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.
While everyone else was watching the Academy Awards last night, John Oliver made a fair point about Donald Trump: If his last name wasn’t associated with success in the minds of so many people, would he really be as popular as he currently is? And that’s why he should go back to his family’s ancestral name: Drumpf! Read more
Tonight’s winners at the 88th annual Academy Awards included a couple of films that exposed the worst practices within certain religious communities. Spotlight, the film about Boston Globe reporters who uncovered the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal, took home awards for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay: The film is remarkable, not just for its realistic look at a newsroom, but for taking the subject matter so seriously. You can’t watch that movie without feeling anger and shock at just how widespread the Catholic cover-up was. But perhaps the most understated win came in the category of Best Documentary Short. It went to Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy for her film A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness — a movie about faith-based honor killings. Read more
Our latest podcast guest is Stephen Prothero, author of Why Liberals Win the Culture Wars (Even When They Lose Elections). Dr. Prothero is a professor in the department of religion at Boston University and the author of several books, including Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know — and Doesn’t. You may have seen him on his appearances on The Daily Show or The Colbert Report. We spoke with him about why conservatives back losing issues, what issues will get liberals out to vote this November, and what surprised him during his research for the book. Read more