David Randolph, famous conductor of the St. Cecilia Chorus (a secular, non-profit group), talks about his life and his nontheistic views. At age 92, Randolph has become the oldest person to conduct at Carnegie Hall, where he has performed for many decades, and where he will conduct Mendelssohnn and Orff next month. (MP3, 48 min, 22 MB)
Secular lobbyist Lori Lipman Brown, director of the Secular Coalition of America, is interviewed about current issues and bills before Congress and how seculars can make a difference. Updates on FFRF lawsuits and the faith-based initiative are offered. Philip Appleman's song, "Fleas," a literary parody of Joyce Kilmer's "Trees," is performed by Dan Barker. Dan's Pagan Pulpit issues an "Easter Challenge." The broadcast is hosted by Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-presidents of the Freedom ...
Rita Swan , founder of Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty, grants a powerful interview about losing a baby to Christian Science anti-medicine tenets, and her subsequent activism to repeal religious exemptions in laws governing healthcare for children. Dan Barker's Pagan Pulpit addresses the biblical defamation of atheists as "fools." Song: "Sunday Morning Blues." Freethinkers Almanac looks at eminent freethinkers born in late March. (MP3, 51 min, 23 MB)
Most of this show is devoted to the timely topic of Roman Catholic crimes against children. Special guest is Joe McGee , a Colorado freethinker who will talk about what it has been like, after nearly 50 years, to go public with crimes committed against him as a child by his family's priest. The show also includes a relevant poem, "Exegesis," read by Philip Appleman, music and a Pagan Pulpit, "The Genuine Atheist," by Dan Barker. Freethought Radio is co-hosted by Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylo...
News of the week includes U.S. Rep. Pete Stark's recent announcement that he is nonreligious. Nobel Laureate Paul D. Boyer , a Lifetime Member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, is interviewed, and he talks about the overwhelming disbelief of "elite" scientists. The show also includes a brief, pithy poetry reading by "freethought laureate" Philip Appleman, and a discussion on common myths about atheists. Featured song: "God's Grandeur," words by Philip Appleman , music by Dan Barker. Freet...
Tune in to hear the audio of last Sunday's ABC Evening World News segment featuring FFRF co-presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor. Then "eavesdrop" on comedian Julia Sweeney talking about atheism, "Letting Go of God" and the Freedom From Religion Foundation on a recent Stephanie Miller radio interview. Hear why bestselling atheist author Sam Harris thinks it's time for society to end faith. This week's show also includes a Pagan Pulpit freethought sermon by Dan Barker on the Jesus ossuar...
The first segment of the show involves a candid post-mortem by the co-hosts of what it was like to be taxpayer plaintiffs in a lawsuit heard by the U.S. Supreme Court this week! The pair give the inside scoop, discuss the astronomical growth of FFRF in the past week, and summarize media coverage, including an audio of last week's CBS Evening News coverage of FFRF and Hein v. FFRF. Interviewed is Dr. Bruce Flamm, whose expose of a fraudulent prayer study made international headlines. The show end...
The phenomenon of "faith-based" national parks is the main topic of this week's Freethought Radio. The hosts interview attorney Jeffrey Ruch, whose group, PEER, is leading the protest against the sale of creationist books at the Grand Canyons. Plan to enjoy an insider look at what the Religious Right is saying about the Freedom From Religion Foundation and its upcoming appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the faith-based initiatives. Freethought Radio also contrasts Mormon candidat...
Freethought Radio moves to an afternoon slot, 1-2 p.m. every Saturday. Tune in to hear attorney Pamela Sumners, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice in Missouri, talk about threats to the judiciary, and her experiences litigating state/church violations in Alabama. The show also includes a "Theocracy Alert," a "Freethinkers Almanac," and a timely encore of Philip Appleman's new song, "Intelligent? Design?" The weekly radio broadcast is cohosted by Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, who jointl...
Freethought Radio moves to an afternoon slot, 1-2 p.m. every Saturday. The show's guest is a 16-year-old state/church student activist, Matthew LaClair. Matthew has made the national news for protesting his history teacher's proselytizing remarks in an ongoing violation in his public school in Kearny, N.J. Matthew will be named "Thomas Jefferson Freethought Student Activist" at the 2007 FFRF convention in Madison next fall, and will receive a $1,000 scholarship for his activism, which has cost h...
Featured guest is bestselling science author, Stanford scientist and atheist Robert Sapolsky, with a lively discussion of primates, atheism, evolution and naturalistic explanations for the origin of religions. The show includes an update on the Foundation's faith-based challenge, going before the Supreme Court later this month, a song in homage to stem-cell research, and a look at fascinating freethought writers born in early February. The show is cohosted by Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, ...
Freethought Radio's featured guest is Feminist Majority president and 3-decade feminist activist Eleanor Smeal, previously named a "Freethought Heroine" by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Ellie discusses religion's role in fighting the ERA, abortion rights and global human rights for women. The show features a brief "Theocracy Alert," and will honor Thomas Paine, whose birthdate is January 29. Song: "The World is My Country." The weekly show, which airs locally in Madison, Wis. (see link a...
Freethought Radio's featured guest is Matthew Rothschild, atheist and editor of The Progressive Magazine. The show includes an update on upcoming oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in FFRF's faith-based lawsuit, and a look at who's who this week in freethought. Co-hosts are Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor. (MP3, 51 min, 23.1 MB)
Freethought Radio's featured guest is The Nation's sparkling columnist, Katha Pollitt, whose latest book is Virginity or Death! The show also includes a legal update and a look at many fascinating freethinkers born in January. The show is cohosted by Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor. (MP3, 57 min, 26 MB)
Freethought Radio's featured guest is Norm Allen, executive director of African Americans for Humanism, and editor of the anthology, African-American Humanism. The featured song: a delicious version of "It Ain't Necessarily So" sung by Sammie Davis Jr. Freethinker's Almanac looks at January-born freethinkers Zora Neale Hurston and Butterfly McQueen. Co-hosts are Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-presidents of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. (MP3, 48 min, 22.2 MB)
Evolutionary psychologist and bestselling author Steven Pinker ("The Blank Slate") will talk about his atheism, hypothesize about why religion exists and discuss his books. The show includes a look at the unorthodox Robert Burns, author of "Auld Lang Syne." Theocracy Alert looks at the practice of swearing in politicians on the bible. Freethought Radio is a production of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and is co-hosted by Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor. (MP3, 49 min, 22.5 MB)
Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Natalie Angier of the New York Times, a self-professed "lonely atheist" and bestselling author, will be the guest on Freethought Radio. Also debuting on the show will be a new song by poet Philip Appleman, "Intelligent? Design?" arranged and performed by Dan Barker. The show takes a brief look at distinguished freethinkers born at the end of December. Freethought Radio is a production of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and is co-hosted by Dan Barker an...
The theme of Saturday's Freethought Radio is the Winter Solstice, and it will feature an interview with Tom Flynn, author of "The Trouble with Christmas," and the song, "Solstice Tribute," by Dan Barker. As Freethought Radio's solstice treat for listeners, the show will broadcast an excerpt from Julia Sweeney's "Letting Go of God" one-woman play, in which the comedian reads the bible and discovers it isn't everything it's cracked up to be. Freethinkers Almanac features songwriter Jay Gorney ("Br...
Features an interview with Steve Benson, Pulitzer-prize winning editorial cartoonist for the Arizona Republic, and Mormon-turned-atheist. It is co-hosted by Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, who are co-presidents of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The hosts will also discuss the Foundation's annual Winter Solstice sign at the Wisconsin State Capitol, and report on the Foundation's lawsuit challenging the creation of the faith-based office at the White House, to be argued before the U.S. ...
Features an interview with Prof. Daniel C. Dennett, eminent Tufts University philosopher and author of the new book explaining the natural phenomenon of religion, Breaking the Spell. The show will also excerpt a short highlight of Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg's recent talk urging other scientists at the Salk Institute to help him wake up the world to the nightmare of religion. Freethinkers Almanac will pay homage to Mark Twain. (MP3, 51 min, 23.1 MB)
Features an interview with Ron Reagan, who will talk about what it is like to be the atheist son of Ronald Wilson Reagan, and about why he is working for stemcell research. The show will also give a nod to the recent atheist pronouncements of entertainer Elton John. (MP3, 50 min, 23 MB)
Features an interview with Tom Reed, formerly a Roman Catholic priest, now a longtime Freedom From Religion Foundation member and atheist. In his honor, the featured song will be Dan Barker's version of Tom Lehrer's "Vatican Rag." The November birthday anniversaries of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Robert Louis Stevenson will be celebrated in Freethinkers Almanac. (MP3, 47 min, 21 MB)
Features a memorable interview with distinguished TV journalist and author, Betty Rollin. The award-winning former NBC correspondent is now a reporter for PBS' Religion and Ethics Newsweekly. Author of "First You Cry" and "Final Wishes," Ms. Rollin talks movingly about the need for physician-assisted suicide and the Oregon law. Phil Och's song "When I'm Gone" is performed by folksinger Kristin Lems, and famous freethinkers born this week are discussed along with a little referendum news. (MP3, 5...
Features an interview with Mike McCabe, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, who has filed a complaint to the State Election Board about electioneering by Bishop Morlino, Madison (Wis.) diocese, among other church electioneering concerns about upcoming referenda. Discussed will be the Freedom From Religion Foundation's major victory last week ending a proposal to start "single faith" prison programs in federal penitentiaries. The show will also feature reaction to Chuck Colson's recent defamation of gr...
Features an interview with author and science popularizer Ann Druyan, who was married to Carl Sagan, and co-wrote and co-produced the movie, "Contact," based on Carl Sagan's novel. Ms. Druyan has written the foreward to a new book by Sagan appearing in November, The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God, based on the newly-discovered transcripts of his Gifford Lecture Series. The show will also include a little news, a little music (Lena Horne singing the irre...
Features two guests: FFRF Life Member Jean Gams, an 87-year-old atheist, who will discuss how she and the Foundation averted a proposed state/church violation in Oshkosh, Wis. this fall; and Arthur Thexton, with the Wisconsin Coalition for the Death Penalty, for a quick look at secular reasons against the death penalty. Also featured: snippets from the Colbert Report's interview with Richard Dawkins and The O'Reilly Factor's interview with George W. Bush, Theocracy Alert, freethought music, a di...
Features an interview with Jan Nikolay, spokeswoman and co-chair of the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families. Ms. Nikolay was in the South Dakota Legislature for many years and is a Republican who is part of the nonpartisan group. The Campaign is spearheading the referendum on Nov. 7 to overturn the draconian ban on abortion passed by the South Dakota legislature this spring at the behest of the religious right. The show will also feature secular news, Theocracy Alert, a pop disbelief quiz...
Features an interview with attorney Jim McCollum, whose experiences as a 4th grader in his Champaign, Illinois, public classroom with illegal religious instruction caused his mother, Vashti Cromwell McCollum, to challenge the violation in court. The result? The landmark 1948 decision, McCollum v. Board of Education, which is prevailing precedent against religion in public schools. The show includes rare audio clips of Vashti McCollum talking about the case. Vashti died in August at age 93. The s...
Features an interview with Michelle Goldberg, the lively contributing writer of Salon.com, whose new book, Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism, covers the threat of the ascendancy of the religious right. The show also includes an audio excerpt from Dawkins' British TV documentary on religion, "The Root of All Evil?" (MP3, 52 min, 23.5 MB)
Features an interview with distinguished British atheist and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, author of the just-released book, The God Delusion. Dawkins will talk about his theory of religion as a virus-like cultural "meme," why he wrote "The God Delusion" and current events. The show includes a brief audio excerpt from Dawkins' British TV documentary on religion, "The Root of All Evil?" (MP3, 48 min, 22 MB)
