BC Humanists Podcast

The BC Humanist Association was denied the right to perform marriages in 2013 and last month published a report detailing the current legislative framework in BC that privileges the religious over the non-religious. It also documents numerous jurisdictions where Humanists are permitted to perform marriages and what steps Humanists in BC can take to gain equal legal status. The BC Humanist Associat...

Nicolas Fillion is a philosopher and mathematician who has been since 2013 a professor of philosophy at Simon Fraser University. His main contributions have so far been to philosophy of science and applied mathematics, but his research and teaching also include the history of science, formal logic, decision and game theory, critical thinking, and epistemology broadly construed. As part of an effor...

Modern Humanism first emerged around 100 years ago, has been in Canada for about 60 years and the BC Humanist Association has existed for over 30 years. While the philosophy has evolved over the years, the importance of this progressive worldview, with its emphasis on reason and social justice, has never lost its importance and in an age of rising populist and nationalistic extremism is increasing...

Nick Taylor, an advocate of basic income, joins us to talk about how the conversation around basic income has developed substantially in just under a year with a negative income tax trial planned in Ontario, discussion of federal funding for a trial in PEI, and the newest cash grant trial started in December 2016 in Finland for 2,000 recipients. Plus developments in municipal basic income in San F...

David "Dave" Silverman (born August 13, 1966) is the current president of the American Atheists, a non-profit organization that supports the rights of atheists and the removal of expressions of religion in public when possibly interpretable as governmental endorsement, in accordance with the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. His annual anti-Christmas billboard which calls Christma...

Dr Elisabeth Ormandy shares her personal story of how she went from neuroscientist to animal welfare and ethics expert over the course of a decade, and why she is committed to advancing science without the use of animals. This talk covers both scientific and ethical reasons why replacing animals in research, testing, and teaching is an important endeavour. Elisabeth is co-founder and Executive Dir...

Patti Bacchus is the Vancouver Observer's Contributing Education Editor. She's a public education advocate and former Vancouver School Board chair (2008-2014) & trustee (2008-2016). She also serves as a Director for the Broadbent Institute. Recorded at the Sunday, February 5, 2017 meeting of the BC Humanist Association in Vancouver. Learn more at www.bchumanist.ca Follow us on Twitter, Facebook &...

Mattias Martens, writer, programmer, philosopher, presents an idea of ‘limbic terrorism’ as a model for how populists can shut down discourse online and off by reverting to personal attacks aimed at the social standing of the people involved and how intellectuals can fight back without being reduced to the use of similar tactics. Follow Mattias: https://www.facebook.com/mattiasinspace/ https://twi...

Joann Robertson speaks about Political Correctness: How we got here. Where do we go? Recorded at the Sunday, January 15, 2017 meeting of the BC Humanist Association in Vancouver. Learn more at www.bchumanist.ca Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. Subscribe on SoundCloud, iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Intro music: We are all connected instrumental - Symphony of Science www.symphonyofsci...

Joyce Arthur is a founding member of FIRST, a national feminist sex worker advocacy organization based in Vancouver that lobbies for the decriminalization of prostitution in Canada. Joyce works as a technical writer and pro-choice activist, and is the founder and Executive Director of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, a national pro-choice group in Canada. Joyce will be speaking on the thre...

Over the past thirty years there have been three local groups which share aims and often members: The BC Humanists, the local branch of the Centre for Inquiry and the BC Skeptics. All three have worked to promote a scientific, as opposed to a religious worldview. I shall maintain that there have been three principal ways of doing this: 1) through public education, primarily using the media and mee...

Rob Teszka is a research consultant and performer who helps creative agencies and market researchers apply the psychology of attention and awareness. He is also a magician who regularly performs at the Magic Circle in London, and has contributed to peer-reviewed academic research on the psychology of magic, focusing on using the techniques of conjurors to study how people perceive, make decisions,...

Teresa Gagné of Vancouver Peace Poppies talks about the history and significance of the white poppy, and the importance of broadening our Remembrance Day focus to include the devastating effects of war on the civilians who now make up 85% of its victims, as well as its disastrous environment impact. Recorded at the Sunday, October 30, 2016 meeting of the BC Humanist Association in Vancouver. Learn...

Steve Thompson is from the UK and had moved to Vancouver in August 2015 to study for a Master’s degree in library, information and archival studies. His professional background was in academic publishing where he worked as an editor on both journals and books. His main interest is in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. He has recently participated in a UBC-based research group on the viabi...

"Ujjal Dosanjh is a lawyer, social activist and parliamentarian who has devoted his life to public service. He became Attorney General of British Columbia in 1995 and served as the province's thirty-third premier before entering federal politics. He was a Liberal Party of Canada Member of Parliament from 2004 to 2011, including a period as minister of health. Throughout his life, Dosanjh has remai...

Gary Bauslaugh is the author of three books related to assisted death in Canada; his most recent (The Right to Die, April 2016) tells the stories of the courageous Canadians whose often heroic actions helped create a climate of acceptance of the idea that assisted death should be legalized in Canada. The Supreme Court of Canada’s historic ruling in February, 2015, declared the law prohibiting assi...

Dr Karen Garst speaks to the UBC Freethinkers about the archaeological evidence for worship of the female goddess in the Paleolithic era through its continued existence when male deities became incorporated into the pantheon of gods. Karen Garst has a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from the UW - Madison, a Masters in French Literature from the same, and a BA in French from Concordia College in...

Ian Bushfield, Executive Director of the BC Humanist Association presents a detailed analysis of the June 2016 Insights West poll commissioned by the BCHA to explore attitudes in BC about religion and its interaction with laws and social policies. Slides: http://www.slideshare.net/bchumanist/is-anyone-in-bc-still-religious-ian-bushfield Full data: http://www.bchumanist.ca/religious_and_secular_att...

Joyce Arthur, a freelance writer and women's rights advocate, talks about the recent study her pro-choice group completed on anti-choice “Crisis Pregnancy Centres” (CPCs). The Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada recruited volunteers to review every CPC website in Canada to look for misinformation on abortion or signs they were being deceptive and not upfront with potential clients. The study ident...

Armin Navabi, of Atheist Republic, an ex-Muslim from Iran will speak about how Ex-Muslims in the West are frequently attacked from bigots on the right, and apologists on the left. This marginalizes many ex-Muslims, leaving them feeling betrayed and unwelcome, muting the most effective force against Islamic extremism. Recorded at the Sunday, June 26, 2016 meeting of the BC Humanist Association in V...

Pamela Zevit, of Evidence for Democracy updates us about the state of science policy in Canada today. What has changed, what still needs to change to return Canada to its former position as an example of public policy informed by science. Recorded at the Sunday, June 19, 2016 meeting of the BC Humanist Association in Vancouver. Learn more at www.bchumanist.ca Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Insta...

In this episode, we hear from Stephanie Smith who tried to form an agnostic version of Alcoholics Anonymous and Byron Wood who's brought a human rights complaint forward after being forced to attend a theistic 12-step program. For an update on Byron's case see: http://www.bchumanist.ca/human_rights_complaint_over_religion_in_aa_to_proceed Recorded at the Sunday, June 12, 2016 meeting of the BC Hum...

Les Brown is on the board of the Vancouver Chapter of Fair Vote Canada, a group working to promote changing the Canadian electoral system to ensure that the numbers of MPs in Parliament from each political party more closely match the fraction of the popular vote each party receives. Les Brown has been working on electoral reform for the last 20 years or so. He's a firm believer in the adage that...

Pat, an atheist, and Jonathan, a Christian, do a tag-team presentation on their joint program "Meeting of the Minds" where issues of the day are explored from two radically different worldviews, but often coming to similar conclusions. Recorded at the Sunday, May 15, 2016 meeting of the BC Humanist Association in Vancouver. Learn more at www.bchumanist.ca Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram...

C Dax and Drake interview Glenn Hardie. Glenn was one of the founders of the BC Humanist Association and author of several books on Humanism including Reason With Compassion: The Humanist Way. Learn more about the BC Humanist Association at http://www.bchumanist.ca Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. And make sure to subscribe to our podcast.