Unholy Histories: The Humanist Heritage Podcast from Humanists UK

Humanise Live

Join Andrew Copson and Madeleine Goodall—alongside a host of expert guests—as they uncover the hidden histories and untold stories of the people, places, movements, ideas, and events that helped shape British humanism, secularism and freethought.From radical reformers to forgotten dissenters, Unholy Histories explores how reason, skepticism, science, and activism helped build modern Britain—and how these values still shape our society today.Unholy Histories is a Humanists UK Podcast, showcasing the Humanist Heritage Project and produced by Humanise Live. Find out more: https://heritage.humanists.uk/ Support us at: https://humanists.uk/support-us/Start your podcast: https://humanise.live/

Season 1

  1. Atheism before the Enlightenment with Michael Hunter and Patrick McGhee

    EPISODE 2

    Atheism before the Enlightenment with Michael Hunter and Patrick McGhee

    Many people assume humanism began with the Enlightenment. But sceptical, rational, human-centred ideas have a much longer history. This episode travels back to the centuries before the so-called Age of Reason to meet the freethinkers, doubters, and proto-humanists who challenged religious orthodoxy when doing so could mean prison, exile, or death, and asks what their courage tells us about the slow erosion of religious certainty. Guests: Professor Michael Hunter, Emeritus Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London, Fellow of the British Academy, and author of Atheists and Atheism Before the Enlightenment: The English and Scottish Experience. https://www.bbk.ac.uk/about-us/fellows/michael-hunterDr Patrick McGhee, Honorary Research Fellow at Durham University. https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/patrick-mcgheeFor all references to people, places, and events in this episode and the full series, visit heritage.humanists.uk/podcast Join Humanists UK: humanists.uk/join Discover more Humanist Heritage: heritage.humanists.uk Send us your questions or feedback: Unholy@Humanise.Live Unholy Histories is produced by Humanise Live a production agency creating values-led podcast content. Start podcasting today at humanise.live Music: Small Things 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.

    49 min

About

Join Andrew Copson and Madeleine Goodall—alongside a host of expert guests—as they uncover the hidden histories and untold stories of the people, places, movements, ideas, and events that helped shape British humanism, secularism and freethought.From radical reformers to forgotten dissenters, Unholy Histories explores how reason, skepticism, science, and activism helped build modern Britain—and how these values still shape our society today.Unholy Histories is a Humanists UK Podcast, showcasing the Humanist Heritage Project and produced by Humanise Live. Find out more: https://heritage.humanists.uk/ Support us at: https://humanists.uk/support-us/Start your podcast: https://humanise.live/

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