The History of Being Human

Nov 24 2024 111 ep. 46 mins 441

The History of Being Human Podcast artwork

History, anatomy and physiology, philosophy, psychology, anthropology. The podcast that attempts to resurrect sense and meaning from the dust of a billion factoids.

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HBH 59: The Perils and Promise of Bipedalism

Nov 24 2024 31 mins

Being Bipedal was a key step in becoming human. Many of our other abilities, and liabilities, began with bipedalism. On this episode:When bipedalism?Why bipedalism?We dispell some myths and establish some likelihoods about this uhique and pleuripotent trait.See the video of this episode here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZa3WwVyNeo&t=390sBecome a supporter of this podcast: h

HBH Short: The Inscrutable, Inexorable Arrow of Time

Nov 09 2024 11 mins

Borges wrote:“Time is the substance I am made of. Time is a river which sweeps me along, but I am the river; it is a tiger which destroys me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire which consumes me, but I am the fire”Time is the dimension we all inhabit, through which we propelled in only one direction. Why is this? Can we account for time's arrow? Can we reverse it? Why does time o

HBH Short: The Mystery of Deja Vu

Nov 09 2024 9 mins

Most of us have had the feeling that we have experienced something before that we know we could not have expereinced before. It can vary intensity from a slight familiarity to a sure conviction that we have seen, heard, smelled, or othewise lived through what we know in our mind to be novel.What is this feeling? What does it mean if anything? Is there any point to it?See the Youtub

HBH 58: The Death of John Allen Chau

Sep 02 2024 53 mins

Today we go in depth about the death of John Allen Chau in 2018, including a complete reading of his own personal diary of the terrifying, disturbing events around North Sentinel Island. Events that he willingly waded into. Was he a hero or a villain? Selfless or Narcissistic? Chances are very high the verdict you render will depend greatly on your own temperament, backgorund, and

HBH 57: Extreme Tribalism -- The North Sentinelese and the Death of John Allen Chau

Jul 21 2024 38 mins

Part 1: The most tribal of tribes, the Sentinelese of North Sentinel IslandWe don't know much about them. We don't know what they call themselves, what they think the world or universe is like, what they believe about the rest of humanity. We don't know how they are organized, what they worship, how they see right and wrong.What we do know is that the North Sentinelese are the most

HBH 56: The Psychopathography of Adolf Hitler

Apr 17 2024 37 mins

Hitler was a failure who achieved the opposite of nearly all of his stated intentions. But was he insane as well? His life and legacy might argue he was, but what do the experts say?If he was insane, what was the diagnosis? And if he was not insane, how do you account for his actions?Was he a meth head, dragon chaser, narcissist, psychopath, schizophrenic, oedipal conflicted anal r

HBH 55: The Gruesome Wretched Death of Herod the Great

Feb 26 2024 29 mins

He's one of the most reviled people in Western history -- a man whose cruelty, jealousy, and violence are proverbial. And yet his legacy is much more nuanced, his person more complicated than most of us know. One thing that is not in question is that he died a miserable death; in pain, angry, and resentful. Was it, as Josephus said, divine justice? Was it foul play? Spoiler: as bad

Introductory YouTube Video

Feb 06 2024 5 mins

I have released my first TouTube video and this is the audio -- see the episode here:https://youtu.be/uVfn5Ar1rmg?si=e3TE_6tCWEuQxf7hSchrodinger's Cat Quick and Easy Yes, this is based on a longer podcast episode -- but hey, you've got to start somwhere!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-history-of-being-human--5806452/support.

HBH 54: Homo Erectus

Jan 01 2024 38 mins

The OG, greatest generation of Human ever! At least if your metric is a dogged determination to keep existing.For 2 million years these prehistoric hominins wandered far and wide, high and low, filling every available lakeshore and riverbed. What can we know about them? Their looks, abilities, traits? Did they use fire? Language? Clothing? Where did they come from and get to?And wh

HBH 53: 23,000 Year-Old White Sands Footprints with Dr. Edward Jolie

Nov 13 2023 36 mins

This week I wander off the topic of Life Extension (more next episode) to take advantage of an opportunity to interview an anthropologist about the White Sands footprints.Not since the Laetoli Australopithecus prints has a set of human footprints rocked the world of paleontology like those found in White Sands, New Mexico. Studies have dated these prints to 21-23,000 year ago, more