Freedom of Thought by Humanists International

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We've reached the end of Season 2. Harry Linley joins as host for this season finale as Gary McLelland and Leon Langdon take listener and member questions from around the world — covering hope in dark times, HI's 2026 achievements, the difference between freedom of thought and freedom of expression, how to support people leaving religion, and the thinkers who shaped their own humanist paths.

In this episode we cover

• How to stay hopeful when the news cycle is relentlessly negative
• HI's 2026 year in review and goals ahead
• Why refer to "freedom of thought" rather than "freedom of expression"
• How HI supports people leaving religion and where to find safety and security resources
• Gary and Leon's Humanist influences and inspirations

Further reading and references

• Ottawa Declaration on Humanism as Resistance: https://humanists.international/policy/the-ottawa-declaration-on-humanism-as-resistance/
• Humanists International safety and security resources: https://humanists.international/resources/safety-and-security/
• Faith to Faithless (Humanists UK): https://www.faithtofaithless.com/
• Free from Faith helpline (South African Secular Society): https://www.secularsociety.org.za/the-sass-free-from-faith-helpline/
• Aware Girls: https://www.girlsnotbrides.org/en/our-partnership/member-directory/aware-girls/
• Contact HI about membership or starting a group: https://humanists.international/about/contact-us/
• Why I choose humanism over faith | Leo Igwe (TED Talk): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9Zz4hYuGdw
• The Meaning of Things, A.C. Grayling: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1791575
• Humanists UK recommended reading and course. For introductory texts on humanism: https://humanists.uk/education/recommended-resources/

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This podcast is produced by Humanise Live.

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🎶Music: Horizon by Simon Folwar

Podcast transcripts are AI-generated and may contain errors or omissions. They are provided to make our content more accessible, but should not be considered a fully accurate record of the conversation.

Content note: this episode includes references to rape and sexual assault.

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Gary and Leon return from the World Humanist Congress in Ottawa — the biggest Congress in over a decade, bringing together 500 people from 60 countries under the theme Humanism as Resistance. They discuss the Ottawa Declaration on Humanism as Resistance adopted at the General Assembly, the launch of the Amsterdam Circle (HI's new major donor initiative), the announcement of Lima, Peru as host of the 2027 World Humanist Congress, and a historic first: a UN independent expert report specifically mentioning humanist organisations.

Rosalind Mould is President of Accra Atheists and Coordinator of the West African Humanist Network. She was formerly President of the Humanist Association of Ghana (2015-2019) and Chair of the Young Humanist International African Working Group (2014-2019). In 2019, she became the first African Vice President of Humanists International, concluding a seven-year board tenure at the 2026 General Assembly in Ottawa, where she received the Distinguished Service to Humanism Award.

In this episode we cover

• How Roz found humanism in Ghana when there was no language for it, no community, and no one she knew who had done it before
• Building Accra Atheists from a group who met in person just to check whether each other were real
• The economic cost of being visibly non-religious in Ghana: half of Accra Atheists members have had to leave the country
• Advocating for Ghana's LGBT community — the resource center raid, the anti-LGBT bill, and how a coalition defeated it after three years
• Seven years on the HI board: what it meant to be the first African woman VP, and why she believes it can be done again

Further reading and references

• Amsterdam Circle: https://humanists.international/amsterdam/
• Accra Atheists: https://www.facebook.com/AccraAtheists/
• Lima Congress: https://humanists.international/event/world-humanist-congress-2027/
• Freedom of Thought Report: https://fot.humanists.international

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This podcast is produced by Humanise Live.

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🎶Music: Horizon by Simon Folwar

Podcast transcripts are AI-generated and may contain errors or omissions. They are provided to make our content more accessible, but should not be considered a fully accurate record of the conversation.

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The Humanists International team are busy delivering the World Humanist Congress in Ottawa this week. Gary took some time out to provide a special update from the Congress, with some exciting announcements to follow, including the announcement of Lima, Peru, as host venue for the 2027 World Humanist Congress, the launch of the Amsterdam Circle, and the Ottawa Declaration on Humanism as Resistance, adopted following the 2026 General Assembly.

We will be back with a full episode next week.

• The Ottawa Declaration on Humanism as Resistance
  https://humanists.international/policy/the-ottawa-declaration-on-humanism-as-resistance/
  
  
• Join the Amsterdam Circle
  https://humanists.international/amsterdam/
  
  
• Humanists International events
  https://humanists.international/get-involved/events/

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This podcast is produced by Humanise Live.

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🎶Music: Horizon by Simon Folwar

Podcast transcripts are AI-generated and may contain errors or omissions. They are provided to make our content more accessible, but should not be considered a fully accurate record of the conversation.

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With less than a week to go before the World Humanist Congress in Ottawa, Gary McLelland and Leon Langdon step back from interviews to do something different: build an evergreen guide to how Humanists International's General Assembly actually works. The idea came from a board meeting where HI decided to use the podcast to create resources that will remain useful long after any particular news cycle. This episode is designed for delegates heading to Ottawa and for anyone joining the movement who wants to understand how a humanist voice becomes global humanist policy.

Slides for this episode are available here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10LEduM7jK97FkabbJduNOiyYBX3Ano2a/view?usp=sharing

In this episode we cover

• Who makes up the General Assembly
• The governance structure
• GA timelines and submission: resolutions, motions, and board nominations
• Emergency motion process
• How a resolution becomes global policy
• Safety mechanism and: quorum rules, emergency assemblies

Further reading and references

• Humanists International General Assembly: https://humanists.international/about/our-members/general-assembly/
• HI Member Organisations: https://humanists.international/about/our-members/

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This podcast is produced by Humanise Live.

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🎶Music: Horizon by Simon Folwar

Podcast transcripts are AI-generated and may contain errors or omissions. They are provided to make our content more accessible, but should not be considered a fully accurate record of the conversation.

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Leon reports back from Berlin and a visit to HVD, one of the world's most comprehensive humanist service organisations. He also updates on HI joining the Human Rights and Democracy Network (HRDN), giving HI new access to EU institutions and setting up a December event to highlight humanists and atheists as human rights defenders. Gary and Leon close the pre-interview reflecting on a World Cup moment where the same video of Trump with the Spanish team was claimed as proof by completely opposite political camps.

Urtė Žukauskaitė-Zabukė is co-founder and CEO of Humanist Ideas Ambassadors (HIA). She founded HIA in 2016 after her own wedding: unable to find a humanist ceremony in Lithuania, she looked to Poland and thought — why not here? HIA has since married more than 2,200 couples, built a network of 55 celebrants, and grows humanist ceremonies at 15% a year through a social enterprise model. HIA also ran an accelerator for humanist ceremony startups in four countries; Peru — one of the recipients — will present at the World Humanist Congress in Ottawa.

In this episode we cover

• How Urtė's own wedding in 2016 launched Lithuania's humanist ceremony movement
• The social enterprise model: why selling meaning gives humanist organisations resources to grow
• Lithuania's statistics paradox: 80% Catholic on paper, 30% church marriages, 50% choosing ethics over religion in schools
• How Soviet forced atheism poisoned the word "atheist" in Lithuania — and why "humanist" fills the gap
• The HIA ceremonies accelerator: mentoring humanist ceremony startups in four countries, with Peru at Ottawa

Further reading and references

• Humanist Ideas Ambassadors (HIA): https://www.hia.lt/en/
• umanistischer Verband Deutschlands (HVD): https://humanismus.de/en/
• Human Rights and Democracy Network (HRDN): https://www.hrdn.eu/
• Humanists International joins HRDN (April 2026): https://humanists.international/2026/04/humanists-international-joins-human-rights-and-democracy-network/
• European Humanist Services Network (EHSN): https://humanistservices.eu/

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This podcast is produced by Humanise Live.

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🎶Music: Horizon by Simon Folwar

Podcast transcripts are AI-generated and may contain errors or omissions. They are provided to make our content more accessible, but should not be considered a fully accurate record of the conversation.

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Gary and Leon reflect on the countdown to the World Humanist Congress in Ottawa, now just three weeks away and plans for HI's 75th anniversary in 2027, including a possible supplement to the 1952-2002 history book written by Babu Gogineni and Bert Gassenbeek — freely available on the Humanists International website.

Leon also invites members and supporters to share their views on HI's advocacy strategy ahead of Ottawa. Contact Humanists International

This week's guest is Niamh Clowry,  Operations Manager of the Humanist Association of Ireland. Raised in the Catholic tradition, Niamh came to humanism after a profound personal turning point during the pandemic. Pregnant with twins, she and her partner learned their son had a life-limiting condition. He survived for 25 hours. Their daughter is healthy. That experience led Niamh to explore humanism and, eventually, to build her career around it.

Niamh talks about Ireland's remarkable social transformation over the last two decades, what HAI does today, from legally solemnising marriages since 2012 to campaigns on secular education and assisted dying, and the recent relaunch of the Humanism Ireland Podcast.

In this episode we cover

• How a devastating personal experience during the pandemic brought Niamh to humanism
• Ireland's transformation: referendums, the census, and what the "no religion" numbers mean
• What HAI does: humanist marriages legal since 2012, nearly 60 celebrants, and growing funerals
• Existential care and chaplaincy: HAI's next strategic frontier
• The relaunch of the Humanism Ireland Podcast — and what it wants to be

Further reading and references

• Humanist Association of Ireland: https://www.humanism.ie/
• Humanism Ireland Podcast: https://www.humanism.ie/podcasts/
• Humanists International 1952-2002 (history book, free download): https://humanists.international/resource/humanists-international-1952-2002/

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This podcast is produced by Humanise Live.

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🎶Music: Horizon by Simon Folwar

Podcast transcripts are AI-generated and may contain errors or omissions. They are provided to make our content more accessible, but should not be considered a fully accurate record of the conversation.

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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 served as president of the Danish Humanist Society from 2015 to 2023 and as vice president of the European Humanist Federation. She is the co-founder and network manager of the European Humanist Services Network (EHSN), coordinating 20 European humanist organisations on ceremonies, humanist existential care and chaplaincy, and youth work.

In this episode we cover

• How attending a friend's humanist wedding first brought Lone into the movement — and why her own registry office wedding felt like "sign here and out the door"
• Lone's PhD research: how climate change activism creates livable futures through shared narrative — and what humanists can learn from it
• What the European Humanist Services Network is, how it works, and why it focuses on ceremonies, existential care, and youth
• The challenge of scale: managing a network from the Norwegian Humanist Association (one of the world's largest) to small, newly formed Eastern European organisations
• What's next for EHSN: accreditation of funerals, and existential care services; a new fundraising working group

Further reading and references

• European Humanist Services Network (EHSN): https://humanistservices.eu/
• About EHSN: https://humanistservices.eu/about-ehsn/
• Danish Humanist Society (Humanistisk Samfund): https://www.humanistisksamfund.dk/
• European Humanist Federation: https://europe.humanists.international/
• Luxembourg Declaration on AI and Human Values: https://humanists.international/policy/luxembourg-declaration-on-artificial-intelligence-and-human-values/

#ehsn #humanistservices

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🎶Music: Horizon by Simon Folwar

Podcast transcripts are AI-generated and may contain errors or omissions. They are provided to make our content more accessible, but should not be considered a fully accurate record of the conversation.

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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 leader in its 78-year history. Rachel is a lawyer, advocate and strategist who has dedicated her career to making our country more inclusive. In her position at Americans United, Rachel oversees the organization’s work to protect freedom of conscience for all and ensure religion is not used to justify discrimination. In 2025, she was appointed to serve on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Rachel joins Freedom of Thought to explain what white Christian nationalism really is, how it differs from religious extremism (and why the terms are used interchangeably), and why AU fights it every day in the courts, in Congress, and in the public square. 

She also addresses the anti-Christian bias task force's April 2026 report, Pete Hegseth's Pentagon prayer services, the billions flowing to discriminatory private schools through voucher programmes, and what the LGBTQ crackdown has to do with all of it. The episode closes with Rachel's sources of hope  and the annual Summit for Religious Freedom — and an open invitation to listeners to join AU at au.org.

In this episode we cover

• What white Christian nationalism is and why it's the defining threat to church-state separation in America today
• School vouchers: billions in public money flowing to religious schools that can legally discriminate against LGBTQ students, women, and disabled children
• Maddonna v. HHS: the case of a Catholic mother turned away from a taxpayer-funded foster care agency for being the wrong type of Christian
• The anti-Christian bias task force, Pete Hegseth's Pentagon prayer services, and the LGBTQ crackdown
• What gives Rachel hope — and how to join Americans United at au.org

Further reading and references

• Americans United for Separation of Church and State: https://www.au.org/
• Rachel Laser — AU profile: https://www.au.org/about-au/people/rachel-laser/
• Case: Maddonna v. HHS: https://www.au.org/how-we-protect-religious-freedom/legal-cases/cases/maddonna-v-department-of-health-and-human-services/
• Case: Clergy challenging Missouri abortion ban (Rev. Blackmon v. Missouri): https://www.au.org/how-we-protect-religious-freedom/legal-cases/cases/rev-blackmon-v-missouri/
• PRRI Christian nationalism research: https://www.prri.org/research/a-christian-nation-understanding-the-threat-of-christian-nationalism-to-american-democracy-and-culture/
• USCIRF — Rachel Laser commissioner page: https://www.uscirf.gov/about-uscirf/commissioners/rachel-laser
• Summit for Religious Freedom: https://thesrf.org/

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This podcast is produced by Humanise Live.

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🎶Music: Horizon by Simon Folwar

Podcast transcripts are AI-generated and may contain errors or omissions. They are provided to make our content more accessible, but should not be considered a fully accurate record of the conversation.

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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 the team shares news of their upcoming London staff gathering, including a canoeing session.

This week's guest is Christian Lomsdalen, President of the Norwegian Humanist Association (Human-Etisk Forbund), a position he has held since 2021. Christian is a Norwegian academic, scholar of religion, and educational podcaster whose podcast has reached up to 200,000 yearly listeners in Norway. He and Gary discuss what it means to build a fully-realised humanist life stance — covering 75 years of humanist confirmation ceremonies, the NHA's new chaplaincy programme in hospitals and the military, the Ungtring 2030 free speech project for young people, the Humanist Compass leadership programme, and the European Humanist Services Network. The episode closes with a preview of the Stumbling Cafe, an informal dialogue event Christian will be hosting at the World Humanist Congress in Ottawa.

In this episode we cover

• World Humanist Day history — from the AHA in the 1980s to the official June 21 designation
• A three-stage model of humanist organisation development
• Humanist confirmations in Norway
• Humanist chaplaincy in hospitals, prisons and the military
• Free speech and leadership projects for young people
• What are "Stumbling Cafes"?

Further reading and references

• Norwegian Humanist Association (English): https://www.human.no/om-oss/norwegian-humanist-association
• Humanist confirmations in Norway: https://www.human.no/seremonier/humanistisk-konfirmasjon/humanist-confirmation
• Christian Lomsdalen — Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Lomsdalen
• European Humanist Services Network (EHSN): https://humanistservices.eu/

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This podcast is produced by Humanise Live.

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🎶Music: Horizon by Simon Folwar

Podcast transcripts are AI-generated and may contain errors or omissions. They are provided to make our content more accessible, but should not be considered a fully accurate record of the conversation.

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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 board member of Humanists International. Monica talks about ASUR's campaign giving Romanian parents the legal tools to opt children out of religion classes — including a school textbook that told children they would be hit by a car for skipping Sunday church. She also discusses the Bucharest Science Festival, an EU-funded project on scientific literacy and disinformation, and the European Humanist Services Network — a model of regional humanist cooperation now being explored in Latin America under new regional officer David Pineda.

In this episode we cover -

• Humanist UK Festival of Humanism — over 650 humanists gathered in Bournemouth
• UN Human Rights Council 62nd session: freedom of expression, domestic violence, child marriage
• World Humanist Congress 2026 Ottawa — now an annual event, 500+ tickets sold, six weeks to go
• Humanists International strategy review — Berlin, October 2026
• ASUR's campaign against religious indoctrination in Romanian public schools
• The school textbook telling children they'd be hit by a car for skipping church
• Bucharest Science Festival and ASUR's EU scientific literacy project
• European Humanist Services Network — a replicable model for global humanist cooperation
• New Latin America regional development officer: David Pineda, based in Guatemala

Further reading and references 

• Romanian Secular Humanist Association (ASUR): https://asur.ro/asur-english/ 
• Bucharest Science Festival: https://www.bucharestsciencefestival.ro/ 
• European Humanist Services Network (EHSN): https://humanistservices.eu/ 
• Humanist UK Festival of Humanism 2026: https://humanists.uk/events/festival2026/ 
• World Humanist Congress 2026 — Ottawa, August 7-9: https://humanists.international/event/world-humanist-congress-2026/
• Global Alliance for Human Rights — OHCHR: https://www.ohchr.org - Freedom of Thought Report: https://fot.humanists.international

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This podcast is produced by Humanise Live.

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🎶Music: Horizon by Simon Folwar

Podcast transcripts are AI-generated and may contain errors or omissions. They are provided to make our content more accessible, but should not be considered a fully accurate record of the conversation.