Friendly Atheist Podcast

Sarah Haider was born in Pakistan as a practicing Shia Muslim. She moved to Texas and, in her late teens, began reading the Qur’an critically. It wasn’t long before she became an atheist. In 2013, she co-founded Ex-Muslims of North America, where she advocates for the acceptance of religious dissent and works to create local support communities for those who have left Islam...

David Smalley is a former Christian musician who became an atheist after studying psychology, sociology, world religions, and his own faith. He soon turned into a secular activist. He was the editor-in-chief of Secular World and American Atheist magazines, the author of Baptized Atheist, and co-founder of AtheistAudiobooks.com. His Secular Media Group will soon release a children's book titled Tiny Thinkers: Charlie and the Tortoise...

Shawna Leneé is an openly atheist adult film star who has appeared on the cover of Penthouse and won an AVN award for “Unsung Starlet of the Year.” She left the adult industry temporarily, at which point she attended college began a couple of small businesses, but she’s back making movies now. (You should assume everything in this interview is NSFW...

John W. Loftus should be a Christian. He attended and graduated from Great Lakes Christian College, Lincoln Christian University, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School where he learned under apologist William Lane Craig. But he’s spent the last several years debunking the faith. His books include Why I Rejected Christianity, Why I Became an Atheist, and The Outsider Test for Faith. His latest book is strangely called How to Defend the Christian Faith...

David Williamson is the founder and President of the Central Florida Freethought Community. His group has been leading the way when it comes to getting atheists to give invocations at local government meetings. I spoke with David about why secular invocations are so valuable, step by step instructions on what local activists can do to get on these invocation lists, and what atheists should say if they get the opportunity to speak in front of government officials...

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ep. 76 - Jocelyn Floyd, Attorney with the Thomas More Society by Hemant Mehta and Jessica Bluemke Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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...

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...

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...