Center on Human Exceptionalism

The mission of Discovery Institute’s Center on Human Exceptionalism is to affirm and uphold the intrinsic nature of human dignity, liberty, and equality. In resistance to a growing movement against unique human personhood, we aim to revitalize a commitment to the traditional Western view of human rights and human responsibilities — summed up by the term “human exceptionalism.” Read more

Humanize

Nature Article Endorses “Nature Rights”

Wesley J. Smith
October 5, 2026
4
Nature and Conservation
The world’s two most influential professional science journals probably are Science and Nature. But they no longer limit their jurisdiction to science. Both are now highly ideological to the extent that each has now lent its august pages to boosting the “nature rights” movement. Science pushed “nature rights” back in 2019. Now Nature has jumped on the bandwagon, publishing an advocacy piece to coincide with Panama’s pushing a “Universal Declaration of the Rights of Nature” in the United Nations General Assembly. The article’s title starts out making a hubristic assumption: “Nature has Rights: It’s Time the World Recognized Them.” Really? Since when? Based on what? Says who? “Nature rights” …

Wesley J. Smith Discusses Assisted Suicide and Nature Rights on Three Whisky Happy Hour Podcast

Editor
October 5, 2026
1
Euthanasia

Sam Brownback on Current Challenges to Religious Freedom

Sam Brownback
October 5, 2026
2

AI “Claude” Can Never Be a Person

Wesley J. Smith
October 3, 2026
6
Human Exceptionalism

Coming to the U.N.: “Universal Declaration of the Rights of Nature”

Wesley J. Smith
October 1, 2026
4
Nature and Conservation

Canadian Prisons to Distribute Paper Straws for “Safe” Drug Snorting

Wesley J. Smith
September 29, 2026
2
Uncategorized

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Podcast

Sam Brownback on Current Challenges to Religious Freedom

Sam Brownback
October 5, 2026
Religious freedom — the ability to live and act according to one’s faith — is one of our most fundamental human rights. But as Western society has secularized, religious freedom seems to have been eclipsed by other concerns. Indeed, freedom of religion is too often devalued in the public square, and in some places in the world, is under direct — and even violent — assault. No one has put more thought into this urgent concern and what to do about it than Sam Brownback, returning for his sixth interview on Humanize. Sam Brownback served as Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom from February 2018 to January 2021. He served as Governor of Kansas from 2011 to 2018. Prior to that he represented his home state in the United States Senate and the House of …

Mayor Warren Wilson on Environmentalists Caring More About Birds Than the Lives of King Cove Residents

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Warren Wilson
September 20, 2026
King Cove is a remote town in the Aleutian Islands, adjacent to the 300,000-acre Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. In 1980, the refuge was designated a wilderness area. That caused a severe problem for the people of King Cove. The nearest full-service hospital is in Anchorage, 900 miles away. The town does not have an all-weather airport. This means that people needing lifesaving care may not be able to access it during inclement weather. A town 20 miles away called Cold Bay does have an all-weather airport from which sick and injured people could be flown for medical help in bad weather — if they could only get there. So, the people of King Cove sought permission to cut a gravel road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge to Cold Bay. They even offered a land swap that …

Robert J. Marks II on the Benefits and Potential Perils of Artificial Intelligence

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Robert J. Marks II
August 10, 2026
We are in the age of artificial intelligence. But what does that mean for the human future? Some claim that AI is merely a very sophisticated tool that will lead to stunning societal improvements such as miraculous medical breakthroughs, greater economic efficiency, and an exponential increase in human knowledge. But others worry that an out-of-human-control AI could destroy liberty, create immeasurable societal destruction, and perhaps, even unleash a technological Armageddon that brings about the end of the human race. Which is it? Or are both potential possibilities? To sort it all out for us, on this special summer edition of Humanize, Wesley asked Discovery Institute’s Robert J. Marks II to return for his third appearance. An electrical engineer by education and …

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