Freethought Radio

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 .

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 separatio...

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 apolo...

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 be...

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."

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.

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...

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 Wh...

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."

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.

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 .

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 Societ...

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...

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 .

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 separ...

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.