Biology and Evolution

Biology and Evolution

episodes

Interviews with biologists and evolutionary scientists about their new books.

Joseph Cone, "Seeing Opera Anew: A Cultural and Biological Perspective" (Routledge, 2023)

March 3, 2024

Seeing Opera Anew

Joseph Cone
Hosted by James Kates

What people ultimately want from music-drama, audience research suggests, is to be absorbed in a story that engages their feelings, even moves them de…

Sten Grillner, "The Brain in Motion: From Microcircuits to Global Brain Function" (MIT Press, 2023)

February 23, 2024

The Brain in Motion

Sten Grillner

C. S. Sherrington said “All the brain can do is to move things". The Brain in Motion: From Microcircuits to Global Brain Function (MIT Press, 2023) sh…

Rob Percival, "The Meat Paradox: Eating, Empathy, and the Future of Meat" (Pegasus, 2022)

February 12, 2024

The Meat Paradox

Rob Percival
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

Our future diet will be shaped by diverse forces. It will be shaped by novel technologies, by geopolitical tensions, and the evolution of cultural pre…

Joshua Paul Dale, "Irresistible: How Cuteness Wired our Brains and Conquered the World" (Profile Books, 2023)

February 10, 2024

Irresistible

Joshua Paul Dale
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Why are some things cute, and others not? What happens to our brains when we see something cute? And how did cuteness go global, from Hello Kitty to D…

Michael Devitt, "Biological Essentialism" (Oxford UP, 2023)

February 10, 2024

Biological Essentialism

Michael Devitt
Hosted by Carrie Figdor

What makes a species a species? Aristotle answered the species question by positing unchanging essences, properties that all and only members of a spe…

Use of Bacteriophages as Natural Antimicrobials to Manage Bacterial Pathogens in Aquaculture in Vietnam and Australia

February 2, 2024

Use of Bacteriophages as Natural Antimicrobials to Manage Bacterial Pathogens in Aquaculture in Vietnam and Australia

Carola Venturini
Hosted by Natali Pearson

Aquaculture is the fastest-growing protein production industry globally, with Vietnam one of the top producers and exporters of seafood products. In V…

Ludovic Slimak, "The Naked Neanderthal: A New Understanding of the Human Creature" (Pegasus Books, 2023)

January 26, 2024

The Naked Neanderthal

Ludovic Slimak

What do we really know about our cousins, the Neanderthals? For over a century we saw Neanderthals as inferior to Homo Sapiens. More recently, the pe…

The Future of Images of Human Evolution

January 20, 2024

The Future of Images of Human Evolution

Gowan Dawson

We are all familiar with the “march of progress” image - the representation of evolution that depicts a series of apelike creatures becoming progressi…

Thom van Dooren, "The Wake of Crows: Living and Dying in Shared Worlds" (Columbia UP, 2019)

January 6, 2024

The Wake of Crows

Thom van Dooren
Hosted by Mark Molloy

Crows can be found almost everywhere that people are, from tropical islands to deserts and arctic forests, from densely populated cities to suburbs an…

Matthew Gutmann, "Are Men Animals? How Modern Masculinity Sells Men Short" (Basic Books, 2019)

January 2, 2024

Are Men Animals?

Matthew Gutmann

In Are Men Animals? How Modern Masculinity Sells Men Short (Basic Books, 2019), Matthew Gutmann examines how cultural expectations viewing men as viol…

Martha C. Nussbaum, "Justice for Animals: Our Collective Responsibility" (Simon & Schuster, 2022)

January 2, 2024

Justice for Animals

Martha C. Nussbaum
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

A revolutionary new theory and call to action on animal rights, ethics, and law from the renowned philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum. Animals are in tro…

Jonathan B. Losos, "The Cat's Meow: How Cats Evolved from the Savanna to Your Sofa" (Viking, 2023)

December 20, 2023

The Cat's Meow

Jonathan B. Losos

The domestic cat--your cat--has, from its evolutionary origins in Africa, been transformed in comparatively little time into one of the most successfu…

Mark Munsterhjelm, "Forensic Colonialism: Genetics and the Capture of Indigenous Peoples" (McGill-Queen's UP, 2023)

December 10, 2023

Forensic Colonialism

Mark Munsterhjelm

Forensic genetic technologies are popularly conceptualized and revered as important tools of justice. The research and development of these technologi…

Shelly Kagan, "How to Count Animals, More Or Less" (Oxford UP, 2019)

December 6, 2023

How to Count Animals, More Or Less

Shelly Kagan

Most people agree that animals count morally, but how exactly should we take animals into account? A prominent stance in contemporary ethical discussi…

John Perlin, "The Forest Journey: The Story of Trees and Civilization" (Patagonia, 2023)

December 4, 2023

The Forest Journey

John Perlin
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

A Foundational Conservation Story Revived. Ancient writers observed that forests always recede as civilizations develop and grow. The great Roman poe…

Coleen T. Murphy, "How We Age: The Science of Longevity" (Princeton UP, 2023)

December 1, 2023

How We Age

Coleen T. Murphy
Hosted by Mark Klobas
Listen:

All of us would like to live longer, or to slow the debilitating effects of age. In How We Age: The Science of Longevity (Princeton UP, 2023), Coleen …

The Future of Innovation: A Discussion with Min W. Jung

November 26, 2023

The Future of Innovation

Min W. Jung

Humans have been so dominant on Earth in large part because of their capacity to innovate – but how does that work exactly? Why can they innovate so m…

Darwinian Accident or Divine Architect? (with Jay Richards)

November 23, 2023

Darwinian Accident or Divine Architect?

Jay Richards

Jay Richards PhD, OP discusses the new book to which he contributed a chapter, God’s Grandeur: The Catholic Case for Intelligent Design (Sophia Instit…

Anne Mendelson, "Spoiled: The Myth of Milk as Superfood" (Columbia UP, 2023)

November 22, 2023

Spoiled

Anne Mendelson

Why is cows' milk, which few nonwhite people can digest, promoted as a science-backed dietary necessity in countries where the majority of the populat…

Gary Tomlinson, "The Machines of Evolution and the Scope of Meaning" (Zone Books, 2023)

November 14, 2023

The Machines of Evolution and the Scope of Meaning

Gary Tomlinson
Hosted by Nathan Smith
Listen:

What is meaning? How does it arise? Where is it found in the world? In recent years, philosophers and scientists have answered these questions in diff…