“Atheism Today” by Jennifer Michael Hecht

“Atheism Today” by Jennifer Michael Hecht

Sunday, May 17, 2026

Minnesota Atheists - Hybrid Meeting
Free and Open to the Public

In person and via Zoom
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85698937389?pwd=eafVTIn9hYaxL3Tb3XOB8JcNTdatAn.1
Zoom Meeting ID: 856 9893 7389; Passcode: 166449

Merriam Park Library
1831 Marshall Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55104
(There is a small library parking lot, but there is also free parking in the neighborhood.)

1:00-1:30 pm - Library opens. Social Time. Zoom starts.
1:30-1:50 pm - Business Meeting. (Open to the public.)
1:50-2:00 pm - Break
2:00-3:30 pm - Public Meeting: “Atheism Today” by Jennifer Michael Hecht
3:30 pm - Leave for Dinner *

* Longfellow Grill
2990 W. River Pkwy.
Minneapolis, MN 55406
(1.4 miles west of the library, just over the Mississippi River, where Marshall Ave. in St. Paul turns into E. Lake St. in Minneapolis.)
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Our speaker will appear live via Zoom. She will be projected on the library screen or you may watch from home.
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“Atheism Today” by Jennifer Michael Hecht

Before the rise and popularity of the “Four Horsemen” of atheism (Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Dennett), Jennifer Michael Hecht published Doubt*: A History: The Great Doubters and Their Legacy of Innovation from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson – An Intellectual History of Western Skepticism* (October 2003). It became a bestseller and helped give rise to the (so-called) “New Atheist” movement.

Another book she wrote that caught the attention of many atheists was Stay*: A History of Suicide and the Philosophies Against It.* (2013)

Some of her other books include The End of the Soul: Scientific Modernity, Atheism, and Anthropology in France (2003), The Happiness Myth: Why What We Think Is Right Is Wrong (2007), and her latest book: The Wonder Paradox: Poetry, Awe, and the Meaningful Life (2023)

Jennifer Michael Hecht is a poet, historian, and commentator. Her poetry and prose appear in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The New Republic, Poetry, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Politico, The American Scholar, and Vox.

She has a Ph.D. in The History of Science and European Cultural History, from Columbia University and has taught history and poetry widely including in the graduate programs at the New School and Columbia.

She has been a featured guest of many NPR shows, including multiple appearances on the Brian Lehrer Show and On Being, and some television, such as Hardball MSNBC and Huffington Post Live.

She lectures widely, including at atheist conventions. We are very lucky to get as a speaker someone who embodies the history of the modern atheist movement. From her unique perspective, she will give us her view of “Atheism Today”. She will also take questions on any of her works.

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