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.

  1. 1D AGO

    Richard Carrier believes Secular Humanism is the best political philosophy

    Richard Carrier is the author of Sense and Goodness without God, On the Historicity of Jesus, The Scientist in the Early Roman Empire, and many other books, chapters, and articles. With a Ph.D. in ancient history from Columbia University, he specializes in the modern philosophy of naturalism, the origins of Christianity, and the intellectual history of Greece and Rome.    In today's episode, Richard defends the premise that a government run along secular humanist principles is the best form of societal governance. His two core tenets are that human interests matter above all, and that rational, evidence based reasoning makes everyone better off. Richard and Leslie explore these two concepts in depth, then compare secular humanism to other possible governing philosophies.   Further reading and watching: The Christian Nationalism vs. Secular Humanism "Debate" (more of a harangue, and does a poor job of representing either perspective) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwJOsq2tI80 Richard's analysis of the "Debate"  https://www.richardcarrier.info/archives/38824 Richard's written debate on animal experimentation: https://www.richardcarrier.info/archives/18837 Richard's paper: Objective moral facts exist in all possible universes https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/8/1061  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.

    1h 21m
  2. APR 8

    Persistence, not patience, is required for progress: Feminism in 2026 with Linda Silver Dranoff

    Linda Silver Dranoff is a precedent-setting lawyer, an empowering author about law, public policy and women's rights, and a successful feminist activist for equality and family law reform. She is the author of Fairly Equal: Lawyering the Feminist Revolution. Linda has been honoured with the Order of Canada, Order of Ontario and Law Society Medal. Her latest effort is Fairly Equal: Conversations Toward a Feminist Future - A new web series that looks at today's threats to women's equality rights and warns that we cannot take past advances for granted. Linda begins the conversation by describing how women were viewed by the law well into the 20th century. Women were considered property - effectively owned by their husbands - under the law until the 1970s.  We talk about the many areas women's rights have advanced in the intervening decades - including progress in bodily autonomy, family law, employment equity, and more. But equality between men and women is still a distant goal. Even though laws pay equity laws have been on the books for four decades with the infrastructure to enforce them, women's wages have advanced from 64 cents for every dollar men earn to only 68 cents.  Linda concludes our conversation by providing some advice for those coming up in the world who want to continue working towards the goal of equality between the sexes. 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.

    1h 5m
  3. JAN 14

    Dr. Rodney Schmaltz says Scientific Skepticism can Save Society

    Dr. Rodney Schmaltz is a professor in the Department of Psychology at MacEwan University. His research focuses on the psychology of belief, with a particular interest in how people evaluate extraordinary claims. He is committed to helping people develop strong critical thinking skills and an appreciation for the value of scientific evidence in everyday life.  His work aims to improve scientific literacy in both academic and public settings, using research-based strategies to help people separate good information from bad. In today's episode, Rodney explains the importance of critical thinking - though he prefers the term scientific skepticism - and why we should expand science education to include how we know what is true, and not just the facts and frameworks of scientific knowledge. We talk about how being intelligent and educated is not related to belief in pseudoscience, and how it's dangerous to dismiss someone you disagree with as a "conspiracy theorist" in a world where some conspiracies are real.  If you learn half as much as Leslie did from this conversation, you're going to love today's episode of Podcast for Inquiry with Rodney Schmaltz. Email: rodney.schmaltz@macewan.ca Website: https://www.rodneyschmaltz.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/rodneyschmaltz Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rodney.schmaltz.9/ 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.

    1 hr

Ratings & Reviews

4.9
out of 5
17 Ratings

About

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

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