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Wiser Than Yesterday: Book clubGuides and Mental Models from the worlds best books in Science, Technology, Philosophy, Economics & more Author: Book Nerds Sam Harris & Nicolas Vereecke
Wiser than Yesterday hosts open-ended discussions, breakdowns, and summaries of the world's most thought-provoking and inspiring books.Our hosts, Nicolas Vereecke and Sam Harris digest non-fiction books from all centuries and genres. They discuss the biggest philosophical insights and practical lessons for health, wealth, wisdom, and happiness.This podcast is here to help listeners become smarter. To learn about new ideas and to gain more perspectives on the books and ideas they are familiar with.Each season we tackle a new field and read the best books on a given topic such as racism, startups, stoicism, or personal finance. We cast a wide net to summarise all sides of opinions in an area to come to a wider understanding of the topic at large as well as help listeners navigate the different opinions and ideas they haven't heard of.We dive into topics such as philosophy, business, equality, psychology, politics, economics, and who knows what else. Our goal is to simply explore the best ideas and learn new things. You're most welcome to join us for the ride. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Language: en Genres: Arts, Books, Education Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human - Richard Wrangham
Episode 6
Monday, 8 September, 2025
In this stunningly original book, Richard Wrangham argues that it was cooking that caused the extraordinary transformation of our ancestors from apelike beings to Homo erectus. At the heart of Catching Fire lies an explosive new idea: the habit of eating cooked rather than raw food permitted the digestive tract to shrink and the human brain to grow, helped structure human society, and created the male-female division of labour. As our ancestors adapted to using fire, humans emerged as "the cooking apes".Covering everything from food-labelling and overweight pets to raw-food faddists, Catching Fire offers a startlingly original argument about how we came to be the social, intelligent, and sexual species we are today.- - -About Wiser PodNico and Sam set out to read the world's best books, from philosophy to sci-fi, economics to who knows what.Sam Webster Harris👋 LinkedIn - Sam Harris🧠 Psychology Pod - Growth Mindset Psychology🚀 New Pod - How to Change the WorldNicolas Vereecke👋 LinkedIn - Nico Vereecke🤖 AI world domination - Evil Plan Inc- - -How to Change the World: The History and Future of InnovationAvailable on all podcast players:SPOTIFY - https://open.spotify.com/show/1Fj3eFjEoAEKF5lWQxPJyTAPPLE - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-change-the-world-the-history-of-innovation/id1815282649YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/@HowToChangeTheWorldPodcastCan't find it on your player?RSS feed - https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/682b3b86696b5d1232d698a8----Chapters00:00 The Role of Fire in Civilization02:20 Introduction: Who is in control03:55 Fire's Impact on Predators and Prey05:59 First Fire - 500 million years ago09:24 Humans and fire - ~2 million years ago11:36 The Discovery of Fire13:07 When did we discover Fire13:48 Stadium of Grandmothers14:51 Fire's Influence on Human Biology17:22 Fire and Human Digestion19:43 Light and Campfires21:52 Mealtimes23:00 Fire's Role in Human Birth and Survival24:51 Why Only Humans Mastered Fire27:22 Fire, Social Structures & Gender Roles32:42 Role Change in the Information Age34:45 Fire's Role in Human Expansion - 70,000 years ago35:11 Second half of the episode on the new show Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
