A revered freethinking philosopher is interviewed on the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s TV talk show this Sunday.
A.C. Grayling, a pre-eminent British philosopher and the author of about 30 books, grapples with philosophy and the pandemic, and discusses how he himself dealt as a nonbeliever with a personal tragedy. Grayling’s books include What is Good? The Search for the Best Way to Live, The Meaning of Things: Applying Philosophy to Life, The God Argument and The History of Philosophy — Three Millennia of Thought from the West and Beyond. In 2011, he founded the New College of the Humanities in London. Before that he was a professor of philosophy at Birkbeck University in London. A publicly outspoken atheist, he’s vice president of Humanists UK and an honorary associate of the National Secular Society. He frequently appears in British media discussing philosophy and public affairs.
“I just brought a book out called The Good State, which is on the principles of democracy, mainly addressing what’s gone wrong that produced the Trump phenomenon and the Brexit phenomenon in my own country,” he tells “Freethought Matters” co-hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor. “And I have a new book coming out next spring called The Frontiers of Knowledge, which actually addresses just the question you've been talking about: Why is it that people don’t really understand science? Why is it that there’s such a big gap between the scientific worldview and other worldviews?”
If you don’t live in the more than one-fourth of the country where the show broadcasts on Sunday, you can already catch the interview on FFRF’s YouTube channel.
This is the fall season’s 21th episode of “Freethought Matters,” airing in over a dozen cities on Sunday, Jan. 17.
Shows in the coming year will include interviews with a member of the Congressional Freethought Caucus; Bangladeshi-American secular activist Bonya Ahmed; and Public Religion Research Institute founder Robert P. Jones, author of White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity.
“Freethought Matters” airs in:
- 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 10:00 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.
- San Francisco, KICU-IND (Ch. 36), Sundays at 10 a.m.
- Seattle, KONG-IND (Ch. 16 or Ch. 106 on Comcast). Sundays at 8 a.m.
- Washington, D.C., WDCW-CW (Ch. 50), Sundays at 8 a.m.
Previous guests from the fall season include: pundit Eleanor Clift, whose interview you can watch here, actor and FFRF After-Life Member John de Lancie of “Star Trek” “Q” fame, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Linda Greenhouse, the country’s leading analyst of the U.S. Supreme Court, and legislative stalwart and feminist and civil rights pioneer U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton. One of the most eminent public intellectuals in the world, Professor Steven Pinker, was interviewed a few episodes ago talking about his new course on rationality. Legendary TV host, actor and singer John Davidson was the guest in early December. And recently the show featured Ann Druyan, the co-creator of “Cosmos,” possibly the most acclaimed TV series of all time.
Watch previous seasons here, including interviews with Ron Reagan, Julia Sweeney and Ed Asner, as well as U.S. Reps. Jared Huffman and Jamie Raskin, co-chairs of the Congressional Freethought Caucus.
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!