What happened in Poland could happen here. Christian Nationalists are proposing and passing laws to outlaw abortion in many states. We listen to part of Georgia State Senator Jen Jordan's impassioned remarks in opposition to the fetal-heartbeat bill, and Governor Kemp's anti-choice remarks when he signed the bill into law. After hearing the 1941 song "One Life To Live," written by freethinking songwriters Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin, we talk with constitutional attorney Andrew Seidel, who is FFR...
May 09, 2019•49 min
We analyze Trump's Christian nationalist remarks during the unconstitutional National Day of Prayer kickoff. After applauding Kansas for protecting women's right to abortion, we hear Pete Seeger's irreverent take on the song "Gimme That Old Time Religion." Then we talk with UK journalist Nandini Archer, who worked on Open Democracy's recent eye-opening report: "Revealed: Trump-linked US Christian 'fundamentalists' pour millions of 'dark money' into Europe, boosting the far right."
May 02, 2019•49 min
We unveil an appealing new digital media campaign featuring three remarkable winners of FFRF's 2018 student of color freethought essay competition. Then we talk about FFRF's actions related to Ark Park school field trips, more Ten Commandments displays in schools and the true health hazard of measles spread by religious misinformation. Absentee co-host Dan Barker makes a statement about Barker v. Conroy , which permits the U.S. House to continue to exclude secular invocations by atheists. FFRF C...
Apr 25, 2019•48 min
Happy birthday and Happy Earthday to Mother Earth! The show discusses how FFRF got a cross relocated from public to private land, and warns about antiabortion legislative inroads threatening Roe v. Wade. Annie Laurie talks to FFRF in-house counsel Andrew Seidel, director of strategic response, about a bizarre twist in one of FFRF's concluded major court victories. Then, for a change of pace, she briefly interviews co-host Dan Barker, who's on the road, about the 23 talks or debates he's done for...
Apr 18, 2019•48 min
We recap the diverse international conference, "Days of Atheism" held in Poland in March, including the commemoration of the 330th anniversary of the execution of Polish writer Kazimierz Lyszczynski for atheism. In honor of Daniel C. Dennett, who visited FFRF's office last week, we play Irving Berlin's rousing 1922 song, "Pack of Your Sins and Go to the Devil." Then we talk with author, professor and clinical psychiatrist Hector A. Garcia about his new book Sex, Power, and Partisanship: How Evol...
Apr 11, 2019•48 min
In this week's show, guest-hosted by FFRF Communications Director Amit Pal, we first touch on a number of events in the news, ranging from the international to the national to recent Wisconsin election results. We then talk with FFRF Staff Attorney Sam Grover about how the term "religious freedom" is being currently used and misused. We conclude with an interview with documentarian Mary Dore, the director of a film on the early women's rights movement, She's Beautiful When She's Angry , on how a...
Apr 04, 2019•48 min
We celebrate the March 29 birthdate of Monty Python's Eric Idle by playing two of his irreverent songs. In the news segment, we talk about the upcoming international atheist gathering in Warsaw, Poland, FFRF's new scholarship competition for law students and the threat of legislation intended to ban abortion in the United States. Then Dan Barker interviews Red Tani, founder of Filipino Freethinkers, who talks about the challenges of promoting science, reason and women's rights in a country so he...
Mar 28, 2019•49 min
FFRF constitutional attorney Ryan Jayne tells us about his testimony in Missouri opposing a bill that would disallow plaintiffs from filing anonymously in state/church lawsuits. Tax professor Adam Chodorow explains what is wrong with the recent Seventh Circuit decision overturning FFRF's victory in the "housing allowance" lawsuit challenging special tax privileges for clergy. Then we speak with author, journalist and activist Robin Marty about her new book Handbook for a Post-Roe America....
Mar 21, 2019•48 min
Oral arguments are this week in the case FFRF, Americans United, and the ACLU are defending before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals over a Florida county that bars atheists from invocations. Hear our reaction to President Trump signing bibles for Alabama tornado victims, and listen to Annie Laurie's complaint over discrimination against menstruating women worldwide. After hearing the Yip Harburg song "One Sweet Morning," we talk on the phone from Ghana with Roslyn Mould, the Coordinator of the ...
Mar 14, 2019•49 min
FFRF's director of strategic response, Andrew L. Seidel, joins host Annie Laurie Gaylor for a lively dissection of the oral arguments last week in the Supreme Court's Bladensburg cross case, including clip excerpts of the arguments and Andrew's eye-witness impressions. Then they interview David Steketee about his exciting win Monday in FFRF's successful challenge of billions of tax dollars for church repairs, in clear violation of the N.J. state constitution. This week the Supreme Court refused ...
Mar 07, 2019•50 min
We review major news of the week: The pope blaming Satan instead of the church for child abusers within its ranks; oral arguments in the Bladensburg cross case before the Supreme Court; the 4th anniversary of the murder of atheist author Avijit Roy by Islamist terrorists, and the Trump Administration's new assault against Planned Parenthood. Cheryl Kolbe, director of FFRF's Portland chapter, joins us to talk about how she just persuaded Portland's city council to give nonbelievers protected stat...
Feb 28, 2019•49 min
We celebrate Black History Month by hearing Nina Simone sing "I Ain't Got no God" in the song "Ain't Got No," and by talking with Mandisa Thomas, founder and president of Black Nonbelievers, who tells us about the upcoming "Women of Color Beyond Belief" conference in Chicago. Then we speak with Polish atheist, feminist and activist Nina Sankari, vice-president of the Kazimierz Łyszczyński Foundation, about the "Days of Atheism" conference next month in Warsaw.
Feb 21, 2019•48 min
We give a Bronx cheer to Trump's religious remarks at the State of the Union and the National Prayer Breakfast, but we give a real cheer to Black History Month by celebrating Butterfly McQueen and Frederick Douglass. After hearing a Valentine's Day love song, "The Man I Love" (written by the nonbelieving Gershwin brothers, and sung by Dan's mother when she was a teenager), we talk with author and filmmaker Jeremiah Camara about his new documentary movie, Holy Hierarchy: The Religious Roots of Ra...
Feb 13, 2019•49 min
Good news: Michigan's newly-elected Attorney General Dana Nessel removed the state from three amicus briefs opposing FFRF lawsuits. After we analyze the National Prayer Breakfast and the Christian-nationalist "Project Blitz" strategy to inject religion into state governments, we hear Susan Hofer sing Dan Barker's love ballad "It's Only Natural" in honor of Darwin's birthday on February 12. Then we talk with professor Andrew S. Curran, author of the new book Diderot and the Art of Thinking Freely...
Feb 07, 2019•48 min
Our 666th (!) episode is a hell of a show. We announce billboards asking people to "Leave the Church" during Catholic Education week, and describe our legal brief encouraging the Supreme Court to prohibit a huge Christian cross on city property. After hearing the 1922 Irving Berlin song "Pack Up Your Sins and Go To The Devil in Hades," we talk with Lucien Greaves, co-founder and spokesperson for the secular state/church activist group, The Satanic Temple.
Jan 31, 2019•48 min
FFRF's Director of Strategic Response, Constitutional attorney Andrew Seidel tells us about our recent final victory in our 5-year federal lawsuit challenging prayer and preaching at the Chino Hills, California, school board. After hearing the song "Reincarnation," words by cowboy poet Wallace D. McRae and music by Dan Barker, we talk with FFRF's Director of Communications Amitabh Pal about the rise of Hindu nationalism in India, with alarming parallels to the push for Christian nationalism in t...
Jan 24, 2019•48 min
FFRF and other secular groups are protesting the Attorney General nomination of William Barr, a religious extremist who disrespects secularists and state/church separation. During this anniversary week of Roe v Wade (January 22, 1973), we celebrate the life of Margaret Sanger by hearing Dan Barker's song "No Gods, No Masters." Then we talk with University of Chicago Law Professor Geoffrey Stone about his book Sex and the Constitution: Sex, Religion, and Law from America's Origins to the Twenty-F...
Jan 17, 2019•48 min
We recap FFRF's impressive legal statistics for 2018 (1,060 formal complaint letters to erring government officials ending 315 state/church violations!). FFRF's Robert G. Ingersoll Legal Fellow Colin McNamara briefly joins us to recap the ruckus his complaint over religious displays is creating in Camden, Mo. The rest of the program is devoted to a never-before-broadcast interview of the fascinating, freethinking, feminist and feisty Cecile Richards, formerly head of Planned Parenthood, before a...
Jan 10, 2019•48 min
FFRF's lead attorney Rebecca Markert tells us about our recent victory by the Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals, who refused to rehear their decision declaring unconstitutional the practice of the Chino Hills (California) School Board opening sessions with prayer. After hearing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declare that Christians should fight marriage equality "until the Rapture," we listen to folksinger Malvina Reynolds perform "This World." Then we speak with Nigerian activist and schol...
Jan 03, 2019•48 min
Princeton professor Imani Perry tells us about her new biography, Looking For Lorraine: The Radiant Life of Lorraine Hansberry , about the artist/activist/freethinking author of the play and movie Raisin In The Sun, who was the first Black woman to have a play on Broadway. We celebrate the New Year on a relaxing but irreverent note by hearing some songs written by Eric Idle of Monty Python, and a beautiful rendition of "Auld Lang Syne" performed by Scottish balladeer Jim Malcolm.
Dec 27, 2018•48 min
During this week of the Winter Solstice, we rejoice in a federal court victory. FFRF attorney Patrick Elliott tells us about the positive decision in our legal challenge to bible classes in West Virginia public elementary schools. After hearing some "holiday humor," Christmas jokes, and irreverent seasonal songs (including Tom Lehrer's "A Christmas Song" and Roy Zimmerman's "Christmas is Pain"), we explain the real reason for the season and listen to Tim Minchin's "White Wine in the Sun" and Dan...
Dec 20, 2018•48 min
We celebrate the December 15 "Bill of Rights" Day. FFRF Legal Assistant Whitney Steffen tells us about the many "Winter Solstice" and "Bill of Rights" displays that FFRF members are erecting around the county to counter the Christian nativity scenes on public property. Then we talk with Leslea Mair, co-director, producer, and writer of the beautiful new documentary "Losing Our Religion," about ministers who have lost their faith.
Dec 13, 2018•48 min
This week's guest is feminist-topical singer/songwriter Kristin Lems, who will perform one of her classic songs and a new song about Trump ("Like a Duck"). Tune in to learn more about a surprising First Amendment violation halted speedily in Illinois by FFRF constitutional attorney Ryan Jayne. The show includes a first-hand report on the International Conference on Sharia, Segregation & Secularism , a comment about Einstein's "ungodly" auctioned letter, and a recap of FFRF's irreverent Winte...
Dec 06, 2018•48 min
Twelve-year-old author Bailey Harris, who started writing her first book when she was eight, speaks at FFRF's annual convention in San Francisco on November 2, telling us how she came to write the freethought children's book My Name Is Stardust . Then we hear the actor, director and producer John de Lancie (who played "Q" on Star Trek: The Next Generation ) explain to our convention audience "The value of telling the truth."
Nov 27, 2018•48 min
We have a victory to report in Colorado and a victory to defend in Florida. After hearing 19th-century Robert G. Ingersoll's 1897 "Thanksgiving Sermon," the 21st-century comedian Leighann Lord gives us "Six things to argue about at Thanksgiving other than politics." Then we talk with the first winner of FFRF's new "Avijit Roy Courage Award," Rasel Ahmed, co-editor of Bangladesh's first and only LGBTQ magazine who had to leave the country to seek asylum in the United States because of threats to ...
Nov 21, 2018•48 min
We announce a new lawsuit challenging the creation of a Christian chaplaincy in Wisconsin's Department of Justice. After exposing the dangerous Christian nationalism of the acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker (appointed by Trump to replace Sessions), we talk with FFRF's new Editorial Assistant Bailey Nachreiner-Mackesey about the Trump administration's latest assault on women's healthcare. Then we interview former Pentecostal Jessica Wilbanks about her poignant new memoir, When I Spoke in T...
Nov 15, 2018•48 min
Just returning from our national convention in San Francisco, we hear the Moment of Bedlam at the annual Nonprayer Breakfast and hear parts of speeches by actor John de Lancie, Secular Coalition for America director Larry Decker, U.S. Representative (Ca.) Jared Huffman, and comedian Leighann Lord. After hearing Dan Barker's song "The Freethought Blues," we talk with Maryam Namazie, who is organizing the "International Sharia, Segregation & Secularism" conference in London this month.
Nov 08, 2018•48 min
FFRF lead attorney Rebecca Markert, celebrating 10 years at FFRF, updates us on the legal department's past year of litigation and non-litigation victories for state/church separation. After hearing Joni Mitchell sing "Big Yellow Taxi" and Dan Barker sing "Bread & Roses" (in honor of Annie Laurie's birthday), we talk with United Church of Canada pastor Gretta Vosper, an open atheist and author of With Or Without God , who is undergoing a "heresy trial" even though her congregation wants her ...
Nov 01, 2018•48 min
This week we discuss the oral arguments in two federal cases by FFRF: Barker v. Conroy, in DC Circuit Court of Appeals , dealing with discrimination by the chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Gaylor v. Mnuchin , in Chicago's 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, dealing with FFRF's challenge of the IRS code that allows ministers to exclude their "housing allowance" from income. Then we talk with Cecile Richards, former president of Planned Parenthood, about her new book, Make Trouble: Sta...
Oct 25, 2018•48 min
"Cleaning up after dogma" is the theme of this week's program. After celebrating the births, lives and irreverence of the late Tom Petty and Ursula K. LeGuin, we'll play an outrageous clip of evangelist Pat Robertson, whitewashing Saudi Arabian abuses. We'll report on two nationally significant FFRF court challenges and other FFRF news. In honor of the upcoming referendum in next week's Irish election to remove blasphemy laws from the Irish Constitution, we'll listen to Dan Barker's song "Beware...
Oct 18, 2018•48 min
