In June 1860, just seven months after Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, three men hotly debated the merits of Darwin's argument at a meeting of the British Association. Biologist Thomas Henry Huxley and botanist Joseph Hooker defended Darwin's theory. English bishop, speaker, and writer Samuel Wilberforce critiqued it. And though he was a man of the cloth, Wilberforce did not build a theological case against Darwin. Rather, he evaluated the argument for natural selection on scie...
Oct 16, 2024•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Imagine a large area with gentle rolling hills and valleys, or perhaps a rugged terrain complete with steep mountains and impassible gullies. Now imagine those scenes plotted out in a three-dimensional graph. What your picturing may look similar to the virtual fitness landscapes biologists generate to visualize the variation in population for some species. On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid welcomes Dr. Brian Miller to discuss evolutionary fitness landscapes and how they bolster the co...
Oct 14, 2024•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast How often do we get to have a respectful conversation with someone who disagrees with us? On this ID the Future out of the archive, philosopher of biology Paul Nelson continues sharing with host Andrew McDiarmid about pursuing intelligent design theory in a science culture committed to naturalism. "In the bouncing of opinions off each other and the exchange of views," says Nelson, "truth should emerge." But how do you communicate with scientists and thinkers trapped in a framework of naturalism?...
Oct 11, 2024•24 min•Ep 1966•Transcript available on Metacast Rolex is well-known the world over for crafting high-quality, innovative time-pieces. But did you know they also award funds to people with innovative ideas in science and technology? On this ID The Future, Texan engineer, writer, and self-taught scientist Forrest M. Mims recounts his experience of winning a Rolex Award for Enterprise in 1993 for his innovative proposal to track the ozone layer through a worldwide ground-based network that utilized his own homemade ozone instruments. Mims discus...
Oct 09, 2024•27 min•Ep 1965•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Stuart Burgess has been studying the arrangement, design, and shape of vertebrate limbs and joints for years. He shares what he learns with engineers working in the field of biomechanics. On this ID The Future, Dr. Burgess discusses his new paper on multi-functioning animal joints with host Dr. Brian Miller. Source
Oct 07, 2024•26 min•Ep 1964•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Jonathan Wells was a true giant of the intelligent design research community. As we mourn his recent passing, we also celebrate anew his considerable contributions to the arguments for intelligent design and the debate over evolution. On this episode of ID The Future out of the vault, Dr. Wells continues a conversation with Tom Woodward on The Universe Next Door. Dr. Wells explains more of the icons of evolution he details in his popular book and why much of what we hear about evolution is w...
Oct 04, 2024•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast f the sun didn't power the photosynthesis of green plants, we wouldn't be breathing right now. And without the finely tuned properties of water, Earth would be a frozen, lifeless wasteland. Coincidence? Or is something else at work? On this episode of ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid continues his ongoing series with Dr. Jonathan McLatchie unpacking the many features of our planet and the cosmos that allow for advanced life like ours to exist. Here, the discussion turns to the life-friendly ...
Oct 02, 2024•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast In his book Darwin’s Black Box, biochemist Michael Behe writes that in order to understand the barriers to evolution, we have to “bite the bullet of complexity.” On this episode of ID The Future, Dr. Jonathan McLatchie is back to help us do just that! In the latest installment of an ongoing series, Dr. McLatchie talks with host Andrew McDiarmid about the remarkable properties of carbon and other non-metal atoms. Source
Sep 30, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast We were saddened to learn of the recent passing of Dr. Jonathan Wells, a true giant of the intelligent design research community. As we mourn his passing, we are also celebrating anew his considerable contributions to the argument for intelligent design and the debate over evolution. On this episode of ID the Future out of the vault, Dr. Wells begins a conversation on The Universe Next Door with Tom Woodward to talk about his popular book Icons of Evolution. This is Part 1 of a two-part intervie...
Sep 27, 2024•20 min•Ep 1960•Transcript available on Metacast The culture of death wrongly interprets the term compassion to mean “to get rid of” rather than its true meaning, “to suffer with.” On this episode, host Eric Anderson welcomes hospice physician Dr. Howard Glicksman to the podcast to discuss physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, the subjects of Dr. Richard Weikart's recent book Unnatural Death: Medicine's Descent From Healing to Killing. Source
Sep 25, 2024•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast On this episode, we’re pleased to share a recent conversation between astronomer Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez and author and teacher Dr. Ken Boa on the Explorers Podcast. The topic is Dr. Gonzalez’s passion for astronomy and the wonders of the cosmos. Dr. Gonzalez explains how he developed a passion for astronomy at an early age and how it fueled his career. He also discusses his book The Privileged Planet and his recent young adult novel The Farm at the Center of the Universe. Source...
Sep 23, 2024•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast On this episode of ID the Future out of the vault, we bring you the last of three short interviews with MIT-trained physicist Dr. Lee Spetner. We were saddened to learn of the recent passing of Dr. Spetner at 91 years old, and we’re sharing these conversations in tribute to his significant contributions to the evolution debate. Host Ira Berkowitz interviews Dr. Spetner in Jerusalem. Together they explore key arguments from Spetner’s books Not by Chance and The Evolution Revolution. Here, Spetner...
Sep 20, 2024•12 min•Ep 1957•Transcript available on Metacast On this episode of ID The Future, we’re bringing you the concluding half of a 2019 interview between Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro and philosopher of science Dr. Stephen C. Meyer. The conversation is now five years old, so it's a good time to dust it off and share it with those who may have missed it or forgotten about it. In Part 2, Shapiro and Meyer discuss the origin of life and the origin of information. They also touch on the evidence for fine-tuning in the universe and the problems with the ...
Sep 18, 2024•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast On this ID The Future, we bring you the first half of Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro’s 2019 interview with philosopher of science Dr. Stephen Meyer on The Ben Shapiro Sunday Special. This exchange happened five years ago now, and we thought it was a good time to put it out there again for those who may not have heard it yet or don’t remember it. Dr. Meyer considers this one of the best interviews he’s done on the subject of his second solo book Darwin’s Doubt. Shapiro was very well-prep...
Sep 16, 2024•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast On this episode of ID the Future from the vault, we bring you the second of three short interviews with MIT-trained physicist Dr. Lee Spetner. We were saddened to learn of the recent passing of Dr. Spetner at 91 years old, and we’re sharing these conversations in tribute to his significant contributions to the evolution debate. Host Ira Berkowitz interviews Dr. Spetner in Jerusalem. Together they explore key arguments from Spetner’s books Not by Chance and The Evolution Revolution. Here, Spetner...
Sep 13, 2024•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Many of us have enjoyed a colorful twilight or a stunning sunset. But how often do we think about the science behind these memorable conditions? Forrest Mims has been measuring the Earth's atmosphere for more than 30 years. On this episode of ID The Future, Mims shares with us some of the secrets he's learned from his long-term research. Mims has forged a distinguished scientific career despite having no academic training in science. He is an instrument designer, science writer, and independent ...
Sep 11, 2024•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast On this episode of ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid reads an exclusive excerpt from the newly revised, rewritten, and updated twentieth anniversary edition of The Privileged Planet. In 2004, astronomer Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez and author Dr. Jay Richards issued a daring hypothesis: that a pattern exists between the requirements for advanced life in the universe and the requirements for fruitful scientific discovery. They argued that this pattern was more conspiracy than coincidence. Now, twent...
Sep 09, 2024•29 min•Ep 1952•Transcript available on Metacast On this episode of ID the Future from the vault, we bring you the first of three short interviews with MIT-trained physicist Dr. Lee Spetner. We were saddened to learn of the recent passing of Dr. Spetner at 91 years old, and we're sharing these conversations in tribute to his significant contributions to the evolution debate. Host Ira Berkowitz interviews Dr. Spetner in Jerusalem. Together they explore key arguments from Spetner’s books Not by Chance and The Evolution Revolution. Source...
Sep 06, 2024•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast In 2004, Dr. Jay Richards and Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez published a bold hypothesis: not only is Planet Earth well-suited for advanced life like ourselves, it’s also finely tuned for scientific discovery. Materialists call it a cosmic coincidence, but the array of evidence Richards and Gonzalez marshal in support of their argument suggests otherwise. On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid sits down with Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez to discuss his newly revised, rewritten, and updated twentieth anni...
Sep 04, 2024•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast In 2004, Dr. Jay Richards and Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez published a bold hypothesis: not only is Planet Earth well-suited for advanced life like ourselves, it's also finely tuned for scientific discovery. Materialists put this down to cosmic coincidence, but the array of evidence Richards and Gonzalez marshal in support of their argument suggests otherwise. On this episode of ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid speaks with Dr. Jay Richards about his work on a revised, rewritten, and updated 20th a...
Sep 02, 2024•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast On this ID the Future episode out of the vault, science historian Michael Flannery concludes his conversation with host Michael Keas about his book Intelligent Evolution: How Alfred Russel Wallace’s World of Life Challenged Darwin. Wallace was co-founder with Charles Darwin of the theory of evolution by random variation and natural selection. Unlike Darwin, however, he saw teleology or purpose as essential to life’s history, and a teleological view as essential to the life sciences. According to...
Aug 30, 2024•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast In 1936, Albert Einstein wrote that "the fact that [the world] is comprehensible is a miracle." But why is the universe comprehensible to us? And is it an evolutionary fluke or a hallmark of design? On this episode of ID The Future, we’re sharing a recent conversation between Dr. Jonathan Witt and author and teacher Dr. Ken Boa. The topic is Dr. Witt's book A Meaningful World: How the Arts and Sciences Reveal the Genius of Nature. In this discussion, Dr. Witt and Dr. Boa discuss the meaning and ...
Aug 28, 2024•38 min•Ep 1947•Transcript available on Metacast For 25 years, Dr. John D. Wise considered Darwinian evolution the most plausible explanation for life's origin and development. But as he studied the latest evidence in molecular biology, genetics, astronomy, and other fields, he began to realize that modern science was confirming many of the predictions and arguments of intelligent design. On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid talks with professor and author Dr. John D. Wise about his surprising journey from atheism to Christianity. Sour...
Aug 27, 2024•40 min•Ep 1946•Transcript available on Metacast On this episode of ID the Future out of the vault, science historian and host Michael Keas talks with fellow science historian Michael Flannery about his book Intelligent Evolution: How Alfred Russell Wallace’s World of Life Challenged Darwin. Flannery tells of Darwin’s involvement in the Plinian Society, a “freethinkers” group at Edinburgh University in Scotland where he studied medicine as a teenager. It was there that he first encountered radical philosophical materialism, the worldview that ...
Aug 23, 2024•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast On this episode of ID The Future, we’re sharing the second half of an interview between philosopher of science Dr. Stephen Meyer and author and radio/podcast host Justin Brierley. The interview delves into the main arguments of Dr. Meyer’s most recent book Return of the God Hypothesis, but it also serves as an update on the status of intelligent design and the growing interest in design arguments in both academia and the public square. In part 2, Meyer refutes the multiverse hypothesis and expla...
Aug 21, 2024•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast On this episode of ID The Future, we’re sharing the first half of an interview between philosopher of science Dr. Stephen Meyer and author and radio/podcast host Justin Brierley. The interview delves into the main arguments of Dr. Meyer’s most recent book Return of the God Hypothesis, but it also serves as an update on the status of intelligent design and the growing interest in design arguments in both academia and the public square. In Part 1, Meyer and Brierley discuss the current status of i...
Aug 19, 2024•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s ID The Future out of the vault, host Robert Crowther welcomes philosopher of science Paul Nelson to explore an intriguing tension in the thinking of famous scientist and science popularizer Carl Sagan. Though Sagan was a committed Darwinist and agnostic, he embraced certain ideas consistent with the theory of intelligent design. Could Sagan's methods for detecting extra-terrestrial intelligence be used to make design inferences in the natural world? Listen in as Dr. Nelson discusses t...
Aug 16, 2024•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast A confluence of conditions conspired to bring metals to Earth and make them accessible to humans. Can a Darwinian process take the credit? On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid concludes a two-part conversation with Dr. Eric Hedin, professor emeritus of physics and astronomy at Ball State University in Indiana. Dr. Hedin describes the conditions within ourselves and the conditions within our environment that were finely tuned to allow for our successful utilization of metals. He also spea...
Aug 14, 2024•28 min•Ep 1941•Transcript available on Metacast Humans have successfully utilized metals for millennia, and trace amounts of metals are crucial to our survival. Is that coincidence or something more? On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid begins a two-part conversation with Dr. Eric Hedin, professor emeritus of physics and astronomy at Ball State University in Indiana. Dr. Hedin tells the fascinating story of the origin of metals, the finely tuned set of conditions that allow for our use of metals, and the crucial role metals play in ou...
Aug 12, 2024•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast On this ID the Future out of the vault, host Andrew McDiarmid sits down with historian and philosopher of science Michael Keas to discuss a recent article at Times Higher Education, “My Precious! How Academia’s Gollums Guard Their Research Fields.” The article looks at how scientific progress is being impeded by a culture in which scientists jealously guard their research instead of sharing it. Keas says the problem seems to have gotten worse in recent years but isn’t a new one. He illustrates w...
Aug 09, 2024•17 min•Ep 1939•Transcript available on Metacast 
