2021 FIG Program Videos
I'm Not From Around Here
Imagine a visitor from somewhere else. Far away. Suppose they observed us with unconditioned eyes (or whatever senses they may employ). What would they say? What would they sing? FIG Secretary Peter Lloyd led us in another Holiday Singalong, this time from the point of view of a bewildered alien. With help from help from Shakespeare, Mozart, and King Solomon, we met and sing along with Moldy Mary, Skink the Lizard, and other notable Earthlings.
Tom Flynn Memorial
Connie Skingel, development director at the Center for Inquiry, presented a review of the humanistically heroic life of Tom Flynn—editor of Free Inquiry magazine, director of the Robert Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum and the Freethought Trail, and former executive director of the Council for Secular Humanism. Tom recently died very unexpectedly at the age of 66. We also heard from Bill Messer, Ray Lebowski, and Bob Rieheman, who shared their memories of Tom as well.
Dr. Kimberly Hamlin: Helen Hamilton Gardener
Dr. Hamlin discussed her most recent book, Free Thinker: Sex, Suffrage, and the Extraordinary Life of Helen Hamilton Gardener, which tells the fascinating story of the “fallen woman” who reinvented herself and became “the most potent factor” in Congressional passage of the Nineteenth Amendment and the highest-ranking woman in federal government. This video, however, presents her coverage of this topic at Miami University, not at the FIG presentation, the video of which has been lost.
Dr. Louito Edje: Vaccination Persuasion
Louito Edje, MD, associate dean of Graduate Medical Education at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, took us through steps we can take to persuade the unconvinced that Covid vaccination will save lives as well as prevent even more harmful variations, like Delta, from evolving.
Iris Roley: Police and Racism in Cincinnati
After years of dedication to the reform of police departments and the implementation of public policy, Iris Roley reported to us on police, racism and the Collaborative Agreement. She brought us up to date on where Cincinnati’s Collaborative Agreement stands and what, in her view, still needs to be addressed.
Bart Campolo: Difficult Conversations
Bart advised our first live-and-virtual audience on how to improve one's efforts to communicate with believer family members, friends, and neighbors. His unique life experience—an evangelical Christian, son of a noted evangelical preacher, and inner-city minister, who evolved to embrace secular humanism—makes him exceptionally qualified to advise.
Cicada Tsunami 2021
Dr. Kritsky, Dean of the School of Behavioral and Natural Sciences and Professor and of Biology at Mount St. Joseph University, dove deep into the classification, speciation, morphology, life cycle, mythology, evolutionary history, and future of Brood X and their cousin broods.
Camp Quest 25th Anniversary
Bill Messer hosted a reunion of Camp Quest founders, counsellors, and campers who revisited the camp’s creation, early days, and ongoing life. Notables included Vern Uchtman, Elizabeth Oldiges, Sophia Riehemann, Robert Riehemann, Johannah Riehemann, Jeff Lester, August E. Brunsman IV, Shawn Jeffers, and Sarah Miller.
The "Science" of Racism
Shawn Jeffers, a longtime member of FIG whose work focuses on advancing youth leadership development and issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion presentation, explored the history of pseudoscientific support for racist attitudes and racism in the United States.
Polydoxy—A Religious Structure
Hera Reines, chair of the Polydox Institute, discussed the secular, religious philosophy developed here in Cincinnati by her late husband, Dr. Alvin Reines, a professor of philosophy at the Hebrew Union College in the mid-1960s.
2020 FIG Program Videos
Winter Solstice Singalong
FIG members gathered to sing the holiday season's secular songs and learn about their fascinating origins. Singing was led by Peter and David Lloyd.
Women's Suffrage on the National and Local Scene
Desirée Willis describes how the 1920 American electorate was persuaded to allow women to vote nationwide. View this discussion of how women across the nation as well as in Cincinnati and Ohio helped change the direction of suffrage to appeal to a wider audience, the challenges they faced, and how in the end they helped demand our government give women the right to vote.
The New Political Power: Humanists (yes, Humanists!)
Ron Millar, political and PAC coordinator for the Center for Freethought Equality, discusses how atheists and humanists can—and must—be engaged in the political and electoral process. Ron explores activities that are allowable and encourages you to become even more active. Being politically engaged will diminish bias against our community, advance evidence-based public policy, protect the secular character of our government, and increase our political clout!
Hammering the Wall: Recent Supreme Court Church-and-State Decisions
Freedom From Religion Foundation Legal Director Rebecca S. Markert discussed recent decisions by the court and their ramifications, as well as a couple of highly relevant cases held over from last year, which will be argued this fall. She spent time answering our questions as well.
COVID Creativity
Creativity consultant and inventor Stephen R. Grossman, author of Innovation Inc. Unlocking Creativity in the Workplace, will address how to keep your creative edge during the isolation of the COVID-19 crisis. Steve has developed a problem-solving process called Cruising to Aha! designed to solve tough business problems using Charles Darwin's Natural Selection Process.
Proportional Representation
In April 2020 Dan Zavon filled us in on how Proportional Representation better represents the wishes of voters and described its many other benefits.