Freedom of Thought by Humanists International
Freedom of Thought from Humanists International is a global news and interview podcast examining the state of freedom of belief, expression, and human rights worldwide.Hosted by Gary McLelland and Leon Langdon, the podcast draws on Humanists International’s flagship Freedom of Thought Report to bring together researchers, human rights defenders, activists, and policy experts to unpack the realities facing humanists, atheists, and non-religious people in different countries and regions.Each episode explores key findings from the report alongside wider developments in international law, politics, and civil society. Through in-depth conversations, case studies, and timely analysis, the show highlights where fr...
A Strong Humanist Movement Needs Shared Futures and Practical Services - Lone Ree Milkær, EHSN
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Gary and Leon reflect on the Humanists International quarterly staff gathering in London. Leon updates on the UN Human Rights Council 62nd session, where HI delivered statements on domestic violence and the Istanbul Convention, and supported an Austrian member's statement in the Universal Periodic Review. Gary introduces the upcoming deep-dive episode on the General Assembly.
This week's guest is Lone Ree Milkær, a Danish cultural scholar, folklorist, and humanist movement leader with more than 20 years of experience. Lone s...
The Fight to Keep Religion Out of Government - Rachel Laser, Americans United for Separation of Church and State
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Gary and Leon are joined this week by Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church.
Americans United (AU) is the only organization dedicated solely to defending the separation of church and state. We are the shield protecting the foundational American principle of freedom of religion — including the right to believe or not believe — for all.
Rachel became president and CEO of AU in February 2018. She is the organization’s first non-Christian and female...
What Does a Humanist Life Stance Look Like in Practice? with Christian Lomsdalen
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Gary and Leon mark World Humanist Day — sharing a brief history of how the 21st of June became the humanist calendar's most important date, from the American Humanist Association's grassroots observances in the 1980s to its official adoption by the AHA and Humanists International in the 1990s. Leon also notes that blasphemy laws have now been repealed in Northern Ireland — a meaningful milestone on this year's World Humanist Day. Gary introduces a three-stage model of humanist organisation development (persecution, secularism campaigning, lived humanism) and...
Fighting Religious Indoctrination in Schools with Monica Belițoiu, ASUR
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Gary reports from the Humanist UK Festival of Humanism — over 650 humanists gathered in Bournemouth for the flagship annual event. Leon updates on the 62nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, where Humanists International is active on resolutions covering freedom of expression, domestic violence, and early child marriage. And the World Humanist Congress in Ottawa is now six weeks away and close to sold out.
This week's guest is Monica Belițoiu, Executive Director of the Romanian Secular Humanist Association (ASUR) and boa...
Resisting Christian Nationalism with Empathy, Community and Creators - Fish Stark
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Gary and Leon open Season Two with updates on the World Humanist Congress — now just two months away and on track to sell out in Ottawa — alongside news of a new Latin American Membership Development Officer, an upcoming Human Rights Council session, and Humanists International's participation in EU dialogues on artificial intelligence in Brussels.
This week's guest is Fish Stark, Executive Director of the American Humanist Association — one of the co-founders of Humanists International and a co-sponsor of this year's World Humanist Congress. Fish talks...
Humanists International Answer Your Questions
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To mark the end of Season One, Gary and Leon are joined by Harry, Fundraising and Communications Officer at Humanists International, who hosts a special listener Q&A. Questions came in from around the world covering everything from digital safety under repressive regimes, to the future of the UN, to humanism's role in the age of AI and climate change.
In this episode we cover
How humanists living under restrictive regimes can stay safe and connected — and what Humanists International can offerThe Freedom of...Humanism Has Answers - Inside Humanist Canada with Janalee Morris
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Gary joins from Guatemala, where he has been meeting with Humanistas Guatemala and learning about the growing influence of American evangelical Christianity and the fascinating tradition of Catholic-Mayan syncretism. Leon meanwhile shares updates including cautious optimism around the Hungarian election result, ongoing tensions in Iran and the Middle East, the worrying composition of the newly elected UN Committee on NGOs, and welcome news that UN High Commissioner has endorsed the codification of gender apartheid as an international crime.
This week's guest is Janalee Morris...
How the UK Asylum System Is Failing the Non-Religious with Dr. Lucy Potter
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This week's guest is Dr. Lucy Potter, postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Sociological Studies at the University of York. Her landmark three-year study — Freedom of Religion or Belief for All: Recognising and Protecting the Non-Religious in the Asylum System — reveals how the UK's asylum system routinely misunderstands and fails people fleeing persecution for leaving their religion. Lucy shares her key findings, her policy recommendations to the Home Office, and how she has been taking this research to Parliament and the UN.
In this...
How Humanists Push Back Against Populism And The Politics Of Division
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This week Gary and Leon zoom out from day-to-day advocacy to reflect on the wider global climate shaping freedom of thought. From rising populism and religious nationalism to legal battles and cultural shifts, the episode explores how political, legal, and social trends are reinforcing division, and what that means for humanists globally.
They revisit key Humanists International declarations, discuss pressures on courts and human rights systems, and examine how anti-rights actors coordinate across countries. We then turn to culture, including the “quiet revival” controversy, the rise of t...
Growing Humanism Worldwide - Membership, Grants and Community with Javan Lev Poblador
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Gary and Leon open with updates from New York and the closing days of the UN Human Rights Council — including concerns about efficiency measures cutting special rapporteur reporting, and urgent debates around the crisis in Iran. Gary reflects on Humanists International's statement, reaffirming that concern for human rights in Iran and concern about US military action are grounded in the same principles of international law.
This week's guest is Javan Lev Poblador, Membership Manager at Humanists International, overseeing 120 member organisations across 60 countries. Javan shares hi...
How Humanist Legislators Turn Values Into Progress with Lizzi Collinge MP & Heidi Nordby Lunde
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Leon returns from the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva with a concerning update: so-called efficiency measures are cutting special rapporteur reporting with a blunt, one-size-fits-all approach that threatens the most urgent human rights mandates. He also shares news of a landmark European Court of Human Rights case on religious symbols in Greek courtrooms and his published response to Alliance Defending Freedom International in the Oxford Human Rights Hub.
Then Gary speaks with two humanist legislators: Lizzi Collinge, Labour MP and chair of the...
Humanist Values Are Ideal For This Moment with Andrew Copson
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This week, Leon reports live from Geneva at the UN Human Rights Council, where a special session on children in armed conflict brings the human cost of global conflict into sharp focus. Against that backdrop, Gary and Leon reflect on the US military action in Iran and what it means for the international rules-based order.
We are then joined by Andrew Copson, Chief Executive of Humanists UK and former President of Humanists International for a decade, for a wide-ranging conversation...
Inside The UN Human Rights Council
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Welcome to Freedom of Thought, the podcast by Humanists International.
This week the roles reverse. Instead of interviewing a guest, Leon Langdon becomes the policymaker explaining how Humanists International works inside the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Leon walks through how the Council functions, why the Universal Periodic Review matters, and what actually happens during a typical session, from negotiating resolutions and delivering statements to meeting diplomats and civil society partners. The episode also explores the growing pressures...
Humanism As Resistance with Maggie Ardiente
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This week’s episode features a conversation with Maggie Ardiente, President
of Humanists International, reflecting on the global defence of freedom of belief and the role of humanists in resisting rising authoritarianism.
Maggie shares the origin story of the Freedom of Thought Report, explaining how early engagement with the US State Department helped ensure discrimination against atheists and humanists was formally documented. What began as a modest advocacy intervention has grown into Humanists International’s flagship annual publication, used by diplomats, polic...
Inside The 2025 Freedom Of Thought Report & Blasphemy Laws with Mubarak Bala
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This week's podcast coincides with the publication of the 2025 Freedom of Thought Report, Humanists International’s flagship annual study tracking discrimination and persecution faced by people because of their belief, or lack of belief. We preview key findings from the 2025 edition and discuss wider global trends, including democratic backsliding, religious nationalism, and the instrumentalisation of “religious freedom” to undermine universal human rights.
We are also joined by Mubarak Bala, human rights activist and President of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, whose imprisonment became...
Reclaiming Humanism As A Radical Defence Of Universal Human Rights
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Welcome to Freedom of Thought a new podcast series by Humanists International!
In this first episode hosts Gary McLellend and Leon Langdon introduce Humanists International, the global representative body at the heart of the humanist movement, how a global humanist network works inside the UN system, and why universal rights need a louder defence right now.
We share the member‑led model, lessons from the IRF Summit, and what really happens inside the UN Human Rights Council.
