Boston Atheists Report 1.16

Our end-of-October podcast (having skipped our middle-of-October session), recorded 11/1/2009. Topics: Atheists celebrate Halloween in Boston; Religious zealotry still in Salem; spirituality threatens health care reform. Roundtable: Being good without gods

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Sources Cited:

• Spiritual Health Care Bills Alert (Freedom From Religion Foundation)
• Keep Nonsense Out of Health Care Reform (Ed Brayton)
• Haunted Happenings - Salem, MA Halloween
• The Last Witchfinder by James Morrow - Review
• Church burns "witchcraft" children (Daily Telegraph)
• Decomposing Humanism: Why Replace Religion?
• Does Morality Depend on God? The Problem of Circularity
• Trust your Gut? Study Explores Religion, Morality, and Trust in Authority (Science Daily)

Boston Atheists Report 1.15

Our middle-of-September podcast, recorded 9/16/2009. Topics: Boston on Fire!; Jaycee Dugard Found; atheism mentioned more often in emails on OKCupid; gay rights activist Dan Choi speaks at Harvard; atheists triumph in kickball over... other atheists. Roundtable: the semantics of atheism vs. skepticism vs. humanism.

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Sources Cited:

• Fires force evacuations of MBTA stations, disrupt commute (Boston Globe)
• T Service Restored After Fire At South Station (WCVB)
• Kidnap victim, children kept in backyard compound
• OKCupid: Mentioning atheism leads to higher response rates (Friendly Atheist)
• Online Dating Advice: Exactly What To Say In A First Message (OKCupid)
• An evening with Dan Choi (Facebook event)
• Soldiering Against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (By Erasmo Guerra on ColorLines)
• Knights Out.org
• Turtle Sex (YouTube)

Boston Atheists Report 1.14

Our end-of-August podcast, recorded 8/30/2009. Topics: Ted Kennedy dies; Catholic Pope blames atheists for global warming; Richard Dawkins interview with kooky Wendy Wright. Roundtable: healthcare in America.

Download this podcast from our website, or, look for us on iTunes!

Sources Cited:

• Ted Kennedy supporter of church-state separation (Examiner.com)
• Kennedy was champion of church-state separation (Americans United)
• On Development That Respects the Environment (Catholic.net)
• Richard Dawkins interviews Wendy Wright (Part 1)
• Pro-life groups organize prayer and protest in response to abortion mandate (dfwcatholic.org)
• Pregnancy as a pre-existing condition (ivillage.com)
• Health care around the world: France (Healthcare Economist)
• "Concerned Women for America" health care letter
• "We Need Help!": The Health Care Clip Every American Should Watch (Huffington Post)
• "Keep your Government hands off my Medicare" - a parody by Josiah Van Vliet
• In Case of Emergency (The Atlantic)
• "Then What Do You Believe?" (Atheist Revolution)
• WHO national health care rankings
• John Rawls and the veil of ignorance (On Philosophy)

Boston Atheists Report 1.13

Our mid-August podcast, recorded 8/16/2009. Topics: Internet conversion video; Texas law requires students to study Christian holy book this fall; Idaho also plans to teach Christian Bible. Roundtable: evolution and creationism and science, oh my!

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Sources Cited:

• Christian teens try to convert Hindu classmate... or is it a parody? (YouTube)
• Texas public schools required to teach Bible this year (KLTV)
• Creationism taught in class? (Idaho Press-Tribune)
• Unfortunate misinformation (OurGodlyAmericanHeritage.com)
• The Counter-Creationism Handbook by Mark Isaak
• Evolution (Wikipedia)

Boston Atheists Report 1.12

Our end-of-July podcast, recorded 7/28/2009. Topics: Tim Minchin; premature reports of the death of "new" atheism; homeless atheist millionaire gives away fortune in will; Ava Worthington's parents slapped on wrist for letting her die. Roundtable with special guest Ken Granderson: black atheists. (Extra long!)

Download this podcast from our website, or, look for us on iTunes!

Sources Cited:

• Tim Minchin on Atheism, Comedy and Religiosity in America (YouTube)
• Tim Minchin performing his song "Not Perfect"
• Skepchick interviews Tim Minchin on church wedding, love, religion
• A kinder, gentler American atheism (The State)
• Hemant Mehta's rebuttal to State article (Friendly Atheist)
• PZ Myers' rebuttal to State article (Pharyngula)
• Homeless Man Leaves Behind Surprise: $4 Million (NPR)
• Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty, Inc.
• Atheists in the black community (Friendly Atheist)

Boston Atheists Report 1.11

Our mid-July podcast, recorded 7/15/2009. 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).

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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)

Boston Atheists Report 1.10

Our end-of-June podcast, recorded 6/28/2009. 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.

Download this podcast from our website, or, look for us on iTunes!

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)

Boston Atheists Report 1.9

Our end-of-May podcast, recorded 5/30/2009. 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.

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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)

Boston Atheists Report 1.10

Our mid-May podcast, recorded 5/16/2009. Guest: Margaret Rowley. 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

[Edited on January 1, 2010, to remove link to live download: Only the most current ten episodes of the Boston Atheists Report are available for immediate streaming. Please email us if you'd like to be sent earlier episodes.]

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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

Boston Atheists Report 1.8

Our end-of-April podcast, recorded 4/26/2009. Topics: evolutionary origins of religion; some pastors' (immorally?) extravagant lifestyles; the nature of non-religious groups; outtakes after the music!

Download this podcast from our website, or, look for us on iTunes!

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)

Boston Atheists Report 1.7

Our mid-April podcast, recorded 4/14/2009. 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.

[Edited on November 2, 2009, to remove link to live download: Only the most current ten episodes of the Boston Atheists Report are available for immediate streaming. Please email us if you'd like to be sent earlier episodes.]

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, Neal Patrick Harris... (Funny or Die)


• Joss Whedon on Humanism at Harvard (YouTube)

Boston Atheists Report 1.6

Our end-of-March podcast, recorded 3/28/2009. 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.

[Edited on October 7, 2009, to remove link to live download: Only the most current ten episodes of the Boston Atheists Report are available for immediate streaming. Please email us if you'd like to be sent earlier episodes.]

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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

Boston Atheists Report 1.5

Our mid-March podcast, recorded 3/8/2009. Topics: New buses and billboards; secular founding fathers; demographics of atheist groups; religious and secular reactions to loss; cultural aspects of institutions like churches.

[Edited on September 18, 2009, to remove link to live download: Only the most current ten episodes of the Boston Atheists Report are available for immediate streaming. Please email us if you'd like to be sent earlier episodes.]

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)

Boston Atheists Report 1.4

Our mid-February podcast, recorded 2/10/2009. Topics: Religious hysteria about video games; Daniel Dennett's intentional systems theory; Unitarian-Universalist churches; upcoming Darwin Day.

[Edited on September 4, 2009, to remove link to live download: Only the most current ten episodes of the Boston Atheists Report are available for immediate streaming. Please email us if you'd like to be sent earlier episodes.]

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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

Boston Atheists Report 1.3

Our end-of-January podcast, recorded 1/31/2009. Topics: the new definition of saddlebacking; Massachusetts among least religious states; more on the atheist bus campaigns; Christopher Hitchens debate.

[Edited on August 31, 2009, to remove link to live download: Only the most current ten episodes of the Boston Atheists Report are available for immediate streaming. Please email us if you'd like to be sent earlier episodes.]

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Sources Cited:

• Savage Love: Saddlebacking Defined!
• Saddlebacking.com
• Santorum.com
• Massachusetts among least religious states (Boston Globe)
• Photoshopped: theist bus vs. atheist bus
• Christopher Hitchens at the Connecticut Forum

Boston Atheists Report 1.2

Our mid-January podcast, recorded 1/15/2009. 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.

[Edited on August 31, 2009, to remove link to live download: Only the most current ten episodes of the Boston Atheists Report are available for immediate streaming. Please email us if you'd like to be sent earlier episodes.]

Look for us on iTunes!

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)

Boston Atheists Report 1.1

Our first podcast episode, recorded 1/15/2009. 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.

[Edited on August 31, 2009, to remove link to live download: Only the most current ten episodes of the Boston Atheists Report are available for immediate streaming. Please email us if you'd like to be sent earlier episodes.]

Look for us on iTunes!

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)