Podcast For Inquiry - Centre for Inquiry Canada

A podcast for scientific, skeptical, secular, rational and humanistic inquiry.

You’ve got answers? We’ve got questions.

A podcast for scientific, skeptical, secular, rational and humanistic inquiry.

You’ve got answers? We’ve got questions.

ENCORE: What It Means to be Moral with Phil Zuckerman

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 Director of Humanist Global Charity, and you can read his most recent articles and essays on Psychology Today.

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 Rosenblood. Support Podcast for Inquiry on Patreon: https://patreon.com/PodcastforInquiry. Send your thoughts and feedback to podcast@centreforinquiry.ca.

July 2, 2025

Aaron Devor explains the ABCs of the Trans+ community

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 recognized leader in Transgender Studies who has been studying and teaching about transgender topics since the early 1980s. He established and holds the world’s first Chair in Transgender Studies; initiated and hosts the international, interdisciplinary, and intergenerational Moving Trans History Forward conferences; and founded and is the subject matter expert for the world’s largest Transgender Archives. He has published widely on transgender topics and has received numerous awards for his research and advocacy work. His opinions are frequently sought by the media, and he has delivered more than 40 keynote and plenary addresses to audiences around the world. He is a national-award-winning teacher, a former Dean of Graduate Studies, and a professor of Sociology, at the University of Victoria.

June 18, 2025

Is nuclear energy low carbon, cost efficient, and sustainable? Jason Donev has the answers.

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 second conversation on nuclear energy.

References from our conversation:

Prof. Jason Donev is tenured at the University of Calgary. He leads the world’s largest and most used energy resource for adults, EnergyEducation.ca. Prof. Donev works to help people understand nuclear power’s role in providing reliable energy without emitting greenhouse gasses.

June 4, 2025

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

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/

May 21, 2025

New clear nuclear news, with Jason Donev

Prof. Jason Donev is tenured at the University of Calgary. He leads the world’s largest and most used energy resource for adults, http://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 describes nuclear energy’s advantages and disadvantages compared with the other major sources of electricity. We also discuss some concerns people have about nuclear energy, including its overall safety and storing its waste products.

May 14, 2025

A little less livestock, a lot more action – with Mark Lynas

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 emergency presented by climate change, and that human food production is a significant contributor to humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions. Three changes can greatly reduce the environment impact of feeding ourselves:

Reduce or eliminate human consumption of beef and lamb (See https://ourworldindata.org/global-land-for-agriculture)
Remove legal and regulatory barriers to genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
Remove legal and regulatory barriers to precision fermentation

Mark believes a brighter future is possible if we allow our policy decisions to be guided by the best scientific knowledge and insight we have available.

April 30, 2025