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On Humans
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 the human story, making new research about humanity more accessible to everyone and more meaningful to the big questions about who we are. In addition to regular episodes, the show now includes longer series on some of the greatest arcs in the journey of our species, covering everything from the evolution of apes to the making of the modern economy. https://onhumans.substack.com/about Language: en Genres: Science Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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Beyond Paleo: A Culinary History of Humanity ~ Daniel Lieberman
Episode 9
Monday, 24 August, 2026
“What do you think of the paleo diet?” To my surprise, this has become the most common question I get after telling people that I cover human evolution. I’ve long struggled to answer. Yes, the idea makes a lot of sense: humans evolved as hunter-gatherers, so our bodies should do well when we eat like hunter-gatherers.But what exactly do hunter-gatherers eat? Harvard professor Daniel Lieberman wanted to find out. After reviewing the evidence we have on the diets of hunter-gatherers, he came to a surprising conclusion.“Not a single one of them eats the paleo diet”, he says. Some hunter-gatherers eat more meat than the paleo diet prescribes; most eat much less. Plenty of them eat legumes and cereals, both of which are banned by paleo cookbooks.“There is no one paleo diet,” Lieberman concludes. “The unique thing about humans is that we evolved to eat almost everything.” Instead of fixating on a single “true” diet, Lieberman’s new book, Fed Up, offers a tour of the dietary history of humanity, discussing what lessons we can learn along the way. In this episode, we cover the sweeping story of food and cooking, from the first chefs who processed food with stone tools to the explosion of ultra-processed foods during Lieberman’s own lifetime. Along the way, Lieberman offers insightful comparisons between humans and chimpanzees and discusses the many ways in which farming has — and has not — affected the human condition. He also explains why humans have always been “a very fat ape”, and what his experience of racing against horses tells us about the quirks of human evolution.Towards the end of the episode, we also evaluate the pros and the cons of the modern food system. We finish with Lieberman’s deeply compassionate advice to all who would like to find a healthier lifestyle amidst the many challenges of industrial modernity. Enjoy!FACT-CHECKINGNo factual errors have been detected yet. If you find a factual error, please leave a comment in the extended show notes (link below)LINKSFull show notes with references: https://OnHumans.Substack.com/p/Beyond-Paleo-a-Culinary-History-ofSupport: Patreon.com/OnHumansKEYWORDSEthnic groups & technical terms The Hadza | Inuit | Agta | Homo erectus | Australopithecines | Lucy | Olduvai Hominid OH 8 | Oldowan stone tools | the Nandi Hills Topics coveredHuman evolution | evolutionary anthropology | human origins | big history | palaeoanthropology | paleo diet | hunter-gatherer studies | meat eating | persistence hunting | endurance running | sweating | human body fat | origins of cooking | origins of food processing | agriculture | neolithic revolution | peasant diets | famines | infectious disease | Mediterranean diet | ultra-processed foods | fibre | saturated and unsaturated fats | obesity | insulin resistance | type 2 diabetes | GLUT4 transporters | exercise | weight maintenance | Music credit: Aleksey Chistilin (Lexin_Music) via Pixabay.
