Wendy Thomas Russell is a journalist who spent years covering criminal justice. In 2008, she began writing books for and about children, including three books for the Girl Scouts. In 2011, her focus shifted to secular parenting. Not only does she blog on Patheos at Natural Wonderers, she is about to release a new book called Relax, It’s Just God: How and Why to Talk to Your Kids About Religion When You’re Not Religious.

We spoke with Wendy about whether or not it makes sense to raise your child as an atheist, why the “sex talk” is easier than the “God talk,” and what she learned from the authors of other books about atheist parenting.

Nancy French is a four-time New York Times best-selling author who has written books with Sarah Palin, Bristol Palin, The Bachelor star Sean Lowe, and Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson.

We spoke with her about whether liberals misunderstand Sarah Palin, how she came to support Mitt Romney (who doesn’t share her faith), and why all of her collaborations have the same starting point.

A few weeks ago, I was listening to Alex Blumberg’s popular podcast StartUp which is all about his journey beginning his own podcasting company.

In one episode, he aired a conversation with Trevor McKendrick, an atheist who was making quite a bit of money selling a Spanish-language Bible app for your phone. So you know we had to talk to him ourselves.

We spoke with Trevor about the overwhelmingly positive reaction to the story, how it publicized his atheism more than he expected (especially as an ex-Mormon), and what Bible-buying trends look like online.

Daniel Genis (rhymes with “tennis”) grew up in New York City, where he attended Stuyvesant High School and New York University, graduating with a degree in history and French. In 2003, however, he committed five armed robberies, which led to a decade behind bars. During that time, he wrote a novel called Narcotica. Now that he’s out, he’s been writing about the intersection of religion and incarceration for publications like Vice, Deadspin, the Washington Post. New York Daily News, and Newsweek.

We spoke with Daniel about the soul exchange that got him in trouble, why we should feel any sympathy for him, and what he hopes to do now that he’s a free man.

(Image credit: Petra Szabo)