On a new episode of ID the Future, I welcome philosopher of biology Paul Nelson to share some of 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 and Culture, and his contributions to the intelligent design movement over the last quarter century have been monumental.

In this first half of the conversation, Dr. Nelson takes listeners back to a famous meeting in the history of the modern intelligent design movement. The gathering, held in Pajaro Dunes on California’s Monterey Bay, brought together many of the ID theorists you likely know and love: Michael Behe, Stephen Meyer, William Dembski, Douglas Axe, and of course, Jonathan Wells. Paul also relates other adventures he had with Jonathan, including a conference on the origin of animal body plans at Indiana University in 1994, where both he and Wells discovered they were not alone in their skepticism of Darwinian evolution. And then there was their memorable trip to southern China in 1999. Surrounded by a group of esteemed paleontologists and biologists hostile towards intelligent design, Wells turned the accidental dropping of all his papers and transparencies at the beginning of a talk into an opportunity to promote confidence in his ideas.

Download the podcast or listen to it here. This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. Look for Part 2 next!

Dig Deeper

• Read David Klinghoffer’s farewell to Dr. Wells.
• Watch: Dr. Wells, up close and personal: