Point of Inquiry

Solomon Schimmel - Fundamentalism and the Fear of Truth

13 Dec 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Solomon Schimmel is professor of Jewish education and psychology at Hebrew College. He is the author of a number of books, including The Seven Deadly ...

Solomon Schimmel - The Tenacity of Unreasonable Beliefs

05 Dec 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Solomon Schimmel is professor of Jewish education and psychology at Hebrew College. He is the author of a number of books, including The Seven Deadly ...

Jennifer Michael Hecht - Doubt

28 Nov 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Jennifer Michael Hecht is the author of award-winning books of philosophy, history, and poetry, including The End of the Soul: Scientific Modernity, A...

James McGaha - Lights in the Sky

21 Nov 2008

Contributed by Lukas

James McGaha is a retired USAF pilot, astronomer and director of the Grasslands Observatory. He held a TOP SECRET compartmented security clearance and...

Peter Singer - Vegetarianism and the Scientific Outlook

14 Nov 2008

Contributed by Lukas

One of the most controversial and influential philosophers alive today, Peter Singer is DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, and lau...

Peter Singer - Ethics in an Age of Darwin

07 Nov 2008

Contributed by Lukas

One of the most controversial and influential philosophers alive today, Peter Singer is DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, and lau...

The 12th Annual CFI Houdini Seance

01 Nov 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Harry Houdini, the world-famous magician and skeptic, sincerely explored the religion of spiritualism and communication with the dead after his belove...

Todd C. Riniolo - When Good Thinking Goes Bad

25 Oct 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Todd C. Riniolo is an associate professor of psychology at Medaille College. He has written many peer-reviewed articles in the psychological literatur...

Edward Tabash - The U.S. Presidential Election and Secular Values Voters

17 Oct 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Edward Tabash is a constitutional and civil rights lawyer in Beverly Hills, California. He has chaired the National Legal Committee of Americans Unite...

Lawrence M. Krauss - The Fear of Physics

10 Oct 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Lawrence M. Krauss is Foundation Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and Director of the new Origins Initiative at Arizona State Un...

Michael Lackey - Science, Postmodernism, and the Varieties of Black Humanism

03 Oct 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Lackey teaches courses in twentieth-century American and African American literature at the University of Minnesota, Morris. A recipient of th...

Greg Long - The Making of Bigfoot

27 Sep 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Greg Long is a professional writer, investigative journalist, and editor who lives in Washington state. He has been researching and writing about "mys...

Justin Trottier - The Fight for Science and Reason on the Campuses

20 Sep 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Justin Trottier is Executive Director of the Centre for Inquiry in Ontario, the first venue dedicated to secular humanists and freethinkers in Canada,...

Andrew Fraknoi - The Cosmic History of Your Body

12 Sep 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Andrew Fraknoi is the Chair of the Astronomy Program at Foothill College near San Francisco. In 2007, he was selected as Professor of the Year for the...

Barbara Oakley - Social Psychology, Genes and Human Evil

06 Sep 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Barbara Oakley, PhD, has been dubbed a female Indiana Jones — her writing combines worldwide adventure with solid research expertise. Among other ad...

Ronald A. Lindsay - Future Bioethics

30 Aug 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Ronald A. Lindsay is a bioethicist, lawyer, and chief executive officer and senior research fellow of the Center for Inquiry. He is also executive di...

Rev. Michael Dowd - The Marriage of Science and Religion

23 Aug 2008

Contributed by Lukas

The Reverend Michael Dowd, along with his wife, science writer Connie Barlow, have lived permanently on the road for years, sharing a "sacred view of ...

Rev. Michael Dowd - Thank God For Evolution

15 Aug 2008

Contributed by Lukas

The Reverend Michael Dowd, along with his wife, science writer Connie Barlow, have lived permanently on the road for years, sharing a "sacred view of ...

Allan Mazur - Implausible Beliefs

08 Aug 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Allan Mazur, a sociologist and an engineer, is professor of public affairs in the Maxwell School of Syracuse University. Previously a member of the so...

Guy P. Harrison - 50 Reasons People Give For Believing In A God

02 Aug 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Guy P. Harrison is a graduate of the University of South Florida with degrees in history and anthropology. he currently lives in the Cayman Islands, w...

Lewis Wolpert - The Evolutionary Origins of Belief

25 Jul 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Lewis Wolpert is Professor of Biology as Applied to Medicine in the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology of University College, London, foc...

Joe Nickell - Humanistic Skepticism

19 Jul 2008

Contributed by Lukas

The world's leading paranormal investigator, Joe Nickell is a regular contributor to Skeptical Inquirer science magazine. He is the author or editor...

Maggie Jackson - Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age

12 Jul 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Maggie Jackson is an award-winning author and journalist who writes the popular "Balancing Acts" column in the Boston Globe. Her work also has appeare...

Ben Radford - Paranormal Investigation

04 Jul 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Ben Radford is is one of the world's few science-based paranormal investigators, and has done first-hand research into psychics, ghosts and haunted ho...

PZ Myers - Expelled from Expelled

28 Jun 2008

Contributed by Lukas

PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris and the author of Pharyngula, the most heavily-trafficked scien...

PZ Myers - Science and Atheism in the Blogosphere

21 Jun 2008

Contributed by Lukas

PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris and the author of Pharyngula, the most heavily-trafficked scien...

Susan Jacoby - The Age of American Unreason

13 Jun 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Susan Jacoby is the author of Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism. A prominent public intellectual, she frequently appears in publications ...

Taner Edis - Science and Nonbelief

06 Jun 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Taner Edis, born and raised in Turkey, is associate professor of physics at Truman State University and the author of The Ghost in the Universe: God i...

Robert M. Price - Top Secret: The Truth Behind Today's Pop Mysticisms

31 May 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Robert M. Price is professor of theology and scriptural studies at Coleman Theological Seminary and professor of Biblical Criticism at the Center for ...

Jamy Ian Swiss - Skepticism and the Art and Philosophy of Magic

24 May 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Jamy Ian Swiss is universally considered one of the world's top sleight of hand performers, famous to magicians for his subtlety, skill and depth of u...

Paul Kurtz - The Transnational Center for Inquiry

16 May 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Paul Kurtz, considered by many the father of the secular humanist movement, is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the State University of New York at...

Austin Dacey - Moral Values After Darwin

10 May 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Austin Dacey serves as a respresentative to the United Nations for CFI, and is also on the editorial staff of Skeptical Inquirer and Free Inquiry maga...

Chris Hedges - I Dont Believe in Atheists

02 May 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Hedges is a journalist and author who focuses on American and Middle Eastern politics and society. He is currently a senior fellow at The Nation...

John Shook - Naturalism and the Scientific Outlook

26 Apr 2008

Contributed by Lukas

John Shook is Vice President for Research and Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Inquiry Transnational in Amherst, N.Y. He received his PhD in p...

Michael Shermer - The Mind of The Market

18 Apr 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Shermer is the author of ten books, including the bestselling Why People Believe Weird Things and The Science of Good and Evil. An adjunct pro...

Tom Flynn - Ingersoll: The Most Famous Person You Have Never Heard Of

12 Apr 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Tom Flynn is editor of Free Inquiry Magazine and director of the Robert Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum. He also directs traditional video operation...

Marc Hauser - Moral Minds

04 Apr 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Marc Hauser is an evolutionary psychologist and biologist. He is Harvard College Professor and Professor of Psychology, and Director of the Primate Co...

Sir Harold Kroto - Science Education and Freethinking

29 Mar 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Sir Harold Kroto, winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, is in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at The Florida State University. He...

Austin Dacey - The Secular Conscience

22 Mar 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Austin Dacey serves as a respresentative to the United Nations for CFI, and is also on the editorial staff of Skeptical Inquirer and Free Inquiry maga...

Norm Allen - African American Religiosity, Humanism, and Politics

14 Mar 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Norm Allen is executive director of African Americans for Humanism, an educational organization primarily concerned with fostering critical thinking, ...

Robert M. Price - The Paperback Apocalypse

07 Mar 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Robert M. Price is professor of theology and scriptural studies at Coleman Theological Seminary and professor of Biblical Criticism at the Center for ...

Matthew C. Nisbet - Communicating about Science and Religion

01 Mar 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Matthew C. Nisbet, Ph.D., is a professor in the School of Communication at American University. His research tracks scientific and environmental contr...

Tom Flynn - The Science vs. Religion Warfare Thesis

22 Feb 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Tom Flynn is editor of Free Inquiry Magazine and director of the Robert Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum. He also directs traditional video operation...

Lynne Kelly - The Skeptics Guide to the Paranormal

16 Feb 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Lynne Kelly is a writer and science educator in Australia, and a founding member of Australian Skeptics. An expert on the paranormal who uses aspects...

Tory Christman - Anti-Science Scientology?

09 Feb 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Tory Christman is a former member of the Church of Scientology. She left the organization in 2000, after being a member for about 30 years and is now ...

Edward Tabash - Science, Secularism, and the 2008 Presidential Election

01 Feb 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Edward Tabash is a constitutional and civil rights lawyer in Beverly Hills, California. Graduating magna cum laude from UCLA in 1973, he graduated fro...

John Allen Paulos - Irreligion

26 Jan 2008

Contributed by Lukas

John Allen Paulos is Professor of Mathematics at Temple University. He has been celebrated as a writer and speaker about the importance of mathematica...

Colin McGinn - Secular Philosophy and Skepticism

18 Jan 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Colin McGinn, educated at Oxford University, is the author of sixteen previous books, including The Making of a Philosopher. He has written for the ...

Aubrey de Grey - Ending Aging

11 Jan 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Aubrey de Grey, PhD, is a biomedical gerontologist and Chairman and Chief Science Officer of The Methuselah Foundation. His major research interests a...

Dr. Stephen Barrett - Watching Out for Quackery

04 Jan 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Stephen Barrett, M.D. has achieved national renown as an author, editor, and consumer advocate. In addition to heading Quackwatch, he is vice-presiden...

Lawrence Krauss - Seducing for Science

28 Dec 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Lawrence M. Krauss is Ambrose Swasey Professor of Physics, Prof of Astronomy, and Director of the Center for Education and Research in Cosmology and A...

Paul Kurtz - Ethics for the Nonreligious

21 Dec 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Paul Kurtz, considered by many the father of the secular humanist movement, is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the State University of New York at...

Student Freethought Leaders Speak Out

14 Dec 2007

Contributed by Lukas

CFI supports a growing network of campus groups on about 200 campuses throughout North America and around the world. While this is a much smaller numb...

Richard Dawkins - Science and the New Atheism

08 Dec 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Richard Dawkins, considered one of the world's most influential scientists, is the first holder of the Charles Simonyi professorship of the public und...

Keith Stanovich - Finding Meaning in the Age of Darwin

30 Nov 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Keith Stanovich holds the Canada Research Chair of Applied Cognitive Science at the Department of Human Development and Applied Psychology, University...

Richard Wiseman - Quirkology

23 Nov 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Richard Wiseman, a psychologist, started his working life as a professional magician. He currently holds Britain's only Professorship in the...

Neil deGrasse Tyson - Communicating Science to the Public

16 Nov 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of America's leading spokespersons for science. The research areas he focuses on are star formation, exploding stars, dwarf...

Michael Behe - The Edge of Evolution

08 Nov 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Michael J. Behe, a central figure in the Intelligent Design movement, is professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania and a senior f...

The 11th Annual Houdini Seance at CFI

02 Nov 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Harry Houdini, the world-famous magician and escape artist, earnestly explored the religion of spiritualism and communication with the dead after his ...

Steven Pinker - The Stuff of Thought

26 Oct 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Steven Pinker, a renowned cognitive neuroscientist, a research psychologist, and is Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. His resea...

Edward Tabash - Why There Really Is No God

19 Oct 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Edward Tabash is a constitutional and civil rights lawyer in Beverly Hills, California. Graduating magna cum laude from UCLA in 1973, he graduated fro...

Barbara Oakley - Evil Genes

15 Oct 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Barbara Oakley, PhD, has been dubbed a female Indiana Jones — her writing combines worldwide adventure with solid research expertise. Among other ad...

Alan Dershowitz - Blasphemy

05 Oct 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Alan Dershowitz, the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, is one of the country's foremost appellate lawyers and a distinguished ...

Joe Nickell - The New Idolatry

28 Sep 2007

Contributed by Lukas

The world's leading paranormal investigator, Joe Nickell is a regular contributor to Skeptical Inquirer science magazine. He is the author or editor o...

Massimo Pigliucci - Making Sense of Evolution

22 Sep 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Massimo Pigliucci is professor of Ecology and Evolution at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and is well known as an outspoken critic of...

Paul Kurtz - The New Atheism and Secular Humanism

14 Sep 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Paul Kurtz, considered by many the father of the secular humanist movement, is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the State University of New York at...

Madeleine Van Hecke - Why Smart People Do Dumb Things

07 Sep 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Madeleine Van KHecke is a licensed clinical psychologist and an adjunct faculty member at North College in Naperville, Illinois. She is a writer, and ...

Dr. Francis Collins - The Language of God

31 Aug 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Francis Collins is one of the world's leading scientists. He has been the longtime head of the Human Genome Project, the groundbreaking international ...

Garrett G. Fagan - Archaeological Fantasies

24 Aug 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Garrett G. Fagan is Associate Professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies at Penn State University. He was educated at Trinity College, Du...

Chris Mooney - Storm World

17 Aug 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Mooney is an acclaimed writer who focuses on subjects at the intersection of science and politics. His writing has appeared in Wired, New Scient...

Peter H. Gilmore - Science and Satanism

10 Aug 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Peter H. Gilmore is the High Priest of the Church of Satan. He has been interviewed on numerous television and radio programs dealing with the topic o...

Carol Tavris - Mistakes Were Made

03 Aug 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Carol Tavris is a social psychologist, lecturer, and writer whose books include Anger and The Mismeasure of Woman. She has written on psychological to...

Peter Irons - God on Trial

27 Jul 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Irons is professor emeritus of political science at the University of California, San Diego. A noted constitutional scholar, historian, and lawy...

Ophelia Benson - Why Truth Matters

20 Jul 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Ophelia Benson is the joint-author (with Jeremy Stangroom) of Why Truth Matters and The Dictionary of Fashionable Nonsense, and Deputy Editor of The P...

Philip Kitcher - Living with Darwin

13 Jul 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Philip Kitcher is the John Dewey Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University. An eminent philosopher, he is the author of many books on science, li...

Christopher Hitchens - God Is Not Great

06 Jul 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Christopher Hitchens, one of the most celebrated social critics of our time, has been a columnist for Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, The Nation, Slate and...

Natalie Angier - The Canon

29 Jun 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Natalie Anger is a Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist for the New York Times. Born in the Bronx borough of New York City, New York, she studied...

Tom Clark - Encountering Naturalism

22 Jun 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Tom Clark is founder and director of the Center For Naturalism, a non profit advocacy organization in the Boston area devoted to educating the public ...

R. Joseph Hoffmann - The Jesus Project

16 Jun 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Joe Hoffmann, formally at Oxford, is director of Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion (CSER). He has appeared widely in the media and ...

Chris Wisnia - Dr. DeBunko

08 Jun 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Wisnia has been involved with the comics self-publishing for several years. The creator of the celebrated comic books Tabloia, and Doris Danger ...

David Triggle - Science and the Public

01 Jun 2007

Contributed by Lukas

David Triggle is distinguished professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo and president of the Center for Inquiry Institute. He is the a...

Jennifer Michael Hecht - The Happiness Myth

25 May 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Jennifer Michael Hecht is the author of award-winning books of philosophy, history, and poetry. Her Doubt: A History (HarperCollins, 2003) demonstrate...

David Koepsell - Why Secular Humanism?

18 May 2007

Contributed by Lukas

David Koepsell is the Executive Director of the Council for Secular Humanism, North America's leading organization for nonreligious people. An author,...

Joe Nickell - The Relics of the Christ

12 May 2007

Contributed by Lukas

The world's leading paranormal investigator, Joe Nickell is a regular contributor to Skeptical Inquiry science magazine. He is the author or editor...

Hemant Mehta - I Sold My Soul on Ebay

04 May 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Hemant Mehta is an honors graduate from the university of Illinois, and has been involved in secularist student activism for years. Early on, he atten...

Taner Edis - Science and Religion in Islam

27 Apr 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Taner Edis, born and raised in Turkey, is associate professor of physics at Truman State University and the author of The Ghost in the Universe: God i...

Matthew C. Nisbet - Selling Science to the Public

21 Apr 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Matthew C. Nisbet, Ph.D., is a professor in the School of Communication at American University. His research tracks scientific and environmental cont...

Phil Plait - The Bad Astronomer

13 Apr 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Phil Plait works in the physics and astronomy department at Sonoma State University. In the early '90's, he started Badastronomy.com, which has become...

Joe Nickell - Debunking in Hollywood?

06 Apr 2007

Contributed by Lukas

The world's leading paranormal investigator, Joe Nickell is a regular contributor to Skeptical Inquiry science magazine. He is the author or editor of...

Nica Lalli - Nothing: Something to Believe In

31 Mar 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Nica Lalli is an art educator working with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She also writes a weekly column in the Brooklyn Paper. In this discussio...

Susan Haack - Defending Science -- Within Reason

23 Mar 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Susan Haack, formerly Fellow of New Hall, Cambridge, and then professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick, is presently Cooper Senior Scholar...

Tawfik Hamid - My Life as a Muslim Terrorist

17 Mar 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Tawfik Hamid, an expert on Islamic terrorism, joined the Islamic group Muslim GI in Egypt, while in medical school. His colleagues in the terror move...

Robert M. Price - Jesus: The Failed Hypothesis

09 Mar 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Robert M. Price is professor of theology and scriptural studies at Coleman Theological Seminary and professor of Biblical Criticism at the Center for ...

Victor Stenger - God: The Failed Hypothesis

03 Mar 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Victor Stenger is Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Hawaii and Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at the University of Colorado. He is a...

Steven Pinker - Evolutionary Psychology and Human Nature

23 Feb 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Steven Pinker, a renowned research psychologist, is Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. His research on cognition and language wo...

Barbara Forrest - The Wedge of Intelligent Design

16 Feb 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Barbara Forrest is a philosopher and public intellectual at Southeastern Louisiana University. Widely praised for her compelling expert testimony in t...

Peter Singer - The Way We Eat

09 Feb 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Singer has been called "the world's most influential living philosopher," by The New Yorker and Time Magazine listed him in "The Time 100," the...

Solomon Schimmel - Specious Proofs for Quranic Divinity

02 Feb 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Solomon Schimmel is a psychologist of religion and Professor of Jewish Education and Psychology at Hebrew College. He has been a Fulbright Senior Rese...

Neil deGrasse Tyson - Death by Black Hole

26 Jan 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of America's leading spokespersons for science. The research areas he focuses on are star formation, exploding stars, dwarf...

John Shook - Scientific Naturalism and its Discontents

20 Jan 2007

Contributed by Lukas

John Shook is Vice President for Research and Research Fellow at the Center for Inquiry Transnational in Amherst, N.Y. He received his PhD in philosop...