Freethought Radio

FFRF wins major federal court victory! Also fifty-five freethought billboards in Sacramento! We talk with Judy Saint of the Sacramento chapter of the Freedom From Religion Foundation about the many local nonbelievers whose faces and phrases appear on billboards all over the country. Then we talk with FFRF’s attorney Rich Bolton and retired IRS attorney Robert Baty about FFRF’s significant federal...

This week we celebrate Thanksgiving with gratitude in the face of the almost impossible fragility of human existence, and listen to Shelley Segal’s “Apocalyptic Love Song." We hear journalist Jamila Bey, of “Sex, Politics and Religion: SPAR with Jamila Bey,” addressing FFRF’s convention. Then student activist Zack Kopplin tells us how he is battling creationism in Louisiana.

Three presidents! This week we play President Obama reading Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address without saying “under God,” and then hear John F. Kennedy’s famous speech about keeping state and church separate. Then we talk with North Carolina investigative TV reporter Stuart Watson about pastors who abuse the IRS “Housing Allowance,” and have other “financial questions” in their ministries.

After hearing a fun news story about our billboard in Janesville, Wisconsin that says “Enjoy Life Now: There is no afterlife,” we dissect the oral arguments heard in the Supreme Court "Greece vs. Galloway” case dealing with prayer at city council. Then we talk with a legal legend, a true hero of freethought, the plucky Nebraska Senator Ernie Chambers (who has served since 1971), whose 1983 lawsuit...

This week we announce FFRF's new lawsuit in state court, challenging official city prayer and City Chaplain in Pismo Beach, California. We hear Dan Savage's "Emperor Has No Clothes" award acceptance speech. Then we talk with Peter Boghossian, author of the new best-seller A Manual For Creating Atheists.

Happy Birthday Annie Laurie! We hear the Scottish ballad "Annie Laurie," then listen to a 1980 interview of Annie Laurie Gaylor (who was 24) talking about the harm of religion to women. We also celebrate the birthday of Bad Religion's Greg Graffin by playing the punk-rock tune "God's Love." Then we talk with Jesse Galef, Communications Director of the Secular Student Alliance, about the difficulti...

Freethought Radio will play an excerpt of Arizona State Rep. Juan Mendez' Emperor Has No Clothes Award acceptance speech at the recent national FFRF convention. Mendez is the only "out" atheist in elected state government and talks about why he gave a freethought invocation before the Arizona State Legislature last spring and what happened when he did. Candace R. Gorham, author of the new book, "T...

Julia Sweeney says "OMG, there is no God!" on FFRF's Times-Square billboard, while Oprah Winfrey insults atheist swimmer Diana Nyad by claiming nonbelievers cannot experience "awe." We laugh at the mixing of religion and government with the government shutdown, hear the brave 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai defending education as an antidote to religious violence. Then we talk with scientist Richard...

This week we celebrate "Freethought Day," the anniversary of the October 12, 1692 end of the Salem Witch Trials, and the October 12, 1872 birthday of freethinking English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. After "FFRF in the News," we talk with professor Brian Bolton, who has endowed FFRF's graduate student essay contest, about the inefficacy of prayer and the myth that America is a "Christian natio...

  36th Annual FFRF Convention wrap-up. Announcing Steven Pinker as new Honorary President of FFRF. Tennessee PTA prayer nixed. Five freethinking composers with birthdays this week! This week we talk with Aisha Goss, Deputy Director of the Secular Coalition of America.

"Why does all my money have to say 'In God We Trust'?" This week we challenge the motto on U.S. currency as well as on license plates. We hear a young Ellery Schempp in 1963 being interviewed by Eric Sevareid on CBS News about the historic Abington v. Schempp decision by the Supreme Court outlawing bible reading in public schools. Then we talk with Guy P. Harrison, author of the book, 50 Simple Qu...

FFRF tells high court to stop city prayer. We celebrate the equinox and end the summer by celebrating the birthday of nonbelieving composer George Gershwin, who wrote "Summertime" and "It Ain't Necessarily So." Then we discuss the amicus filed by FFRF in the Greece, NY, city-prayer case before the Supreme Court, with our two staff attorneys who drafted the brief: Patrick Elliott and Andrew Seidel.

INFIDELS! We hear the only known recording of journalist H. L. Mencken, admitting he was an agnostic, commenting on his coverage of the 1925 Scopes "monkey trial." Then we hear Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the ex-Muslim Somali author of Infidel and Nomad, give her acceptance speech of FFRF's "Emperor Has No Clothes" Award.

We stop football prayer and expose Hobby Lobby’s “crafty” and misleading ads about the founding fathers. Then we talk with Dan Savage, author and founder of It Gets Better, about his new book,  American Savage: Insights, Slights, and Fights on Faith, Sex, Love, and Politics.

"The bases are loaded," as a federal judge this week gave FFRF the green light to proceed in our 3rd ongoing lawsuit against the IRS. On the second half of the show, we interview Joe Muto, a former employee of Fox News and an associate producer of The O'Reilley Factor, author of the new book An Atheist in the Foxhole: A Liberal's Eight-Year Odyssey Inside the Heart of the Right-Wing Media. (Photo...

State/church whistleblowers We celebrate the 93rd anniversary of Women's Equality Day and the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. We talk about FFRF's state/church activism, including this week's federal court victory upholding standing to proceed in our IRS electioneering lawsuit. Then we talk with Hawaii state/church activists Holly Huber and Mitch Kahle who, as whi...

Government prayer is run amok! Hear updates about FFRF complaints in Texas and Alabama, as well as the Cullman County "Prayer Caravan" saga, in which the governor takes sides against FFRF. Then we interview Susan Jacoby about her newly released book, The Great Agnostic: Robert Ingersoll and American Freethought.

This week we hear a sneak preview of our upcoming convention with music and commentary from Julia Sweeney and Jill Sobule's "Jill & Julia Show." We report our victory in the Ball State University "intelligent design" controversy, and hear of FFRF complaints over state church violations in Alabama. Then we talk with FFRF summer legal intern Chuck Roslof, who tells us about the problems that result...

"Why Tolerate Religion?" Guest Brian Leiter What is the afterlife to a fish? To answer that question, we play the debut of Dan Barker's new song, "Heaven," setting to music the poetry of Rupert Brooke. State/church entanglements in Alabama and Texas are in the news. Then we talk with University of Chicago Law Professor Brian Leiter, author of the new book, Why Tolerate Religion? - See more at: htt...

Nothing fails like governmental prayer! This week we point out that today's Florida governor got it just as wrong as those who prayed at the 1774 Continental Congress. We also report on the fact that atheists make up only 0.02% of the federal prison population. Then we talk with philosopher Lawrence Shapiro, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, about miracles, science, and religion.

This week we report on FFRF's victory in Ohio, removing a Jesus painting from Jackson High School. We hear George Carlin's monologue on God and Religion. Then we talk with Mandisa Thomas, president of Black Nobelievers, who is planning the historic "Blackout Rally" in New York On July 27, celebrating the contributions of nonbelievers of color.

This week we talk about abortion and the religious right in Ireland, Texas and Wisconsin. Then we interview science professor Jerry Coyne, author of Why Evolution is True, about the ongoing controversy at Ball State University (Indiana) where a creationist professor is preaching Intelligent Design in the science classroom.

Independence From Religion! On this July 4 weekend, we celebrate our nation's independence from religion. Then we talk with a former pentecostal preacher of 25 years from Louisiana, Jerry Dewitt, whose new book is out: Hope After Faith: An Ex-Pastor's Journey From Belief to Atheism.

Tools For Thinking. This week we talk about songwriter Frank Loesser, immigration, the Boy Scouts ban on atheists, and religious symbols on government property. Then we interview philosopher Daniel C. Dennett about his new book, Intuition Pumps and Other Tools For Thinking.

Arizona State Representative Juan Mendez "Christmas is early this year!" Texas Governor Perry signed into law this month the "Merry Christmas" bill, encouraging public schools to promote religion, taking pot shots at FFRF. Hear coverage of our Florida school distribution lawsuit. Then we talk with Arizona State Representative Juan Mendez, who opened a session of the House of Representatives with a...