Podcast for Inquiry BONUS episode: BAHACON 4 in Sarnia Ontario, August 8-10, 2025

The fourth BAHACON is coming in a little over two month’s time. I speak with Jeff Brooks about the conference’s location, speakers, and other attractions that makes the Bluewater Atheists, Humanists, and Agnostics conference so popular for attendees from across North America. Learn more and register at https://bahacon.com/ 

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A video recording is also available: 

Come see me perform stand up comedy!

 On June 10th, I'll be part of a cabaret showcase of comedic talent from across Toronto. Come see my five-minute set next Tuesday at 7:30 PM at the Comedy Bar on Bloor a couple block west of Ossington. Advance tickets are available here. I hope to see you there!

Podcast for Inquiry S04E10: New clear nuclear news, with Jason Donev

 Prof. Jason Donev is tenured at the University of Calgary. He leads the world’s largest and most used energy resource for adults, www.EnergyEducation.ca. As a reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Prof. Donev works to help people understand nuclear power's role in providing reliable energy without emitting greenhouse gases.

Jason talks about how much energy people around the world use, with a reminder that electricity is only a fraction of our overall energy budget. Jason describes nuclear energy’s advantages and disadvantages compared with the other major sources of electricity. We also discuss some concerns people have about nuclear energy, including its overall safety and storing its waste products.

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A video recording is also available: 

Podcast for Inquiry S04E09: A little less livestock, a lot more action - with Mark Lynas

Mark Lynas is the author of several environmental books, including Seeds of Science (2018), Our Final Warning (2020), and the forthcoming Six Minutes to Winter. Until 2024 he was research and climate lead with the Alliance for Science at the Boyce Thompson Institute, an affiliate of Cornell University. Mark is now the policy lead with the pro-science environmental campaign network WePlanet, launched in 2021 and now active in 18 countries. 

Our conversation starts with a recognition of the dire emergency presented by climate change, and that human food production is a significant contributor to humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions. Three changes can greatly reduce the environment impact of feeding ourselves: 

1. Reduce or eliminate human consumption of beef and lamb (See https://ourworldindata.org/global-land-for-agriculture)
2. Remove legal and regulatory barriers to genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
3. Remove legal and regulatory barriers to precision fermentation 

Mark believes a brighter future is possible if we allow our policy decisions to be guided by the best scientific knowledge and insight we have available.

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A video recording is also available: 

Podcast for Inquiry S04E08: Nigerian Nightmare: The personal toll of being a Humanist, with Mubarak Bala

Mubarak Bala was born in Nigeria's Kano State, on the southern coasts of the Sahara Desert, in 1984. He was schooled in both the Islamic and modern education system. This makes him an outlier, since most families believe the two school systems are mutually exclusive. Boko, Western Education, is Haram, or unIslamic.

When Mubarak started doubting the existence of demons, he was told that displaying any doubt was denying the word of the prophet. When his beliefs evolved to atheism, he paid an enormous price for saying so publicly. We talk about his experiences and also about Nigerian society, the Humanist Association of Nigeria, and Mubarak’s plans for the future.

Read Mubarak’s essay, Resolve of a Right-Thinking Nation: https://www.thehuman.team/the-almajiri 

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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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A video recording is also available: 

Podcast for Inquiry S04E06: Trials and tribulations trying to bring a refugee to Canada

In 2019, Brian and Brent (members of the Calgary-based Rocky Mountain Atheists) joined a “Group of Five (G5)” sponsorship committee (one of the ways Canada allows private citizens to resettle refugees in Canada) to bring a UN recognized refugee, Omer, to Canada.

When Omer expressed doubts about his faith, he had to flee his native country of Pakistan due to threats on his life.  Omer has been living in hiding in Nepal for several years. 

Though Omer’s should have been a straightforward case, the experience of navigating the bureaucracies of several nations - as well as the COVID-19 pandemic - has been anything but. Brian and Brent describe the challenges they have experienced with bringing Omer to Canada, as well their insights in Canada’s overall refugee system. 

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A video recording is also available: 

 

Secularism in Canada with Rocky Mountain Atheists

After my successful presentation of Stab Everyone You Love to Rocky Mountain Atheists late last year, I was welcomed back earlier this week to talk about the history of secularism in Canada.

It was wonderful to see some now familiar faces via Zoom and there was a lively Q&A session afterwards. The recording is now available. Watch and enjoy!

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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A video recording is also available: 

Canadian election and democracy for beginners

Last week I had the pleasure to give a talk to the members of Ensaneyoun, a secular group for Arabic-speaking immigrants to Canada. I do not speak any Arabic, but fortunately everyone there spoke English very well. My talk is about Canadian democracy, its institutions and structures, and what each citizen's vote entails. This was followed by a 90-minute Q&A session (not included in the video below). If you want to learn the basics of how Canadian democracy works, invest a half hour. Let me know what you think!