“Sex Positivity and Teaching Consent”, Miri Mogilevsky on The Humanist Hour

This week, I sat down with Miri to discuss what sex positivity is, isn’t, and should be. We also talked about her well-received consent workshop.

Sex positivity sounds like a wonderful thing, but do you really know what it is? As a social movement, it’s older than you might think. It can be traced back through the Free Love movement. No, not the one in the 1960s: the Victorian Free Love movement. In its more modern incarnation, sex positivity has been associated with LGBTQ liberation and the battles within feminism over pornography and sex work. It’s also closely tied to movements to destigmatize kink and polyamory.

With all these associations, perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that not everyone agrees about what sex positivity is and what it looks like in practice. Sex positivity fills different roles for lots of people. And while, at its heart, sex positivity is an intellectual tradition, not everyone relates to it on an intellectual level.

Miri Mogilevsky is a licensed therapist, a writer, and a long-time provider of sex education for adults. With articles having appeared in xoJane, Salon, and Everyday Feminism, she’s a recognized resource on mental health, feminism, and consent. In recent years, she’s offered a workshop at secular movement conferences titled, “Getting It On at the Con: How to Get Lucky Consensually”. She’s recently written about some of the common misperceptions about sex positivity, and she joins us this week to clear the air.

One note: This is a show about sex. While it doesn’t get graphic, it may still be inappropriate for work for other reasons, such as the swearing.

You can listen to the podcast here.

“Sex Positivity and Teaching Consent”, Miri Mogilevsky on The Humanist Hour
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“Navigating Conflict in the Movement, Part 1”, Callie Wright and Ari Stillman on Atheists Talk

The secular movement is no stranger to conflict. It never has been, though it does have a tendency to treat each new round of conflict as a fresh problem with no precedent and the potential to rip apart a fairly healthy, growing movement.

Recently, such a conflict swept up Callie Wright and Ari Stillman of the Gaytheist Manifesto podcast, and they had some solid thoughts on managing conflicts like these. This Sunday, they join us to talk about it all, the good, the bad, and the ultimately irrelevant.

Then, join us again next week for part 2 of this discussion with another guest with a slightly different perspective.

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Continue reading ““Navigating Conflict in the Movement, Part 1”, Callie Wright and Ari Stillman on Atheists Talk”

“Navigating Conflict in the Movement, Part 1”, Callie Wright and Ari Stillman on Atheists Talk

“The Intersection of Humanism and Social Justice Work” on The Humanist Hour

This week, we revisited the AHA conference in Chicago in May for some practical advice.

The concept of social justice is enjoying a renaissance. That doesn’t necessarily translate into action, however. Even people who support social justice may find themselves uncertain how to put their principles into practice. They may be unsure what is needed from them.

At the American Humanist Association’s 75th Anniversary Conference in Chicago this year, Sincere Kirabo, social justice coordinator of the AHA, moderated a panel on this problem. Diane Burkholder, co-founder of Kansas City Freethinkers of Color; James Croft, outreach director of the Ethical Society of St. Louis; and Randall Jenson, executive director of SocialScope Productions, a nonprofit focused on LGBTQ and gender documentary projects, discussed the practical impediments to social justice in the humanist movement and our broader society. They talked about the needs we don’t see and the solutions that allow us to put our time and money where our mouths are.

This panel also had a Q&A session that is not presented here. This can be heard in the full panel video on the American Humanist Association’s YouTube channel.

You can listen to the podcast here.

“The Intersection of Humanism and Social Justice Work” on The Humanist Hour

“Juhem Navarro-Rivera on Changing Demographics and Changing Politics” on The Humanist Hour

This week, I spoke with Juhem Navarro-Rivera about how the changing face of the U.S. electorate is changing our political landscape. This was originally going to be a shorter interview, paired up with my talk with Alix Jules about racial resentment. In both cases, we ended up having more material than fit in an hour show.

There is a significant portion of the U.S. electorate this year who seem determined to “take back their country”. It’s rare, however, that these people are willing to explicitly state who they want to take the country back from. In reality their political fears reflect a voting population that is less white, less male, and less religious than it has ever been before.

Juhem Navarro-Rivera is a political scientist who studies the political behavior of many of the groups within this rising American electorate. He specializes in studying Latino voters and the religious Nones. This week, he joins Stephanie Zvan to talk about the concerns and behavior of these groups, as well as the concerns and behaviors of the largely white, male, and religious voters who are resisting their participation in the political process.

You can listen to the podcast here.

“Juhem Navarro-Rivera on Changing Demographics and Changing Politics” on The Humanist Hour

“Kelly McCullough on Building Religion through Stories” on The Humanist Hour

This week, I sat down with my friend Kelly to have a discussion we’ve held off having for a few years now about approaching religion as a storyteller who doesn’t believe.

Kelly McCullough is a fantasy and science fiction author with twelve novels under his belt to date. Despite being raised outside religion, his work often focuses on what it means to exist in a world where gods are real. In his WebMage series, McCullough’s protagonist is the descendant of one of the Greek Fates. His Fallen Blade series follows what happens when the goddess of justice is killed by the other gods in her pantheon.

This week, Kelly McCullough talks to Stephanie Zvan about why he explores the themes of religion in his books. He also talks about having accidentally created a religion outside his writing and how he managed to become one of those nearly mythical atheist politicians in the U.S.

You can listen to the podcast here.

“Kelly McCullough on Building Religion through Stories” on The Humanist Hour

“Alix Jules on the Politics of Racial Resentment” on The Humanist Hour

For this week’s show, I sat down with Alix Jules to talk about racial resentment in national and movement politics.

The 2016 U.S. presidential election has turned into something that wasn’t supposed to be able to happen anymore. We’re supposed to be past this kind of open racism, yet here we are. So much for living in a “post-racial” America.

Alix Jules is a secular activist, writer, and sometimes co-host on Dogma Debate. He’s also on the advisory council of American Humanist Association’s Black Humanist Alliance. This week, he joins us to talk about the politics of racial resentment. We’ll talk about Alix’s visit to a Trump rally, but acknowledge that racial resentment reaches far beyond one party or candidate. We’ll also discuss Alix’s experience trying to talk about racial issues within the secular movement.

Please be aware that the final segment of the show contains mention of a racial slur.

You can listen to the podcast here.

“Alix Jules on the Politics of Racial Resentment” on The Humanist Hour

“Religion in the 2016 Presidential Race” on Atheists Talk

One side, we have a candidate whose personal faith has strongly affected her politics over the years, who is largely being embraced by religious pluralists. On the other side, we have a candidate whose religiosity is an open question, who is being embraced by theocrats. Then we have vice presidential candidates with very similar religious convictions on some issues, whose approach to legislation on those issues is distinctly at odds. And then there’s the DNC official who wanted to make a big deal about Sanders supposedly being a nonbeliever.

It’s a strange election year, viewed through the lens of religion. This Sunday, David Pacheco and Stephanie Zvan get together to talk highlights, lowlights, and what atheists should be paying attention to this election season.

Listen to AM 950 KTNF Sundays at 9 a.m. Central to hear Atheists Talk, produced by Minnesota Atheists. Stream live online. Call in to the studio at 952-946-6205, or send an e-mail to [email protected] during the live show. If you miss the live show, listen to the podcast later.

Follow Atheists Talk on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates. If you like the show, consider supporting us with a one-time or sustaining donation.

“Religion in the 2016 Presidential Race” on Atheists Talk

“Examining Honor Culture and Violence in Islam” on The Humanist Hour

This week, we’re shedding light on honor violence in response to a recent, high-profile case.

Earlier this month, model and activist Qandeel Baloch was found dead in her home in Pakistan. She’d been drugged and murdered by her brother in what he claimed was an honor killing. Baloch was a feminist and a pop star who didn’t adhere to local Islamic modesty standards. Her brother claimed that this brought shame upon their family.

Baloch’s murder was more widely reported in the U.S. than most honor killings. Reactions to the news were varied but demonstrated a broad lack of understanding of the ways in which honor killings are distinct from domestic violence in more individualistic societies. This past May, Muhammad Syed, Sarah Haider, and Mya Saleem of the Ex-Muslims of North America explored those differences in a panel titled, “Examining Honor Culture and Violence in Islam” at the AHA’s 75th Anniversary Conference in Chicago. This week, we bring you that panel and part of the Q&A that followed. The full Q&A can be found on the video on AHA’s YouTube channel.

You can listen to the podcast here.

“Examining Honor Culture and Violence in Islam” on The Humanist Hour

“Gaytheist Manifesto”, Callie Wright on The Humanist Hour

This week, Jenn Wilson caught up with Callie Wright after seeing her at AHACon in Chicago in May.

When Callie Wright came out as a trans woman in 2013, there weren’t a lot of queer voices in the secular movement that focused on issues affecting queer people. She set out to change that. With her partner in crime Ari Stillman, she now runs The Gaytheist Manifesto podcast and the blog of the same name. She is also co-chair of the American Humanist Association’s LGBTQ Humanist Alliance.

Callie joins Jenn Wilson this week to talk about founding the podcast and its mission to support the LGBTQ community within the secular movement. They discuss Callie’s outlook on activism, her goals for the LGBTQ Humanist Alliance, and even a recent controversy in LGBTQ media representation. After we hear from Callie and Jenn, we’ll also give you a quick sample of the work Callie does educating humanists at conferences.

You can listen to the podcast here.

“Gaytheist Manifesto”, Callie Wright on The Humanist Hour

“Feminism in Current Politics” and “The Oasis Network” on The Humanist Hour

With no blogging last week, there are a couple of The Humanist Hour shows you can catch up on. I spent a little time with Amanda Marcotte at CONvergence talking feminism and politics:

Any year in which we have the first female major party presumptive nominee for president is going to be a busy one in feminist politics. Beyond Hillary Clinton, however, there’s still plenty going on in current political discourse that’s of interest to feminists. From the misogyny of Donald Trump to the recent Supreme Court decision on abortion, we have a lot to talk about.

To cover these topics—as well as Clinton’s rise to nominee—Stephanie Zvan talks this week with Amanda Marcotte, a political writer for Salon with more than a decade of experience covering these kinds of topics. Listen and catch up on the presidential campaigns, online discourse, and the state of abortion rights.

You can catch that podcast here. Continue reading ““Feminism in Current Politics” and “The Oasis Network” on The Humanist Hour”

“Feminism in Current Politics” and “The Oasis Network” on The Humanist Hour