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 S01E12: David Good on the Yanomami and the Good Project

What is it like to stand astride two different worlds? Few people know better than David Good, born to an American father and Yanomami mother. Listen to David describe the experience of meeting his mother in the jungle after twenty years in suburban America and talk about the Yanomami equivalent of laws and means of settling disputes. Learn more about his efforts to protect the Yanomami way of life at The Good Project. 

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Podcast for Inquiry S01E08: Feminism for Women with Julie Bindel

Julie Bindel (@bindelj) is a journalist, writer, broadcaster, and researcher. She joins Podcast for Inquiry to talk about her new book, Feminism for Women. Julie covers previous and current waves of feminism, the lie young women have been fed about feminism, and why she believes marriage can never be a feminist act. We discuss men’s role in the feminist movement, Julie’s position on prostitution, and what’s next for the feminist movement. Feminism for Women is currently available in North America as an e-book and the paperback edition will be released on September 27, 2022.  

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Podcast for Inquiry S01E07: How to Have Impossible Conversations with Matthew McManus

Matt McManus (@MattPolProf) is a lecturer at who discusses conservatism from a progressive standpoint. We talk about seeking out those who disagree with you while being open to new arguments, evidence, and perspectives. Not everyone is willing to argue in good faith, but fortunately there are “tells” that signal this disposition before one makes a significant investment of time and energy engaging. There are pitfalls involved in such an effort, and Matt examines ways they can be avoided.

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Podcast for Inquiry S01E05: The State of Democracy in the World with Mariam Mufti

I speak with Dr. Mariam Mufti, an Associate Professor of political science at the University of Waterloo, in the fifth episode of Podcast for Inquiry. We discuss the various waves of democracy in the past century, and the backlash to them. We talk about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and how most democratic countries have united against it (at least so far). We also look at what has led to the recent decrease in trust in public institutions, and why democratic voters support authoritarian leaders like Bolsonaro, Modi, Erdogan, and Duterte. Mariam provides suggestions on what citizens and countries can do to protect democracy, and discusses whether there is an inherent contradiction between Islam and democracy. Miriam does her best to convince me that, despite recent setbacks, democracy is not a lost cause around the globe.

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The episode is also available on YouTube (due to a technical glitch, video is not available):

Podcast for Inquiry S01E04: Caroline Russell-King Argues For Quebec’s Bill 21

The fourth episode of Podcast for Inquiry features Caroline Russell-King discussing the secular case for Bill 21, in the second instalment of a two-part series. Caroline describes the harms Bill 21 is intended to mitigate, and whether they justify the nontrivial limitations it places on religious expression. Caroline and I discuss why Bill 21 has so split the secular community in Canada, and whether she sees any room for improvement.

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Podcast for Inquiry S01E03: Against Bill 21 with Catherine Francis

In its third episode, Podcast for Inquiry begins a special two-part series about Quebec's Bill 21, which prohibits most government employees from wearing religious symbols. This issue has split Canada’s secular community like no other. The divide is largely geographic; most secularists within Quebec support Bill 21, while a majority in the rest of Canada oppose it, calling it an act of discrimination or racism. In this episode, I speak with Catherine Francis, a Toronto lawyer, about her opposition to Bill 21. Starting with a history of the bill, from its introduction in Quebec's National Assembly through to its eventual passage, Catherine summarizes the numerous legal challenges it has overcome to date and the likely course of future court cases. Catherine explains why she does not consider Bill 21 to be a "secularism law" and why the legislation is bad for Quebec and Canada.

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Podcast for Inquiry S01E02: Can Cultural Criticism Come Only from Within? - with Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson

The Centre for Inquiry Canada's Podcast for Inquiry has released its second episode, a conversation about culture and responsibility with Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson (@LloydHawkeye7), a retired Indigenous psychologist and scholar and president of the New Enlightenment Project. Lloyd and I discuss the NEP and what he hopes to accomplish with it. We also talk about the moral obligations one has to advocate for change from within one's culture, and whether such critiques should only come from within. Our conversation includes how he would like to improve aboriginal culture and broader Canadian society, as well as how to deal with the scourge of online misinformation. 

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The episode is also available via video: