The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s TV show “Freethought Matters” features an interview with a world-renowned thinker this week.
“Daniel Dennett is an American naturalist philosopher specializing in the philosophy of mind,” states his Encyclopedia Britannica entry. “He became a prominent figure in the atheist movement at the beginning of the 21st century.”
Dennett is the is University Professor and Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy and Co-Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. He’s the author of several books, including Breaking the Spell, Freedom Evolves, Darwin's Dangerous Idea and, with Linda La Scola, Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind. Dennett is an honorary director of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. And he's been a recipient of FFRF's Emperor Has No Clothes award, reserved for public figures who make known their dissent from religion.
“Darwin's Dangerous Idea was just the wonderful strange inversion of reasoning, as one of his critics said, that you don't need intelligence to explain all the fantastic design of the biosphere,” Dennett says on the show. “It's proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. It pulls a rug out of the only impressive argument that has ever been for the existence of God, and that's the design argument. And so it still gives people a lot of trouble.”
As an antidote to religion on the airwaves and Sunday morning sermonizing, the half-hour show airs Sunday mornings in 11 cities and Sunday evening in FFRF’s hometown of Madison, Wis. And this week’s show is available on FFRF’s YouTube channel. (Look for the Freethought Matters playlist to watch previous shows.)
The first guest in the new season was Rep. Jared Huffman, founder of the Congressional Freethought Caucus. Huffman’s appearance on the show made media waves due to his remarks about his colleague Rep. Liz Cheney’s dogmatic stance on the religious oath.
U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin and leading legal scholar Geoffrey Stone have appeared on the show in recent weeks. U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan will be on the show later this month.
The cities where “Freethought Matters” broadcasts, along with the channels and timings, are listed below:
- Chicago, WPWR-CW (Ch. 50), Sundays at 9 a.m.
- Denver, KWGN-CW (Ch. 2), Sundays at 7 a.m.
- Houston, KUBE-IND (Ch. 57), Sundays at 9 a.m.
- Los Angeles, KCOP-MY (Ch. 13), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
- Madison, Wis., WISC-TV (Ch. 3), Sundays at 11 p.m.
- Minneapolis, KSTC-IND (Ch. 45), Sundays at 9:30 a.m.
- New York City, WPIX-IND (Ch. 11), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
- Phoenix, KASW-CW (Ch. 61, or 6 or 1006 for HD), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
- Portland, Ore., KRCW-CW (Ch. 32), Sundays at 9 a.m. Comcast channel 703 for High Def, or Channel 3.
- Sacramento, KQCA-MY (Ch. 58), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
- Seattle, KONG-IND (Ch. 16 or Ch. 106 on Comcast). Sundays at 8:00 a.m.
- Washington, D.C., WDCW-CW (Ch. 50), Sundays at 8 a.m.
FFRF Co-Presidents Annie Laurie Gaylor and her husband, Dan Barker, a former evangelical minister and well-known atheist author, are creators and co-hosts of the show.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is the nation’s largest association of freethinkers (atheists and agnostics), with more than 30,000 members nationwide. FFRF also works as a watchdog guarding the constitutional separation between religion and government.
The show is produced in the Stephen Uhl Friendly Atheist Studio at Freethought Hall in Madison, Wis., by FFRF’s videographer Bruce Johnson, a public television veteran. Crew includes staff members Bailey Nachreiner-Mackesey, Kristina Daleiden, Lauryn Seering and Chris Line, plus various floor managers, with sound production provided by Audio for the Arts.
Please tune in to “Freethought Matters” . . . because freethought matters.
P.S. Please tune in or record according to the times given above regardless of what is listed in your TV guide (it may be listed simply as “paid programming” or even be misidentified). To set up an automatic weekly recording, try taping manually by time or channel. And spread the word to freethinking friends, family or colleagues about a TV show, finally, that is dedicated to providing programming for freethinkers!