The Family Skeptical

We begin the episode talking about the LA fires and our inability to cover current events. And then we speak with Katie about Camp Quest, a summer camp founded on the conviction that all kids deserve fun, friends, and freethought. Not only does Katie give great advice about knowing when kids are ready for sleepaway camp, but the whole mission and vibe of Camp Quest is a lesson in treating children...

***Heads up - This was recorded before the LA fires. Pops and I lived in LA longer than anywhere else and we've been watching friends evacuate and places we loved destroyed. We'll be posting where we're donating soon, and we'll share if we have anything useful to say other than that this is horrible in ways we truly couldn't imagine. We started the episode talking about a bit of our holiday travel...

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Good job making it through the end of 2024! We began talking about the kids' adventures in basketball and swimming. And then we spoke a little more with Paul Golin, Executive Director of the Society for Humanistic Judaism about my secular Judaism crisis. And finally, we discussed our interview on One Bad Mother, Biz asking if we have any fun, and all the things we...

We began with some musings about our Thanksgiving trip and what the boys thought of our last topic. And then we spoke with Paul Golin, Executive Director of the Society for Humanistic Judaism. We talked about having an expansive definition of what it means to be Jewish, secular Judaism, Pops's interest in igtheism, and so much more. I found his notes about the challenges of building community and...

Heads up - this was recorded before the election, but we only discuss it very briefly at the end in a way that hopefully won't make you feel more awful than you already do. That being said, we began with a story about watching Tig Notaro specials with the boys and what an amazing role model she is. Then Moms explains how she thinks the atheist community could have done better. We went after the wr...

We started out talking about our visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - the big feelings it created in us as parents about the hopes and dreams we have for our kids and ourselves. And what does success really mean anyway? Then I included a bit more of our interview with Betsy Deville about her book, Grief for Atheists: A Compassionate Guide with Evidence-Based Strategies to Navigate Your Loss....

Squeee! First interview in the books. We started out talking about seeing The Wild Robot with the boys. And then we spoke with Betsy Deville about her book, Grief for Atheists: A Compassionate Guide with Evidence-Based Strategies to Navigate Your Loss. Grief may not sound like a fun topic, but discussing ways to handle grief for kids and parents with an incredibly thoughtful woman was a blast. Sho...

Do one topic I thought. Make it short and easy I thought. Annnndddd… cue the Divine Mocker (who definitely doesn't exist, but when things go off the rails it makes me happy to think about someone getting joy from my situation). We started out talking about how our move has shown us just how adaptable the kids can be while at the same time being perfectly themselves. And then we discuss an episode...

We have been in the thick of moving, and it has been… at time. We didn't even think to mention the weird AirBnBs and hotels we had to stay at. (If you're going to categorize something as a bedroom, it should have a door, right?) But we've been coping, and we discuss how much skepticism has played into handling these kinds of situations better. We also talk about working to be credentialed by the C...

We're back - again with questionable audio issues. If my computer noises are too much for you, skip to the 31:00 mark because they basically resolve in the last topic. We begin by talking about how we choose movies for the boys and use Common Sense Media - probably not as it's intended. Then we briefly return to the topic of posting the 10 Commandments in public schools. And we finish up discussin...

We begin with a long discussion of the boys' feelings about their martial arts classes and Pops' changing perspective on them. Then we review our different feelings about clutter. And we finish up talking about Louisiana's awful new law requiring that the ten commandments be posted in classrooms…twice. This one ran a bit long, but we may need to do a few short ones during the move, so hopefully it...

We start out talking once again about how this whole parenting thing can be rough - this time during a picnic at the kids' new school. Then we review things we might want to discuss with Reader and Go about the Trump verdict. And we finish with book bans (they suck) and a whole lot of librarian love. A little behind-the-scenes: Pops had a bit of a panic attack halfway through recording the episode...

We begin the episode with a big update on Pops' neurodivergence, get derailed on an X-Men tangent, and finish up with a discussion of Trigger Warnings. What is the best way to think about them? (As a heads-up, the section on Trigger Warnings includes some discussion of things that might need a trigger warning, so skip it if you're not in the place to listen.) And finally, I had to dub a few lines...

We start the episode with a discussion of just how hard parenting has been. Then we delve into the topic of whether or not parents should feel proud when their kid doesn't know who Jesus is, and finish up talking about interfaith couples. Could we handle it? Now to links: The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. Relax, It's Just God: How and Why to Talk to Your Kids About Religion W...

We open the episode talking about going to the American Atheists Convention. It was great. We…are not. Then we dive into important things we learned at the conference and finish up discussing the concept of "You're doing a good job" from the One Bad Mother podcast.   While the conference was a blast, this episode is about some serious stuff, so just take note depending on how you're doing and who...

Hi hi hi! I hope we have a few new folks joining us from the American Atheists National Convention, and in classic, I-don't-know-how-calendars-work fashion, we are dropping an episode pretty uncharacteristic of our show. So if you choose to start here, we usually don't go over an hour and throw in two extra mini topics just for funsies. But here we are. We start discussing Readers issues with…read...

We're headed to the American Atheists National Convention. Definitely look for us if you're there. Then we talk about things we want to make sure the boys know about porn. And we finish up discussing sex ed. (And just like we mention on this episode, the best advice we've ever heard is that the sex talk isn't one talk. So we're going to be following up in the next episode with a few more thoughts,...

We begin by discussing a few interesting moments in parenting, including Go's take on Jesus and the problem of evil. Then, in honor of Valentine's Day, we delve into our relationship - what has made it work, how we still don't have it figured out, and just how exhausting polyamory sounds. We finish by talking about the concept of a "soft life" - which seems to be everywhere in religious and secula...

We open the episode discussing our many, many, many, many, many Christmases. And then we get into parenting advice and how we try to think about it skeptically. Instead of introducing a true second topic, we instead introduced a subplot of Pop's incredible work coming to grips with his neurodivergence and the criminal lack of psychological services in most places. Links: Under the Influence with J...

This isn't a real episode - just a compilation of random things. A short check-in. The only part of the segment that the Goblin's ate that was worth fighting for and grabbing back from their grimy fingers. A little chat with Reader and Go - including Go's big Santa revelation. And random musings on our unprofessionality. We are so excited for 2024 and have some really fun topics coming up.  The da...

We had so much fun talking about trad wives and church last week, that we're doing it again! We begin by discussing Reader's tonsillectomy. Then Moms has some expanded thoughts on trad wives and where they could be damaging for their followers. But she's still really likes one of the moms she's following. And then we discuss what to do when teens are interested in going to church.   Now the links:...

This was a really fun recording, and we may have gotten a little loopy at the end of it. We begin discussing our epic week and the complexity of happiness. Then Moms dives into her thoughts on trad wives. And we finish up discussing whether or not we think secular parents should bring their kids to church when their kids express interest. Now the links: Here is the episode of Under the Influence w...

Ooooooohhhhh. It's almost Halloween. And apparently the spooky season is also where spooky things happen to this podcast. (See the description for our last Halloween episode: M MMmmmm. Logic .) We actually don't discuss anything about the holiday because we still don't know how to calendar episodes apparently. But we do give an update on our How To Get Over a Fear of Hell episode, since I was able...

Spoiler alert - we don't know! We start discussing the death of our beloved cat and the weird things that come up at these time as atheists. Then we talk about our own experiences with a fear of hell and what helped us start to escape from that fear. We know everyone is different and none of what worked for us may work for you, but at the very least, we hope you know that if you are dealing with a...

Pops opens the show by surprising Moms with a discussion of our dear dying cat, and then Moms tells two stories from BAHACON, one about Atheist community. And we finish the show discussing how violence against women plays into the conversation about masculinity, ending on a story of who Reader and Go say they want to marry.   And so so many links: This is the group that runs BAHACON .  Gretta Vosp...