Renowned author, feminist and freethinker Katha Pollitt is interviewed on the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s “Freethought Matters” TV show this Sunday.
Pollitt has been writing the award-winning column “Subject To Debate” for The Nation magazine since 1995. She’s the author of many books, including Reasonable Creatures, Learning to Drive (adapted into a movie with Patricia Clarkson and Ben Kingsley) and, of most relevance to the interview, Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights. Pollitt is also an atheist who has done much to move society forward and has therefore received FFRF’s Forward Award. Every December, Pollitt comes up in The Nation with a list of nonprofits to donate to, and this December, she included FFRF on that list.
“When abortion was illegal before Roe, there was a lot of tacit acceptance of it and there was a lot of not going after abortion providers,” Pollitt warns in explaining the difference between the pre-Roe era and the world we inhabit after the overturning of Roe. “Now, for a variety of reasons, that won’t be the case. The anti-choice movement is much more energized than it was when abortion was already illegal and they have really put doctors on notice — and women on notice. I think that the fact that we now have all kinds of electronic methods of gathering information makes a difference, too.”
If you don’t live in the quarter-plus viewership of the nation 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” airs in:
- Chicago, WPWR-CW (Ch. 50), Sundays at 9 a.m.
- Denver, KWGN-CW (Ch. 2), Sundays at 7 a.m.
- Houston, KIAH-CW (Ch. 39), Sundays at 11 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, WFTC-29, Sundays at 7:30 a.m.
- New York City, WPIX-IND (Ch. 11), Sundays at 10 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.
Upcoming guests include 92-year-old skeptical feminist and bestselling author Barbara G. Walker and TYT investigator reporter Jonathan Larsen, an expert on the National Prayer Breakfast. You can catch interviews from past seasons here, including the fall 2022 season with author John Irving, actor John “Q” de Lancie and Washington Post columnist Kate Cohen. Previous interviews include Julia Sweeney and Reps. Jared Huffman, Jamie Raskin, Hank Johnson and Eleanor Holmes Norton, among many other notable authors, activists 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!