For over 20 years, Evolution News has offered readers exclusive daily news and commentary on the evidence for intelligent design and the debate over evolution. Now, with a fresh design, a broader vision, and new name, Evolution News has become Science and Culture Today. On this episode of ID the Future, I discuss the rebrand with two key architects of the new website, Discovery Institute’s Director of Communications, Rob Crowther, and our Director of Media and Brand, Nathan Jacobson.
First, the conversation delves into the site’s launch in December 2004, when the modern intelligent design movement and the Internet were both relatively new. As Crowther explains, the original vision was to create a web blog that would allow Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture to frame the story and explain intelligent design in their own words. A primary purpose of the original site was to serve as a clearing house for information and to fact-check and correct mainstream news media that were often misdefining intelligent design or conflating it with creationism. Media coverage at the time ranged from curious to highly agenda-driven. Evolution News was a much-needed source of accurate information about ID.
Back to the Future
Next, Jacobson explains the rationale behind the rebrand and breaks down some key features of the new website. The new name, Science and Culture Today, is a back-to-the-future move intended to realign the site with the Center for Science and Culture’s original goal of uncovering the connections between science and culture. The new visual identity is captured in the logo, which is inspired by the mobius strip, a metaphor for the interwoven nature of science and culture, and the ampersand, suggesting a “both/and” approach to complex issues. The enhanced user experience includes better search functionality, inline footnotes, a listen-to-article feature, and more attention to privacy.
The conversation concludes with discussion of the importance of exercising discernment about scientific claims. “The most important overall lesson from reading Science and Culture Today is the importance of scientific discernment,” notes Jacobson. Our hope for the new site is that it “demonstrates an approach to science that is appreciative of what can be learned and what can be accomplished but that’s also critical in evaluating the kinds of claims that are made.” Download the podcast or listen to it here.
Dig Deeper
- Give the new site a try: bookmark it, browse, search, and enjoy: ScienceandCulture.com!
- More with Nathan Jacobson: check out our recent interview with Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger.