The Podcast For Inquiry

Phil Zuckerman is a professor of Secular Studies at Pitzer College. Phil describes what the Secular Studies program entails from philosophical, political, and sociological perspectives. Phil is the author of What It Means to be Moral , and he and Leslie discuss how leading an ethical life does not require a religious foundation. Phil is the Executive Director of Humanist Global Charity , and you c...

Bryan Van Norden ( @BryanVanNorden ) is a professor of Chinese philosophy. He and Leslie discuss the six titans of Chinese philosophical schools, along the parallels and differences with various Western philosophies. Bryan makes the case for studying Chinese philosophy in a world full of fascinating topics to learn about, and argues for incorporating a more diverse set of philosophical thought int...

David Robert Grimes ( @drg1985 ) is a scientist and author of Good Thinking (The Irrational Ape in Europe and UK). David and Leslie talk about the centrality of critical thinking to human flourishing, and the many, many ways intuitive heuristics can mislead us. And yet, with training and diligence, we can overcome our biases, motivated reasoning, and logical fallacies to create the technologies th...

Dr. Joseph Voros has been a professional futurist for over two decades. He and Leslie discuss what futures studies is, and the challenges in recognizing successful efforts that prevent catastrophes. Dr. Voros describes the difference between probable, plausible, and possible futures, how to classify them and what we can do to increase the probability of bringing about a future that we (and our des...

Jasveen Brar is the Executive Director of Youth Climate Lab , a "non-profit organization of youth mobilizing youth to create just, climate-resilient futures." Jasveen explains why her organization focuses on people under 30, their accomplishments to date, and what they are planning for the future. She and Leslie also talk about the role of the individual, municipalities, and governments around the...

Thomas Westbrook ( @holykoolaid ) was brought up as an evangelical Christian. Upon learning that truth should be able to withstand scrutiny, he eagerly looked at the tenets of his faith with a critical lens… and found it wanting. After realizing that science explained the world in a much more coherent manner than religion, he started his enormously popular Holy Koolaid YouTube channel and website...

Welcome to the first of an ongoing occasional series of bonus material for Podcast for Inquiry subscribers. Leslie's Diatribes will be a sounding board for Leslie to fulminate on topics he is passionate about. Today's topic is vaccine patents. Covid-19 vaccines have saved tens of millions of lives globally - but the decision of governments to grant patents to pharmaceutical firms for research that...

Sandra describes the human rights abuses perpetrated by the Kim dynasty in North Korea, and why it is important to have them documented. Despite being considered a pariah nation by many, some defend the nation and the regime expends considerable effort to bolster its reputation internationally. Sandra and Leslie discuss the limits of national sovereignty, when it becomes a moral obligation to inte...

Municipal council and school board elections in Ontario will take place on Monday, October 24, 2022. One Toronto District School Board (Toronto-Danforth) Trustee candidate, Matt Farrell ( @Matt4TO_Trustee ),  will do something that no other public school trustee has promised - if he wins, he will initiate a process "culminating in a formal request by the TDSB to recommend a merged system to the Go...

Catherine Nixey is the author of The Darkening Age, which documents how early Christians burned texts, defaced or demolished statues, and became increasingly intolerant of any thought or behaviour that deviated from their interpretation of Scripture. Catherine and Leslie discuss religious pluralism in the Roman Empire and how it changed after the Emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity -...

Andrew Copson ( @andrewcopson ) is the president of Humanists International , which published its Declaration of Modern Humanism earlier this year. Andrew describes the content of the Declaration and the process by which it was created, and he and Leslie talk about how it differs from its 1952 and 2002 incarnations.  Podcast for Inquiry is brought to you by the Centre for Inquiry Canada . Hosted b...

Christopher DiCarlo is a philosopher of science and the founder of Critical Thinking Solutions . He and Leslie start by discussing the potential future for Artificial Intelligence (AI); both to help humanity (through DiCarlo's Onion Skin Theory of Knowledge ( OSTOK ) project, and how to avoid a robotic apocalypse . But they quickly realize that the most difficult question is: What would we want a...

Eric Schnurer is the author of the essay Democracy Disrupted : Governance in an Increasingly Virtual and Massively Distributed World. In it, Eric argues that the Internet will revolutionize our society on a scale similar to the agricultural and industrial revolutions, but on a timescale of years instead of decades or centuries. Eric and Leslie discuss how Estonia points to how government services...

Brandon K. Gauthier ( @bk_gauthier ) wrote Before Evil, about the childhoods of six of the twentieth century's most notorious dictators, to show that even the most vile among us share a basic humanity. We must remember that if we are to avoid becoming like them. Brandon and Leslie discuss the impetus for writing the book and Brandon reads a couple of excerpts. The passionate conversation ranges fr...

John Gleason is known online as the Godless Engineer ( @GodlessEngineer Facebook ) and has spent the past decade debunking religious apologists and anti-science beliefs. Leslie asks John about his journey to atheism, and whether Jesus was a historical or mythical figure. John describes how he chose the audience he wanted to reach, and how he strives to be both memorable and entertaining. He talks...

Dr. Allen-Vercoe ( @EmmaAllenVercoe ) talks with Leslie about how to think of microbe populations across different people, and why they are important for digestion and overall health. They discuss research on the microbiome of the Yanomami, and why it is important. The role of serendipity in scientific progress is often underemphasized, and Emma shares how one such moment led to an enormous grant...

David Good is the son of an American anthropologist father and a Yanomami mother. David shares with Leslie what it is like to have one foot in two very different worlds, and the experience of meeting his mother in the jungle after twenty years in suburban America. They talk about the Yanomami equivalent of laws and means of settling disputes, and what we can learn from them. Follow David online on...

Even as a young teenager, Dr. Steven Pinker ( @sapinker ) prized rationality as a virtue, and considered himself an anarchist. He changed that belief, however, when evidence indicated that anarchy was not a path to human flourishing. In this special episode, a co-production with the New Enlightenment Project , previous Podcast for Inquiry guest Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson returns as a co-host. Togethe...

William Davis is best known as the Cigarette Smoking Man on the popular TV show The X-Files . He is also the founder of The William Davis Centre for Actors' Study and has just published a new book On Acting…and Life. William and Leslie discuss how his presence on The X-Files expanded from the silent portrayal he gave in the pilot to the series' most frequent recurring role, the importance of seein...

Howard Doughty has been a college professor for over 40 years and has grave concerns about the changes he's seen in colleges and universities. Howard describes the nature, scope and limitations of academic freedom, and how that has changed over the decades. The increasing corporate influence in universities has in some cases supplanted the original purpose of the university, according to Howard. L...

Julie Bindel ( @bindelj ) is a journalist, writer, broadcaster, and researcher. She joins Podcast for Inquiry to talk about her new book, Feminism for Women. Julie covers previous and current waves of feminism, the lie young women have been fed about feminism, and why she believes marriage can never be a feminist act. Julie and Leslie discuss men's role in the feminist movement, Julie's position o...

Matthew McManus ( @MattPolProf ) is a sessional instructor at the University of Calgary who discusses conservatism from a progressive standpoint. Matt and Leslie talk about seeking out those who disagree with you while being open to new arguments, evidence, and perspectives. Not everyone is willing to argue in good faith, but fortunately there are "tells" that signal this disposition before one ma...

James Turk ( @jameslturk ) is the Director of the Centre for Free Expression at Ryerson University. James and Leslie discuss the importance of free expression in a democratic society, the futility and counterproductive nature of censorship, and what limits on expression are reasonable and justified. They also talk about the "marketplace of ideas" and how it informs free expression, and the surpris...

Dr. Mariam Mufti is an Associate Professor of political science at the University of Waterloo. She and Leslie discuss the various waves of democracy in the past century, and the backlash to them. They discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and how most democratic countries have united against it (at least so far). They also talk about what has led to the recent decrease in trust in public instit...

Host Leslie Rosenblood and Caroline Russell-King ( https://carolinerussellking.com/ ) discuss the secular case for Bill 21, in the second instalment of a two-part series. Caroline describes the harms Bill 21 is intended to mitigate, and whether they justify the nontrivial limitations it places on religious expression. They discuss why Bill 21 has so split the secular community in Canada, and wheth...