For generations, the hallowed words of the Declaration of Independence that we are endowed by a Creator with certain unalienable rights has inspired not only Americans, but millions around the globe. Yet today, many Americans are skeptical or confused about the Declaration’s key claims. On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid welcomes Dr. John West to the podcast to begin a discussion about his latest book Endowed By Our Creator: The Bible, Science, and the Battle for America’s Soul.
In Part 1, West reviews key words and phrases from the Declaration of Independence to reveal what the founders really meant by them and how they the words were shaped by the philosophical, theological, and scientific consensus of the day. Read More ›
ID The Future listeners now get to enjoy two episode a month from our sister podcast Mind Matters News, a production of the Discovery Institute’s Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence. The Mind Matters News podcast features interviews from experts in computing, engineering, science, and philosophy who bring sanity to the conversation about natural and artificial intelligence. And although the Mind Matters News podcast will not often explicitly discuss intelligent design, it regularly explores the nature of intelligence, the origin of information, and the things that make us uniquely human, concepts that are central to the theory of intelligent design.
On this episode of Mind Matters News, host and neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Egnor welcomes Michael Shermer, historian of science and founder of Skeptic magazine, to discuss Shermer's new book Truth: What It Is, How to Find It, and Why It Still Matters. The conversation quickly evolves into a deep philosophical debate between Egnor and Shermer over whether truths about morality and the universe are created by humans or discovered as objective features of reality. Read More ›
Why has Darwin’s theory of evolution succeeded so dramatically? The official story, of course, is that it provides a sweeping and complete explanation of the development of life on Earth, with the claim that it’s rock solid because it’s grounded in an abundance of evidence. But when we take a closer look at that official story, we see that it actually resembles more of a myth, a legendary origin story that has been championed and propped up successfully for over 160 years. On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid treats you to a reading from False Messiah, a book by Neil Thomas recently published by Discovery Institute Press. The book provides valuable insight around the mythology of Darwinism as well as the mythical figure of Charles Darwin himself.
To help us understand why Darwinism has persisted for so long, it’s helpful to take a closer look at the forces that moved it forward and upheld it, lest we be tempted to think it has succeed purely on the strength of its scientific arguments. Read More ›
How do you separate the facts from the narrative? That can be challenging these days, and the realm of science is no exception. On this ID The Future, enjoy the second half of a conversation with Dr. Casey Luskin that originally aired on the Come Let Us Reason Together Podcast hosted by Lenny Esposito. Casey discusses the growing controversy surrounding Sahelanthropus tchadensis, a fossil often described as one of the earliest human ancestors. But what began as a celebrated evolutionary discovery has now sparked open disagreement among evolutionary scientists themselves.
In this concluding segment, Casey will discuss the telling researcher-to-specimen imbalance in the field of paleoanthropology, the nuance between error and deception in human origins narratives, and the broader implications of the controversy around the Sahelanthropus fossil. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. Read More ›
Science is a very human enterprise, and very human problems can color scientific research as well as the narratives cast around findings and results. On this ID The Future, we’re bringing you the first half of a conversation with Dr. Casey Luskin that originally aired on the Come Let Us Reason Together Podcast hosted by Lenny Esposito. Casey discusses the growing controversy surrounding Sahelanthropus tchadensis, a fossil often described as one of the earliest human ancestors. But what began as a celebrated evolutionary discovery has now sparked open disagreement among evolutionary scientists themselves. In this segment, Casey reviews the history of paleoanthropology, what the field is trying to prove about human origins, and how language, bias, politics, prestige, and funding pressure all play a part in how discoveries are framed and evidence is weighed. This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. Read More ›
In this episode of ID the Future, host Eric Anderson concludes his conversation with medical engineer and scientist Rob Stadler about the divide between high-confidence and low-confidence science. In this segment, Stadler explains how to apply a set of rigorous criteria to the claims of Neo-Darwinism to better evaluate its explanatory power. He argues that many cornerstone proofs for evolution, such as homology and the fossil record, actually represent low confidence science. Rather than providing direct, repeatable evidence of a causal event, these claims often rely on circular reasoning and unproven assumptions that extrapolate far beyond the actual data available. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. Read More ›
What can we learn about science and faith from those who lived before the rise of modern science? On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid welcomes software engineer and intelligent design researcher Winston Ewert to the podcast to discuss his new book The Heavens, The Waters, and the Partridge, a closer look at the interaction between Christianity and science in the thousand years before modern science.
Why pay attention to ancient scientific debates and specifically how early Christian thinkers responded to them? What could possibly be gained from going that far back? As Ewert points out, quite a lot. Tune in to learn more! Read More ›
On this episode of ID the Future, host Andrew McDiarmid sits down with freelance science reporter David Coppedge to explore the fascinating and emerging field of interoception. Unlike our five external senses or proprioception (the awareness of our limbs in space), interoception involves the constant internal communication between our organs and the brain. While much of this signaling happens unconsciously, it's vital in maintaining homeostasis, that dynamic equilibrium that allows our bodies to function under varying conditions.
In this discussion, Coppedge delves into the intricate mechanics behind this internal dialogue, highlighting the role of Piezo proteins—receptors that translate physical pressure into electrical signals via calcium ions. As an example of interoception in action, Coppedge explains how the gut functions effectively as a "second brain," utilizing a massive network of neurons to decide between "attack mode" against pathogens and "repair mode" for healing. By viewing the body as a system of systems, says Coppedge, rather than a collection of isolated organs, researchers are able to uncover new details of the stunning layers of engineering in the human body. Read More ›
How did the giraffe get its long neck? It sounds like the beginning of a children’s bedtime story, and it certainly has been that. But it’s also a matter of serious scientific debate, and the debate continues today. On this installment of ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid concludes his two-part discussion correcting claims of giraffe evolution with retired geneticist Dr. Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig.
In Part 2, Dr. Lönnig challenges the prevailing narrative that the fossil Samotherium major serves as a transitional "missing link" in giraffe evolution. Lönnig argues that this evolutionary interpretation is contradicted by the facts. Instead, he identifies Samotherium as a "mosaic form," an organism possessing a combination of fully developed and basic traits that do not unequivocally connect it to the modern long-necked giraffe.
This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. Read More ›
We’ve all admired the long, majestic neck of the giraffe, and the question remains: how did the giraffe get its long neck? Is it a product of an evolutionary process? Or was a process of foresight and purpose involved? Helping us unpack this today is retired geneticist Dr. Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig, who challenges the traditional narrative of giraffe evolution, noting a sharp disconnect between Darwinian predictions and the actual fossil record. While neo-Darwinism, by default, expects a gradual, step-by-step progression of slight variations leading to the modern giraffe, the geological evidence tells a different story. Learn how the twin problems of stasis in the fossil record and silos in the development of giraffes pose major problems for the standard just-so story of giraffes. Read More ›
