A leading proponent and scholar of freethought is the guest on the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s “Freethought Matters” TV show this Sunday.
Susan Jacoby is a distinguished journalist, author and FFRF honorary director specializing in the history of reason, atheism, secularism and religious liberty. She’s written a dozen books, including Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism, Strange Gods: A Secular History of Conversion, The Great Agnostic: Robert Ingersoll and American Freethought and Half-Jew: A Daughter’s Search for her Family’s Buried Past. Her articles and essays appear regularly in The New York Times, Washington Post and The Daily Beast. She is currently working on two new books, Why Atheism Matters and Up from Sanctity: Why Religion Holds Women Back.
“People say: ‘How can you stand Joe Biden, he’s a devout Catholic,’” she converses with “Freethought Matters” co-hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Probably if Joe Biden and I sat down and had a theology discussion, we wouldn’t agree. But he’s the kind of post-Vatican II Catholic who, while he believes in certain things, no doubt that I don’t believe in, he does not write them into public policy.”
If you don’t live in the quarter-plus of the nation where the show broadcasts on Sunday, you can already catch the interview on FFRF’s YouTube channel. You can also receive notifications when we post new episodes of Freethought Matters by subscribing to FFRF's YouTube channel.
This is the fall/spring season’s 33rd episode of “Freethought Matters,” airing in over a dozen cities on Sunday, April 11.
Coming shows include interviews with former teen state/church plaintiff/victor Jessica Ahlquist, Debbie and Dan Weisman, whose Supreme Court case halted graduation prayers, and actor Alice Greczyn, author of Wayward: A Memoir of Spiritual Warfare and Sexual Purity.
“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 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.
- 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 or Ch. 23 or Ch. 3), 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. Recently, the show featured Ann Druyan, the co-creator of “Cosmos,” possibly the most acclaimed TV series of all time. A.C. Grayling, a prominent British philosopher and the author of about 30 books, grappled on the show with philosophy and the pandemic, and discussed how he himself dealt as a nonbeliever with a personal tragedy. A couple of weeks ago, the interview was with Rep. Jerry McNerney, a co-founder of the Congressional Freethought Caucus.
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!