Friendly Atheist Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Ep. 34 - Rabia Chaudry, Catalyst for the Serial Podcast Dec 20, 2014

Show notes

Rabia Chaudry is an attorney who specializes in immigration law, a National Security Fellow at the New America Foundation, and President of the Safe Nation Collaborative, an organization that, among other things, consults with federal agencies about how to counter violent extremism. She writes at SplitTheMoon.com. But you may know her best because she's the person who brought the story of Adnan Syed to reporter Sarah Koenig, resulting in the Serial podcast phenomenon. Rabia's little brother was Adnan's best friend and their families were also close. (I should point out that we taped this episode the day before the final episode aired.) We spoke with Rabia about what she learned from Serial that she didn't know before, her relationship with Sarah Koenig, and whether she was compelled to respond to the misinformation about Adnan online.

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Ep. 33 - Fred Clark, Progressive Christian Blogger Dec 15, 2014

Show notes

Fred Clark is a progressive evangelical Christian blogger better known as Slacktivist. He's one of those Christians who defies all the stereotypes atheists tend to have of Christians. He's for gay marriage, critical of church leaders, and constantly frustrated with what his "tribe" does in the name of Jesus. We spoke with Fred about why he's still working on the longest-running book review ever, what will happen to the Christian church after gay marriage becomes legal everywhere, and how Christians can change church culture from the inside. Full disclosure: Fred writes for Patheos, the same network on which you can find the Friendly Atheist blog.

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Ep. 32 - Horus Gilgamesh, Author of Awkward Moments Children's Bible Dec 10, 2014

Show notes

Horus Gilgamesh is a pen name for the author of The Awkward Moments Children's Bible. Which is really not for children. It features beautiful illustrations of the most disturbing biblical passages you're ever read. Volume 2 came out recently and I suspect we'll be seeing more volumes in the future because, well, there's so much source material.

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Ep. 31 - Lucien Greaves, Spokesperson for The Satanic Temple Dec 10, 2014

Show notes

Lucien Greaves is the spokesperson for The Satanic Temple. You know his organization because they've been very active recently regarding church/state separation issues. In Oklahoma, where there was a Ten Commandments monument near the Capitol building, Greaves' group requested putting up a statue of Baphomet‚Ä¶ leading to all sorts of chaos. They've also tried to put up a Satanic display in the Florida Capitol building. And, my favorite, after a Florida school district allowed an outside group to do a Bible giveaway for students, they requested to distribute a Satanic coloring book‚Ä¶ which may lead to an end to outside book distributions for good in that district. We spoke with Lucien about how he doesn't actually believe in Satan, what his group's relationship is like with other Satanic groups, and why they conducted a Pink Mass over the grave of Fred Phelps' mother.

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Ep. 30 - Phil Zuckerman, Author of Living The Secular Life Dec 10, 2014

Show notes

Phil Zuckerman is a professor of sociology and secular studies ‚Äì yes, secular studies ‚Äì at Pitzer College in Claremont, California, where he lives with his wife and three children. He is the author of several books about atheism, including Society Without God and Faith No More: Why People Reject Religion. Next week, he'll be releasing a book called Living the Secular Life. We spoke with Phil about whether the rise of the "Unaffiliated" has hit its peak, why more atheists have come out of the closet over the past decade, and why that demographic shift is good for America.

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Ep. 29 - Jeff Lewis, Illinois Christian Home Educators Dec 10, 2014

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Jeff Lewis is a board member of the Illinois Christian Home Educators (ICHE). ICHE is a group that promotes faith-based home-schooling and provides a variety of resources to Christian parents who want to do that. He's an attorney who specializes in topics including estate planning and guardianship issues. He and his wife have five children, all of whom have been home-schooled. We asked him to join us to give us an insight into a world we know little about, not to debate him on aspects of homeschooling. Still, the conversation will likely infuriate some listeners (you've been warned). We spoke with Jeff about whether homeschooling should be regulated by the state, why public schools are a problem for some Christians, and what to do about kids who fall through the cracks.

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Ep. 28 - "Patrick," an Atheist College Football Player Dec 10, 2014

Show notes

Our guest is a college football player from one of the top Division 1 programs in the country. He's not just a guy on the bench; he himself is one of the top players in the country for his position. At his request, we're maintaining his anonymity because he deserves to be recognized for his talent and not his atheism, and we don't want to ruin that for him. Rest assured, though, we know his real name. We've verified that he is who he says he is. We wanted to talk to him about faith, football, and his future. For the sake of this interview, we're going to call him "Patrick." We spoke with Patrick about how he became an atheist, what it's like being an atheist on a mostly religious team, and what those of us on the outside don't know about college football. (Image via Shutterstock)

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Ep. 27 - Left Behind Discussion Dec 10, 2014

Show notes

The new Left Behind movie, starring Nicolas Cage, is out -- and Jessica and Hemant decided to go see it... so you don't have to. After several days of keeping their thoughts to themselves, they finally discussed the movie with the microphones on. By the way, the picture you're seeing is Jessica in the theater. By herself.

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Ep. 26 - Steve Wells, Skeptics Annotated Bible Dec 10, 2014

Show notes

Steve Wells is the author of the amazing Skeptics Annotated Bible, which documents all the contradictions and horrible things the Bible says. It's one of the most useful websites for atheists I have ever seen and you can check it out at skepticsannotatedbible.com. The print version of the book is a must-have. Wells is also the author of Drunk with Blood, which documents all of God's killings in the Bible. His newest book is called Strange Flesh, and it's about how the Bible is used to justify anti-gay bigotry or, depending on who you talk to, support LGBT rights. We spoke with Steve about his time in seminary, how one documents the number of deaths during an imaginary flood, and how Christian LGBT-rights advocate Matthew Vines gets it wrong.

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Ep. 25 - Liz Cavell, Freedom From Religion Foundation Dec 10, 2014

Show notes

Elizabeth Cavell graduated from Tulane University Law School in 2009 and worked for a while as a deputy public defender in southern Colorado. She currently works as a staff attorney with the Freedom From Religion Foundation. We spoke with Liz about which kind of complaints are the most numerous at FFRF, how persecution has become a way to protect privilege, and whether she ever speaks with her cultural counterparts.

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