The show is presented by Ita Buttrose, Joe Hildebrand, Sarah Harris, Jessica Rowe and Denise Drysdale.

Interview with Robin Ince, Trent Burton, Josie Long and Matt Parker about the forthcoming Cosmic Shambles Tour of Australia and NZ

RTRFM with Leona Devaz - Interview with AFA President Kylie Sturgess - Monday 8th August 2016 It’s that time again – tomorrow evening, Australians across the country will fill in our national Census. Amongst the many not-so-interesting questions there’s one that’s become a bit of a battleground: what is your religion? Australian Atheist Foundation President and RTRFM presenter KYLIE STURGESS is asking people who don’t have a religion to say so.

666 ABC with Adam Shirley - Interview with AFA Vice-president Michael Boyd - Monday 1st August 2016

BBC Radio 4 with Edward Stourton - Interview with AFA President Kylie Sturgess - Sunday 31st July 2016

612 ABC with Rebecca Levingston - Interview with AFA President Kylie Sturgess - Saturday 23th July

BBC 5 Live with Rhod Sharp - Interview with AFA President Kylie Sturgess - Tuesday 2nd August

It's 2016 - have you considered joining the AFA? We've got memberships where you can not only support future projects like billboards, media releases and events - but also get a fantastic magazine, network with other like-minded atheists, get some pretty snappy merchandise, and have a say in the future of the association. We're holding our AGM in March in Sydney - so consider starting your year off right and join now at www.atheistfoundation.org.au/membership. ***** Founded in 2012, the Women without Religion forum began with women without religion - and has since grown to be inclusive of feminists, rationalists, atheists, LBGTQI and cis gendered folk. The page primarily acts as a billboard that advocates for changes to make the world a better place for everyone regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ableness and age. The Women without Religion page is without religion for a large number of reasons but two main reasons are that we are without bigotry, and we value evidence based reasoning. We understand that without religion and with more evidenced based reasoning, the world would be a better place for everyone. I spoke to Annie, the founder and one of the administrators of the page - you can find it at: https://www.facebook.com/WomenWithoutReligion/ ******* Paul Fidalgo is our international correspondent on the show; he is the communications director for the skeptic and humanist organization the Center for Inquiry, where he writes the daily news roundup The Morning Heresy, among a bazillion other things. He blogs at iMortal over on the Patheos network and podcasts with Brian Hogg at www.thinkerypodcast.com. - The coming of the Depp to the Reason Rally is making news - is it a sign of a cultural acceptance of atheism in the entertainment industry? - A bishop in the Philippines says folks should keep away from Madonna's tour for being suggestive and vulgar - it also happens to be one year since the murder of Avijit Roy and Salman Rushdie is again being targeted. - NYT publishes two letters to the editor reacting to Susan Jacoby's recent piece on atheists and the language of politics and Joseph Berger at NYT looks at how Bernie Sanders talks about (or doesn't talk about) being Jewish. - We also talk about Tim Minchin's Cardinal Pell song and what's involved in the investigation in Rome. ***** In Australian and AFA forum board news – our correspondent GoldenMane gives us the lowdown on what’s happened this month on the boards. Join him and the lively crowd at atheistfoundation.org.au/forums. ***** For more information visit: atheistfoundation.org.au/podcast/ All Atheist Aus Podcast episodes are under the Creative Commons license. You are free to distribute unedited versions of the episodes for non-commercial purposes. If you would like to edit the episode please contact us. The views expressed are not necessarily representative of the Atheist Foundation of Australia, its affiliates, sponsors or advertisers. Continue the conversation with atheists, the like-minded and the not-so-like minded at the AFA forums, found at atheistfoundation.org.au/forums or tweet us at twitter.com/atheistaus. Contact the show at [email protected]. “Backed Vibes Clean” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ “Base Walker” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution3.0creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ You can find all the previous episodes of Atheist Aus over on the SoundCloud site and on iTunes!

Welcome to episode 8 of the Atheist Aus Podcast. Can you help build the World's Largest Skeptic & Atheist Community Center? United Church of Bacon wants to save Magician Penn Jillette's former home...The Slammer ...and create The Nevatican! Penn is the vocal half of the Las Vegas magic act Penn & Teller and for 20 years, his former home The Slammer has been a retreat of reason in the desert - and the United Church of Bacon wants to keep it that way. They've begun a Indiegogo, with a goal of half a million dollars, to save the building and make it a venue for all the faithless, for events, weddings and meetups. To find out more, I spoke to John Whiteside - he's the Founder and Bacon Prophet of the United Church of Bacon, an advisory board member of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, and an advisory board member of the Secular Policy Institute. Head to the site at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/world-s-largest-skeptic-atheist-community-center/x/8728766#/story ******* Paul Fidalgo is our international correspondent on the show; he is the communications director for the skeptic and humanist organization the Center for Inquiry, where he writes the daily news roundup The Morning Heresy, among a bazillion other things. He blogs at iMortal over on the Patheos network and podcasts with Brian Hogg at www.thinkerypodcast.com. *Jeffrey Tayler at Salon looks at the political landscape, with some troubling polling on Americans' feelings about being a "Christian nation" * A psychic sues New York state for not giving him the reward money he says he deserves for allegedly helping to catch the two prison escapees earlier this year. * This may not be surprising, but research shows that a fearful disposition and belief in the paranormal are closely associated. Ugh, and 41.4% of Americans think ghosts are real. * Ensaf Haidar is reporting that floggings might very soon resume for her husband, Raif Badawi. We've not confirmed this, and as you might know, it's very hard to know exactly what's going on within the Saudi legal and penal systems. He's also been awarded the Sakharov Human Rights Prize! ***** In January, 2016, Think Inc. are bringing to Australia An Evening with Sam Harris. Audiences will be engaged with this most celebrated of critical thinkers on the matters of science, spirituality, and secularisation in an age where their conflict with religion is as amplified as ever. With big thanks to Think Inc, I spoke to Sam Harris about what it's been like since he was last here for the Global Atheist Convention. Get your tickets for the shows in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney at http://thinkinc.org.au/events/samharris. ***** In Australian and AFA forum board news – our correspondent GoldenMane gives us the lowdown on what’s happened this month on the boards. Join him and the lively crowd at atheistfoundation.org.au/forums. For more information visit: atheistfoundation.org.au/podcast/ All Atheist Aus Podcast episodes are under the Creative Commons license. You are free to distribute unedited versions of the episodes for non-commercial purposes. If you would like to edit the episode please contact us. The views expressed are not necessarily representative of the Atheist Foundation of Australia, its affiliates, sponsors or advertisers. Continue the conversation with atheists, the like-minded and the not-so-like minded at the AFA forums, found at atheistfoundation.org.au/forums or tweet us at twitter.com/atheistaus. Contact the show at [email protected]. “Backed Vibes Clean” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ “Base Walker” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ You can find all the previous episodes of Atheist Aus over on the SoundCloud site and on iTunes!

In 2011, the Atheist Foundation of Australia (or AFA) campaigned to encourage individuals and families to think about the importance and impact of their answer to this leading Census question: "What is the person's religion?". The campaign involved billboards nationwide and was highlighted during the two Global Atheist Conventions in 2010 and 2012. The result was a change for 2016 - for the first time since the "no religion" option was introduced in 1991, the Australian Bureau of Statistics will place it first on a list of answers to the question "what is the person's religion", and move the "Catholic" option into second position. President of the Atheist Foundation of Australia Michael Boyd talked to Kylie Sturgess about the changes.

Michael Boyd took over as the President of the Atheist Foundation of Australia in 2013. Yet not many people might know about him! He’s been working with the team to produce press releases, has spoken out in the media, appeared on television and has represented the Australian atheist viewpoint at conferences in Australia - and now in Asia. Kylie Sturgess caught up with Michael after the Philippines Atheists’ PATAS Conference, held at the end of May. He’s even got some news about the much-awaited Global Atheist Convention 3… For more information visit: atheistfoundation.org.au/podcast/ All Atheist Aus Podcast episodes are under the Creative Commons license. You are free to distribute unedited versions of the episodes for non-commercial purposes. If you would like to edit the episode please contact us. The views expressed are not necessarily representative of the Atheist Foundation of Australia, its affiliates, sponsors or advertisers. Continue the conversation with atheists, the like-minded and the not-so-like minded at the AFA forums, found at atheistfoundation.org.au/forums or tweet us at twitter.com/atheistaus. Contact the show at [email protected]. “Backed Vibes Clean” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ “Base Walker” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/