Freethought Radio

FFRF's state/church and freethought billboards are generating a lot of interest in Tennessee. FFRF's Steven Pinker TV ad is airing on "60 Minutes," and the Catholic League is angry about our national ads. After hearing the song "Spooky Mormon Hell Dream" from "The Book of Mormon," we listen to Nancy Northup , director of the Center For Reproductive Rights, accepting FFRF's "Forward" Award and warn...

Atheist books are now being burned! Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin and HUD Secretary Ben Carson are mixing religion and government. This week we hear experts of the powerful and informative speeches—including two members of congress, authors, activists, filmmakers, comedians and freethinking students—delivered at FFRF's 42nd annual convention in Madison, Wisconsin.

FFRF's Ron Reagan ad ran twice during the Democratic debate this week, and is really trending on social media and in the press. We push back against Attorney General William Barr and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's egregious "Christian nationalist" speeches last week. Then we hear U.S. Representative Mark Pocan  — a member of the Congressional Freethought Caucus — tell the shocking story that pro...

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of FFRF's victory over religion in West Virginia public schools. FFRF's Director of Strategic Response Andrew Seidel explains why we have filed an ethics complaint over the Texas judge who gave a bible to convicted murderer Amber Guyger. Then we talk with Therrin Wilso n, an atheist college student whose face is on FFRF's billboard in Knoxville, Te...

In the week of the birthday anniversary of John Lennon, our program examines the concept of "Imagine no religion" from several angles. Freethought Radio features Congress' lone "out" nonbeliever — U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman , in a fascinating interview in which he talks about being an ex-Mormon, the inside story on congressional issues regarding separation of state and church, and why he founded the...

We report recent FFRF legal victories, announce winners of the Graduate Student Essay contest and analyze President Trump's theocratic remarks before the United Nations. After hearing Sammy Davis Jr. sing "It Ain't Necessarily So" by George Gershwin (whose birthday is today), we talk with cartoonist Graham Sale , whose new book is called Crazy Little Thing Called Love: 100% Politically Incorrect G...

¡Adios a Dios! After reporting some state/church victories around the country, we talk with Mandisa Thomas , founder and president of Black Nonbelievers, about the historic "Women of Color Beyond Belief" conference she is organizing in Chicago on October 4-6. Then we interview David Tamayo , founder and president of Hispanic American Freethinkers, about his public debate on biblical morality (the...

FFRF's TV ads are censored in some places, accepted in others. FFRF's South Dakota billboards challenge "In God We Trust." We hear the debut of Dan Barker's song in Spanish, "Es Solo Natural." After talking with FFRF attorney Chris Line about a number of state-church victories in southern schools, we interview the winner of the Michael Hakeem Memorial College Student Essay Contest, Jack Buchanan ,...

Congressman Huffman comes under fire for defending freedom of conscience on FFRF's Freethought Matters TV show. Victory in Fresno, California, public schools. Scholarships and awards to freethinkers of color. After hearing the song "Salt Lake City Blues," written by ex-Mormon cartoonist Steve Benson and Dan Barker, we talk with Egyptian freethinker Omar Makram who, after rejecting Islam and religi...

Andrew Seidel and Liz Cavell , two FFRF attorneys, fill in this week to host Freethought Radio and discuss Andrew's Messin' with Texas tour. The Democratic National Committee recognized the contribution and value of nonreligious Americans, while a federal court declared that discrimination against atheists is permissible. We interview Chrissy Stroop , a writer, activist, and EXvangelical about her...

Christian nationalists are stepping up their attack on American values. We talk about Planned Parenthood, El Salvador, a San Jose (CA) grant to a Christian school, and the new federal rule to allow taxpayer-funded religious discrimination. Then law professor, author and humorist Jay Wexler describes his new "road-trip" book, Our Non-Christian Nation: How Atheists, Satanists, Pagans, and Others are...

FFRF legal fellow Chris Line tells us about religious intrusion in Mississippi public schools. FFRF co-president Dan Barker makes the connection between his American Indian tribe (Delaware, Lenape) and the Christian cross on the county seal in LeHigh County, Pennsylvania. After hearing the Rupert Brooke poem set to music, "Heaven" (envisioning the afterlife from the point of view of a fish), we ta...

"Thoughts and prayers" do not stop bullets. However, Fox News and the Catholic League are blaming the recent mass shootings on godlessness. We report on our loss in federal court that allows a Christian cross to remain on a county seal. Then we speak with author/journalist Jeff Sharlet , about the new Netflix mini-series "The Family," debuting August 9, based on Jeff's book The Family: The Secret...

"In God We Trust" has been mandated to be displayed prominently in South Dakota public schools, and FFRF is complaining about it. We talk with Jacob McGee , a winner in FFRF's High-School student essay contest. Then we interview former evangelical pastor of 37 years, Dave Warnock — who is now an atheist who has worked with The Clergy Project, and who has just been diagnosed with ALS — about his "D...

We take a light-hearted look at the freethinking credentials of actress/comedian Maya Rudolph, whose birthday is next week. Co-host Annie Laurie Gaylor gives a first-hand account of attending the State Department's Ministerial on Religious Liberty last week, where seculars were an endangered species. FFRF Director of Communications Amit Pal, who co-hosts in Dan Barker's absence, fills us in on FFR...

We mourn the death of former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, and celebrate the anniversary of the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention which led to woman's suffrage. Freethinkers of color are encouraged to "come out of the closet." After hearing some of Dan Barker's early Christian songs that he wrote for children, we talk with Marian Wiggins , former Senior Editor for Gospel Light, a publisher o...

The Texas "JESUS" sign finally comes down. Coach-led prayer is stopped in Pennsylvania and Georgia. We talk with Shiv Shah , one of the winners of FFRF's High-School Essay contest. Then we are joined by FFRF Legal Director Rebecca Markert as we interview David Williamson , the lead plaintiff in the victorious federal appeals court decision handed down this week declaring that the Brevard County, F...

We celebrate the 4th of July by honoring the radical Declaration, our secular Constitution, the freethinking founders such as Thomas Paine, and the feminist Frances Wright. We hear the Stephen Foster (born July 4, 1826) song "Some Folks Do." Then we speak with the award-winning jazz pianist Addison Frei about his life as a freethinking composer and performer, and his albums (such as Future Speak )...

FFRF attorneys sent more than a thousand letters to public school districts warning of the dangers of bible classes. We complain about an Appleton, Wisconsin, school board member who is a pastor who is flagrantly mixing religion and government. We talk with FFRF lead attorney Rebecca Markert about the disappointing decision by the U.S. Supreme Court allowing a large Christian cross to remain on pu...

Bad news for state/church separation: the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Bladensburg cross to be constitutional, and intolerant right-wing ideologue Tony Perkins (president of the Christian Family Research Council) has ironically been appointed to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. FFRF's full-page ad in the New York Times challenges the Christian-nationalist attack on reproduct...

We challenge a Tennessee sheriff deputy who preaches that America should follow the biblical law that homosexuals should be "put to death," and a Tennessee District Attorney who uses his religious beliefs to deny equal treatment to the LGBTQ community. Then we speak with the founder and president of Rationalist International, Sanal Edamaruku , who had to flee India to Finland after being accused b...

Demons on airplanes. Democrats deleting God. Courtroom prayer by judges. Bible classes in public schools. We talk about all of this, and more, plus Icelandic and other international humanists on today's show. After FFRF attorney Sam Grover describes our newest lawsuit, challenging a proselytizing judge in Texas, we talk with Mark Dann , FFRF's new Director of Governmental Affairs, a full-time DC l...

What does the bible really say about abortion? Annie Laurie Gaylor and FFRF attorney Liz Cavell answer that question. Then, on the first anniversary of the successful May 2018 referendum to overturn Ireland's constitutional ban on abortion, we talk on the phone from Dublin with feminist and LGBTQ activist, professor Ailbhe Smyth , one of the main organizers of Together For Yes, which successfully...

This week we talk about the religious-right assault on abortion rights, and what we can do about it. After hearing a hilarious "Practicing Atheist" monologue by Irish comedian Dave Allen, we talk on the phone from Mumbai, India, with Irfan Engineer , Director of the Centre for the Study of Society and Secularism, about the disappointing results of this month's national election in India, voting Hi...

The Alabama abortion bill, motivated by religious dogma, is in the news this week. FFRF's legal fellow Chris Line tells us about a state/church victory in Pennsylvania stopping "God Bless America" broadcast in a public school, and about a Texas county that displays Christian crosses on its courthouse. Then we speak with author, activist and award-winning journalist  Janet Heimlich , founder of Chi...