Unreasonable
Feeling overwhelmed by the relentless attack on American Democracy by the Religious Right? Welcome to Unreasonable: sane conversations for a country that's lost its friggin' mind. But Unreasonable is more than a podcast. It’s the start of a movement to reverse the inexorable rise of religious fanaticism taking over our government and our lives, on issues from public education, to women’s reproductive health, to the mainstreaming of loud-and-proud racism. Here we not only learn together what in the world's going on with our country, we develop an action plan to move America forward. It’s time for all of us who believe in the Separation of Church and State to unite — as the majority of Americans we are — in the name of democracy, common sense and kindness. Is that really so unreasonable?
Episodes
63 episodes
Finale: Postmortem For A Country...And A Podcast
What did you do on inauguration day? If you’re like us, you were seeking shelter from the impending storm, some sort of diversion to preserve your mental health before the inevitable onslaught to come. At Unreasonable, we went into the studio a...
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Season 2
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Episode 42
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56:45
"The End (Is Only The Beginning)" with Andrew Seidel
As Unreasonable's production comes to a close, and American democratic norms shift towards theocracy, we sought perspective, a calmer voice that might, while acknowledging the darkness, also offer a glimmer of hope.Andrew Seidel is no s...
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Season 2
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Episode 41
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54:04
"Secularism Without Cynicism" with Sasha Sagan
As we enter what promises to be an era of American-style Christo-fascism, it's hard for secular people -- people of reason, of science, who believe that faith is earned by evidence -- to not be cynical of those whose deeply held yet unproveable...
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Season 2
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Episode 40
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1:00:14
"Is Israel A Theocracy?" with Bernard Avishai
Whatever your position is on Israel, on Zionism, on Hamas' attacks on October 7, 2023 or Netanyahu’s prosecution of the war in Gaza, it's undeniable that Israel had an outsized influence on our recent presidential election.And it's iron...
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Season 2
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Episode 39
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1:05:37
"How Religious Organizations Game The IRS" with Prof. Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer
Despite the New Testament’s recording of its main character making a clear distinction between what man owes his government (taxes) and his lord (devotion), in real life it’s never quite worked out that way. Churches have been tax-exempt since ...
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Season 2
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Episode 38
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1:03:30
"It's An Opus Dei World, You're Just Living In It" with Gareth Gore
In 2017, like many financial journalists, Gareth Gore went to Spain to report on the sudden collapse of the global bank, Banco Popular. And, like every other reporter, he missed the real story. That is, until he returned to Spain t...
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Season 2
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Episode 37
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52:46
"The Risk of Left-Wing Political Cartooning" with Jesse Duquette
Early last week we recorded an interview with illustrator Jesse Duquette. Then we got the word over the weekend: Meta not only shut his account down, but permanently deleted its posts and eradicated his community of over 200,000+ followers. Mar...
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Season 2
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Episode 36
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1:24:18
"Conversations with THOSE People" with Pierce Watkins
Pierce Watkins is a Zen-master of epistemology.According to the Oxford English Dictionary, epistemology is “the theory of knowledge and understanding, esp. with regard to its methods, validity and scope, and the distinction between justi...
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Season 2
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Episode 35
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45:01
"Ziklag" with Andy Kroll
Just when you thought you had a handle on all of the Christian Nationalist efforts to reshape America into their biblical paradise (think New Apostolic Reformation, Seven Mountains Dominionism, Jericho Marches, The Federalist Society, The Herit...
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Season 2
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Episode 34
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1:09:09
"Faith, Interfaith and Non-Belief at the DNC" with Sarah Levin and Hemant Mehta
After a long long week of activity in Chicago, our friends Sarah Levin (Secular Strategies) and Hemant Mehta (Friendly Atheist), graciously agreed to connect for an exclusive conversation for Unreasonable listeners, recapping what they saw and ...
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Season 2
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Episode 33
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45:02
"Black Nonbelievers" with Mandisa Thomas
The Black Church is as American as anything you can name. For so many, the promise of a glorious afterlife gave, and gives, succor to a lifetime of hardship here on Earth.The influence of
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Season 2
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Episode 32
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1:18:30
"There Are More of Us" Live From TNR'S Stop Trump Summit
Ten weeks ago Joe Biden was still the Democratic candidate for president and Donald Trump was…well…still Donald Trump (and he’s only become a more extreme version of himself since).Yet somehow, these two — one, a decent career civil ser...
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50:44
"Kids Today" Live from the 2024 Secular Student Alliance Conference
Last month, David and Christina attended the annual Secular Student Alliance conference, held this year in sweltering Little Rock, Arkansas. It's a gathering of college students from campuses around the country seeking community an...
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Season 2
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Episode 30
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1:39:08
"What in God's Name is Going On?" with Alison Gill
This was an especially nutty week in America. And none of it had to do with a particular televised debate or even the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity. This week the state of Louisiana mandated that The Ten Commandmen...
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Season 2
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Episode 29
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54:18
"Engaging the Politically Unengaged" with Kadida Kenner
Kadida Kenner and her organization The New Pennsylvania Project — modeled after Stacy Abrams’ New Georgia Project — is focused on engaging with and registering voters in communities whose doors are ra...
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Season 2
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Episode 28
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1:01:27
"We Of Little Faith" with Kate Cohen and Guest Host Olivia Goudeau
In this special edition of Unreasonable, guest host Olivia Goudeau, national organizing manager of the Secular Student Alliance (SSA), talks to Washington Post columnist and author Kate Cohen about her new book, “We Of Little Faith: Why I Stopp...
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Season 2
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Episode 27
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33:58
"Disruptions" with Gabe and Liz Rutan-Ram
Elizabeth and Gabe Rutan-Ram had fostered numerous children before they decided to adopt one, a child from Florida identified with a disability. If they were a monied couple, they could have gone through a private adoption agency spending $30,0...
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Season 2
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Episode 26
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58:42
Live From SRF: Rep. Jared Huffman
In the House of Representatives there are a handful of secular politicians (some more out than others) who work toward enacting laws uninspired by providence and more by simple reason and innate human morality.Jared Huffman is a congress...
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Season 2
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22:02
Live From SRF: Attorneys Erica Coray and Zach Pekelis
Erica Coray and Zach Pekelis are attorneys working to limit the deleterious impacts from religious accommodations. Their SRF panel “Past, Present and Upcoming Battles Over Health Mandates and Religious Accommodations” examined the law governing...
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Season 2
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29:24
Live From SRF: Erin Reed
Erin Reed is a transgender woman, public speaker, journalist and activist who tracks anti-LGBTQ+ legislation around the world, tirelessly reporting on issues concerning the trans community. Her immensely influential TikTok account has over 445,...
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Season 2
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32:10
Live From SRF: Brandon Wolf
On June 12, 2016, life changed for Brandon Wolf. He crouched in a bathroom while a gunman opened fire at Orlando’s Pulse Nightclub, killing his best friends, Drew Leinonen & Juan Guerrero, and 47 others. Rather than be swallowed by ...
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Season 2
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21:20
Episode Twenty-five: "Live From SRF" with Todd Stiefel
By his own definition, Todd Stiefel is weathly. He just is. That’s not a judgment, just a fact. When his family business was sold and the non-compete clause kicked in, he was left financially secure and without a career. His years of preparatio...
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Season 2
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Episode 25
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1:01:26
Life From SRF: Tim Whitaker
Tim Whitaker is a true believer. The creator and facilitator of The New Evangelicals podcast, Tim advocates for the marginalized within the church, exploring the full depth and breadth of...
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27:31
