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Show 442: Climate Change, Revisited w/ Bill McKibben

Climate Change, Revisited w/ Bill McKibben

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Our guest this week is Bill McKibben, a widely recognized leading environmental author, journalist and activist.  Mr. McKibben’s many books include New York Times Bestsellers The End of Nature and Earth, as well as Deep Economy, The Age of Missing Information, and his new book coming out this Tuesday, Sept 17th, Oil and Honey: The Education of an Unlikely Activist. He is also the founder of the grassroots climate campaign, 350.org. We will discuss his upcoming book, his history and experience in the climate change movement, and the steps human beings must take in order to preserve our very existence.

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Show 440: David Swanson – War is a Lie

David Swanson – War is a Lie

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“This world community must renounce the resort to violence and force as a method of solving international disputes. We believe in the peaceful adjudication of differences by international courts and by the development of the arts of negotiation and compromise. War is obsolete. So is the use of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. It is a planetary imperative to reduce the level of military expenditures and turn these savings to peaceful and people-oriented uses.” -Humanist Manifesto II

“This book (War is a Lie) is every American’s best defense against the greatest danger we face as human beings: the threat of war.  (David) Swanson reveals how American leaders (from both major political parties) have confused the public to create the illusion of consent for endless destruction and slaughter. Behind the fear-mongering, flag-waving and lies of George W. Bush and the blandishments of Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama lies the ugly reality that our leaders have been seduced by political ambition, delusions of military superiority, and the promise of secrecy and impunity to commit otherwise unthinkable crimes.” — Nicolas J. S. Davies, Author of Blood On Our Hands: the American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq.

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Show 439: Katherine Stewart on The Good News Club

Katherine Stewart on The Good News Club: The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children

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This Saturday on Equal Time for Freethought we will talk with Katherine Stewart, author of “The Good News Club: The Religious Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children.”  Ms. Stewart, a journalist, appeared on our show months ago, but the discussion was our only show in ETFF’s 10+ year history to NOT be recorded. We will discuss her book regarding the Good News Club, an evangelical organization that has infiltrated thousands of elementary schools across the country, promoting their doctrine under the guise of free expression. We will discuss this organization, how it became so powerful, and the little known but immensely damaging impacts of their manipulation of our most vulnerable citizens.

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Show 438: Science Denial in the 21st Century w/ Darryl Cunningham

Science Denial in the 21st Century w/ Darryl Cunningham

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Climate change and evolution are both crucially important scientific theories and both have been fully accepted by the scientific community. Why then is there so much doubt and controversy about both among the general public? When the first human being stepped onto the moon, that step was seen across the world on TV and has been verified many times by many sources. Why then are so many convinced it was nothing but a conspiracy?

Science, the scientific process, has proved itself again and again in more ways than can be counted. It has saved lives, enabled communication in ways never before thought possible, and given us an amazing understanding of the universe around us. So why is there so much doubt and denial of science?

We will discuss these issues and more with British cartoonist Darryl Cunningham, a respected science writer and author of the book How to Fake a Moon Landing: Exposing the Myths of Science Denial, in which Cunningham tackles a variety of science denial issues in comic book form. Cunningham has also written other graphic books, including Psychiatric Tales. He was the keynote speaker at the Graphic Medicine Conference in Leeds, England in 2011.

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Show 437: ETFF Summer Fund Drive: On Economic Humanism

ETFF Summer Fund Drive: On Economic Humanism, featuring the work of Dr. Richard Wolff

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For humanism to mean something it should point us toward an economic system consistent with its perspective.  But what would such a humanistic economy look like?  And how would such a system become established?

To help guide us though these and other questions, as well as clarifying some basic ideas about economics, we will feature the work of economics professor and fellow WBAI producer Dr. Richard Wolff.

Along with his most recent book and a DVD of one of his recent presentations, we will be offering an exclusive interview with Dr. Wolff recorded earlier this week as thank you premiums for our listener sponsors who donate during the program.

 

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Show 436: Attack of the Theocrats!

Attack of the Theocrats!

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This Saturday, host Matthew LaClair will speak with Sean Faircloth, the author of “Attack of the Theocrats: How the Religious Right Harms Us All and What We Can Do About It.” Faircloth served for a decade as a state legislature (Maine), and later worked for the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science as the Director of Strategy and Policy and served as Executive Director for the Secular Coalition for America. We will talk about the effects of the religious right on America’s military, children, laws, education system, politics and more. With these concerns in mind, Faircloth presents a vision of a more secular America that provides true Constitutional religious equality among all citizens, both legally and socially.

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Show 433: Joel Marks on A-moralism and the Philosophy of Desire

Joel Marks on A-moralism and the Philosophy of Desire

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Because of the Darwinian revolution, and the Galilean revolution before it, we have been able to – intellectually at least – get past our early notions of gods and supernatural beliefs in general… And now we are tackling what seems to be more and more scientifically evidenced… the death of free will and the notion along with it of the self-made man.  On ETFF we’ve discussed what ‘free will’ is, what determinism is, and how we might consider conducting ourselves in society when we know that no person is the ultimate author of their behaviors.  But, while some have argued that while we can’t hold people morally responsible for their actions, others still believe that we can entertain the notions of morality itself.  But is that the most logical way to look at the human condition? We’ll find out, on today’s edition of Equal Time for Freethought with Dr. Joel Marks!