The Podcast For Inquiry

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.

No issue has split the secular community in Canada like Quebec's Bill 21. Several secular organizations have come out strongly in favour of the legislation, with some saying its only flaw being that it doesn't go far enough. Many other secular groups, including CFIC, have come out strongly against Bill 21. It was challenged in court immediately after its passage in June 2019, and the Supreme Court is in the midst of hearing from a record 38 interveners as this episode is released.  In January, the New Enlightenment Project organized an online conversation between Michel Virard, founder of the Association humaniste du Québec, and Leslie Rosenblood, Secular Chair of CFIC. The conversation was moderated by Robert Hamilton. This was an informed discussion between committed secular activists with a similar worldview and many shared values, yet who vehemently but respectfully disagree about the merits of Quebec's Bill 21. I hope you learn from and enjoy this conversation as much as I did. 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.

In 1975, Najla Mohamed-Lamin's grandmother fled Moroccan troops entering Western Sahara. For 50 years, Najla's family, and 200,000 of the Saharawi people, have lived in refugee camps in western Algeria.  Despite a clear legal case under international law for self-determination and a promise from Morocco to hold a referendum on the future of Western Sahara, the Saharawi people remain separated from their land, and are almost invisible to the international community.  In 2023 Najla was one of the BBC's one hundred most influential women in the world, and she is today's guest on Podcast for Inquiry. 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.

Dr. Jackie Nemni is a physician specializing in respiratory medicine and spent decades looking after patients in the ICU. She retired from active practice in 2023 and has since been working part time as a MAiD assessor and provider. It is the most meaningful and rewarding thing she has ever done and wishes she had started sooner. Jackie is also an officiant with Humanist Canada and serves on its board of directors.    Today's episode is about MAiD in Canada - that is, Medical Assistance in Dying. Jackie and I start by discussing two Supreme Court of Canada rulings twenty years apart, and how the latter one opened the door to MAiD. Since MAiD was legalized in 2016, the criteria have expanded so that more people are eligible. Jackie describes the difference between Track 1 and Track 2 MAiD, and the safeguards in place to prevent coercion and abuse. She also addresses several of the arguments employed against MAiD, and a current court case that might forbid health institutions from preventing its patients from accessing MAiD services. 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.

Jesse Brown is the founder and editor of Canadaland, Canada's largest independent podcast network. We start our conversation talking about the state of journalism in Canada, four years after Podcast for Inquiry's inaugural episode with Jonathan Kay on the same topic. The bulk of our conversation is focused on Jesse's latest investigative reporting series, What Is Happening Here. Jews in Canada are the targets of hate crimes radically disproportionate to their numbers in Canada, which has been the case for many years but made worse since the start of the Hamas - Israel war. Jesse talks about why he created the series, analyzes some possible reasons why hatred against Jews is so much more pronounced in Canada than other countries, and suggests that open and honest conversations are a necessary step toward living together in peace and harmony.    Leslie also recommends Canadaland's investigative series on WE Charity, called The White Saviors.  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.

Daniel is a professor of physics at UC Irvine, researching particle physics at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. He is the co-host of the podcast 'Daniel and Kelly's Extraordinary Universe' and the author of several books about physics for a general audience, including "Do Aliens Speak Physics?" And "We have no idea". In today's episode, Daniel explores many questions, including: Would we recognize an alien message if we received one? If aliens landed in Central Park, would we be able to communicate? How can we catch a baseball if we ignore all the interactions at the quantum level? Why is even our best physics only an approximation? 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.  

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.  

Steve Ghikadis is a Humanist Officiant, who conducts secular marriages, memorials, and other life affirming celebrations. Raised as a freethinker, Steve has been married to a Christian for over a decade. Steve serves as an Ambassador for Humanist Canada, Recovering from Religion, and Sunday Assembly. Leslie speaks with Steve about his book, Humanism from the Heart. They discuss the many themes and ideas in Steve's book, including: - Why Steve tried to become a believer many times throughout his life - Purpose, meaning, and destiny - What "soft determinism" means - The dynamics of a family with one Christian and one Humanist parent - The value of the answer, "I don't know".  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.  

Leslie's conversation with Jasmin Faulk begins with what Saudi Arabia was like when she was growing up, and what has and hasn't changed since then. Jasmin talks about the fire of youth, the wisdom that comes from age, and how society needs both activists and advocates to move forward. She also shares her desire to have  genuine and difficult conversations with people with very different worldviews in an attempt to find, or create common ground. 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.

Corporate scandals are depressingly common, and it's all too easy to chalk them up to individual bad apples. Unfortunately, this simple explanation is not accurate. Guido's research led him to write The Dark Pattern: The hidden dynamics of corporate scandals, which details the nine building blocks that lead otherwise good people to do bad things. He explains the importance of context, why psychopaths are wildly overrepresented in corporate boardrooms, and the societal structures that too often lead to egregious behaviour from companies across the globe.  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.

Andrew Coyne (@acoyne) is a columnist for The Globe and Mail and author of The Crisis of Canadian Democracy. In today's episode, Andrew makes the case that Canadian democracy is headed for a crisis. He talks about the problems of Canada's first past the post or "winner takes all" election system. The conversation includes an analysis of a wide range of issues: the diminishing contributions that MPs are allowed to make; how candidates, cabinet members, and even party leaders are selected; and the ever increasing concentration of power within the Prime Minister's Office. Andrew outlines steps that can be taken to increase democratic representation in Canada that may avert a potential looming crisis of legitimacy.  —----- Society of Freethinkers is hosting Humanism in Action II on Sunday, November 22 2025 in Kitchener Ontario. More details and registration information are available at: https://sofree.ca/2025-humanist-conference/  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.

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 different - and similar! - as in the 19th century.  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.

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 years. Stoic principles lie at the heart of cognitive behavioural therapy, and we talk about how incorporating Stoic principles into one's own life can lead to more emotional resilience, a greater sense of satisfaction, and more meaningful relationships with others. 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.

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 develop healthy media consumption habits in today's world. 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.

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 perspective, the importance and challenge of balancing the multiple areas of life that need your time and attention, what being competitive means, and how the same behaviours can be described in very different ways. 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.

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 give cause for hope. 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.

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 book that is well-researched, engrossing, on an interesting topic, and superbly written, but The Darkening Age is all of these. 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.  

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! 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.

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 services. If they're not profitable, and there's no clear path to become so, why are the market capitalizations of AI firms so high?  Leslie asks these questions, and more, in his latest diatribe.  Opinions in this bonus episode are Leslie's alone, and are not shared by others on the Podcast for Inquiry team or the Centre for inquiry Canada. 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.  

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.