Episode 6 of
#secularmatters is out. I report on German gynaecologist Joachim Volz‘s struggle to perform abortions after a catholic take-over of the clinic, in which he works and discuss the outcome of a recent court ruling with political activist Sarah Gonschorek and Joachim Volz’s daughter and fellow gynaecologist Sophia Anders.
https://rss.com/podcasts/secularmatters/2594051/
Joachim Volz's struggle to perform abortions | Podcast Episode on RSS.com
Gynaecologist Joachim Volz is a chief physician in a hospital in Lippstadt, a town with a population just under 70 thousand, situated in Nord-Rhine-Westphalia, halfway between Cologne and Hanover. He took his employer to court because he was ordered to no longer offer abortions, a service he had been able to provide to his patients since 2012, when he had started working in the clinic. The reason: his hospital merged with two catholic clinics and the new co-owners imposed their strict anti-abortion policy on the Lippstadt clinic – and ruled that as a figurehead for their clinic, Joachim Volz also had to stop offering abortions in his private practice.Recently, the regional labour court decided formally partially in favour of Joachim Volz. I discuss why the ruling is a difficult victory and what's at stake in Germany with Sarah Gonschorek, a feminism activist and member of the board of the North-Rhine Westphalia chapter of the German Council of Women's Organizations, and with Sophia Anders . She’s the daughter of Joachim Volz and herself a senior gynaecologist at a German University hospital.My interviewees:Sarah Gonschorek (personal homepage)Sophia Anders - (University Hospital Ulm profile)Background material (in German)online petition in support of Joachim Volzthe 2024 survey on opinions about abortions (commissioned by the German Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, PDF)LinkedIn post by Joachim Volz about his case
A pleasure to pre-announce Marzieh Hamidi as a guest in an upcoming
#secularmatters episode. She gave a very powerful speech at the
#GenevaSummit2026 today.
Episode 5 of
#secularmatters is out: I chatted with Andreas Gradert about Austria’s secular-humanist scene, the newly founded Humanist Academy of Austria and what else he and his colleagues are trying to achieve. On Apple Podcasts, Spotify etc
https://rss.com/podcasts/secularmatters/2471760
Andreas Gradert, founder of the Humanist Academy of Austria | Podcast Episode on RSS.com
Andreas Gradert was the driving force behind the newly founded Humanistische Akademie Österreich. We talked about Austria's secular and humanist scene, the role the Humanist Academy is to play in Austria's education system, what Austrians believe in, why the concordat with the Vatican needs to be adapted – and why Vienna is lacking a Karl Popper museum.Links:Humanistischer Verband Österreich (Humanist Association of Austria)Atheisten Österreich (Austrian Atheists)Zentralrat der Konfessionsfreien (central council of the non-denominational)Results of the study "Was glaubt Österreich?" (what does Austria believe?)
Very happy to announce episode #2 of my #secularmatters podcast - a conversation with Marte Spurkland, editor of "H" the magazine of the Norwegian Humanist Association (HEF).
Marte talks about her work as an editor, the role of the Magazine for HEF and her non-fiction books.
https://rss.com/podcasts/secularmatters/2248709
Marte Spurkland, editor of "H", the magazine of the Norwegian Humanist Association | Podcast Episode on RSS.com
Marte talks about H, the 100 page magazine the publishing house of the Norwegian Humanist Association issues three times a year, and her role as an editor. And she speaks about the non-fiction-books she has published.The award-winning article BRYLLUPSNATTA (wedding night) about «Zahra», who rushes off to Paris to have her hymen surgically restored as her future husband must not know that she is no longer a virgin.Marte Spurkland's most recent books::2020 Pappas Runer (Dad's Runes)2021 Ut av krisen (Out of Crises)2024 1178 netter (1178 Nights)
Andreas Kyriacou