Freethought Radio

FFRF's 40th annual convention was a great success! Nonbelief Relief announces $100,000+ in charity to victims of hurricanes Harvey and Irma. We discuss FFRF's amended complaint in our lawsuit challenging President Trump's unconstitutional Executive Order that he claims now allows churches to engage in political activity. Then we hear from FFRF's Honorary President Steven Pinker , the Harvard profe...

For a change of pace while Annie Laurie and Dan are busy with FFRF's 40th annual convention, FFRF's Director of First Impressions Lisa Treu  hosts this week's show featuring music by strong women. Marlene Dietrich, Shelley Segal, Joan Baez, Peggy Seeger, Malvina Reynolds, Kristin Lems, Lena Horne, Ani DiFranco, and more, singing about evolution, equality, the (non)afterlife, peace, Eve, and life a...

This week Annie Laurie, Dan and Andrew answer questions from listeners, such as "How can you be sure there is no supreme being?", "How does the bible compare to Game of Thrones?", "Are you afraid to die?", "How do you reply to 'God bless you'?", and so on. During the second half of the show, we talk with well-known satirical and irreverent singer/songwriter Roy Zimmerman , who will be performing a...

FFRF's Non-Belief Relief announces a $10,000 gift for Houston hurricane relief. We complain about missionaries preying on Alabama students and Rev. Franklin Graham advising coaches to break the law. FFRF attorney Andrew Seidel  describes FFRF's complaint about Florida Senator Marco Rubio tweeting bible verses. Then we talk with Barbara Blaine , founder of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Pries...

What's wrong with Senator Marco Rubio and Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin promoting bible reading? We report a victory removing scripture from a New Mexico public school and talk with FFRF attorney Maddy Ziegler about the 9th-Circuit decision telling a Bremerton, Wa. high-school football coach he cannot pray during games. After talking about romantic nonreligious weddings, we interview University of...

Listen to FFRF attorney Andrew Seidel teach a lesson to White-House bible-thumpers on Fox & Friends. After Annie Laurie and Dan discuss FFRF's statement about the racist tragedy at Charlottesville, Va., we hear the "heathen gospel" song "You Can't Have it Both Ways" by the Tasmanian group Mama K and the Big Love. Then we talk with  Athena Salman , one of the nation's few openly "out" atheist legis...

Hear moving excerpts of speeches at the Conference on Freedom of Conscience and Expression which took place in London in July, including Maryam Namazie, Bonya Ahmed, Zineb El Rhazoui, Mohammed Alkhadra, A.C. Grayling and Richard Dawkins. After enjoying the atheist song "Like Moths To The Flame" by the Tasmanian group Mama K and the Big Love, we talk with Óscar Pineda , vice president of Guatemala...

Clarence Darrow statue (paid for by FFRF) is unveiled in Dayton, Tennessee, at the site of the 1925 Scopes Trial. FFRF attorney Sam Grover  testifies before a Wisconsin congressional committee opposing a bill to limit abortion training in Wisconsin schools. After hearing Rupert Brooke's irreverent poem "Heaven," set to music by Dan Barker, we talk with Egyptian-American ex-Muslim Noura Embabi, pre...

This week's show was pre-recorded to air while Dan and Annie Laurie are in England for an international conference on blasphemy and freedom of expression. FFRF staff attorney Andrew Seidel  joins co-presidents Barker and Gaylor to talk about the perennial question, "How Can We Be Good Without God?" during FFRF's "Ask an Atheist" Facebook Live broadcast, taking questions from the audience.

What does the bible say about abortion? Co-presidents Annie Laurie Gaylor, Dan Barker , and FFRF attorney Liz Cavell answer that question during FFRF's new weekly "Ask an Atheist" series on Facebook Live, taking questions from the audience. Then we speak with Ed Gogol , president of Final Choices Illinois, about the 1-year milestones for "End of Life" laws in California and Canada, as well as the...

FFRF attorney Rebecca Markert  updates us on the appeal by the City of Pensacola of our successful lawsuit over a Christian cross in a city park. FFRF attorney Andrew Seidel discusses the impact of of the congressional appropriations bill directing the IRS not to enforce the Johnson Amendment that prohibits churches from engaging in political activity. Then we talk with actor John de Lancie  (best...

Kentucky student activist Lydia Mason , whose essay "Breaking The Chains" won FFRF's David Hudak Memorial Freethinking Students of Color High School Essay Competition, tells us about the challenges of being a minority within a minority in a highly religious state. Then we talk with a former preacher who is now the president of The Clergy Project, Drew Bekius . His new book, which narrates his exod...

Cardinal George Pell of Australia, highest-ranking Vatican official (whom Dan Barker has debated) is once again accused of sexual misconduct with minors. After dissecting the fallout from the bad Supreme Court Trinity Lutheran decision, we talk with FFRF attorney Ryan Jayne about his efforts to "Educate Congress" lobbying (about vouchers and the Johnson Amendment) with FFRF attorney Patrick Elliot...

FFRF Victory! Staff attorney Madeline Ziegler joins us to talk about our recent victory in federal court removing a 34-foot-tall Christian cross from a city park in Pensacola, Florida, a decision that has upset prominent evangelicals like Franklin Graham, Mike Huckabee, Bill Donohue and Marco Rubio. After hearing Lena Horne's performance of the irreverent Yip Harburg song "Ain't It The Truth," we...

Freethought Radio bonus! This is the audio of the second show of FFRF's new Facebook Live video "Ask An Atheist," which aired June 14 at 12:00 noon Central. Hosts Annie Laurie Gaylor, Dan Barker, and Andrew Seidel address the question often asked by the religious right: "Why doesn't FFRF go after Islam?" Then they take questions from the audience.

After honoring "Champions of the First Amendment" Roy Torcaso (1961, Torcaso vs. Watkins ) and Ed and Ellery Schempp (1963 Abington vs. Schempp ), we talk about atheist rock climber Alex Honnold, who this month made history by ascending Yosemite's El Capitan free-style with no rope. We hear Roy Zimmerman's hilarious song "Creation Science 101," and then talk about the 1925 Scopes Trial with histor...

Freethought Radio bonus! This is the audio of the debut of FFRF's new Facebook Live video "Ask An Atheist," which aired June 7 at 12:00 noon Central. Hosts Annie Laurie Gaylor, Dan Barker, and Andrew Seidel discuss each of the Ten Commandments and how they relate to morality and law. Then they take questions from the audience.

We announce FFRF's new "Ask an Atheist" Facebook Live show. Is the Kentucky Governor right to fight crime with prayer? Should religious hospitals be exempt from pension-plan regulations? FFRF attorney Patrick Elliott tells us about the recent Supreme Court ERISA decision that privileges religious companies and thereby endangers their employees. After hearing the irreverent song "Experiment," by th...

FFRF attorney Andrew Seidel  tells us how we know George Washington did not say "So help me, God" at his inauguration. Dan Barker performs the song "Poor Little Me" that he co-wrote with Broadway composer Charles Strouse, whose birthday is this week. Then we talk with internationally acclaimed sculptor and atheist Zenos Frudakis  about the bronze statue of Clarence Darrow he is making, which will...

We announce our full-page ad in the New York Times: "Mr. President, we are not a nation of believers." A Virginia sheriff removed a bible verse from police vehicles after hearing from FFRF. Staff attorney Patrick Elliott explains why Trump's budget is a disaster for education, and FFRF's thoughtful Communications Director, Amit Pal , discusses the religiously motivated bombing in Manchester, Engla...

We celebrate the birthday of Bertrand Russell by reading his secular Ten Commandments. Attorney Sam Grover , who is indeed messin' with Texas, updates us about FFRF's lawsuit over a judge who forces prayer on his courtroom that prompted the Attorney General to attempt to intervene on behalf of the Christian judge. Then we chat with Indiana freethinker and veteran Chris Bontrager , whose initial re...

FFRF stops bible classes in a Tennessee elementary school. After commenting on President Trump picking Teresa Manning, an avid antiabortionist who said "contraception doesn't work," to lead the nation's largest family-planning program, we talk with Michael Nugent  of Atheists of Ireland about blasphemy laws, and hear actor Stephen Fry's comments that caused him to be investigated for blasphemy. Th...

The first Thursday of May, the National Day of Prayer, is actually the National Day of Reason. Today we announce FFRF's newest lawsuit challenging President Trump's Executive Order (signed on the National Day of Prayer in the Rose Garden) attempting to curtail the Johnson Amendment that limits politicking by churches. After hearing Dan Barker's song "Reason," we talk with a brave West Virginia mom...

Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" on HULU is the freethought cultural event this week. We complain about the San Antonio mayor's remark that poverty stems from a broken "relationship with their Creator." After Michael Newdow's hilarious song "My God Is In My Soul," incorporating hate messages on his answering machine, we analyze what is wrong with the upcoming National Day of Prayer. Then we...

President Trump says "we are a nation of believers," creationist Ken Ham calls FFRF "liars," and Bill O'Reilly (who has bashed FFRF) gets dumped from FOX News, oh my! FFRF staff attorney Andrew Seidel  describes the escalating "war of words" between Ken Ham and FFRF over the Kentucky Ark Encounter. Then we talk with an authentic American hero, Ishmael Jaffree , FFRF's first "Freethinker of the Yea...