Freethought Radio

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 oppress...

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.

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...

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. D...

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, tw...

Covid, Afghanistan and court reform are among this week's topics. We hear from the winners of FFRF's "First in the Family" Freethought Tuition Relief for students of color (selected by Black Skeptics Los Angeles). Then FFRF's Director of Communication Amit Pal joins as we talk with Professor Benjamin Cowan about his new book Moral Majorities across the Americas: Brazil, the United States. and the...

We begin by criticizing anti-science resistance to vaccinations and masking. After reporting an FFRF state/church victory in Florida, stopping a high-school baseball coach from praying with students, we hear the 1986 rock song "Dear God" by atheist Andy Partridge. Then we speak with Professor and author Juan Cole of the University of Michigan, an expert on the Middle East and South Asia, about wha...

We are still fighting religious resistance to vaccinations. FFRF attorney Liz Cavell tells us about FFRF's new "Prayer Walk Report" describing how some public schools are unconstitutionally inviting or allowing "prayer warriors" to invade the campus. Then former African imam Mohamed Cisse tells us why he left Islam and is now a board member of the secular Clergy Project.

Masks, vaccinations and religion. After reporting FFRF legal complaints and victories, we celebrate the birthdate of 19th-century freethinker Robert G. Ingersoll by listening to his voice on an early 1890s Edison cylinder and hearing the song "The Time To Be Happy Is Now," which is based on Ingersoll's creed. Then we speak with former minister Candace Gorham , a licensed mental health counselor, a...

We discuss the Christian nationalism behind the Jan. 6 insurrection and call for increased vaccination. After reporting state/church news and hearing the song "Just Say NO To Religion," we speak with Lon Ostrander , a former Wesleyan minister who is now president of The Clergy Project, which helps ministers and priests who no longer believe to leave the pulpit.

After listening to state/church news and decrying the religious anti-vaxxers, we hear Shelley Segal's song "I Don't Believe in Fairies" from her "Atheist Album." Then we talk with cognitive psychologist, linguist and author Steven Pinker (FFRF's Honorary Chair) about his book Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Humanism, Science, and Progress.

Proselytizing deputies, anti-abortion lawmakers, sexual predators, praying judges — FFRF is fighting them. After hearing irreverent humor from the comedians Robin Williams and Phyllis Diller, we talk with Robert P. Jones , CEO of Public Religion Research Institute, about the organization's new unprecedented county-by-county "2020 Census on Religion in America" showing that while religion is shrink...

This week, we report state/church victories in Colorado and Pennsylvania. After hearing poems by feminist, activist and atheist Sherry Matulis — "Religion's Child" and "Benediction," set to music by Dan Barker— we talk with Pakistani-American Muhammad Syed , co-founder and president of Ex Muslims of North America (EXMNA), about the new and unique "Apostate Report" that surveyed hundreds of former...

We honor Independence Day by celebrating our independence from religion. After hearing the optimistic song "There's a Good Time Coming" by Stephen Foster (born July 4, 1826), we talk with reporter and author Sarah Posner about her book, Unholy: Why White Evangelicals Worship at the Altar of Donald Trump.

We cover state/church news at the federal and state levels and talk about a new global study showing (unsurprisingly) that Christians are not happier than atheists. After hearing the song "Adrift On A Star," words by freethinking lyricist Yip Harburg and music by Dan Barker, we talk with FFRF's Reproductive Rights intern Barbara Alvarez about the growing threats to abortion rights from religiously...

Happy Juneteenth and Happy Summer Solstice! FFRF attorney Patrick Elliott joins us to talk about today's Supreme Court Fulton decision over whether a publicly funded religious organization can refuse to place foster-care children with same-sex parents. Then we speak with journalist Helen Christophi about her article in the April/May Progressive magazine called "For Christ's Sake: Leonard Leo's Net...

This week there is plenty of evidence that "nothing fails like prayer." We report on state/church complaints in Utah, North Carolina, Milwaukee, Texas and Oregon. After hearing freethinking Broadway composer Charles Strouse's song "Poor Little Me" (lyrics by Dan Barker), we talk with historian Kristin Du Mez about her new book " Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fr...

We celebrate Pride Month and President Biden's decision not to fund the religiously repressive Hyde Amendment. After hearing the Cole Porter song "Experiment," we honor the legacy of U.S. Founder Thomas Paine by hearing his words in the song "The World Is My Country." Then we talk with leading constitutional scholar Geoffrey Stone about the Supreme Court's decision to accept a Mississippi case res...

Breaking news! FFRF won its lawsuit against a Texas judge who opens his courtroom sessions with a prayer. We hear Christopher Hitchens talking about facing death, and then a "funny" song about death by Dan Barker called "No Hurry To Die." Then we speak with philosopher and author Andy Norman about his new groundbreaking book Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a B...

It is the merry month of May and the scary month of May. Secular groups make history by meeting with the White House Office of Faith-Based & Neighborhood Partnerships, but the Supreme Court decision to hear an abortion ban case is very bad news. After listening to Kristin Lems' song Days of the Theocracy , we talk with sociologist Phil Zuckerman , a professor at Pitzer College, about his Secular S...

A state/church victory in Georgia, praise for Secretary of State Blinken's inclusion of nonbelievers and for an HHS proposal to expand family planning services. After hearing the Sherry Matulis poem "Benediction," expressing pride in being an atheist, we talk with author Anu Garg , a former Hindu who is now an atheist, the founder of Wordsmith (wordsmith.org) and the writer of the popular "A Word...

VICTORY! Today we announce a major victory in our lawsuit against Texas Gov. Greg Abbot's censorship of FFRF's Bill of Rights display. Margaret Downey of the Freethought Society tells us how atheists and agnostics are helping the homeless and the hungry through the Mayday For Humanity event featuring well-known comedians, actors and musicians. Then, FFRF's Director of Communications Amit Pal descr...

We talk about rogue priests, predator priests, sanctimonious senators, creationist lawmakers and charitable atheists. After hearing Dan Barker's first freethought song, "You Can't Win With Original Sin," we talk with Jennifer Taylor , the new president of the Rationalists of East Tennessee, about how she escaped the Jehovah's Witnesses to become a happy freethinker.

We celebrate Earth Day and 15 years of broadcasting Freethought Radio by announcing some good news on the state/church front. After hearing Dan Barker's song "None of the Above," we talk with psychologist and educator Dr. Marlene Winell , author of Leaving the Fold: A Guide for Former Fundamentalists and Others Leaving Their Religion , who tells us how to deal with religious trauma.

Annie Laurie Gaylor reveals that the governors who resist pandemic science are white Christian nationalists. FFRF Director of Strategic Response Andrew Seidel tells us how the new congressional Supreme Court expansion bill, introduced today, will affect state/church separation. Then, Mexican-American actor, author, activist and atheist Indra Zuno describes her new book about white indentured servi...