We march for freethought and women’s rights. After critiquing CIA Director Pompeo’s scary views on the end-times, we talk with FFRF attorney Andrew Seidel about William Pryor being on Trump’s short list for the Supreme Court, then with FFRF attorney Patrick Elliott about our new lawsuit challenging bible classes in West Virginia public schools. Then we talk with legendary feminist, author, journalist (former editor of Ms. Magazine) and atheist, Robin Morgan, about how we can “Pick Ourselves Up” to keep fighting the religious right.
![Freethought Radio -- January 26, 2017](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/13ce829d117da3090e369fc5a83e1579_S.jpg)
January 26, 2017
Pick Yourself Up
![Freethought Radio -- January 19, 2017](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/08d7d43bd8901d944dab83f3ff578242_S.jpg)
January 19, 2017
Keep America Secular
It’s a rocky road ahead for secular Americans. Trump’s inauguration is infused with evangelical fervor and many of his cabinet picks have a religious-right agenda. FFRF attorney Rebecca Markert tells us how we got two Christian crosses removed from public property this week (in California and Minnesota).
We support the women marching in protest around the country and honor the 44th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade by hearing Joan Baez and Mimi Farina sing the feminist anthem “Bread and Roses.” Then we talk with Larry Decker, Executive Director of the Secular Coalition For America, about what we nonbelievers can do under the new Congress and administration.
![Freethought Radio -- January 12, 2017](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/bc7db49f283de4c67c22634c0d5783b0_S.jpg)
January 12, 2017
The Challenge of Things
We celebrate the anniversary of the January 16, 1786, adoption of Jefferson’s Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom and the January 17, 1706 birthday of Benjamin Franklin, who opposed public funding for education. FFRF attorneys Patrick Elliott and Sam Grover describe the questions we submitted for the confirmation hearings of Jeff Sessions for Attorney General and Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education, both of whom have shown a disrespect for state/church separation. Then we talk with professor of philosophy and prolific author A. C. Grayling (founder and Master of New College of the Humanities in London) about his book, The Challenge of Things: Thinking Through Troubled Times.
![Freethought Radio -- January 5, 2017](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/edd1f77fb8ac8221ef5ea023557e97c4_S.jpg)
January 5, 2017
Fasten Your Seat Belts
FFRF sent a letter to president-elect Trump insisting that he not include religion in the inauguration, and that he drop “So help meGod” from the oath. Nonbelievers are vastly under-represented in Congress, and there will be a bumpy road for state church separation in 2017.
FFRF attorney Andrew Seidel tells why Clemson University's football program proves that pious does not mean moral. Then we hear Bangladeshi-American Rafida Bonya Ahmed’s speech describing how she narrowly survived an assassination attempt that killed her husband Avijit Roy because they are atheists who are critical of religion.
![Freethought Radio -- December 29, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/e946f58441d52d2dad4b6b7bf384df06_S.jpg)
December 29, 2016
Promise of Dawn
Barack and Michelle Obama’s White House Christmas message acknowledges “nonbelievers” as well as Christians, Jews, and Muslims. We talk with Florida activist Preston Smith, a middle-school teacher who bravely erected FFRF’s secular displays in a Boca Raton park to counter the Christian nativity scene. His displays were repeatedly vandalized and destroyed. Then we welcome the New Year with some hopeful music, including Shirley Horn’s “Everything Must Change,” Yip Harburg’s “Over the Rainbow,” Dan Barker’s “Promise of Dawn,” and freethinker Robert Burns’s “Auld Lang Syne” performed by Scottish singer Mairi Campbell.
![Freethought Radio -- December 22, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/78856e0b6bf4f5b61bf0073eeba969d1_S.jpg)
December 22, 2016
Happy Un-Holy-Days!
Tis the season for FFRF’s winter solstice and Bill of Rights displays to appear in state capitols and other locations around the country, some of which have been defaced and destroyed. We celebrate the secular solstice by hearing Tom Lehrer’s irreverent “A Christmas Carol,” Ken Lonnquist’s “Isthmus Tree,” and the hilarious South Park classic “Merry Frickin Christmas” performed by Dan Barker. Then we listen to the very moving speech by former Christian pastor Carter Warden who came out publicly as an atheist at FFRF’s annual convention in Pittsburgh.
![Freethought Radio -- December 15, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/efd470c605fbb2041112f655ad006d11_S.jpg)
December 15, 2016
Unto Us a Bill is Born
We celebrate the Bill of Rights (December 15) and the Winter Solstice (December 21) this week. Dan reads FFRF’s full-page “Bill of Rights” ad that ran in today's New York Times and Annie Laurie reads “Away with the manger—in with the Solstice!” FFRF secular holiday signs are going up all over the country. After hearing solstice songs by Kristin Lems and Dan Barker, we listen to part of the speech by Susan Jacoby —“Why I am sick and tired of ‘God Bless America’”—which she gave at FFRF’s October convention in Pittsburgh.
![Freethought Radio -- December 8, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/bbf698549f43c0416c87758e4a3ca510_S.jpg)
December 8, 2016
The Atheist Muslim
After reporting on winter solstice signs FFRF has been posting around the country (one of which, in Boca Raton, was immediately vandalized) in response to nativity scenes on public property, we comment on two theocrats recently appointed by the president elect: Betsy Devos for Secretary of Education and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt for the Environmental Protection Agency (who has attacked FFRF). In honor of the anniversary of the adoption of the Bill of Rights on December 15, 1791, we hear Rev. Billy and the Stop Shopping choir perform the song "The First Amendment." Then we talk with Ali A. Rizvi, who grew up in Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, about his new book The Atheist Muslim: A Journey From Religion to Reason.
![Freethought Radio -- December 1, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/d152a64993895adc9fd1688300a53adb_S.jpg)
December 1, 2016
The Most Good you Can Do
Peter Singer, atheist, author and Princeton professor, who is considered the world’s leading ethicist, joins us for an illuminating discussion on his book, “The Most Good You Can Do: How Effective Altruism Is Changing Ideas About Living Ethically,” and his newest book, “Ethics in the Real World.” We celebrate FFRF's winter solstice “equal time” displays now up in the Wisconsin State Capitol and Daley Plaza (in conjunction with our Chicago chapter), and report on a state/church victory to remove an unconstitutional nativity display in Michigan. In honor of the 120th anniversary of the birth of lyricist Ira Gershwin, we play Ira’s irreverent classic about the bible, "It Ain’t Necessarily So.”
![Freethought Radio -- November 24, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/2e70c1935750782fb3c4ffe84dfed6b1_S.jpg)
November 24, 2016
Give Thanks to Brave Atheists
We give thinks this Thanksgiving week to you, the listeners and supporter of FFRF. After a tribute to FFRF principal founder Anne Gaylor (who would have turned 90 this week), we hear a fascinating talk by the young Nadia Duncan, winner of FFRF's essay contest for students of color. Then we listen to Marie Schaub, the brave Pennsylvania mother who challenged the Ten Commandments at her daughter's school, in her acceptance speech for winning FFRF's "Atheist in Foxhole Courage" award.
![Freethought Radio -- November 17, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/2fd0da3e6c741bf9da64fb0ce7b2db00_S.jpg)
November 17, 2016
Atheists as Outsiders
Freethought Radio has been kicked off The Mic 92.1, replaced with Christmas music! We still broadcast on other stations around the country. (You can hear teh podcast now.) After some post-election analysis, where we talk about Breitbart's attacks on FFRF and hear President Obama denounce "crude nationalism," FFRF attorney Maddy Ziegler tells us about a victory removing religion from an Ohio city seal. Then we speak with sociologist Penny Edgell about the 10-year updated study she co-authored, "Atheists and Other Cultural Outsiders: Moral Boundaries and the Non-Religious in the United States."
![Marion Kenneally, before and after](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/a4528034b34becc9de64b6bf12dcbbc5_S.jpg)
November 12, 2016
One Nun’s Odyssey
After some election postmortem, including hearing Neil deGrasse Tyson say we need to “make America smart again,” we report two FFRF state-church victories in public schools. We listen to Sharon Jones sing her funk version of “This Land Is Your Land.” Then former nun (who is now a “none”) Marion Kenneally describes her 16-year life in a convent before she became an atheist. Her fascinating new book is One Nun’s Odyssey: A Memoir.
![Freethought Radio -- November 5, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/33447db273806b608f031e12f1cb4fe3_S.jpg)
November 5, 2016
Village Atheists
For this Election Day and Veteran's Day week, we talk about the importance of secular voters and members of the military. We report two state/church victories involving police departments, and a complaint over religion in Biloxi, Mississippi public schools. After hearing Dan Barker's version of Bob Dylan's anti-war song "With God On Our Side," we interview historian Leigh Eric Schmidt about his new book, Village Atheists: How America’s Unbelievers made their way in a godly nation.
![Jeff Prebeg](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/eee6ad5d49c1114f5cee468375941738_S.jpg)
October 29, 2016
Spooky Religion
Halloween weekend! FFRF attorney Patrick Elliott tells us about two "friend of the court" briefs we recently filed in Florida and Texas regarding religion in the public schools. After hearing the scary "Spooky Mormon Hell Dream" (from The Book of Mormon musical), we talk with Pennsylvania freethinker Jeff Prebeg about the denial of his "ATHE1ST" license plate that was finally allowed after FFRF wrote a letter to the Department of Transportation. Then we hear comedian Samantha Bee excoriate Catholic hospitals over their cavalier treatment of women's health.
![Freethought Radio -- October 22, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/d21e38d2fb6e41488a4dcbbf0f74ee8c_S.jpg)
October 22, 2016
From Preacher to Atheist
After listening to the “Moment of Bedlam” at FFRF’s annual Non-prayer breakfast, we hear the Newseum Institute’s shout-out to the Freedom From Religion Foundation as a “well-organized” and “very effective” force fighting for the “nones” in today’s society. We play the new song, “Life After You,” then talk with the songwriter, Carter Warden, a former evangelical Church of Christ minister and founding member of The Clergy Project who came out as an atheist at FFRF’s convention in Pittsburgh this month. Carter describes why he left the ministry and how difficult it was to find employment outside the church.
![Freethought Radio -- October 15, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/bfe71246cf1fa592b34a9d4de588e7fe_S.jpg)
October 15, 2016
The Miracle Myth
Secular voters might sway the coming election! We report on studies showing that the “nones” are not only growing faster than any other demographic, but are showing up at the polls in record numbers. We announce state/church victories in Arkansas and Indiana, and celebrate the birthday of rocker Tom Petty by hearing his song “Playing Dumb,” which chastises the church for its abuse of children. Then we talk with UW-Madison philosophy professor Larry Shapiro about his new book, The Miracle Myth: Why belief in the resurrection and the supernatural are unjustified.
![Freethought Radio -- October 8, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/cb88c67be4cd887bc25fbfd68da46dab_S.jpg)
October 8, 2016
Unbelievable Music
FFRF’s “Director of First Impressions,” Lisa Treu, a former music radio DJ, is guest hosting for Annie Laurie and Dan as they are in Pittsburgh for FFRF’s 39th annual convention. Lisa has asked staff and members to recommend songs with a freethought message that have impressed them in some way. The “unbelievably uplifting” selections include music by John Lennon, Robert Ellis, Abandoned Pools, 21 Pilots and more!
![Freethought Radio -- October 1, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/1a8fa331e6ed57e2de20d9d20535f914_S.jpg)
October 1, 2016
Grace Without God
We are happy to report two state/church victories this week, removing the Ten Commandments from a west Texas high school and curbing the “Break the Grey” evangelist from preaching in Wisconsin high schools. We report on Bangladeshi atheist bloggers, renegade Alabama judge Roy Moore, and the mixing of government and religion by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. After hearing the Joe Hill song “Preacher and the Slave,” we talk with award-winning journalist, former senior editor of National Geographic, Katherine Ozment about her new book Grace Without God: The Search for Meaning, Purpose, and Belonging in a Secular Age.
![Freethought Radio -- September 24, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/5b2d6ae0df9f4e6333c5d918a270e65f_S.jpg)
September 24, 2016
Women Beyond Belief
Listen to David Suhor's godless invocation before the Pensacola City Council, which he sang while the public was rudely protesting and praying. We hear some music by the freethinking composer George Gershwin, whose birthday is this week. After drawing for another free copy of FFRF’s “Friendly Neighborhood Atheist” CD, we listen to the historic freethought anthem “Die Gedanken Sind Frei” (“My thoughts are free”). Then we talk with the “faithless feminist” Karen Garst, whose new book is called Women Beyond Belief: Discovering Life Without Religion.
![Freethought Radio -- September 17, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/210d3c19eb3c612dc6b8ca7e521ead7e_S.jpg)
September 17, 2016
Agnostic
This week we complain about both major presidential candidates mixing religion and politics and pandering to faith voters. FFRF Attorney Sam Grover tells us about the firestorm that erupted in a west Texas high school after we complained about the Ten Commandments and a bible verse painted permanently on the wall, and also reports the mixed results of a federal decision in FFRF's lawsuit challenging the Christian nativity in an Indiana high school. After hearing the Philip Appleman song “God’s Grandeur” (set to music by Dan Barker), we talk with journalist and author Lesley Hazleton about her new book Agnostic: A Spirited Manifesto.
![Freethought Radio -- September 10, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/9c3b058f2f1db8c02883a1296e1f3094_S.jpg)
September 10, 2016
Freethought Today
Dan talks about his participation in the "Skep Track" at this year's Dragon Con in Atlanta. Annie Laurie provides commentary on the canonization of Mother Teresa, the death of right-wing Christian activist Phyllis Schlafly, and the National Catholic Register's denigration of atheists in general and Annie Laurie in particular. After hearing the song "Sunday Morning Blues" from FFRF's "Friendly Neighborhood Atheist" CD, we talk with Freethought Today editor P.J. Slinger (a Green Bay native, true Packers fan and former sports writer) about reporting national state/church and freethought news.
![Freethought Radio -- September 3, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/4a8253ec497e644c167e9c4eb0b333f6_S.jpg)
September 3, 2016
Intersectionality
After Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker talk about the secular origins of Labor Day, Dan describes his first visit to speak as an atheist in a prison (Jackson Correctional Institution). We announce a new drawing for a free copy of FFRF’s music CD “Friendly Neighborhood Atheist,” a 2-CD compilation with 34 historic and contemporary freethought songs. We listen to the humorous poem “Reincarnation” by cowboy poet Wallace D. McRae set to music by Dan Barker. Then we speak with Diane Burkholder, a cisgender, queer, mixed race, Black feminist community organizer with the Kansas City Freethinkers of Color who will tell us about the intersectionality of various minority causes.
![Freethought Radio -- August 27, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/a68dddde467fbfb9ed94e9d9b10dbf63_S.jpg)
August 27, 2016
Women in Secularism
Learn about Nonbelief Relief’s help with the Louisiana flood disaster and for threatened Bangladeshi bloggers. FFRF attorney Ryan Jayne tells us about legal victories stopping a religious pre-school program at a Wisconsin public school, and booting a Christian preacher from the lunch room at an Illinois middle school. To celebrate Women’s Equality Day (August 26, 1920 adoption of the 19th Amendment), we hear folksinger Malvina Reynolds' song "The Judge Said," about the successful recall of a sexist Wisconsin judge. Then we talk with Debbie Goddard, outreach director at the Center for Inquiry, about the upcoming "Women in Secularism" conference to be held in Arlington, Virginia, September 23-24.
![Freethought Radio -- August 20, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/aaf056b4fb0dbfa5d4111779e2c4d280_S.jpg)
August 20, 2016
The Threat of Religion
FFRF attorney Maddy Ziegler tells us about the successful removal of Gideon bibles from a state-owned hotel in Arizona. FFRF attorney Patrick Elliott reports our newest lawsuit challenging the Christian cross on the official seal of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Then we speak with Rafida Bonya Ahmed, the widow of Bangladeshi atheist activist Avijit Roy, who was brutally murdered with machetes because of his outspoken criticism of religion on the Mukto-Mona blog. Bonya, who barely survived the attack, tells us about the rise of Islamism in Bangladesh and what she is doing to help others who are under similar threat.
![Freethought Radio -- August 13, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/688a47fd2a2e051c8314bb601d0e6c50_S.jpg)
August 13, 2016
Evidence Demands a Verdict
We report an FFRF victory granting standing to our Pennsylvania plaintiff, Marie Schaub, who is challenging a high-school Ten Commandments monument. Scholar, author and activist Sikivu Hutchinson reports the winners of college scholarships for students of color given by FFRF and Black Skeptics Los Angeles. After hearing the music and reading an email from Tom Lehrer, we listen to Robert Ingersoll’s “Love” recitation set to music by Dan Barker. Then Dustin Lawson, who was the personal assistant for the Christian apologist Josh McDowell, will tell us why he is now a nonbeliever.
![Freethought Radio -- August 6, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/7cdea1acb87e5668fcbf058f936e8322_S.jpg)
August 6, 2016
The Great Agnostic
FFRF lead staff attorney Rebecca Market reports a victory stopping a Mississippi school district from participating in a day of prayer for students, and tells us about more unconstitutional Christian crosses on public property. We celebrate the life of Robert Green Ingersoll, the 19th-century Great Agnostic, by listening to his actual recorded voice, hearing some of his words (some set to music) and by speaking with his relative Jeff Ingersoll, chair of the Robert Ingersoll Memorial Committee, who will speak at the dedication of the refurbished Ingersoll statue in Peoria, Illinois on Ingersoll’s August 11 birthday.
![Freethought Radio -- July 30, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/86528dfdbea17865c8977ab311e414e6_S.jpg)
July 30, 2016
Battling the Gods
After hearing New Jersey Senator Cory Booker acknowledging nonbelievers at the DNC, and Barack Obama affirming that the United States is not under a “savior," but under “We, the people,” we talk with FFRF legal intern Chris Line about an egregious violation of state/church separation involving public money to a Texas charter school that is brazenly promoting Jesus and the bible. Then we talk with professor Tim Whitmarsh at Cambridge University about his new book Battling The Gods: Atheism in the Ancient World, showing that atheism is older than Christianity.
![Freethought Radio -- July 23, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/33f482d02ff9551d6f007554ae0c8f8a_S.jpg)
July 23, 2016
Lucifer and Noah
FFRF staff attorney Liz Cavell tells us about a Christian flag that is being removed from a Georgia county courthouse. Former presidential candidate Ben Carson associated the Democratic presumptive nominee with “Lucifer,” while Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis equated the Freedom From Religion Foundation with “the Devil” for daring to protest the opening of the Kentucky “Ark Encounter." After hearing actor and atheist Daniel Radcliffe singing Tom Lehrer’s song “The Elements,” we listen to Marjorie and Philip Appleman perform Philip’s poem “Noah,” shedding light on the absurdity of the myth of a worldwide flood.
![Freethought Radio -- July 16, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/cdab93504f4b56d5a6282aec3c85075d_S.jpg)
July 16, 2016
A Monument to Ignorance
After hearing televangelist Pat Robertson accuse the Freedom From Religion Foundation of being led by “the Devil,” we hear comedian Robin Williams lampoon the story of Mary and Joseph. We listen to jazz pianist/composer (and FFRF member) Addison Frei’s freethinking song “Clinging,” sung by Tahira Clayton. Then we interview Jim Helton, president of Tri-State Freethinkers, about the successful protest he organized against young-earth creationist Ken Ham’s publicly subsidized “Ark Encounter” in Kentucky, a monument to genocide and ignorance.
![Freethought Radio -- July 9, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/7b5e21d546db1865a351fc1a10d7ef70_S.jpg)
July 9, 2016
Censorship and Fighting Back
This week we’ll report that FFRF’s first billboard in Mississippi managed to stay up only 5 days before being censored, play Oliver Sacks’ poignant last interview in honor of the upcoming anniversary of his birth, honor poet Sherry Matulis and listen to a little Stephen Foster to celebrate that freethinker’s July 4 birthday. Then we’ll hear from three FFRF insiders: Attorney Patrick Elliott will talk about how he’s challenging the Madison, Wis. diocese seeking unfair tax privileges; Director of First Impressions Lisa Treu (known in the radio world as Lisa Miller) will help co-host part of the show while Dan Barker is on the road, and we’ll get acquainted with Amit Pal, FFRF’s new and expert director of communications. Among FFRF’s news making activities of the past week are actions regarding the Ark Encounter, which just opened.
![Freethought Radio -- July 2, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/ca5d16db9c9df05cda6f05de3fd0906c_S.jpg)
July 2, 2016
The Case Against God
This week we celebrate the Fourth of July, as well as the Supreme Court’s decision on abortion rights. We announce FFRF billboard activism in Mississipi, Minnesota, and Cleveland, Ohio, where we welcome visitors to the RNC this month with the face of Ronald Reagan advocating for state/church separation. We report legal victories in Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado and California. After hearing the music (!) of actor and atheist Kevin Bacon, we talk with author George H. Smith, whose classic 1974 book, Atheism: The Case Against God, has been reprinted with a Foreword by Lawrence Krauss.
![Freethought Radio -- June 25, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/7462b02c9c1e8aa70ebc2554041822a1_S.jpg)
June 25, 2016
Atheist Activist
FFRF protests the city of Hondo, Texas, sign saying “This is God’s Country.” After an FFRF complaint, Ex-Muslims of America finally get their cake that was denied by a local Wegman’s food store. We hear the song “Salvation” by Elliott Ingersoll (great grandnephew of Robert Ingersoll), and then talk with FFRF’s Legal Assistant and activist Calli Miller, who has been handling state/church entanglement intake and case management for FFRF’s legal department, and who is now headed for Harvard Law School.
![Freethought Radio -- June 18, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/5f840ef3bc3c128a515be12f8bb4777e_S.jpg)
June 18, 2016
Graham is Crackers
FFRF protested Rev. Franklin Graham’s “Decision America” rally in Wisconsin this week. We hear FFRF staff members Alyssa Schaeffer, Lauryn Seering, and Calli Miller interviewed by the press during that event. After hearing Roy Zimmerman’s poignant song, “To The Victims Of This Tragedy,” bemoaning the ineffectiveness of prayer and moments of silence after tragedies like the shooting in Orlando, we talk with Jesse Castillo and Kevin Price, the two brave plaintiffs who helped FFRF successfully sue Brewster County, Texas, over Christian crosses on police vehicles. [Photo by Ingrid Laas]
![Freethought Radio -- June 11, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/97d2b71c8f932fe9ccf124cf8682f0d9_S.jpg)
June 11, 2016
Keystone Courage
This week we protest the Iowa Governor’s proclamation to read the bible. We speak with FFRF attorney Sam Grover about our lawsuit successfully removing Christian crosses from Brewster County, Texas, police vehicles. After hearing the witty and brilliant Julia Sweeney on CNN talking about the Reason Rally, we interview Marie Schaub, the courageous plaintiff in an FFRF lawsuit challenging the Ten Commandments monument in her daughter’s Pennsylvania high school.
![Freethought Radio -- June 4, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/7c617d329022e24ea07a52a1daa2de32_S.jpg)
June 4, 2016
American Infidel
Psychologist, author and songwriter Elliott Ingersoll, descendant of the family of the great 19-century agnostic orator Robert G. Ingersoll, tells us about his TED talk challenging the notion of “chemical imbalances” in the brain, which, he says, can be better treated with talk therapy than with drugs. After hearing his performance of his song “American Infidel,” we introduce a drawing for free downloads of the audiobook of Dan’s book GOD: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction by listening to Richard Dawkins reading his Foreword. We also are treated to an in-studio reading from the book by Dan Barker and Buzz Kemper, who pays the role of “God.”
![Freethought Radio -- May 28, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/106b7a3bc322be06c21fae08dfda7cf5_S.jpg)
May 28, 2016
The Big Picture
FFRF stopped an Ohio high school from singing “The Lord’s Prayer” during graduation. Port Neches, Texas, divests itself of a Christian cross in their city park. FFRF bus signs and bike kiosk displays promoting secular values and atheist voters go up in Washington DC, with resultant controversy. Full-page ad about FFRF’s House Chaplain lawsuit will be published in DC during the Reason Rally. After hearing “No Gods, No Masters,” celebrating the life of Margaret Sanger, we talk with physicist Sean M Carroll, whose newest book is The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself.
![Freethought Radio -- May 21, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/fcf6a20d66875b538654c93cae53aaee_S.jpg)
May 21, 2016
Tiny Houses
FFRF challenges prayer at a Florida school district, encourages the “Do No Harm” bill, supports “One nation indivisible” and reports on our Pennsylvania lawsuit challenging the Ten Commandments at a public high school. After celebrating the birthday of feminist Margaret Fuller, giving away a free copy of Annie Laurie’s book Women Without Superstition, and honoring the life of Dan’s father Norman Barker (1925-2016), we talk with Bruce Wallbaum and Luca Clemente of Occupy Madison about the "Tiny Houses" they have built for the homeless and the new OM Village where they now permanently reside.
![Freethought Radio -- May 14, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/5ae0e084deb195c7573a6da04f8e8444_S.jpg)
May 14, 2016
Serengeti Rules
You won’t believe what Colorado legislator Gordon Klingenschmitt said about FFRF’s lawsuit challenging high-school discrimination against our scholarship for freethinking students. Nonbelief Relief is helping seven Bangladeshi freethinkers on a fatwa hit-list. FFRF’s “What Does the Bible Really Say About Abortion?” ads are up in Kansas and Oklahoma. After a reading from Annie Laurie's book Women Without Superstition and hearing the freethought anthem “Die Gedanken Sind Frei” ("My Thoughts Are Free"), we talk with molecular biologist and geneticist Sean B. Carroll about his new book, Serengeti Rules: The Quest To Discover How Life Works and Why it Matters.
![Freethought Radio -- May 7, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/221dbc96ddeffb0d2f47cf2f16829e00_S.jpg)
May 7, 2016
The Secular Life
We are suing the US House Chaplain! Dan Barker, with the help of FFRF attorneys Andrew Seidel and Sam Grover and litigation attorney Rich Bolton, filed a federal lawsuit May 5 challenging Chaplain Father Conroy’s refusal to allow an atheist to offer a secular invocation before Congress. Andrew and Sam join us on the show to discuss the 2-year saga that led to this lawsuit. After hearing Irving Berlin’s irreverent 1922 song “Pack Up Your Sins and Go To the Devil in Hades,” we talk with sociologist and author Phil Zuckerman about his newest book Living the Secular Life: New Answers to Old Questions.
![Freethought Radio -- April 30, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/f4ca3edb469f7cb9a3bb45331577860b_S.jpg)
April 30, 2016
Tenth Anniversary Show!
We observe our 10th anniversary by celebrating how much has changed since Freethought Radio began in 2006. We announce victories and complaints in public schools and at a Tennessee city council. We listen to the song "Adrift On a Star" by Yip Harburg and Dan Barker. Then we talk with Declan Mulkerin, Margaux Sorenson, and Peter Opitz, students at Middleton (Wisconsin) High School, about why they are protesting the proselytizing "Jesus Lunch" held during school hours at their campus.
![Freethought Radio -- April 23, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/66600b865211858a2d7594b0a5957255_S.jpg)
April 21, 2016
A Universe From Nothing
Hear coverage of the “Jesus Lunch” protest at Middleton (WI) High School, which is being challenged by students and FFRF staff. Rebecca Markert updates us on FFRF’s new lawsuit against a Christian cross in a city park in Santa Clara, California. After hearing the Chad Mitchell Trio perform Yip Harburg’s “Rhymes for the Irreverent,” we talk with physicist, cosmologist, and author Lawrence M. Krauss about the “Origins Project” at Arizona State, and about his book A Universe From Nothing: Why There is Something Rather Than Nothing.
![Jerry Coyne](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/7aece7d5b1f661845a7b248db130491e_S.jpg)
April 16, 2016
Are religion and science compatible?
FFRF stops an Ohio high-school teacher from preaching in class, removes a bible verse from a Texas school district webpage, files a Minnesota friend-of-the-court brief supporting "death with dignity," and files a new lawsuit challenging censorship of FFRF's freethought high-school essay scholarships by a California school district. After hearing Josh White singing freethinking songwriter Yip Harburg's song "Free And Equal Blues," we talk with biologist Jerry Coyne about "Faith Versus Fact."
![Freethought Radio -- April 9, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/7c7444535f12d01f3fb01b5e2c02f99e_S.jpg)
April 9, 2016
Rally For Reason
This week we announce a new IRS lawsuit challenging the Housing Allowance that gives special tax benefits to clergy, and we complain about a bill to make the Bible the “state book” of Tennessee. FFRF attorney Andrew Seidel tells us about the censorship of FFRF’s literature in a Colorado school district. Then we talk with Lyz Liddell, Executive Director of The Reason Rally Coalition, about the music, speakers and other events at the exciting Reason Rally to be held June 2-4 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.
![Freethought Radio -- April 2, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/b5a62fa92f962faf54bd704b397842eb_S.jpg)
April 2, 2016
Protect the Children
After we announce our “I’m an Atheist and I Vote” billboard campaign, welcoming candidates to Madison, Wisconsin during the week of the Wisconsin primary election, FFRF legal fellow Maddy Ziegler describes how she got a Las Vegas, Nevada, school graduation removed from a church. We celebrate the 120th birthday of composer Yip Harburg (“Over the Rainbow”). Then we hear excerpts of the “Lifetime Achievement” award acceptance speech given at FFRF’s 2015 convention by Rita Swan, founder and director of C.H.I.L.D (Children’s Healthcare Is a Legal Duty) talking about the danger to children of state laws exempting parents from providing healthcare to their children on religious grounds.
![Freethought Radio -- March 26, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/a93b8dd8be9108ca5a22dce9f6b92eb4_S.jpg)
March 26, 2016
Brief Candle in the Dark
Lisa Miller (Treu) joins us this “Easter” weekend (on Black Sabbath) to talk about the movie The Life of Brian and to introduce the irreverent song “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.” We celebrate spring and bemoan war/terrorism by listening to Yip Harburg’s evocative peace song “One Sweet Morning.” Then we talk, on his birthday, with evolutionary biologist and prolific author Richard Dawkins (The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker, The God Delusion) about his autobiographical book, Brief Candle in the Dark: My Life in Science.
![Freethought Radio -- March 19, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/524816ed5738b9202d028dd98c2b15b2_S.jpg)
March 19, 2016
Strange Gods
We welcome the spring with some light music by freethinking songwriter Yip Harburg (who wrote “Over The Rainbow”) and country singer-songwriter Robbie Fulks (“God Isn’t Real”). After FFRF staff attorney Sam Grover updates us on some state/church victories in southern states, we announce a new drawing for the Yip Harburg book Rhymes For The Irreverent. Then we talk with author, historian, and cultural critic Susan Jacoby about her new book, Strange Gods: A Secular History of Conversion.
![Freethought Radio -- March 12, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/5c275feccb933a8f40f76b9999e0e508_S.jpg)
March 12, 2016
Before The Gospels
FFRF’s JFK ad is airing on Colbert’s Late Show this month. After talking with law student Seth Wrinkle about the amicus brief he drafted for FFRF about a 40-foot Maryland cross, we listen to Univision’s Jorge Ramos explain why he rejected his Mexican Catholic faith and is now an agnostic. Then we interview agnostic bible scholar Bart Ehrman about his new book, Jesus Before The Gospels: How the earliest Christians remembered, changed, and invented their stories of the savior.
![Freethought Radio -- March 5, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/2864715d82b11150aa3b63b98c691876_S.jpg)
March 5, 2016
Woman’s Health
Sticker shock! We announce a new federal lawsuit challenging a Brewster County (Texas) sheriff affixing Christian cross stickers on police vehicles. After hearing John Oliver’s hilarious take on the Supreme Court abortion case in Whole Woman’s Health Care, we talk with Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist Linda Greenhouse, who covered the Supreme Court for 40 years for the New York Times, discussing that case and the implications of a Scalia-less court.
![Freethought Radio -- February 27, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/7424c7b7dd6e56e6a86fee17ac289a63_S.jpg)
February 27, 2016
Freedom FROM Religion
FFRF attorney Andrew Seidel tells us about our exciting new federal court victory stopping school-board prayer in California. We announce FFRF’s newest lawsuit challenging Texas Governor Gregg Abbot’s censorship of our “Bill of Rights” nativity display. After hearing Lena Horne sing the irreverent Yip Harburg song, “Ain’t It The Truth?”, we talk with Australian author Meg Wallace about hew new book, Freedom From Religion: Rethinking Article 18, suggesting how the U.N. “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” can be improved to strengthen secular government.
![Freethought Radio -- February 20, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/e0dbf488e26490125658b3166768d2c0_S.jpg)
February 20, 2016
Why There is No God
After reporting an FFRF victory removing the Ten Commandments from a Mississippi county courthouse, we announce FFRF’s new “I’m Secular and I Vote!” campaign to impress candidates with the concerns of the fast-growing demographic of nonbelieving voters. We honor the life of freethinking civil-rights activist W. E. B. Du Bois, founder of the NAACP. Then we talk with Armin Navabi, a former Muslim from Iran, founder of Atheist Republic and author of the book Why There Is No God: Simple Responses to 20 Common Arguments for the Existence of God.
![Freethought Radio -- February 13, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/f575cc8d49b6e1323924dcbe4f49e62a_S.jpg)
February 13, 2016
Water Works & Indiana Death Threats
FFRF staff attorney Sam Grover updates us on our amended complaint adding more plaintiffs to our lawsuit (filed along with the ACLU) challenging the live nativity scene performed by Concord High School in Elkhart, Indiana, and the accompanying harassment and death threats. Then Abigail Cantor, an award-winning national water management expert (as well as musician) tells us about the science behind what needs to be done in Flint, Michigan (and other cities) to improve water quality.
![Freethought Radio -- February 6, 2016](/web/20170130102904im_/https://ffrf.org/media/k2/items/cache/9b596fc81fc096510b29bcc154a7d118_S.jpg)
February 6, 2016
GOD: Bad Character, Bad Designer
This week we celebrate the birthday of Charles Darwin and the 90th birthday poet Philip Appleman (a Darwin scholar). Annie Laurie interviews Dan about his best-selling new book, GOD: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction (Foreword by Richard Dawkins). Then Dr. Abby Hafer champions Darwin’s ideas by discussing her delightful new book, The Not-So-Intelligent Designer: Why Evolution Explains the Human Body and Intelligent Design Does Not.