The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s “Freethought Matters” show this Sunday is replaying one of our favorite interviews, with iconic actor Ed Asner, a freethinker.
Asner was interviewed by FFRF co-presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor when he was in Madison to appear in a play in 2019. Asner won more primetime Emmys than any other male actor. In addition to his iconic Lou Grant character, among his nearly 400 credits on TV, on the stage and in movies were the beloved lead role in the cartoon feature “Up,” Santa in the movie “Elf” and a recent guest spot in the Netflix series “Dead To Me.” He died in 2021.
Asner also made a name for himself as a political activist. He became an FFRF honorary director and received FFRF’s Clarence Darrow Award in 2020 for his promotion of rationalism and freethought. Read or view his acceptance speech (given during Covid), in which he said, “It’s not easy to challenge religion in America, but it’s most necessary.”
“It’s all so blatantly plain: How people can follow a God and turn it into a false idol,” said Asner during the fun back-and-forth in his “Freethought Matters” interview. (Don’t miss Asner serenading Annie Laurie with the eponymous Scottish ballad, which he called one of his favorite songs.)
“Freethought Matters” as of January 2024 now airs in five cities (listed below with times). FFRF is sorry that it had to cut back on distribution due to rising costs. But you can already catch the interview on the “Freethought Matters” playlist on FFRF’s YouTube channel. New shows go up every Thursday. You can also receive notifications when we post new episodes of “Freethought Matters” by subscribing to FFRF’s YouTube channel.
“Freethought Matters” now airs in:
- Chicago, WPWR-CW (Ch. 50), 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.
- New York City, WPIX-IND (Ch. 11), Sundays at 10 a.m.
- San Francisco, KICU-IND (Ch. 36), Sundays at 10 a.m.
- Washington, D.C., WDCW-CW (Ch. 50 or Ch. 23 or Ch. 3), Sundays at 8 a.m.
Please tune in to “Freethought Matters” . . . because freethought matters. And spread the word to freethinking friends, family or colleagues about a TV show, finally, that is dedicated to providing programming for freethinkers!
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.
If you are an FFRF member, sign into your account here and then update your email subscriptions here.
To become an FFRF member, click here. To learn more about FFRF, request information here.
