Director's Diary | Origin Stories
By Sharal Camisa Smith, Executive Director
I’m an avid podcast listener, especially during long road trips. If you’re traveling during this busy season, cooking a meal, or decorating for the holidays, I invite you to explore some of our Origin Stories podcast episodes. I’ve curated a short list of music, food, and family podcast episodes. There’s also a bonus episode about altruism. Take a listen and leave a comment to let me know what you think!
Origin Stories is an award-winning show that explores what it means to be human. The show tells science-based stories that help you look at life in new ways.
Music
Music is universal in all human cultures, but why? What gives us the ability to hear sound as music? Are we the only musical species–or was Darwin right when he said every animal with a backbone should be able to perceive, if not enjoy music? Professor Henkjan Honing is on a mission to find out.
Food
We humans have evolved very differently from other primates. Is there one thing responsible for humans becoming human? Some evolutionary biologists think that the way we process our food, namely cooking it, could explain why our species developed so differently from others. Did cooking make us human? Dr. Richard Wrangham of Harvard University and Dr. Rachel Carmody of UCSF and Harvard discuss the impact that cooked food has had on human evolution.
How do human bodies use energy? In this episode, Leakey Foundation grantee Dr. Herman Pontzer shares groundbreaking research that upends our understanding of metabolism, calories, and the history of our species.
Have you ever considered how profoundly food has shaped who we are as a species? Julie Lesnik is a paleoanthropologist who studies the evolution of the human diet. Her special focus is on insects as food in the past, present, and future.
Family Dynamics
Humans invest enormous amounts of time and energy into bringing up our babies. This unique investment is a fundamental part of what it means to be human. In this episode, the first in a three-part series on family relationships, researchers Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Stacy Rosenbaum, and Amy Scott explore how our species’ approach to motherhood may hold the key to some of the most important traits that set us apart from other mammals.
In this episode, the second in a three-part series on family relationships, researchers Lee Gettler, Stacy Rosenbaum, and Sonny Bechayda explore how our species’ approach to fatherhood may have shaped some of the most important traits that set us apart from other mammals.
Sibling relationships can include everything from love and support–to tension, competition, and conflict. They might also play a fundamental role in the evolution of our species. In the final installment of our three-part series on family relationships, researchers Karen Kramer, Cat Hobaiter, and Rachna Reddy explore surprising new science about the role of siblings in primate and human evolution.
Altruism
Why do people risk their own lives to save a stranger? Why do we share food or give money to charity? The human capacity for altruism has been a puzzle for scientists since Darwin. In this episode, primatologist Joan Silk explores the evolution of altruism and cooperation.
