Intelligent Design The Future

On this episode of ID the Future Casey Luskin continues his examination of Nature's "15 Evolutionary Gems" packet, going through the literature on small-scale, micro-evolutionary changes -- and how they fail to account for larger, macro-evolutionary changes. Listen in as Luskin discusses changes in birds' beaks and guppies' spots and what they really tell us about evolutionary theory. For more on the "evolutionary gems," Check out Evolution News & Views.

On this episode of ID the Future, Casey Luskin reports on a 2009 peer-reviewed paper arguing for the irreducible complexity of two systems vital to bird flight -- feathers and the avian respiratory system. The author, Leeds University professor Andy McIntosh, challenges his critics to consider the design hypothesis as a valid scientific assumption "borne out by the evidence itself." Read more about the paper on Evolution News & Views.

On this episode of ID The Future, Discovery Institute Senior Fellow David Klinghoffer discusses the recent move by National Review editor Rich Lowry to sever ties with two regular contributors, John Derbyshire and Robert Weissberg, after discovering their connections to racialist groups promoting race superiority, eugenics, and other decidely un-American ideas. Klinghoffer illustrates how Darwinian evolution informs proponents of these ideas, and how important it is to identify and root out this kind of thinking before it has a chance to pollute respectable institutions and publications. Read Klinghoffer's coverage of this issue on Evolution News & Views.

Are refereed scientific journals vehicles for progress or propaganda? The journal Nature was first published in 1869 as a vehicle for promoting "progressive" and "controversial" ideas like Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection and universal common ancestry. In 2009, Nature released a free online packet entitled "15 Evolutionary Gems", designed to help people promote and defend the theory of evolution. Listen in as Casey Luskin explores this modern attempt to promote Darwinism and how it misses the mark. Listen to part 2,3, and 4 of this podcast series. Read more about Nature's evolution promotion packet on Evolution News & Views.

On this episode of ID the Future, host David Boze interviews Dr. Cornelius Hunter about serveral lines of evidence against Darwinian evolution found in the hammerhead shark. The unique design of the hammerhead's aerodynamic head, or cephalofoil, includes electromagnetic tracking of prey and binocular vision. Although new research reported in Science Daily gratuitously presents these unique features as a product of unguided evolution, the Darwinian framework fails to offer any insight into how they might have arisen. Dr. Cornelius G. Hunter is Adjunct Professor at Biola University and author of the award-winning Darwin’s God: Evolution and the Problem of Evil. His blog can be found at darwins-god.blogspot.com.

On this episode of ID the Future, David Boze addresses the false claims of Media Matters, a popular leftist website that has framed the new Tennessee academic freedom law as a "slickly crafted proposal to allow religion in the science classroom" while ignoring the actual content of the law. In similar fashion, Media Matters has also disregarded public documents while making false assertions against the Discovery Institute. Listen in as Boze responds to these wrongful attacks and explains why they're being waged.

On this episode of ID the Future, host David Boze interviews Casey Luskin about the recent passing of an academic freedom law in Tennessee that allows teachers to discuss both the scientific strengths and weaknesses of controversial scientific theories. Although the bill had overwhelming bipartisan support, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam opted to let it pass into law without his signature, issuing a statement that mirrored the rhetoric of the Darwin Lobby. Such critics claim that the bill is unnecessary, but as Luskin points out, there have been several incidences over the last few years that have illustrated the need to support critical thinking in the classroom.

As Tennessee becomes the latest state to enact academic freedom legislation, listen in on testimony to the Texas State Board of Education, who in 2009 held public hearings on revised science education standards. As one college instructor put it: "We need for our students to come to us at the college level able to think, and simply giving them a one-sided view of thinking in a purely Darwinian model is, in my opinion, not right." Ultimately, the board decided to improve the "strengths and weaknesses" language of the original standards in a victory for scientists and educators in favor of teaching the scientific evidence for and against evolution. Tune in to hear the arguments that influenced their decision. Follow the latest news on the Tennessee academic freedom law at Evolution News & Views.

On this episode of ID The Future, Casey Luskin discusses how the recent complete sequencing of the gorilla genome has challenged conventional thinking about human ancestry and explains what neo-Darwinists are doing to try to minimize the impact of this new information. Says Luskin: "There is not a clear signal of ancestral relationships that is coming out of the gorilla genome once you add it into the mix." Tune in to hear about this interesting development!

Is the only good science peer-reviewed science? Are there other avenues to present important scientific work? On this episode of ID The Future, Professor of Mathematics Dr. Frank Tipler discusses the pros and cons of peer review and refereed journals. More than fifty peer-reviewed papers discussing intelligent design have been published, but critics of the theory still proclaim a lack of peer-reviewed work as an argument. Listen in as Tipler shows how things have changed with the peer review process and what we can do about it.

Tennessee could soon become the second state to enact academic freedom legislation. Tune in to this episode of ID the Future and learn why academic freedom on evolution in education is so necessary. Anika Smith interviews biology teacher Roger DeHart about teaching the strengths and weaknesses of evolution in South Korea. Mr. DeHart famously taught both sides of Darwin's theory in a Burlington, WA, public school biology class, as documented in the film Icons Of Evolution.

On this episode of ID The Future, we explore how the attacks on skeptics of man-made global warming are similar to those against proponents of intelligent design. Host David Boze talks with Casey Luskin about recent examples of these attacks, why they are happening, and how to handle them. Says Luskin: "Academic freedom for dissenters from global warming and dissenters from Darwinian evolution are being marginalized and, in some cases, being censored in many of the same ways." Tune in to learn more about this interesting development!

On this episode of ID the Future, host David Boze and Casey Luskin discuss the 2012 Fordham Report, which has declared the latest science education standards in Texas to be “exemplary." These standards, which have been decried by the NCSE as "creationist jargon," require students to analyze and evaluate both the strengths and weaknesses of Darwinian evolution. Although the Fordham Report is typically favorable towards science standards that are dogmatically pro-Darwin, its approval of the recent Texas science standards aligns with the Discovery Institute's support of a more thorough study of Darwinian evolution.

On this podcast David Boze interviews biotech consultant Dr. Robin Zimmer about Tennessee's House Bill 368, which promotes academic freedom on science issues. The bill would protect teachers and school districts who wish to promote critical thinking and objective discussion about controversial science issues such as biological evolution, climate change and human cloning. Dr, Zimmer clears up some of the misconceptions of the bill that have appeared in the media since it was passed. The bill is now being considered by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam.

On this episode of ID The Future, mathematician David Berlinski and biochemist Michael Denton discuss what a post-Darwinian future will look like as it relates to mathematics and biology. Berlinski explores the timelessness of numbers, while Denton expounds on his compelling top-down view of biology. Berlinski is author of the recent book 1,2,3: Absolutely Elementary Mathematics. Denton's most recent work is Nature's Destiny. Tune into the final portion of this exciting discussion!