x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

The Podcast For Inquiry

Centre For Inquiry Canada

A podcast for scientific, skeptical, secular, rational and humanistic inquiry. They"ve got answers? We"ve got questions.

science philosophy

All Episodes

01:04:35

Once Upon a Prime with Sarah Hart

The Podcast For Inquiry ·

2025/10/22

Leslie’s conversation with Sarah starts with the connections between mathematics and literature, including references to Shakespeare, Herman Melville, George Eliot, Lewis Carroll, Douglas Adams, and more. Good writing has structure, and structure can be understood in mathematical terms, and Sarah explains how mathematics can greatly enrich one’s enjoyment of literature. Sarah also describes how mathematics can be used to obfuscate rather than clarify, and how being a female mathematician today is

en-ca

01:16:00

Modern Stoicism for modern life, with modern Stoic...

The Podcast For Inquiry ·

2025/10/08

Donald Robertson (Substack) is a writer, cognitive-behavioural psychotherapist, and trainer. He is one of the founding members of the Modern Stoicism nonprofit, and the founder and president of the Plato’s Academy Centre nonprofit in Athens, Greece. Leslie's conversation with Donald traces the path from ancient Stoicism to the modern day. The word stoicism had come to mean something very different over time, but that has started to change as Stoicism the philosophy has been more popular in recent

en-ca

01:05:07

Justin Ling on the right wing media ecosystem

The Podcast For Inquiry ·

2025/09/24

Justin Ling (@justinling.ca) is an investigative journalist who writes the Bug-eyed and Shameless newsletter and recently published the book The 51st State Votes. The conversation begins with the right wing media ecosystem, and its effect particularly on US politics. Justin explains why there isn’t really a counterpart on the left, and what makes Canada different from the United States in this regard. Leslie and Justin move on to democracy and authoritarianism on the international stage, and how to

en-ca

01:06:45

The Examined Run with Sabrina Little

The Podcast For Inquiry ·

2025/09/11

Sabrina Little is a philosopher, ultra-runner, and the author of The Examined Run: Why Good People Make Better Runners. She is a five-time U.S. National Champion in trail and ultrarunning, a former American Record Holder, and World Silver Medalist. In today’s episode, Sabrina answers the question: Why do good people make better runners? What are the performance enhancing virtues, and do they outweigh the performance enhancing vices? She talks about the difference in taking a short vs long term

en-ca

01:04:03

ENCORE: Gretchen Morgenson on her book These are the...

The Podcast For Inquiry ·

2025/08/27

What is Private Equity, and how does it work? Gretchen Morgenson (@gmorgenson) is a Pulitzer-winning journalist whose latest book is These are the Plunderers. Gretchen exposes the bad and often illegal activities of Private Equity firms, and tries to explain why they have been allowed to get away with it for so long. She explains how Private Equity firms operate behind the scenes to ensure the loopholes that substantially reduce their tax bills are never closed, and details recent events that might

en-ca

01:05:57

ENCORE - The Christian Destruction of the Classical...

The Podcast For Inquiry ·

2025/08/13

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 - and why Christianity, despite its similarity to many other cults that arose at that time. It is a rare

en-ca

01:05:30

ENCORE: Seth Andrews, host of the Thinking Atheist,...

The Podcast For Inquiry ·

2025/07/30

Seth Andrews (@SethAndrewsTTA) is the host of The Thinking Atheist, a very popular podcast and online resource for nonbelievers. Seth talks about his life as an evangelical Christian and what led him to leave his faith. He and Leslie talk about how many Christians embrace seemingly un-Christian beliefs and policies, and what Humanists need to do to make the world a better place. Podcast for Inquiry is hosted by Leslie Rosenblood and brought to you by the Centre for Inquiry Canada. Join today

en-ca

15:25

Leslie’s Diatribes #4: AI: Show Me the Money!

The Podcast For Inquiry ·

2025/07/16

There are many critiques that people have made about the AI industry: privacy, piracy, electricity and water usage, hallucinations, and more. Leslie focuses on one aspect he doesn’t understand at all: Where does the money come from? Each AI datacentre costs tens of billions to build - hundreds of billions have been spent across the industry. And answering each question, or generating each image, sound, or video - is also very expensive. Hardly any consumers, and very few companies, are paying for AI

en-ca

01:10:13

ENCORE: What It Means to be Moral with Phil Zuckerman

The Podcast For Inquiry ·

2025/07/02

PfI is on hiatus for the summer, so we're bringing you some of our favourite episodes from our back catalogue. New shows will resume in September. 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

en-ca

01:42:58

Aaron Devor explains the ABCs of the Trans+ community

The Podcast For Inquiry ·

2025/06/18

Leslie speaks with Aaron about many issues related to transgender people, or the Trans+ community. They discuss how the perceived binaries of sex, sexual preference, gender, and gender expression are more complicated and nuanced in reality. Aaron details how many people identify as transgender and nonbinary in Canada, and provides insights into many current controversies including pronouns, sports, puberty blockers, and incarceration. Dr. Aaron Devor, PhD, FSSSS, FSTLHE, is an internationally

en-ca

01:13:08

Is nuclear energy low carbon, cost efficient, and...

The Podcast For Inquiry ·

2025/06/04

If uranium in a nuclear power plant emits so much radiation it boils tons of water, how safe is it for workers? Given the huge facilities required and massive mining efforts, is nuclear truly carbon neutral? Is there enough uranium in the earth for nuclear energy to be a long term source of electricity? If we build more nuclear plants, will we retire fossil fuel sources of electricity or simply increase our electricity usage accordingly? Jason Donev answers all these questions, and more, in our

en-ca

16:55

BONUS: BAHACON 4 in Sarnia Ontario, August 8-10, 2025

The Podcast For Inquiry ·

2025/05/21

The fourth BAHACON is coming in a little over two month’s time. Leslie speaks with Jeff Brooks about the conference’s location, speakers, and other attractions that makes the Bluewater Atheists, Humanists, and Agnostics conference so popular for attendees from across North America. Learn more and register at https://bahacon.com/ Podcast for Inquiry is hosted by Leslie Rosenblood and brought to you by the Centre for Inquiry Canada. Join today! Produced by Zack Dumont, Martin Zielinski, and Leslie

en-ca

01:26:54

New clear nuclear news, with Jason Donev

The Podcast For Inquiry ·

2025/05/14

Prof. Jason Donev is tenured at the University of Calgary. He leads the world’s largest and most used energy resource for adults, www.EnergyEducation.ca. As a reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Prof. Donev works to help people understand nuclear power's role in providing reliable energy without emitting greenhouse gases. Jason talks about how much energy people around the world use, with a reminder that electricity is only a fraction of our overall energy budget. Jason

en-ca

59:22

A little less livestock, a lot more action - with...

The Podcast For Inquiry ·

2025/04/30

Mark Lynas is the author of several environmental books, including Seeds of Science (2018), Our Final Warning (2020), and the forthcoming Six Minutes to Winter. Until 2024 he was research and climate lead with the Alliance for Science at the Boyce Thompson Institute, an affiliate of Cornell University. Mark is now the policy lead with the pro-science environmental campaign network WePlanet, launched in 2021 and now active in 18 countries. Our conversation starts with a recognition of the dire

en-ca

01:16:31

Nigerian Nightmare: The personal toll of being a...

The Podcast For Inquiry ·

2025/04/16

Mubarak Bala was born in Nigeria's Kano State, on the southern coasts of the Sahara Desert, in 1984. He was schooled in both the Islamic and modern education system. This makes him an outlier, since most families believe the two school systems are mutually exclusive. Boko, Western Education, is Haram, or unIslamic. When Mubarak started doubting the existence of demons, he was told that displaying any doubt was denying the word of the prophet. When his beliefs evolved to atheism, he paid an

en-ca

01:14:18

Cell phones, Cinemas, and Comestibles: Canada’s...

The Podcast For Inquiry ·

2025/04/02

Vass Bednar is the Executive Director of McMaster University’s Master of Public Policy program, and the co-author of The Big Fix: How Companies Capture Markets and Harm Canadians. Our conversation starts with the observation that many sectors in Canada’s economy are dominated by one or only a few firms. Vass and Leslie discuss whether that is good or bad for Canadians, including an analysis of cinemas, grocery stores, and banking. They debate the role of government, the tools it has at its disposal,

en-ca

50:43

Trials and tribulations trying to bring a refugee to...

The Podcast For Inquiry ·

2025/03/19

In 2019, Brian and Brent (members of the Calgary-based Rocky Mountain Atheists) joined a “Group of Five (G5)” sponsorship committee (one of the ways Canada allows private citizens to resettle refugees in Canada) to bring a UN recognized refugee, Omer, to Canada. When Omer expressed doubts about his faith, he had to flee his native country of Pakistan due to threats on his life. Omer has been living in hiding in Nepal for several years. Though Omer’s should have been a straightforward case, the

en-ca

01:05:15

Distinguishing jargon from gobbledygook - Dr....

The Podcast For Inquiry ·

2025/03/05

Jonathan Stea (BlueSky, Facebook) is a full-time practicing clinical psychologist and an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Calgary. In today’s episode, Jonathan reveals that many mental health practitioners have no scientific grounding for their treatments, which can lead to disaster - yet it can be very difficult for an layperson to distinguish between a new technique they don’t understand that works, and a new technique they don’t understand that is

en-ca

01:07:11

Burkas, beatings and bicycles - The life of Yasmine...

The Podcast For Inquiry ·

2025/02/19

Yasmine Mohammed is a human rights activist and author of Unveiled: How the West Empowers Radical Muslims. Yasmine is one of the most prominent and vocal figures supporting persecuted freethinkers across the globe, from elevating the voices of marginalized freethinkers on her podcast, to creating a global network of allies across religious and political divides through the CLARITy Coalition. Yasmine shares how her childhood was dramatically changed when her mother became an unofficial “second wife”

en-ca

56:05

Everything you always wanted to know about the solar...

The Podcast For Inquiry ·

2025/02/05

John E. Moores (X, Bluesky) is a planetary scientist and associate professor at York University. He is a member of the Royal Society of Canada, formerly served as the Science Advisor to the President of the Canadian Space Agency and has contributed to five NASA and ESA-led space missions. He is the co-author of Daydreaming in the Solar System, which imagines a future when visiting other planets is as common as hiking in a national park. The book is also grounded in the latest scientific knowledge

en-ca

43 results

Similar Podcasts

Classic Radio Science Fiction

solgoodmedia.com

Mission to Mars

Inception Point Ai

The 365 Days of Astronomy

365DaysOfAstronomy.org

Creek Devil

william Jevning

UFO Chronicles Podcast

Nik Hunter