Podcast for Inquiry S05E02: Could we communicate with aliens if we found them? Daniel Whiteson wants to know.

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?

Support Podcast for Inquiry on Patreon, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts (Spotify Apple YouTube Music Deezer Player.fm), or listen here:  

A video recording is also available: 

Podcast for Inquiry S05E01: 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 I did from this conversation, you’re going to love this 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/

Support Podcast for Inquiry on Patreon, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts (Spotify Apple YouTube Music Deezer Player.fm), or listen here:  

A video recording is also available: 

 

Podcast for Inquiry celebrates four incredible years

This article was first published in the January 2026 edition of Critical Links, the monthly newsletter of the Centre for Inquiry Canada. 

Podcast for Inquiry continues to be my pride and passion, and I am delighted every day that I get to have probing conversations with fascinating people, brought to you every two weeks by the team at CFIC. 

This year featured four hard-hitting episodes focused on Canadian politics, a diatribe on AI, and conversations about corporations and the concentration of markets into an ever-shrinking number of firms. But the bulk of the year was spent inquiring about science, philosophy, religion, and the environment. There are many challenging issues (and a few controversial ones) to explore in 2025's Podcast for Inquiry's archive. 

Dive in and enjoy! We are all looking forward to bringing you more in-depth conversations on topics that cover the breadth of the human experience in 2026. 
Please feel free to share your feedback about Podcast for Inquiry at podcast@centreforinquiry.ca. I read every message.

Politics:

• Canada has not reconciled with its Indigenous peoples
• Trials and tribulations trying to bring a refugee to Canada
• Justin Ling on the right wing media ecosystem
• Andrew Coyne on the Crisis of Canadian Democracy

Science and Environment:

• Gaia Vince identifies the four horsemen of the Anthropocene
• Everything you always wanted to know about the solar system* (*but were afraid to ask)
• Jargon or gobbledygook? Dr. Jonathan Stea on evidence-based medicine over wellness misinformation
• A little less livestock, a lot more action - with Mark Lynas
• New clear nuclear news (Part I)
• Is nuclear energy low carbon, cost efficient, and sustainable? (Part II)
• Aaron Devor explains the ABCs of the Trans+ community

Philosophy and Religion:

• Burkas, beatings and bicycles - The life of Yasmine Mohammed
• Nigerian Nightmare: The personal toll of being a Humanist
• The Examined Run
• Modern Stoicism for modern life, with modern Stoic Donald Robertson
• Once Upon a Prime
• Can We Have a Conversation? Exploring Polarization to Find Common Ground
• Living life as a Humanist, with Steve Ghikadis 

Business and Economy:

• Cell phones, Cinemas, and Comestibles: Canada’s Conundrum with Monopolies
• Leslie’s Diatribes #4: AI: Show Me the Money!
• The building blocks of corporate scandals: Guido Palazzo reveals the Dark Pattern

Hear me discuss Bill 21 with a secularist supporter in January

This announcement was also published in the January 2026 edition of Critical Links. 

Few issues have split the Canadian secular community like Quebec's Bill 21. Though CFIC spoke out against the legislation when it was enacted in 2019, other secular groups, especially in Quebec, vociferously support the law.

With the Supreme Court hearing the case March 23 - 27, 2026, the time is right for secularists who disagree about the merits of Bill 21 to have a principled discussion. (You can find a primer on Bill 21 with many links to previous Critical Links articles here.)

Join Leslie Rosenblood, Secular Chair of CFIC (and host of Podcast for Inquiry), and Michel Virard, co-founder of Association Humaniste du Quebec, on Sunday January 18 at 11:00am ET for a conversation about whether Bill 21 advances the cause of secularism in Canada, or if it is a regressive piece of legislation that violates the rights of Quebecers. (Podcast for Inquiry's third and fourth episodes (released in February 2022) were dedicated to Bill 21; Catherine Francis believes it is a bad law, while Caroline Russell-King is staunchly in favour - with both arguing from a secular perspective.)

Register for "2 Solitudes of Secularism" here, organized and hosted by The New Enlightenment Project.

Podcast for Inquiry S04E25: Living life as a Humanist, with Steve Ghikadis

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.

I speak with Steve about his book, Humanism from the Heart. We discuss the many themes and ideas in his 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”. 

Support Podcast for Inquiry on Patreon, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts (Spotify Apple YouTube Music Deezer Player.fm), or listen here:  

A video recording is also available: 

I've been published in a book!

Humanist Canada has just published a collection of essays in Humanism: Canadian Perspectives | Humanisme : Perspectives canadiennes which includes two contributions from me.

One is a personal essay, entitled Humanism over Atheism, that is an updated version of my 2011 post, Why I don't describe myself as an atheist. The second is on behalf of the Centre for Inquiry Canada, and summarizes the findings of the Cost of Religion in Canada research reports I helped write a few years ago. 

I'm looking forward to receiving my copy; feel free to support Humanist Canada by purchasing one for yourself as well.

Podcast for Inquiry S04E24: Can We Have a Conversation? Exploring Polarization to Find Common Ground, with Jasmin Faulk

My 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. 

Support Podcast for Inquiry on Patreon, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts (Spotify Apple YouTube Music Deezer Player.fm), or listen here:  

A video recording is also available: 

Stand Up Comedy: Looking for work

I continue to enjoy writing and performing stand up comedy. My second set skewers the job search process. Between employers asking for impossible qualifications, expecting interviewees to be mind readers, and misleading applicants about what they're looking for, it's tough out there. Have a laugh as I describe the absurdity we have all experienced.

Podcast for Inquiry S04E23: The building blocks of corporate scandals: Guido Palazzo reveals the Dark Pattern

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. 

Support Podcast for Inquiry on Patreon, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts (Spotify Apple YouTube Music Deezer Player.fm), or listen here:  

A video recording is also available: 

Podcast for Inquiry S04E22: Andrew Coyne on the Crisis of Canadian Democracy

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.

 Support Podcast for Inquiry on Patreon, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts (Spotify Apple YouTube Music Deezer Player.fm), or listen here:  

A video recording is also available: