Dianna E. Anderson grew up in South Dakota, and after stints as an English teacher in Japan and a radio producer in Chicago, she’s turned her focus to writing.

Her first book, out now, is called Damaged Goods: New Perspectives on Christian Purity and it’s all about the intersection of the church and sexuality.

We spoke with Dianna about why sex is often seen as shameful in parts of Christianity, what conversations the broader evangelical culture is having about sex, and whether the church can ever become sex-positive. Lots of sex. #Sex

Muhammad Syed is the co-founder and President of Ex-Muslims of North America.

Heina Dadabhoy is an ex-Muslim atheist and feminist who writes at Heinous Dealings.

At the American Atheists 2015 convention in Memphis, Tennessee, Jessica spoke with them about the various challenges of leaving Islam and why, if you’re having religious doubts, it’s better to act on them instead of staying in the faith.

Jessica Hagy is a cartoonist and writer best known for her insightful and hilarious webcomic Indexed, in which she draws charts and Venn diagrams connecting completely different ideas and getting us to think about them in different ways.

Her latest book is The Art of War Visualized. It’s the Sun Tzu classic reworked and with illustrations.

During a recent stop in Chicago, we spoke about her career change from copywriter to professional author/illustrator, where she finds inspiration for her work, and how her cartoons made their way into my math classes.

Vyckie Garrison was named American Atheists’ 2015 Atheist of the Year. She’s also the founding editor of No Longer Qivering, a website based upon the “quiverfull” lifestyle that she left years ago. (Why that spelling? Because, she says, there’s no “you” in quivering.)

Jessica spoke with Vyckie about how she left the movement made famous by the Duggar family, whether her children are still religious, and why patriarchal thinking hurts men as well as women.

(Image via Josiah Mannion on Facebook)