Origin Stories is The Leakey Foundation’s monthly podcast that explores human evolution one story at a time. This award-winning show blends storytelling with science that will change your understanding of what it means to be human.
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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…
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…
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…
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…
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…