American Atheist Convention Coming to OKC; Conference Details & Speaker Line-up

Photo courtesy American Atheists. Hugh Laurie will provide the keynote address on Friday, March 30.

The 2018 American Atheists National Convention will begin on Friday, March 30 with additional social events on Thursday, March 29 for attendees who arrive early. All speakers and events will be held in the Century Ballroom of the Sheraton Oklahoma City Downtown Hotel unless otherwise noted.

Keynote Address: Hugh Laurie

Hugh Laurie is an actor, director, singer, comedian, and television icon. We’re honored to welcome Hugh as the keynote speaker for our 2018 National Convention.

From his work with collaborator Stephen Fry in the sketch comedy series A Bit of Fry & Laurie to his starring role as Gregory House in House, Hugh Laurie has been a fixture of television, film, and music for more than 35 years. Mr. Laurie has also made appeared on HBO’s Veep, BBC’s The Night Manager, and currently stars on the Hulu series Chance.

In addition to his acting, Mr. Laurie is a talented musician and plays piano, guitar, drums, harmonica, and saxophone. He is a vocalist and keyboard player for the charity rock group Band From TV and has released two blue albums, Let Them Talk and Didn’t It Rain.

“Our national convention is all about fun and community,” said David Silverman, president of American Atheists. “We’re all looking forward to the fantastic speakers and other programming, but we’re even more excited to welcome hundreds of atheists from all across the country and from right here in Oklahoma City to show just how vibrant the atheist community is.”

Besides Laurie, the national convention will host more than two dozen speakers including science advocate and skeptic Yvette “The Sci-Babe” d’Entremont, managing editor of Snopes.com Brooke Binkowski, founder of The Thinking Atheist Seth Andrews, comedians Leighann Lord and Andy Wood, a screening of Bill Nye: Science Guy followed by a discussion with the filmmakers, and many more.

On Sunday, American Atheists will host a volunteer service event to pack 30,000 meals for local people in need. After the service project, anyone who volunteers or donates will be invited to an exclusive after-party featuring drinks, dancing, snacks, and some special guests.

 THURSDAY, MARCH 29
  • 3:00pm – Registration Opens
  • 7:30pm – Pub Quiz (Separately ticketed event, $10)
  • 8:30pm – Cards Against Humanity and Game Night (Separately ticketed event, $20)

Anyone who has arrived Thursday is welcome to join us for the 8:30pm game night. The custom American Atheists Cards Against Humanity set will only be available to those who purchase a ticket. All proceeds from the Cards Against Humanity card sales will be donated to a local charity.

FRIDAY, MARCH 30

  • 8:00am – Registration Opens
  • 10:00am – Opening Remarks and Welcome
  • 10:30am – Mary Johnson
  • 11:15am – Yvette d’Entremont, “The SciBabe”
  • 12:00pm – Lunch Break (boxed lunches available)
  • 12:00pm – Members Meeting and Working Lunch
  • 1:30pm – Natasha Stoynoff
  • 2:15pm – Jim Helton
  • 3:00pm – Hugh Laurie (Keynote Address)
  • 4:00pm – Afternoon Break
  • 4:30pm – Gavin Grimm
  • 5:15pm – Shirley Rivera
  • 6:00pm – Evening Break
  • 6:30pm – VIP Reception (separately ticketed event, $250)
  • 6:30pm – Friday Awards Dinner (separately ticketed event, $60)
  • 9:00pm – Comedy Show (separately ticketed event, $25)

SATURDAY, MARCH 31

  • 9:30am – Opening Remarks
  • 9:45am – Mohammad Alkhadra
  • 10:30am – Andre Salais
  • 11:15am – Nick Fish
  • 12:00pm – Lunch Break (boxed lunches available)
  • 12:00pm – Local Activism Working Lunch
  • 1:30pm – Anthony Magnabosco
  • 2:15pm – Kim Abell
  • 3:00pm – David Silverman
  • 4:00pm – Bill Nye: Science Guy Movie Screening with panel discussion from director David Alvarado and social media producer Tracey Moody, moderated by Pamela Whissel
  • 6:30pm – Evening Break
  • 7:00pm – Saturday Dinner
  • 9:00pm – Dance party, featuring DJ, drinks, photobooth, and more (open to all attendees!)

SUNDAY, APRIL 1

Note: The closing “Thank You” event will be open to anyone who donates to or volunteers at our volunteer service project. The closing party will feature musical performances, speakers, light refreshments, and a cash bar.

Full details and more information on speakers:

2018 National Convention

A Better Life: An Exploration of Joy & Meaning in a World Without God: Documentary, Book, Podcast

The Documentary

There is no God. Now what? If this is the only life we have, how does that affect how we live our lives, how we treat each other, and cope with death.

In this fascinating documentary, join filmmaker Chris Johnson as he introduces us to people from all walks of life and backgrounds who challenge the false stereotypes of atheists as immoral and evil. From Daniel Dennett and A.C. Grayling, to Julia Sweeney and Robert Llewellyn —learn the various ways many atheists have left religion to a better life filled with love, compassion, hope, and wonder.

A Better Life: An Exploration of Joy & Meaning in a World Without God

Director: Chris Johnson

Featuring: A.C. Grayling, Adam Pascal, AJ Johnson, Alex Honnold, Andrew Copson, Cara Santa Maria, Dan Barker, Daniel Dennett, Donald C. Johanson, Helena Guzik, Julia Sweeney, Matt Dillahunty, Nahla Mahmoud, Patricia S. Churchland, Robert Llewellyn, Sean Carroll, Tracie Harris.

https://www.theatheistbook.com/pages/about-us

Available Formats: Streaming rental, HD Download, DVD

 

 

The book

Explore the meaning and joy of life with 100 atheists in this book of photos and commentary featuring Richard Dawkins, Dan Dennett, Steven Pinker, Penn & Teller, Julia Sweeney, Alex Honnold, Derren Brown, and more!

The myth persists. Even in our modern world, countless people believe that without God, one’s life has no purpose or meaning — that the lives of atheists are devoid of joy and happiness because they are not religious.

Starting out as one of the highest-grossing publishing projects on Kickstarter, A Better Life highlights the various ways that those who are not religious find joy, meaning, and purpose in life. Photographer Chris Johnson spent two years traveling the world speaking with and photographing atheists from all walks of life to create this hardcover photography coffeetable book.

Subjects in the book include:

A.C. Grayling, Philosopher

Adam Pascal, Musician/Actor

Alex Honnold, Rock climber

Cara Santa Maria, Television personality

Carol Blue & (the late) Christopher Hitchens

Charles Strouse, Broadway composer

Daniel Dennett, Philosopher and cognitive scientist

Daniel Dennett

Derren Brown, British illusionist

Donald C. Johanson, Paleoanthropologist

James Randi, Magician

James Watson, Molecular biologist/co-discoverer of the structure of DNA

Janet Asimov, Psychiatrist/Author

Jim Al-Khalili, Professor of physics, author and broadcaster

Julia Sweeney, Actress, comedian & author

Julia Sweeney

Lawrence M. Krauss, Physicist

Michael Shermer, Founder/Publisher of Skeptic magazine

Patricia S. Churchland, Neurophilosopher

Penn & Teller, magicians

Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, Philosopher and novelist

Richard Dawkins, Evolutionary biologist, and author

Robert Llewellyn, Writer, TV presenter, actor

Sean Carroll, Theoretical Physicist

Steven Pinker, Cognitive scientist

Yau-Man Chan, Contestant; Survivor: Fiji

…and many, many more!

 

Release Date: January 1, 2014

Author: Chris Johnson

Publisher: Cosmic Teapot/Chris Johnson; First Edition (December 2013)

A Better Life: 100 Atheists Speak Out on Joy & Meaning in a World Without God

Podcast

https://www.theatheistbook.com/pages/podcast

In this new podcast, join Chris as he revisits with some of the people from the book and the film, as well as introduces you to people he’s met since doing the project that would have been great additions.

Sample podcast guests include:

Anthony Magnabosco

Lawrence Krauss

Matt Dillahunty

Mandisa Thomas

Dan Arel

Cara Santa Maria

Chris Johnson

Chris Johnson is a New York-based photographer and filmmaker. He received his undergraduate degree in film production (along with a minor in religious studies) from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. His photography has been seen in various outlets, including The New York Times. He is the author of the coffee table photography book, A Better Life: 100 Atheists Speak Out on Joy & Meaning in a World Without God as well as the documentary film version, A Better Life: An Exploration of Joy & Meaning in a World Without God. He has travelled the world on a screening/lecture tour about A Better Life, speaking and screening the film in over 60 cities on four continents — from Reykjavik to Shanghai.

For the book and film of A Better Life, he interviewed many prominent atheist figures such as Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker, Dan Dennett, Derren Brown, Pat Churchland, Julia Sweeney, Penn & Teller, and many more. He has given talks on atheism and his work at conferences, universities, non-profit organizations, and community groups. In addition, he has also been a guest on numerous podcasts and TV shows around the globe.

https://www.theatheistbook.com/

YouTube Channels We Love: Anthony Magnabosco

Anthony Magnabosco is a Street Epistemologist who converses with and interviews random strangers on the street to ask about their beliefs, such as faith, superstitions, and so much more.

Check out his YouTube channel at: 

https://www.youtube.com/user/magnabosco210

According to Magnabosco, “I initiate friendly conversations with people to see how they arrived at their deeply-held beliefs (e.g., Gods, karma, ghosts, politics, etc.), and then ask respectful questions to help them discover if the method(s) used are unreliable so that more reliable methods can be employed to maintain the belief and/or the level of confidence in the belief can be adjusted to be more in line with reality.”

Of particular interest are these playlists:

My Top Ten Talks

Street Epistemology Presentations

Relativism (“It’s true for me.”)

Street Epistemology Tutorials

(20,599 subscribers • 2,096,049 views  Joined Dec 25, 2011)