Friendly Atheist Podcast

Cathy Lynn Grossman is a senior national correspondent for Religion News Service, a wire service for faith-based news. She often writes stories involving research and statistics. She also worked for more than two decades with USA Today. I spoke with Grossman about the toughest story she's ever written, what the Internet is doing to religion, and whether the amount of religion currently in politics is a new phenomenon. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ep. 76 - Jocelyn Floyd, Attorney with the Thomas More Society by Hemant Mehta and Jessica Bluemke See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Lauren Lane is the Founder and Executive Director of Skepticon, a national conference located annually in Springfield, Missouri that promotes skepticism, science education, and community building. I spoke with Lauren about how her team runs a free conference for more than a thousand people, how they improve the event every year, and what goes on behind the scenes. (Disclosure: I've spoken at Skepticon multiple times, though I won't be able to attend this year. It's a wonderful event and you should all attend if you can!) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We're thrilled to speak with the team behind YouTube sensation Mrs. Betty Bowers. Andrew Bradley is the creator and writer for BettyBowers.com. If you haven't seen the videos, Betty is American's Best Christian, and she has a lot to say about traditional marriage, abortion, the upcoming elections, and so much more. She's a hilarious parody of right-wing extremists. Andrew was also one of the main writers for Landover Baptist Church, a parody of a fundamentalist Christian church that featured articles that people still believe are real. He's also the author of Welcome to JesusLand. Deven Green plays Mrs. Betty Bowers. She's a comedian, musician, and performer. She was also a comedy judge on RuPaul's Drag Race. We spoke with Andrew and Deven about how they collaborate, the kind of hate mail they receive, and the origins of Landover Baptist Church. By the way, this is our first time trying to host four people on the same phone call, so the audio's not always ideal, but hopefully it's all still audible! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dr. Keith Devlin is a mathematician who's also known as The Math Guy on NPR's Weekend Edition. He has written several books explaining math to the masses. And he's also the co-founder and Executive Director of Stanford University's Human-Sciences and Technologies Advanced Research Institute (H-Star). We spoke with Dr. Devlin about why math is difficult to understand and explain, how we tend to know more about mathematicians' lives than their work, and whether programs like Khan Academy help or hurt students. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Leah Vincent is a former Orthodox Jew and the author of Cut Me Loose: Sin and Salvation After My Ultra-Orthodox Girlhood. She's the first person in her family to attend college and she earned her Masters degree in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. We spoke with Leah about her life growing up in the culture, what fundamentalist faiths have in common, and what she plans to teach her daughter about her religious background. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sarah Morehead is the President of the Reason Rally Coalition. She is also Executive Director of Recovering From Religion, the group that runs the Hotline Project and Secular Therapist Project. She was named American Atheists' 2014 "Atheist of the Year." We spoke about what's in store for the 2016 Reason Rally and how it'll be different from the 2012 event, as well as her work behind the scenes putting together Apostacon. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

David Niose has been the president of two major organizations, the American Humanist Association and the Secular Coalition for America. He currently serves as the AHA's legal director. He's also a lawyer who has argued in front of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court about why the Pledge of Allegiance shouldn't be recited in public school classrooms. And he's the author of Nonbeliever Nation and Fighting Back the Right: Reclaiming America from the Attack on Reason. We spoke with David about the legal issues affecting young atheists and how they should respond. Topics addressed include: Saying the Pledge of Allegiance, "See You at the Pole" events, religious choir music, science education, Gideons Bible giveaways, faith-based assemblies, and prayers at football games. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dan Barker was a teenage evangelist and longtime preacher before he stepped away from God for good. He is now the co-President of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (along with his wife Annie Laurie Gaylor), a group dedicated to the principle of separation of state and church. Barker is also the author of Godless (2008) and Life Driven Purpose (2015). I spoke with Barker about why he goes on The Daily Show even when the segments aren't very kind to him, his next project encouraging people to read the Bible, and how all Christian ministers are "slaves traders." (Yep.) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Neil Carter is a blogger at Godless in Dixie, where he writes about being an atheist in the Deep South. He's a teacher, a personal trainer, and a father. I spoke with Neil about what it's like being non-religious in Mississippi, the "evandelism" that followed his coming out, and the importance of having someone to talk to when you have religious doubts. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.