You know that argument you're always having with religionists over whether or not religion is a force for good in the world? It seems like no matter how much misery, pain and suffering is caused in the name of religion, someone is always on hand to tell you that if it wasn't for Bronze Age tribalism, the world would collapse into chaos (I'm so worried about that, you should see how nervous I am about that p ...

We're starting to piece together the science of Epigenetics, which looks at how cell differentiation occurs during development. Think of it as a way for us to understand how different genes can be expressed even though there's been no real change in the organism DNA sequence. It's extremely complex and I won't even pretend to understand what it's all about, but one thing is for sure: it's probably one of th ...

I hate quackery. There's something so depressingly stupid about alternative medicine, and this insanity is compounded by the fact that so many people believe in its efficacy. Of course, these are the same folks that probably also think an invisible man in the sky can grant them wishes, so it's a testament to human gullibility. According to this article in the National Post, Ontario is about to pass a bill t ...

The abstinence movement is a fucking joke: the very premise that you can prevent kids from shagging each other by making them wear promise rings, taking pledges, or guilt tripping them has never worked, and it's not likely to change so long as our bodies are hard wired for sex. Hey, if we didn't want to bang one another so badly, there probably wouldn't be many of us around. Just look at Pandas. You can't e ...

Hey gang. Some of you hardcore fans have been asking me to put up some of the earlier podcasts (specifically show 1-14) and I've finally gotten around to doing it. If you recall, after we switched servers, I actually lost a bunch of them, but luckily a fan had them all saved on his computer, and they aren't lost forever. Truth is I was kind of glad, since one show #13, I said that Sudan is in the Middle Eas ...

I think I may have found the most obnoxious book in the whole world: Paul Zane Pilzer's "God Wants you to be Rich". Pilzer is convinced that there is no such thing as scarcity, and that everyone, given enough gumption and hard work, can achieve great financial success. Pilzer exposes the key error--the belief in scarcity--that leads to a misunderstanding of the process of creating wealth.  Countering this z ...

If there's a better way to display your belief that the whole world will be engulfed in flame with the supposed return of an illiterate Jew, I'd like to see it. It's hard to know exactly what the owner of this truck was hoping to convey with this monstrosity; are the building destroyed, or are they simply run down? What kind of a parking job is that anyways? What a fucking douche. ...

After a few days of rest (I believe some people refer to this as a "vacation") TGA is back to regular podcasting. This week, Ryan and I talk about cool angel names, crazy creationist Turks, and why old people still control the world. It's 33 minutes of your favorite atheist podcast, and remember, if you can't get enough of the show, we do have a Bonus Podcast for members only. It's only 1.67 a month, and it ...

At first, when the atheist bus campaign started gathering steam, I was a little skeptical of the relative merit of it all (I mean, when's the last time an ad ever convinced you to do anything?). That was before realizing that the controversy surrounding them would help galvanize atheists. I was man enough to reverse my position, and I'm happy to say I'm a fan now. The latest campaign out of Britain has me e ...

Ok, there's almost no way to know if this is a real headline (the internet is a liar, live with it), but I thought everyone would get a kick out of it. Did they really write "Shafted" for the victim? did the priest have a "monster whopper"? How much of a win is this? (thanks for the link, James) ...