Sat, 29 November 2008  Featured guest is Fred Karger, founder of Californians Against Hate, who allegations of unreported Mormon activity to help pass Prop 8, banning same-sex marriage in California, are being investigated by the Fair Political Practices Commission, which oversees state campaign finance laws. Also interviewed will be Southern California FFRF member Mark Monninger, to discuss the uproar over FFRF's "Imagine No Religion" billboard in Cucamonga. The paid-for, contracted-for message was removed after only a week by the billboard company amid allegations that the City had recommended its removal. FFRF's new lawsuit in federal court suing the City of Rancho Cucamonga will also be discussed! |
Sat, 22 November 2008 Douglas Krueger, author of What is Atheism? Also, Illegal religious displays are discussed with one Ohio member. |
Sat, 15 November 2008 Author of Why I Became an Atheist: A Former Preacher Rejects ChristianityJohn W. Loftus, a seminary-trained minister in the Restoration Movement of Churches, will talk about why, after earning a Master of Divinity degree and other theological degrees, he realized he could no longer believe in biblical claims. The hosts will also discuss the Freedom From Religion Foundation's newest lawsuit, filed this week in state court in Denver, suing Colorado Gov. Jim Ritter over his National Day of Prayer proclamations. |
Sat, 8 November 2008 Topics: Post-Election: State of the Supreme Court & Judiciary & Postmortems on Religious referendaNan Aron, expert head of the judicial watchdog, Alliance for Justice, will be this week's guest, to talk about what Nov. 4 will mean for the judiciary. Dan & Annie Laurie will comment on the Nov. 4 fate of religious-right sponsored referenda. |
Sat, 1 November 2008 Topic: Prop 8 & the Religious War Against Gay RightsThe show will be devoted to an expose of the religious backing of Proposition 8, to deny same-sex marriage to California residents via a Nov. 4 ballot initiative. Listen for clips of religious ads, and of religious leaders inveighing against gay marriage. FFRF Lifetime Member and Gay Atheist founder Dick Hewetson will be interviewed about Proposition 8 and the religious war against gay rights |
Sat, 25 October 2008 Topic: 50 Reasons Not to Believe in a GodGuy P. Harrison, author of the new book, "50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God," will gently debunk some of those reasons. The latest twists in the epidemic of religion in politics and church politicking will be discussed. As an antidote to all that religion, the hosts will air the 2008 "Moment of Bedlam" from FFRF's annual national NonPrayer Breakfast! |
Sat, 18 October 2008 Topic: Society Without GodProf. Phil Zuckerman talks about his hot-off-the-press book, Society Without God, which refutes the myth that religion is necessary for happy citizens and moral societies. Zuckerman, an FFRF member, cites statistical evidence showing the "happiness index" tends to be much higher in godless societies, and offers Scandinavia as a prime example. The broadcast also looks at the contributions of famous freethinkers born in October. |
Sat, 11 October 2008 Annie Laurie and Dan talk to author Larry Beinhart about his new book Salvation Boulevard. Plus, details of ffrf's new "Day of Prayer" lawsuit. |
Sat, 4 October 2008 This week's show will preview Bill Maher's irreverent film on religion, "Religulous," and play audios of the infamous "witchcraft" prayer by Gov. Sarah Palin's Kenyan minister-friend and her response. For a change of pace, "Women Without Superstition" will be showcased in an interview featuring Annie Laurie Gaylor, as editor of the first anthology of women freethinkers. |
Sat, 27 September 2008 Journalist and Newsweek contributing editor Eleanor Clift will join Freethought Radio to talk about her new book, "Two Weeks of Life." The book is part memoir, tracing the last days of her husband, Tom Brazaitis, who died of cancer in 2005. Mr. Brazaitis, a well-known journalist, was a longtime FFRF member and, as Ms. Clift writes, "an unwavering atheist." She parallels Tom's last two weeks, with the Terri Schiavo debate occurring over the same time period. Also interviewed: state/church activist and Foundation member Carl Silverman, about getting an "Imagine No Religion" billboard posted in Harrisburg, Penn., last week. |
Sat, 20 September 2008 Feminist icon and atheist Robin Morgan will be interviewed about the 40th anniversary of the first Miss America pageant protest, which Robin organized in 1968, among other free-ranging topics. Ms. Morgan is Ms. Magazine's former editor, now consulting editor and author of the classic "Sisterhood is Powerful," as well as "Fighting Words: A Toolkit for Combating the Religious Right." Religion seeping into current politics will come under analysis in "Theocracy Alert." |
Sat, 13 September 2008 Dan Barker will change hats from interviewer to interviewee to talk about his new book, "Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists" (Sept. 2008, Ulysses Press). And Freethought Radio will be joined by a member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation in Phoenix who helped FFRF place five billboards saying "Imagine No Religion" to talk about both the censorship encountered--and the fun! |
Sat, 6 September 2008 Topic: Abortion and the Religious RightThis week's Freethought Radio will interview the campaign manager of the organization working against Measure 11, a nationally-watched referendum to ban abortion which will be on South Dakota's Nov. 4 ballot. The show will also cover more religion in politics at the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, and analyze the Assembly of God beliefs of McCain's vice-presidential pick. |
Sat, 30 August 2008 Freethought Radio interviews Denver attorney Robert R. Tiernan about
why religion should stay out of politics. Bob, who has taken many
lawsuits on behalf of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and is a
lifelong Democrat, got a lot of media attention for protesting the
interfaith worship service at the Democratic National Convention. FFRF
co-president Dan Barker's new book, Godless, is announced, with the Foreword by Richard Dawkins read by Brian Turany.
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Sat, 23 August 2008 This week Freethought Radio will talk with Nebraska's most famous state
senator, Ernie Chambers, a nonreligious legislator and peoples'
advocate, about what's happening with his lawsuit suing "God" over
"acts of God." Also interviewed will be The Nation's columnist, Katha Pollitt, about her recent religion in politics piece, "Flocking to Faith." The Saddleback church "debate" will be briefly parsed. Comments[0] |
Sat, 16 August 2008 This week Freethought Radio will talk with Julia Cicci, a University
ROTC cadet and unbeliever, who recently delivered a nonreligious
invocation at her ROTC commissioning ceremony. Also interviewed will be
FFRF's articulate legal intern, Sarah Braasch, who will talk about
growing up in the Jehovah Witnesses church and why she left it. |
Sat, 9 August 2008 This week Freethought Radio will talk with state/church litigant Steve
Trunk about a recent development in the Mt. Soledad cross challenge,
including the bogus attempt to disguise the 43-foot-tall cross in San
Diego as a war memorial. The cohosts discuss the grave implications of
a hostile ruling by an appeals court in the Freedom From Religion
Foundation's important challenge of pervasive religiosity in healthcare
by the Veterans Administration. The contributions of august
freethinkers born in early August will also be featured. |
Sat, 2 August 2008 This week Freethought Radio talks with Jon O'Brien, president of Catholics For Choice (not all Catholics are alike), about his broad investigative indictment of William Donohue's obnoxious Catholic League, and with Ryan Valentine of the Texas Freedom Network about the troublesome plan to teach bible classes in Texas schools. |
Sat, 26 July 2008 Since it's summertime and the living is easy, Freethought Radio will play an excerpt from Julia Sweeney's hilarious CD, "Letting Go of God." After a quick Theocracy Alert, Mike Christensen of Seattle will be interviewed. Mike, 28, is an FFRF Lifetime Member who will talk about why he is a freethinker and is sponsoring the current "Imagine No Religion" billboard in Seattle. |
Sat, 19 July 2008 Tune in to hear the inside story about the young Orlando student whom Catholics have accused of committing a "hate crime" for not eating a communion wafer! And listen to Sarah Braasch talk about how some public-funded senior centers are imposing prayer on senior citizens and why that is illegal. |
Mon, 14 July 2008 Guest: David MillsAuthor: Atheist Universe: The Thinking Person's Answer to Christian Fundamentalism Freethought Radio will discuss "atheist in a foxhole" Jeremy Hall's federal lawsuit against the military, charging that it is promoting Christianity and has discriminated against his rights as a nonbeliever, as covered by CNN this week with Anderson Cooper. Journalist and science writer David Mills, the author of the popular book, "Atheist Universe," will be interviewed about what's wrong with fundamentalism. The show will also highlight contributions by the many famous freethinkers born in July. Hosts: Dan Barker & Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-presidents of the Freedom From Religion Foundation Produced by the Freedom From Religon Foundation |
Sat, 5 July 2008 Freethought Radio will analyze Barack Obama's controversial decision to
rename and expand Bush's "faith-based initiative," using clips from his
announcement this week. It will also interview southern activist Pat
Cleveland, who is in the midst of the annual 4th of July bash in the
heart of the bible belt sponsored every year by the activist Alabama
Freethought Association. Author Nica Lalli will be interviewed about
her memoir about growing up as and embracing being a "nothing" when it
comes to religion. |
Sat, 28 June 2008 Jim McCollum, who at age 10 became the center of a huge legal battle against religious instruction in the public schools, will talk about the 60th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision, McCollum v. Board of Education, keeping schools free of indoctrination. The show will also pay homage to several other anniversaries of significant Supreme court decisions affirming separation between church and state. Listen for cameos of famed litigants Roy Torcaso, Ed Schempp and Vashti McCollum. |
Sat, 21 June 2008 Elissa Wall, author of "Stolen Innocence," will talk about being married against her will at age 14 to an adult in her polygamous Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints community in Utah. Wall was the key witness in the criminal trial which convicted FLDS patriarch Warren Jeffs of being an accomplice to rape. The show will also feature Sarah Braasch, FFRF's legal intern, who will talk about her research into unlawful Christian prayers opening the Wisconsin State Assembly. Her interview will include sound bites of a legislator casting the "Evil One" out of the chambers! |
Sat, 14 June 2008 Michael Shermer, one of America's leading skeptics, will be
interviewed, along with Denver FFRF activist Mike Smith, about the
"Imagine No Religion" billboard he helped get posted for two months
this summer in Denver. |
Fri, 6 June 2008 Author: "The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American
Power," Jeff Sharlet, contributor to Harper's and Rolling Stones, will
be interviewed about his new book exposing a religious-right cult with
tentacles reaching into Congress. Freethinkers Almanac will celebrate
several musical composers and the hosts will discuss the biblical roots
of the polygamy scandal involving the Fundamentalist Latter-day Saints. |
Sat, 31 May 2008 Author of the bestselling "Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon," Prof. Daniel C. Dennett of Tufts University, will be interviewed. State/church activist Prof. Eric Barnes will also be interviewed about why he complained about ownership of a lighted cross by the Village of Holmen, Wis., and what has since transpired. Freethought Radio will update the continuing saga of pastors embarrassing the presidential candidates they have endorsed, in this case John McCain. |
Sat, 24 May 2008 Freethought Radio interviewed leading geneticist and the lively science educator, Prof. Sean Carroll, author of The Making of the Fittest, about the evidence for evolution being found at the DNA level, and the ongoing controversy over creationism. China's devastating earthquake and Myanmar's cataclysmic cyclone were addressed in Dan's Pagan Pulpit, which discussed the age-old theological "problem of evil." |
Sat, 17 May 2008 Freethought Radio will discuss the Freedom From Religion Foundation's
newest legal challenge over school subsidy of the Child Evangelism
Fellowship in a Wisconsin school, and will talk with the dad who
originally lodged the complaint. (He is not being identified to protect
his children.) Sound clips from John McCain and his pastor supporter
relating to their views against state/church separation will be
featured. And the show will conclude with an interview of
internationally-known magician and exposer of hoax, the atheist and
author, James Randi! |
Sat, 10 May 2008 This weekend's show will feature an interview with Richard Sloanabout timely issues involving the dangers of religion and prayer being prescribed as "medicine." Freethinkers Almanac will look at the nonreligious views of Irving Berlin and Katharine Hepburn, and the hosts will talk about a freethinking visit to New York City and Los Angeles. |
Sat, 3 May 2008
Freethought Radio talks with Eugenie Scott about the rightwing antievolution film "Exposed." Hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor also speak with Jeremy Hall, who will be receiving FFRF's "Atheist in Foxhole" award. |
Sat, 26 April 2008
Freethought Radio talks with Temple University professor John Allen Paulos,
author of the bestseller "Innumeracy," about his new and amusing book
debunking belief in a god, "Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why
the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up." The show also dissects what's
wrong with a National Day of Prayer. |
Sat, 19 April 2008
18-year-old high school senior Matthew LaClair, who received
the Thomas Jefferson Student Activist Award last year from the Freedom
From Religion Foundation, talks about his latest headline-grabbing
complaint about religion in public schools, this one involving a biased
text used nationwide. The hosts go after CNN-TV for the media
imposition of a religious test for public office, imposed on Democratic
candidates in a April 13 "faith forum," and object to public financing
of the pope's visit to America. |
Sat, 12 April 2008 In addition to speaking with the intrepid editor in chief of the
irreverent Onion weekly newspaper, this weekend's show will thoroughly
dissect what's wrong with the Ten Commandments (listen for cameos from
The Ten Commandments), in response to a Senate resolution pending to
declare the first weekend in May "Ten Commandments" weekend. |
Sat, 5 April 2008 The unnecessary, tragic deaths of two children last month whose
respective parents let them die of preventable diseases in the name of
faith will be discussed with Shawn Francis Peters,
author of When Prayer Fails: Faith Healing, Children and the Law. Dan
Barker's "Pagan Pulpit" exposes the biblical admonitions to rely on
faith to heal. Also featured: clips from "Fitna," the controversial
Internet movie about Islam by Dutch parliament member Geert Wilders, an
update on a Congressional probe of prosperity preachers, and a
recording of Tom Lehrer, born April 8, singing his classic "Vatican
Rag." |
Sat, 29 March 2008
Journalist and freethinker Susan Jacoby, author of the new
book, The Age of American Unreason, who also wrote Freethinkers: A
History of American Secularism, is interviewed on this weekend's show. |
Sat, 22 March 2008
Evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker, the Johnstone Family
Professor of Psychology at Harvard, is the featured guest, discussing
both his nontheistic views, and his concerns about the current
administration's attacks against science in order to placate the
religious right. "Theocracy Alert" discusses the Rev. Wright-Rev. Hagee
fallout on the presidential campaigns. The hosts discuss the problem
with Easter, and also pay tribute to nonbeliever Arthur C. Clarke, who
died this week. |
Sat, 15 March 2008 Freethought Radio's Theocracy Alert discusses the unseemly mix of
religion and politics in presidential actions and the presidential
race. The former reverend Dan Barker's Pagan Pulpit examines the
biblical role in sanctifying torture here on earth, and Dan, with
co-host Annie Laurie Gaylor, in a segment on "being good without god,"
addresses the tired old myth that nonbelievers are immoral. The
rejection of dogma by Albert Einstein is featured in Freethinkers
Almanac. |
Sat, 8 March 2008
Freethought Radio devotes its entire program to an interview with evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, author of the bestselling blockbuster, The God Delusion.
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Sat, 1 March 2008 Freethought Radio discusses exciting new statistics from a major study
released this week showing that the nonreligious are the 4th largest
sector by religious (or nonreligious) identification in the United
States today. Guest is Greg Smith,
Pew Forum on Religion. The show also examines the role that women
freethinkers have played in making women's history, in honor of women's
history month. |
Sat, 23 February 2008
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Sat, 16 February 2008 A "war of the billboards" brewing in rural Pennsylvania over the
Foundation's "Imagine No Religion" billboard will be discussed, and a
religious billboard defaming atheists as "hating America" will be
debunked. The special guest is a local atheist from the area who hosted
the billboard to counter the ubiquitous religion on the roadside in
Chambersburg, Penn. Host Dan Barker will talk about the "anti-Carnival"
in Brazil he took part in, as an invited guest representing American
freethought. Tune in for some other surprises. |
Sat, 9 February 2008 In honor of Darwin's birthday (Feb. 12), Freethought Radio interviews
film director, screenwriter and author Matthew Chapman, the great-great
grandson of Charles Darwin. Chapman's book, "Forty Days and Forty
Nights," is a personal report on the Dover "intellligent design" trial,
and "Trial of a Monkey: An Accidental Memoir" recounts his pilgrimage
to Dayton, Tenn., home of the Scopes trial.
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Sat, 2 February 2008 After dissecting Pres. Bush's call upon Congress this week to make the
"faith-based initiative" permanent, Freethought Radio speaks with Ellery Schempp,
whose protest as a 16-year-old high school student yielded an enduring
Supreme Court decision in 1963 barring bible devotionals from public
schools. Ellery, a distinguished retired scientist, remains a
passionate advocate of the separation between church and state.
Freethought Radio's Freethinker's Almanac also takes a quick look at
illustrious freethinkers born the first week in February. Note longtime
listeners: This is a fresh interview with Ellery Schempp. |
Sat, 26 January 2008 A relaxing Freethought Radio looks at the irreverency and artistry of
one of America's most revered songwriters, the atheist Yip Harburg
("Somewhere Over the Rainbow"). Retired scientist and engaging
unbeliever Ernie Harburg
talks about his own rejection of religion, the progressive Yip Harburg
Foundation, and his father's "Rhymes for the Irreverent." Tantalizing
clips of many of Yip's famous songs airs during this new interview, and
Ernie reads some of his father's freethought poems. The show also
features a "Theocracy Alert" update. |
Sat, 19 January 2008
The Nation's "Subject to Debate" columnist, author, poet, feminist and atheist Katha Pollitt,
returns to Freethought Radio to talk about her latest book, "Learning
to Drive," the cultural politics of abortion on this pre-Roe v. Wade
anniversary show, and her views on the state of freethought and
religion in politics. The show also features a new Freethinkers Almanac
and Theocracy Alert. |
Sat, 12 January 2008 Psychology Today's feature, "An Atheist in the Pulpit" (Jan/Feb 08),
about ministers who lose their faith, inspired this week's show. Radio
cohost Dan Barker, a former fundamentalist minister, as well as Freedom From Religion Foundation member Tom Reed,
a former Roman Catholic priest, talk about their loss of faith stories.
Both men are featured in the Psychology Today article. Tune in to hear
Dan Barker's first-ever media interview as a "baby atheist," on the
Oprah Winfrey Show! "Theocracy Alert" looks at mischief-making
Congressional resolutions. |
Sat, 5 January 2008
Freethought Radio looks at end-of-the-year threats to women by Islamists, talks with Taku Ronsman,
a plaintiff in the Freedom From Religion Foundation's newest lawsuit
against a city-displayed creche in Green Bay, Wis., and consults Anne Wiseman,
chief legal director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in
Washington, over CREW's recent federal court victory forcing the White
House to release visitor logs on leaders of the religious right. Tune
in for that, and much more! |
Sat, 29 December 2007 This week's show offers a respite from seasonal state/church conflicts
and religious intrusions in politics. Relax as the hosts feature
secular songwriters and freethought music! |
Sat, 22 December 2007 Tis the season . . . for state/church violations and this week's
program briefly updates seasonal violations, including an interview
with a brave county board supervisor, Robert SinKlair
of Sauk County, Wis., who is opposing the nativity scene at his county
courthouse. An NBC camera crew filmed the segments dealing with the
"real reason of the season" and seasonal state/church violations for a
(brief) segment on the Dec. 20 NBC Evening Nightly News. A few cuts
from the recording ran. Spurred by the Golden Compass controversy,
Freethought Radio devotes the second half of its program to an
entertaining guide to freethought in the flicks, playing clips from
movies with nontheist themes or characters. Don't miss a fun show! |
Sat, 15 December 2007 This week's radio show parses Mitt Romney's "faith in America" speech,
reports on seasonal state/church entanglements, and features interviews
with two recent victors in the legal battle to keep church and state
separate. Guest Ray Ideus talks about his victory this week over religion at the Spokane police department. Kay Staley
talks about her major victory at the Supreme Court level, removing a
monument to the bible from government steps in Houston. Listen in, get
acquainted with freethinkers and enjoy some good news! |
Sat, 8 December 2007 Just in time for the exciting debut this weekend of The Golden Compass
film, the children's movie spectacular of the season, is Freethought
Radio's interview with the fascinating Philip Pullman,
the British children's novelist and nonbeliever who wrote the book the
headline-making movie is based on. The program also reviews some timely
developments, good and bad, for freethought and the separation of
church and state. |
Sat, 1 December 2007
This week's show features an interview with the irrepressible litigant Michael Newdow,
whose latest challenges of "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, and
of the motto "In God We Trust," will be argued before the Ninth U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals. The show also debuts teasers of Mike's funny
"solstice" rewrites of traditional Christmas carols, from his new
"Solstice Classic" CD. Also appearing is the equally irrepressible Ernie Chambers, state senator from Nebraska, talking about his slightly tongue-in-cheek lawsuit against "God." Photo by Brent Nicastro. |
