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Origin Stories

Explore human evolution one story at a time. This award-winning show blends storytelling with scienc

Episodes

Total: 84

Ape Medicine

2024/10/8

Are humans the only animals that practice medicine? In this episode, two scientists share surprising

The First Story

2024/8/30

Over 50,000 years ago on what is now the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, someone climbed a towering r

Early prehistorians had little more than stones and bones to work with as they tried to piece togeth

The Story of Human Hair

2024/4/30

Why do humans have most of our hair on our heads, not our bodies? Why do we have so many varieties o

The Musical Ape

2024/4/2

Music is universal in all human cultures, but why? What gives us the ability to hear sound as music?

What is it like to be responsible for the safekeeping of the ancestors of everyone in the world? In

A Brief History of Bling

2024/1/31

Travel through 50,000 years of human history following clues hidden inside beads made from ostrich e

2023 was another exciting year in human origins research! Fossil discoveries and long-term primate s

Siblings

2023/10/31

Sibling relationships can include everything from love and support–to tension, competition, and conf

Fatherhood

2023/9/26

Humans invest enormous amounts of time and energy into bringing up our babies. This unique investme

Motherhood

2023/8/29

Humans invest enormous amounts of time and energy into bringing up our babies. This unique investmen

How did climate change impact ancient human behavior? This is one of the questions Justin Pargeter a

Field School Diaries

2023/7/6

This special episode takes you inside the world of archaeology students at Boomplaas Cave, one of So

The Hobbit

2023/5/30

In this episode, we explore the fascinating tale of the Hobbit, an unexpected fossil find that shook

A Giganto Mystery

2023/3/28

Dr. Kira Westaway is part of an international research team working to solve the mystery of Gigantop

The New Metabolism

2023/3/1

How do human bodies use energy? In this episode, Leakey Foundation grantee Dr. Herman Pontzer shares

2022 was another exciting year in human origins research! New fossil discoveries and ancient DNA res

Origin Stories is back!

2023/1/24

We've been hard at work on a new season of stories about how we became human. Origin Stories returns

First Steps at Laetoli

2022/5/17

In this episode, we explore five strange fossilized footprints found by Mary Leakey at the site of

Discovering Us

2022/2/25

In this episode, we talk with Evan Hadingham, senior science editor for the PBS program NOVA. His ne