And now for something completely different. Great Minds with Michael Medved, produced by Discovery Institute, launches today, and the first episode pays off on our promise that these podcasts will be something new, important, and exciting. Our host, a Discovery Institute Senior Fellow, is best known for his daily syndicated radio program with 4+ million listeners. Here, Michael spends twenty minutes uninterrupted with screenwriter, director, and producer Randall Wallace, known for his work on the films Braveheart, We Were Soldiers, Secretariat, and more.

They raise profound questions. Go to the Minds with Medved website to download the program. You can subscribe there, or directly through iTunes. We are posting the audio now, and the video version later this morning. Look for it there around 9 AM Pacific time.

The concept behind the program is that we are taking time to step back from daily headlines whether in science, culture, politics, whatever, to consider timeless questions. The immediate topic here, “Hollywood Bias,” is really an opportunity to consider being a person of faith, or a proponent of any minority view, in a strange, possibly hostile environment. That is a challenge that’s always with us.

I was particularly moved by Randall Wallace’s statement that as a Christian in very secular Hollywood, he has never worn a cross around his neck. That’s not because he’s embarrassed of his religious commitment, as he explains, or trying to keep it a secret. It’s because he feels if people can’t tell there’s something different about him from the way he speaks and acts, then a piece of jewelry doesn’t count for anything. And in fact, from watching and listening to him in conversation with Michael Medved, there is something different about him. As there is about Michael.

Wallace’s observation rings true, and the conversation encompasses much more about his career and engagement with faith. I have a different view, admittedly, about being visibly identifiable, at first glance, as a member of a religious community. But that’s a really interesting discussion you could have, the type we hope to spark with this and future episodes.

No, as I told you before, this is not a podcast series all about intelligent design or evolution. But the relevance to our other concerns at Evolution News should, nevertheless, be clear. Like people of faith in Hollywood, ID proponents in the scholarly world face skepticism and misunderstanding at best, hostility or outright censorship at worst.

Which reminds me, have you given us your nomination yet for Censor of the Year? You can do that by going here.

Photo: Randall Wallace and Michael Medved, by Nathan Jacobson.