Friendly Atheist Podcast

Megan Fox is the apparent evolution-denier who "debunked" a science exhibit at Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History and posted the video on YouTube. In a long, far-ranging, and sometimes infuriating interview, we talked about the reactions to her "audit" videos, whether her gender plays a role in the backlash, and why she doesn't consider herself a Creationist. We also discussed why she believes not censoring the Internet in a local library's adult section sanctions "taxpayer funded access to child porn." (In response to her battle with the Orland Park Public Library, readers of Friendly Atheist raised nearly $7,000 for the library's general fund.) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dr. Susan Blackmore is a writer, researcher, and speaker best known for her book "The Meme Machine." At the American Atheists 2015 convention in Memphis, Tennessee, Jessica spoke with Susan about the mystery of consciousness, Blackmore's fascination with memes, and why she avoids most forms of social media. (Image via Wikipedia) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jason Heap is the Executive Director of the United Coalition of Reason, an organization that has placed billboards promoting local atheist groups all over the country. He is also trying to become the first Humanist chaplain in the United States Armed Forces. I spoke with Jason about the strategy behind putting up non-aggressive billboards, how he left the evangelical Christian faith he was raised in, and why politicians are working so hard to prevent Humanists from becoming officially-recognized chaplains. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jerry DeWitt was a Pentecostal preacher from Louisiana whose faith began cracking a few years ago. At first, he battled with his doubts internally, but he soon realized he no longer believed what he had been saying from the pulpit for nearly 25 years. When he finally declared -- publicly -- that he was an atheist, his life began to fall apart. He wrote about his deconversion in his book Hope After Faith. You may have also seen him in the recent CNN special "Atheists: Inside the World of Non-Believers." Hemant spoke with Jerry recently about what led him to initially doubt his religious beliefs, his journey through the Clergy Project, and how he can still get himself into "preacher mode" when speaking. (Jessica will return to the show in a couple of weeks!) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wendy Thomas Russell is a journalist who spent years covering criminal justice. In 2008, she began writing books for and about children, including three books for the Girl Scouts. In 2011, her focus shifted to secular parenting. Not only does she blog on Patheos at Natural Wonderers, she is about to release a new book called Relax, It's Just God: How and Why to Talk to Your Kids About Religion When You're Not Religious. We spoke with Wendy about whether or not it makes sense to raise your child as an atheist, why the "sex talk" is easier than the "God talk," and what she learned from the authors of other books about atheist parenting. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Nancy French is a four-time New York Times best-selling author who has written books with Sarah Palin, Bristol Palin, The Bachelor star Sean Lowe, and Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson. We spoke with her about whether liberals misunderstand Sarah Palin, how she came to support Mitt Romney (who doesn't share her faith), and why all of her collaborations have the same starting point. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A few weeks ago, I was listening to Alex Blumberg's popular podcast StartUp which is all about his journey beginning his own podcasting company. In one episode, he aired a conversation with Trevor McKendrick, an atheist who was making quite a bit of money selling a Spanish-language Bible app for your phone. So you know we had to talk to him ourselves. We spoke with Trevor about the overwhelmingly positive reaction to the story, how it publicized his atheism more than he expected (especially as an ex-Mormon), and what Bible-buying trends look like online. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Daniel Genis (rhymes with "tennis") grew up in New York City, where he attended Stuyvesant High School and New York University, graduating with a degree in history and French. In 2003, however, he committed five armed robberies, which led to a decade behind bars. During that time, he wrote a novel called Narcotica. Now that he's out, he's been writing about the intersection of religion and incarceration for publications like Vice, Deadspin, the Washington Post. New York Daily News, and Newsweek. We spoke with Daniel about the soul exchange that got him in trouble, why we should feel any sympathy for him, and what he hopes to do now that he's a free man. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ross Blocher is the co-host of the Oh No, Ross and Carrie! podcast, in which the hosts don't simply talk about the paranormal, but "dive right in by joining religions, attending spiritual events, undergoing "alternative" treatments, partaking in paranormal investigations, and more." Jessica caught up with him during a recent trip to Los Angeles and they spoke about how the podcast began, along with some of his favorite investigations. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Peter Boghossian is a philosophy professor at Portland State University and the author of A Manual for Creating Atheists, a book in which he talks about "street epistemology" -- essentially how to talk people out of their faith. He's currently working on a phone app that'll guide people through that process. We spoke with Peter about why his approach isn't just "atheist evangelism," why smart people can believe silly things, and whether his techniques work on his own children in other areas of life. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.