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.
Our latest podcast guest is Dr. Keith Devlin, a mathematician who’s also known as The Math Guy on NPR’s Weekend Edition. He has written several books explaining math to the masses. And he’s also the co-founder and Executive Director of Stanford University’s Human-Sciences and Technologies Advanced Research Institute (H-Star). We spoke with Dr. Devlin about why math is difficult to understand and explain, how we tend to know more about mathematicians’ lives than their work, and whether programs like Khan Academy help or hurt students. Read more
In the New York Times yesterday, Francis A. Quinn, a retired Catholic bishop, offered suggestions for how the Church ought to change moving forward. Membership numbers are decreasing by the day and something must be done, he says, to retain good leaders within the Church. He even says that “American Catholics are divided, primarily, by three internal church conflicts.” What are they and how should they be fixed? Read more
On Friday, President Obama nominated Eric K. Fanning to be the next secretary of the Army. If confirmed by the Senate, which he probably will be given his extensive leadership history, Fanning would become the first openly gay person to hold that position. But leave it to Christian hate-preacher and GOP Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee to dismiss Fanning’s nomination — not because he lacks any credentials, but because of what he does in the bedroom. Read more
