1. Comment #142368 by Matt7895 on March 12, 2008 at 12:01 pm

Ah, I haven't heard anything from Richard in a while! This should be interesting. I hope his current book tour is going well.

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2. Comment #142375 by jargo on March 12, 2008 at 12:12 pm

Cool! I'll be sure to check it out as soon as I get home from work.

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3. Comment #142376 by BathTub on March 12, 2008 at 12:16 pm

the mp3 link appears to be broken?

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4. Comment #142388 by sentient on March 12, 2008 at 12:34 pm

the mp3 link appears to be broken?

Try this link:-
http://media.libsyn.com/media/ffrf/FTradio_98_030808.mp3

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5. Comment #142409 by obscured by clouds on March 12, 2008 at 12:55 pm

the mp3 link appears to be broken?

Sorry, I fixed it!

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6. Comment #142433 by catalinmerfu on March 12, 2008 at 1:34 pm

Thank You Dan Barker.

It was interesting to hear from the man himself that it is possible to think god is speaking to you. I wouldn't have taken the information seriously had I read it somewhere, I used to think everybody is faking it. A life experience like his is important in understanding religiousness.

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7. Comment #142465 by McLir on March 12, 2008 at 2:25 pm

This is a very good interview. Most Dawkins interviews sound fairly similar. Even on the better journalistic shows, the interviewer seems to feel obliged to raise the old familiar arguments.

Hearing Dawkins interviewed by a sympathetic show was much better. Plus, they are able to cover more ideas. I'm glad they spent the time with the concept of "Mount Improbable."

I've been a fan of Freethought Radio for a good while. I think this might be their best show.

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8. Comment #142551 by HappyPrimate on March 12, 2008 at 5:53 pm

Delightful interview. So disappointed I am not able to attend any lectures on this tour but looking forward to at least some of them being posted here. It is so great that RD is making this tour and I hope he makes more. I think he is making a difference for the better.

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9. Comment #142556 by Geoff on March 12, 2008 at 6:04 pm

I love hearing Richard, of course, but I'm afraid I found the interviewers somewhat sycophantic, and I could do without the songs at the start, and in the breaks.

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10. Comment #142570 by robotaholic on March 12, 2008 at 6:55 pm

Yeah I didn't care for the music but it is always good to hear Richard Dawkins - and also - it is kind of good that they preserved the whole show- or at least most of the show- the good thing about it being a download is that you can foreward through the parts you don't like-

Professor Richard Dawkins was kind of having a great time- I enjoyed hearing him laugh and having a great time...

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11. Comment #142589 by dragonfirematrix on March 12, 2008 at 8:01 pm

Interesting discussion.

I hope Richard will demonstrate (hard-core) to the main-stream American media the lies of religion.

America desperately needs to be saved from lies of religion, and trust into the truth of enlightenment.

Religion is wrong.

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12. Comment #142604 by 7sD on March 12, 2008 at 8:29 pm

great interview, but i had to wince when richard mentions how ulcers are caused by stress. . . :s

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13. Comment #142613 by Ed-words on March 12, 2008 at 9:05 pm

I liked the songs - very clever.

Yip Harburg (Over the Rainbow) also wrote irreverent songs.


Three cheers for FFRF!

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14. Comment #142669 by AdrianB on March 13, 2008 at 1:50 am

It challenge any neutral to listen to Richard Dawkins, Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor and conclude that atheists are .... angry, militant, aggressive etc.

The FFRF podcast is one that I never miss, along with Point Of Enquiry, The Atheist Experience, The Non-Prophets and now Atheist Talk.

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15. Comment #142724 by whig on March 13, 2008 at 3:48 am

Geoff wrote:

I love hearing Richard, of course, but I'm afraid I found the interviewers somewhat sycophantic, and I could do without the songs at the start, and in the breaks.

Yeah, I know the songs are cheesy, but it's all in the very pleasant spirit atmosphere of Freethought Radio. They sound like ordinary Americans enjoying themselves, tho often dealing with serious topics, so I'd agree with AdrianB, they are good ambassadors for atheism in the US. I liked the part when Dan Barker talked for a minute about his time as a fundamentalist Christian minister, with his wife and Dawkins friendlily tut-tutting.

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16. Comment #142733 by Nails on March 13, 2008 at 4:02 am

7sD, I see what you mean about the ulsers, but you can't expect an award-winning professor of biology to know everything.....

Nice interview, but not very much new (only an extended version of the common arguments) which is a shame because it is obviously aimed at those already de-converted.

And I thought the music sucked, big time.

Anyway, talking to god.
I have recently debated a theist who claims great belief because god spoke three words to him - which I found bizarre because even when he spoke to moses (who obviously knew who he was) he nearly always boomed "I am the Lord your God".
So why did he not need to say this to someone he had never spoken to before?
Unfortunately, this remains unanswered.

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17. Comment #142821 by Clapton_is_God on March 13, 2008 at 5:58 am

Re the music. Apart from being a fundamentalist minister Dan is also a gifted musician from a musical family.

It is hardly surprising that he showcases his musical talents occasionally, though I admit I'm more Grateful Dead than the cheesy schmaltz he plays.

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18. Comment #142831 by black wolf on March 13, 2008 at 6:07 am

It challenge any neutral to listen to Richard Dawkins, Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor and conclude that atheists are .... angry, militant, aggressive etc.

Have they changed the definition of 'militant' to: 'repeatedly saying things we don't like to hear' yet?

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19. Comment #142902 by Dhamma on March 13, 2008 at 7:26 am

Nails: Just out of curiosity, what do you mean by saying "de-converted"? Are you joking that everybody's born as atheists and then their parents or themselves "convert" to some religion and then convert themselves back? Otherwise I suppose you just convert from a religion, or really it's not a conversion to anything at all. Can one convert to atheism really? Convert to reason I would like to say they do instead :D

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20. Comment #142940 by latsot on March 13, 2008 at 8:36 am

That song is just *delightful*. Very clever and very easy on the ear. I wash I could have written it.

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21. Comment #143002 by Nails on March 13, 2008 at 10:29 am

Dhamma, just a figure of speach I guess.
But it adds clarity; as I must be spending too much time in debates with theists then to de-convert is pretty self explanitary. But you are very much more succinct by describing it as a conversion to reason.

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22. Comment #143229 by Bill Pugsley on March 13, 2008 at 5:20 pm

Thank you for this interview. Dawkins in the morning always makes for a good day. As for Dan Barker's songs, I prefer Monty Python's oeuvre, though they were clever enough. I, too, create songs based in an atheistic and evolutionary thought. I have sampled Hitchens, Dawkins and others, but dare not post them for fear of copyright infringement. Ideas are free and exchangeable, but digital copies of a voice ... I'm not sure. If someone (official) could tell me if I can use sound bites from speeches and interviews I would appreciate it. Other songs can be heard at
http://www.myspace.com/13thpersonality

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23. Comment #143253 by winnie on March 13, 2008 at 6:45 pm

About the brazilian title for God a Delusion
Deus um Delirio. Delirio indeed meens delirium.
And it's been a huge hit down here in Brazil,
where unfortunately evangelists grow at the same rates as rabbits breed due to increasing poverty and ignorance. We are swamped with evangelic politicians stuck in corruption scandals all over the country.
The previous Rio de Janeiro government made several attempts to install the teaching of creationism in public schools but with no final success.

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24. Comment #143531 by glittergulch on March 14, 2008 at 7:29 am

iTunes downloaded two versions of this podcast for me. At first I thought that maybe it was in two parts but in fact the first version is unedited and the second is the version posted here. The unedited version has Richard backing up and asking if the show is live during the Mt. Improbable segment because he thinks he's gotten off track. It's a nice little human moment. Glad he ended up telling the story regardless.

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25. Comment #143746 by wingsofabutterfly on March 14, 2008 at 10:47 am

In the Portuguese version "the god delusion" was translated as "god's disappointment" (A Desilusão de Deus). Although we don't have a word for delusion (at least one that I know) it wasn't certainly a wise choice for the title of the book.

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26. Comment #144908 by OGjimbo on March 17, 2008 at 3:05 am

I'd have to say the hosts of this radio show are somewhat terrible, perhaps they were just having an off day or something. Either way I derive a far greater amount of pleasure from listening to Dawkins while on radio programs where angry, fired up christians call in and babble out nonsense at him while hes on the air. Listening to Dawkins respond to some of these people is just hillarious.

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27. Comment #147330 by TheDesertFox on March 20, 2008 at 7:05 am

I must agree with the previous comment. It seems to me that the hosts did not prepare for the interview. The music was also completely unnecessary.

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