American Freethought Podcast

Original release September 9, 2012. Encore release September 15, 2018. Encore release June 8, 2017. Presenting our live show from the Skeptrack at Dragon*Con 2012. Many thanks to Track Director Derek Colanduno for putting us on the program FIVE YEARS RUNNING.  Thanks also to Mark Ditsler of Abrupt Media for audiovisual support. 

Original release August 29, 2012. Encore release September 14, 2018. Encore release June 7, 2017. We interview Michael Meyerson, author of Endowed by Our Creator: The Birth of Religious Freedom in America (hardcover or Kindle), an analysis of church-and-state from Colonial times through the presidency of James Madison. For more information visit MichaelMeyerson.com. ANNOUNCEMENTS We'll be at the Atlanta Skeptics Star Party on Thursday, August 30, just ahead of Dragon*Con. Come to our live show at Dragon*Con's Skeptrack on Saturday, September 1 at 2:30PM. CONTACT Visit our blog at AmericanFreethought.com. Visit the podcast at AmericanFreethought.LibSyn.com. Email us at john@americanfreethought.com or david@americanfreethought.com. (John and David are available, either together or separately, to speak in person to your group.) If you like what you hear, take a moment and leave feedback on our iTunes feed. Join our communities at Facebook, Atheist Nexus, or Think Atheist. Shop through us at Amazon.com or at Cafe

Original release August 15, 2012. Encore release September 13, 2018. Encore release June 6, 2017. Mitt Romney has picked Congressman Paul Ryan as his Vice Presidential running mate. Will this have any effect on secular voters? Interesting that Ryan until very recently embraced the libertarian teachings of Ayn Rand, which he now condemns as an "atheistic" philosophy. Who's to blame in the recent mass shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin? Atheists? Satanists? Both? Pat Robertson has some (crack-brained) ideas. You've probably heard of the shocking incident in Miami, in which police were forced to shoot and kill Rudy Eugene as he chewed off the face of the homeless Ron Poppo. At first people blamed "bath salts" for Eugene's strange behavior. No hard drugs were found in Eugene's system, but he was a regular churchgoer in possession of a Bible. Finally, a new poll shows religiosity on the downtrend worldwide. ANNOUNCEMENTS We'll be at the Atlanta Skeptics Star Party on Thursday, August 30, just ahead of Drago

Original release August 1, 2012. Encore release September 12, 2018. Encore release June 5, 2017. We interview comic Jass Richards, author of The Blasphemy Tour (paperback or Kindle). For more about Jass and her book visit JassRichards.com. In the aftermath of the horrific shootings in Aurora, Colorado, right wingnuts--Mike Huckabee and Republican Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert among them--are wasting no time in blaming it on godlessness. Finally, David recommends this interview about the Vatican's criticism of US nuns, by NPR's Terry Gross. CONTACT Visit our blog at AmericanFreethought.com. Visit the podcast at AmericanFreethought.LibSyn.com. Email us at john@americanfreethought.com or david@americanfreethought.com. (John and David are available, either together or separately, to speak in person to your group.) If you like what you hear, take a moment and leave feedback on our iTunes feed. Join our communities at Facebook, Atheist Nexus, or Think Atheist. Shop through us at Amazon.com or at CafePress.com.

Original release June 28, 2012. Encore release September 11, 2018. Encore release June 4, 2017. We interview journalist Katherine Stewart, author of The Good News Club: The Christian Right's Stealth Assault on America's Children (hardcover or Kindle). For more about Katherine and her book visit TheGoodNewsClub.com. CONTACT Visit our blog at AmericanFreethought.com. Visit the podcast at AmericanFreethought.LibSyn.com. Email us at john@americanfreethought.com or david@americanfreethought.com. (John and David are available, either together or separately, to speak in person to your group.) If you like what you hear, take a moment and leave feedback on our iTunes feed. Join our communities at Facebook, Atheist Nexus, or Think Atheist. Shop through us at Amazon.com or at CafePress.com. If you’d like to donate to the operation of this podcast, you can contribute through PayPal to sniderishere@gmail.com. We promise not to spend it on beer. June 28, 2012. Hosted by John C. Snider and David Driscoll.

Original release June 17, 2012. Encore release September 10, 2018. Encore release June 3, 2017. Well, here's a surprise. Snake-handling preacher Mark Wolford died after being bitten by a snake he was handling. Just like his daddy before him. Qu'ran-burning preacher Terry Jones is in the news again--this time for hanging President Obama in effigy on his church's property. Prosperity gospel con-man Creflo Dollar has been arrested in a domestic dispute with his teenage daughter. And in international news, Indonesia has jailed a man for 30 months (basically) for being an atheist. CONTACT Visit our blog at AmericanFreethought.com. Visit the podcast at AmericanFreethought.LibSyn.com. Email us at john@americanfreethought.com or david@americanfreethought.com. (John and David are available, either together or separately, to speak in person to your group.) If you like what you hear, take a moment and leave feedback on our iTunes feed. Join our communities at Facebook, Atheist Nexus, or Think Atheist. Shop through us at

Original release June 9, 2012. Encore release September 9, 2018. Encore release June 2, 2017. We interview Dr. Ryan T. Cragun, lead author of the study "How Secular Humanists (and Everyone Else) Subsidizes Religion in the United States," published in the June/July 2012 issue of Free Inquiry. Cragun is also the co-author of the upcoming book Could I Vote for a Mormon for President? An Election Year Guide to Mitt Romney's Religion (paperback). Also...Not to be outdone by North Carolina, Indiana has now taken up the banner of bigotry against gay rights. This time it's the Apostolic Truth Tabernacle in Greensburg, Indiana, who offered up wild applause when a toddler got up to sing "Ain't No Homos Gonna Make It to Heaven." How very Christian of them.  Finally...It looks like President Obama's vocal support for gay rights is making an impact. One recent survey shows 54% of the American public support same-sex marriage, while another survey shows a sharp increase in approval within the black community.  ANNOUNCEMEN

Original release May 27, 2012. Encore release September 8, 2018. Encore release June 1, 2017. We interview Staise Gonzalez, mover and shaker with Houston Atheists, about her recent (and thus far successful effort) to prevent Helen Ukpabio from visiting the United States. For those unfamiliar with Ukpabio, she is an infamous Nigerian preacher/filmmaker whose poisonous teaching about demon possession has led many children to be abandoned, abused--even murdered--by their families. To see just how nutty Ukpabio is, check out her film "End of the Wicked." Also...North Carolina preachers with an anti-gay agenda are in the news again. This time it's Pastor Charles Worley of Providence Road Baptist Church in Maiden, NC. Worley's Final Solution for "the lesbians and the queers" has gone viral on the web. Finally, we review the controversy surrounding one-time Republican lobbyist Edwina Rogers as the new executive director of the Secular Coalition for America. Rogers has gotten off to a rocky start with prominent freet

Original release May 10, 2012. Encore release September 7, 2018. Encore release May 31, 2017. Finally! President Barack Obama goes on the record in support of gay marriage--but only a day after North Carolina voters approved a state constitutional amendment banning it. And speaking of North Carolina, pastor Sean Harris of Fayetteville's Berean Baptist Church preached a sermon in which he advocated parental violence against gay children. He later issued a non-apology apology, dismissing the whole thing as a poor choice of words. Meanwhile, gay activist Dan Savage is under fire from critics for calling bull$#!+ on Christians obsessed with Old Testament prohibitions against homosexuality. Finally, David highly recommends Kurt Vonnegut's classic novel Cat's Cradle. ANNOUNCEMENTS If you're in Atlanta on Saturday, May 26, come to the Atlanta Science Tavern to hear "The Christian Right's Assault on Public Education and the Science Curriculum," a talk by Katherine Stewart, author ofThe Good News Club: The Christian R

Original release April 28, 2012. Encore release September 6, 2018. Encore release May 30, 2017. That's right, 150 episodes. Yay us. John gives a report on his (and Allison's) recent trip to London and Edinburgh. A good time was had by all. We received lots of listener feedback on our interview in show 149 with Matthew Bowman, an admitted true-believing Mormon and author of the cultural history The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith (hardcover or Kindle). Listeners opined Mormon attempts to overturn same-sex marriage in Maryland, the shocking suicide rate among gay Mormons, and expressed dismay that a seemingly thoughtful and intelligent person could believe in golden plates. On to business...it looks like the religionists won Salazar v. Buono, the case to remove a Christian cross (erected by a private party in 1934) from Sunrise Rock, which is located deep within the federally-owned preserve in California's Mojave Desert. Rather than rule that a private cross on federal property is unconstitutiona

Original release April 3, 2012. Encore release September 5, 2018. Encore release May 29, 2017. We interview Matthew Bowman; scholar, historian, and author of The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith (hardcover or Kindle). (Oh, and he's a real-live Mormon, which makes for very interesting conversation.) Matthew also contributes to the Peculiar People blog at Patheos.com/blogs/PeculiarPeople. David wraps-up his report on the recent Reason Rally on the National Mall. John reports on Richard Dawkins' recent appearance in metro Atlanta for a public lecture and private fundraiser. Also: David is "retiring" from the Secular World Podcast after four-plus years of exemplary service. John and Allison will be in London and Edinburgh over the next couple of weeks. Friend of the show and fellow podcaster Sean Slater has kindly offered to show us around Edinburgh for a day. The American Freethought Podcast will be back in late April. Meanwhile, check out Sean's occasional Scot's History Podcast at http://scots

Original release March 24, 2012. Encore release September 4, 2018. Encore release May 28, 2017. David Driscoll reports live from the Reason Rally on the National Mall. Also: Giveaway! Richard Dawkins will be speaking in metro Atlanta on Tuesday, March 27th. "An Evening with Richard Dawkins" is sold out, but we have a pair of tickets to give away. Join our Facebook group or email your name and cellphone number to john@americanfreethought.com for a chance to win. A winner will be randomly selected on March 24th. John will meet you at the venue to give you your tickets, so please don't email if you are not absolutely certain you can make it. And for those will a little cash on-hand, there will be a private fundraising reception at an Atlanta location to be announced with Richard Dawkins and Sean Faircloth on Wednesday, March 28th. Contributions for attendees starts at $1,000 for individuals and $1,500 for couples. Email Sean Faircloth at sean.faircloth@richarddawkins.net. John and Allison will be there as well

Original release March 17, 2012. Encore release September 3, 2018. Encore release May 27, 2017. We interview Dr. Darrel Ray, author of Sex and God: How Religion Distorts Sexuality (paperback or Kindle). Dr. Ray is also the author of The God Virus and founder of the group Recovering from Religion. For more visit TheGodVirus.net, IPCPress.com, or RecoveringfromReligion.com. Also: A recent poll shows that, incredibly, only a tiny minority of likely Republican voters in Mississippi and Alabama believe that President Obama is a Christian. Fully 88% of Mississippi Republicans either believe he is a Muslim or say they are unsure what religion he practices. The numbers are only slightly better in Alabama. And speaking of Alabama...he's b-a-a-a-ck! Roy Moore, the former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, who was removed from office a few years ago for refusing to uninstall a massive Ten Commandments monument he had placed in the Supreme Court building, is seeking re-election and has just won the Republican p

Original release March 6, 2012. Encore release September 2, 2018. Encore release May 26, 2017. Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum says the concept of separation of church and state makes him want to "throw up." Fellow Catholic JFK would have disagreed. And speaking of wanting to throw up, conservative radio blowhard Rush Limbaugh issues a peculiarly nonapologetic apology to college student Sandra Fluke. Last week Limbaugh labeled Fluke a "slut" and a "prostitute" because of her Congressional testimony in favor of ensuring that birth control is covered in university healthcare programs. Oh, the horror! Watch Ms. Fluke's testimony here. ANNOUNCEMENTS John and Allison will be attending a Marian Call concert in metro Atlanta (at the Doravllle Civic Center, specifically) on Saturday, March 10th. If you like folksy-but-clever Americana in the vein of Susan Werner, you will love Marian Call. For details visit MarianCall.com. CONTACT Visit our blog at AmericanFreethought.com. Visit the podcast at Americ

Original release February 20, 2012. Encore release September 1, 2018. Encore release May 25, 2017. We interview Deborah Scroggins, author of the Wanted Women: Faith, Lies and the War on Terror: The Lives of Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Aafia Siddiqui. This dueling biography contrasts the lives of the world’s most hated female apostate and the world’s (at one time) most wanted female Islamic terrorist. Also: The Cranston, Rhode Island school board has decided NOT to appeal the recent court ruling that a prayer banner at Cranston High School West was unconstitutional. Student Jessica Ahlquist, who brought the lawsuit, has been the subject of abuse and even death-threats in the mostly Catholic state, which was (ironically) founded on the principle of religious freedom. School board chairwoman Andrea Iannazzi claims they won’t be pursuing an appeal, not because they understand the unconstitutionality of a religious banner in a public school, but because the district cannot currently afford the legal costs (as if the ACLU

Original release February 12, 2012. Encore release August 31, 2018. Encore release May 24, 2017. Controversy at the National Prayer Breakfast! Congressman Phil Gingrey (R-GA) walked out during President Obama's sermon. Gingrey is shocked--shocked!--to find that there's politicking going on at the NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST. "Rabbi" Ralph Messer has crowned Atlanta's New Birth Missionary Church "Bishop" Eddie Long as king. To see the 15-minute ceremony, go here and skip forward to the 53:30 point. Needless to say, this has pissed off actual Jews. Also: Read "Atheism in America" by Julian Baggini. If you live in Virginia, call your state representative and urge him/her to vote no on House Bill 189, which would allow religious organizations to discriminate against would-be adoptive parents on the basis of religion. If you live in Georgia, call your state representative and urge him/her to vote no on House Resolution 425, which proposes to amend the state constitution to allow direct and indirect state fu

Original release January 28, 2012. Encore release August 30, 2018. Encore release May 23, 2017. We interview Cullen Murphy, editor-at-large for Vanity Fair and author of God's Jury: The Inquisition and the Making of the Modern World. For more on Cullen visit CullenMurphy.com. John also recommends Wanted Women: The Lives of Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Aafia Siddiqui by Deborah Scroggins. Giveaway! Either join our Facebook group or leave feedback on our new iTunes feed, and you're eligible to win copies of Christopher Hitchen's books Hitch-22 and Arguably. A winner will be randomly selected on February 1st. CONTACT Visit our blog at AmericanFreethought.com. Visit the podcast at AmericanFreethought.LibSyn.com. Email us at john@americanfreethought.com or david@americanfreethought.com. (John and David are available, either together or separately, to speak in person to your group.) If you like what you hear, take a moment and leave feedback on our iTunes page. Join our communities at Facebook, Atheist Nexus, T

Original release January 22, 2012. Encore release August 29, 2018. Encore release May 22, 2017. We look at the aftermath of highschooler Jessica Ahlquist's First Amendment victory in Rhode Island. After winning a lawsuit to have a prayer banner removed from a public high school, Ms. Ahlquist has received threats and harassment--even local florists refuse to deliver flowers to her house! The Supreme Court has supported the concept of "ministerial exception," ruling that religious organizations may hire or fire "ministers" for any reason, even if the reason would otherwise violate laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act. Consider it fair warning that if you accept a job with a religious organizations, you could be checking your civil rights at the door. Also discussed: The new documentary Ayn Rand and the Prophecy of Atlas Shrugged, now in very limited release. The 2003 documentary Touching the Void, about mountaineer (and atheist) Joe Simpson's hair-raising story of survival in the Peruvian An

Original release January 7, 2012. Encore release August 28, 2018. Encore release May 21, 2017. We'd barely shouted "Happy New Year!" when 2012's first religious controversy reared its ugly head. In this case, Cee Lo Green changed the lyrics to John Lennon's classic "Imagine" during the NBC broadcast. Tim Tebow has been catching a lot of flak lately over his pious kneeling on the football field. The Baltimore Ravens' Terrell Suggs has mocked him; Bill Maher has posted insulting tweets; and Saturday Night Live took a good-natured jab at how much Tebow loves him some Jesus. Not everyone is amused at the Tebowing blowback, including CBN host Pat Robertson, who decries the anti-Christian bigotry that's run amok in America. And Pat Robertson knows what he's talking about. Why, God Himself has been talking to Robertson, sharing with him (among other things) secret knowledge of who's going to win the 2012 presidential election. Finally, we take a look at the latest overblown "medical miracle" touted by the ma

Original release December 20, 2011. Encore release August 27, 2018. Encore release May 20, 2017. We mourn the death of journalist and activist Christopher Hitchens, who died December 15th after a long battle with cancer. We'll read from some of his recent work, share our favorite stories and Hitch quotes, and read what others are saying about him. CONTACT Visit our blog at AmericanFreethought.com. Visit the podcast at AmericanFreethought.LibSyn.com. Email us at john@americanfreethought.com or david@americanfreethought.com. (John and David are available, either together or separately, to speak in person to your group.) If you like what you hear, take a moment and leave feedback on our iTunes page. Join our communities at Facebook, Atheist Nexus, Think Atheist or Yahoo Groups. Shop through us at Amazon.com or at CafePress.com. If you'd like to donate to the operation of this podcast, you can contribute through PayPal to editor@scifidimensions.com. We promise not to spend it on beer. December 20, 20