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Free Inquiry Audio Edition: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Center for Inquiry
The audio edition of Free Inquiry magazine, the Journal for Secular Humanist Ideas.
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- 1 weeks ago15 min
We Need a Good Dose of Freethinking, Internationalist Solidarity—And a Belated Happy Fourth of July!
Daniel James Sharp argues that freethinkers and secular humanists in both the United States and Britain face a growing threat from Christian nationalism and other forms of religious authoritarianism, making international solidarity more important than ever. Read this article and find accompanying references at: https://secularhumanism.org/exclusive/we-need-a-good-dose-of-freethinking-internationalist-solidarity-and-a-belated-happy-fourth-of-july/ About the Author: Daniel James Sharp is a senior editor at Free Inquiry and editor of the Freethinker. In addition to these, his writing has appeared in various other publications, including Areo Magazine, Quillette, the Washington Examiner, Merion West, The Critic, OnlySky, Queer Majority, and the Spectator Australia. Subscribe to Free Inquiry: https://secularhumanism.org/subscribe/
- Aug 14, 20264 min
God Takes a Tumble
Ronald A. Lindsay praises S. T. Joshi's The Downfall of God: A History of Atheism in the West, Vol. 2 as a comprehensive and authoritative account of how scientific, philosophical, literary, and cultural developments fueled the rise of atheism from the seventeenth century to today. He argues that the book's depth, breadth, and nuanced treatment of influential thinkers make it the definitive modern history of atheism and a landmark contribution to secular scholarship. Read this article and find accompanying references at: https://secularhumanism.org/2026/07/god-takes-a-tumble/ About the Author: Ronald A. Lindsay is the former president and CEO of the Center for Inquiry, recent interim general counsel for CFI, and editor of Free Inquiry magazine. Subscribe to Free Inquiry: https://secularhumanism.org/subscribe/
- Aug 14, 202631 min
Crime and Punishment
Bart Laws examines the realities behind crime, punishment, and incarceration in the United States, challenging common assumptions that harsher penalties alone can solve crime. Read this article and find accompanying references at: https://secularhumanism.org/2026/07/crime-and-punishment/ About the Author: Bart Laws is a medical sociologist and an adjunct associate professor of Health Services, Policy and Practice at Brown University. Subscribe to Free Inquiry: https://secularhumanism.org/subscribe/
- Aug 12, 20268 min
A Memoir on Ballooning and Grief
Dennis E. Curry reviews Julian Barnes's Levels of Life, arguing that its unflinching exploration of grief offers a deeply humanist alternative to religious consolation. Through Barnes's memoir of losing his wife, the book portrays grief with honesty, wit, and emotional depth, ultimately suggesting that memory, rather than faith, provides a meaningful path through profound loss. Read this article and find accompanying references at: https://secularhumanism.org/2026/07/a-memoir-on-ballooning-and-grief/ About the Author: Dennis E. Curry, MD, is a writer, political commentator, and resident physician in psychiatry practicing in Canada. Subscribe to his newsletter at: https://denniscurry.substack.com/. Subscribe to Free Inquiry: https://secularhumanism.org/subscribe
- Aug 7, 20268 min
Bill Cooke's Misleading, Meritless Review
Richard Carrier argues that Bill Cooke's review of The Obsolete Paradigm of a Historical Jesus misrepresents both his arguments and the evidence, claiming the review ignores key sections of the book while attributing positions to him that he explicitly rejects. Carrier maintains that readers should judge his case directly from his work, asserting that his mythicist conclusions rest on a broad evaluation of historical evidence rather than the selective, inaccurate portrayal presented in Cooke's review. Read this article and find accompanying references at: https://secularhumanism.org/2026/07/bill-cookes-misleading-meritless-review/ About the Author: Richard Carrier holds a PhD in the history of ancient science from Columbia University and is the author of ten books including The Scientist in the Early Roman Empire (Pitchstone, 2017). Subscribe to Free Inquiry: https://secularhumanism.org/subscribe/
- Aug 5, 202615 min
Carrier Fails to Carry His Burden
Bill Cooke reviews and critiques Richard Carrier's The Obsolete Paradigm of a Historical Jesus (2025), arguing that its case for Jesus mythicism relies on circular reasoning, subjective use of Bayesian statistics, and selective treatment of the historical evidence while ignoring mainstream scholarship on the historical Jesus. Read this article and find accompanying references at: https://secularhumanism.org/2026/07/carrier-fails-to-carry-his-burden/ About the Author: Bill Cooke is a senior editor of Free Inquiry and a historian of atheism and humanism. He holds a PhD in religious studies and teaches philosophy and religious studies in Warrington, United Kingdom. Subscribe to Free Inquiry: https://secularhumanism.org/subscribe/
- Aug 3, 20268 min
Does Work Matter?
Robyn E. Blumner explores how artificial intelligence may reshape humanity's relationship with work, arguing that even if technology creates a future of abundance and leisure, work provides essential sources of purpose, dignity, identity, and personal growth. She examines whether a world without the necessity of labor could leave people struggling to find meaning and fulfillment. Read this article and find accompanying references at: https://secularhumanism.org/2026/07/does-work-matter/ About the Author: Robyn E. Blumner is the CEO of the Center for Inquiry and the executive director of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and, Science. She was a nationally syndicated columnist and editorial writer for the Tampa Bay Times (formerly the St. Petersburg Times) for sixteen years. Subscribe to Free Inquiry: https://secularhumanism.org/subscribe/
- Jul 30, 20266 min
Sex: The Strange Journey of One Little Word
Russell Blackford explores how the word sex has shifted in meaning over the past century, arguing that modern society has replaced old religious discomfort with new forms of linguistic squeamishness. He traces how gender increasingly displaced sex in everyday language and how today's algorithm-driven "algospeak" (such as "seggs" or "s*x") reflects a new kind of technological puritanism that can undermine clear, thoughtful discussions about biology and sexuality. Read this article and find accompanying references at: https://secularhumanism.org/2026/07/sex-the-strange-journey-of-one-little-word/ About the Author: Russell Blackford is a conjoint senior lecturer in philosophy at the University of Newcastle (Australia) and a regular columnist for Free Inquiry. His latest book, The Tyranny of Opinion: Conformity and the Future of Liberalism (2019), is published by Bloomsbury Academic. Subscribe to Free Inquiry: https://secularhumanism.org/subscribe/
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The audio edition of Free Inquiry magazine, the Journal for Secular Humanist Ideas.
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