At the American Humanist Association conference in Chicago recently, we had a chance to speak with a number of incredible people and we’ll be posting those interviews over the next few weeks.

Today, we’re posting our conversation with Margaret Downey, a life-long atheist activist and member of the Reason Rally Coalition Board of Directors. She is also founder and President of the Freethought Society and a former President of Atheist Alliance International.

We spoke with her about what to expect at this weekend’s Rally, how she plans to gauge its success, and what she wants people to take away from the event.

Chrystine Trooien is an eco-conscious, secular, vegan mother based out of Hawaii. About a year ago, she launched a Kickstarter campaign for a book called Christian Mythology for Kids. It’s essentially a book that explains the stories of the Bible as just that: Stories. They don’t disparage religion, and they don’t pretend any of it is real, either. They read just like Greek mythology — with beautiful illustrations by artist Christopher Zakrzewski to boot. It’s a wonderful way to introduce your children to these characters without indoctrinating them in the faith.

We spoke with Chrystine about why it’s important to teach kids these stories objectively, how she handled stories with no redeeming message, and whether she’ll continue the series with other religions.

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Notes:

We mentioned a lawsuit involving Hawaiian schools offering illegally sweet deals to churches who wanted to rent them out. You can read more about that lawsuit here.

Dr. Wynne LeGrow spent two years as a physician in the Army, where he was promoted to major, and then nearly three decades in private practice. For most of his career, he practiced internal medicine.

In 2010, after he retired, he decided to run for Congress from Virginia’s 4th District, which was represented then (and now) by Republican Randy Forbes. Forbes is so conservative, he founded the Congressional Prayer Caucus. LeGrow, on the other hand, ran as an open atheist. He lost the race, but wrote about the experience in his new book Last Leper in the Colony: An Atheist Runs for Congress in the Bible Belt.

We spoke to him about what it was like being an atheist in the 1960s/1970s, the surprising politician who inspired him to run for office, and the advice he would give atheists running for office in the future.

David Smalley, host of the show Dogma Debate, was in my area a few days ago and took some time to chat with me about his new series of children’s books, the most effective ways to talk with people who disagree with us, and all things politics (Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, and atheist candidates for office).

Smalley is a former Christian musician who became an atheist after studying psychology, sociology, world religions, and his own faith. He soon turned into a secular activist.

He was the editor-in-chief of Secular World and American Atheist magazines, the author of Baptized Atheist, and now runs the Secular Media Group.

Notes:

The first book in his new series for children is titled Tiny Thinkers: Charlie and the Tortoise, written by MJ Mouton.

David also referenced a recent episode of his show in which he documented a protest in his community. You can listen to it here.