Freethought Radio

After 67 years, James A. Haught , the hard-fighting editor of West Virginia's largest newspaper, the Charleston Gazette-News, is still advocating for reform. Haught, who has authored a dozen freethought books, tells us what it has been like fighting governmental corruption working for a progressive-minded paper in one of the most conservative states in the country. Then we listen to the stories of...

Sarah Haider , co-founder of Ex Muslims of North America (exmna.org) will receive FFRF's "Freethought Heroine" award at our convention in San Francisco in November. She talks to us about the irony that while the number of Ex-Muslims is growing rapidly in the United States, the challenges of leaving Islam are becoming more dangerous. Then we interview international lawyer, chess promoter, and priva...

Rev. Franklin Graham, an evangelical moralist, says the Stormy Daniel controversy is "no business" of anybody. Boy Scouts rebrand their image but still exclude nonbelievers. We listen to Representative Jared Huffman explain on C-Span why he created the first Congressional Freethought Congress. After hearing Irving Berlin's song "Pack Up Your Sins And Go To The Devil In Hades," we talk with New Yor...

This week we celebrate the formation of the new Congressional Freethought Caucus, promoting science and state/church separation in government. FFRF attorney Liz Cavell explains our victory declaring a cross on the Lehigh County, Pennsylvania seal unconstitutional. We again protest the National Day of Prayer by hearing the words of the federal judge who ruled it unconstitutional. After hearing Dan...

There was a lot of media coverage about FFRF's unanimous New Jersey Supreme Court victory stopping counties from using public money to repair churches. FFRF attorney Rebecca Markert describes the amicus brief we filed in opposition to President Trump's recent travel ban, claiming it violates the Establishment Clause and the "no religious test" provisions of the Constitution. Then we talk with psyc...

Breaking news: The New Jersey Supreme Court just handed FFRF a unanimous victory declaring state grants to repair churches to be unconstitutional. FFRF attorney Ryan Jayne gives us the details. Author and researcher Linda LaScola , editor of the Patheos blog "Rational Doubt," congratulates "#MeToo" atheist women for speaking out against sexual harassment in the freethought movement. Then the Peruv...

FFRF attorney Patrick Elliott describes our lawsuit over the state of Kentucky denying a personalized license plate that says "I'm God." Classical pianist Jarred Dunn performs Debussy and Chopin on FFRF's Steinway piano. Then we talk with FFRF attorney Andrew Seidel , who has become the Director of FFRF's Strategic Response team, about overtly theocratic public officials who don't know where to dr...

Atheists in the Bible Museum! For the first half of the show, we talk with FFRF attorney and Director of Strategic Response Andrew Seidel  about our visit to the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC. Andrew describes many of the inaccuracies and exaggerations in the less-than-objective institution. Then FFRF Director of Communications Amit Pal  interviews Annie Laurie and Dan about the 40-year his...

We have a fun "April Fool's" show this week. After discussing the partial (but strong) victory in our Indiana school nativity lawsuit with FFRF attorney Sam Grover , we hear Irish comic Dave Allen rip into the Catholic Church. Then we talk with New Orleans "dark humor" novelist Patty Friedmann  about her new book, Organized Panic , which comically explores the challenges of living in a "mashed up"...

We protest Kentucky Governor Bevin's declaration of "Christian Heritage Week." After we celebrate freethinking songwriter Stephen Sondheim's 88th birthday, FFRF Attorney Patrick Elliott tells us about the Ten Commandments plaque that we got removed from a Minnesota County courthouse. Annie Laurie memorializes former Wisconsin Attorney General Bronson La Follette, a friend to freethought. Then we t...

We mourn the death of scientist and atheist Stephen Hawking. FFRF attorney Ryan Jayne  tells us about stopping a North Carolina County from paying for a church mural. Communications Director Amit Pal  warns us about the scary nomination of extremist evangelical Mike Pompeo for Secretary of State. Then we talk with Toni Van Pelt , president of the National Organization for Women, about equality, in...

Harvard cognitive psychologist, linguist and popular science author Steven Pinker ( The Language Instinct, The Blank Slate, The Better Angels of Our Nature ) gave his very first public talk about his new book, Enlightenment Now , at FFRF's 40th annual convention in Madison, Wisconsin. His optimistic talk is replayed in full on this week's show while Dan and Annie Laurie are traveling to the Centra...

What's wrong with evangelist Billy Graham lying in state in the nation's capitol? Nonbelief Relief awards $75,000 in spring grants, FFRF announces four student essay contests, and unveils the new Avijit Roy Memorial Award in honor of the Bangladesh-American freethought author who was hacked to death by Islamic extremists in 2015 for his nonbelief. Then we talk with champion swimmer and freethinkin...

"Thoughts and prayers" are no response to the tragedy of gun violence. Billy Graham's death leaves a legacy of divisiveness and disrespect for state/church separation. After discussing the Russians using religion as a tool to meddle in US policies, we talk with the founder of Jordanian Atheists, Mohammed al Khadra , about the challenges of being a nonbeliever in a country that outlaws blasphemy an...

Is Vice President Mike Pence delusional when he thinks Jesus is talking to him? Is a Georgia senator's proposed law (in response to FFRF victories) to allow public school teachers to pray with students constitutional? After discussing the recent Florida shooting, FFRF's "In Science We Trust" billboard in Atlanta, and hearing a child prompted by parents to call FFRF to tell us we are "going to hell...

We analyze the "Christian nationalism" remarks made by President Trump and others at today's National Prayer Breakfast. After reporting an FFRF state/church victory in Tulsa, Oklahoma, stopping police and firefighters from raising money for the Salvation Army while in uniform, we celebrate poet Philip Appleman's 91st birthday by hearing his poem "Fleas." Then we talk with Muhammad Syed , president...

HUD Secretary Ben Carson goes after FFRF on his Facebook page after we filed a lawsuit in response to his dodging of FOIA records requests relating to a White House bible study. FFRF attorney Colin McNamara tells us about another FOIA lawsuit we just filed over a Kentucky jailer who is refusing to provide documents in our investigation of prayer services at a county jail. Then we talk with Camille...

After analyzing President Donald Trump's unctuous, divisive and erroneous remarks at a right-wing "March For Life," we dissect Vice President Mike Pence's biblically based address to the Israeli Kenesset where he mistook myth for historical fact while embracing the "people of the book." FFRF attorney Sam Grover tells us about positive developments in our lawsuit challenging a Texas judge who force...

FFRF Senior Attorney Patrick Elliott tells us about the federal lawsuit we filed today demanding that HUD Secretary Ben Carson waive fees in our FOIA request for information related to White House Bible Studies. We discuss evangelical hypocrisy, Trump's racism, FFRF's "In Science We Trust" billboard in Atlanta and Ron Reagan's FFRF ad running on MSNBC. Then we talk with 11-yr-old Bailey Harris and...

Dan Barker announces the publication of his new book, Free Will Explained . After hearing about FFRF in the news and complaining about a Tennessee pastor who sexually molested a high-school girl and then apologized to his church to a standing ovation, we learn the connection between the anniversary of Otis Redding's "Sittin' On The Dock of the Bay" and Dan Barker's piano playing. Then, after heari...

The first-ever Atheist Flag, erected by FFRF member Richard Gagnon , appeared this week in Somersworth, New Hampshire. We announce the debut broadcast of FFRF's new TV Show, "Freethought Matters," beginning Sunday on CBS in Madison, Wisconsin. FFRF attorney Ryan Jayne tells us about stopping a $5,000 city grant to a church in Sitka, Alaska. Then we speak with former Southern Baptist minister John...

When U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) courageously resisted Trump's "smear against women" Tweet that she learned about during a Congressional bible study, Annie Laurie told Gillibrand: "The bible is even worse than Trump!" After hearing Iranian-born feminist and atheist activist Maryam Namazie 's acceptance speech for the Hank Zumach "Freedom From Fundamentalist Religion" award, we listen to j...

FFRF's Winter Solstice signs have been erected around the country, one of which was vandalized in Olympia, Washington. Our full-page New York Times ad ran today, during a time when more Americans consider "Christmas" to be a purely secular holiday. After FFRF Legal Fellow Colin McNamara  tells us about religious instruction in Wisconsin prisons, we listen to a number of irreverent and moving songs...

Many victories to report on the eve of Bill of Rights Day: IRS Clergy Housing Allowance enjoined, Texas Judge rebuffed, Trump's theocratic judicial nominee rejected, nativity scene moved from Pennsylvania city property, Christian mentoring program stopped in South Carolina schools. After celebrating the defeat of the religious ideologue Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, we talk with Diana Sabill...

FFRF's secular Winter Solstice displays are going up around the country. FFRF attorney Chris Line  tells us about the 350+ letters we mailed to high-school superintendents warning them of the proselytizing Todd Becker Foundation that preys on students. After celebrating the birthdays of actress Hermione Gingold and British comedian Kate Smurthwaite, we talk with Lubna Ahmed , who had to flee Iraq...