Length: 35:27

In the May 2012 edition of the New Humanist podcast, we have interviews with two of the contributors to the May/June issue of New Humanist, plus news of a fantastic night of comedy in association with the Helen Bamber Foundation.

First up is Alom Shaha, author of the forthcoming Young Atheist's Handbook, and cover star of the latest issue of New Humanist (01:15). Speaking to New Humanist editor Caspar Melville, Alom discusses growing up as a Muslim in south London's Bangladeshi community, explains how the death of his parents was the catalyst for being open about his loss of faith, and argues that atheist communities need to do more to support non-believers from non-white, minority religious backgrounds.

Next, Caspar speaks to comedian Maureen Younger about the forthcoming comedy benefit show Crying with Laughter (12:36). Held in support of the Helen Bamber Foundation, which fights for the victims of torture and human trafficking, Crying with Laughter features an all-women line-up, including Jo Brand, Jenny Eclair and Shazia Mirza. In the podcast, Maureen discusses the history of the show and the work of the Foundation, as well as the role of women in the often male-dominated world of stand-up comedy. Crying with Laughter takes place on Sunday 20 May at the Charing Cross Theatre in London - see the theatre website for tickets.

Finally, we speak to Georgetown University professor Jacques Berlinerblau, author of the forthcoming How to Be Secular: A Call to Arms for Religious Freedom (19:20). In the May/June New Humanist, Jacques argues that American secularism is in grave danger, and in the podcast we ask him to explain why he thinks this, tell us who's to blame, and suggest some ways to fix it.

Length – 37:50

There's sweet reason and occult irrationality in this month's installment of the New Humanist podcast, as we bring you interviews with three of the contributors to our March/April issue.

First, the reason - one year on from the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the east coast of Japan, science journalist Angela Saini discusses the fallout from the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. While the meltdowns that followed the tsunami have provided anti-nuclear activists with fresh ammunition for their campaigns, and prompted several countries to rethink their approach to nuclear power, Saini argues that the disaster has in fact proven that nuclear power is one of the safer energy sources, and points out that the lessons learned from Fukushima will make it even safer in the future. Skip to 01:25 for start of this interview.

In part two, Matthew Adams tells us about his interview with the broadcaster Jonathan Meades for our current issue. Meades is a hard man to pin down, but Adams managed to run him to ground in his modernist bolt hole in Marseille. He tells the story from 08:38.

And finally, the irrationalism - in the March issue, cultural historian argues that "atheists can embrace the power of Tarot". Now, she's not arguing for soothsaying, but rather that myths can resonate and taking part in a Tarot reading can provide a therapeutic opportunity to examine our lives. So, to test her argument, we thought we'd invite her to the office to read our editor Caspar Melville's cards. You can hear us dabble in the occult from 20:05.

A special podcast series from New Humanist to mark the fourth year of our annual rationalist shows Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People, and the release of the 20-track CD of last year's show, available now for £12 from gofasterstripe.com.

On the ninth, and final, day, musician and comedian Mitch Benn explains the true meaning of Christmas.

A special podcast series from New Humanist to mark the fourth year of our annual rationalist shows Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People, and the release of the 20-track CD of last year's show, available now for £12 from gofasterstripe.com.

On day eight, we give you Jo Neary with some handy Christmas gift ideas.

A special podcast series from New Humanist to mark the fourth year of our annual rationalist shows Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People, and the release of the 20-track CD of last year's show, available now for £12 from gofasterstripe.com.

On the seventh day, Al Murray's Pub Landlord offers the audience an English myth that they can all believe in.

(Contains some swearing)

A special podcast series from New Humanist to mark the fourth year of our annual rationalist shows Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People, and the release of the 20-track CD of last year's show, available now for £12 from gofasterstripe.com.

On Day 6, here's singer and comedian Helen Arney with a love song inspired by the habits of animals.

A special podcast series from New Humanist to mark the fourth year of our annual rationalist shows Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People, and the release of the 20-track CD of last year's show, available now for £12 from gofasterstripe.com.

On the fifth day of Godless Christmas, we bring you a section from the set of one of last year's special guests, Ed Byrne, who talks about hanging out with Cern physicists and how Brian Cox's Wonders of the Solar System has left him with an intense sense of planetary pride.

Note: if there are kids around, this clip contains a spot of industrial language, specifically of the F-word variety.

A special podcast series from New Humanist to mark the fourth year of our annual rationalist shows Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People, and the release of the 20-track CD of last year's show, available now for £12 from gofasterstripe.com. Day 4 features a lovely rendition of Impossible Dream by the former Unstoppable Sex Machine Jim Bob.

A special podcast series from New Humanist to mark the fourth year of our annual christmas rationalist show Nine Lesson and Carols for Godless People, and the release of the 20-track CD of last year's shows, we bring you nine of the best bits from 2010 over nine days leading up to Christmas. Day 3, features science writer and broadcaster Adam Rutherford, who went on the Alpha Course, so you don't have to.

A special podcast series from New Humanist to mark the fourth year of our rationalist Christmas show Nine Lesson and Carols for Godless People (and the release of the 20-track CD of last years's show) we bring you the nine best bits from last year's show, over nine days leading up to Christmas.

Day 2 - Comedian Nick Doody with his tribute to the Messiah's titfer

A special pod series from New Humanist to mark the fourth year of our Rationalist show Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People (and the release of the CD Ten Lessons and Carols, with 20 sets from last year's shows) we bring you nine of the best bits from the 2010 shows, over nine days leading up to Christmas. 

Day 1 features comedian and compere of the shows Robin Ince, reading from one of the patron saints of rationalism, physicist Richard Feynman.

Length: 31:11

In our bumper November podcast, we bring you interviews with three of the contributors to our November/December issue, plus a discussion of the runners and riders in the compelling contest for our 2011 Bad Faith Award.

In the first segment (00:58), news editor Paul Sims talks to journalist Alice Onwordi, who writes in our current issue about the horrific scandal of girls from Britain being taken abroad to undergo Female Genital Mutilation. Alice explains what the practice entails, why it is considered necessary within certain African and Asian cultures, and why more needs to be done to prevent it (taking a girl abroad for FGM is illegal in Britain, but no one has ever been prosecuted for it).

Next, comedian Rob Deering tells Caspar Melville why he's frustrated by the lazy default Christianity being taught at his kids' primary school (08:37). The school is secular and non-religious, yet Rob has found that the teachers seem to frequently fall back on religious answers to some of the children's questions, usually, he suspects, simply as a way of sidestepping the need to offer a more complex answer.

In the third part, Caspar speaks to Royal Navy Petty Officer Chris Holden, who recently returned from a six-month posting with the Commandos in Afghanistan (16:30). During his time there, Chris says he lost count of the number of religious memorial services to fallen colleagues that he attended, and he tells us about the complex questions and emotions these services prompted for an atheist such as himself.

Next, Paul and Caspar discuss the race for our 2011 Bad Faith Award (23:00). After running through the shortlist, they explain why the Conservative MP Nadine Dorries has stormed into the lead with a staggering 52 per cent of the vote, having taken note of her nomination and gone public with her views on the matter. There's still time to vote in the poll until 28 November - you can do that over on our blog.

Finally (29:46), we end this podcast with a sneak preview of the newly-released audio CD of last year's Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People, which is available for a mere £12 from the excellent mirth-merchants at Go Faster Stripe (the perfect Christmas present for those special heathens in your life, surely?). Sit back and listen to the incomparable Stewart Lee, a 3-year veteran of the shows, explains why he has actually grown to hate them...

We're currently putting the finishing touches to the November podcast, and it should be available to download here from 18 November.

Duration: 22:58

In the October edition of the New Humanist podcast, we bring you interviews with two of the contributors to the latest issue of the magazine, plus a look ahead to the return of our rational live Christmas shows Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People.

First, we talk to Owen Jones (00:40), whose first book Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class (Verso) has been credited with reopening the tough debate around class in modern Britain. Owen describes the reaction to the book in his article for New Humanist, and in the podcast we ask him how his arguments have fared in light of the August riots, which saw him catapulted into the spotlight as a media commentator (he was in the Newsnight studio when historian David Starkey infamously declared that "the whites have become black").

Next, comedian Robin Ince (11:07) enters our studio/meeting room to discuss his plans for the forthcoming Christmas rationalist shows, plus what else he's been up to and what he thinks of our new offices. Listen for news of some surpsise potential musical guests at this year's shows.

Finally, journalist Sam Delaney (17:12) talks faith and football. He's a staunch West Ham fan, and when they were relegated from the Premier League last season, the religious parallels in his blind faith became all-too apparent. 

Original music © Andrea Rocca

Duration: 23:39

In July's New Humanist podcast, editor Caspar Melville presents interviews with three of the contributors to the July/August issue of the magazine.

First up, novelist AL Kennedy (01:30) talks about the research she carried out for her new novel The Blue Book, which features a fake psychic as one of the new characters. To prepare for writing it, Kennedy sat through stage shows, visited mediums and sat for palm readers, and in the podcast she discusses their techniques and the reasons why people fall for them.

Next, New Humanist news editor Paul Sims (10:50) talks about his piece on the questions surrounding "Islamophobia" and the right to criticise religion. Are we seeing a rise in anti-Muslim prejudice? Is it confined to extremists such as the English Defence League, or is it, as Baroness Warsi suggested earlier this year, acceptable around the dinner tables of middle England? How can those wishing to criticise Islam do so without demonising Muslims in general?

Finally, Caspar speaks to leading science writer John Gribbin about what we owe the Moon (16:40). It's a question John considers in the new issue of New Humanist in a piece adapted from his latest book The Reason Why: The Miracle of Life on Earth – is the Moon the reason we are here at all, and where does that leave the question of life existing elsewhere in the universe?

Original music © Andrea Rocca

Duration: 19:43

In the June edition of the New Humanist podcast, editor Caspar Melville and news editor Paul Sims bring you extended interviews with two of the contributors to the May/June issue of the magazine.

We speak to writer and broadcaster Kenan Malik about Sam Harris's new book The Moral Landscape: How How Science Can Determine Human Values (1:01). Malik critiques Harris's assertion that questions of morality can be settled with reference to science, particularly neuroscience, and asseses the case for the use of torture in the fight against terrorism, something Harris has been known to defend in his writing.

Next, there's an interview with human rights campaigner Richard Wilson, who in our current issue investigates the work of African humanists facing down the perpetrators of false witchhunts in Nigeria and Malawi. (9:57) What are the motivations behind accusations that women and children are practising witchcraft, and what are campaigners doing to prevent such persecution?

Orginal music © Andrea Rocca for New Humanist

Duration: 19:13

In the return of the New Humanist podcast, editor Caspar Melville and news editor Paul Sims talk you through the latest news from the world of faith and faithfulness.

We speak to science journalist Angela Saini, author of the new book Geek Nation: How Indian Science is Taking Over the World, about the meeting of science and religion in a booming India (0:54), discuss the case of a Derby couple turned down as foster carers on account of their views on homosexuality with the BHA's Naomi Phillips (5:59), and consult psychologist and ghostbuster Richard Wiseman for some help tackling a pesky poltergeist (10:35). 

There's also music from Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People star Helen Arney, as we bring you an excluisve preview of the new hip-hop remix of her song Animals, produced by Mr Simmonds, featuring vocals from Professor Elemental (16.39).

Orginal music © Andrea Rocca for New Humanist

In the first of a regular series, New Humanist editor Caspar Melville talks to three of the contributors to our May/June 2009 issue. He talks GM food science with Angela Saini, new economy hype with Kevin Doogan and internet porn and classical theory with Michael Bywater.

Length: 15 minutes

Richard Dawkins delivers the New Humanist Advent Podcast, 24 December 2008

Dara O Briain in the Advent Podcast, 23 December 2008

Philip Jeays' song Death Bed, for the Advent Podcast, 22 December 2008

Tim Minchin in the New Humanist Advent Podcast, 21 December 2008

Mark Steel in the New Humanist Advent Podcast, 18 December 2008

Comedian Robin Ince explains what led him to launch his rational Christmas celebration, Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People, in 2008. The shows return for a third annual run at London's Bloomsbury Theatre on 15 December 2010.