Atheism: A Rough History of Disbelief – known in the United States as A Brief History of Disbelief – is a 2004 television documentary series written and presented by Jonathan Miller for the BBC and tracing the history of atheism. It was first shown on BBC Four and was repeated on BBC Two. It was first shown in the U.S. on PBS in 2007.
The series includes extracts from interviews with various academic luminaries including Arthur Miller, Richard Dawkins, Steve Weinberg, Colin McGinn, Denys Turner, Pascal Boyer and Daniel Dennett. The series also includes many quotations from the works of atheists, agnostics and deists, all read by Bernard Hill.
The series consists of three 60-minute episodes:
- "Shadows of Doubt"
- "Noughts and Crosses"
- "The Final Hour"
A series of six supplementary programs was made from material that did not fit into the program; this was dubbed The Atheism Tapes.
Read more about Atheism: A Rough History Of Disbelief: Content, American Broadcast, Soundtrack
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—Doris Lessing (b. 1919)
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—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)