John Grant joins Atheists Talk radio to speak with us about his newly published book, Denying Science: Conspiracy Theories, Media Distortions and the War Against Reality.
From his website:
What motivates people to deny science? In some cases the answer is ignorance and lack of the ability to think critically: scientific answers can be complicated and nuanced and require some education to understand, while the answers of gurus and quacks seem simpler . . . and thus, to use Stephen Colbert's term, more "truthy." Far more sinister are the active campaigns mounted, through "think tanks" and fake grassroots organizations, by ideological and commercial entities in a deliberate and often far too successful attempt to deceive the public – from fundamentalists promoting Intelligent Design Creationism to the tobacco giants muddling the science on the health effects of smoking to the fossil-fuel corporations claiming climate change is a hoax. Grant surveys these and a gamut of other denials of established science raised by various panics, urban legends and deliberate distortions amid a general climate of misinformation.
Atheists Talk is produced with funding from the Minnesota Atheists and the Humanists of Minnesota. We also wish to thank Q. Cumbers restaurant for purchasing on-air advertising and for providing a great place to eat and gather. This radio program is put together by dedicated volunteers and the generous donations of listeners. If you are able to help with a donation please consider doing so at our Radio Fund page.
Listen to AM 950 KTNF on Sunday at 9 a.m. Central to hear Atheists Talk, produced by Minnesota Atheists.Stream live online. Call in to the studio: 952-946-6205, or send an e-mail to radio@mnatheists.org during the live show.
Join us this Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 for an interview with Sean Faircloth, the author of the newly published, Attack of the Theocrats! How the Religious Right Harms Us All and What We Can Do About It.
Sean Faircloth is the Director of Strategy and Policy for the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Science and Reason. In this role he is designing and leading innovative strategies to improve the secular movement. He is a passionate, outspoken advocate for the separation of church and state. In Attack of the Theocrats he urges Secular Americans to recognize and address the harm done to us all by religious privilege that has been written into our state and federal laws.
Prior to his work at the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Science and Reason, Sean Faircloth lead for two years as the Executive Director for the Secular Coalition of America. He served five terms as a representative in the Maine Legislature, where he was a member of the Judiciary and Appropriations Committee, and in his final term was elected Majority Whip.
Atheists Talk is produced with funding from the Minnesota Atheists and the Humanists of Minnesota. We also wish to thank Q. Cumbers restaurant for purchasing on-air advertising and for providing a great place to eat and gather. This radio program is put together by dedicated volunteers and the generous donations of listeners. If you are able to help with a donation please consider doing so at our Radio Fund page.
Listen to AM 950 KTNF on Sunday at 9 a.m. Central to hear Atheists Talk, produced by Minnesota Atheists. Stream live online. Call in to the studio: 952-946-6205, or send an e-mail to radio@mnatheists.org during the live show.
2011 was an interesting year for women in the secularism movement. We were more visible than we've ever been, both in the U.S. and across the world. At the same time, a simple request to respect women's wishes with regard to being hit on at atheist events provoked months of discussion, both positive and very, very negative.
In the middle of all of this, the Center for Inquiry announced that they would be hosting the first Women in Secularism conference May 18-20 of this year in Washington, DC. The list of speakers is diverse and highly accomplished. The reaction to the announcement was...varied.
This conference is the brainchild of the Executive Director of the DC branch of the Center for Inquiry, Melody Hensley. Join us this Sunday as we discuss with Melody the impetus for the conference, the contributions of women to the secularism movement, and what attendees can expect from the conference.
Atheists Talk is produced with funding from the Minnesota Atheists and the Humanists of Minnesota. We also wish to thank Q. Cumbers restaurant for purchasing on-air advertising and for providing a great place to eat and gather. This radio program is put together by dedicated volunteers and the generous donations of listeners. If you are able to help with a donation please consider doing so at our Radio Fund page.
Listen to AM 950 KTNF on Sunday at 9 a.m. Central to hear Atheists Talk, produced by Minnesota Atheists. Stream live online. Call in to the studio: 952-946-6205, or send an e-mail to radio@mnatheists.org during the live show.
***Due to unforeseen circumstances Thomas Riskas was not able to be interviewed on January 8th, 2012. A rerun of our very popular interview Good Sex Without God with Greta Christina (episode 133, 9/18/2011) was aired at this time.***
If you think you've learned all you need to know about Mormonism from South Park episodes and the broadway musical, Book of Mormon, you must join us this Sunday! Atheists Talk will be interviewing author, lecturer, and secular humanist, Thomas Riskas about his book Deconstructing Mormonism: An Analysis and Assessment of the Mormon Faith, which is introduced in the forward by philosopher and professor Kai Nelson.
Thomas Riskas converted to Mormonism as a young man and spent 20 years in the Church. He rose up through the ranks of leadership, acting an Elder, Seventy and High Priest. He was a missionary, a mission leader and mission president for seven years. He had a family and raised his children in the Church. Years later he came to believe that the claims made by Mormonism - and by all religions with similar belief systems - are not only untrue, but an empty nonreality. In Deconstructing Mormonism, Mr. Riskas examines in detail the Mormon concepts of God, the "Plan of Salvation", and faith in God and Christ, and then breaks down these ideas by illuminating the contradictions in Mormon faith and examining the psychosocial effects of the faith on its believers.
Atheists Talk is produced with funding from the Minnesota Atheists and the Humanists of Minnesota. We also wish to thank Q. Cumbers restaurant for purchasing on-air advertising and for providing a great place to eat and gather. This radio program is put together by dedicated volunteers and the generous donations of listeners. If you are able to help with a donation please consider doing so at our Radio Fund page.
Listen to AM 950 KTNF on Sunday at 9 a.m. Central to hear Atheists Talk, produced by Minnesota Atheists.Stream live online. Call in to the studio: 952-946-6205, or send an e-mail to radio@mnatheists.org during the live show.
