Spring Heeled Jack was an uncatchable villain from Victorian times. His speciality was attacking young women, raking their faces and clothes with metal claws and sometimes breathing fire in their faces. We have good evidence for his existence with newspaper reports and police and courts involved. But the more historian Mike Dash peels away the laye…

Are humans the only animals that practice medicine? In this episode, two scientists share surprising observations of orangutans and chimpanzees treating wounds–their own and others'–with plants and insects. These discoveries challenge ideas about uniquely human behaviors and offer insights into animal intelligence, empathy, and the evolutionary roo…

The 'spice wars' between the Dutch and the English in the 1600's were quite something. Giles Milton told the story in his remarkable book Nathaniel's Nutmeg. What I hadn't realised until reading this was how feeble and disorganised the English were compared to their competitors. And the Dutch in particular were as ruthless as they were capable. Vis…

We are back with Jonathan Clements for part 2 of our podcast on the history of Japan. In this episode we start with the remarkable story of Taiwan's 50 years as a colony of Japan. And Jonathan then takes the story through the White Terror up to the current day. And to remind you: Rebel Island Jonathan's blog…

Jonathan Clements has written a number of histories of East Asia. His latest, Rebel Island, is a history of Taiwan from the earliest times up to today. If you have any interest in the history of the region this book is an absolute must read. And while it is a serious and meticulously researched history it is also genuinely gripping with 'Blimey! I …

Over 50,000 years ago on what is now the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, someone climbed a towering rock formation and painted a mysterious image on a cave ceiling. The painting shows three half-human, half-animal figures and a large wild pig. The image, dated to 51,200 years old, is now the oldest known visual story in the world. In this episode, a…

Delighted to have Professor Ed Watts back on the show. This time he is talking about the 4th Crusade which turned into one of history's great catastrophes. People give many possible dates for the fall of the Roman Empire and Ed argues persuasively for 1204 when the crusade reaches its heartbreaking climax.…

Professor Ed Watts is a reliably brilliant guest on the show. In this episode he looks at Sulla's career and the blight the cast on the Roman Republic. Ed argues that it is impossible to understand any the great characters - Caesar, Cicero, Cato, Pompey and so on - without understanding the scarring effect of Sulla's rule. In Ed's view Caesar emerg…

Early prehistorians had little more than stones and bones to work with as they tried to piece together the story of the Neanderthals, but today’s researchers work in ways that early prehistorians could never have imagined. Archaeologist and author Rebecca Wragg Sykes' new book Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Art, and Death synthesizes more than a …

I can't remember enjoying a story more than Peter Marshall's Mother Leakey and the Bishop. The way Peter tells the story is absolutely brilliant with walk on parts from some very famous characters. At heart though it is a ghost story and the story of how an Anglican Bishop came to be hanged for the crime of sodomy in Dublin in the winter of 1640. P…

We cover the miserable tale of the 4th crusade, the Latin Empire and Anthony gives advice on how to write a Byzantium based historical novel. We had fun with this one and I hope you enjoy it.By Russell Hogg

If you have any interest at all in Byzantium or in the Roman Empire generally I think you should really enjoy this episode. Professor Kaldellis is one of the leading scholars on Byzantium (East Rome?) and his book The New Roman Empire - A History of Byzantium takes you all the way from the founding of Constantinople to its fall to the Ottoman Turks…

Why do humans have most of our hair on our heads, not our bodies? Why do we have so many varieties of hair color, thickness, and curliness? Dr. Tina Lasisi is a biological anthropologist whose work explores these evolutionary mysteries. In this episode, she shares her research into why humans have scalp hair as well as her insights on why curly hai…

Hampton has been on the podcast before and if you haven't yet found his books of narrative history I urge you to seek them out. Absolutely thrilling stories but told with real historical skill. Today we talked about Captain Cook's last voyage which ended in 1779. Hampton's book is called The Wide Wide Sea and he pays attention to all parts of the s…

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. Learn more Henkjan Honing's website Music Cognition G…

I am a huge fan of Mike Dash's books. We have talked about Batavia's Graveyard and Tulipomania in past episodes. But Mike also has a fascination for weird semi folkloric stories and in this episode he unearths the truth about that remarkable creature, the Sin Eater.By Russell Hogg

What is it like to be responsible for the safekeeping of the ancestors of everyone in the world? In this episode, we travel to the National Museum of Ethiopia to see our most famous fossil relative – Lucy – and meet Yared Assefa, the person who takes care of her and all of our Ethiopian fossil ancestors and relatives. If you love fossils, you won't…

Most people know Ed West for his journalism and in particular for his substack The Wrong Side of History. If you haven't found that yet then check it out - it is one of the best things of its kind out there. But Ed also writes book and in particular a series of short introductions to various periods of English history. If (like me) you sometimes fi…

Travel through 50,000 years of human history following clues hidden inside beads made from ostrich eggshells. In this episode, researchers Jennifer Miller and Yiming Wang share how these tiny artifacts reveal a sweeping story of ancient social networks, cultural connections, and human adaptability. Support the show Help us make more episodes! All t…

I am a huge fan of John McWhorter and have come to have great respect for Scott Sumner's knowledge and judgement when it comes to movies. It was a real pleasure to get them together to chat about favourite movies, directors and genres.By Russell Hogg

Frank Dikötter returns to the show to talk about dictators and in particular how they use the cult of personality to crush friends and enemies alike. HIs book on dictators is an elightening tour of some of the worst men of the 20th century - horribly enjoyable!By Russell Hogg

2023 was another exciting year in human origins research! Fossil discoveries and long-term primate studies expanded our understanding of what makes us human. In this episode, four Leakey Foundation scientists shared their favorite human evolution discoveries from the past year. Help us make more episodes! All tax-deductible donations to Origin Stor…

If, like me, your idea of East Germany is dominated by spy movies and and you think that perhaps it was nothing more than a open air prison with the Stasi round every corner then Katja Hoyer's remarkable book Beyond the Wall is an ideal corrective. Katja blends personal tales (some happy and some utterly tragic) with an analysis of the wider geopol…

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 th…

Giles Milton is one of my favourite authors producing narrative history today. The stories he tells are just jaw dropping. We talked about his book White Gold which tells the stories of Thomas Pellow who was seized and taken off into slavery in 1714. Looming large in the story is the remarkable Moulay Ismail, ruler of Morroco at the time. He makes …

David Parnell and I wrap up the story of Belisarius and Antonina. We are now on to the liberation of Italy and by the end I felt the Romans there might have preferred to have been left alone. It is a huge subject and we couldn't do more than give an overview. If you want more David's book is terrific. We are very lucky with our sources for this per…

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 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 sh…

David Parnell has a wonderful new book out called Belisarius and Antonina. This is the story of a real husband and wife partnership. Belisarius was perhaps the greatest Roman general of the 6th century and his wife Antonina accompanied him and was intimately involved in his campaigns. I really enjoyed speaking to David about the twists and turns of…

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 t…

Frank Dikötter is the author of a series of brilliant and harrowing books about communist China. He is not only a prize winning historian of post war China but a highly engaging speaker. He talked about China from the time of the communist takeover after WWII all the way up to and beyond the death of Mao. The regime was responsible for the deaths o…

How did climate change impact ancient human behavior? This is one of the questions Justin Pargeter and his team are investigating at a site called Boomplaas Cave in South Africa. This site has a unique record of human presence over the past 80,000 years or so. Importantly, the site is helping researchers piece together the story of how humans adapt…

This special episode takes you inside the world of archaeology students at Boomplaas Cave, one of South Africa’s flagship human evolution research sites. Led by Dr. Justin Pargeter, the students chronicle their field school journey through personal audio diaries, offering a candid look at the joys, thrills, and challenges of archaeological fieldwor…

This is the story of Anson's voyage around the world in the 1740's. In particular it is about the ship the Wager and the crew's incredible bravery, endurance and ingenuity in appalling conditions. And it is about shipwreck, murder and mutiny. David Grann's book tells the story brilliantly. You will never want to get on a boat again!…

In this episode, we explore the fascinating tale of the Hobbit, an unexpected fossil find that shook the world's understanding of human evolution. Join researcher Matt Tocheri as he shares how this tiny hominin revolutionized the human story and transformed his life. Links: From the Field: Matt Tocheri Homo floresiensis Can rat bones solve an islan…

Jasper Sharp is probably the UK's leading expert on Japanese film and he joined me on the show today with Scott Sumner. Scott has a famous economics blog that has a side line in movie reviews. The pair of them were on really good form discussing a list of six movies that Jasper came up with. I think that even people unfamiliar with Japanese film sh…

John McWhorter and Tom Holland are a perfect pairing. They are absolutely delightful company both with a dry sense of humour. I was keen to bring them together because I learned they share a love a dinosaurs. Absolute fanatics it turns out. I got the sense they really enjoyed chatting to each other and I hope you will enjoy listening. An interest i…

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 …

Roger Crowley is one on the best (if not the best) narrative historians of the Middle Ages. Here is on great form talking about the Siege of Acre in 1291. The Crusaders have been pushed back and back with Acre the last meaningful holdout. They are up against the formidable Mamluks led by Sultan Khalil. Can they hold out? Roger's book The Accursed T…

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 t…

Stacy Schiff is one of America's most acclaimed historians and biographers. Her book The Witches is a detailed, almost forensic, history of the Salem witch trials on 1692. She very kindly came on the podcast to talk about it and she is every bit as good a storyteller in person as you would imagine from reading the book. I found her book and our con…

Christopher de Bellaigue's book The Lion House is a brilliant history of the first part of Suleiman the Magnificent's reign. I love history and I can't remember loving a history book more that this one. As I say in the podcast, I think it is an unabashed masterpiece and such a pleasure to read. Christopher tells the story in particular of two men a…

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 scienti…

Professor David Abulafia's wonderful book The Great Sea covers so many topics. Today we talked about slavery. Until recently I hadn't been aware of the sheer scale of the enterprise. Slavers from the Barbary ports raided as far north as the coasts of England and Ireland. In the east the Mongols brought slaves to the Black Sea ports where they were …

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!By The Leakey Foundation

Scott Sumner is an economist with a well known and much quoted blog. But it is the bit of the blog that he devotes to movies that interests me. He watches a ton of films and then does a thumbnail review and rating. For example: For example here is his review of The Bad Sleep Well: The first time I’d seen this Kurosawa film, and I’d say it’s his mos…

I have always found the war Octavian fought against Antony and Cleopatra hard to understand. How did Antony find himself losing without even fighting a proper battle given all his experience as a general and commanding an army equal to or stronger than his opponent's? Barry Strauss explains the campaign brilliantly. You can find his book The War th…

Anna Keay's book The Restless Republic is just brilliant. It covers the period following the execution of Charles I when Britain became a republic. It is fascinating to see how the period (and the characters) mix revolutionary ideas with deep traditionalism. Anna approaches the subject by telling the stories of a number of people - men, women, powe…

Following on from last week in this episode things reach boiling point. Marriage alliances are discarded, invasions undertaken D day style, brutal battles are fought as Perdicass marches to destroy Ptolemy. All this and possibly one of the most audacious and consequential heists in all of recorded history. And crocodiles, lots of crocodiles.…

Tristan Hughes has writen a brilliant book about the years immediately following the Death of Alexander the Great. As Tristan says, history didn't just stop at Alexander's death and start again when Rome takes on Carthage. And in fact this period is one of the most fascinating and eventful in ancient history. It is also one of the most confusing an…

Really thrilled to have Bret Devereaux and Ed Watts on the podcast together. We looked at Gladiator as a film (two thumbs up!) and also unpicking some of the history. Ranging far and wide we covered the battle scenes, gladiators, the role of an emperor and lots, lots more. Ed argues that Commodus was doing okay until stabbed in the back by his sist…