Can We Tell a (True) Story of Human Origins? Live from UC San Diego
The science of human origins is full of debates. It will remain so. But is there a story lurking beneath it all? A story that, despite all the open questions, most scholars can agree on? A story that can be told without jargon? A story that can shed light on the human condition today?I was invited to explore exactly this at UC San Diego. Here is the recording from my talk on 6 November. Here is the recording!You can check out the slides here. Keen on pictures and graphs? I'm working also working on an illustrated essay on the talk with pictures and graphs. It should be out on Tuesday 25th. I'll post it here.Enjoy! PS. I was in San Diego to attend a CARTA symposium on the role of genetics in the study of human origins. I managed to record three episodes behind the scenes. Live recordings coming soon!FACT CHECKINGNo factual errors have been found yet. If you find an error in this or other episodes, get in touch via the form below.LINKSArticles and essays: OnHumans.Substack.comSupport: Patreon.com/OnHumansContact Form: https://forms.gle/h5wcmefuwvD6asos8KEYWORDSHuman evolution | Human origins | Anthropogeny | Anthropology | Paleoanthropology | Genus Homo | Australopithecins | Human brain | Comparative neuroanatomy | Human tool cultures | Alloparenting | Cooking hypothesis | Expensive tissue hypothesis | Life history | r vs K strategies |
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Epilogue: Is the Brain Free to Choose? ~ Tim Coulson
You decided to start reading this. But could you have chosen otherwise? In this short epilogue to this fall's brain science -series, Oxford biologist Tim Coulson gives his defense of free will. (The episode is an unheard clip from the conversation with Tim Coulson, originally recorded as part of the Origins of Humankind -series in March 2025. )LINKS For highlights, longer quotes, and references, see my essay at OnHumans.Substack.com.Tim Coulson's book is called The Universal History of Us (in the UK) and The Science of Why We Exist (in the US). For more episodes on the human brain, check OnHumans.Substack.com/BrainWant to support the show? Join the club at Patreon.com/OnHumansMENTIONSNames: Albert Einstein | Niels Bohr Terms and concepts: free will | many worlds -interpretation vs the Copenhaguen interpretation of quantum mechanics | Brownian motion | Quantum biology | stochasticity vs determinism | neural integration vs complexity | chance & necessity | philosophy | physics | biology | neuroscience
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Can the Brain Understand Itself? The Glories and the Limits of Neuroscience ~ Matthew Cobb
Science has learned much about the brain. But how well do we understand this organ of the mind? Are we even close to cracking the neural code? Is a groundbreaking theory of consciousness just around the corner?In this final episode of the brain science -series, Matthew Cobb takes us on a tour of the story of neuroscience. We meet many colourful characters, but this is not just a history for history’s sake. More importantly, this is a reflection on the increasingly clear limits that brain science is coming up against — limits often left invisible behind the thirst for stories about new discoveries. Enjoy!FACT CHECKINGContrary to the precise phrasing in the episode, a handful of new psychiatric drugs have entered the market recently. The general observation remains well-supported.If you spot an error in this or other episodes, please reach out on Substack or via email.LINKSMatthew Cobb’s book is The Idea of the Brain: The Past and Future of Neuroscience For more episodes on the human brain, check OnHumans.Substack.com/BrainWant to support the show? Join the club at Patreon.com/OnHumansMENTIONSNames: Matthew Cobb | Galen | Aristotle | Andreas Vesalius | William Harvey | William Shakespeare | Queen Victoria | Karl Marx | Pierre Paul Broca | René Descartes | Eve Marder | David Marr | Francis Crick | Geoffrey Hinton | John Hopfield | Warren McCulloch | Walter Pitts | John von Neumann | Alan Turing | Kenneth Craik | Sir John Eccles | Elon Musk | Nicolaus Copernicus | Galileo Galilei Terms and concepts: recurrent laryngeal nerve | phrenology | localization of function | strokes/aphasia | Broca’s area | plasticity | hemispheric lateralization | corpus callosum | split-brain | consciousness | anesthesia (halothane, etc.) | drugs & neuromodulators | SSRIs | serotonin | dopamine | psychedelics | obster stomatogastric ganglion | three-body-problem | EEG “brainwaves” (gamma, theta, etc.) | David Marr’s levels | neural code | PDP / connectionism | backpropagation | LLMs (e.g. ChatGPT, DeepSeek) | biological plausibility vs engineering | von Neumann architecture | McCulloch–Pitts logical neurons | neural correlates of consciousness (NCC) | “Jennifer Aniston” cells | single-unit recording | connectomics | Human Brain Project | cochlear implants | BCI / robotic arm control | tetraplegia | problem of consciousness | enactive cognition
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From Alcohol to Antidepressants: What Drugs Teach Us About Brain Chemistry ~ Judy Grisel
Dopamine. Serotonin. Endorphins. We have all heard these terms. And these are not just scientific curiosities. Few are those who have never wondered if their brain chemicals are "just off balance". So how accurate are the popular theories about these mythic molecules? To guide us through the topic, I'm joined by Judy Grisel—an ex-addict and a world-leading neuroscientist of addiction. We will discuss all the main elements of brain chemistry by using drugs and addictions as a window into the topic. Towards the end, we also search for ways to better help those who struggle with addiction. As always, we finish with my guest's reflection on humanity.DIG DEEPERThis episode is part 4 of this autumn's brain science series. See more at OnHumans.Substack.com/brainJudy Grisel’s book is Never Enough: The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction Want to support the show? Join the club at Patreon.com/OnHumans.FACT-CHECKINGNo major mistakes have been found so far.As a minor note, the SSRI study we mention in healthy volunteers primarily assessed cognitive processing (reinforcement learning/sensitivity) rather than self-reported “emotional flattening”; however, general blunting of emotional responses in healthy participants has been reported by earlier researchers.If you spot an error in this or other episodes, please reach out on Substack or via email.KEYWORDSNames mentioned: Kent Berridge | Mark Lewis | Barbara Sahakian | Trevor RobbinsTechnical concepts: dopamine | wanting vs liking | serotonin (5/HT) | serotonin receptor 2A | selective serotonin uptake inhibitors SSRIs | GABA vs glutamate | endorphins | endocannabinoids | alcohol | cocaine | MDMA | psychedelics | behavioral addictions (e.g. porn) | runner's high | cannabis / THC | neurogenesis & pruning | brain plasticity | SSRIs | MDMA (SERT reversal) | emotional blunting | opponent-process theory (A→B) | addiction as disease vs learned state | meaning, motivation, recovery
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Inside the Brain: A Journey Through the Halls and the Songs of Consciousness ~ Pria Anand
Our brains can feel remote and abstract. Hidden behind Latin names and textbook diagrams, they rarely feel as personal to us as our hearts and stomachs. In this episode, neurologist and author Pria Anand helps us get a little more intimate with that grey, wrinkly seat of our consciousness.Together we explore both the structural architecture and the musical synchronies of the brain. We travel across the left and the right brain, "listen" to the meaning of different brain waves, and discuss some of the most perplexing examples from the annals of neuroscience. What emerges is not just an intimate journey through the organ that makes us who we are, but also an exploration on the meaning of pain, identity, and storytelling.As always, we finish with my guest's reflection on humanity.DIG DEEPERThis episode is part 3 of this autumn's brain science series. See more at OnHumans.Substack.com/Brain📖 Dr Anand's new book is The Mind Electric: A Neurologist on the Strangeness and Wonder of Our BrainsWant to support the show? Join the club at Patreon.com/OnHumansFACT CHECKINGNo major mistakes have been found so far. As a small correction, the patient with conflicting career goals did not, when asked, want to be an "architect", but a "draftsman". See "A Divided Mind" by Joseph LeDoux and colleagues (free PDF).If you find a mistake in this or other episodes, you reach out directly to at Substack.com/OnHumans or via email.KEYWORDS Names mentioned: Michael Gazzaniga | Joseph LeDoux | Patient P.S. | Henry Molaison (H.M.) | William Halsted | Julius Caesar | Fyodor Dostoevsky | Dr. Strangelove | Matthew Cobb | Suzana Herculano-Houzel Terms and concepts discussed: neurology | neuropsychology | brain damage | lesions | REM sleep (rapid eye movement) | paradoxical sleep | REM atonia | narcolepsy | sleep apnea | Parkinson’s disease | dementia | slow-wave sleep | EEG (electroencephalography) | brain oscillations | alpha waves | theta waves | seizure | epilepsy | focal seizure | generalized tonic-clonic seizure | aura | déjà vu | phantom smell (olfactory hallucination) | corpus callosum | callosotomy | anterior cerebral artery | cerebral aneurysm | hemispatial neglect | apraxia | alien hand (anarchic hand) | visual cortex | language dominance (left hemisphere) | thalamus | somatosensory cortex | limbic system | hippocampus | mesial temporal lobe | anterior temporal lobectomy | anterograde amnesia | retrograde amnesia | Korsakoff dementia (Wernicke–Korsakoff) | transient global amnesia | posterior cortical atrophy | aphasia | confabulation | nociception | lidocaine | dissociative anesthetic | epidural anesthesia | spinal anesthesia | paralytic (neuromuscular blocker) | neocortex | cortex | brainstem | cerebellum | cerebellar lesion | ataxic dysarthria | folia (cerebellar) | trunk (elephant, motor control) | Buddha’s “two arrows” parable
Where do we come from? How did we get here? And what kinds of creatures are we?
On Humans features conversations with leading scholars about human nature, human condition, and the human journey. From the origins of war to the biology of love, each episode brings fresh insights into perennial questions about our self-understanding.
The show now unfolds in series of episodes built around a chosen theme, offering ever-deeper dives into some of the biggest questions in science, philosophy, and history.
Welcome to the journey!
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