Posted on

Show 173: David Mills

Audio here!

From the Publisher:

Clear, concise, and persuasive, David Mills‘ Atheist Universe: The Thinking Person’s Answer to Christian Fundamentalism details exactly why God is unnecessary to explain the universe and life’s diversity, organization, and beauty. The author thoroughly rebuts every argument that claims to “prove” God’s existence — arguments based on logic, common sense, philosophy, ethics, history and science.

Atheist Universe avoids the esoteric language and logic used by philosophers, and presents its scientific evidence in simple lay terms, making it a richly entertaining and easy-to-read introduction to atheism. A comprehensive primer, it addresses all the historical and scientific questions, including: Is there proof that God does not exist? What evidence is there of Jesus’ resurrection? Can creation science reconcile scripture with the latest scientific discoveries?

Atheist Universe also answers ethical issues such as: What is the meaning of life without God? It’s a spellbinding inquiry that ultimately arrives at a controversial and well-documented conclusion.

Posted on

Show 171: Michelle Goldberg

Audio here!

On her website, Goldberg’s publisher – W.W. Norton – writes, “Before the 2004 election, and during the ensuing months when many Americans were trying to understand how an administration marked by cronyism, disregard for the national budget, and poorly disguised self-interest had been reinstated, Goldberg traveled through the heartland of a country in the grips of a fevered religious radicalism: the America of our time. From the classroom to the mega-church to the federal court, she saw how the growing influence of dominionism—the doctrine that Christians have the right to rule nonbelievers—is threatening the foundations of democracy. With her trenchant interviews and the telling testimonies of the people behind this movement, Goldberg gains access into the hearts and minds of citizens who are striving to remake the secular Republic bequeathed by our founders into a Christian nation run according to their interpretation of scripture

Posted on

Show 170: On the Count meets Equal Time for Freethought

1-Hour Special!

Audio here!

For anyone who is a humanist, reform of our brutal criminal justice system is a major concern, but can real structural changes to our criminal justice system become adopted and be sustained without a radical change in our nation’s consciousness which departs from religion?

The host of WBAI’s ‘On the Count!’: The Criminal Justice and Prison Report’s” Eddie Ellis, join’s “Equal Time for Freethought’s” Arnell Dowret for a wide ranging examination of the philosophical and theological ideas involved in creating a new, more humane and just criminal justice paradigm.  Included in this discussion is a look at how a secular humanist world view compares with a world view that is faith-based in regard to relevant social, economic, and political issues such as poverty, capitalism, racism, and reparations.

Posted on

Show 169: Brian Trent

Keeping the Darkness at Bay, or How to Avoid Reliving the Lowest Moment in Human History w/ Brian Trent

Audio here!

Just before the dark ages began, there was a moment, when centuries of
the total accumulated evidence-based knowledge, as well as the empirical
approach to knowing, had people struggling for it not to be eviscerated by the forces of superstition, faith, and authoritarianism.  For many reasons, that ill fated struggle to keep reason alive just before the thousand years of darkness which followed, was embodied in the story life of the ancient female mathematician and astronomer, Hypatia.

Brian Trent is the author of the recent historical novel “Remembering Hypatia.”  Brian will help us understand what it is that this great woman represented, and why we aught to be especially vigilant today about how to protect humanity from those who would bring about a new Dark Age.
Continue reading “Show 169: Brian Trent”

Posted on

Show 168: Robert M. Price

The Da Vinci Fraud: Why the Truth is Stranger than Fiction w/Robert M. Price

Audio here!

Book Description:

Was Leonardo Da Vinci a member of the “Priory of Sion,” a secret society reaching all the way back to the Crusades? Does his famous painting, “The Last Supper,” contain a hidden code about this society’s most precious secret? Did Jesus father children by Mary Magdalene? What was the Holy Grail?

The best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown has stirred the popular imagination by cleverly interweaving theories about such questions with a fast-paced fictional narrative. Many readers have been so swept away by the drama of this murder mystery that they have accepted Brown’s fictional reconstruction of Christian origins and medieval history as established fact.

Continue reading “Show 168: Robert M. Price”

Posted on

Show 167: Ivan Stang & The Church of the SubGenius

Audio here!

The Church of the SubGenius is a satirical postmodern parody religion, originally based in Dallas, Texas, which gained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s subculture, with a large presence on the Internet.  The Church describes its philosophy in the following manner: “The Church Of The SubGenius is an order of Scoffers and Blasphemers, dedicated to Total Slack, delving into Mockery Science, Sadofuturistics, Megaphysics, Scatalography, Schizophreniatrics, Morealism, Sarcastrophy, Cynisacreligion, Apocolyptionomy, ESPectorationalism, Hypno-Pediatrics, Subliminalism, Satyriology, Disto-Utopianity, Sardonicology, Fascetiouism, Ridiculophagy, and Miscellatheistic Theology.”
Continue reading “Show 167: Ivan Stang & The Church of the SubGenius”

Posted on

Show 166: Fund Drive Program: Religion, Science, Dubya and the “Selfish Gene”

Fund Drive Program: Religion, Science, Dubya and the “Selfish Gene”

Audio 1 here!

Audio 2 here!

For this special fund drive program, we will be traveling along the crossroads of religion and science, and chatting a bit about the relevance of science for a progressive understanding of political activism, and we will perhaps delve a bit into how science may become politicized, even subtly.

Joining me today for this special program will be my associate producer, Arnell Dowret, and hosts’ Neil Murphy and Sunsara Taylor, and also a special appearance from Dr. Reg.

We will be offering as a gift for your new or renewed membership to WBAI, a special presentation by evolutionary biologist Niles Eldredge recorded on CD for us by the World Can’t Wait group, and also Dr. Eldredge’s latest trade paperback, “Why We Do It: Rethinking Sex and the Selfish Gene.” This book responds to what I said before about subtle politicizing of science… that is, when scientists offer seemingly apolitical information on human nature, such as E.O. Wilson’s Sociobiology, Richard Dawkins’ “selfish-gene” model of evolution, or Stephen Pinker’s nature over nurture arguments a la “evolutional psychology,” are they sailing beyond science toward dangerously political waters? Dr. Eldredge seems to think they are.

Posted on

Show 165: Robert Dreyfuss on How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam

Devil’s Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam

Audio here!

“I wrote Devil’s Game to fill in a gap amid the millions of words that have been written about political Islam and U.S. policy since September 11, 2001.

“It’s the story before the story, and it helps answer the question: How did we get into this mess? It’s my contention that part of the answer to that question, at least, is that for half a century the United States and many of its allies saw what I call the “Islamic right” as convenient partners in the Cold War.

“I approached this book not as an historian, but as a journalist. A great deal of it is based on scores of interviews with men and women from the State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency, the U.S. military, and the private sector who participated in many of these events. And I relied on dozens of published works. Most of the sources I interviewed are quoted on the record, and virtually every fact in the book is footnoted…” – Robert Dreyfuss

Continue reading “Show 165: Robert Dreyfuss on How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam”

Posted on

Show 164: Tim Wise: The Extended Interview

Tim Wise: The Extended Interview

Audio here!

Scientific naturalists recognize that our bias always threatens to keep us from accurately interpreting what we see. Indeed, the degree to which our efforts to study the world around us will generate the accurate information we desire, is limited by how effective we are at offsetting the bias that would otherwise mislead us.

While most naturalists are aware of the need to defeat bias in order to accurately perceive the world around us, when it comes to understanding what drives our fellow humans, naturalists are often far less committed to applying the standards of scientific evidence to attain an unbiased view. In America perhaps the most blaring examples of such unchecked bias obstructing our ability to perceive accurately has to due with the issue of race.

Continue reading “Show 164: Tim Wise: The Extended Interview”