Ep 94 - Transphobia in the New Atheist Scene

I was joined by Chrissy Stroop, fellow atheist, cofounder of The Flytrap & senior correspondent for Religion Dispatches - for a chat about recent drama in the New Atheist scene.  Some dinosaur atheists (Dawkins, Pinker, Coyne) recently quit their positions on the honorary board at the Freedom from Religion Foundation, because of their inability to keep up with the times & what science says about gender today. These old farts would like to keep insisting that gender is an absolute binary, and they are willing to have multiple tantrums about it. We discuss this and more, as it’s all happening against the backdrop of America’s crumbling democracy. The New Atheists are in bed with the Christian right, and they don’t like to be reminded of that. Links: Here’s Chrissy’s previous appearance on Polite ConversationsSome additional New Atheism Episodes you might enjoy ICYMI:  Dawkins DelusionPinker’s Pernicious Politeness Pt. 1Pinker Pt 2Transphobic Meltdown (Sam Harris)All of the Anti-Trans Executive Orders Trump has signedRead more details about the background of this drama around FFRF hereCoyne defends Musk’s saluteAndy Ngo’s start at CFI https://jewishcurrents.org/the-making-of-andy-ngoDawkins recommends Doug Murray’s white nationalist bookDavid Silverman fired after allegations of sexual misconductAmerican Atheists board members exit, dogged by misconduct allegationsIsrael commits largest child massacre in it’s history https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025-03-21/ty-article-opinion/.premium/even-anti-war-israelis-are-scared-to-say-gazans-are-human-beings/00000195-b525-d862-a3b5-f53704750000Find The FlyTrap here: https://theflytrap.beehiiv.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.