ID the Future Intelligent Design, Evolution, and Science Podcast
Topic

Evolutionary Biology

Abstract luminous DNA molecule, neon helix on purple background. Medical science, genetic, biotechnology, chemistry, biology.
Abstract luminous DNA molecule, neon helix on purple background. Medical science, genetic, biotechnology, chemistry, biology. Vector poster. Licensed via Adobe Stock.

How Intelligent Design Has Flourished In Spite of the Scopes Effect

The Scopes "Monkey" trial of 1925 has cast a long shadow over the evolution debate in the last century, thanks in large part to the Hollywood film Inherit the Wind, which caricatured the trial and promoted stereotypes that still persist today. On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid continues a conversation with Dr. Casey Luskin about the long history of the Scopes effect in science and how intelligent design has managed to flourish in spite of it. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. Read More ›

A Century Later, the Spirit of Scopes is Alive and Well

The Scopes “Monkey” Trial Turns 100 this year. According to secularist legend, the Scopes trial represented a great showdown between ignorant, fundamentalist religion and enlightened, scientific progress. But what really went down in 1925? And a hundred years later, is science still suffering from the Scopes effect? On this episode of ID The Future, Dr. Casey Luskin begins a conversation with host Andrew McDiarmid about the famous trial, the play and movie based on it that reinforced unrealistic stereotypes, and some of the flashpoints in science since the trial that have fanned the flames of the debate over evolution. This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. Read More ›
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Glowing jellyfish swim deep in blue sea. Medusa neon jellyfish fantasy in space cosmos among stars
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Meyer, Behe, and Lennox on Science, God, and Darwin’s Other Doubt

Every Friday we pull a gem out of our archive for those who may not have enjoyed it yet. On today’s ID the Future out of the vault, Oxford’s John Lennox, Lehigh University’s Michael Behe, and Darwin’s Doubt author Stephen Meyer continue a probing conversation with host Peter Robinson on what they see as the growing evidence for intelligent design and the scientific and philosophical problems with Darwinian materialism. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. This interview appears on ID The Future with the kind permission of Peter Robinson and the Hoover Institution. Read More ›
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Drawing copyright Jody Sjogren. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Artist Jody Sjogren on Illustrating the Icons of Evolution

Artistic license has been used to promote Darwinian evolution since the late nineteenth century. Icons of evolution have appeared in textbooks, journals, magazines, and other visual media to promote a materialist worldview that is light on evidence and weighty on assumption. But in 2000, a book came along – Icons of Evolution – that finally exposed the myths, exaggerations, and outright fakery behind ten of the most infamous icons of Darwin’s theory. Today, host Andrew McDiarmid welcomes the illustrator of that ground-breaking book, medical illustrator and artist Jody Sjogren, to discuss her experience of bringing these famous icons to life and working with author Dr. Jonathan Wells on the project. Jody also shares some of her memories of Dr. Wells, Read More ›

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Nature.
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Brian Miller on Advancing Biology Through an Engineering Lens

Can viewing life as designed enhance scientific research? Today, host Andrew McDiarmid speaks with physicist Dr. Brian Miller about the fruitful research that can result when engineering principles are applied to the study of biological systems. Dr. Miller is part of a group that brings together engineers, scientists, and scholars to demonstrate how engineering principles, patterns, and tools can deepen the understanding of biology. The group hosts an annual Conference on Engineering in Living Systems, hosted by the Discovery Institute, that highlights new insights and research projects in this bold new approach to the study of life. Here Dr. Miller gives the lowdown on current research as well as this year's conference. Read More ›
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Excavator working at the demolition of an old industrial buildin
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Jay Richards on the “Ground Clearing” Work of Jonathan Wells

Before the positive case for intelligent design can be received effectively, the case against the Darwinian evolutionary mechanism must be clearly laid out. One man who was instrumental in this initial "ground clearing operation" was biologist Dr. Jonathan Wells, our friend and colleague who passed away in 2024. On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid welcomes Dr. Jay Richards back to the podcast to share his memories of Dr. Wells and discuss the significance of Wells's life and work. Read More ›
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Human embryo on the stage of 16 cells on background with DNA
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Physicist Brian Miller: The Non-Algorithmic Nature of Life

For decades, we’ve thought the control center of life lies in DNA. But a new scientific framework is emerging that challenges that idea, and suggests that vast portions of the genome are immaterial and lie outside the physical world. Today, physicist Dr. Brian Miller shares his perspective on the cutting-edge, potentially revolutionary research of mathematical biologist Dr. Richard Sternberg on the immaterial aspects of the genome. In this exchange, Dr. Miller shares several examples of the immaterial nature of life. These ideas point towards the earliest stages of the next great scientific revolution and have significant implications for the intelligent design debate. Read More ›
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Panda bear eating bamboo and wave
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Evolved or Engineered? A Geneticist Evaluates the Panda’s Thumb

In 1980, influential paleontologist and evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould wrote that “we can know that evolution has happened by the imperfections and oddities that life shows.” But is that true? And what if we take a closer look at those assumed evolutionary oddities and see instead evidence of engineered elegance? On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid welcomes retired geneticist Dr. Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig to the podcast to discuss his new paper reviewing the debate over the panda’s thumb. Giant pandas have an elongated wrist bone, the radial sesamoid, that allows them to handle and eat bamboo with great dexterity. Some claim it’s an imperfectly and inefficiently formed structure that is clear evidence of evolutionary processes at work. Others Read More ›

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A Celebrated Life: Colleagues Remember Dr. Jonathan Wells

On this ID The Future, we bring you excerpts from a recent gathering to celebrate the life of biologist Dr. Jonathan Wells, who passed away in September 2024 at the age of 82. Dr. Wells was one of the first fellows of the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture. In 2000, Wells took the science world by storm with Icons of Evolution, a book showing how biology textbooks routinely promote Darwinism using bogus evidence — icons of evolution like Ernst Haeckel’s faked embryo drawings and peppered moths glued to tree trunks. Dr. Wells's achievements in the field of biology are notable. In this episode you’ll get a glimpse into Dr. Wells’s life and character as well as his relentless search for scientific truth. This episode includes eulogies from Dr. John West, Dr. Paul Nelson, Dr. Richard Sternberg, and Dr. Casey Luskin. Learn more about Jonathan Wells at www.jonathanwells.org. Read More ›
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Robotic engineer automatic mechanic checking quality system of automation robot arms machine in factory. Service programming machinery welding robots in production at factory industry.
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How to Study Biology with Systems Engineering Principles

Traditional methods in biology have proven insufficient for understanding and accurately predicting complex biological systems. Why? The great majority of biologists are trained to study life from the bottom up, as the result of unguided evolutionary processes. It turns out there are better ways to observe, question, hypothesize, experiment, and analyze a complex system. On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid welcomes biochemist and metabolic nutritionist Dr. Emily Reeves to the podcast to discuss her co-authored paper on how biologists can apply principles from systems engineering to biology to better approach the study of complex living systems. Dr. Reeves explains how the new methodology works and how it can produce fruitful scientific research. Read More ›