Every week, Ahmed Harqan and his wife Nada Madour transform their bedroom into a TV studio. Lime green bed sheets cover one of the widest walls, creating a green screen background. Do-it-yourself wooden tripods hold cheap fluorescent bulbs to illuminate the folding table they turn into a news anchor desk. A mattress and some pillows are scattered about the floor to prevent echoing and enhance sound quality.

Once Madour finishes the countdown to one, she signals her husband, who sits facing a camera and a laptop used as a teleprompter. “My dear audience, today our episode is going to discuss interreligious hatred and sectarian anonymity,” Harqan states.

Harqan and Madour are atheists who have moved away from their religious, Muslim families to a coastal city, where they keep a low profile. Harqan is one of the few Egyptian atheists who appears on national television to discuss his beliefs openly, without concealing his identity. Such media appearances have made him a known quantity and the target of several physical attacks by angry zealots. “We have been threatened and forced to leave our homes several times,” Harqan said, stressing that he does not wish to reveal his current location for fear of retribution.

The couple are part of a volunteer network of Egyptian atheists who create shows to air on Free Mind TV, an online channel that began broadcasting daily in March and currently airs seven shows, mostly dedicated to criticizing the foundations of Islam and Christianity. “During the few occasions [when atheists] appear on mainstream media, we always get interrupted and never get a chance to fully convey our message,” Harqan said. “We had been discussing creating our own TV channel since 2013.”