On Humans
On Humans is a podcast that explores the human story through conversations with leading scholars. It aims to make new research about humanity accessible and relevant to big questions about our origins and nature. The show covers topics from the evolution of apes to the making of the modern economy, and includes both regular episodes and longer series.
Episodes
Beyond Paleo: A Culinary History of Humanity ~ Daniel Lieberman
“What do you think of the paleo diet?” To my surprise, this has become the most common question I get after telling people that I cover human evolution. I’ve long struggled to answer. Yes, the idea makes a lot of sense: humans evolved as hunter-gatherers, so our bodies should do well when we eat like hunter-gatherers.But what exactly do hunter-gatherers eat? Harvard professor Daniel Lieberman want
When Did Globalisation Really Begin? ~ Valerie Hansen
We can decide to stay home, but even then, the wider world is always close to our skin. From global trade to ideas that travel across continents, the wider world is always woven into our modern life.Since when has this been the case?There is a modern story about globalisation — a story about telecommunications and aeroplanes and such — but this is the climax of a long process, not its beginning. T
The Why of War and the How of Peace, Part II: Lessons from Prehistory ~ Douglas P. Fry
How old is war? Does it stretch deep into human origins, or did warfare become common only as growing populations settled down? In Part II of this conversation with Douglas P. Fry, we return to the long-running debate about the origins of war. Fry revisits his argument that aggression is ancient, but war is not. I put that claim to the test, raising some of the strongest objections from archaeolog
The Why of War and the How of Peace, Part I: Lessons from the Modern World ~ Douglas P. Fry
History is full of wars. Why? Is war driven by fear? Greed? Revenge? Ambitious leaders? Is it rooted deep in human nature—or does it emerge only under particular social conditions? And what do we learn if we change the angle from wars to non-wars? What lessons emerge from a study of all the periods and regions where war did not take place? My guest in this two-part mini-series is Douglas P. Fry, a
The Big Picture: Measuring the Origins of the Modern World ~ Bishnupriya Gupta & Stephen Broadberry (Great Divergence #5)
Was India once an affluent empire, later impoverished by British colonisation? Or was India never rich to begin with? More generally, what does historical data on wages and other economic indicators tell us about the broader story of the making of the modern world – a world with great affluence, but where much of the riches are still concentrated in the Western world.For over 20 years now, Stephen
A View From the East: China, Japan, and the Other Paths to Prosperity ~ Debin Ma (Great Divergence #4)
The tech gap between China and the West is closing fast. But why did the land that invented paper and gunpowder ever fall behind? Debin Ma is the world’s leading economic historian of East Asia. In this fourth episode of our Great Divergence series, he approaches the making of the modern world from an eastern perspective. We discuss why China fell behind, why Japan modernised early, and why East A
Why Did the Industrial Revolution Happen in Britain? ~ Robert Allen (Great Divergence #3)
Why was industrial modernity born in Europe and not, say, China? This is one of the most consequential questions about the origins of the modern world. Yet asking “why Europe” can mislead. The Industrial Revolution was not a European event. It was a British event.So why was the steam engine invented in Britain, and not France or Italy?Oxford professor Robert Allen has worked for decades trying to
Why Did So Many Inventions Come from Europe? ~ Joel Mokyr (Great Divergence #2)
Several inventions mark the progress towards modernity - the Gutenberg printing press, the Galileo telescope, the Watt steam engine. But why was Europe the birthplace of so many of these? Joel Mokyr, winner of the 2025 Nobel Prize in economics, thinks the cause was culture. For decades he has asked economists to take intellectual history more seriously. Economies are shaped by new inventions, Moky
Why the West? Colonies, Fossil Fuels, and Lessons from China ~ Kenneth Pomeranz (Great Divergence #1)
Why did Western Europe become the richest region of the early modern world? Was the rise of the West powered by colonization, inventions, or something else entirely? And what happened to the medieval might of China and India?The term “great divergence” is increasingly used by historians who want to study this immense question, but who want to do it carefully, without falling into traditional East-
Encore: Walking Towards the Human Condition (with Jeremy De Silva)
Something big is coming soon. Stay tuned!Whilst waiting, you can enjoy one of my all-time favourites from the archives.A lot of the recent episodes have mentioned the impact of bipedalism in the human story, but the remarks have hardly done justice to the depth of the matter. Jeremy DeSilva did it justice.Enjoy! ORIGINAL SHOW NOTESHumans are odd in many ways. But perhaps the oddest of our features
Where Did Humans Evolve? Gazing at the Changing Nature of the Garden of Eden ~ Denise Su
Imagine a group of ancient humans, crafting stone tools at the dawn of humankind. What did these creatures look like? To find out, we can stare at the skulls in museums or glance at reconstructions made by paleo-artists. Not a bad start. But what if we move the lens and zoom into their surroundings? What was the scientific “Garden of Eden” like? Was it a lush forest, a dry savanna, or an icy cave?
The Original Affluent Society? Lessons from 60-Years of "Man the Hunter" Research ~ Richard B. Lee
What was life like before farming? Was it nasty, brutish, and short? Or did our hunter-gatherer ancestors live lives that were relatively free, affluent, and ecologically stable?In the lack of a time machine, many anthropologists have sought answers from studying the few hunter-gatherer communities that still exist today. In 1966, several leading names in the field were invited to present their re
What Can Shamans Teach Us About Religion? | Many Minds with Manvir Singh
The world is full of religions, but none as timeless as shamanism. And whilst many modern religions have shed their shamanic skins, the shaman is rarely as far away as we have been told.Or so argues anthropologist Manvir Singh in his book, Shamanism: The Timeless Religion. Singh’s work is fascinating in its capacity to link the exocit with the familiar, showing how rainforest rituals are not so f
The Origins of Humankind: Where Do We Really Come From?
Happy 2026! On Humans has typically marked the coming of January by revisiting the previous year’s most popular episode. This time, the New Year special packs the five-hour-long "Origins of Humankind" series into one fast-paced dive through deep time.By mixing highlights from the original interviews with fresh narration, this episode offers a captivating journey through many of the great
Why Do We Laugh? Philosophers on Jokes, Humor, and the Human Condition ~ Mira Magdalena Sickinger
“The podcast is great, but one thing hasn’t been covered yet: humour. It’s an essential part of our human condition, and would certainly be worth an episode.”This listener feedback was easy to agree with. From standup comedy to nervous laughter, our lives are filled with chuckles and giggles. Why? Why do adults laugh at witty jokes whilst children laugh at the simple pleasures of peek-a-boo? And w
Restless Humanity: The Epic Migrations Into the Americas, Polynesia, and... Beyond? ~ Andrés Moreno-Estrada
We are a movable species. In less than 50 thousand years, Homo sapiens has penetrated practically all corners of the earth. This is an episode about those epic migrations, with a focus on the two furthest edges of the human migratory map: the Americas in the West and the Polynesian islands in the East. In the end, we discuss emerging evidence that those branches met each other -- evidence coming d
Beyond Race: A New Outlook on the Shape of Humanity ~ Diyendo Massilani
European thinkers once divided humanity into distinct "races". The idea stuck, even if the science moved on. The shape of humanity, it turned out, is far messier than the old race theorists ever imagined.This much is well known.Still , genetics does study different human "populations". Biological differences between these populations are reported every day. So have we simply changed words? Has any
The Neanderthal Mirror: Latest Findings About the Lines Between Us ~ David Gokhman
Genetics is rewriting the human story. This week, On Humans takes you behind the scenes of this rapidly evolving frontier via three live-recordings, captured at the Salk Institute's CARTA symposium on ancient DNA. The first episode explores the differences between us and the Neanderthals.For centuries, we tried to understand Neanderthals through stones and bones alone. Now genetics is offering a n
Can We Tell a (True) Story of Human Origins? Live from UC San Diego
The science of human origins keeps producing new theories. But are we any closer to telling a true story of human origins? Or are we simply drowning in data? Earlier this November, the chair of UCSD’s Department of Anthropology invited me to explore this question in a campus talk. My optimistic claim was that underneath many of the field’s important debates, a powerful story has been emerging. At
Epilogue: Is the Brain Free to Choose? ~ Tim Coulson
You decided to start reading this. But could you have chosen otherwise? In this short epilogue to this fall's brain science -series, Oxford biologist Tim Coulson gives his defense of free will. (The episode is an unheard clip from the conversation with Tim Coulson, originally recorded as part of the Origins of Humankind -series in March 2025. )LINKS For highlights, longer quotes, and reference
Can the Brain Understand Itself? The Glories and the Limits of Neuroscience ~ Matthew Cobb
Science has learned much about the brain. But how well do we understand this organ of the mind? Are we even close to cracking the neural code? Is a groundbreaking theory of consciousness just around the corner?In this final episode of the brain science -series, Matthew Cobb takes us on a tour of the story of neuroscience. We meet many colourful characters, but this is not just a history for histor
From Alcohol to Antidepressants: What Drugs Teach Us About Brain Chemistry ~ Judy Grisel
Dopamine. Serotonin. Endorphins. We have all heard these terms. And these are not just scientific curiosities. Few are those who have never wondered if their brain chemicals are "just off balance". So how accurate are the popular theories about these mythic molecules? To guide us through the topic, I'm joined by Judy Grisel—an ex-addict and a world-leading neuroscientist of addiction. We will disc
Inside the Brain: A Journey Through the Halls and the Songs of Consciousness ~ Pria Anand
Our brains can feel remote and abstract. Hidden behind Latin names and textbook diagrams, they rarely feel as personal to us as our hearts and stomachs. In this episode, neurologist and author Pria Anand helps us get a little more intimate with that grey, wrinkly seat of our consciousness.Together we explore both the structural architecture and the musical synchronies of the brain. We travel acros
Not So Simple After All? Apes, Einstein, and the Many Mysteries of the Human Brain ~ Dean Falk
Here is a simple story about the origins of the human brain: All primate brains are dense with neurons—they are the supercomputers of the animal world. What's more, the human brain is just what you’d expect from a primate of our size: big, packed with neurons, but no more special than that. It's the chimps and gorillas who are special: without cooked food, their brains lacked the fuel to keep up w
Prologue: The (Very Simple) Story of the Human Brain ~ Suzana Herculano-Houzel
I'm excited to announce that On Humans is launching a new series this fall! This one will explore the wonders of the human brain. The new episodes will drop throughout September and early October. To set the stage, we will revisit a conversation with neuroscientist Suzana Herculano-Houzel, newly re-edited and remastered. It’s the simplest and most elegant story I’ve heard about how our brains
The Great Question of History: India, Britain, and the Fates of Nations | Live at the British Academy
Why did the great powers of Asia stagnate whilst Europe was rising? This question—often called the Great Divergence—is one of the most defining questions of modern history.Few case studies illuminate this question as well as the contrast between Britain and India. Did colonialism make Britain rich and India poor? Or was Britain’s rise already underway before conquest? And what does all this tell u
Encore | Why Agriculture? Climate Change and the Origins of Farming ~ Andrea Matranga
Climate. Weathers. History.Here's an encore episode to wrap up the mini-series on these themes!This episode on the puzzling origins of farming is one of my all-time favourites on the show. I thought it was a good time to put it out again.You can also read my essay on the topic here.Enjoy!~ORIGINAL SHOW NOTESAgriculture changed everything. Traditionally, this “Neolithic Revolution” was celebr
Climate, Water, and the Origins of Colonialism ~ Tirthankar Roy
Before they built empires, the Europeans built ports.Across Africa and Asia, European sailors arrived as merchants. They traded and negotiated. They defended their interests—sometimes with cannon fire. But they were not trying to govern a foreign land.Yet things changed. Why?Historian Tirthankar Roy has a bold new answer. Roy is a professor at the London School of Economics, where he teaches a ren
How Climate Crafted Humanity (Or Did It?) ~ Jessica Thompson
On Humans is back from the break! To mark the summer heat, here is a two-part series on how climate has shaped the human story. In next week's episodes, we will explore the role of water and weather in the origins of European colonialism. But today, we start by crawling deeper into the past: to the origins of humanity itself.In this episode, Yale professor Jessica Thompson helps us navigate one of
An Essential Difference? Males, Females, and the Spaces In Between ~ Augustín Fuentes
Binary thinking is out of fashion. But what about biological sex?Whatever we might say about diversity and fluidity, the ideas of “male” and “female” seem essential in biology. I’ve taught the subject. I’ve drawn bees and flowers, with arrows from anthers to ovaries. I’ve used the terms “dad cell” and “mother cell” while doing so. I don’t know how I could have done it any differently.And maybe tha
The Rest is History: From the Origins of Farming to the Dawn of Modernity ~ Johannes Krause
And so it ends! In the final episode of The Origins of Humankind, we explore the aftermath of the story so far—the story of how one peculiar species, Homo sapiens, evolved, spread, and outlived its relatives.Guiding us through this final chapter is Johannes Krause once again. Together, we uncover the emerging picture of the global spread of farming, pastoralism, and other key ingredients of modern
A Human Like No Other: The Rise of Homo Sapiens ~ Johannes Krause
The time has come: This is where our story truly begins.In Episode 4 of The Origins of Humankind, we finally turn the spotlight on Homo sapiens. Guiding us through this journey is Johannes Krause, director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and a pioneer of one of the greatest scientific revolutions of our time: the science of ancient DNA. This ability to extract DNA from fo
Why Humans? The New Science of the Genus Homo ~ Chris Stringer
Things are about to get personal... In episode 3 of The Origins of Humankind, we zoom into the birth and spread of humanity itself. Our guide is the iconic Chris Stringer, one of the most influential paleoanthropologists alive. Together, we trace the origins of our genus and the emergence of Homo sapiens as the last surviving human species. While doing this, we meet many oddities, such as rhino hu
An Unusual Ape: The Deep Origins of Our Human Oddities ~ Dean Falk
The story continues! In part 2 of the Origins of Humankind, we trace the first steps of our ancestors after they left the chimpanzee lineage.To get humanity going, our ancestors had to wander through millions of years of what anthropologist Dean Falk has called the Botanic Age. It's a time shrouded in mist, yet it may hold the key to some of humanity’s most defining traits — from language and
The Big Picture: From the Origin of Life to the Rise of Humans ~ Tim Coulson
Welcome to the first episode of the Origins of Humankind! In this sweeping pilot, we cover the entire planetary backstory of human existence – from the origins of life to the climate change that kickstarted human evolution. Our expert guide on this journey is Tim Coulson, the Head of Biology at the University of Oxford and the author of A Universal History of Us. The episode explores questions suc
Trailer | Origins of Humankind
Where do we come from? How did we get here? What kind of creature are we?The science of human origins has made great progress in answering these timeless questions. From carbon isotopes to ancient DNA extraction, we now have unprecedented tools to explore our past. But with all this detail, it’s easy to miss the forest from the trees.To fill this gap, On Humans has partnered with CARTA — a UC San
What About India? Part II: Success and Stagnation In the World’s Largest Democracy ~ Bishnupriya Gupta
India’s history isn’t just the story of one nation—it’s the story of one-sixth of humanity. It’s also a lens for understanding how colonialism, democracy, and globalization shaped the modern world. This mini-series offers a human-centred perspective on that remarkable story, focusing on how politics and trade impacted the lives of ordinary Indians. In Part 1, we explored the decline of the Mughals
What About India? Part I: Mughals, British, and the Causes of Poverty ~ Bishnupriya Gupta
Following the success of last year’s What About China -trilogy, I’m delighted to introduce a two-part series on the economic history of India. This series examines the origins of modern India by focusing on politics, poverty, and the experience of ordinary Indians from 1600 till today.The first episode covers the decline of the Mughals and the hugely controversial rule of the British East India
Why Patriarchy? Foragers, Farmers, and the Origins of Gender Inequality ~ Angarika Deb
Why are history books so full of men? Why have so many societies treated women as property? In short, why is patriarchy so pervasive?A casual thinker might find an easy answer from biology. Men tend to be bigger and stronger. Hence, they get to run the show. “Just look at chimpanzees!” But this explanation has obvious problems. Indeed, female chimpanzees don’t have much power in their groups. But
Bonus | Evolution Beyond the Selfish Gene (with Eva Jablonka)
“We are survival machines – robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes.” - Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene
In 1976, Richard Dawkins published one of the most iconic science books of all time. It has inspired a generation of science enthusiasts. But unsurprisingly, many readers disliked the idea of being but a “robot vehicle” or a “survival machine” for s
Bonus | The Real Lessons From The World Happiness Report (with Lara Aknin)
Each year, the World Happiness Report ranks countries based on their citizen's life satisfaction. My home country, Finland, tends to come at the top. Sure. But lessons can we draw from all this? Beyond patting Finns on the back, can we distil some more insights from the report?I got to discuss this with Lara Aknin, co-editor of the World Happiness Report. In this previously unpublished clip, Aknin
Bonus | Some Myths About Human Mating (with Katie Starkweather)
Many traditional societies accept polygyny (one man, many wives). Monogamy, too, is practised across the globe. But what about polyandry — one woman, many husbands? Is this a "dubious idea" as sometimes suggested by evolutionary theorists?
In this bonus clip, anthropologist Katie Starkweather offers interesting examples of formal and informal polyandry from around the world. She also brings nuance
Encore | The Mindbending Conversation That Topped 2024 (with Donald Hoffman)
Happy New Year 2025! To celebrate, here is an encore of what proved to be the most popular episode of 2024.
This rerun combines episodes 30 and 31 into one epic journey towards the frontiers of human understanding. My guest is Donald Hoffman. Our topics are consciousness, cosmos, and the meaning of life.
Enjoy!
Original show notes
Laws of physics govern the world. They explain the movements of p
Live from London | Yasheng Huang on the Origins of Modern China
This was fun! Last Wednesday saw the first-ever live recording of On Humans. The event was held at the London Business School, courtesy of the LBS's China Club. My guest was MIT Professor Yasheng Huang, familiar to regular listeners from the China trilogy published earlier this fall. In this new episode, we keep tackling the origins of modern China. This time, we draw insights from Huang's two upc
A New Theory on the Broadest Patterns of History ~ Ideen Ali Riahi
Persians. Romans. Chinese. Guptas. Abbasids. Mongols. British.The list of the world’s largest empires is a list of different peoples of Eurasia. With the sole exception of ancient Egypt, the Eurasian landmass has been the breeding ground for the largest empire of each moment in history.Why has Eurasia been so prone to large empires? Similarly, why did so many technological breakthroughs — from wri
Is War Inevitable? Lessons from East Asia ~ David C. Kang
Why do wars begin? How can we avoid them? Do countries wage wars whenever it suits their own goals? Or are wars a product of failed understanding and military madmen? These are questions at the centre of the study of war and peace. But for too long, the field of international relations has answered them by scavenging data from European history alone. To better understand the human capacity for p
Is War Natural After All? Revisiting the Debate ~ Luke Glowacki
Our ancestors did not wage war. Warfare emerged only when humans started settling down and storing food. Indeed, some modern hunter-gatherers still enjoy the peaceful existence that once was the natural state of our species.Or so argued Douglas P. Fry, my guest in episode 8. I found many of his arguments convincing. For example, ancient cave art is surprisingly void of depictions of warfare. You c
Nobel-Prize Special | Daron Acemoglu on Why We Should Celebrate Humanity
Daron Acemoglu has been awarded the 2024 Nobel-prize for Economic Science. This is a great testament to his impressive career. But the award was given for his early work on global inequality, together with Johnson and Robinson. The Swedish Riksbank did not pay attention to his new work on inequality within rich countries. Should we? And is his new theory even consistent with the old?I got to ask t
This Might Be The Nicest Thing About Human Nature ~ Lara Aknin
You are given 20 dollars in cash. You can use it as you wish, but with one condition: you have to use it to treat yourself.Now imagine getting another 20 dollars next week. This time, the rules have changed: you must use the money to treat someone else. Which do you think will make you feel better?Contrary to many people's predictions, we tend to feel much better after spending the money on others
What About China? Part III: A Brief History of China’s Future ~ Yasheng Huang
Where is China today? Will its rise continue to benefit the vast majority of its population? Or is Xi Jinping's increasingly repressive government committing one of the biggest blunders of modern history? This is the final episode in the China-trilogy, the product of hours of conversations I've had with ChinaTalk's Jordan Schneider and MIT professor Yasheng Huang. In part 1, we discussed the deep
What About China? Part II: Explaining the Chinese Miracle ~ Yasheng Huang
China's rise has shook the world. It has changed the lives of over a billion people in China. It has flooded humanity with cheap goods, from single-use toys to high-tech solar panels. And it has changed the logic of war and peace in the 21st Century.But how to explain China's dramatic rise? Was it due to the wisdom of China's leaders after Mao? Or was it all about foreign investors searching for c
What About China? Part I: The Deep Currents of Chinese History ~ Yasheng Huang
The West has ruled history — at least the way history has been written. This is a shame. To tell the story of humans, we must tell the story of us all.So what about the rest? What themes and quirks does their history hide? And what forces, if anything, prevented them of matching Europe’s rise? I aim to cover these topics for several countries and cultures over the next year. But I wanted to start
Does It Matter Who Brings In The Meat? ~ Katie Starkweather
How do hunter-gatherers live? Do they wage war? Are they egalitarian? Do they really work for less?These are fascinating questions. I’ve tried my best at covering them on the show. (You can see a list of episodes below). But since 2023, the most controversial question has been on the role of women. Is it true that men hunt and women gather? Or is this theory, nicknamed “Man the Hunter”, a myth tha
Why Agriculture? Climate Change and the Origins of Farming ~ Andrea Matranga
Agriculture changed everything. Traditionally, this “Neolithic Revolution” was celebrated for opening the gates of civilisation. Recently, it has been compared to the original sin. But whatever our take on agriculture, we should be puzzled by one thing: Why did our ancestors start to farm in the first place? It's not like early farmers had improved lives. Quite the opposite, they worked harder and
What Can Moral Dilemmas Tell Us About Ourselves? ~ Peter Railton
You are driving a car. The brakes stop working. To your horror, you are approaching a busy street market. Many people might be killed if you run into them. The only way to prevent a catastrophe is by turning fast to the right. Unfortunately, a lonely pedestrian might be killed if you do so. Should you turn? Many people say you should. After all, killing one is better than killing many. But followi
The Birth of Modern Prosperity, Part IV: Grasping Towards Equality (with Branko Milanovic)
The Industrial Revolution played in the hands of the rich. A century after James Watt revealed his steam engine in 1776, the richest 1% owned a whopping 70% of British wealth. Then things changed. Across rich countries, inequality plummeted for decades. Join Branko Milanovic on this quest to understand the evolution of inequality during the building of modern prosperity. Our conversation ranges fr
The Birth of Modern Prosperity, Part III: Power to the People (with Daron Acemoglu)
The Industrial Revolution did not create modern prosperity. Indeed, the British workers saw little or no improvements in their wages between 1750 and 1850. They did, however, experience ever-worsening working conditions. Then things changed. Britain became a democracy. And with democracy, the economy changed, too.Or so argues Daron Acemoglu, one of the most influential economists alive. You can ei
The Birth of Modern Prosperity, Part II: Laboratories of the New Era (with Brad DeLong)
For millenia, patriarchy, population growth, and extractive elites made the world a bleak place for most humans. But there are good news, too: everything changed around 1870. And the changed happened due to the taming of the genius of people like Nikolai Tesla. So runs the argument my guest today, Brad DeLong. I will let him explain it to you. You can either listen to the episode here, or read som
The Birth of Modern Prosperity, Part I: The Shape of the Story (with Oded Galor)
We live longer and grow taller than ever before. We are healthier and wealthier. Our ancestors could hardly have imagined a life of such prosperity. A future archaeologist would be equally puzzled. How did we become so rich so fast? What changes could have been so dramatic as to literally change the height of our species? Our modern prosperity is not the outcome of slow and steady progress. For mo
Mothers, Fathers, And The Many Myths We Have Held ~ Sarah Blaffer Hrdy
Over half a century, Sarah Blaffer Hrdy has challenged many of our myths about parenting, attachment, and "human nature". In this conversation, we dive into her remarkable career, culminating in her new book, Father Time.[You can now order Father Time via Amazon or Princeton Uni Press]We discuss a variety of topics, from hunter-gatherer parenting to the limitations of comparing humans to chimpanze
Did Humans Evolve In Small Groups? ~ Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias
Modern cities are unique. Never before have so many people lived so close to each other. But just how unique is our modern cosmopolitanism?Completely unique, says a traditional theory. Humans evolved in tiny groups. These groups were not only smaller than modern cities. They were smaller than medieval towns. Indeed, hunter-gatherers often move in bands of 25 people or so. These bands might draw pe
Can We Understand Infinity? ~ Adrian Moore
Infinity is a puzzling idea. Even young children ponder its various manifestations: What is the biggest number? Does the universe have an edge? Does time have a beginning?Philosophers have tried to answer these questions since time immemorial. More recently, they have been joined by scientists and mathematicians. So what have we learned? Can we finally understand infinity? And what has this quest
How Did Humans Evolve? Why Did We? ~ Ian Tattersall
Why are we furless? Why do we cook our food and use spoken language? And how does climate change, sashimi, or the banks of Central America relate to human origins? Human evolution is a deeply puzzling topic. But behind this dense mist lies many keys to our self-understanding. To guide us through the foggy territory, I am joined by Dr Ian Tattersall, a curator emeritus at the American Museum of Nat
How Did Consciousness Evolve? Did It? ~ Eva Jablonka
We are conscious creatures. But why? Why did consciousness evolve? Can we use biology to explain the origins of feeling and meaning? Or will consciousness forever escape the grip of the scientific method? Eva Jablonka has thought hard about these issues. An eminent evolutionary biologist, she became famous for her pioneering work on epigenetic inheritance. More recently, she has produced very orig
Why Do We Love? ~ Arthur Aron
Why do we love? What brings us together? How to heal ethnic hatred? According to my guest, the answer to all these questions lies in the human desire to grow ourselves through connecting with others. Arthur Aron is a psychologist who studies human bonding in all its forms. A pioneer in the field, he has studied topics from connecting with strangers to maintaining romance in life-long marriages. An
Mental Health Bonus | The Origins of ADHD, Anxiety, and Depression ~ Nikhil Chaudhary
Can evolution shed light on our mental health? Nikhil Chaudhary thinks so. He is an anthropologist at the University of Cambridge who specialises in the links between evolution and psychiatry. In this clip, Dr Chaudhary explores the evolutionary origins of ADHD, depression, and anxiety.For our longer conversation on parenting and family life, see episode 34 of the On Humans Podcast.
Family Lessons From Hunter-Gatherers ~ Nikhil Chaudhary
We expect a lot from parents, especially from mothers. “Maternal instincts” are such, we are told, that mothers should gain almost literal superpowers from the joy of parenting. Unfortunately, many parents face a different reality. Having children can be one of the most stressful times of life, amplified by feelings of guilt and inadequacy. Why is this? Is this an inevitable part of the human cond
Encore | This Conversation Touched The Most Hearts in 2023 ~ Helen Fisher
Happy New Year 2024! To celebrate the new year, Spotify sent me a bunch of data points about 2023. I was particularly interested in one question: which conversation moved people the most? I already knew which episode people played the most. (That's episode 17 with Bernardo Kastrup.) But to listen is one thing. To share with friends and family is another. The most shared episode was my conversation
Could Homo Floresiensis Be Alive Today? ~ Gregory Forth
This is the final episode of 2023. And it is a very odd episode.My guest is Gregory Forth. He is an anthropologist who specializes in the biological theories of indigenous peoples. Forth was doing this work on the Flores Island, Indonesia, during the 2003 discovery of a new hominin species: Homo floresiensis. This was an exciting discovery for many. But Forth was, in his own words, "gobsmacked". I
The Evolution of Inequality Under Capitalism ~ Branko Milanović
Capitalism can cause massive economic inequalities. Indeed, a century after Adam Smith wrote the Wealth of Nations, the richest 1% owned a record-breaking 70% of England’s wealth. Not surprisingly, this era saw the rise of a very different economic theorist: Karl Marx. [You can see this and many other graphs here.]But does capitalism have to increase inequality? If so, why was the golden age of Am
Meaning of Life Beyond Space and Time ~ Donald Hoffman
The tension between science and religion is perhaps the greatest tension of our age. Is the world fundamentally made of atoms, quarks, and quantum fields? Or is the material world but a secondary realm, lesser in meaning to the kingdom of God? There are many iterations of this tension. But there are also bridge-builders; thinkers who want to bridge science and religion — or at the very least, scie
Could Consciousness Explain The Laws Of Physics? ~ Donald Hoffman
The world is governed by objective laws of physics. They explain the movements of planets, oceans, and cells in our bodies. But can they ever explain the feelings and meanings of our mental lives? This problem, called the hard problem of consciousness, runs very deep. No satisfactory explanation exists. But many think that there must, in principle, be an explanation.A minority of thinkers disagree
Did Men Hunt and Women Gather? ~ Cara Ocobock
How natural is a sexual division of labour? Very natural, claims a popular theory. Indeed, it was the secret to our success: men evolved to hunt, women to forage. This allowed women to focus on childcare while staying economically productive; after all, one can gather food with children. Men, on the other hand, could focus on high-risk hunting. At the end of the day, everyone could have steak and
A Natural History of Equality ~ Sarah Brosnan
“Why do we care about equality? Is it an invention of the European Enlightenment? Or is it something rooted in human nature?”These questions launched episode 15 with philosopher Elizabeth Anderson. Titled “A Deep History of Equality”, our conversation ranged from Pleistocene hunter-gatherers to Chinese communism. Today’s episode continues the quest. But this time, we go further and contrast humans
Is the Human Brain Special? ~ Suzana Herculano-Houzel
The human brain is sometimes called the "most complex thing in the universe”. It allows us to study ourselves, other animals, and the cosmos itself. Indeed, we often think of our brain as the pinnacle of animal evolution.But what do we actually know about the human brain? How different is it from the brain of an elephant? A chimpanzee? A raccoon? And if our brain is not the biggest in the animal k
Encore | How Love Synchronises Our Brains ~ Ruth Feldman
How literally can we be in "synch" with someone? Very literally, said my guest in episode 3. Originally titled “A Musical Biology of Love”, this was a fascinating episode with jazz musician and neuroscientist Ruth Feldman. We recorded the episode one year ago, almost to the day. I have thought a lot about it ever since. So here it is again, with remastered audio and a new introduction. Original sh
Do Machines Improve the Human Condition? ~ Daron Acemoglu
Machines allow us to do more work with less effort. They sound like an obviously good thing. But there is a tension here. New gadgets and new technologies - new simple “machines” - have been invented throughout history. But it looks like the living standard of the average person did not change for most of that time. So what happened to all the extra output from new technologies? And how is this re
Encore | Is War Natural For Humans? ~ Douglas P. Fry
To complete a trilogy on the anthropology of war, here is episode 8 from the archives. Enjoy!SUPPORT THE SHOWPlease consider becoming a supporter of On Humans. Even small monthly donations can make a huge impact on the long-term sustainability of the program.Visit: Patreon.com/OnHumans Get in touch: ilari@onhumans.org_______Thomas Hobbes famously wrote that life in the state of nature was
What Can Chimpanzees Tell Us About War and Peace? ~ Brian Ferguson
Is war natural for humans? This question launched episode 8 of this podcast. In that episode, anthropologist Douglas Fry argued that war is a new phenomenon. Yes, history is full of wars. But war arrived on stage only 10-15 thousand years ago – or in many areas, much later. And while war is undoubtedly part of human capacity, it is hardly our hardwired inclination. But what about chimpanzees, I as
How War Shapes Our Humanity ~ Greta Uehling
What does war do to the human psyche? It can traumatise. It can cause grief. It can normalise violence and make demons out of the enemy. But difficult times can also elevate our care and compassion. And while much of the new solidarity is focused on those on “our side”, the helping hand does not always stop at the border.Or so argues anthropologist Greta Uehling, the author of Everyday War (2023).
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