Friendly Atheist
Hosted by Friendly Atheist
A daily news and commentary show from a long-time atheist activist, critiquing religious institutions and defending church-state separation.
This YouTube channel delivers daily, solo-hosted commentary on news at the intersection of religion, politics, and social justice. Each video typically focuses on a single story—a lawsuit, a piece of legislation, or an instance of perceived religious hypocrisy—which host Hemant Mehta breaks down with on-screen evidence like news articles and legal documents. While the daily videos are scripted deep dives, the channel also features a weekly co-hosted news roundup podcast and occasional long-form interviews.
“The channel's daily cadence of single-topic, evidence-based video essays sets it apart from broader news roundups. Mehta's background as a teacher is evident in his methodical presentation style, where he walks viewers through the details of a specific case study, often involving legal battles or LGBTQ+ rights in religious contexts.”
Who hosts this show
Hemant Mehta is an author, blogger, and atheist activist who runs the Friendly Atheist YouTube channel and blog. A former National Board Certified high school math teacher, Mehta has become a prominent voice for secularism in the US. He is the author of several books, including "I Sold My Soul on eBay," and co-hosts the weekly "Friendly Atheist Podcast" with Jessica Bluemke Greiff. Mehta has served on the boards of the Secular Student Alliance and Foundation Beyond Belief and has appeared on CNN and FOX News.
Credentials & credits
- Founder and editor of FriendlyAtheist.com
- Author of 'I Sold My Soul on eBay' and 'The Young Atheist's Survival Guide'
- Former National Board Certified math teacher
- Co-host of the 'Friendly Atheist Podcast'
- New York Times crossword puzzle contributor
- Jeopardy! champion
Other ventures
- Friendly Atheist Podcast
- FriendlyAtheist.com blog and Substack newsletter
- Author of multiple books
- Patreon for his video and podcast work
What kind of podcast
- Country
- United States
- Region
- usa
When new episodes drop
- 01The Mormon Church is trying to sue a critic into silence. Now he's fighting back.Jun 28, 2026 · 22 min
- 02
- 03Christian School Pays Student $10,000 After Punishing Her for Being GayJun 26, 2026 · 21 min
- 04LIVE: Friendly Atheist News Roundup 6/25/2026Jun 26, 2026 · 2h 10m
- 05Florida Just Handed $15 Million to Catholic SchoolsJun 25, 2026 · 12 min
- 06BONUS Podcast: Interview with dancer/ex-Mormon Benji SchwimmerJun 25, 2026 · 2h 16m
- 07VIDEO Podcast Ep. 641: The Downfall of Jackson LahmeyerJun 24, 2026 · 1h 45m
- 08One of America's Largest Christian Adoption Agencies Just Betrayed LGBTQ FamiliesJun 24, 2026 · 26 min
Notable episodes
- 01The Mormon Church is trying to sue a critic into silence. Now he's fighting back.
A detailed breakdown of a high-profile lawsuit that exemplifies the channel's focus on religious institutions' legal and PR battles, notable for its use of a leaked internal church document.
- 02Christian School Pays Student $10,000 After Punishing Her for Being Gay
This episode covers a story that hits all the channel's core themes: LGBTQ+ rights, religious school overreach, and a legal victory for an individual against an institution.
- 03Former Youth Pastor Charged With Wife's Murder on Angel's Landing Hiking Trail Dies Before Trial
Showcases the host's ability to weave personal narrative (his love of hiking) into a compelling true-crime story that involves religious figures and hypocrisy.
What you'll be asked on this show
The primary format is a solo-hosted, scripted narrative presented directly to the camera. Mehta uses on-screen articles, social media posts, and documents as visual aids to support his analysis. The channel also includes a weekly, more conversational video podcast co-hosted with Jessica Greiff and occasional bonus long-form interviews with guests.
Signature segments
- · Daily solo-host news analysis videos
- · Weekly co-hosted video podcast with Jessica Greiff
- · Live news roundup streams
- · Use of on-screen documents and articles
Topics covered repeatedly
Who gets booked here
Guests are typically authors, activists, or public figures whose work or personal story relates to secularism, atheism, or leaving a high-control religion. Based on recent episodes, a guest like an ex-Mormon champion dancer fits the profile of someone with a unique public story of deconversion.
- Benji Schwimmeron BONUS Podcast: Interview with dancer/ex-Mormon Benji Schwimmer
Where to find this show
Audience & reach
The channel is primarily funded through direct audience support. Mehta actively promotes his Patreon page for the podcast and YouTube channel memberships, which offer ad-free content and other perks. He also uses a Substack newsletter with paid subscription options and makes one-time donations possible via PayPal.
Subscriber and view counts are pulled live from YouTube and re-verified on a 30-day cycle. Listener estimates for the RSS feed aren't published here unless they're host-verified.
Pitch Friendly Atheist
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People also ask
- What is the host's real name?
- The host is Hemant Mehta. 'Friendly Atheist' is the name of his blog and brand.
- What is the show's format?
- The channel primarily features daily solo-hosted commentary videos, a weekly co-hosted video podcast, and occasional long-form interviews.
- Is the show still running?
- Yes, the YouTube channel is updated daily, and the podcast is released weekly.
- How can I support the show?
- You can support the Friendly Atheist through Patreon, YouTube channel memberships, or one-time donations via PayPal.
- Where can I find more of his work?
- Hemant Mehta also runs the FriendlyAtheist.com website, a Substack newsletter, and has authored several books, including 'I Sold My Soul on eBay'.
- Does this channel have interviews?
- The main daily videos are solo commentary. However, the channel does feature occasional long-form interviews as bonus content, and the weekly podcast sometimes includes guest segments.
Built from the show's public RSS feed, YouTube, the host's own websites, and the cited sources below. Computed and AI-extracted fields are labelled. Facts only — no private info, no fabrication, no transcripts republished.
Sources & how this page was built
This page is AI-assisted, grounded in the public sources cited below, and host-verifiable. We publish facts only; we do not republish transcripts. If anything here is wrong, the host can claim and correct the page above.Model: gemini-2.5-pro · high confidence
- [01]Friendly Atheist - YouTubeyoutube.com
- [02]Friendly Atheist Podcastfriendlyatheistpodcast.com
- [03]Friendly Atheist (Substack)friendlyatheist.substack.com
- [04]Hemant Mehta - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- [05]About - Friendly Atheistfriendlyatheist.substack.com
- [06]I Sold My Soul on Ebay - by Hemant Mehtatarget.com
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