Our friends at CFI have announced that Point of Inquiry will continue, which is good news — I would have been deeply saddened to see it cancelled due to my moving onto the JREF. We are also told that all of the previous 200+ episodes that I hosted will continue to be made available.
Point of Inquiry will proceed with three new hosts: Chris Mooney, Karen Stollznow, and Bob Price, all three friends and colleagues of mine in skepticism and humanism. While I had offered to continue hosting Point of Inquiry gratis, because I knew the value of the show for advancing CFI's important mission, CFI's management decided it wasn't the best business decision for them to have the President of a separate organization hosting the show.
I respect that. I also proposed the possibility of the JREF and CFI co-producing the show, in a new spirit of cooperation among national skeptics organizations, which also was not in the cards. Along with Thomas Donnelly (the workaholic producer of the last 200+ episodes), I am really proud of the track record of Point of Inquiry, having built it up over the last four years with Thomas despite occasional internal opposition. And so we are both very happy that the show will continue, and be hosted by three exemplars of the values we tried to advance with the show.
All three of the new hosts are perfect for their new roles. I first met Chris Mooney in the late '90s when I was just getting involved with CFI while in grad school. Over the years, I have really enjoyed seeing him succeed at bringing the public's attention to important issues of science education and public science policy, both through his best-selling books and his national media appearances. And I've enjoyed interviewing him a number of times on Point of Inquiry. Bob Price, an engaging thinker on matters of historical Biblical criticism and popular nonsense claims, will be an excellent host for episodes dealing with religious skepticism. I have known Bob and have admired his work for many years, and recently had the pleasure of spending a weekend with him in the middle of Missouri at a skepticism conference. He is one of the best conversationalists I know, and one of the most popular guests we've had on Point of Inquiry. Karen Stollznow is a rising star in the skeptical movement, and an active paranormal investigator. She has experience with podcasts and I think she will bring a fresh perspective to discussions of the paranormal and pseudoscience. I sincerely wish all three new hosts well, and look forward to seeing what Point of Inquiry becomes going forward.
CFI's press release announcing the new hosts can be found here.