Episode 64 of the Mindcast is up!
Download it here.
Show topics:
Anthropologist weighs in on Hobbit, brain configuration does not match microcephaly, Evidence of ancient galactic collision with Andromeda Galaxy, Bush Administration abusing climate science according to report by Henry Waxman and others, pleasant smell of ocean air due to bacteria, and 
Cornell plant scientist Li Li characterizes the gene that makes orange cauliflower and what it means for nutrition in developing countries.
First dual-phone interview with Phillip Johnson, founder of the Intelligent Design Movement and Ed Brayton, co-founder of Michigan Citizens for Science and The Panda’s Thumb weblog, also author of blog, Dispatches from the Culture Wars. Special commentary at the end about the interview.
Theme = the Original Battlestar Galactica by Stu Phillips.
Brought to you by Copper.
Commentary References
When I was setting up the phone lines for the interviews, I ran into some technical problems. I had hooked up the Skype on my computer into the board to allow Ed Brayton to join in on the interview, and then back to the board again so Phillip Johnson could hear him. Then of course, there was my voice and the music from another audio output coming out of my computer. For some reason, Skype was not accepting the audio input, and I had to rewire my setup while on a break. I used a different kind of audio input, and voila! Skype accepted it and everything worked. As a result, the total interview time was cut by about 10 minutes, and that meant the combo-time between Johnson and Brayton was only 10-15 minutes. For the podcast version, and the replay on the radio station, I added a commentary reviewing three contestable points brought up during the interview, as well as some of the things that Johnson said during his talk in Davis last September. And, I forwarded an argument that Phillip Johnson was not being honest about the goals and activities of the Discovery Institute and its fellows, the design proponents themselves. The issue was over whether or not they were trying to get ID taught in the schools.
As I said during the show, I am putting up all the evidence for my position. The facts speak for themselves, so here they are, in no particular order.
The Wedge at Work - A good paper by Barbara Forrest that led me to the deleted pages on the Discovery Institute website.
Another View of Phillip Johnson - Wesley Elsberry’s post about Johnson’s comments in the Sacramento Bee.
Let’s be Intelligent about Darwin - Wikipedia’s source for Johnson’s statement about ID and the schools.
Intelligent Design - Wikipedia page.
Creation and Evolution in Public Education - Wikpedia page.
Phillip Johnson - Wikipedia page.
The Wedge Update - Includes many statements from Johnson on public education.
Deleted Discovery Institute Intelligent Design curriculum pages. Self-explanatory.
Wells vs Tiny Flies - Explanation of how Jonathan Wells’ Centriole-turbine idea was discredited.
Wisconsin does a Dover in Reverse - William Dembski offers $1000 to entice a public school science teacher to teach Intelligent Design in biology classes.
Dembski’s Research Assistant Exposes the Fraud - “It really is ID in disguise”
Science Wars, Should Schools Teach Intelligent Design? - Transcript of the Enterprise Intitute panel discussion where the DI first revealed its “We never…” statements.
Special thanks to “KeithS”, who saved the flatulent version of Dembski’s flash animation, and sent the clips to me. He was also the person who figured out that it was Dembski’s own voice that was used in the animation. Also, thanks to the Grace Valley Christian Center for providing me with a recording of Phillip Johnson’s talk from December 1st, 2006.
UPDATE: I have uploaded a slightly improved version that has a couple more clips of Johnson’s December talk interlaced into the commentary. I wanted to make sure that listeners understood what it was that Johnson claimed at the talk about testability/falsifiability, and the ID “research that is ongoing.”
UPDATE (3-16-2007): For some reason, the wikipedia image of Philip Johnson has been deleted. I wonder how that happened? I included a different version of the same image in the post
Johnson clearly didn’t know, or wouldn’t admit, that Disco Institute operatives attended several critical meetings of the Ohio State Board of Education during the wars here, coaching the ID-pushing Board Members and writing and distributing press releases lauding the board when it adopted the creationist model lesson plan. Hell, I met Casey Luskin at the meeting at which the Board finally dumped the Disco Institute crap. Strangely, the Disco Institute didn’t have a press release lauding the Board ready for distribution that day. Maybe it’s because we finally had an overwhelming majority of the Board after the 2006 election.
It is possible that Johnson didn’t know. For example, William Dembski offering money for ID to be taught in Wisconsin may not have come to Johnson’s attention. However, the sheer magnitude of evidence that they have been pushing and arguing for ID in the schools argues otherwise - that he is fully aware. They’ve recently been applauding the ID school content sent to the UK, for example.
[...] An interview with Phillip Johnson and Ed Brayton Podcast of a phone interview with one of ‘Intelligent design’ creationism’s backers, and a co-founder of Michigan Citizens for Science [...]