Tom and Cecil are back! Talking with these guys is the absolute most fun. They are such a great blend of humor and insight! This time we’re discussing the phenomenon of atheist celebrities. We rehash a bit of the Dawkins Twitter stuff simply because it’s germane to the discussion, but we also go on to … Continue reading AS67: Cognitive Dissonance on Atheist Celebrities, Part 1 → The post AS67: Cognitive Dissonance on Atheist Celebrities, Part 1 appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Sep 15, 2014•50 min
Tracey and I have a lengthy discussion on abortion. Despite both being pro choice, there is still quite a lot of gray area that is very interesting to discuss. Then of course, there’s always Richard Dawkins to spice things up. Is it ethical to abort a fetus that has a high chance of Down’s Syndrome? … Continue reading AS66: Abortion with Tracey Moody → The post AS66: Abortion with Tracey Moody appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Sep 11, 2014•1 hr
Part 2 of The Portable Atheist features Omar Khayyam. Poet, astronomer, mathematician, husband, lover, rotary member, blood donor, etc. Omar had it all. He was a multifaceted Iranian who lived around 1050ish to 1150ish. Then I discuss 3 comments at length. One of them has a corresponding link. Here is that link. This is not … Continue reading AS65: The Portable Atheist, Part 2, and More → The post AS65: The Portable Atheist, Part 2, and More appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Sep 08, 2014•48 min
Can’t really put it any more plainly than that. But FIRST, I have a long and uninteresting story about being Comcast free at last! I’ve gone through some decently big life changes and you get to hear about them for 20 minutes! (fast forward to 20:00ish if you want to skip straight to discussion on … Continue reading AS64: Stealing Private Nude Photos is a Sex Crime → The post AS64: Stealing Private Nude Photos is a Sex Crime appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Sep 04, 2014•52 min
Jake joins me to discuss a topic very near and dear to him. Jake lost his grandfather some years back in a slow and undignified process. His grandfather had been a vocal supporter of the right to die with dignity so his being denied that right was particularly difficult for Jake. The post AS63: Euthanasia with Jake Farr-Wharton appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Sep 01, 2014•46 min
We have a very special guest on today’s show! Lydia joins me to start on a long journey through the history of Christianity. We’ll be working through the book A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years which I heard Christopher Hitchens recommend in a debate video. Lydia brings the research and I’m sure I bring … Continue reading AS62: History of Christianity, Part 1 → The post AS62: History of Christianity, Part 1 appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Aug 28, 2014•49 min
Lots to talk about this episode! Catching up on listener comments and reexamining some of the major stories of recent times. It has been quite the depressing month of news. Cool new segment coming up on Thursday, and an exclusive interview with Tracey Moody coming up on Bonus Content! Better sign up at http://patreon.com/atheist ! The post AS61: Tommentary Time appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Aug 25, 2014•49 min
Part 2 of my discussion with author CJ Werleman. His new book is Atheists Can’t Be Republicans, If Facts and Evidence Matter. http://www.amazon.com/Atheists-Cant-Be-Republicans-Evidence/dp/1908675276 Atheistically Speaking ventures into rare political territory! This discussion is sure to spur opinions, make sure to leave them on the facebook page or on the website! The post AS60: Atheists Can’t Be Republicans, with CJ Werleman, Part 2 appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Aug 21, 2014•1 hr
PZ Myers has really lost me. I had no previous reason to dislike him until he wrote the following two posts: http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2014/08/12/robin-williams-brings-joy-to-the-hearts-of-journalists-and-politicians-once-again/ http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2014/08/13/even-atheists-have-sacred-cows/ Plus, we welcome back the great CJ Werleman! He has a recent book about why atheists cannot be Republicans. http://www.amazon.com/Atheists-Cant-Be-Republicans-Evidence/dp/19086...
Aug 18, 2014•52 min
I’m doing something new here on Atheistically Speaking! I’m summarizing and reading selections from the first reading of The Portable Atheist. I really enjoyed doing this and I think it could be a great chance for us all to learn some new stuff together and be exposed to more brilliant writing. Please let me know … Continue reading AS58: The Portable Atheist, Part 1 → The post AS58: The Portable Atheist, Part 1 appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Aug 14, 2014•48 min
Richard Dawkins Twitter Explosion What in the world is Richard Dawkins Twitter up to? As you likely will have read/heard by now, Dawkins tweeted several tweets that had people in uproar. Essentially, he said that asserting x is bad but y is worse is not an endorsement of x. Why was this such a problem? … Continue reading AS57: Richard Dawkins Twitter Explosion → The post AS57: Richard Dawkins Twitter Explosion appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Aug 11, 2014•57 min
Scathing Atheist on Israel-Palestine Scathing Atheist Noah joins me to help wade through the incredibly polarized world of Israel-Palestine commentary. It’s likely you already have a staunch opinion on this conflict, if you’re anything like mine and Noah’s Facebook/Twitter friends. The focus of this show is to do my best to take an unbiased approach … Continue reading AS56: Scathing Atheist on the Israel-Palestine Conflict, Part 2 → The post AS56: Scathing Atheist on the Israel-Palestine Conflic...
Aug 07, 2014•1 hr 3 min
Scathing Atheist on Israel-Palestine Scathing Atheist Noah joins me to help wade through the incredibly polarized world of Israel-Palestine commentary. It’s likely you already have a staunch opinion on this conflict, if you’re anything like mine and Noah’s Facebook/Twitter friends. The focus of this show is to do my best to take an unbiased approach … Continue reading AS55: Scathing Atheist on the Israel-Palestine Conflict → The post AS55: Scathing Atheist on the Israel-Palestine Conflict appear...
Aug 04, 2014•40 min
Free Will with Ryan Born This week we’ve got Ryan Born, who you may remember as the winner of the Sam Harris essay contest. Ryan is a philosopher who runs the blog http://pointofcontroversy.com. Last time we spoke, Ryan had a ton to teach us about Moral Philosophy. This time though, we’re here to discuss a very … Continue reading AS54: Free Will with Ryan Born, Part 2 → The post AS54: Free Will with Ryan Born, Part 2 appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Jul 31, 2014•59 min
Free Will with Ryan Born This week we’ve got Ryan Born, who you may remember as the winner of the Sam Harris essay contest. Ryan is a philosopher who runs the blog http://pointofcontroversy.com. Last time we spoke, Ryan had a ton to teach us about Moral Philosophy. This time though, we’re here to discuss a … Continue reading AS53: Free Will with Ryan Born → The post AS53: Free Will with Ryan Born appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Jul 28, 2014•59 min
Is Alcoholics Anonymous a Cult? This week I have two guests on the show with the experience to answer this important question. First there’s Mike of the Digression Sessions Podcast, http://digressionsessions.com/. Mike was a very precocious alcoholic who was able to hit rock bottom at the impressive age of 21. Just in time to actually legally … Continue reading AS52: Is Alcoholics Anonymous a Cult? Part 2 → The post AS52: Is Alcoholics Anonymous a Cult? Part 2 appeared first on Atheistically Spe...
Jul 24, 2014•1 hr 7 min
Is Alcoholics Anonymous a Cult? This week I have two guests on the show with the experience to answer this important question. First there’s Mike of the Digression Sessions Podcast, http://digressionsessions.com/. Mike was a very precocious alcoholic who was able to hit rock bottom at the impressive age of 21. Just in time to actually legally … Continue reading AS51: Is Alcoholics Anonymous a Cult? → The post AS51: Is Alcoholics Anonymous a Cult? appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Jul 21, 2014•1 hr 1 min
I continue the discussion of free will, covering a ton more territory. The debate between Harris and Dennett got a little bit hostile and I wish Dennett had written another response to Harris. In this episode I’ve got tons of thought experiments that I think outline the difficulties of the problem. I think I have … Continue reading AS50: Free Will, Part 2 of 2.5 → The post AS50: Free Will, Part 2 of 2.5 appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Jul 17, 2014•1 hr
This week I’m going to attempt to tackle the topic of free will! This is a favorite of mine. Do we have free will? Who was right in the debate between Harris and Dennett? Does determinism by definition negate free will or is there some way that they are, one might say, compatible? This is … Continue reading AS49: Free Will, Part 1 of …. → The post AS49: Free Will, Part 1 of …. appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Jul 14, 2014•58 min
This week we have Justin Schieber who I’m sure all of my listeners know from Reasonable Doubts, http://doubtcast.org! His website though is http://Justinsweh.com where you’ll find some great debate videos and other content. For Thursday’s show we ventured deeper into counter apologetics and religious philosophy. I loved this discussion! Don’t miss it! The post AS48: Nonresistant Unbeliever Justin Schieber, Part 2 appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Jul 10, 2014•48 min
This week we have Justin Schieber who I’m sure all of my listeners know from Reasonable Doubts, http://doubtcast.org! His website though is http://Justinsweh.com where you’ll find some great debate videos and other content. Justin is a perfect guest for Atheistically Speaking because he brings a calm, well-read and meticulous approach to religious philosophy. Tune in as … Continue reading AS47: Nonresistant Unbeliever Justin Schieber → The post AS47: Nonresistant Unbeliever Justin Schieber appea...
Jul 07, 2014•49 min
Is consequentialism the obvious choice for moral theory? Well not according to most philosophers. But then again, no one theory is the obvious choice for philosophers. They are split 3 ways. What are we to make of this? Hear Thomas’s thoughts on moral philosophy and consequentialism in particular in light of last week’s episodes featuring … Continue reading AS46: Moral Philosophy → The post AS46: Moral Philosophy appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Jul 03, 2014•55 min
We’ve gone a ton of shows in a row with demanding, intellectual topics. While this is definitely my favorite thing to do, occasionally it’s good to mix it up a little! So today is a more lighthearted topic: soccer. Is Ann Coulter right when she says it’s a liberal conspiracy to ruin America? No. It’s … Continue reading AS45: Religion and Sports → The post AS45: Religion and Sports appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Jun 30, 2014•50 min
We continue our talk with the winner of Sam Harris’s essay contest, Ryan Born! We have a very enlightening discussion of philosophy, specifically moral philosophy. Is Sam Harris right when he says that science can determine moral values? Is wellbeing really the bottom line objective in terms of morality? These are some of the many questions … Continue reading AS44: The Moral Landscape, with Ryan Born, Part 2 → The post AS44: The Moral Landscape, with Ryan Born, Part 2 appeared first on Atheistic...
Jun 26, 2014•58 min
This week we have the winner of Sam Harris’s essay contest, Ryan Born! We have a very enlightening discussion of philosophy, specifically moral philosophy. Is Sam Harris right when he says that science can determine moral values? Is wellbeing really the bottom line objective in terms of morality? These are some of the many questions … Continue reading AS43: The Moral Landscape, with Ryan Born → The post AS43: The Moral Landscape, with Ryan Born appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Jun 23, 2014•59 min
On today’s show we have The Moody Atheist for a first ever Atheistically Speaking book review segment! It’s not just a simple review though, we go in depth into A Manual for Creating Atheists, by Peter Boghossian. Is it a bit insulting to believers? Is it a little too evangelical in nature or is it … Continue reading AS42: Creating Atheists with Tracey Moody → The post AS42: Creating Atheists with Tracey Moody appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Jun 19, 2014•47 min
We’re joined by Hemant Mehta! We talk about a range of topics, first focusing on what it means to be friendly as an atheist and how that plays out for Hemant. Then, we talk about the recent Ken Ham related incident where Hemant’s book, The Young Atheist’s Survival Guide, was involved in a bit of controversy. … Continue reading AS41: Friendly Atheist, Hemant Mehta! → The post AS41: Friendly Atheist, Hemant Mehta! appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Jun 16, 2014•1 hr 7 min
We continue the conversation with ex-Jehovah’s Witness Harley, @secularlad. Such a gripping story. I can’t even imagine having to go through the loss of friends and family to the extent that Harley has simply because he no longer buys into absolute nonsense. Make sure to check out http://atheisticallyspeaking.com/trial for a free month of premium content! The post AS40: Ex-Witness Harley appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Jun 12, 2014•1 hr 2 min
First we have a follow up with Blake from last week, fresh off his appearance on Dogma Debate. Then, we begin a very gripping and engaging interview with Harley, an ex-Jehovah’s Witness who has somewhat recently come out atheist. This is no easy task and there have been many challenges and heartbreaks for him along … Continue reading AS39: Blake Follow Up, Ex-Witness Harley → The post AS39: Blake Follow Up, Ex-Witness Harley appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Jun 09, 2014•1 hr 13 min
I continue my debate with Blake Giunta. Can an immaterial mind even exist? Seems ridiculous to me, but let’s see what Blake has to say about that! Then, I do a bit of a post-mortem on the debate, as well as discuss several listener comments. Thanks for all the feedback and participation! Blake’s impressive website: http://treesearch.org/ … Continue reading AS38: Debate with Blake Giunta, Part 2 → The post AS38: Debate with Blake Giunta, Part 2 appeared first on Atheistically Speaking ....
Jun 05, 2014•1 hr 8 min
