Freethought Radio

We review major news of the week: The pope blaming Satan instead of the church for child abusers within its ranks; oral arguments in the Bladensburg cross case before the Supreme Court; the 4th anniversary of the murder of atheist author Avijit Roy by Islamist terrorists, and the Trump Administration's new assault against Planned Parenthood. Cheryl Kolbe , director of FFRF's Portland chapter, join...

We celebrate Black History Month by hearing Nina Simone sing "I Ain't Got no God" in the song "Ain't Got No," and by talking with Mandisa Thomas , founder and president of Black Nonbelievers, who tells us about the upcoming "Women of Color Beyond Belief" conference in Chicago. Then we speak with Polish atheist, feminist and activist Nina Sankari , vice-president of the Kazimierz Łyszczyński Founda...

We give a Bronx cheer to Trump's religious remarks at the State of the Union and the National Prayer Breakfast, but we give a real cheer to Black History Month by celebrating Butterfly McQueen and Frederick Douglass. After hearing a Valentine's Day love song, "The Man I Love" (written by the nonbelieving Gershwin brothers, and sung by Dan's mother when she was a teenager), we talk with author and...

Good news: Michigan's newly-elected Attorney General Dana Nessel removed the state from three amicus briefs opposing FFRF lawsuits. After we analyze the National Prayer Breakfast and the Christian-nationalist "Project Blitz" strategy to inject religion into state governments, we hear Susan Hofer sing Dan Barker's love ballad "It's Only Natural" in honor of Darwin's birthday on February 12. Then we...

Our 666th (!) episode is a hell of a show. We announce billboards asking people to "Leave the Church" during Catholic Education week, and describe our legal brief encouraging the Supreme Court to prohibit a huge Christian cross on city property. After hearing the 1922 Irving Berlin song "Pack Up Your Sins and Go To The Devil in Hades," we talk with Lucien Greaves, co-founder and spokesperson for t...

FFRF's Director of Strategic Response, Constitutional attorney Andrew Seidel tells us about our recent final victory in our 5-year federal lawsuit challenging prayer and preaching at the Chino Hills, California, school board. After hearing the song "Reincarnation," words by cowboy poet Wallace D. McRae and music by Dan Barker, we talk with FFRF's Director of Communications Amitabh Pal about the ri...

FFRF and other secular groups are protesting the Attorney General nomination of William Barr, a religious extremist who disrespects secularists and state/church separation. During this anniversary week of Roe v Wade (January 22, 1973), we celebrate the life of Margaret Sanger by hearing Dan Barker's song "No Gods, No Masters." Then we talk with University of Chicago Law Professor Geoffrey Stone ab...

We recap FFRF's impressive legal statistics for 2018 (1,060 formal complaint letters to erring government officials ending 315 state/church violations!). FFRF's Robert G. Ingersoll Legal Fellow Colin McNamara briefly joins us to recap the ruckus his complaint over religious displays is creating in Camden, Mo. The rest of the program is devoted to a never-before-broadcast interview of the fascinati...

FFRF's lead attorney Rebecca Markert tells us about our recent victory by the Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals, who refused to rehear their decision declaring unconstitutional the practice of the Chino Hills (California) School Board opening sessions with prayer. After hearing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declare that Christians should fight marriage equality "until the Rapture," we listen...

Princeton professor Imani Perry tells us about her new biography, Looking For Lorraine: The Radiant Life of Lorraine Hansberry , about the artist/activist/freethinking author of the play and movie Raisin In The Sun, who was the first Black woman to have a play on Broadway. We celebrate the New Year on a relaxing but irreverent note by hearing some songs written by Eric Idle of Monty Python, and a...

During this week of the Winter Solstice, we rejoice in a federal court victory. FFRF attorney Patrick Elliott tells us about the positive decision in our legal challenge to bible classes in West Virginia public elementary schools. After hearing some "holiday humor," Christmas jokes, and irreverent seasonal songs (including Tom Lehrer's "A Christmas Song" and Roy Zimmerman's "Christmas is Pain"), w...

We celebrate the December 15 "Bill of Rights" Day. FFRF Legal Assistant Whitney Steffen tells us about the many "Winter Solstice" and "Bill of Rights" displays that FFRF members are erecting around the county to counter the Christian nativity scenes on public property. Then we talk with Leslea Mair , co-director, producer, and writer of the beautiful new documentary "Losing Our Religion," about mi...

This week's guest is feminist-topical singer/songwriter Kristin Lems , who will perform one of her classic songs and a new song about Trump ("Like a Duck"). Tune in to learn more about a surprising First Amendment violation halted speedily in Illinois by FFRF constitutional attorney Ryan Jayne . The show includes a first-hand report on the International Conference on Sharia, Segregation & Seculari...

Twelve-year-old author Bailey Harris , who started writing her first book when she was eight, speaks at FFRF's annual convention in San Francisco on November 2, telling us how she came to write the freethought children's book My Name Is Stardust . Then we hear the actor, director and producer John de Lancie (who played "Q" on Star Trek: The Next Generation ) explain to our convention audience "The...

We have a victory to report in Colorado and a victory to defend in Florida. After hearing 19th-century Robert G. Ingersoll's 1897 "Thanksgiving Sermon," the 21st-century comedian Leighann Lord gives us "Six things to argue about at Thanksgiving other than politics." Then we talk with the first winner of FFRF's new "Avijit Roy Courage Award," Rasel Ahmed , co-editor of Bangladesh's first and only L...

We announce a new lawsuit challenging the creation of a Christian chaplaincy in Wisconsin's Department of Justice. After exposing the dangerous Christian nationalism of the acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker (appointed by Trump to replace Sessions), we talk with FFRF's new Editorial Assistant Bailey Nachreiner-Mackesey about the Trump administration's latest assault on women's healthcare. Th...

Just returning from our national convention in San Francisco, we hear the Moment of Bedlam at the annual Nonprayer Breakfast and hear parts of speeches by actor John de Lancie , Secular Coalition for America director Larry Decker , U.S. Representative (Ca.) Jared Huffman , and comedian Leighann Lord . After hearing Dan Barker 's song "The Freethought Blues," we talk with Maryam Namazie , who is or...

FFRF lead attorney Rebecca Markert , celebrating 10 years at FFRF, updates us on the legal department's past year of litigation and non-litigation victories for state/church separation. After hearing Joni Mitchell sing "Big Yellow Taxi" and Dan Barker sing "Bread & Roses" (in honor of Annie Laurie's birthday), we talk with United Church of Canada pastor Gretta Vosper, an open atheist and author of...

This week we discuss the oral arguments in two federal cases by FFRF: Barker v. Conroy, in DC Circuit Court of Appeals , dealing with discrimination by the chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Gaylor v. Mnuchin , in Chicago's 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, dealing with FFRF's challenge of the IRS code that allows ministers to exclude their "housing allowance" from income. Then we talk...

"Cleaning up after dogma" is the theme of this week's program. After celebrating the births, lives and irreverence of the late Tom Petty and Ursula K. LeGuin, we'll play an outrageous clip of evangelist Pat Robertson, whitewashing Saudi Arabian abuses. We'll report on two nationally significant FFRF court challenges and other FFRF news. In honor of the upcoming referendum in next week's Irish elec...

"Don't mourn — organize!" Those are fitting words by freethinking labor organizer Joe Hill for discouraged secularists after another right-wing justice has joined the Supreme Court. FFRF legal fellow Colin McNamara tells us about the educational letter he helped us send to Kentucky governor Matt Bevin, who has officially encouraged all children to "bring your Bible to school." Then we talk with Ro...

More FFRF state/church victories and school-prayer challenges to report in Georgia and Alabama. After hearing the Joe Hill song "The Preacher and the Slave" (sung by Dan Barker and Kristin Lems), we talk with FFRF attorneys Patrick Elliott and Ryan Jayne , who listened to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's entire initial testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee and conclude that his co...

The 2018 evangelical "Values Voter Summit" shows that the religious right has abandoned all pretense of values. FFRF attorney Chris Line tells us about some of his recent state/church victories in Utah, Georgia, and Alabama. Then we talk with biographer Angelica Shirley Carpenter about her new book, the long-overdue first biography of a 19th-century freethinking feminist (who, as L. Frank Baum's m...

FFRF urges the IRS to investigate President Trump's "spiritual adviser" Paula White over illegal church politicking. Annie Laurie explains how Judge Kavanaugh's alleged attempted rape mirrors biblical teachings. FFRF urges investigation into Catholic Church sexual crimes against children. After talking with FFRF attorney Ryan Jayne about a New Jersey county petitioning the Supreme Court to overtur...

We have two state/church victories to report. FFRF lead attorney Rebecca Markert  tells us about our recent win in federal appeals court, ruling that a tall Christian cross in a public park in Pensacola, Florida, is unconstitutional, and we hear a news story about FFRF's successful letter to a West Virginia school district which prompted them to stop Christian prayers over the loudspeakers at high...