Listen to FFRF attorney Andrew Seidel teach a lesson to White-House bible-thumpers on Fox & Friends. After Annie Laurie and Dan discuss FFRF's statement about the racist tragedy at Charlottesville, Va., we hear the "heathen gospel" song "You Can't Have it Both Ways" by the Tasmanian group Mama K and the Big Love. Then we talk with Athena Salman, one of the nation's few openly "out" atheist legislators, about the secular invocation she delivered before the Arizona House of Representatives. Ph...
Aug 17, 2017•49 min
Hear moving excerpts of speeches at the Conference on Freedom of Conscience and Expression which took place in London in July, including Maryam Namazie, Bonya Ahmed, Zineb El Rhazoui, Mohammed Alkhadra, A.C. Grayling and Richard Dawkins. After enjoying the atheist song "Like Moths To The Flame" by the Tasmanian group Mama K and the Big Love, we talk with Óscar Pineda, vice president of Guatemala Humanists about their exciting new billboard and video campaign raising the awareness of freethinkers...
Aug 10, 2017•49 min
Clarence Darrow statue (paid for by FFRF) is unveiled in Dayton, Tennessee, at the site of the 1925 Scopes Trial. FFRF attorney Sam Grover testifies before a Wisconsin congressional committee opposing a bill to limit abortion training in Wisconsin schools. After hearing Rupert Brooke's irreverent poem "Heaven," set to music by Dan Barker, we talk with Egyptian-American ex-Muslim Noura Embabi, president of Muslimish, which fosters dialogue between current and former Muslims.
Aug 03, 2017•49 min
This week's show was pre-recorded to air while Dan and Annie Laurie are in England for an international conference on blasphemy and freedom of expression. FFRF staff attorney Andrew Seidel joins co-presidents Barker and Gaylor to talk about the perennial question, "How Can We Be Good Without God?" during FFRF's "Ask an Atheist" Facebook Live broadcast, taking questions from the audience.
Jul 27, 2017•49 min
What does the bible say about abortion? Co-presidents Annie Laurie Gaylor, Dan Barker, and FFRF attorney Liz Cavell answer that question during FFRF's new weekly "Ask an Atheist" series on Facebook Live, taking questions from the audience. Then we speak with Ed Gogol, president of Final Choices Illinois, about the 1-year milestones for "End of Life" laws in California and Canada, as well as the rest of the country, and how religious dogma interferes with the freedom of citizens to make compassio...
Jul 20, 2017•49 min
FFRF attorney Rebecca Markert updates us on the appeal by the City of Pensacola of our successful lawsuit over a Christian cross in a city park. FFRF attorney Andrew Seideldiscusses the impact of of the congressional appropriations bill directing the IRS not to enforce the Johnson Amendment that prohibits churches from engaging in political activity. Then we talk with actor John de Lancie (best known for his role as "Q" in the Star Trek series) who played Clarence Darrow in "The Great Tennessee ...
Jul 13, 2017•49 min
Kentucky student activist Lydia Mason, whose essay "Breaking The Chains" won FFRF's David Hudak Memorial Freethinking Students of Color High School Essay Competition, tells us about the challenges of being a minority within a minority in a highly religious state. Then we talk with a former preacher who is now the president of The Clergy Project, Drew Bekius. His new book, which narrates his exodus from the evangelical pulpit, is The Rise and Fall of Faith: A God-to-Godless Story for Christians a...
Jul 06, 2017•49 min
Cardinal George Pell of Australia, highest-ranking Vatican official (whom Dan Barker has debated) is once again accused of sexual misconduct with minors. After dissecting the fallout from the bad Supreme Court Trinity Lutheran decision, we talk with FFRF attorney Ryan Jayne about his efforts to "Educate Congress" lobbying (about vouchers and the Johnson Amendment) with FFRF attorney Patrick Elliott in Washington, DC. Then we talk with Stanford neurobiologist and primatologist Robert Sapolsky abo...
Jun 29, 2017•49 min
FFRF Victory! Staff attorney Madeline Ziegler joins us to talk about our recent victory in federal court removing a 34-foot-tall Christian cross from a city park in Pensacola, Florida, a decision that has upset prominent evangelicals like Franklin Graham, Mike Huckabee, Bill Donohue and Marco Rubio. After hearing Lena Horne's performance of the irreverent Yip Harburg song "Ain't It The Truth," we talk with Pulitzer-Prize winning author Frances Fitzgerald about her new book, The Evangelicals: The...
Jun 22, 2017•49 min
Freethought Radio bonus! This is the audio of the second show of FFRF's new Facebook Live video "Ask An Atheist," which aired June 14 at 12:00 noon Central. Hosts Annie Laurie Gaylor, Dan Barker, and Andrew Seidel address the question often asked by the religious right: "Why doesn't FFRF go after Islam?" Then they take questions from the audience.
Jun 16, 2017•47 min
After honoring "Champions of the First Amendment" Roy Torcaso (1961, Torcaso vs. Watkins ) and Ed and Ellery Schempp (1963 Abington vs. Schempp ), we talk about atheist rock climber Alex Honnold, who this month made history by ascending Yosemite's El Capitan free-style with no rope. We hear Roy Zimmerman's hilarious song "Creation Science 101," and then talk about the 1925 Scopes Trial with historian Andrew Kersten, author of the book Clarence Darrow: American Iconoclast ....
Jun 15, 2017•49 min
Freethought Radio bonus! This is the audio of the debut of FFRF's new Facebook Live video "Ask An Atheist," which aired June 7 at 12:00 noon Central. Hosts Annie Laurie Gaylor, Dan Barker, and Andrew Seidel discuss each of the Ten Commandments and how they relate to morality and law. Then they take questions from the audience.
Jun 09, 2017•43 min
We announce FFRF's new "Ask an Atheist" Facebook Live show. Is the Kentucky Governor right to fight crime with prayer? Should religious hospitals be exempt from pension-plan regulations? FFRF attorney Patrick Elliott tells us about the recent Supreme Court ERISA decision that privileges religious companies and thereby endangers their employees. After hearing the irreverent song "Experiment," by the non-religious songwriter Cole Porter, we talk with professor Steven Nadler, author of the new book...
Jun 08, 2017•49 min
FFRF attorney Andrew Seidel tells us how we know George Washington did not say "So help me, God" at his inauguration. Dan Barker performs the song "Poor Little Me" that he co-wrote with Broadway composer Charles Strouse, whose birthday is this week. Then we talk with internationally acclaimed sculptor and atheist Zenos Frudakis about the bronze statue of Clarence Darrow he is making, which will be unveiled in July at the courthouse in Dayton, Tennessee, where the 1925 Scopes Trial took place....
Jun 01, 2017•49 min
We announce our full-page ad in the New York Times: "Mr. President, we are not a nation of believers." A Virginia sheriff removed a bible verse from police vehicles after hearing from FFRF. Staff attorney Patrick Elliott explains why Trump's budget is a disaster for education, and FFRF's thoughtful Communications Director, Amit Pal, discusses the religiously motivated bombing in Manchester, England. After hearing Mike Tramp's irreverent song "Trust in Yourself," we talk with former nun Maureen H...
May 25, 2017•49 min
We celebrate the birthday of Bertrand Russell by reading his secular Ten Commandments. Attorney Sam Grover, who is indeed messin' with Texas, updates us about FFRF's lawsuit over a judge who forces prayer on his courtroom that prompted the Attorney General to attempt to intervene on behalf of the Christian judge. Then we chat with Indiana freethinker and veteran Chris Bontrager, whose initial request for a personalized 'ATHE1ST' license plate was denied.
May 18, 2017•49 min
FFRF stops bible classes in a Tennessee elementary school. After commenting on President Trump picking Teresa Manning, an avid antiabortionist who said "contraception doesn't work," to lead the nation's largest family-planning program, we talk with Michael Nugent of Atheists of Ireland about blasphemy laws, and hear actor Stephen Fry's comments that caused him to be investigated for blasphemy. Then we speak with Rice professor and prolific author Dr. Anthony Pinn about his new book, When Colorbl...
May 11, 2017•49 min
The first Thursday of May, the National Day of Prayer, is actually the National Day of Reason. Today we announce FFRF's newest lawsuit challenging President Trump's Executive Order (signed on the National Day of Prayer in the Rose Garden) attempting to curtail the Johnson Amendment that limits politicking by churches. After hearing Dan Barker's song "Reason," we talk with a brave West Virginia mom who has joined FFRF's lawsuit challenging bible classes in her daughter's public school.
May 04, 2017•49 min
Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" on HULU is the freethought cultural event this week. We complain about the San Antonio mayor's remark that poverty stems from a broken "relationship with their Creator." After Michael Newdow's hilarious song "My God Is In My Soul," incorporating hate messages on his answering machine, we analyze what is wrong with the upcoming National Day of Prayer. Then we hear the "Spotlight on Freethought" segment that explains why the Constitution protects nonbeliever...
Apr 27, 2017•49 min
President Trump says "we are a nation of believers," creationist Ken Ham calls FFRF "liars," and Bill O'Reilly (who has bashed FFRF) gets dumped from FOX News, oh my! FFRF staff attorney Andrew Seidel describes the escalating "war of words" between Ken Ham and FFRF over the Kentucky Ark Encounter. Then we talk with an authentic American hero, Ishmael Jaffree, FFRF's first "Freethinker of the Year" awardee, who won the 1985 Supreme Court Wallace v. Jaffree case stopping so-called "silent prayer" ...
Apr 20, 2017•49 min
Response to FFRF's national Ron Reagan ad has been great! We talk about born-again Alabama Governor Robert Bentley's scandalous resignation, FFRF's Times Square billboard, incredible contributions "in the name of Pence" to FFRF's legal efforts, and Nonbelief Relief's donation to the Somalia famine. After hearing Shelley Segal's "Apocalyptic Love Song" homage to Hitchens, we listen to part of our 2007 interview of Christopher Hitchens on Freethought Radio, the year his book God Is Not Great was r...
Apr 13, 2017•49 min
New plaintiff Elizabeth Deal is added to FFRF's lawsuit challenging bible classes in West Virginia schools. Denver FFRF chapter president Claudette StPierre tells us about the 12 Colorado billboards that say "The Only Wall We Need is Between Church and State." Jocelyn Williamson of FFRF's "Central Florida Freethought Community" chapter announces a "Freethought Cruise" to the Bahamas. After hearing irreverent songwriter Yip Harburg sing his song "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?," Iowa atheist acti...
Apr 06, 2017•49 min
FFRF attorney Andrew Seidel relates his adventure filming our pro-science ad inside Ken Ham's "Ark Park" in Kentucky and describes how fundamentalist teachings are harmful to the education of children. After celebrating the 200th birthday of freethinking feminist Mathilde Franziska Giesler Anneke by hearing the German freethought anthem "Die Gedanken Sind Frei," we talk with former Tulsa Christian radio host Seth Andrews, now the host of The Thinking Atheist podcast and author of Deconverted: A ...
Mar 30, 2017•49 min
The Ten Commandments at a Pennsylvania high school is finally moved! An Arkansas school district considers dropping prayer after FFRF complains. We celebrate Gloria Steinem's birthday by hearing part of her speech about the "taliban" in politics and Catholic bishops' opposition to women's rights. Staff attorney Sam Grover tells us about FFRF's newest lawsuit challenging a Texas judge who forces his courtroom to engage in Christian prayer. Then we speak with Iranian-born feminist, atheist, and hu...
Mar 23, 2017•49 min
Learn how you can take action to stop religion from invading our secular government: complain about the bible as the state book of Arkansas, "Choose Life" license plates in Nebraska, a Christian cross in a Florida city hall, state bills banning life-saving research, and the federal attack on women's reproductive rights. After we play the peace/spring anthem "One Sweet Morning" by Yip Harburg and Earl Robinson, FFRF staff attorneys Sam Grover and Patrick Elliott, fresh back from lobbying in DC, t...
Mar 16, 2017•51 min
Senator Grassley tells Justin Scott the reason he will protect the rights of nonbelievers is because he believes in Jesus Christ. FFRF legal fellow Ryan Jayne explains our recent victory stopping a live nativity scene at an Indiana high school. After hearing the "obnoxious atheist" singer/songwriter (with Magnetic Field) Stephen Merritt's freethought song "How I Failed Ethics," we talk with former Christian minister Bart Campolo (son of the well-known evangelical preacher Tony Campolo), now a hu...
Mar 09, 2017•49 min
Evangelist Pat Robertson claims President Trump is being attacked by witches (!). Former president George W Bush acknowledges nonbelievers. We analyze Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch's book The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia to discern his views on abortion and death with dignity. After celebrating International Women's Day by hearing the song "Bread and Roses," we talk by phone from Croatia with Lloyd Evans, whose new book is The Reluctant Apostate: Leaving Jehovah's Witnesses Com...
Mar 02, 2017•49 min
This week we celebrate victories in three federal lawsuits (Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and California), and three other state/church victories won without going to court (Wisconsin, Washington, Kentucky). After listening to former preacher Carter Warden's new song, "Freedom From Religion," we talk with two of the victorious litigants: Jerry Bloom, who ended censorship of freethought views in Shelton, Connecticut, and Marie Schaub, the "atheist mother" who finally got the huge Ten Commandments mo...
Feb 23, 2017•49 min
We report state/church victories stopping a Virginia city from sponsoring a trip to the 'Ark Park' and ending a Connecticut city's censorship of FFRF's freethought views. We endorse the Congressional "Freedom of Religion Act of 2017" that recognizes nonbelievers, and we report a new study showing how school vouchers are helping Catholic Churches to remain in business. After hearing Kristin Lems' song "Days of the Theocracy," we talk with author, journalist, slate.com columnist and MSNBC commenta...
Feb 16, 2017•49 min
We counter Trump's promise to "totally destroy" the Johnson Amendment that prohibits churches from politicking. We offer some comic relief by hearing Mississipians complain about FFRF's victory removing a Christian flag from a city memorial. Ricky Gervais defends atheism on The Tonight Show with Stephen Colbert. After hearing the wonderful "CBS This Morning" story about FFRF's lawsuit over bible classes in public schools, we talk with FFRF attorney Patrick Elliott about that case. Then we celebr...
Feb 09, 2017•50 min
