^^ NOT BROCCOLI, but a 3-D rendering of a milk duct inside a breast. New research shows breast cancer spreads fastest at night [READ]
One World, One Life.
A home for curious secular minds.
“[Churches] are so successful at building communities, if I want to meet people to be in relationships with or build communities with or friendships and go to parties with, it’s so easy in a church… But in the atheist community that’s like completely gone. It’s so hard.”
Tom Jump, from “The one thing we miss most about religion“ (Human Story podcast)
For once, I’d stopped evaluating my body as an object to behold. Instead, I eased into the wonder of what it could do.
In a parallel Juneteenth universe, Black folks would be given reparations for the looted labor of Black artists whose musical innovation powered the empires of white rock icons.
Every single demographic has seen some drop in God-belief.
The secular defense of reproductive rights
80% of nonbelievers support a woman’s right to an abortion for any reason. This is significantly greater than any other religious affiliation except for Jewish, among the most secular of ethno-religious groups, with which it is virtually tied.
Republicans are pushing proposals that would arm teachers. Putting guns in the hands of educators doesn’t solve gun violence.
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
I.C.Y.M.I.
It’s a surreal time of year in the US: barbecues firing up, vacations beckoning—and SCOTUS whipping out stressful decisions transforming the legal landscape.
Need to take a beat without losing the thread? Sikivu Hutchinson introduces her play Rock ‘n’ Roll Heretic, inspired by early rock legend Rosetta Tharpe, while Jeana Jorgensen shares Cathy Park Hong’s Minor Feelings, a memoir exploring the fraught complexity of Asian-American identity. Becky Garrison finds joy in three films from the Tribeca Film Festival (including one on Reading Rainbow!), and Andrew Spitznas gives us a deep dive into a film about how war erodes character.
Unfortunately, even entertainment is sometimes serious business, as Adam Lee notes while exploring the right-wing weaponization of drag queen storytime, and as Jonathan MS Pearce illustrates in the strongest piece you’ll read about Tom Cruise, Scientology, cognitive dissonance, and Top Gun: Maverick. Not that entertainment has ever been easy, which is why Nathan Timmel‘s episode of Human Story, on doing comedy in Afghanistan, is solid listening, while Steven Darian‘s history of book burning up to contemporary practice offers troubling food for thought.
Jonathan and I also brought the world to bear on Western discourse: His evaluation of de-escalation pressures on Lithuania presents key insight into the scope of Russia’s war, while my backstory for Colombia’s groundbreaking presidential election offers lessons in the courage to pursue change. Meanwhile, Marcus Johnson and Hemant Mehta are among our top columnists to follow for unfolding analysis on SCOTUS decisions and their impact on secular freedoms.
The challenges we face can’t be laughed away, but we still need the rest and energy to keep going. Until next week then, stay fierce and kind—around the barbecue, as in this heated world writ large.
WEIGH IN!
Humanism explained what I couldn’t. That doing good feels good. And that helping people is good for everyone, including me.
AUDIO: ‘Are we talking about the same America?” by Nathan Timmel
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Our society does not require this kind of sacrifice at any other time, from any other kind of person.
