Summary: This episode is entirely devoted to discussing the New Atheists, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, and Richard Dawkins. Recently in publications as varied as the leftist Salon.com, and the assuredly right, National Review, there have been pieces calling the New Atheists dead, and also asking why has the left abandoned them? For the listener who isn’t schooled in the New Atheists debate, we explain who these people are, and we summarize their main arguments and why they are controversial. However, we hope that we opened up the discussion enough to of interest to most people who are listening. We will return to the regularly scheduled program next week. Thanks for listening! Stuff we mentioned during our conversation: “What Ever Happened to the New Atheists?” Elliot Kaufman, NationalReview.com, July 28, 2017. “From the Enlightenment to the New Dark Ages: How ‘new atheism’ slid into the alt-right,” by Phil Torres, Salon.com, July 29, 2017 “Islamism and the Left,” by Michael Walzer, Dissent.com, Winter 2015. “Steve Pinker Demolishes John Horgan’s View of War,” WhyEvolutionIsTrue.com, May 22, 2016. Recommendations: Consciousness Explained (1991), Daniel Dennett Daniel Dennett’s Science of the Soul (2017), Joshua Rothman The Selfish Gene (1976), Richard Dawkins The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution (2009), Richard Dawkins Hitch 22: A Memoir (2010), Christopher Hitchens The Missionary Position: Mother Theresa in Theory and Practice (1995) Christopher Hitchens “The Riddle of the Gun,” SamHarris.org, Jan 2, 2013. Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion (2014), Sam Harris Image Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfNgCaqLIR0
