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‘Freethought Matters’ guest is librarian heroically championing right to read

Watch the preview here.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s television show this week spotlights one brave librarian’s fight against book bans.

The “Freethought Matters” guest is Amanda Jones, author of the bestselling new book, “That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America.” The memoir describes how she became a target simply for speaking out against book banning and is taking a defamation lawsuit against her detractors. Jones has been an educator for more than 20 years at the same middle school she attended as a child in Livingston Parish, La. She served as president of the Louisiana Association of School Librarians and has won many awards for her work. She’s a co-founder of the Livingston Parish Library Alliance and founding member of Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship.

“As an educator, I’ve taught children from all walks of life, and so I’ve taught children that were of different religions of the majority of my community,” Jones explains to “Freethought Matters” co-hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor the importance to schoolkids of the separation of state and church. “And I’ve seen how uncomfortable they would feel when we used to do prayer in school. To me, every child in our school, every child in our community deserves to feel loved and seen and not made to feel other just because they are not the same religion as the majority.”

“Freethought Matters” airs the weekend 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, 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.

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.

Upcoming guests include atheist singer/songwriter Shelley Segal, who performs some of her songs and talks about atheism and religious misogyny and Amanda Tyler, author of the new book “How to End Christian Nationalism.” You can catch interviews from earlier this season and from previous seasons here, including with Gloria Steinem, Ron Reagan, author John Irving, actor John “Q” de Lancie and award-winning columnist Katha Pollitt.

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 — your antidote to religion on Sunday morning!

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.

Freedom From Religion Foundation

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