Monthly Archives

February 2015

Ross Blocher, Co-host of Oh No, Ross and Carrie!

Ross Blocher is the co-host of the Oh No, Ross and Carrie! podcast, in which the hosts don’t simply talk about the paranormal, but “dive right in by joining religions, attending spiritual events, undergoing “alternative” treatments, partaking in paranormal investigations, and more.”

Jessica caught up with him during a recent trip to Los Angeles and they spoke about how the podcast began, along with some of his favorite investigations.

Peter Boghossian, Author of A Manual for Creating Atheists

Peter Boghossian is a philosophy professor at Portland State University and the author of A Manual for Creating Atheists, a book in which he talks about “street epistemology” — essentially how to talk people out of their faith. He’s currently working on a phone app that’ll guide people through that process.

We spoke with Peter about why his approach isn’t just “atheist evangelism,” why smart people can believe silly things, and whether his techniques work on his own children in other areas of life.

You can see his upcoming speaking engagements here.

Linda LaScola, Co-Author of Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind

Linda LaScola is a research consultant perhaps best known for her work with philosopher Daniel Dennett in which they speak with pastors who may secretly be atheists. (You can read that paper here.)

She co-founded the Clergy Project — a site for religious leaders harboring serious doubts about their faith — and she is about to re-release her book on the topic, Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind, with updates and additions. She also blogs on Patheos at Rational Doubt, a site that features several articles by doubting pastors.

We spoke with LaScola about how the Clergy Project began, whether coming out as an atheist (when you’re a pastor) is a good or bad idea, and the surprising book that finally turned one pastor into an atheist.

Noelle George, Founder of Secular Avenue

Noelle George is a secular activist interested in making a tangible difference in the world, rather than simply arguing about religion behind a keyboard. She founded the SECULAR Center in Houston and is the Director of Special Projects for Foundation Beyond Belief (a group I work with). But her latest endeavor is aimed at helping those people who most need it.

It’s called Secular Avenue. The group will assist those who are unsafe at home because they are no longer religious, living under religious extremism, victims of domestic abuse, or coming out as LGBTQ. Secular Avenue will offer those people financial help, counseling, and legal assistance, among other things.

We spoke with Noelle about how people in need can get help, what we can do to pitch in, and why it’s so important for atheists to find a way to volunteer.

Check out our longer interview with Noelle and please consider making a donation to her organization.