Freethought Radio

We talk about Trump's cabinet picks and report on state/church news around the country. FFRF's Senior Litigation Counsel Sam Grover joins us to talk about our recent complaint over Oklahoma Superintendent of Education Ryan Walters pushing religion in public schools. Then, we hear Annie Laurie Gaylor and Maryam Namazie (Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain) debate the topic "Feminism and Religion are Incompatible" at Cambridge University last week.

As we prepare for President-Elect Donald Trump's second term, we hear a speech from Dr. Bradley Onishi, author of Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism -- And What Comes Next, about the growing threat of Christian nationalism.

After the election results, FFRF is determined to keep fighting. We hear the song "Keep Marching On" from the Broadway musical "Suffs." Then, Bonnie Garmus, author of the award-winning best-selling feminist/freethought novel Lessons in Chemistry, tells the charming and funny story about how she lost her faith as a teenager in the Presbyterian Church.

A scary show this week. We report our Denver billboard saying: "Keep Freedom Alive: Stop Project 2025." Dan talks about his trip to Nigeria to visit humanists and freethinkers combating superstition in that country. Annie Laurie describes the danger to women's rights in the current election. Then we talk with Alex Aronson, founder and president of Court Accountability, who describes the scary details of Project 2025.

After reporting on state/church news and victories in Florida, California, and North Carolina, FFRF Legal Director Patrick Elliott describes FFRF's new lawsuit challenging proposed bible distribution in Oklahoma public schools. Then, we hear author and journalist Katherine Stewart accepting FFRF's "Freethought Heroine" award, warning of the dangers of religious nationalism.

We announce FFRF’s new lawsuit against bible-toting Okla. state Supt. Ryan Walters. Producer Leo Costello interviews "Democracy in Chains" author McClean, who is touring with "Bad Faith" documentary screenings. Veteran reporter Linda Greenhouse tells us how some justices are engaging in "grievance Christianity."

After reporting state/church news in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Alaska, we devote a segment to the dangers of the proposed Christian-right authoritarian "Project 2025." Then, we hear the engaging speech by Ron Reagan (son of the former president) given at FFRF's annual convention last month, where he tells us about the authoritarian threats to our planet and to democracy, and what we can do about those threats.

Coach Deion Sanders is at it again, and FFRF is again complaining to the University of Colorado about his mixing religion and government. We report state/church complaints and victories in Mississippi, Missouri and Texas. After hearing Roy Zimmerman's hilarious satirical song, “I Want a Marriage Like They Had in the Bible,” FFRF Senior Policy Counsel Ryan Jayne and State Advocacy Specialist Ryan Dudley tell us about the FFRF Action Fund's work tracking and influencing legislation affecting the rights of nonbelievers, and how you can make a difference in your community.

Annie Laurie reports on religiously motivated abortion referenda in seven states around the country, as well as the repressive 19th-century Comstock Act that is still invoked today to limit women's rights as it did with Margaret Sanger. We hear Dan Barker's tribute song to Margaret Sanger called "No Gods, No Masters." Then we speak with scholar Matthew D. Taylor about his new book about the January 6 insurrection, The Violent Take it By Force: The Christian Movement that is Threatening Our Democracy.

After reporting state/church news in New York, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri and Virginia, we hear Dan Barker's song "Life is Good!" performed by Tahira Clayton and the Godless Gospel singers. Then, we speak with Tia Levings, author of the best-selling book A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy.

FFRF Legal Director Patrick Elliot and FFRF Legal Fellow Hirsh Joshi join us to talk about state-church developments in Utah, Alabama, Colorado, Missouri, Tennessee and Minnesota. Then, we speak with Michigan State University professor Josh Cowen about his new book, The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers.

After news updates, the hosts recap the "Celebrate Dissent" conference in Oslo about ex-Muslims. Annie Laurie Gaylor then interviews co-host Dan Barker about "Contraduction," his new book on "the death of the Design Argument."

After summarizing secular activism and victories around the country, we talk about secularism and Hindu nationalism in India (the world's largest secular democracy) with our two guests: activist Shabnam Hashmi from India and Professor Barry A. Kosmin from here in the United States. Interspersed through the show is the music of freethinking jazz legend Charlie "Bird" Parker, whose birth anniversary we celebrate today.

We announce FFRF's Chicago billboard saying "Keep Freedom Alive: Stop Project 2025." After reporting state/church complaints and victories in Texas, Missouri, Florida, and Arkansas, we announce FFRF Action Fund's "Secularist of the Week." Then, we take a time machine back to 2006, our first year of broadcast, to hear our first interview with philosopher Daniel C. Dennett, the year of release of his blockbuster book Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon.

After reporting on efforts to keep state and church separate in Tennessee, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Florida, we get acquainted with FFRF's new multimedia producer Leo Costello. Then, South Carolina humanist and atheist debater Herb Silverman, founder and president emeritus of the Secular Coalition for America, tells us "How to talk to Christians."

After reporting on state/church news around the country, FFRF's Senior Counsel Sam Grover tells us about the FFRF court victory against the Texas governor that took nine years to finalize! We hear the song "Because" by Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir. Then, we speak with "Reverend Billy" (William Talen), the "pastor" of the secular Earth Church in New York City who uses performance art to combat consumerism and save the planet.

We describe our legal efforts to gain information about the attempt by the Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Education to put the bible into every classroom, and similar attempts in Tennessee to inject religion into government. We hear Rupert Brooke's poem "Heaven" (from the point of view of a fish) set to music by Dan Barker. Then we talk with Cara Fitzpatrick, author of the new book, The Death of Public School: How Conservatives Won the War Over Education in America.

Project 2025 and "divine intervention" are discussed, as well as state/church complaints and victories in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Illinois, New Jersey and Tennessee. FFRF Anne Nicol Gaylor Legal Fellow Sammi Lawrence joins us to talk about our legal victory allowing a nonreligious after-school group to meet on campus alongside the religious Good News Club in Memphis, Tenn. Then, we talk with evolutionary psychologist Will M. Gervais about his new book Disbelief: The Origins of Atheism in a Religious Species.

Christian nationalist rhetoric is heating up, especially regarding the assassination attempt of Donald Trump. We report on a state/church victory in Tennessee and state/church complaints in New Mexico, Texas, Missouri, Kentucky and Indiana. After hearing a hilarious take on the bible by comedian Robin Williams, we speak with Cait West, author of the new book RIFT: A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy.

We report on FFRF's efforts to keep Christian nationalists in check around the country. Honoring the anniversary of the birth of the anti-fascist singer/songwriter Woody Guthrie, we hear the funk/soul version of "This Land is Your Land" performed by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. Then, FFRF's Legal Director Patrick Elliott describes our lawsuit challenging the Louisiana law requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in all public-school classrooms and our efforts to rein in Oklahoma's Christian nationalist state superintendent of public instruction.