[leighton] This month we are pleased to welcome the founder of Salt City Skeptics, and guest, to our monthly list of guests. They were invited due to the comments made about one of us being a little grating, although they stated the discussions were good, and after going through who they are, what they do, what they believe, etc. we get down to the nitty gritty and actually discover that Charley is the one who grates on our listeners. Join us this Friday for proof that he is the reason we will never be able to break ten listeners(Not including Amy who won the 100th listener spot for being cute(Possibly cute since I have never met her) and might date me(This probably only occurring on the day my curse takes effect and my penis becomes the size of a normal man’s).).

Take a look at the Salt City Skeptics site, their blog, and their Facebook page.

[leighton]Recently we received an email from a pair of viewers who requested that we make them our honorary #13 1/2 listeners. Although we never have, and despite Charley’s foolish hopes never will, have more than four or five listeners at a time it is with great pleasure that we bestow Kate and “boyfriend”(Is he the half you speak of or are you?) as our first double digit listeners.

We discussed giving the one and a half of you a trophy, but realized that the best gift we could ever give you is our prayers that you’re children could be raised by gay penguins. Someday your children will frolic as free as these two(Please ignore the second definition of “frolic” because I believe that may be bordering on animal abuse i.e. ‘play about with someone in a flirtatious or sexual way’.):

[leighton]This month I failed once again to get a mormon, or even exmormon at this point, to come on our show and discuss the roles of women in LDS society. However, I have a lead on someone who is an expert in the field of the LDS and have a very good chance of bringing them in next month for our guest interview. In the meantime, I have spoke with a good friend of mine and she has agreed to come on and discuss her views with us.

Ewa Wasilewska is an archeologist and professor up at the University of Utah. She is the author of Creation Stories of the Middle East, has written several articles such as Cuneiform Texts In the Arizona State Museum, and has cataloged numerous ancient artifacts such as from 1996-1997 Cuneiform Tablets and Other Related Objects in the Collection of the Museum of Peoples and Cultures, BYU.

She is a fascinating woman who grew up in christian, communist Poland and has been dubbed by some to be the female Indiana Jones. We here at Irreligiosophy are lucky to have her and look forward to our discussion.

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[leighton]This month Charley and I have come across Michael Dowd who, as explained by our last guest, has a fascinating perspective on evolution and religion. This adds up to possibly being our most intriguing guest podcast yet.

Michael Dowd is one of the most inspiring speakers in America today. He is the author of Thank God for Evolution: How the Marriage of Science and Religion Will Transform Your Life and Our World, which has been endorsed by 5 Nobel laureates and other leading scientists, as well as by religious leaders across the spectrum. He and his wife, Connie Barlow, a noted science writer, have spoken to more than a thousand groups since they launched their itinerant ministry in 2002.

Michael graduated with highest honors from Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri (affiliated with the Assemblies of God), where he received a B.A. in biblical studies and philosophy. He also graduated with honors from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (now Palmer Seminary) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (affiliated with the American Baptist Church), where he earned a Master of Divinity degree. Rev. Dowd served as a United Church of Christ minister for nine years, pastoring churches in Massachusetts, Ohio, and Michigan. His 1991 book, EarthSpirit: A Handbook for Nurturing an Ecological Christianity (Twenty-Third Publications) was one of the first attempts to look appreciatively at traditional Christianity from the perspective of a modern cosmology.

[leighton]Here is yet another guest who has decided to join us in our religious discussion. Odd though, I don’t think Charley and I are scary enough because he has chosen to come on alone. On Friday May 29th we are pleased to have Nick Fiedler on the show with us.

Nick Fiedler is an ex-churchworker, a podcaster, and an author with an upcoming book entitled The Hopeful Skeptic. He has spent 8 years of his life in Youth Ministry work for a handful of different denominations. Most recently though he had a desk job in the Financial Sector that he left to travel the world with his wife Leslie. They traveled for 14 months and visited 11 countries. Nick carries a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from Georgia State University, has been working on The Nick and Josh Podcast for three years, and recently took up the hobby of skydiving, which he hopes to turn into a career.