Episodes

  • Lost In (Search) Space: Why Randomness Challenges Neo-Darwinian Theory

    Lost In (Search) Space: Why Randomness Challenges Neo-Darwinian Theory
    May 9 2025
    On this episode of ID the Future from our archive, Dr. Paul Nelson talks with Dr. Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig, retired geneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Germany, about randomness in natural selection and why randomness is such a controversial topic.

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    16 mins
  • More Than a Thumb: Integrated Design in the Giant Panda

    More Than a Thumb: Integrated Design in the Giant Panda
    May 7 2025
    Is the famous “panda’s thumb” evidence of unguided evolutionary processes, or is it a masterpiece of engineering and the result of intelligent design? On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid concludes his conversation with retired geneticist, Dr. Wolf-Eckehard Lönnig, an intelligent design pioneer who has been offering robust criticism of Darwinian theory and advocating for intelligent design for over 50 years. The topic is Dr. Lönnig's new paper reviewing the debate over the panda’s thumb. Giant pandas have an extra digit, an elongated wrist bone, that aids the animal in walking and manipulating bamboo with great dexterity. Some claim it's a clumsy structure produced by evolutionary processes. It wouldn't win any design awards, but it gets the job done. Others call it one of the most extraordinary manipulation systems in the mammalian world and clear evidence of purposeful engineering. So which is it? Dr. Lönnig helps us answer that question. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation.

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    43 mins
  • Evolved or Engineered? A Geneticist Evaluates the Panda’s Thumb

    Evolved or Engineered? A Geneticist Evaluates the Panda’s Thumb
    May 5 2025
    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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    34 mins
  • How Darwinism Has Corroded Western Culture

    How Darwinism Has Corroded Western Culture
    May 2 2025
    On this ID the Future from the archive, hear the second half of Discovery Institute’s John West’s talk given at the 2020 Dallas Conference on Science and Faith, on how Darwinism has corroded Western culture. In this portion he examines the morally poisoning effects of Darwinism on marriage, sexual ethics, and religion, such that virtually anything can be defended as OK, and no particular culture’s ethic is to be preferred over another. Humankind’s spiritual purpose has likewise been eroded. Yet West closes with hope: science in our generation is discovering more and more signs of intelligent design and purpose in nature, and young researchers are learning that materialism shouldn’t be the foregone conclusion of contemporary science. This is Part 2 Read More ›

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    18 mins
  • David Klinghoffer Reads From His New Book Plato’s Revenge

    David Klinghoffer Reads From His New Book Plato’s Revenge
    Apr 30 2025
    On this ID The Future, science writer David Klinghoffer reads from his new book Plato’s Revenge: The New Science of the Immaterial Genome, now available from Discovery Institute Press. This is a compact book, but it’s the story of a very big idea, and one that has the potential to usher in the next great revolution in biology.

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    21 mins
  • Plato’s Revenge: An Interview with David Klinghoffer

    Plato’s Revenge: An Interview with David Klinghoffer
    Apr 28 2025
    You're likely familiar with the genetic revolution — the discovery that physical structures in the cell, including DNA and RNA, shape every organism. But we are now overdue for another and more profound revolution in science, one you've likely heard very little about. Recent findings reveal that genetic and even epigenetic sources alone cannot account for the rich dynamism of life — not even close. Some other informational source is required. On this ID The Future, science writer and Discovery Institute Senior Fellow David Klinghoffer speaks with host Andrew McDiarmid about his new book Plato's Revenge: The New Science of the Immaterial Genome. It's a little book about a very big idea. It also tells the story of the scientist, Dr. Richard Sternberg, who has spent the last two decades bringing together cutting-edge molecular biology, higher mathematics, and commonsense reasoning to flesh out this potentially revolutionary new idea.

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    25 mins
  • John West on Darwin’s Culturally Corrosive Idea

    John West on Darwin’s Culturally Corrosive Idea
    Apr 25 2025
    On this ID the Future from the vault, catch the first half of a public talk by political scientist John West on how Darwinism has poisoned Western culture. In the lecture, delivered at the Dallas Conference on Science & Faith, West explores how Darwin’s purely materialistic theory of evolution has drained meaning from nature, undercut the idea of inherent human dignity, and fueled the rise of scientific racism in the twentieth century. West is author of Darwin Day in America: How Our Politics and Culture Have Been Dehumanized in the Name of Science. This is Part 1 of a two-part series. Look for Part 2 in a separate episode.

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    20 mins
  • Larry Sanger on Wikipedia, AI, and Preserving Human Knowledge

    Larry Sanger on Wikipedia, AI, and Preserving Human Knowledge
    Apr 23 2025
    On this episode of ID The Future, hosts Andrew McDiarmid and Nathan Jacobson continue their conversation with Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger. In this segment, Sanger explains how his philosophy to decentralize the world's knowledge plays into science and truth-seeking in the age of AI. He talks about the shortcomings of large language models and why humans are irreplaceable and essential to increasing our understanding of the world. Sanger also discusses the challenges that online encyclopedias like Wikipedia have faced in accurately and fairly reflecting controversial or important topics. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. Check out Part 1 in a separate episode!

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    36 mins