Freethought Radio

GUEST: Linda Greenhouse. This week we focus on recent bad Supreme Court decisions attacking women's rights and the separation of church and state. FFRF attorney Patrick Elliott explains the confusing Bremerton case allowing a high-school coach to pray with students. Then we talk with Pulitzer Prize-winning author, journalist and Supreme Court observer Linda Greenhouse about the demise of Roe (overturning the right to abortion) and her recent New York Times article “Requiem for the Supreme Court.”

FFRF attorney Sam Grover helps us dissect the disappointing Carson v. Makin decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that now allows public tax dollars to directly fund religious education. Then we hear from four winners of FFRF's David Hudak Memorial student essay contest for Black, Indigenous and People of Color: Galilea Baca (1st-place, pictured), Fadima Tall, Tylinn Wilson and Everett Viego. Then the new student scholar for FFRF and Secular Students of America Sami Al Asadi explains how he became an atheist and an activist.

Guest: Maryam Namazie. Abortion, politicians blaming gun violence on godlessness, secular billboards and the growth of support for state/church separation are among the news topics we discuss this week. After listening to a sneak preview of the new "Godless Gospel" songs, we speak with Iranian-born ex-Muslim activist Maryam Namazie about the international "Celebrate Dissent" conference she is organizing, which will take place in August in Cologne, Germany.

Guest: Jay Wexler. FFRF tells San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone that it was a "grave evil" to deny Nancy Pelosi communion. There is a new freethinking miniseries on Hulu. FFRF complains about pious pandering politicians. After hearing George Hrab's song about "thoughts and prayers" titled "The Least That You Can Do," we listen to Boston Law Professor Jay Wexler talk about his book Our Non-Christian Nation: How Atheists, Satanists, Pagans, and Others are Demanding Their Rightful Place in Public Life.

Guest: Christopher Cameron. After mourning the tragic school massacre in Texas, we point out the ineffectiveness of "thoughts and prayers" and denounce politicians who blame the violence on godlessness. We hear singer/songwriter Roy Zimmerman satirize “thoughts and prayers” in his song “"To the Victims of This Tragedy." Then professor and author Christopher Cameron describes the rich history of African American Freethought.

Guests: Amit Pal & Dan Barker. With FFRF Communications Director Amit Pal as the substitute host, we discuss the dismal news on the reproductive rights front, including the draconian Oklahoma abortion ban. We highlight our last TV show of the season — a special on-site visit with freethinking sculptor Zenos Frudakis — and spotlight our national convention to be held in San Antonio in late October. We listen to a blasphemous Irving Berlin song. And then we hear FFRF Co-President Dan Barker debate a Christian apologist on the compelling question: “Does God Exist?”

Guest: Samuel L. Perry. We announce two victories in federal lawsuits this week stopping city council prayer and religious instruction in West Virginia schools. We talk about Alito’s leaked abortion decision. The popular actor Jon Huertas tells us why he is a nontheist. In light of the tragic massacre in Buffalo, we speak with Professor Samuel L. Perry about his new book (with co-author Philip Gorski), The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy.

Guest: Sasha Sagan. It’s Mayday for women’s rights. We talk about state/church and women’s issues in Idaho, Arkansas, New Jersey and Arizona, and announce our full-page ad in the New York Times. After listening to philosopher Bertrand Russell (on the sesquicentennial of his birth) tell us why he was not a Christian, we hear Sasha Sagan, daughter of astronomer Carl Sagan and author Ann Druyan, tell us why the beauty of science is more awesome than religion.

Guest: Ed Sorel. Instead of honoring the unconstitutional National Day of Prayer, we celebrate Cinco de Mayo! Learn what you can do to resist the imminent religiously motivated overthrow of Roe v. Wade. Then, we speak with 93-year-old irreverent cartoonist, illustrator and caricaturist Ed Sorel — whose satiric artwork has graced magazine covers and newspapers for many decades — about his new lavish memoir Profusely Illustrated.

Guest: Phil Zuckerman. After reporting on victories and challenges regarding governmental prayer, we parse the Supreme Court oral arguments in the case involving a praying high-school football coach. Then we hear sociologist and author Phil Zuckerman, a pioneer in secular studies, making the case for why secular Americans, as a group, are more moral than religious Americans.