The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s “Freethought Matters” Sunday TV show spotlights the achievements of just a few of the secular youth making our country better.
You’ll meet some of the freethinking student activists and essay winners awarded scholarships by the Freedom from Religion Foundation, thanks to kind donors encouraging the next secular generation. FFRF annually grants an average of more than $125,000 in support of freethinking students, including student activist awards. At last fall’s FFRF annual convention, it invited three special student essay winners to read their essays. You will also meet two other amazing, freethinking student activists a bit later in the show.
“Dear Representative Greene, I am reaching out to you today to discuss your identification as a Christian nationalist,” starts a bitingly satirical letter to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene read aloud by Skyler Blumenauer, who won $3,500 after placing first in the 2023 essay contest for ongoing college students. Essayist Luci Green, who won $1,500 in FFRF’s essay contest for BIPOC students, talks poignantly about what caused her to reject religion, and Michelle Liao, who took first place in FFRF’s essay contest for college-bound high school seniors, talks about growing up “attempting to stay as far from religion as possible.” Activist awardees Bear Bright and Marcus Stovall join the show to recount why they are suing West Texas A&M and the threats they have received in response.
Alas, the number of stations broadcasting “Freethought Matters” has reduced this year due to budgetary constraints. If you don’t live in any of the marquee towns where the show broadcasts on Sunday, you can already catch the interview on FFRF’s YouTube channel. New shows go up every Thursday.
“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 8:30 a.m.
- San Francisco, KTVU/KICU-IND (on broadcast Ch. 36 and Cable 6), Sundays at 10 a.m.
- Washington, D.C., WDCW-CW (Ch. 50 or Ch. 23 or Ch. 3), Sundays at 8 a.m.
Upcoming shows include one that is all about a recent debate at Oxford with Dan Barker and Phil Zuckerman. You can catch interviews from past seasons here, including recent ones with Gloria Steinem, Ron Reagan, “Daily Show” co-creator Lizz Winstead, author John Irving, actor John “Q” de Lancie and award-winning columnist Katha Pollitt. Past interviews include Julia Sweeney and Reps. Jared Huffman, Jamie Raskin, Hank Johnson and Eleanor Holmes Norton, among many other notable authors, activists, musicians, actors and freethinkers.
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 — your antidote to religion on Sunday morning!
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.
