Freethought Radio

We announce two new FFRF state/church lawsuits this week. In honor of Pride Month, we celebrate the birth anniversary on June 9 (1891) of the gay/atheist songwriter Cole Porter by listening to his irreverent song "Experiment." Then, we speak with professor David C. Hoffman, author of American Freethought: The History of a Social Movement, 1794-1948.

We announce two new lawsuits this week that FFRF is taking with a coalition of state/church groups. The first challenges the placement of statues of Catholic saints at the entrance of the public safety building in Quincy, Massachusetts. The second challenges a new Texas law that mandates the placement of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom. Then, we speak with Pulitzer-Prize finalist Rollo Romig, author of the book I Am on the Hit List: A Journalist's Murder and the Rise of Autocracy in India.

This week we honor the life and work of our friend, the Broadway composer Charles Strouse—who died last week at age 96—who wrote "Annie" and "Bye Bye Birdie" and many other musicals and songs, by hearing some of his music, including "Poor Little Me," which he co-wrote with FFRF co-president Dan Barker. Then, we speak with journalist Talia Lavin, author of the book Wild Faith: How the Christian Right is Taking Over America.

The new head of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV, has insulted "practical atheists," but it is really his own church that needs to apologize for bad behavior. After hearing Dan Barker's song "The Battle of Church and State," we speak with FFRF’s Senior Policy Counsel Ryan Jayne and Regional Governmental Affairs Manager Mickey Dollens about the many "good, bad & ugly" state/church bills at the state level.

We have some good state/church news to report out of Oklahoma and Arizona. Then, in response to Trump's remarks at the May 1 "National Day of Prayer," we celebrate the May 4 "National Day of Reason" by hearing impassioned and humorous remarks at the Second Annual "Reason Reception" in DC, sponsored by FFRF, American Humanist Association and the Secular Coalition for America, for the Congressional Freethought Caucus. The "Very Funny Lady" comedian LeighAnn Lord kicked off the event, followed by U.S. Reps. Jared Huffman (CA), Jamie Raskin (MD), Laura Friedman (CA), and a poignant keynote by former Representative Susan Wild (PA).

Mayday! Mayday! We listen to some of the oral arguments in a pivotal Supreme Court case heard Wednesday about whether a private Catholic charter school can be funded with public money. If allowed, this would deal a serious blow to public education. After reporting on state/church news in Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas, and decrying Attorney General Pam Bondi's “Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias” Task Force, we talk with Swedish humanist Christer Sturmark, author of the book To Light the Flame of Reason: Clear Thinking for the Twenty-First Century.

We first do a round-up of the news nationally and globally, including the death of Pope Francis and the Trump administration's setting up of a dubious religion-based task force. Then, guest host FFRF Communications Director Amitabh Pal interviews University of Louisville Professor David T. Buckley on his recent book, Blessing America First: Religion, Populism and Foreign Policy in the Trump Administration. Barbra Streisand's songs provide the soundtrack to the show.

This week, we report that Christian nationalism is on full display at all levels of government. After covering national state/church news, FFRF Senior Policy Counsel Ryan Jayne tells us about the many bills, good and bad, that FFRF's Action Fund is tracking in the states (and Puerto Rico). Then, George Mbuagbaw, Acting President of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, tells us about the many nonbelievers in that part of West Africa.

FFRF's IT Director Scott Knickelbine gives us the inside scoop on the case by Catholic Charities in Wisconsin that is before the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to deny workers unemployment insurance based on religious privilege. Then, we talk with Maryland Delegate Heather Bagnall about the bill she introduced to exonerate people accused of witchcraft in 17th-century Maryland, including Moll Dyer, who froze to death after being driven from her home.

Besides covering state/church issues in Kentucky, Wisconsin and Arizona, most of the news is out of Oklahoma, including the fact that Oklahoma's Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters is suing FFRF for allegedly interfering in the right of his office to promote religion in the public schools. FFRF Legal Director Patrick Elliott joins us to talk about that case, Ryan v. FFRF. Three smart young people read their winning entries in FFRF's freethinking student essay contests. Then, we hear an excerpt of a speech by former New York Times columnist and MSNBC political analyst Charles Blow decrying the dangers of Christian nationalism.

After a roundup of state/church news around the country, we celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Eric Idle, 82, (who calls himself an "old agnostic") by listening to his irreverent song, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" from the movie "Monty Python's Life of Brian." Then, professor and author Josh Cowen tells us about his book The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers.

After reporting state-church news at the federal level, as well as in Massachusetts, Texas and Missouri, we hear riveting testimony from Georgia state representative Karen Lupton opposing a hateful Christian-nationalist anti-trans bill in that state. Then, former evangelical preacher Rob Haskell, author of God of the Mind: An eXvangelical Journey, tells us why he left the ministry and became an atheist.

We report on the threats and actual harm of Christian nationalism to the country, to the Department of Education and to Oklahoma, Kentucky, Texas, New Mexico and Wisconsin. After hearing the Yip Harburg song "One Sweet Morning," yearning for the end of winter and the end of war, we speak with attorney Kat Grant, a contributing FFRF writer and host of the "Transing Boundaries" blog, about the sharp increase in religiously motivated attacks on transgender rights.

This week we track a tsunami of (mostly bad) bills in Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, West Virginia and North Dakota. After hearing sneak previews of some of FFRF's other shows — Ask an Atheist, Freethought Matters and "We Dissent" — we talk with Brian Ruder, President of the Board of "Final Exit Network," offering people who are unbearably suffering an intractable medical condition the option to die legally and peacefully.

We celebrate the fact that PEW reports 43% of young adults are nonreligious, and that overall the "Nones" (nonreligious) are larger than any religious denomination. Mandisa Thomas, founder and president of Black Nonbelievers, tells us about the upcoming Revival of Reason conference in Atlanta. Then we speak with public-health expert professor Patrick L. Remington, who is on the board of the CDC's "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly," about the dangers that religion and the right-wing administration pose to the work of the CDC.

After discussing some of Trump's religiously motivated executive orders and appointments, we focus on some of the bad bills in the states, including Oklahoma, Idaho, Alabama, Kentucky, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin. Then we speak with David Clohessy, a survivor of childhood sexual molestation by clergy, who is the former director of SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. He outlines the severity of the problem and offers hope for dealing with the dangers of pedophilic priests and ministers.

We announce the first atheist billboard in Africa! We report on a tsunami of Christian nationalist bills and executive orders at the federal and state levels, including Texas, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Iowa and Tennessee. In honor of Valentine's Day, we hear Dan Barker's secular love song "It's Only Natural." Then sociology professor Ryan T. Cragun, author of Goodbye Religion: The Causes and Consequences of Secularization, shows us, with data, that religious people are not happier, healthier or more moral than nonreligious people.

The first half of our show this week deals with the many Christian nationalist executive orders and actions of the Trump administration. We hear part of the "Stop Project 2025" rally in Madison, Wisconsin. Then, we listen to Black/Latino atheist actor Jon Huertas, best known for playing Miguel Rivas in NBC's "This is Us," as he spoke to FFRF's Denver convention about “True Freedom: Breaking The Shackles Of Religious Indoctrination.”

We cover a range of state/church news on the federal and state levels. We announce FFRF's Scopes Trial Centennial celebration to be held in Tennessee in July. After hearing the irreverent Monty Python song, "Every Sperm is Sacred," we memorialize the life of former Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards, an ardent proponent of feminism and democracy and author of the book Make Trouble, by replaying our 2018 interview with her on Freethought Radio.

This week we comment on the overtly religious nature of President Trump's inaugural "Christian Coronation," including invocations and benedictions claiming we are "one nation under God." Then, we speak with journalist Gareth Gore about his book about Opus Dei called OPUS: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church.