Episode notes
In this episode, we talk with Evan Hadingham, senior science editor for the PBS program NOVA. His new book, Discovering Us: 50 Great Discoveries in Human Origins , highlights the thrilling fossil finds, groundbreaking primate behavior observations, and important scientific work of Leakey Foundation researchers. Want to win your own copy of the book? Take our listener survey for a chance to win one of three giveaway copies! Discovering Us is also available for sale anywhere you buy books, but when you buy it through bookshop.org , 10% of the proceeds go to support our work. Origin Stories is…
Podcast
Origin Stories
The Leakey Foundation · Tech & Science · English
Explore human evolution one story at a time. This award-winning show blends storytelling with science that will change your understanding of who we are.
More from Origin Stories All episodes →
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E70 · 28 Mar 2023 · 27 min
A Giganto Mystery
Dr. Kira Westaway is part of an international research team working to solve the mystery of Gigantopithecus, the largest ape that ever walked the earth. In this episode, we explore how this massive primate lived, why it disappeared, and what it can tell us about extinctions happening now. Learn more: Where Giants Roamed Origin Stories is a project of The Leakey Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding human origins research and outreach. Click here to support this show and the science we talk about. Your donation will be matched by Jeanne Newman. This episode was generously…
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E69 · 1 Mar 2023 · 28 min
The New Metabolism
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. Origin Stories is hosted by Meredith Johnson, produced and sound designed by Ray Pang, and edited by Audrey Quinn. Support this show and the science we talk about. leakeyfoundation.org/donate Links: Burn by Herman Pontzer, PhD Pontzer Lab The energetics of uniquely human subsistence strategies
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E68 · 31 Jan 2023 · 35 min
Top Human Origins Discoveries of 2022
2022 was another exciting year in human origins research! New fossil discoveries and ancient DNA research expanded our understanding of the past. We learned something surprising about the evolution of human speech, and new methodologies and showed promising potential to improve the future of medicine. In this episode, four Leakey Foundation scientists shared their favorite human evolution discoveries from the past year. Our guests Carol Ward, University of Missouri Sofia Samper Carro, Australian National University Kevin Hatala, Chatham University Megan Henriquez, City University of New York…
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E67 · 24 Jan 2023 · 2 min
Origin Stories is back!
We've been hard at work on a new season of stories about how we became human. Origin Stories returns on January 31 with monthly episodes!
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E66 · 17 May 2022 · 27 min
First Steps at Laetoli
In this episode, we explore five strange fossilized footprints found by Mary Leakey at the site of Laetoli in Tanzania. Decades after their original discovery, these footprints have revealed a new story about our ancient ancestors that expands our understanding of how hominins moved and interacted. Thanks Thanks to Dr. Ellison McNutt and Dr. Charles Musiba for sharing their work. Thanks as well to Jim Carty and Pat Randall for generously sponsoring this episode. Jim is a long-time Leakey Foundation supporter who actually volunteered to work at Laeotli in the 1980s to help figure out a way to…
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E64 · 21 Dec 2021 · 31 min
Top Human Origins Discoveries of 2021
2021 was a big year in science! Fossil discoveries introduced new relatives to our family tree, new findings added fascinating twists to the human story, and breakthroughs in research methods opened new worlds to explore. In this episode, five scientists discuss their favorite human origins discoveries of 2021. Click here for a transcript of this episode . Our guests: Scott A. Williams, New York University Jessica Thompson, Yale University Giulia Gallo, University of California at Davis Fernando Villanea, University of Colorado at Boulder Erin Kane, Boston University Read more about their…
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9 Nov 2021 · 34 min
Episode 58: Biruté Mary Galdikas - 50 Years with Orangutans
As a young girl, Biruté Mary Galdikas dreamed of going to the forests of Southeast Asia to study the least-known of all the great apes, the elusive orangutan. People told her it would be impossible. But, in 1971, she traveled to Borneo and started what is now the longest ongoing study of orangutans in the history of science. This is her story. She was the third in the group of now world-famous scientists known as the Trimates—Jane Goodall in Tanzania, Dian Fossey in Rwanda, and Biruté Mary Galdikas in Borneo. The Trimates were the first women to establish long-term studies of great apes in…
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E62 · 5 Oct 2021 · 54 min
Entre Chien et Loup: How Dogs Began
Scientists agree that dogs evolved from wolves, but exactly how and when that happened is hotly contested. In this episode, Origin Stories contributor Neil Sandell examines the evolution of the relationship between dogs and humans, and explores the journey from wolf to dog. This story was originally produced for the CBC program IDEAS. Click here for a transcript of this episode . Guests in this episode: (in order of appearance) Angela Perri is an archaeologist at Durham University, U.K. Sebastian Dicenaire is a French playwright and audio producer living in Brussels Greger Larson is director…
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E61 · 29 Sep 2021 · 18 min
Bonus Episode: Short and Sweat
Learn about the evolution of our extraordinary ability to cool ourselves down. Biological anthropologist Andrew Best discusses the past, present, and future of sweat in this special bonus episode. About our guest Dr. Andrew Best is a biological anthropologist at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts who studies metabolism, endurance, and the evolution of sweat. Visit his website to learn more about him and his research. Click here for a one-minute video about his Leakey Foundation-supported research project on the evolution of sweat glands. Episode Transcript Google Doc Transcript PDF…
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E60 · 7 Jul 2021 · 23 min
Episode 55: Monkeys Get Creative
Producer and scientist Kevin McLean travels to an island off the coast of Panama where researchers have found an isolated group of monkeys with a creative approach to surviving in a challenging environment. Links These tiny monkeys have entered their Stone Age with a bang First report of habitual stone tool use by Cebus monkeys Habitual Stone-Tool Aided Extractive Foraging in White-Faced Capuchins, Cebus Capucinus Video of capuchins using tools Research presentation on social learning by Leakey Foundation grantee Brendan Barrett Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Department for the…
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