Paradise Lost
This week Spencer and Razib discuss the three great "Pleistocene Paradises" lost to rising sea levels at the end of the last Ice Age: Doggerland, Beringia and Sundaland.
Mar 07, 2018•47 min•Season 1Ep. 12
The Insight
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
Chris Stringer and The Human Revolution
This week Spencer and Razib discuss the Out of Africa theory, Neanderthal admixture, and The Human Revolution with Chris Stringer, Head of Human Origins Research at London's Natural History Museum.
Feb 28, 2018•52 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Cheddar: More Than A Cheese
This week, Spencer and Razib do a deep dive into the early history of the British Isles, focusing specifically on the famous "Cheddar Man." Who were the first Brits, and what did they really look like?
Feb 22, 2018•40 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Darwin Day Special: Do Gentlemen Really Prefer Blondes?
Spencer and Razib discuss Charles Darwin's scientific impact on our understanding of evolution, and delve into the mechanism by which selection - both natural and sexual - produces biological change.
Feb 15, 2018•48 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Journey of Man Redux
15 years after the premiere of the PBS/National Geographic documentary ‘Journey of Man’ and the publication of Spencer’s book, Spencer and Razib talk about the impact they have had on the public’s understanding of genetics and human prehistory. This episode is an hour-long journey through the development of human population genetics, the startling insights provided by the Y-chromosome, and which 2003 population genetic ‘certainties’ have - and haven’t - held up to more recent scrutiny. Destined ...
Feb 07, 2018•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Ancestry Deconvoluted
Spencer and Razib discuss how geneticists infer ancestry from genomic data, with guest Joe Pickrell - geneticist, founder & CEO of consumer genomics startup Gencove. Find out why telling you you’re 6% Greek is harder than it seems…
Jan 31, 2018•42 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Consumer Genomics Goes Mainstream
Spencer, Razib and Gareth discuss the past, present and future of consumer genomics, from its early days as a cottage industry to where it goes in 2018 - and beyond.
Jan 24, 2018•34 min•Season 1Ep. 6
The Indo-European Enigma
Razib and Spencer discuss the genetic evidence for the migration of Bronze Age Indo-Aryan steppe nomads across Eurasia, including the political issues surrounding their impact on the Indian subcontinent.
Jan 17, 2018•28 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Neander-Me Part 2
Today, humans are the only species of hominin in the world. 50,000 years ago, however, we were not alone - our cousins, the Neanderthals and Denisovans, walked the Earth with us. Their legacy lives on in our genomes today. Razib and Spencer take us on a tour of how we became a few percent Neanderthal, including an interview with anthropologist John Hawks. (Part 2 of 2)
Jan 10, 2018•41 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Neander-Me, Part 1
Today, humans are the only species of hominin in the world. 50,000 years ago, however, we were not alone - our cousins, the Neanderthals and Denisovans, walked the Earth with us. Their legacy lives on in our genomes today. Razib and Spencer take us on a tour of how we became a few percent Neanderthal, including an interview with anthropologist John Hawks.
Jan 03, 2018•42 min•Season 1Ep. 3