Podcast for Inquiry S04E07: Cell phones, Cinemas, and Comestibles: Canada’s Conundrum with Monopolies, with Vass Bednar

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, and what the future might hold. 

Relevant resources:

• NICE, the Network of Independent Cinema Exhibitors: https://www.nicecinema.ca/2024/03/12/report-the-state-of-independent-film-exhibition-in-canada 
  
• Access to Markets https://accesstomarkets.org/about/ 
  
• Statistics Canada and Canadian Competition Bureau paper on markups: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/catalogue/11F0019M2025001 

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Podcast for Inquiry S04E05: Distinguishing jargon from gobbledygook - Dr. Jonathan Stea on evidence-based medicine over wellness industry misinformation

Dr. 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 gibberish. “Quantum neurological reset therapy” should get your spidey sense tingling, and Jonathan shares a few other signs of pseudoscientific grift as well. 

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Podcast for Inquiry S04E04: Burkas, beatings and bicycles - The life of Yasmine Mohammed

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” to a devout Muslim man, and how Canada failed to protect her due to the bigotry of low expectations. She describes her journey from non-practicing Muslim to becoming an open atheist, and how the trauma of her childhood continued to haunt her as an adult. We also discuss how countries suffer under Islamic rule, the particular hatred of Jews that is a core element of Islam, and the origin of and problems with the term Islamophobia. 

Learn more about Yasmine and support her efforts: 

Free Hearts Free Minds

Yasmine Mohammed Podcast

Unveiled: How the West Empowers Radical Muslims

Clarity Coalition

Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, BlueSky

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Podcast for Inquiry S04E03: Everything you always wanted to know about the solar system* (*but were afraid to ask), with John E. Moores

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 about planetary geophysics. In addition to talking about the book, John answers some of Leslie’s pressing questions about the solar system, including: How do planets and moons become tidally locked? Why are most planets in the solar system aligned in a plane? Why are there gaps in Saturn’s rings? Is there life elsewhere in the solar system, or in the universe?

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Podcast for Inquiry S04E02: Gaia Vince identifies the four horsemen of the Anthropocene

Gaia Vince (@wanderinggaia) is an award-winning science writer and author. She is particularly interested in the interaction between human systems and Earth’s planetary systems. Her research has taken her around the world. Gaia’s latest book is Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World. We are already at 1.6 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures, with significantly more to come. The four horsemen of the anthropocene - fire, heat, drought, and flood - will lead human migration on an unprecedented scale. Gaia describes what we must do, individually and collectively, to prepare. 

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Podcast for Inquiry S03E24: Paco Calvo considers the possibility of plant intelligence

Paco’s thesis is a provocative one: plants are, in a meaningful sense, intelligent. Paco discusses what intelligence is, and how we might recognize it in other beings. People used to believe that only humans are intelligent. Over time, other mammals were deemed to also think and feel. Today, most people grant that many animals, such as birds and octopi, exhibit intelligent behaviours. Paco extends this to  plants by detailing what science has to say - both theoretically and empirically - about the hypothesis of plant intelligence. The conversation concludes with some thoughts about the moral and philosophical implications if plants are found to be truly intelligent.

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Podcast for Inquiry S03E23: Heresy: Jesus Christ and the Other Sons of God, with Catherine Nixey

Why do scholars now refer to early Christianities instead of early Christianity? How has the meaning of the word “Heresy” changed from its original definition to taking on its current connotations? Why did Christianity grow from a fringe cult with few followers and disdained by the intelligentsia and people in power to becoming the largest religion in the world today? What did humanity lose with Christianity’s rise? 

Catherine Nixey answers all these questions and more as she discusses her new book, Heresy, on Podcast for Inquiry. 

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Podcast for Inquiry S3E19: Kate Cohen believes atheists should be out and proud

Kate Cohen talks about her journey from privately knowing she was a non-believer to writing We of Little Faith: Why I Stopped Pretending to Believe (And Maybe You Should Too). She discusses how being an atheist and a commitment to honesty informed how she raised her children, and how being forthright about her lack of belief in social interactions has simplified her life. We also talk about some of the challenges associated with being an open atheist.

Kate is a Washington Post columnist and some of the articles she references in the conversation are below. 

• A Car Ride with Lena
• In America you have to opt out of religion in public life. That's backwards. 
• America doesn't need more God. It needs more atheists. 

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Podcast for Inquiry S3E17: Science Denial: Why It Happens and What To Do About It, with Gale Sinatra

Everyone is vulnerable to fallacies that can lead to misunderstanding scientific topics. In her book (written with Barbara Hofer), Science Denial: Why It Happens and What To Do About It, Gale investigates many of these, including:

• Cognitive biases
• Emotions
• Motivated reasoning 
• Identities 

Gale also explains what all of us can do to increase our scientific literacy. Science is better understood as a process, with different disciplines advancing knowledge via different means, employing various techniques. It is much more than just a collection of facts to be understood. We can also move from an absolutist view of the world to a more evaluative perspective, and with that additional complexity and nuance comes a deeper and more accurate understanding.

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Podcast for Inquiry S03E15: Kelly Weinersmith asks: Are we ready to live off-planet?

Dr. Kelly Weinersmith (@FuSchmu) is the co-author (with her husband Zach) of Soonish and A City on Mars. Kelly maintains that while having humans living off Earth would be awesome, we’re simply not ready for it yet. She answers many of my questions: Why can’t we go to Mars if we have the will? Why can’t we all just get along? Why should we expand? Why is building a habitable space station harder than settling on Mars or the moon? What laws would apply in any off-Earth settlement? Where should we focus our space research efforts? 

Kelly also goes on a rant about Helium 3. 

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Podcast for Inquiry S3E13: The Ancient Art of Thinking for Yourself, with Robin Reames

Robin Reames is the incoming Culbertson Chair of English at Indiana University. She researches and writes about the history of ideas, particularly lost ideas from the ancient Greek rhetorical tradition that can enrich our lives today. I ask Robin about her book, The Ancient Art of Thinking for Yourself: The Power of Rhetoric in Polarized Times, starting with the question: What is rhetoric? Robin goes on to explain why emotions and values are more compelling persuaders than facts. We discuss whether media outlets report on events as they happened, or condition you to respond in a particular way. Robin describes the power of the word “alternative”, as well as the power of fear. There is much we can learn from ancient Athens.  

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Podcast for Inquiry S3E12: What’s the point if there’s no god? Ralph Lewis has an answer.

Dr. Ralph Lewis is an Associate Professor, practicing psychiatrist, and blogs for Psychology Today. Dr. Lewis explores the themes in his book, “Finding Purpose in a Godless World: Why We Care Even if the Universe Doesn’t”, including addressing some key questions:

• Does the universe have a purpose?
• Why are we humans so prone to believe that the universe is inherently purposeful?
• If the universe has no purpose, does that mean human lives are meaningless and don’t matter?
• How do we make moral judgments if we have no external or  objective foundation for them?

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Podcast for Inquiry S3E11: The Founding Myth with Andrew Seidel

Andrew Seidel (@AndrewLSeidel) is the author of The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism is un-American, and works for Americans United for Separation of Church and State. He and Leslie discuss the birth of the United States and its founding documents. Andrew reveals that America was not intended to be in any way a Christian nation, yet a significant minority has come to believe that is not the case. Andrew also talks about the very real threat that today’s Christian Nationalists pose to American democracy. 

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Podcast for Inquiry S03E07: Misguided: My Jesus Freak Life In A Doomsday Cult with Perry Bulwer

Perry Bulwer (Facebook) speaks about his part-memoir, part-exposé book, Misguided: My Jesus Freak Life in a Doomsday Cult. Perry describes what first attracted him to the cult, and why he stayed in it for nearly 20 years. Perry recounts the lasting damage from his time in the Children of God, to himself and especially to those born into it. 

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Podcast for Inquiry S03E06: Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will, with Kevin Mitchell

Kevin Mitchell (@WiringtheBrain) is Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin and writes the blog Wiring the Brain. His book, Free Agents, argues that evolution gave us Free Will. Kevin begins by describing free will, how life has it but rocks do not, and the gradient of choice from paramecia to humans. He talks about the thought experiment of “Rewinding the Tape” and whether someone could have done otherwise under identical circumstances. Kevin discusses the fundamental indeterminacy woven into the fabric of the universe at the quantum scale, and how that combines with chaotic systems to make many aspects of the universe both unpredictable and undetermined. Finally, Kevin speculates about the ramifications of his research and findings on social intuitions and institutions.

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Podcast for Inquiry S03E05: Julien Musolino asks, Who cares if Libertarian Free Will is scientifically incoherent?

Dr. Julien Musolino is a cognitive scientist and author of The Soul Fallacy. He explains why the intuitively, commonly-held notion of free will - known as “libertarian” or “contra-causal” - is scientifically incoherent. This has some implications for how we view ourselves and how we treat others, but on many levels it also doesn’t matter. Julien restores the concept of free will by providing a different definition of free will at a higher level of abstraction. Along the way, Julien and I delve into ideas from philosophy, morality, politics, and sociology.

Publications referenced in the conversation:

• For the law, neuroscience changes nothing and everything, by Joshua Greene
• Moral Responsibility Reconsidered, by Gregg D. Caruso
• Free is as real as baseball, by Sean Carroll  

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Podcast for Inquiry S03E01: Liberalism a post-liberal world, with Russell Blackford

 A new year, a new season of Podcast for Inquiry!

Podcast for Inquiry starts 2024 with a deep discussion into the philosophical concept of liberalism, and of how Western culture has strayed from it as an ideal. Russell Blackford (@Metamagician) is a philosopher, literary critic, and widely published author. Russell talks about how the philosophical principle of Liberalism runs through his two most recent books, The Tyranny of Opinion and How We Became Post-Liberal. Our conversation starts with a definition of how Liberalism emerged over the past few centuries, and delves into two of its core concepts: free speech and toleration. We also discuss how group dynamics can lead to polarization and how society can return to liberal values. 

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Podcast for Inquiry S02E24: Gretchen Morgenson on her book These are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs -- and Wrecks -- America

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 describes 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. 

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Podcast for Inquiry S02E21: Dr. Evelyn Forget believes Canadians need Basic Income

 Dr. Evelyn Forget is Canada’s foremost expert on Basic Income, and the author of Basic Income for Canadians: From the COVID-19 Emergency to Financial Security for all. Dr. Forget describes what Basic Income is, and how it differs from UBI (Universal Basic Income). She talks about the results of a Basic Income pilot conducted in Canada, and answers the question: If Basic Income is such a great idea, why aren’t we doing it already? Finally, Dr. Forget explains what a Canadian Basic Income program would look like. 

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Podcast for Inquiry S02E17: How Minds Change with David McRaney

On this week's Podcast for Inquiry, I speak with David McRaney (@davidmcraney) about his book, “How Minds Change”. We explore how social context is critical when people form their opinions. People don’t change their minds in a vacuum, and David describes how network effects lead to social cascades, such as how widespread resistance to equal marriage flipped to widespread acceptance in an astonishingly short period. David quizzes me about the most recent movie I watched as a demonstration of how to get people to think differently. We discuss the role of truth in persuasion, and the utter failure of the “information deficit hypothesis”. You can learn more from David via his podcast You Are Not So Smart and on his website at davidmcraney.com. 

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