Origin Stories
Explore human evolution one story at a time. This award-winning show blends storytelling with science that will change your understanding of who we are.
Episodes
Biruté Mary Galdikas - A Life Among Orangutans
Biruté Mary Galdikas passed away on March 24, 2026, at the age of 79. She spent more than 50 years studying orangutans in Borneo and fighting to protect them. Before she began her work, orangutans were the least understood of the great apes. She changed that. Her research formed the foundation of what we now know about orangutans. She was the first to learn what they ate, how they lived, how they
Top Human Origins Discoveries of 2025
2025 was another exciting year in human origins research! In this episode, four scientists and Leakey Foundation grantees (and one podcast host) share their picks for the top discoveries of the year. Support this show and the science we talk about. Your tax-deductible gift to The Leakey Foundation will be matched! Click here to donate. Want more science between podcast episodes? Join our monthly
Origin Stories x The Science Podcast
This episode features two stories from the Science Podcast. First, Science writer Ann Gibbons tells the story of three ancient hominin species that lived side-by-side in South Africa's Cradle of Humankind. Then, anthropologist Melanie Beasley discusses her new study on why chemical signals in Neanderthal teeth and bones make them look like hypercarnivores. Her research suggests they were just eati
Can a Human Outrun a Horse?
This is a story about sweat, survival, speed, and the peculiar ways running may have shaped us as humans. Armed with a hydration vest, a dream, and paleoanthropologist Daniel Lieberman's endurance running hypothesis, filmmaker Nicole Teeny set out to push the limits of her own endurance. Nicole's mission takes her from the Kalahari Desert to Kansas to see if humans really did evolve to run. Along
The Origin Story of Origin Stories - 10th Anniversary
After 10 years of exploring the stories behind breakthrough science, it's time to tell our own origin story! In this special anniversary episode, we're flipping the script to share how Origin Stories began. Join us behind the scenes, revisit three milestone episodes, and get an exciting update on the Punan Batu community's fight for their ancestral lands in Borneo. Here's to our listeners who've m
The Shanidar Cave Neanderthals
Shanidar Cave is a unique archaeological site in Kurdistan where scientists found the remains of 10 Neanderthal men, women, and children. Some of these individuals had survived serious injuries, and one seemed to have been buried with flowers beneath his body. The discoveries at Shanidar challenged long-standing ideas of who Neanderthals were and what separates our species from theirs. Now, more t
Top Human Origins Discoveries of 2024
2024 was another amazing year in human origins research. In this episode, three Leakey Foundation grantees (and one podcast host) share their picks for the most exciting discoveries of the year. Support this show and the science we talk about. Your tax-deductible gift to The Leakey Foundation will be quadruple-matched through midnight on December 31! Click here to donate. Want more science betwee
Lucy
In this episode, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the discovery of Lucy, one of the most iconic and important scientific discoveries ever made. Paleoanthropologist Don Johanson tells the story of his early scientific career and the pivotal moment when he discovered 3.2 million-year-old hominin fossils in Ethiopia's Afar region. It's a story that connects us to our deepest roots and shows how o
Ape Medicine
Are humans the only animals that practice medicine? In this episode, two scientists share surprising observations of orangutans and chimpanzees treating wounds–their own and others'–with plants and insects. These discoveries challenge ideas about uniquely human behaviors and offer insights into animal intelligence, empathy, and the evolutionary roots of medicine. Origin Stories is a project of The
The First Story
Over 50,000 years ago on what is now the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, someone climbed a towering rock formation and painted a mysterious image on a cave ceiling. The painting shows three half-human, half-animal figures and a large wild pig. The image, dated to 51,200 years old, is now the oldest known visual story in the world. In this episode, archaeologist Adam Brumm shares the story of this i
Understanding Neanderthals
Early prehistorians had little more than stones and bones to work with as they tried to piece together the story of the Neanderthals, but today's researchers work in ways that early prehistorians could never have imagined. Archaeologist and author Rebecca Wragg Sykes' new book Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Art, and Death synthesizes more than a century of research on Neanderthals – from the fir
The Story of Human Hair
Why do humans have most of our hair on our heads, not our bodies? Why do we have so many varieties of hair color, thickness, and curliness? Dr. Tina Lasisi is a biological anthropologist whose work explores these evolutionary mysteries. In this episode, she shares her research into why humans have scalp hair as well as her insights on why curly hair is uniquely human. Links to learn more: Dr. Ti
The Musical Ape
Music is universal in all human cultures, but why? What gives us the ability to hear sound as music? Are we the only musical species–or was Darwin right when he said every animal with a backbone should be able to perceive, if not enjoy music? Professor Henkjan Honing is on a mission to find out. Learn more Henkjan Honing's website Music Cognition Group Blog The Evolving Animal Orchestra - Henkjan
Custodian of the Ancestors
What is it like to be responsible for the safekeeping of the ancestors of everyone in the world? In this episode, we travel to the National Museum of Ethiopia to see our most famous fossil relative – Lucy – and meet Yared Assefa, the person who takes care of her and all of our Ethiopian fossil ancestors and relatives. If you love fossils, you won't want to miss this episode! Special thanks Thanks
A Brief History of Bling
Travel through 50,000 years of human history following clues hidden inside beads made from ostrich eggshells. In this episode, researchers Jennifer Miller and Yiming Wang share how these tiny artifacts reveal a sweeping story of ancient social networks, cultural connections, and human adaptability. Support the show Help us make more episodes! All tax-deductible donations to Origin Stories will be
Top Human Origins Discoveries of 2023
2023 was another exciting year in human origins research! Fossil discoveries and long-term primate studies expanded our understanding of what makes us human. In this episode, four Leakey Foundation scientists shared their favorite human evolution discoveries from the past year. Help us make more episodes! All tax-deductible donations to Origin Stories will be quadruple-matched! >>>> Please click h
Siblings
Sibling relationships can include everything from love and support–to tension, competition, and conflict. They might also play a fundamental role in the evolution of our species. In the final installment of our three-part series on family relationships, researchers Karen Kramer, Cat Hobaiter, and Rachna Reddy explore surprising new science about the role of siblings in primate and human evolution.
Fatherhood
Humans invest enormous amounts of time and energy into bringing up our babies. This unique investment is a fundamental part of what it means to be human. In this episode, the second in a three-part series on family relationships, researchers Lee Gettler, Stacy Rosenbaum, and Sonny Bechayda explore how our species' approach to fatherhood may have shaped some of the most important traits that set u
Motherhood
Humans invest enormous amounts of time and energy into bringing up our babies. This unique investment is a fundamental part of what it means to be human. In this episode, the first in a three-part series on family relationships, researchers Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Stacy Rosenbaum, and Amy Scott explore how our species' approach to motherhood may hold the key to some of the most important traits that s
Boomplaas Cave - Bonus Interview
How did climate change impact ancient human behavior? This is one of the questions Justin Pargeter and his team are investigating at a site called Boomplaas Cave in South Africa. This site has a unique record of human presence over the past 80,000 years or so. Importantly, the site is helping researchers piece together the story of how humans adapted to rapidly shifting climates in the past. Origi
Field School Diaries
This special episode takes you inside the world of archaeology students at Boomplaas Cave, one of South Africa's flagship human evolution research sites. Led by Dr. Justin Pargeter, the students chronicle their field school journey through personal audio diaries, offering a candid look at the joys, thrills, and challenges of archaeological fieldwork. Thanks to Justin Pargeter, Monique Niekerk, Asi
The Hobbit
In this episode, we explore the fascinating tale of the Hobbit, an unexpected fossil find that shook the world's understanding of human evolution. Join researcher Matt Tocheri as he shares how this tiny hominin revolutionized the human story and transformed his life. Links: From the Field: Matt Tocheri Homo floresiensis Can rat bones solve an island mystery? Love Origin Stories? Here's your c
A Giganto Mystery
Dr. Kira Westaway is part of an international research team working to solve the mystery of Gigantopithecus, the largest ape that ever walked the earth. In this episode, we explore how this massive primate lived, why it disappeared, and what it can tell us about extinctions happening now. Learn more: Where Giants Roamed Origin Stories is a project of The Leakey Foundation, a nonprofit organizat
The New Metabolism
How do human bodies use energy? In this episode, Leakey Foundation grantee Dr. Herman Pontzer shares groundbreaking research that upends our understanding of metabolism, calories, and the history of our species. Origin Stories is hosted by Meredith Johnson, produced and sound designed by Ray Pang, and edited by Audrey Quinn. Support this show and the science we talk about. leakeyfoundation.org/do
Top Human Origins Discoveries of 2022
2022 was another exciting year in human origins research! New fossil discoveries and ancient DNA research expanded our understanding of the past. We learned something surprising about the evolution of human speech, and new methodologies and showed promising potential to improve the future of medicine. In this episode, four Leakey Foundation scientists shared their favorite human evolution discover
Origin Stories is back!
We've been hard at work on a new season of stories about how we became human. Origin Stories returns on January 31 with monthly episodes!
First Steps at Laetoli
In this episode, we explore five strange fossilized footprints found by Mary Leakey at the site of Laetoli in Tanzania. Decades after their original discovery, these footprints have revealed a new story about our ancient ancestors that expands our understanding of how hominins moved and interacted. ThanksThanks to Dr. Ellison McNutt and Dr. Charles Musiba for sharing their work. Thanks as well
Discovering Us
In this episode, we talk with Evan Hadingham, senior science editor for the PBS program NOVA. His new book, Discovering Us: 50 Great Discoveries in Human Origins, highlights the thrilling fossil finds, groundbreaking primate behavior observations, and important scientific work of Leakey Foundation researchers. Want to win your own copy of the book? Take our listener survey for a chance to win one
Top Human Origins Discoveries of 2021
2021 was a big year in science! Fossil discoveries introduced new relatives to our family tree, new findings added fascinating twists to the human story, and breakthroughs in research methods opened new worlds to explore. In this episode, five scientists discuss their favorite human origins discoveries of 2021. Click here for a transcript of this episode. Our guests: Scott A. Williams, New York U
Episode 58: Biruté Mary Galdikas - 50 Years with Orangutans
As a young girl, Biruté Mary Galdikas dreamed of going to the forests of Southeast Asia to study the least-known of all the great apes, the elusive orangutan. People told her it would be impossible. But, in 1971, she traveled to Borneo and started what is now the longest ongoing study of orangutans in the history of science. This is her story. She was the third in the group of now world-famous sci
Entre Chien et Loup: How Dogs Began
Scientists agree that dogs evolved from wolves, but exactly how and when that happened is hotly contested. In this episode, Origin Stories contributor Neil Sandell examines the evolution of the relationship between dogs and humans, and explores the journey from wolf to dog. This story was originally produced for the CBC program IDEAS. Click here for a transcript of this episode. Guests in this e
Bonus Episode: Short and Sweat
Learn about the evolution of our extraordinary ability to cool ourselves down. Biological anthropologist Andrew Best discusses the past, present, and future of sweat in this special bonus episode. About our guest Dr. Andrew Best is a biological anthropologist at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts who studies metabolism, endurance, and the evolution of sweat. Visit his website to learn more
Episode 55: Monkeys Get Creative
Producer and scientist Kevin McLean travels to an island off the coast of Panama where researchers have found an isolated group of monkeys with a creative approach to surviving in a challenging environment. Links These tiny monkeys have entered their Stone Age with a bang First report of habitual stone tool use by Cebus monkeys Habitual Stone-Tool Aided Extractive Foraging in White-Faced Capuchin
Episode 54: The Obstetrical Dilemma
The widely-held idea known as the "obstetrical dilemma" is a hypothesis that explains why babies are so helpless, and why childbirth is so difficult for humans compared to other animals. The obstetrical dilemma suggests that babies are born early so their big brains can fit through the mother's pelvis, which can't get any wider due to our method of bipedal locomotion. This problem, the idea says,
Sleep and the Moon
Sleep is one of the defining traits of human life. It's also one of the most mysterious. Dr. Horacio de la Iglesia is a neurobiologist who's on a quest to understand how patterns of human sleep evolved. His new research shows an unexpected connection between sleep and the cycles of the moon. Links de la Iglesia Lab Moonstruck Sleep It's not just the pandemic. The moon may be messing with your sle
How to Study an Endangered Species
What is it like to study an endangered species like chimpanzees, knowing they may go extinct within your lifetime? Leakey Foundation grantee Dr. Zarin Machanda is a co-director of the Kibale Chimpanzee Project, a long-term field study in Uganda. This study was started by primatologist Richard Wrangham in 1987, and project members have collected daily records of the chimps there ever since. These n
Episode 51: The Teeth Remember
Your life story is hidden in your teeth. The days, weeks, years, and stressful events of your life are recorded in tiny timelines that can be read by scientists like Leakey Foundation grantee Dr. Tanya Smith. She and her colleagues used fossil teeth to tell a detailed and intimate story about the lives of two Neanderthal children and the changing world they lived in. Links The Tales Teeth Tell
Episode 50: Understanding Neanderthals
Early prehistorians had little more than stones and bones to work with as they tried to piece together the story of the Neanderthals, but today's researchers work in ways that early prehistorians could never have imagined. Archaeologist and author Rebecca Wragg Sykes' new book Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Art, and Death synthesizes more than a century of research on Neanderthals – from the fir
Episode 49: Exercise
If exercise is healthy, why do so many people avoid doing it? If we're born to be active, why is it so hard to keep your New Year's resolutions about exercise? On this episode, learn about the powerful instincts that cause us to avoid exercise even though we know it's good for us. Dan Lieberman, author of the new book Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding, tells
Episode 48: Ancestor (rerelease)
In 2017, Dr. Isaiah Nengo announced the discovery of a 13 million-year-old fossil ape found in Kenya. This remarkable fossil, nicknamed Alesi, was from a time period where there's a big blank spot in the fossil record of our family tree. Alesi tells us something new about the early evolution of apes and shows what the common ancestor of humans and all the other living apes might have looked like.
Episode 47: Skin
Variation in human skin color has fascinated and perplexed people for centuries. As the most visible aspect of human variation, skin color has been used as a basis for classifying people into "races." In this lecture, Leakey Foundation grantee Dr. Nina Jablonski explains the evolution of human skin color and discusses some of the ways that harmful color-based race concepts have influenced societie
Episode 46: Interview with María Martinón-Torres
September 30 is International Podcast Day and on this episode, we're handing things over to producer Lucía Benavides, who sat down with Leakey Foundation grantee María Martinón-Torres for an interview about her life and career. This bonus episode is entirely in Spanish. We'll be back with an English-language episode in October. Special thanks to Dub and Ginny Crook for sponsoring this episode. C
Episode 45: Detective of the Dead
Atapuerca is a place that holds the mystery of human evolution in Europe from 1.2 million years ago through recent times. You can find, in one place, the oldest human in Europe, the first murder in the archaeological record, and fossils that tell a range of stories from disturbing and grisly to tender and heartwarming. María Martinón-Torres is a Leakey Foundation grantee who is sometimes called a
Episode 44: Custodian of the Ancestors
What is it like to be responsible for the safekeeping of the ancestors of everyone in the world? In this episode, we travel to the National Museum of Ethiopia to see our most famous fossil relative – Lucy, and meet Yared Assefa, the person who takes care of her and all of our Ethiopian fossil ancestors and relatives. If you love fossils, you won't want to miss this episode! Special thanks Thanks
We Eat Bugs
Have you ever considered how profoundly food has shaped who we are as a species? Julie Lesnik is a paleoanthropologist who studies the evolution of the human diet. Her special focus is on insects as food in the past, present, and future. Additional Information Read more about Julie Lesnik's work and check out her book Edible Insects and Human Evolution. Follow her on Twitter: @JulieLesnik Want to
Episode 42: The Cave Punan
Deep in the forests of Borneo, lives a society of hunter-gatherers who speak a language never before shared with outsiders. Until now. The Cave Punan are the last surviving hunter-gatherers in Indonesia and they have reached out for help to save their forest home and their culture. In 2018, Leakey Foundation grantee Steve Lansing was invited by the elected leader of the Punan in Borneo to meet the
Episode 41: Tribes Old and New
What happens when bows and arrows and face-to-face conversations are replaced by high powered weapons and cell phones practically overnight? Dr. Polly Wiessner is an anthropologist who has studied the Enga of Papua New Guinea for 30 years and her current research is focused on how traditional societies cope with rapid cultural change. This episode features a talk given by Dr. Wiessner at The Leake
Episode 40: The Denisovans
A mysterious new human relative was discovered ten years ago from a pinky bone found in a Siberian cave. They're called the Denisovans, and people around the world carry their DNA today. Until just a few months ago, the sum total of all the fossils the Denisovans left behind could fit in the palm of your hand. Now new research is unlocking more of their secrets. Thanks Thanks to Bence Viola and Vi
Piltdown Man
In this episode, we explore the story of Piltdown Man – one of the most notorious hoaxes in history. When Piltdown Man was discovered in a gravel pit outside a small English village in 1912, it was celebrated as a "missing link." The find captured the public's imagination and became world-famous. The problem was that Piltdown Man was a complete fraud. The purported fossils were actually made up o
Episode 38: From the Archive - Louis Leakey
In the final installment of our "From the Archive" series, Kenyan paleoanthropologist Louis S.B. Leakey shares the story of his life and work in a never-before-released interview recorded in 1969. The Leakey Foundation was formed 1968 in honor of Louis Leakey and we are proud to carry on his mission of increasing scientific knowledge, education, and public understanding of human origins, evolution
Episode 37: From the Archive - Mary Leakey
Mary Leakey was called the "grand dame" of archaeology. She was a methodical and exacting scientist who made some of the world's most significant archaeological discoveries. In this lecture from The Leakey Foundation archive, Mary Leakey tells the story of Olduvai Gorge, the place where she found fossils that completely changed our understanding of human origins. Want to support Origin Stories? Al
Episode 36: From the Archive - Tepilit Ole Saitoti
Tepilit Ole Saitoti was a Maasai warrior, author, and natural resources expert. In this lecture from The Leakey Foundation archive, Saitoti tells his life story, discusses Maasai culture, and explores the challenges faced by the Maasai people. Learn more and see photos on our blog. Want to support Origin Stories? All donations are being matched 4:1. Give today at leakeyfoundation.org/originstorie
Episode 35: From the Archive - Raymond Dart
Raymond Dart was getting dressed for a wedding when he was given two boxes of rocks and fossils. Inside the boxes, he found the first evidence of humanity's African origins. This episode tells the story of the 1924 discovery of the Taung Child through a never-before-released lecture by Dr. Raymond Dart. Show Notes The Leakey Foundation is celebrating its 50th anniversary by sharing rare, previousl
Episode 34: From the Archive - Margaret Mead
In this never-before-released archival lecture from 1974, anthropologist Margaret Mead discusses the lives of women from prehistoric through modern times. Show Notes The Leakey Foundation is 50 years old this year, and we're celebrating this milestone by sharing rare, previously unreleased lectures from the Foundation's archive. These talks are like a time capsule that lets you hear from scientist
Episode 33: From the Archive - Dian Fossey
In this never-before-released archival lecture from 1973, the legendary primatologist Dian Fossey tells the story of the early years of her groundbreaking mountain gorilla research. Show Notes The Leakey Foundation is 50 years old this year, and we're celebrating this milestone by sharing rare, previously unreleased lectures from the Foundation's archive. These talks are like a time capsule that
Episode 32: From the Archive - Carl Sagan
Carl Sagan explores the evolution of human intelligence from the big bang, fifteen billion years ago, through today in this never-before-released archival lecture. Show Notes The Leakey Foundation is 50 years old this year, and we're celebrating this milestone by sharing rare, previously unreleased lectures from the Foundation's archive. These talks are like a time machine that lets you hear from
Episode 31: The Four Year War
A scientist solves the mystery of the only known chimpanzee civil war...thus far. In 1960, Louis Leakey sent Jane Goodall to start her study of chimpanzees at Gombe National Park, Tanzania. Her first decade of research led her to think that chimpanzees were like nicer versions of humans. But in the early 1970s, the Gombe chimp community split in two and deadly violence erupted. The cause has rema
Origin Stories Season Three Preview
Origin Stories returns November 15th with more stories about how we became human.
Episode 28: What They Left Behind [Rebroadcast]
The stories and songs of prehistoric people are lost. Their art and artifacts are all that remain of their culture. The painted caves of Ice Age Europe are the world's most famous examples of prehistoric art. What does this art reveal about the people who made it? Why did they paint those images on cave walls? What do the images mean? Jean Clottes is one of the world's preeminent prehistorians and
Episode 30: Tales From the Field [LIVE]
Three true tales about what it's like to do field research. Kelly Stewart, Dorothy Cheney, and Robert Seyfarth share stories of gun smuggling, pet leeches, close encounters with hippos, and fan mail from one of the world's most infamous mass murderers. This bonus episode was recorded live at a Leakey Foundation Fellows event in 2016. The Leakey Foundation Origin Stories is a project of The Leakey
Episode 29: Rewriting Our Story
For a long time, scientists have been searching for the first Homo sapiens in the Great Rift Valley of Ethiopia. The story we've been telling about the origin of our species has gone something like this: Around 200,000 years ago in East Africa, the first Homo sapiens emerged, splitting off from an ancestral species, possibly Homo erectus. We had big brains and a knack for tool making. We spread ou
Episode 28: What They Left Behind
The stories and songs of prehistoric people are lost. Their art and artifacts are all that remain of their culture. The painted caves of Ice Age Europe are the world's most famous examples of prehistoric art. What does this art reveal about the people who made it? Why did they paint those images on cave walls? What do the images mean? Jean Clottes is one of the world's preeminent prehistorians and
Episode 27: Out of Eden the Long Way
One of the big questions in the study of human evolution is the question of how our ancestors spread across the world. Our species evolved in Africa and migrated around the world from there. Most people on earth today are mixed descendants of multiple migrations to different places. Somewhere in almost everyone's family history, whether it was last year or thousands of years ago, there was someone
Episode 26: Rising Star
It's not every day you see a Facebook post that changes your life, but that's exactly what happened to Leakey Foundation grantee Alia Gurtov. Gurtov was checking her Facebook feed one morning and saw a post from paleoanthropologist Lee Berger. He was looking for archaeologists who were "...skinny and preferably small. They must not be claustrophobic, they must be fit, they should have some caving
Episode 25: Stones and How to Use Them
The paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey described stone tools as "fossilized human behavior." These rocks, shaped by our human ancestors and found in archaeological sites around the world, can give us clues about how ancient people lived. Archaeologist and Leakey Foundation grantee John Shea of Stony Brook University says you can learn even more by making and using stone tools yourself. Thanks to
Episode 24: Ancestor
Just recently, the news media announced the discovery of a 13 million-year-old fossil ape called Alesi. This remarkable fossil was found in Kenya, and it's from a time period where there's a big blank spot in the fossil record of our family tree. Alesi tells us something new about the very early evolution of apes and even shows what the common ancestor of humans and all the other living apes might
Season 2 Preview
Our new season of Origin Stories is coming soon! This is a sneak preview of the first episode.
Altruism
Why do people risk their own lives to save a stranger? Why do we share food or give money to charity? The human capacity for altruism has been a puzzle for scientists since Darwin. In this episode of Origin Stories, primatologist Joan Silk explores the evolution of altruism and cooperation. In our Being Human Bonus segment, we share a story of human kindness from Erika Lantz and WBUR's Kind World.
Episode 21: Follow the Leader?
Every animal that lives in groups has to make decisions as a group. Even a seemingly simple decision like "where should we go for dinner?" can be complicated to negotiate. Is there a simple rule behind how humans and other animals make group decisions? Margaret Crofoot is a primatologist and Leakey Foundation grantee whose research on baboons suggests there is a rule, and it's not what you migh
Episode 09: Did Cooking Make Us Human? (Re-release)
Humans have evolved very differently from other primates. Is there one thing responsible for humans becoming human? Some evolutionary biologists think that the way we process our food, namely cooking it, could explain why our species developed so differently from others. Did cooking make us human? Dr. Richard Wrangham of Harvard University and Dr. Rachel Carmody of UCSF and Harvard discuss the imp
Episode 20: The Power Paradox - LIVE
The Power Paradox What is power? Where does social power come from? What happens in our bodies and with our behavior when we have power and when we don't? What can we learn about lasting social power from small-scale hunter-gatherer societies? Dacher Keltner is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the faculty director of the UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Cent
Episode 19: Being Human - Born and Evolved to Run
Humans and our recent ancestors have been accomplished endurance runners for more than a million years. Our evolutionary history as runners partly accounts for why aerobic exercise is such a key component of human health. In this talk, recorded in July 2016, Daniel Lieberman explores how and why the human body evolved to run long distances. Daniel Lieberman is the Professor and Chair of the Depart
Episode 18: Empathy
Empathy has long been considered a uniquely human trait, but it's an ability that has also been observed in apes and other animals. Primatologist Frans de Waal says that examples of empathy in non-human primates and other mammals suggest that empathy has a long evolutionary history in humans. Frans de Waal is the C.H. Candler Professor of Psychology at Emory University where he directs the Livi
Episode 04: How to Document a Society (Re-release)
Every day for 55 years a dedicated group of researchers, students, and field assistants have spent their days crawling through thorns and vines as they follow chimpanzees to observe their behavior. They write everything down in notes and on maps and checksheets. This episode continues the story of Jane Goodall's pioneering Gombe chimpanzee research study. Thanks to Anne Pusey, director of the Jan
Episode 17: Being Human - Speaking of Sex
Humans are very verbal compared to other animals. We talk constantly, and our voices can signal many things beyond the meaning of our words. The human voice is also highly differentiated between the sexes. In this live recording of our Being Human event in February 2016, Dr. David Puts explores how studying the human voice can be a good way to gain insight into human sexual selection. Dr. Put
Episode 16: Neanderthals
People have been fascinated with Neanderthals since they were first discovered in the mid-1800s. For a long time, they have been seen as dumb, brutish cavemen. As more discoveries have been made in the past few decades, our picture of who Neanderthals were and how they lived has shifted dramatically. In this episode we talk with Shara Bailey, a Leakey Foundation grantee and professor at New York U
Episode 15: The Grandmother Hypothesis
When Kristen Hawkes first started to research the foraging habits of the Hadza hunter-gatherers, she noticed that the older women in the society were spending their time collecting food and sharing it with their grandchildren. She started to wonder if this type of contribution from grandmothers might explain why humans have such long lives. Her grandmother hypothesis suggests that grandmothering m
Episode 14: Being Human - Why Do We Laugh?
Laughter is a universal human behavior. Have you ever wondered why we laugh or what it really means when we do? Greg Bryant of UCLA studies the evolution of communication and vocal behavior, especially of spontaneous vocal expressions such as laughter. In this episode of Origin Stories he explores the origins and evolution of human laughter in a talk that was recorded live at our Being Human event
Episode 13: Evolutionary Arms Race
In this episode we take a closer
look at the evolutionary arms race between humans and the microbes
that make us sick. What does each side bring to the fight? Dr.
Pardis Sabeti of Harvard University is a computational biologist
who uses math and computers to look into the genomes of humans and
infectious microbes to see how both humans and microbes are
evolving. She was named one of TIME Magazine'
Episode 12: The Origins of Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is the world's leading cause of death by infectious disease, and it has been plaguing humanity for a very long time. In the first episode of a two-part series on infectious disease and human evolution, Dr. Anne Stone of Arizona State University investigates a mysterious case of tuberculosis in ancient Peruvian mummies and finds surprising new evidence in the search for the origins of
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