A little less livestock, a lot more action - with Mark Lynas
Release Date: 04/30/2025
Is nuclear energy low carbon, cost efficient, and sustainable? Jason Donev has the answers.
The Podcast For Inquiry
If uranium in a nuclear power plant emits so much radiation it boils tons of water, how safe is it for workers? Given the huge facilities required and massive mining efforts, is nuclear truly carbon neutral? Is there enough uranium in the earth for nuclear energy to be a long term source of electricity? If we build more nuclear plants, will we retire fossil fuel sources of electricity or simply increase our electricity usage accordingly? Jason Donev answers all these questions, and more, in our second conversation on nuclear energy. References from our conversation: ...
info_outline
BONUS: BAHACON 4 in Sarnia Ontario, August 8-10, 2025
The Podcast For Inquiry
The fourth BAHACON is coming in a little over two month’s time. Leslie speaks 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 Podcast for Inquiry is hosted by Leslie Rosenblood and brought to you by the . ! Produced by Zack Dumont, Martin Zielinski, and Leslie Rosenblood. Support Podcast for Inquiry on Patreon: . Send your thoughts and feedback to .
info_outline
New clear nuclear news, with Jason Donev
The Podcast For Inquiry
Prof. Jason Donev is tenured at the University of Calgary. He leads the world’s largest and most used energy resource for adults, . 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...
info_outline
A little less livestock, a lot more action - with Mark Lynas
The Podcast For Inquiry
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...
info_outline
Nigerian Nightmare: The personal toll of being a Humanist, with Mubarak Bala
The Podcast For Inquiry
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...
info_outline
Cell phones, Cinemas, and Comestibles: Canada’s Conundrum with Monopolies, with Vass Bednar
The Podcast For Inquiry
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...
info_outline
Trials and tribulations trying to bring a refugee to Canada
The Podcast For Inquiry
In 2019, Brian and Brent (members of the Calgary-based ) 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 -...
info_outline
Distinguishing jargon from gobbledygook - Dr. Jonathan Stea on evidence-based medicine over wellness industry misinformation
The Podcast For Inquiry
(, ) 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...
info_outline
Burkas, beatings and bicycles - The life of Yasmine Mohammed
The Podcast For Inquiry
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...
info_outline
Everything you always wanted to know about the solar system* (*but were afraid to ask), with John E. Moores
The Podcast For Inquiry
(, ) 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...
info_outlineMark 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:
-
Reduce or eliminate human consumption of beef and lamb (See https://ourworldindata.org/global-land-for-agriculture)
-
Remove legal and regulatory barriers to genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
-
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.
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 [email protected].