Freethought Radio

Guest: Kate Cohen . This week we describe some of the ways FFRF is lashing back against Christian nationalism. After hearing the sobering but optimistic song "In a Dark Time" (words by Philip Appleman, music by Dan Barker), we speak with Washington Post columnist Kate Cohen  about her June 30 article: "As the court forces Christianity on America, it's time for atheists to speak out."

GUEST: Linda Greenhouse . This week we focus on recent bad Supreme Court decisions attacking women's rights and the separation of church and state. FFRF attorney Patrick Elliott explains the confusing Bremerton case allowing a high-school coach to pray with students. Then we talk with Pulitzer Prize-winning author, journalist and Supreme Court observer Linda Greenhouse about the demise of Roe (ove...

FFRF attorney Sam Grover helps us dissect the disappointing Carson v. Makin decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that now allows public tax dollars to directly fund religious education. Then we hear from four winners of FFRF's David Hudak Memorial student essay contest for Black, Indigenous and People of Color: Galilea Baca (1st-place, pictured), Fadima Tall, Tylinn Wilson and Everett Viego. Then th...

Guest: Maryam Namazie . Abortion, politicians blaming gun violence on godlessness, secular billboards and the growth of support for state/church separation are among the news topics we discuss this week. After listening to a sneak preview of the new "Godless Gospel" songs, we speak with Iranian-born ex-Muslim activist Maryam Namazie about the international "Celebrate Dissent" conference she is org...

Guest: Jay Wexler . FFRF tells San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone that it was a "grave evil" to deny Nancy Pelosi communion. There is a new freethinking miniseries on Hulu. FFRF complains about pious pandering politicians. After hearing George Hrab's song about "thoughts and prayers" titled "The Least That You Can Do," we listen to Boston Law Professor Jay Wexler talk about his book Our...

Guest: Christopher Cameron . After mourning the tragic school massacre in Texas, we point out the ineffectiveness of "thoughts and prayers" and denounce politicians who blame the violence on godlessness. We hear singer/songwriter Roy Zimmerman satirize "thoughts and prayers" in his song ""To the Victims of This Tragedy." Then professor and author Christopher Cameron describes the rich history of A...

Guests: Amit Pal & Dan Barker . With FFRF Communications Director Amit Pal as the substitute host, we discuss the dismal news on the reproductive rights front, including the draconian Oklahoma abortion ban. We highlight our last TV show of the season — a special on-site visit with freethinking sculptor Zenos Frudakis — and spotlight our national convention to be held in San Antonio in late October...

Guest: Samuel L. Perry. We announce two victories in federal lawsuits this week stopping city council prayer and religious instruction in West Virginia schools. We talk about Alito's leaked abortion decision. The popular actor Jon Huertas tells us why he is a nontheist. In light of the tragic massacre in Buffalo, we speak with Professor Samuel L. Perry about his new book (with co-author Philip Gor...

Guest: Sasha Sagan . It's Mayday for women's rights. We talk about state/church and women's issues in Idaho, Arkansas, New Jersey and Arizona, and announce our full-page ad in the New York Times. After listening to philosopher Bertrand Russell (on the sesquicentennial of his birth) tell us why he was not a Christian, we hear Sasha Sagan , daughter of astronomer Carl Sagan and author Ann Druyan, te...

Guest: Ed Sorel . Instead of honoring the unconstitutional National Day of Prayer, we celebrate Cinco de Mayo! Learn what you can do to resist the imminent religiously motivated overthrow of Roe v. Wade . Then, we speak with 93-year-old irreverent cartoonist, illustrator and caricaturist Ed Sorel — whose satiric artwork has graced magazine covers and newspapers for many decades — about his new lav...

Guest: Phil Zuckerman . After reporting on victories and challenges regarding governmental prayer, we parse the Supreme Court oral arguments in the case involving a praying high-school football coach. Then we hear sociologist and author Phil Zuckerman , a pioneer in secular studies, making the case for why secular Americans, as a group, are more moral than religious Americans.

Guest: Clement Hiel . After reporting on national state/church news, we hear freethinker Barbra Streisand sing the song "Smile," written by the freethinking Charlie Chaplin. Then we speak with NASA scientist Clement Hiel about his alma mater, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Free University of Brussels), which was founded as a direct challenge to the Catholic Church. The school's motto is "Science...

Guests: Sam Grover; Ian Millhiser . After we report on national state/church news, FFRF attorney Sam Grover joins us to talk about the oral arguments he gave last week before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in our lawsuit challenging a Texas judge who opens sessions with a prayer. Then we speak with journalist and author Ian Millhiser about his new book The Agenda: How a Republican Supreme C...

Guests: Patrick Elliott; Ryan Jayne; Barbara Alvarez . After reporting on state/church news, we talk with a trio of FFRF staff members. FFRF Senior Counsel Patrick Elliott describes our friend-of-the-court brief to the Supreme Court about a praying high-school coach. Strategic Response Attorney Ryan Jayne tells us about the many bad state bills dealing with LGBTQ rights. And Contributing Writer Ba...

Guests: Chris Line; Ann Druyan . After we report on national and regional news, FFRF attorney Chris Line updates us on the many state/church complaints and victories he has been handling around the country. Then we hear author, educator and Emmy-winning producer of the "Cosmos" TV series Ann Druyan (along with her daughter Sasha Sagan) as she accepts FFRF's "Emperor Has No Clothes" award.

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...

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 conven...

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...

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 lif...

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 Le...

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.

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...

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 Ourselv...

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...

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 .