I am an Australian philosopher, literary critic, and sometimes a creative writer.My newest books, all published within the past 12 months, are, first, 50 GREAT MYTHS ABOUT ATHEISM (2013), co-authored with Udo Schuklenk and published by Wiley-Blackwell. Check out its fantastic endorsements from Richard Dawkins, Peter Singer, and other prominent writers and thinkers.Even more recently, HUMANITY ENHANCED: GENETIC CHOICE AND THE CHALLENGE FOR LIBERAL DEMOCRACIES has been released from MIT Press (January 2014). This is the culmination of my work on legal and political issues surrounding the technologies of genetic choice. I develop the case that we've tended to panic in developing policy relating to these issues.Most recently, Wiley-Blackwell has published INTELLIGENCE UNBOUND: THE FUTURE OF UPLOADED AND MACHINE MINDS. This is a collection of articles on machine intelligence and its prospects, co-edited with Damien Broderick and including some of the leading scientists and philosophers involved in current research and debate.Other recent books include 50 VOICES OF DISBELIEF: WHY WE ARE ATHEISTS (2009), co-edited with Udo Schuklenk, and FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND THE SECULAR STATE (2012). The latter deals with many of the hot-button issues that arise when religion and politics meet. The topics range from what to do about the burqa to the teaching of evolution in schools and the exemptions from the law often claimed on religious grounds.You might like to check out my trilogy of novels for the TERMINATOR franchise, collectively known as TERMINATOR 2: THE NEW JOHN CONNOR CHRONICLES, or my thriller KONG REBORN (2005; a modern-day sequel to the original 1933 KING KONG movie).I am editor-in-chief of an online peer-reviewed journal, THE JOURNAL OF EVOLUTION AND TECHNOLOGY, and a regular columnist with FREE INQUIRY. I also write for THE PHILOSOPHERS' MAGAZINE and NEW PHILOSOPHER.I was born in Sydney, which is a city that I love, but I've lived in Melbourne (for 30 years) and Canberra (for just a few months). In more recent times, I have returned to Newcastle, NSW - north of Sydney - where I grew up. I have strong connections with all these places.I'm a conjoint lecturer in the School of Humanities and Social Science at the University of Newcastle. I'm married to Jenny Blackford, whose bio you might also want to check out!