Ep 94 - Transphobia in the New Atheist Scene

I was joined by Chrissy Stroop, fellow atheist, cofounder of The Flytrap & senior correspondent for Religion Dispatches - for a chat about recent drama in the New Atheist scene.  Some dinosaur atheists (Dawkins, Pinker, Coyne) recently quit their positions on the honorary board at the Freedom from Religion Foundation, because of their inability to keep up with the times & what science says about gender today. These old farts would like to keep insisting that gender is an absolute binary, and they are willing to have multiple tantrums about it. 

We discuss this and more, as it’s all happening against the backdrop of America’s crumbling democracy. The New Atheists are in bed with the Christian right, and they don’t like to be reminded of that. 

Links: 

• Here’s Chrissy’s previous appearance on Polite Conversations
• Some additional New Atheism Episodes you might enjoy ICYMI: 
•  Dawkins Delusion
• Pinker’s Pernicious Politeness Pt. 1
• Pinker Pt 2
• Transphobic Meltdown (Sam Harris)

• All of the Anti-Trans Executive Orders Trump has signed
• Read more details about the background of this drama around FFRF here
• Coyne defends Musk’s salute
• Andy Ngo’s start at CFI https://jewishcurrents.org/the-making-of-andy-ngo
• Dawkins recommends Doug Murray’s white nationalist book
• David Silverman fired after allegations of sexual misconduct
• American Atheists board members exit, dogged by misconduct allegations
• Israel commits largest child massacre in it’s history https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025-03-21/ty-article-opinion/.premium/even-anti-war-israelis-are-scared-to-say-gazans-are-human-beings/00000195-b525-d862-a3b5-f53704750000
• Find The FlyTrap here: https://theflytrap.beehiiv.com/

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