeane Garofalo, actress, comedian and former host of Majority Report in Air America. Also covered are some current state/church issues, Bill Maher's obit for Jerry Falwell, and an "Ask an Atheist" segment, as well as a little irreverent music. Hosts of the lively weekly program are Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-presidents of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. (MP3, 50 min, 23.1 MB)
Guest Dale McGowan speaks on secular parenting. The show also includes lively clips of Christopher Hitchens interviews and debates, a retrospective on the fundamentalist career of the late Jerry Falwell, the broadcast debut of Dan Barker's jazz ballad, "It's Only Natural" (dedicated to Richard Dawkins and sung by jazz singer Susan Hofer), and a celebration of the life of Lorraine Hansberry, including a dramatic clip from the movie version of her freethinking play, "A Raisin in the Sun." The week...
Guest Sonia Johnson talks about how her activism for the Equal Rights Amendment got her excommunicated from the Mormon Church and turned her into a nonbeliever and a feminist activist. The lively show also features news clips by Marie Tillman and Bill Maher, as well as Katharine Hepburn (born on May 12) speaking in her own words about her disbelief. The weekly show is hosted by Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-presidents of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. (MP3, 53 min, 24.7 MB)...
Guest Ellory Schempp discusses how his complaints as a 16-year-old about devotional bible reading and prayer in his Pennsylvania public school turned into the landmark 1963 Supreme Court decision, Schempp v. Abington , ending such practices in the United States. The interview includes audio clips of his father, the late Ed Schempp, reminiscing about the lawsuit. The show includes a look at what's wrong with "The National Day of Prayer," music and Dan Barker's "Pagan Pulpit" on why nothing fails ...
Freethought Radio's guest is Rob Boston of Americans United, discussing current state/church conflicts and myths, litigation and his books. "Eavesdrop" on what the Religious Right is saying about atheists and FFRF! Freethinkers Almanac pays homage to influential freethinkers, including Ulysses S. Grant and Mary Wollstonecraft. Freethought Radio is co-hosted by Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor. (MP3, 47 min, 21.4 MB)
Tune in to hear Pulitizer Prize-winning journalist and author Edward Humes discuss his new book, "Monkey Girl," on Freethought Radio. The book chronicles the saga of the creationist trial in Dover, Penn., resulting in the recent landmark federal decision against "intelligent design" instruction in public schools. The show also includes discussion of timely state/church topics, including this week's antiabortion decision by the Catholic-dominated Supreme Court, and the efficacy of prayer in the f...
