Episode description

CrowdScience listener Alina is in a relationship with a polyamorous partner and is very happy with this arrangement, which got her thinking – why is monogamy so often the norm in human societies?

Presenter Caroline Steel goes on an anthropological odyssey to figure out where this drive to find a single partner - and stick with them - comes from.

What can science tell us about how human relationships developed, and whether having one or many partners is more 'natural'?

Evolutionary biologist Kit Opie of the University of Bristol joins us at London Zoo to help us understand the mating systems of our closest primate relatives.

To find out how polygamy developed in some parts of the world we speak to anthropologist Katie Starkweather of the University of Illinois Chicago.

And we learn about the chemistry of bonding from Sarah Blumenthal at Emory University, who explains how the brains of prairie voles may give us clue about the neurochemicals which shape human relationships.

Presenter: Caroline Steel Producers: Priya Sippy, Ben Motley and Imaan Moin Editor: Cathy Edwards Production Co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano Studio Manager: Steve Greenwood

(Image: Dancing wedding cake figurines Credit: Peter Dazeley via Getty Images)