How to Humanist

#14 Norway, She's So Humanist with Christian Lomsdalen

On our first international episide, we visit Bergen to talk to Christian Lomsdalen -- the president of the Norwegian Humanist Association, a high school teacher, a religious studies scientist at the University of Bergen, and a person who has gods tattooed on his back. Apparently this is completely normal in Norway. So is a state-funded humanist organization with 180,000 members, a confirmation ceremony that rivals a quinceañera, and a K-12 curriculum where humanism is just part of the lesson plan. The humanist world we are fighting for in the United States already exists there, and nobody has to explain it to the guy in the corner of the room. Can you imagine? This conversation will totally make you jealous and then it will (or at least should) make you want to get to work. ABOUT CHRISTIAN LOMSDALEN Norwegian educator, scholar of religion, and the current president of the Norwegian Humanist Association (Human-Etisk Forbund), a position he has held since his election in 2021. He is widely recognized in Norway as a prominent secular humanist leader, academic researcher, and educational podcaster Norwegian Humanist Association: https://human.no [https://www.google.com/url?q=https://human.no&sa=D&source=calendar&ust=1779511155337374&usg=AOvVaw2Dq76EFBsgGs7q11F4WPzg] Confirmation Ceremony: https://fritanke.no/rekordpamelding-til-humanistisk-konfirmasjon-i-2018/19.10614 [https://fritanke.no/rekordpamelding-til-humanistisk-konfirmasjon-i-2018/19.10614] LEARN MORE For more on humanism: https://linktr.ee/americanhumanist [https://linktr.ee/americanhumanist]

#13 How Ruff Ryders Roll Even if it's Not to the Cookout with Dr. Monica Johnson

Dr. Monica Johnson is a licensed clinical psychologist, a self-proclaimed Swiss Army knife of a human being, and someone who will absolutely bring up DMX at exactly the right moment in a conversation about allyship. That's ok -- if you've been listening, you'll already know that Shay was ready with her jukebox trigger. "Flesh of my FLESH!", and all that. Anyway... This is one of those episodes where you come in thinking you're talking about race-based stress and ADHD, and somehow end up somewhere far more personal and far more honest than you expected, and by the end you're thinking about the reason you're doing this work to begin with. Take a listen. ABOUT DR. MONICA JOHNSON Monica Johnson is a licensed clinical psychologist, AASECT Certified Sex Therapist, and founder of Kind Mind Psychology, a Black-owned virtual group practice serving clients across New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Delaware, and 40+ PSYPACT states. Kind Mind specializes in evidence-based treatment for ADHD, anxiety, depression, OCD, trauma, borderline personality disorder, and relationship issues using CBT, DBT, EMDR, IFS, and ERP. The practice is deeply affirming of BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and alternative lifestyle communities. Kind Mind also offers executive functioning and ADHD coaching nationwide. Johnson hosts ADHD & on Understood.org, exploring how ADHD intersects with relationships, identity, parenting, and daily life. She’s also a recurring guest expert on Understood.org’s Expert Answers, ADHD Aha!, and Sorry, I Missed This. Johnson is the author of Push Back: Assert Yourself in Relationships and co-author of Addressing Race-Based Stress in Therapy With Black Clients. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, NPR, British Vogue, SELF, the Associated Press, Ebony, and Them. Official Website: https://kindmindpsych.com/ [https://kindmindpsych.com/] Instagram: https://instagram.com/kindmindpsych [https://instagram.com/kindmindpsych] LEARN MORE For more on humanism: https://linktr.ee/americanhumanist [https://linktr.ee/americanhumanist]

#12 Something Old, Something New, One God Shout-Out with Bethel Nathan

Turns out you can have the chuppah, break the glass, do the hora, and still not have to mention God once. Or you can mention God exactly once, specifically for grandma, and everyone goes home happy. Humanist celebrant Bethel Nathan has been building ceremonies around real people and real love for 17 years, and her secret weapon is a questionnaire, a puzzle metaphor, and the radical idea that tradition should actually mean something to you personally. She will ask you things nobody else thought to ask, keep your answers a secret from your partner until the day of, and send you your vows every year on your anniversary just to remind you what you promised. If you are getting married and you want a ceremony that actually sounds like you, her information is below. ABOUT BETHEL NATHAN Successful business owner and award-winning Humanist Celebrant, Bethel Nathan of Ceremonies by Bethel knows how to build and run a successful wedding industry business.  Combining her background in both very large companies (at two global investment banks in Tokyo, New York, and London) and small companies (including her family’s now-40-year-old business), Bethel found the right way to build a business that fit her.  Focusing on her ideal couple and having a rave-worthy customer experience, as well as her strong support for marriage equality, Bethel has now married 1400 couples over the past 17 years and has built up more than 500 5-star reviews.  Her couples come from a wide variety of backgrounds, but all are looking for a ceremony that is uniquely theirs, and that is personal, meaningful, fun, and non-traditional.  So, Bethel enjoys getting to know her couples, becoming their voice in a meaningful moment, meant to celebrate what they share, all in a fitting and worthy way. Bethel's Official Site: www.ceremoniesbybethel.com [https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.ceremoniesbybethel.com&sa=D&source=calendar&ust=1778301549168613&usg=AOvVaw1yEnee_HoVdM5yrgGOz1zW] Bethel's Instagram: www.instagram.com/bethelnathan [http://www.instagram.com/bethelnathan] LEARN MORE For more on humanism: https://linktr.ee/americanhumanist [https://linktr.ee/americanhumanist]

#11 Prime Real Estate For Satanists with Taylor Leigh

Salem, Massachusetts. Austin, Texas. Kingston, Pennsylvania. Turns out if you know where to look, Satanists have been quietly securing the best real estate in America for decades. In this episode, Shay sits down with Taylor Leigh of The Antibot, a Satanist-humanist and former evangelical missionary kid who grew up in Indonesia, came back to the States, and somehow ended up with a pentagram necklace from an occult store in Cleveland. As one does. They cover the Satanic Temple, Baphomet, why most Satanists are not actually worshipping the devil, and why Taylor reclaimed a label that people were already throwing at them for having a septum ring. Shay learns a lot. Shay still knows very little. Both things continue to be true. ABOUT TAYLOR LEIGH Taylor Leigh runs the YouTube channel The Antibot. On her channel, she discusses life after leaving the Christian church and also provides commentary on the modern Evangelical movement from the perspective of a nontheistic Satanist. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theantibot [https://www.youtube.com/@theantibot] LEARN MORE American Empathy Project: americanempathyproject.org [https://americanempathyproject.org/] For more on humanism: https://linktr.ee/americanhumanist [https://linktr.ee/americanhumanist]

#10 Liberty and Trauma For All with Dr. Lucas Wilson

A man chose Liberty University over the University of Toronto because it had a conversion therapy program. That man is now a postdoctoral fellow editing anthologies about surviving it. You really cannot make this stuff up, and Dr. Lucas Wilson does not have to. In this episode he and Shay talk evangelical fictions, weaponized women, the anti-trans argument and why it falls apart the second someone has to show their receipts, and the very real possibility that Dr. Dino, a creationist whose doctoral dissertation allegedly opened with "Hi, my name's Ken," is responsible for Luke's entire life trajectory. If you're queer, survived religious trauma, or went through something you didn't even have a name for until just now, Dr. Wilson is actively seeking submissions for his next anthology, Queer and Trembling: Stories of LGBTQ Religious Trauma. Contact email is below to learn more. ABOUT DR. LUCAS WILSON  Wilson is a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Toronto Mississauga and was formerly the Justice, Equity, and Transformation Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Calgary. He’s also the editor of Shame-Sex Attraction: Survivors’ Stories of Conversion Therapy. Shame-Sex Attraction Book: https://us.jkp.com/products/shamesex-attraction [https://us.jkp.com/products/shamesex-attraction]Contact Lucas for submission details: anthology.submission2026@gmail.com [anthology.submission2026@gmail.com] LEARN MORE American Empathy Project: americanempathyproject.org [https://americanempathyproject.org] For more on humanism: https://linktr.ee/americanhumanist [https://linktr.ee/americanhumanist]