Talk Heathen is a weekly, live televised webcast based in Austin, Texas, USA. The show takes calls from listeners who want to discuss their position on the topics of religion, philosophy and ethics with the focus being on friendly dialogue and repeat calls to develop long form conversations with the callers.

History

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Talk Heathen is a product of the Atheist Community of Austin.[1] The Atheist Community of Austin had been producing The Atheist Experience since October, 1997[2] and on the 19th November, 2017[3] a second call in show was added to the roster with the aim of having "long-form and on-going dialogue"[4] with callers. The inaugural episode was hosted by Jamie Boon and Eric Murphy who remained the primary show hosts until Boon stepped down from hosting the show during Season 3, Episode 40 on 6 October 2019. It was the show's 100th episode.[5]

Boon was replaced as part of the primary hosting team by Vi La Bianca, and they and Murphy remained the primary hosts until both stepped down in Season 5, Episode 18, with their last show being broadcast on 2nd May, 2021.[6] After the pair departed it was decided that the show would no longer have a permanent team anchoring the show and switched to the format of having a rotating panel of hosts with one lead host each week. [citation needed] The first hosts of the new format were Jim Barrows and Rudy Bee, with Barrows taking up the primary position and announcing "I'm Jim Barrows and with me is the fantastic, the wonderful, Rudy Bee, who's going to be showing up a lot more on Talk Heathen".[7]

This was also the final episode to feature the show's original opening sequence and title music, which had run since Season 1, Episode 3,[8] and which featured upbeat music with Jamie Boon and Eric Murphy stencilling the Talk Heathen logo in spray paint on a wall before driving to the broadcast location, the ACA's Freethought Library and broadcast studio located at 1507 W. Koenig Ln. Austin, TX.[9] The title sequence was replaced on Episode 20, Season 5 which was hosted by Johnny P Angel and Kenneth[10] and featured slower paced music and a montage of images instead of the previous live action sequence.

In Season 7, Richard Gilliver took over as Producer of the show,[11] a position which had been temporary filled by the Atheist Community of Austin's Assistant Executive Producer Katie Stewart, who also Produces The Atheist Experience, since the departure of Eric Murphy, and his first episode as Producer was 7th May, 2023, which he also hosted alongside Objectively Dan.[12]

Talk Heathen is currently in its 8th Season[13] and has a YouTube channel which, as of 11th August, 2024 has 96,546 subscribers.[14] When the live call in show is not in session the channel broadcasts a 24/7 livestream which features clips from past shows.[15]

Topics

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The show covers several topics covering several topics related to religion, philosophy and ethics, including whether the Universe having a beginning proves the existence of God,[16] Near Death Experiences,[17] and leaving religion.[18]

Format

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The show typically begins with a 'cold open'.[19]

References

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  1. ^ "The Atheist Community of Austin - Talk Heathen".
  2. ^ "Atheist Community of Austin - Online Media in 2005". 2019-02-12. Archived from the original on 2019-02-12. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  3. ^ Talk Heathen (2017-11-19). Talk Heathen 01.01 with Eric Murphy & Jamie. Retrieved 2024-08-11 – via YouTube.
  4. ^ "The Atheist Community of Austin - Talk Heathen". atheist-community.org. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  5. ^ Talk Heathen (2019-10-06). Talk Heathen 03.40 with Eric Murphy, Jamie Boone, & Vi La Bianca - 100th Episode!. Retrieved 2024-08-11 – via YouTube.
  6. ^ Talk Heathen (2021-05-02). Talk Heathen 05.18 with Eric Murphy and Vi La Bianca. Retrieved 2024-08-11 – via YouTube.
  7. ^ Talk Heathen (2021-05-09). Talk Heathen 05.19 with Jim Barrows and Rudy Bee. Retrieved 2024-08-11 – via YouTube.
  8. ^ Talk Heathen (2017-12-03). Talk Heathen 01.03 with Eric Murphy & Jamie. Retrieved 2024-08-11 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ "The Atheist Community of Austin - Location". atheist-community.org. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  10. ^ Talk Heathen (2021-05-16). Talk Heathen 05.20 with Johnny P Angel and Kenneth. Retrieved 2024-08-11 – via YouTube.
  11. ^ "Richard Gilliver | Producer". IMDb. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  12. ^ Talk Heathen (2023-05-07). Talk Heathen 07.18 with Richard Gilliver and ObjectivelyDan. Retrieved 2024-08-11 – via YouTube.
  13. ^ Talk Heathen (TV Series 2017– ) - Episode list - IMDb. Retrieved 2024-08-11 – via www.imdb.com.
  14. ^ "Talk Heathen". YouTube. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  15. ^ Talk Heathen (2024-04-21). Talk Heathen 24/7 Live Stream. Retrieved 2024-08-11 – via YouTube.
  16. ^ Talk Heathen (2024-05-23). Does The Start Of The Universe Prove God?. Retrieved 2024-08-11 – via YouTube.
  17. ^ Talk Heathen (2024-07-12). Near Death Experience During Surgery. Retrieved 2024-08-11 – via YouTube.
  18. ^ Talk Heathen (2024-06-07). Deconstructing And Questioning The Purpose. Retrieved 2024-08-11 – via YouTube.
  19. ^ Talk Heathen (2024-07-28). Talk Heathen 08.30 with Sydney Davis Jr. Jr. and Kelley Laughlin. Retrieved 2024-08-11 – via YouTube.