There’s no rhyme or reason to why these atheists (and not others) are included in the awesome compilation below but, damn, is it fun to watch: MegaZeusThor also made a (non-autotuned!) compilation of science educators. It has Neil deGrasse Tyson. Does anything else even matter? Now, let’s hope people randomly stumble onto those videos… (via MegaZeusThor) Read more
***Update***: Boo… it’s a fake ad that appears in other cities, too. Oh well. … I have no idea who this person is, but he’s a Secular Humanist, he needs a roommate in the Boston area, and he appears to be all sorts of hilarious: A bit about me: I’m respectful, quiet, clean and I won’t bother any of your shit. If you leave shit out, I’m just like, “Oh fuck I better not mess with this shit, because it’s… Read more
It’s called Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens and it’s available September 1st. It’s a collection of pieces previously seen in Slate, The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, and other publications all the way through July, 2011. There’s an audiobook version, too, but unfortunately, he’s not reading it. At least he’s still healthy enough to be churning out these essays like a machine. Read more
Regarding the topic of how to use our skepticism in more diverse ways, Dren Asselmeier at the Center for Inquiry offers a list of topics that atheist parents might find very relevant to talk about, but we rarely discuss them as a group: Why do the atheist, freethought, and skeptical movements seem to completely ignore the fact that adults frequently procreate? I have heard that college-educated and non-religious persons tend to have fewer children and to have children later in… Read more
This is a guest post by Greg Epstein. Greg is the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University and the author of Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe. Some background: Greg’s piece is a response to Illini Secular Student Alliance leader Ed Clint’s recent talk about “Transfaith” at the 2011 Secular Student Alliance conference. You can watch video of that talk below. — Hemant *** At John Figdor’s prompting (ok, prodding) I watched and enjoyed Ed Clint’s talk… Read more
I’m finding out about all sorts of podcasts this week that I hadn’t been exposed to yet! Example: the Think Atheist Radio Show has already interviewed people like Hector Avalos, Ophelia Benson, Michael Shermer, and Valerie Tarico. If you’ve listened to it, I’d love to hear your feedback. If there are any particular episodes/timestamps we should take note of, let us know in the comments. You can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes by clicking here. Read more
Remember how comedian Ricky Gervais submitted a picture of himself, dressed as a clown with a gun in his mouth, for the cover of Rolling Stone? They rejected it because it was “too offensive” and Gervais said he didn’t even bother to submit his second choice: himself, shirtless, holding a mic stand as if he were nailed to a crucifix. Rolling Stone may have said no, but New Humanist magazine said yes! The UK publication will be using that second… Read more
There’s an anonymously written ebook circulating called 100 Facts Every Atheist Teen Must Know. There’s some decent stuff in it. Though it gives the same amount of space to “God” as it does “Alcohol” (but maybe that’s inevitable in a document like this). It also includes a couple random topics (like “Banking” and “Lindy Hop”) without making any direct connection to atheism. Anyway, it’s free and you can check it out for yourself, so I’ll stop complaining. (Thanks to Dave… Read more
The Backyard Skeptics group in Orange County, California has just put up this billboard “off the 55 freeway and Edinger Ave in Santa Ana”: The ad costs $6,000 and it’ll be up for one month. It’s paid for by an anonymous donor. Two more billboards will follow: “We’ve been getting a lot of comments from people saying we should have spent that money on charity,” [Backyard Skeptics founder Bruce] Gleason said. “But look at all the Christian billboards. Shouldn’t they… Read more
