Discovery Institute
Research Coordinator at the Discovery Institute, a nonprofit think-tank based in Seattle, Washington, which deals with public policy and technology issues
PROFILE
Casey Luskin
Guest
FROM Casey Luskin
Which Way, L.A.?
Academic Freedom versus Science Tennessee's Republican legislature has enacted a new law allowing teachers to question the science of Evolution. The legislation protects teachers from helping students "review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories" including… "evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming and human cloning." It will become law unless Governor Bill Haslam vetoes it today, which he's not likely to do. Is it back to the Scopes trial of 1925? Why is challenging Global Warming also protected? Photo: Clarence Darrow (L) and William Jennings Bryan (R) during the Scopes Trial in 1925
To the Point
Is 'Academic Freedom' a Disguise for Religion? In 1925, a Tennessee jury convicted John Scopes for questioning the Bible by teaching Evolution. More recently, it's become a required science. But now the legislature has passed a law allowing teachers to raise "scientific weaknesses" about Evolution, along with Global Warming. The new law – which protects teachers from helping students "review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories" including… evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming and human cloning" -- will become law unless Governor Bill Haslam vetoes it today, which he's not likely to do. Science educators say there are no such "weaknesses," and warn that Tennessee could become a laughing stock for teaching pseudo science. The legal language denies any intention of promoting religion, but the ACLU is threatening to sue. We hear both sides.
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To the Point
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
To the Point
White House budget proposal slashes and burns President Trump's first budget request is considered dead on arrival in Congress — a familiar development in Capitol Hill. We hear what it reveals about the priorities of the new administration. What's likely to die… and what might survive?
To the Point
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?
To the Point
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.