Freethought Radio

Freedom From Religion Foundation

A weekly show, broadcast live from Madison, Wis., on 92.1 FM, Saturdays 11 a.m. to 12 noon. Hosted by Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-presidents, Freedom From Religion Foundation. Slightly irreverent views, news, music and interviews.

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1,059 episodes
Updated Thursday

Episodes1059

Newest first

Nov 29, 2010 · 40 min
Guest: Jesse Galef, Secular Student Alliance
Did you know the least religious segment of the population is young, teens and twenty-somethings. This week we talk with Jesse Galef, Communications Director of the Secular Student Alliance about the growing number of young nonbelievers. We celebrate Mark Twain's birthday, Nov. 30.
Nov 22, 2010 · 43 min
Guest: Sawyer Frey
A "blasphemous student," Sawyer Frey of Ohio, will talk about why he decided to dress up like Jesus for "Fictional Character" day at his public school, and what the school made him change! Also discussed: why "under god" in the Pledge of Allegiance continues to divide our nation, and the latest in FFRF's litigation efforts to remove it.
Nov 16, 2010 · 42 min
Guests: Gerardo Romero Quijada, Bill van Druten
We talk about freethought up north and freethought down south. We'll talk with the leader of a Minnesota chapter and a Mexican atheist Gerardo Romera Quijada "Ramas". We'll talk about the first national atheist conference in Mexico where FFRF will be participating.
Nov 16, 2010 · 43 min
FIXED! Guest: Opera Singer Melody Moore
We review Wisconsin's Lt. Gov's historic welcome speech to the 33rd annual FFRF national convention in Madison, Wis. Rep. Pete Stark accepts the Emperor Has No Clothes Award as Congresses'only out non-believer. Melody Moore, soprano opera singer, shares why FFRF is special to her.
Nov 1, 2010 · 43 min
GUESTS: FFRF ATTORNEY REBECCA MARKERT & STUDENT AWARDEE ERIC WORKMAN
TOPIC: KEEPING RELIGION OUT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS FFRF staff attorney Rebecca Markert reports on the prayer in school violation FFRF has contested that is turning Daisy Soddy School District and the rest of Tennessee upside down. This year's Thomas Jefferson Youth Activist Awardee Eric Workman talks about why, as class valedictorian, he sued his public school district over illegal commencement prayers, and how he won.
Oct 25, 2010 · 42 min
Guest: Julia Sweeney
FFRF unveils the "Out of the Closet" bus sign and billboard campaign for atheists and agnostics. Atheist and comedian extrodinaire Julia Sweeney previews her speech at the FFRF convention next weekend.
Oct 18, 2010 · 42 min
GUEST: JOURNALIST BILL LUEDERS
Atheism pops up in pop culture as the co-hosts discuss the hit tv show 'Glee.' Veteran journalist and Isthmus editor Bill Lueders discusses his latest book Watchdog: 25 years of muckraking and rabble-rousing.
Oct 11, 2010 · 43 min
Guest: Madison cartoonist Mike Konopacki
The co-hosts remember John Lennon. Dan and Annie Laurie speak with Madison cartoonist and illustrator of People's History of American Empire (co-authored by Howard Zinn). Mike talks about his exhibit at the FFRF national convention in Madison over Halloween weekend. The exhibit shows the perils of living in "One nation under god."
Oct 4, 2010 · 42 min
Guest: Veteran reporter Linda Greenhouse
Topic: Supreme Challenges In a sneak preview for FFRF's upcoming national convention, convention speaker Linda Greenhouse, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who covered the Supreme Court for The New York Times for 30 years, will talk about her new book on Roe v. Wade, and state/church issues before the high court. The hosts will also play amusing clips about religion and Christine O'Donnell, include coverage of a "war of the billboards" inaugurated by its Tulsa "Atheism is OK in Oklahoma" billboard, and talk about why atheists and agnostics fared so well on this week's PEW survey finding biblical illiteracy among believers.
Sep 27, 2010 · 42 min
FREETHINKING IN FARGO WITH GUEST JON LINDGREN, PRESIDENT, RED RIVER FREETHINKERS, FORMER FARGO MAYOR & REBECCA MARKERT, FFRF LEAD STAFF ATTORNEY
Freethought Radio will catch up with legal complaints and victories by FFRF's lead staff attorney Rebecca, Markert, who will cohost this week's show while Dan Barker is on the road for freethought. Guest Jon Lindgren, former mayor of Fargo, N.D., professor emeritus of economics and President of Red River Freethinkers, will talk about how he dropped prayers from city commission meetings, and about an 8-year legal battle in Fargo to remove a Ten Commandments monument from city property.
Sep 20, 2010 · 43 min
GUEST: SONDRA K. GORNEY
Secular songwriter and secular billboardsBrother, can you spare a buck? This week we talk about secular songwriter Jay Gorney, who wrote the music to the famous and influential Depression-era song, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" (with atheist lyricist Yip Harburg). Our guest is Jay Gorney's widow, the actress Sondra K. Gorney, who wrote a biography about her nonbelieving husband. We'll also catch up with this week's exciting FFRF actions, legal challenges, and billboards in Atlanta, Oklahoma, and elsewhere around the country.
Sep 13, 2010 · 42 min
Guest: Professor Bill Dusenberry
Topics: Atheism in Oklahoma, Billboards in Atlanta Which Senator Gore was an atheist? Find out on Freethought Radio. Also, FFRFs 50 billboards take Atlanta by storm. Hosts speak with Prof. Bill Doosenberry on why atheism OK in Oklahoma – and everywhere. This week only, Freethought Radio airs in Madison on the Mic 92.1 at 10 am (sports preempt).
Sep 7, 2010 · 42 min
GUEST: 82-YEAR-OLD FREETHINKING FARMER/BILLBOARD BENEFACTOR
This week Freethought Radio hosts Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker will parse the godly tenor of Glenn Beck's D.C. rally, discuss other news developments and interview an 82-year-old Wisconsin farmer about why he dreamed up and paid for FFRF's billboard, recently defaced in Watertown, Wis., saying "Enjoy Life Now: There Is No Afterlife." The show will also air comedian Steve Martin's "atheist hymn."
Aug 30, 2010 · 42 min
GUEST: WYNNE LEGROW, M.D., ATHEIST CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE and CARTOONIST STEVE BENSON
This week Freethought Radio hosts Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker interview Wynne LeGrow, M.D., the Democratic challenger of U.S. Rep. Randy Forbes, who came out last week as an atheist, about his decision to announce his lack of faith as a political candidate. The hosts also catch up with Steve Benson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist of the Arizona Republic, who will reprise Tunes N Toons with Dan at the 33rd annual FFRF convention in Madison, Wis., Oct. 29-30. Also discussed: the war against religious progress in light of a federal court ruling last week halting federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.
Aug 23, 2010 · 43 min
GUEST: DISTINGUISHED GENETICIST JAMES F. CROW
This week Freethought Radio hosts Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker interview the internationally lauded Prof. James F. Crow, for whom the new evolution institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been named. The nonagenarian will talk about inspiring generations of students, why he is a freethinker and what the new center for evolution will mean for science education. The hosts will also talk about the mosque controversy, FFRF's New Orleans billboard campaign and celebrate the upcoming 90th anniversary of the adoption of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote in the U.S. (Aug. 26, 1920).
Aug 16, 2010 · 42 min
GUEST: JAZZ SINGER TOKELI
TOPICS: BILLBOARDS, CITY PRAYER, AND ATHEIST JAZZThis week Freethought Radio hosts Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker interview the award-winning California jazz vocalist Tokeli and talk about her career and life as an atheist Mom. Listen to clips from Tokeli's CD "Where Do You Start?," including "The Nearness of You," "I've Got the World On a String," and "As Time Goes By." Also hear two TV news stories about FFRF's blitz of 20 new billboards in Tampa, Florida, and an update on the city prayer controversy in Aiken, South Carolina.
Aug 9, 2010 · 43 min
GUESTS: ANNE HELMS, DAUGHTER OF ANSEL ADAMS, WITH KEN HELMS
TOPICS: ANSEL ADAMS & FREETHOUGHT; REMEMBERING ROBERT G. INGERSOLLFreethought Radio will interview the daughter of photographer Ansel Adams, who is a freethinker and Lifetime Member of FFRF, about her life, her famous father, what it was like growing up in Yosemite, current exhibits, and will also interview Ken Helms, a former Unitarian minister and FFRF Lifetime Member. In honor of 19th century "infidel" Robert G. Ingersoll's Aug. 11 birthdate anniversary, the show will play a clip from a famous 1950s movie that pays homage to Ingersoll, and play some of his famous poems set to music. Also featured: How FFRF is stirring things up in South Carolina!
Aug 2, 2010 · 41 min
GUEST: KIRK MEFFORD
Meet high-school science teacher Kirk Mefford, faculty advisor for the West High School chapter of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and learn how hard it is to be an open atheist on campus. This week’s show also announces many state/church victories and complaints made by FFRF’s legal staff, and features a very funny excerpt of the “Door to Door Atheist” video made by Australian filmmaker John Safran.
Jul 26, 2010 · 43 min
GUEST: SAM GROVER, FFRF LEGAL INTERN
The highly intelligent and hardworking Sam Grove, FFRF's summer intern from the law school at Boston University, will talk about his varied legal experiences working for FFRF, and promises to give the "inside story" on what it's like to work for FFRF. The hosts also report on the Vatican's decision to go after pedophile priests. Not!
Jul 19, 2010 · 42 min
Guest: Barbara James
This week we celebrate the historic 162nd anniversary of the Seneca Falls Women's Rights Convention by speaking with the daughter of the authors of Bloomer Girls, an atheist hit. Dan and Annie Laurie also examine some "unfriendly" friend-of-the-court briefs filed in appeal to the National Day of Prayer ruling