ID the Future Intelligent Design, Evolution, and Science Podcast
Topic

Icons of Evolution

IDTF 2038 A Celebrated Life - Colleagues Remember Dr. Jonathan Wells Post Graphic
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Jonathan Wells
Date
April 2, 2025
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A Celebrated Life: Colleagues Remember Dr. Jonathan Wells

Jonathan Wells
April 2, 2025
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On this ID The Future, we bring you excerpts from a recent gathering to celebrate the life of biologist Dr. Jonathan Wells, who passed away in September 2024 at the age of 82. Dr. Wells was one of the first fellows of the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture. In 2000, Wells took the science world by storm with Icons of Evolution, a book showing how biology textbooks routinely promote Darwinism using bogus evidence — icons of evolution like Ernst Haeckel’s faked embryo drawings and peppered moths glued to tree trunks. Dr. Wells's achievements in the field of biology are notable. In this episode you’ll get a glimpse into Dr. Wells’s life and character as well as his relentless search for scientific truth. This episode includes eulogies from Dr. John West, Dr. Paul Nelson, Dr. Richard Sternberg, and Dr. Casey Luskin. Learn more about Jonathan Wells at www.jonathanwells.org. Read More ›
Jonathan Wells Black Background
Photo by Lázló Bencze, used with permission
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Richard Sternberg
Date
March 19, 2025
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Humility and Humor: Richard Sternberg Remembers Jonathan Wells

Richard Sternberg
March 19, 2025
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On this episode of ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid continues a series of interviews celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Jonathan Wells, our close colleague and friend who passed away in 2024 at the age of 82 years old. Dr. Wells was one of the first fellows of Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture and made significant contributions to science and to the arguments for intelligent design. Today, evolutionary biologist Dr. Richard Sternberg shares personal anecdotes and insights into Dr. Wells's character, his contributions to biology and epigenetics, and the profound impact he had on those around him. Read More ›
peppered-moth-on-the-bark-of-a-tree-stockpack-adobe-stock-348819138-stockpack-adobe_stock
Peppered Moth on the bark of a tree
Image Credit: Barry - Adobe Stock
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Author
Casey Luskin
Date
March 17, 2025
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How Jonathan Wells Dismantled the Icons of Evolution

Casey Luskin
March 17, 2025
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On this episode of ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid invites Dr. Casey Luskin to share some of his memories of our longtime colleague Dr. Jonathan Wells, who recently passed away at 82 years old. Dr. Wells was one of the first fellows at Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture. In a career spanning three decades, Wells made significant contributions to our understanding of the limits of evolutionary processes and the evidence for intelligent design. In this interview, Dr. Luskin describes the powerful impact Jonathan's work had on him and how it led to meaningful reform in textbooks and classrooms. He also identifies the character traits he most admired in Dr. Wells. Read More ›
Haeckel_drawings Public Domain
Haeckel's Embryo drawings. Public Domain.
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Tom Woodward
Date
March 10, 2025
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Tom Woodward on the Impact of Icons of Evolution

Tom Woodward
March 10, 2025
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On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid welcomes Dr. Tom Woodward to the podcast to share some of his memories of our longtime colleague Dr. Jonathan Wells, who recently passed away at 82 years old. In Part 1, Dr. Woodward tells the story of Jonathan’s efforts to fight the battle over textbook misinformation with his 2000 book Icons of Evolution. When the book first came out, National Center for Science Education director Eugenie Scott said that Icons of Evolution would be a “royal pain in the fanny” for the evolutionist community. She was not wrong! Woodward talks about the reverberations caused by the book's release and the waves of textbook reform it has brought about. This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. Read More ›
Jonathan Wells Reading in DI Seattle Office Enhanced
Copyright Discovery Institute.
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Paul Nelson
Date
March 5, 2025
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Gutsy and Loyal: The Qualities of My Friend Jonathan Wells

Paul Nelson
March 5, 2025
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On this episode of ID The Future, philosopher of biology Paul Nelson continues to share his remembrances of our longtime colleague Dr. Jonathan Wells, who passed away in 2024 at 82 years old. Dr. Wells was one of the first fellows at Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture, and his contributions to the intelligent design movement over the last quarter century have been monumental. In Part 2 of the conversation, Dr. Nelson shares another adventure he had with Jonathan, this time at the University of Chicago in the early 2000s. He also discusses the qualities that made Wells such a remarkable man, including his bravery and loyalty. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. Read More ›
IDTF 1971 Jonathan Wells Hank Hanegraaf Zombie Science Tribute Interview Graphic
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Jonathan Wells
Date
October 23, 2024
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Jonathan Wells on How to Defeat Zombie Science

Jonathan Wells
October 23, 2024
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Zombies are make-believe, but zombie science is very real — and it threatens not just science but our whole culture. On this ID The Future, we’re sharing a conversation between Dr. Jonathan Wells and Hank Hanegraaf on the Hank Unplugged Podcast. This interview originally aired in 2018 shortly after Dr. Wells published Zombie Science, his highly anticipated follow-up to Icons of Evolution. With the recent passing of Dr. Wells, Hank and his team have re-released the interview with some words of tribute to this icon of the intelligent design movement. Enjoy this hour-long conversation as Dr. Wells unpacks more icons of evolution and explains how to defeat zombie science. Read More ›
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Darwin's finches
Image Credit: William Huang - Adobe Stock
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Jonathan Wells
Date
October 4, 2024
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Jonathan Wells Puts Natural Selection In Its Place

Jonathan Wells
October 4, 2024
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Dr. Jonathan Wells was a true giant of the intelligent design research community. As we mourn his recent passing, we also celebrate anew his considerable contributions to the arguments for intelligent design and the debate over evolution. On this episode of ID The Future out of the vault, Dr. Wells continues a conversation with Tom Woodward on The Universe Next Door. Dr. Wells explains more of the icons of evolution he details in his popular book and why much of what we hear about evolution is wrong. Listen in as they discuss Darwin's finches, four-winged fruit flies, humans with tails, and more. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. Read More ›
heaven-and-earth-the-milky-way-over-an-italian-church-stockpack-adobe-stock
Heaven and Earth. The Milky Way over an Italian church.
Image Credit: marcel - Adobe Stock
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Author
Jonathan Witt
Date
July 31, 2023
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How Modern Science Strengthens the Claims of Theism

Jonathan Witt
July 31, 2023
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On this ID The Future, Liberty McArtor, host of the Know Why Podcast, interviews Jonathan Witt on the compatibility of science and faith, both past and present. Witt is Executive Editor at Discovery Institute Press, as well as a Senior Fellow and Senior Project Manager with Discovery Institute's Center for Science & Culture. His latest book, co-written with Finnish bio-engineer Matti Leisola, is Heretic: One Scientist's Journey from Darwin to Design. In his conversation with McArtor, Witt describes the unique time and place that helped inspire the rise of modern science. "They had the Judeo-Christian worldview," Witt notes, "and that fired the imaginations and ordered the reasoning of those that gave birth to the scientific revolution." Witt also reviews some of the abundant scientific discoveries of the last century that are causing even committed materialists to question or reject the neo-Darwinian explanation. The all-too-common assertion that science and faith are at odds with one another is outdated. Listen in to understand just a few of the reasons why! With thanks to Liberty McArtor and the Know Why Podcast for permission to cross-post this interview. Read More ›
knowledge-and-science-books-artistic-graphic-collage-generative-ai-illustration-stockpack-adobe-stock
Knowledge and science books artistic graphic collage - Generative AI illustration
Image Credit: Hikari Pictures - Adobe Stock
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Author
ID the Future
Date
July 24, 2023
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Is Evolution Taught Fairly in Textbooks? A High School Senior Investigates

ID the Future
July 24, 2023
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Has the accuracy of teaching on evolutionary theory improved in standard biology textbooks in recent years? On this ID The Future, host Daniel Reeves, Director of Education & Outreach at Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture, speaks with a recent high school graduate named Natalie about her senior year research project. Natalie has had an interest in evolution and intelligent design for years, and she's noticed that textbooks don't always cover important or controversial topics fairly. So when she discovered her school was trialing a new biology textbook, she decided to evaluate the proposed textbook's approach to accuracy and fairness in light of the available scientific evidence. Focusing on the fossil record and genetics, Natalie organized quotations from the textbook into three categories - misrepresented, underdeveloped, or well-aligned - based on how well they conveyed the available evidence. From whale evolution to genetic differences among organisms, Natalie found that more often than not, the textbook was misleading to students in the way it presented or omitted important scientific ideas. "High school students are in such a pivotal time in their life because they're forming their worldview," says Natalie. "And evolution is a theory on the origin of life...that's huge to answering those questions." Natalie encourages her fellow students, and anyone interested in origins, to question and dive deep as they evaluate competing ideas. As biologist and Center for Science and Culture Senior Fellow Jonathan Wells puts it at the start of his latest book, Zombie Science, this book is "dedicated to the students who will need to discern the truth for themselves." Here's one young scholar who is doing just that. AN IMPORTANT NOTE In the interview, Natalie shares her personal view that intelligent design should be included in public school science classrooms. However, as a matter of public policy, Discovery Institute opposes any effort to require the teaching of intelligent design by school districts or state boards of education. Attempts to require teaching about intelligent design only politicize the theory and will hinder fair and open discussion of the merits of the theory among scholars and within the scientific community. Furthermore, most teachers at the present time do not know enough about intelligent design to teach about it accurately and objectively.  Instead of recommending teaching about intelligent design in public K-12 schools, Discovery Institute seeks to increase the coverage of evolution in curriculum. It believes that evolution should be fully and completely presented to students, and they should learn more about evolutionary theory, including its unresolved issues. In other words, evolution should be taught as a scientific theory that is open to critical scrutiny, not as a sacred dogma that can’t be questioned. Read more of our recommendations for science curriculum here: https://www.discovery.org/a/3164/ Read More ›
coral reef tropical fish
Tropical fishes on the coral reef
Image Credit: belyay - Adobe Stock
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Ann Gauger
Date
December 12, 2022
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Ann Gauger: A Scientist’s Journey into the Intelligent Design Movement

Ann Gauger
December 12, 2022
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On today’s ID the Future, biologist and intelligent design researcher Ann Gauger tells host Eric Anderson the rest of her story about how she was drawn into the intelligent design movement. The two discuss everything from the challenges she faced making it in a male-dominated field to the evidential power of beauty in the natural world. But how did she end up in the ID movement? After stepping out of a promising career as a research scientist to focus on her family and meeting the needs of an autistic child, she assumed that her life as a scientist was behind her. But then several years later she began reading the work of Darwin skeptics and intelligent design trailblazers—Phillip Johnson, Jonathan Read More ›

Discovery Institute