Why Some Scientists Are Rethinking Darwin’s Theory of Evolution | Stephen Meyer
American Thought Leaders
The Epoch Times
4.9 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 18 April 2026
⏱️ 63 minutes
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Summary
For decades now, we’ve been told the biggest questions of how life and our universe came to be were settled. But what if they’re not?
Stephen Meyer has spent his career digging into the deepest mysteries of our existence. A philosopher of science, he is the founder of the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture and the author of the New York Times bestseller “Darwin’s Doubt” and “Return of the God Hypothesis.”
“Many leading evolutionary biologists today are calling for a new theory of evolution, because they recognize that the mutation-natural selection mechanism has limited creative power,” Meyer says.
While Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection can explain small-scale variations—for instance, finch beak size changes, moth wing color changes, or bacteria developing antibiotic resistance—it cannot explain the origins of new species or new body plans, Meyer contends.
Now, in a new film, “The Story of Everything,” coming to theaters April 30, Meyer lays out a case that could reshape how we think about life itself.
“The scientific discoveries of the last one hundred years and right up to the present are pointing in a very different direction than people thought in the late 19th century,” Meyer says.
Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | For decades now, we've been told the biggest questions of how life and our universe came to be were settled. |
| 0:06.0 | But what if they're not? |
| 0:08.0 | The scientific discoveries of the last 100 years and right up to the present |
| 0:12.0 | are pointing in a very different direction than people thought in the late 19th century. |
| 0:16.0 | Stephen Meyer has spent his career digging into the deepest mysteries of our existence. |
| 0:21.6 | Natural selection is a nice job of explaining that small-scale variation, but it doesn't do a good job of explaining the |
| 0:27.6 | origin of what biologists call morphological innovation, the origin of major new body plans or new |
| 0:33.6 | form, new organs, new tissues, but especially new body plans in the history of life. |
| 0:38.9 | What if modern biology textbooks leave out the most important part of the story? |
| 0:43.5 | Darwinian evolution functions as a kind of secular religion. It's the question of the origin |
| 0:48.8 | of the first life itself. How do you get life going? That's something Darwin never addressed. |
| 0:53.3 | Meyer is a New York Times bestselling author and founder of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science |
| 0:59.0 | and Culture. |
| 1:00.0 | Now in a new film, The Story of Everything, coming to theater's April 30th, he lays out a case |
| 1:06.0 | that could reshape how we think about life itself. |
| 1:09.0 | This is American Thought Leaders, and I'm Jania Kellick. |
| 1:14.2 | Stephen Meyer, such a pleasure to have you at American Thought Leaders. |
| 1:18.0 | It's great to be with you, Jan. Thank you for inviting me in such a beautiful studio as well. |
| 1:22.7 | You know, I have to offer you huge congratulations on the story of everything. |
| 1:28.3 | It's a beautiful marvelous film and I hope it does incredibly well and at the outset I'll |
| 1:32.6 | recommend everybody go see it. |
| 1:35.8 | But let's start here. |
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