After comedian Nathan Timmel witnessed a ceremony for a US soldier killed in Afghanistan, he had to perform for that soldier’s friends.
Human Story podcast
The one thing we miss most about religion
When Dale McGowan asked people at an atheist convention what they missed the most after leaving religion, one word came up more than any other.
My tangled feelings at Ramadan | Eiynah
Raised in Saudi Arabia in a Muslim family of Pakistani background, and now an atheist living in Canada, Eiynah knows something about displacement, and disorientation, and the yearning for the lost familiar. Although she left Islam under her own power and is a strong critic of religion, her childhood and culture are intertwined in Islam. […]
How an Indian film changed my son’s life | Jennifer Hancock
Learning that she didn’t know the name or work of the most famous actor in the world sent lifelong movie enthusiast Jennifer Hancock down a rabbit hole into the massive film industry of India. In the process, she found insights about love that are rarely touched in Western cinema—and solved a puzzle about her own […]
The view from our only life | Dale McGowan
How does a secular perspective change the way you see the world and your life? OnlySky’s Dale McGowan asks this question of people attending the American Atheists conference in Atlanta. Special thanks to Nick Fish and American Atheists for making this episode possible.
Life lessons from the death of a bumblebee
Reading Time: 5 minutes In the grand scheme of things the death of a single bumblebee is of little consequence. Or it would have been but for the intervention of a bunch of wild-eyed animal rights activists who targeted the manager of a U.K. store specializing in amazing hand-crafted silver jewelry. I first got to know the kindly and […]
The day the white pelicans came
Reading Time: 4 minutes One recent glorious morning in tranquil South Dakota, as Russia rained more death and destruction on Ukrainian cities and hamlets, I awoke to a perfect day, my wife peacefully checking her email beside me and turning to smile, and our cat trying to tunnel under the covers to a remembered warm spot. That’s what the […]
For which it stands | Adam Lee
Most Americans don’t give a lot of thought to the Pledge of Allegiance. You were taught to say it when you were four or five, and you said it, probably in a droning voice, surrounded by 20 other droning children who likewise hadn’t thought much about it. Whether or not he started off droning like […]
Me and my gull-friend: A story of love, hate, and chips
Reading Time: 4 minutes The man who bore down at me as I was walking towards my local park to have a relaxed lunch and read a book had fire in his eyes as stormed towards me. “You and I,” he bellowed, “need to have word about that bloody gull I’ve seen you feeding on numerous occasions.” He ranted […]
The apple and the river | Jonathan MS Pearce
People are different. That’s a good thing. But in recent years, it feels like some differences have deepened to the point that we look at friends and family on social media, or even across the dinner table, saying and believing things that are just baffling to us. And we wonder: how did you get that […]