Episode 18: “Whatever happened to New Atheism?" (Season Finale)

Around the mid 2000s atheism became sexy. It was everywhere. Headlined by Richard Dawkins and the other ‘four horsemen’ of New Atheism; Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris and Daniel Dennett. They -and many other public atheists- were dominating best seller lists, YouTube algorithms and making news with their witty and swashbuckling commentary. But it seems like those days have moved on pretty quick. We only really hear about Richard Dawkins now when he’s being cancelled, and atheism hasn’t really risen at all when you look at the numbers. So what happened to New Atheism, and what could be taking its place?

Well, for our final episode of season 1, we’re delighted to have Justin Brierley joining us from the UK. Thanks to his popular Unbelievable? Radio show which brought (and still brings) prominent Christians and sceptics together for dialogue, he was able to have a ringside seat to many of the proponents and arguments of New Atheism. His new book ‘The surprising rebirth of the belief in God’ covers the downfall of the movement along with the cultural shift that seems to be happening. You can also listen to the podcast docu-series with the same title, you won't regret it.

Other References:

• The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
• Reason, Faith, and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate by Terry Eagleton
• 'Dear Muslima' controversy
• Faith, Hope and Carnage by Nick Cave and Sean O'Hagan
• The Rest is History Podcast
• AC Grayling and Tom Holland Conversation on Unbelievable?
• The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity by Douglas Murray
• The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World by Iain McGilchrist
• The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human by Jonathan Gottschall
• Unbelievable: Why after ten years of talking with atheists I'm still a Christian by Justin Brierley
• Kant’s “What is Enlightenment?” Essay
• (Not referenced but super interesting and apt) Prominent Atheist becomes a Christian; 'Why I am now a Christian' by Ayaan Hirsi Ali for UnHerd (11/11/2023)

Got questions?

You can shoot Aaron or Amy an email about anything by contacting us at deeperquestions@thirdspace.org.au - We'd love to hear your brutally honest or delightfully encouraging thoughts on the show and the topics that come up each week. There's a good chance we have stuff on our website at Third Space too.

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