Guest: Jeremy Schipper. Religion at Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court confirmation hearing. State/church complaints in Colorado, Virginia and Tennessee. Jazz musicians Tahira Clayton and Addison Frei perform freethinker Cole Porter's "I Concentrate on You." Then Professor of Religion Jeremy Schipper describes how the bible was used in both sides of the slavery/anti-slavery debates in his new book, Denmark Vesey's Bible: The Thwarted Revolt that Put Slavery and Scripture on Trial....
Mar 24, 2022•50 min
Guest: Steven Pinker Spring is here, and state/church violations are bursting out all over. We report on violations in Ohio, Colorado, West Virginia and Indiana, and ask Idaho's governor not to sign a draconian anti-abortion bill. After hearing Audra McDonald sing the evocative "Spring is Here" by freethinking composer Richard Rodgers, we listen to Harvard Professor Steven Pinker at FFRF's convention in Boston describing his new book, Rationality: What It Is — Why It Is Scarce — Why It Matters ....
Mar 17, 2022•50 min•Ep. 829
Guest: Alice Greczyn. FFRF attorney Sam Grover updates us on the oral arguments in our "Do mess with Texas" lawsuit before the federal 5th Circuit Court of Appeals challenging Gov. Greg Abbott's censorship of our Bill of Rights nativity display at the state Capitol. Then the actress and author Alice Greczyn offers a scientific explanation for ecstatic religious experiences, which she describes in her talk: "Drunk, High and Hypnotized: How Neurotheology Healed My Religious Trauma."
Mar 10, 2022•49 min
This week, we comment on President Biden's State of the Union address as it relates to state/church separation, abortion, and LGBTQ+ rights. We hear Dan Barker's performance of the feminist anthem "Bread and Roses." Then we speak with journalist and author Katherine Stewart about her powerful cautionary column in the Sunday New York Times: "Why was a Catholic hospital willing to gamble with my life?"
Mar 02, 2022•50 min
Guest: Andrew Copson. FFRF Senior Counsel Patrick Elliott explains FFRF's newest federal lawsuit involving students who walked out of a Huntington, W.Va., high school protesting religious services on campus during school time. Then we speak with the Chief Executive of Humanists UK, Andrew Copson, about the new book he co-authored with Alice Roberts called The Little Book of Humanism: Universal Lessons on Finding Purpose, Meaning and Joy .
Feb 24, 2022•50 min
Guest: Mark Dann. After reporting on state/church complaints and victories in Michigan, Tennessee, Florida and Indiana, we hear two versions of Dan Barker's song "Beware of Dogma": one by Dan and the other by Brazilian singer Sandra Belé. Then we speak with FFRF's Director of Governmental Affairs Mark Dann about his work in Washington, D.C., to lobby for a secular government, science and reason.
Feb 17, 2022•49 min
Guests: Cynthia McDonald and Andrew Seidel. FFRF's Director of Strategic Response Andrew Seidel announces the new major report by FFRF and the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty called "Christian Nationalism and the January 6, 2021, Insurrection." Then activist and podcaster Cynthia McDonald tells us about her comprehensive article about the secular case for reparations: "Black economic justice from an atheist's view."
Feb 10, 2022•49 min
Guest: Larry Shapiro. President Biden should not have attended today's divisive National Prayer Breakfast. U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin tells us why it is important to memorialize America's "forgotten Founder" Thomas Paine. Then we speak with philosopher Lawrence Shapiro about his new book (co-written with Steven Nadler): When Bad Thinking Happens to Good People: How Philosophy Can Save Us From Ourselves .
Feb 03, 2022•51 min
Guests: Margaret Downey and Gary Berton. We talk about the need to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Breyer with a proponent of state/church separation. After hearing Dan Barker's tribute to Thomas Paine, "The World Is My Country," we talk with two Paine experts: Margaret Downey, president of the new Thomas Paine Memorial Association, and Gary Berton, president of the Thomas Paine National Historical Association, about the drive to erect a statue to the "forgotten founder" in Washington DC....
Jan 27, 2022•49 min
The Supreme Court has recently taken a number of troubling cases dealing with religion. FFRF's Legal Director Rebecca Markert joins us to talk about the Supreme Court oral arguments in a case about the city of Boston being forced to fly the Christian flag. Then we speak with atheist bible Professor Francesca Stavrakopoulou about her new book God: An Anatomy .
Jan 20, 2022•49 min
After reporting on national and local state/church news, we hear singer/songwriter Shelley Segal's feminist song "Eve" from her Atheist Album. Then we listen to Pulitzer-Prize winning New York Times columnist and Supreme-Court observer Linda Greenhouse's "Cheesecake, anyone?" remarks as she accepts FFRF's "Clarence Darrow" award recognizing excellence in journalism about state/church separation.
Jan 13, 2022•49 min
We mark the anniversary of the January 6 insurrection by hearing FFRF attorney Andrew Seidel describe the Christian Nationalism of the rioters. Representative Don Beyer (VA) explains why he is a member of the Congressional Freethought Caucus and we hear Representative Jamie Raskin (MD) stressing the need to talk about fascism. Then we talk with former evangelical minister and Christian apologist, John W. Loftus, about his new anthology God and Horrendous Suffering .
Jan 06, 2022•49 min
We listen to part of the interview that Annie Laurie Gaylor did with Gloria Steinem at FFRF's Boston convention. We see out the old year by remembering and honoring freethinkers who have left us in 2021. Then we welcome the new year by listening to some freethought songs that respond to the events of last year—some irreverent, some funny, some cautionary, and some optimistic songs that hope for better days in 2022.
Dec 30, 2021•49 min
After news about "ominous omicron," secular Solstice displays and a state/church victory, we celebrate the real reason for the season — the Winter Solstice — by hearing some fun irreverent Christmas songs by Tom Lehrer, Roy Zimmerman, Addison Frei, Tahira Clayton, Ken Lonnquist, and Susan Hofer, ending with Tim Minchin's "White Wine in the Sun."
Dec 22, 2021•49 min
FFRF's Reproductive Rights Intern Barbara Alvarez tells us why abortion is a state/church issue that should concern all freethinkers. We remember Tom Flynn of the Council for Secular Humanism, who died this year, by hearing the 2006 interview he did for us about his book The Trouble With Christmas . Then we listen to Winter Solstice songs by Dan Barker and Kristin Lems.
Dec 16, 2021•49 min
FFRF's Legal Fellow Karen Heineman, an attorney and a veterinarian, tells us why Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is wrong to claim he was "immunized" when he took ivermectin, a medication commonly used as an animal dewormer. She also explains herd immunity. Then Freethought Radio co-hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor parse the highlights and lowlights (and religious implications) of the recent Supreme Court oral arguments in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health Organization about t...
Dec 09, 2021•49 min
We talk about the oral arguments before the Supreme Court in the Mississippi abortion law case, including Justice Sonia Sotomayor's eloquent plea for women over religious doctrine. Reproductive Rights Intern Barbara Alvarez reads the poignant letter she has written to Sotomayor. Then we speak with Willie O. Cartwright about his new book, From Saved to Sane: My Journey Away from Christianity and Why Christianity Has Been Detrimental to the African American Community .
Dec 02, 2021•49 min
The comedian Steve Martin has said: "Atheists don't got no songs." That is funny, but untrue. As a change of pace this Thanksgiving week, FFRF's audio engineer and announcer Buzz Kemper hosts and DJs a show of historic and contemporary freethought songs from the three albums produced by the Freedom From Religion Foundation: "Friendly Neighborhood Atheist," "Beware of Dogma" and "Adrift on a Star."
Nov 24, 2021•49 min
Two Freethought Radio audio engineers, Buzz Kemper and Grant Blaschka, play sound-tag as we interview each of them in turn about how and why they left (respectively) Catholicism and the Jehovah's Witnesses. Then we hear actress, comedian and atheist Julia Sweeney interview actor and "blacktino" atheist Jon Huertas in their entertaining contribution to the 2021 Secular Day of the Dead celebration.
Nov 15, 2021•49 min
Religious governors, judges, members of Congress and high-school coaches are running roughshod over the Constitution. We complain about the nefarious National Prayer Breakfast by hearing Dan Barker's song "Nothing Fails Like Prayer." Then we talk with Princeton anthropologist and primatologist Agustín Fuentes, author of Why We Believe: Evolution and the Human Way of Being .
Nov 11, 2021•49 min
FFRF's Director of Strategic Response Andrew Seidel describes the letter written by the Congressional Freethought Caucus to the Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection complaining about the deceptive and dangerous Health Care Sharing Ministries. Then we speak with Bart Worden, executive director of the American Ethical Union, about the nontheistic religion of Ethical Culture Societies.
Nov 04, 2021•49 min
A lot of "scary" news for Halloween. FFRF fights state/church violations and educates Christian nationalists around the country. FFRF attorney Liz Cavell describes FFRF's new report about Florida, "Casting Light: The Sunshine State's Problem of Religion in Public Schools." Then we speak with Pulitzer-Prize-winning court reporter Linda Greenhouse about her new book, Justice on the Brink: The Death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Rise of Amy Coney Barrett, and Twelve Months That Transformed the Suprem...
Oct 28, 2021•49 min
The ultra-conservative Roberts Supreme Court is a serious threat to equality, fairness, and the rights of women, LGBTQ and non-Christians. To discuss how we can preserve state/church separation and advance progressive views, we speak with law Professor Stephen M. Feldman about his book Pack the Court! A Defense of Supreme Court Expansion .
Oct 21, 2021•49 min
We need a vaccine to keep religion from infecting government. After reporting FFRF victories and complaints, we call for putting our trust in science and for vaccine mandates. We hear Roy Zimmerman's irreverent song, "I Want a Marriage Like They Had in the Bible." Then we speak with Debbie Allen, executive director of the Secular Coalition for America, which lobbies to keep state and church separate.
Oct 14, 2021•49 min
Football baptisms, the North Carolina lieutenant governor's intolerance and billboards for Rev. Joel Osteen are among the state/church news this week. FFRF Legal Director Rebecca Markert tells us about the Supreme Court taking a case over a Christian flag in Boston. Then Reproductive Rights Intern Barbara Alvarez gives us the good news and the bad news about abortion rights in America.
Oct 07, 2021•49 min
Happy Blasphemy Day! Religion & abortion, religion & capital punishment, and religion & Covid-19 are among our topics today. FFRF attorney Ryan Jayne joins us to talk about the friend-of-the-court brief we recently filed with the Supreme Court dealing with the death penalty. Then we speak with Cheryl Abram, author of the book Firing God , about how she took a "leap of doubt" to escape the oppressiveness of religion.
Sep 30, 2021•49 min
This week, we talk about the religious attack on abortion rights. FFRF attorney Liz Cavell explains FFRF's friend-of-the court brief we filed at the U.S. Supreme Court challenging Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban. Then we talk with Mandisa Thomas, founder and president of Black Nonbelievers about the "Women of Color Beyond Belief" conference in Chicago.
Sep 23, 2021•49 min
We celebrate Constitution Day by listening to a song, "We, The People," written and performed in the U.S. Constitution's honor by FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. We spotlight FFRF's recent multimedia efforts, including a new Ron Reagan TV spot, a full-page New York Times ad and a billboard campaign in Nashville aimed at megapreachers. Then, FFRF Communications Director Amit Pal speaks with Professor and India scholar Christophe Jaffrelot about his new book, Modi's India: Hindu Nationalism and the ...
Sep 16, 2021•49 min
A special sister/brother treat! Charlotte Dennett discusses her book The Crash of Flight 3804: A Lost Spy, a Daughter's Quest, and the Deadly Politics of the Great Game for Oil (Foreword by brother Daniel C. Dennett) about the mysterious 1947 death of their father Daniel C. Dennett II when he was an American spy in the Middle East. Then we talk with her brother, the atheist philosopher Daniel C. Dennett III, about his new book Just Deserts: Debating Free Will .
Sep 09, 2021•49 min
After the horrible Supreme Court decision upholding an abortion ban, we say "DO mess with Texas." We honor the memory of actor Ed Asner and hear folksinger Kristin Lems perform her classic cautionary song "Days of the Theocracy." Then we listen to a retrospective of Freethought Matters TV guests, including Ron Reagan, John Davidson, Cecile Richards, Ann Druyan, Julia Sweeney, Daniel C. Dennett, two members of Congress, and others.
Sep 02, 2021•49 min
