The Insight - podcast cover

The Insight

Insitome: Your guide to the story of youinsitome.libsyn.com
Where did we come from? One of humanity's most basic questions, the answer is fascinating. Weaving together insights from the fields of genetics, archaeology, linguistics, and paleoanthropology, hosts Spencer Wells and Razib Khan take us on a grand tour of human history. Scientific storytelling at its best.

Episodes

Why Western Europeans are so WEIRD and why that matters!

Razib talks to evolutionary anthropologist Joe Henrich about his new book, The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous, https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B07RZFCPMD/geneexpressio-20

Sep 08, 202050 minSeason 3Ep. 32

Why much of science is fiction

Razib talks to Stuart Ritchie about his new book, Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence, and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1250222699/geneexpressio-20

Sep 03, 20201 hr 20 minSeason 3Ep. 31

Siberian paleohistory

Razib and Spencer discuss the geography, prehistory, and genetics, of Siberia. Also, the time Spencer experienced a Siberian winter!

Aug 06, 20201 hr 19 minSeason 3Ep. 30

Sundaland: a human evolutionary hearth

Razib and Spencer discuss why the geology and biogeography of Southeast Asia may explain why it is so important in the history of human evolution. Show notes: https://blog.insito.me/humanitys-second-cradle-in-southeast-asia-cbb26244f08a

Jul 31, 20202 hr 34 minSeason 3Ep. 29

Peopling the Americas 32,000 years ago

Razib discusses revolutionary new work published in Nature that tells us that modern humans were present in the Americas 32,000 years ago with one of the authors, Lorena Becerra-Valdivia. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02190-y https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2509-0 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2509-0...

Jul 23, 202042 minSeason 3Ep. 28

Ghost in the machine

Spencer and Razib talk about what we mean when we say "ghost population" in human genetics, and why it's so important to understand our origins. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2842210/ https://www.genetics.org/content/192/3/1065.short

Jul 16, 202054 minSeason 3Ep. 27

Native American admixture into Polynesia!

Razib talks to Alex Ioannidis on the new paper which he is a first author of which argues that there is pre-Columbian Native American ancestry in Eastern Polynesia. Did the Polynesians bring them back from the mainland? Or did they voyage themselves? https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2487-2

Jul 09, 202045 minSeason 3Ep. 26

Will to Power and the Holocene transition

Razib and Spencer talk about what a new ancient DNA paper from Neolithic Ireland suggests about radical inequality and power differentials in early agricultural societies, and what that says about the transition from hunting and gathering more generally https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2378-6 (also, coronavirus update!)

Jun 26, 20201 hr 2 minSeason 3Ep. 25

Two cultures, humanities and science

Spencer and Razib discuss what the humanities can offer to science with Kerim Yasar, professor of East Asian literature https://twitter.com/nihonkyo

Jun 18, 20201 hrSeason 3Ep. 24

Psychiatry and genes

Razib talks to Dr. Emily Deans on what's like to work in psychiatry today in a world with personal genomics. https://twitter.com/evolutionarypsy

Jun 11, 202049 minSeason 3Ep. 23

The genetic basis of facial variation

This week Razib talks to Dan Crouch about what we know about the genetics of the variation shape and features. https://www.pnas.org/content/115/4/E676.short

May 28, 202058 minSeason 3Ep. 21

Ancient DNA and China

Spencer and Razib discuss the latest ancient DNA work that sheds light on East Asian prehistory (and also some coronavirus status update) https://reich.hms.harvard.edu/sites/reich.hms.harvard.edu/files/inline-files/YangSciecne2020.pdf (excuse the "sound effects" early in the podcast!)

May 21, 202054 minSeason 3Ep. 20

Chris Stringer on paleoanthropology in 2020

Razib catches up with Chris Stinger on the state of paleoanthropology in 2020 and the ramifications of what genetics has taught us about the diversity in Denisovans in the past few years!

May 14, 20201 hr 5 minSeason 3Ep. 19

Genetically Modified Organisms

Razib talks to Chad Niederhuth at Michigan State on the promise of GMO agriculture! http://niederhuthlab.com/

May 07, 202051 minSeason 3Ep. 18

Coronavirus 2020: vaccination and the specter of revolution

Spencer and Razib discuss the state of the pandemic, why Spencer is skeptical of rapid vaccine development, and the political and cultural fallout of COVID-19. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/04/29/847755751/compared-to-china-u-s-stay-at-home-has-been-a-giant-garden-party-journalist-says https://medium.com/@spwells...

May 01, 20201 hr 5 minSeason 3Ep. 17

Genetics, genealogy, and secrets unknown

Razib talks to Libby Copeland about her new book, The Lost Family: How DNA Testing is Upending Who We Are https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/lost-family_9781419743009/

Apr 22, 202054 minSeason 1Ep. 16

Coronavirus 2020: preamble to Weimar?

Spencer and Razib discuss the updates to the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 as of mid-April. Spencer delves into the possible social and cultural ramifications, and they both discuss the trajectory internationally and into the future.

Apr 16, 20201 hr 18 minSeason 1Ep. 15

Paleogenetics of East Asia

This week Spencer and Razib discuss the latest discoveries about the paleogenetic history of East Asia. Where did the Tibetans, Han, and Japanese come from? https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.25.004606v1 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.25.008078v1

Apr 09, 202053 minSeason 1Ep. 14

Coronavirus pandemic of 2020

Razib and Spencer discuss the state-of-the-pandemic at the end of March 2020. https://blog.insito.me/the-insight-show-notes-season-3-episode-13-pandemic-c6640de64d6b

Mar 31, 20202 hr 36 minSeason 3Ep. 13

Natural Selection among indigenous Americans

Razib talks to Austin Reynolds about what he's discovered about adaptation in indigenous peoples of the New World. https://www.pnas.org/content/116/19/9312.short

Mar 25, 202042 minSeason 3Ep. 12

The Importance of Summer

An excerpt from Spencer's book Pandora's Seed about the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in 1815.

Mar 23, 202010 min

Genomics of Mendelian Conditions

Razib talks to Dr. Jessica Chong of the University of Washington about how genomics has changed how we view and understand rare disorders https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002929719302745

Mar 19, 202043 minSeason 3Ep. 11

Decreasing genetic diversity with distance from Africa

Razib talks to Dr. Sohini Ramachandran of Brown about her classical paper from 2005 which showed decreasing genetic diversity as a function of distance from Africa https://www.pnas.org/content/102/44/15942

Mar 11, 202036 minSeason 3Ep. 10

Ancient Egyptian genetics

Razib and Spencer talk about the history of ancient Egypt, and the insights genetics can shed on the origins of the ancient Egyptians https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms15694

Mar 04, 202046 minSeason 3Ep. 9

Genetics and (pre)history of Southeast Asia

Razib and Spencer talk all things genetic and prehistorical Southeast Asia! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6476732/ https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-02185511/file/Science%20paper%20ORI.pdf https://insitome.libsyn.com/paradise-lost

Feb 26, 202051 minSeason 3Ep. 8

Coronavirus and Zoonoses

Spencer and Razib discuss the evolutionary and historical context of zoonotic diseases, and their relevance to current events.

Feb 19, 202032 minSeason 3Ep. 7

Genetics of Fertility

Razib talks to Melinda Mills about the intersection of demographics and genetics. https://www.rsfjournal.org/content/rsfjss/4/4/122.full.pdf

Feb 13, 202057 minSeason 3Ep. 6