Hemant Mehta is the founder and editor of FriendlyAtheist.com, a YouTube creator, and podcast co-host. He is a former National Board Certified math teacher in the suburbs of Chicago. He has appeared on CNN and FOX News and served on the board of directors for Foundation Beyond Belief and the Secular Student Alliance. He has written multiple books, including I Sold My Soul on eBay and The Young Atheist's Survival Guide. He also edited the book Queer Disbelief.
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, a Republican, surprised a lot of people this morning when he vetoed a bill that would have legalized discrimination against LGBT individuals. House Bill 757 would have allowed clergy to say no to performing same-sex marriages (something they already had a right to do) and permitted faith-based organizations, including taxpayer-funded ones, to discriminate in hiring. The NFL and other businesses had already warning Deal about possible repercussions should the bill go into effect. Deal insisted, however, that none of that played a role in his veto. I guess he didn’t want to follow in the footsteps of North Carolina, a state that is quickly earning a new reputation as a magnet for bigotry. (As of this morning, that state is also the subject of a lawsuit from the ACLU and Lambda Legal.) Read more
Our latest podcast guests are… ourselves! We’re celebrating our 100th episode with the conversation we never get to have because we’re always talking to other people. Our goals for the near future are having more in-person interviews, talking to big-name guests, and making sure we’re always asking the questions you want answered. Thank you for sticking with us and we hope you continue listening! Read more