The Boston Atheists Report Archives
Due to space limitations, only six months of episodes are hosted on our server. Here are the records of past episodes: the guests, the topics discussed, and the reference links posted.
2009
- Mid-January Report: 1/15/2009
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Topics: the widespread failure of Christian abstinence pledges; the British atheist bus campaign inspiring Spanish freethinkers, irritating the Vatican; a Biblical scholar's announcement that Jesus is not God; and reactions to Rick Warren's role at the inauguration.
Sources Cited:
- Premarital Abstinence Pledges Ineffective, Study Finds (Washington Post)
- Spanish atheists put faith in bus ads (Sunday Herald)
- Atheist adverts reported to industry watchdog (The Times)
- Richard Dawkins on board with a pro-atheist message (LA Times)
- Bible 'expert' proclaims: Jesus is not God (World Net Daily)
- Regarding Pastor Rick Warren (Candy Coloured Frown)
- Obama's Inaugural Choice Sparks Outrage (CNN)
- Obama Defends his choice of Rick Warren (Washington Post)
- Homobigot Rick Warren to deliver invocation at inauguration (Pam's House Blend)
- Is this really a big deal? (Friendly Atheist)
- Obama's Inaugural Blunder: Rick Warren (Atheist Revolution)
- Burning Condoms for Jesus (Atheist Revolution)
- Let Rick Warren raise money for the LGBT Cause (Friendly Atheist)
- End-of-January Report: 1/31/2009
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Topics: the new definition of saddlebacking; Massachusetts among least religious states; more on the atheist bus campaigns; Christopher Hitchens debate.
Sources Cited:
- Mid-February Report: Recorded 2/10/2009
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Topics: Religious hysteria about video games; Daniel Dennett's intentional systems theory; Unitarian-Universalist churches; upcoming Darwin Day.
Sources Cited:
- Good overview of video game fiasco (Penny Arcade)
- [mp3] Original unintelligible source of objectionable video game material (Mattel shareholder relations)
- [pdf] Daniel Dennett - Intentional Systems Theory
- Daniel Dennett - Thank Goodness! (The Edge)
- First Parish Cambridge Unitarian Universalist Church
- Mid-March Report: Recorded 3/8/2009
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Topics: New buses and billboards; secular founding fathers; demographics of atheist groups; religious and secular reactions to loss; cultural aspects of institutions like churches.
Sources Cited:
- FFRF's Boise billboards: "Beware of Dogma" (Idaho Statesman)
- Islam bus ads sponsored by CAIR and ICNA roll into San Francisco (Zomblog)
- Seattle atheists use founding fathers to raise awareness of America's secular nature (Friendly Atheist)
- Illinois pastor killed (USA Today)
- Gymnarchus niloticus: the secular natural world provides a sense of wonder and awe. (Abstruse Goose)
- End-of-March Report: Recorded 3/28/2009
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Topics: Religion and atheism in death; pilots and crashes and religion, oh my; integrating Islam and Western society; misguided Texas laws and education guidelines; fundamentalists' amusing uses for technology.
Sources Cited:
- "Pious fight death the hardest" (BBC)
- Pilot sentenced to 10 years in prison for praying instead of flying (AP)
- Bud Feldkamp and family die in plane crash (NY Daily News)
- Fundamentalists see Feldkamp tragedy as a good thing (Christian News Wire)
- Pharyngula comment on fundamentalist response to Feldkamp plane crash
- Q&A with Geert Wilders (Boston Globe)
- "Free speech aside, paper wrong to grant forum to bigotry" -Mohammed Asmal (Boston Globe)
- Pat Condell's YouTube channel
- Excerpt from The Unlikely Disciple (Salon)
- Texas court upholds moment of silence law (AP)
- Pharyngula on Texas board of education
- InformationAgePrayer.com
- Rapture Letters
- Mid-April Report: Recorded 4/14/2009
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Topics: American Atheists convention; quiverfulls; infant dead and mother jailed because of Baltimore cult; Iowa declares homobigotry unconstitutional; Joss Whedon receives Harvard Humanist lifetime achievement award.
Sources Cited:
- American Atheists National Convention
- NPR story on quiverfulls in Michigan
- Description of quiverfulls (Feminist Philosophers Blog)
- 16 month-old boy dies because of cult in Baltimore (Washington Post)
- Toxoplasma gondii - parasite that causes mice to let themselves be eaten by cats (Wikipedia)
- Iowa Supreme Court upholds ruling allowing same-sex marriages (MSNBC)
- Overview of judges' dismantling of homobigots' arguments (Pam's House Blend)
- Proposition 8 the Musical, starring Jack Black, John C. Reilly, Neil Patrick Harris... (Funny or Die)
- Joss Whedon on Humanism at Harvard (YouTube)
- End-of-April Report: Recorded 4/26/2009
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Topics: evolutionary origins of religion; some pastors' (immorally?) extravagant lifestyles; baseball and patriotism and piety; outtakes after the music!
Sources Cited:
- Dr. Andy Thomson's talk at American Atheists 2009 on the evolutionary origins of religion (richarddawkins.net)
- Riverside Church pastor's $600k salary causing a stir (NY Daily News)
- Creflo Dollar Ministries
- Queens Pastor embezzles $10 million (NY Daily News)
- "At the Stadium, Stay Put When the Music Plays" (NY Times)
- Man ejected from Yankees game for using restroom during God Bless America (Gothamist)
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- Improvised (improved?) lyrics to God Bless America
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Z: Which god bless America? C: Zeus that I love! Z: No Jehovah! C: Or Shiva! Z: And Vishnu is that guy who is blue? C: Thor makes thunder Loki tricks me Hermes runs really... really fast! God-- gods bless America Our poly...theistic home?
- Mid-May Report: Recorded 5/16/2009
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Topics: evangelizing American soldiers; homobigoted beauty queens; Bristol Palin breaks irony meter by promoting effectiveness of abstinence; Seth McFarlane champions public rise of atheism; Christian Scientists abuse children. Forum: education and homeschooling.
Sources Cited:
- Massachusetts celebrates 5 years of gay marriage (Metro)
- Videos of US soldiers planning to distribute religious propaganda to locals in their native languages (Al Jazeera English)
- Christains the most persecuted majority (Examiner Boston)
- Keith Olbermann: free speech is about government infringing your speech, not employers (MSNBC)
- Miss Teen South Carolina produces a fine word salad with "maps" as the central ingredient (YouTube)
- Bristol Palin should drop role as spokeswoman against teen pregnancy (NJ.com)
- FreeLevi.org
- Seth MacFarlane on the rise of atheism: "It's about fucking time." (Friendly Atheist)
- Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron - Atheist's Worst Nightmare (YouTube)
- Atheist's Worst Nightmare debunked (YouTube)
- Daniel Hauser's parents fight to deprive him of life-saving chemotherapy (MN Star Tribune)
- Nemenhah Parents Willing to Let Son Die Rather Than Abandon Religious Beliefs (Friendly Atheist)
- Wikipedia homeschooling article, with many links to research and statistics
- Wikipedia article about legality of homeschooling in various parts of US
- Homeschooling Freethinkers
- AtheistHomeSchool.com
- Jesus Camp: the movie
- End-of-May Report: Recorded 5/30/2009
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Topics: Daniel Hauser update; God hates the Celtics!; atheists alleged to have daddy issues; antichrist alleged to be homosexua; secular pinky swear; Catholic demonstrators on the Common. Roundtable: the purpose of secular media like our podcast.
Sources Cited:
- Daniel Hauser update (Star Tribune)
- God Hates the Boston Celtics (Friendly Atheist)
- Learn2Discern
- Atheist Fathers (About.com)
- Wasilla, AK pastor says antichrist may indeed be a "sodomite" (Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman)
- Secular Pinky Swear
- Christians and Atheists on the First Amendment (Jackie @ Examiner.com)
- End-of-June Report: Recorded 6/28/2009
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Topics: New England Humanists Outing; Examiner.com providing atheist publicity in new instance of an old media model; Connecticut church attempts to exorcise teenager's homosexual spirits; France covers up burqas. Roundtable: acerbic advocates of atheism.
Sources Cited:
- New York City Atheists
- Calling all atheist writers (Friendly Atheist)
- Examiner.com Boston bureau
- Interview with pastor of exorcising Connecticut church (CNN)
- French President Nicolas Sarkozy denounces burqas (News.com)
- Pat Condell on burqas (YouTube)
- A little sympathy for the snookered (Pharyngula)
- In which Andrew Brown gets everything wrong (Pharyngula)
- "What am I?" (YouTube)
- Mid-July Report: Recorded 7/15/2009
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Topics: Daniel Radcliffe's coming-out; BA Harry Potter viewing; Boston Skepchick Rebecca Watson gets married!; Amanda Donaldson fired for being an atheist; methods of atheist news-spreading and community mobilizing. Roundtable: friendly atheism is better atheism (part one).
Sources Cited:
- Daniel Radcliffe is an out atheist (Examiner.com)
- Daniel Radcliffe a Cool Nerd (Telegraph)
- Rediscovering Secular America (Katrina van den Heuvel, The Nation)
- Rebecca Watson gets hitched!
- Cancer patient fired from job for being an atheist now needs financial help (Examiner.com)
- El Dorado Chiropractic fires woman for being an atheist (About.com)
- God and Science Don't Mix (Wall Street Journal)