The Insight

By Insitome: Your guide to the story of you

What's The Insight about?

Where did we come from? One of humanity's most basic questions, the answer is fascinating. Weaving together insights from the fields of genetics, archaeology, linguistics, and paleoanthropology, hosts Spencer Wells and Razib Khan take us on a grand tour of human history. Scientific storytelling at its best.

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The Insight episodes:

09.15.2020
Brian Hare and Survival of the Friendliest: Understanding Our Origins and Rediscovering Our Common Humanity
Razib discusses the new book Survival of the Friendliest: Understanding Our Origins and Rediscovering Our Common Humanity with one of the authors. https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B07ZC6XGGX/geneexpressio-20
09.08.2020
Why Western Europeans are so WEIRD and why that matters!
Razib talks to evolutionary anthropologist Joe Henrich about his new book, The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous, https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B07RZFCPMD/geneexpressio-20
09.03.2020
Why much of science is fiction
Razib talks to Stuart Ritchie about his new book, Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence, and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1250222699/geneexpressio-20
08.06.2020
Siberian paleohistory
Razib and Spencer discuss the geography, prehistory, and genetics, of Siberia. Also, the time Spencer experienced a Siberian winter!
07.31.2020
Sundaland: a human evolutionary hearth
Razib and Spencer discuss why the geology and biogeography of Southeast Asia may explain why it is so important in the history of human evolution. Show notes: https://blog.insito.me/humanitys-second-cradle-in-southeast-asia-cbb26244f08a
07.23.2020
Peopling the Americas 32,000 years ago
Razib discusses revolutionary new work published in Nature that tells us that modern humans were present in the Americas 32,000 years ago with one of the authors, Lorena Becerra-Valdivia. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02190-y https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2509-0 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2509-0
07.16.2020
Ghost in the machine
Spencer and Razib talk about what we mean when we say "ghost population" in human genetics, and why it's so important to understand our origins. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2842210/ https://www.genetics.org/content/192/3/1065.short
07.09.2020
Native American admixture into Polynesia!
Razib talks to Alex Ioannidis on the new paper which he is a first author of which argues that there is pre-Columbian Native American ancestry in Eastern Polynesia. Did the Polynesians bring them back from the mainland? Or did they...
06.26.2020
Will to Power and the Holocene transition
Razib and Spencer talk about what a new ancient DNA paper from Neolithic Ireland suggests about radical inequality and power differentials in early agricultural societies, and what that says about the transition from hunting and gathering more generally https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2378-6 (also,...
06.18.2020
Two cultures, humanities and science
Spencer and Razib discuss what the humanities can offer to science with Kerim Yasar, professor of East Asian literature https://twitter.com/nihonkyo
06.11.2020
Psychiatry and genes
Razib talks to Dr. Emily Deans on what's like to work in psychiatry today in a world with personal genomics. https://twitter.com/evolutionarypsy
06.03.2020
American Downfall: Cultural evolution, Peter Turchin, and the return of history
Spencer and Razib discuss current events in the context of cultural evolution. The history of decline, the American "Empire", and Peter Turchin's thoughts on social disorder http://peterturchin.com/cliodynamica/the_2020/
05.28.2020
The genetic basis of facial variation
This week Razib talks to Dan Crouch about what we know about the genetics of the variation shape and features. https://www.pnas.org/content/115/4/E676.short
05.21.2020
Ancient DNA and China
Spencer and Razib discuss the latest ancient DNA work that sheds light on East Asian prehistory (and also some coronavirus status update) https://reich.hms.harvard.edu/sites/reich.hms.harvard.edu/files/inline-files/YangSciecne2020.pdf (excuse the "sound effects" early in the podcast!)
05.14.2020
Chris Stringer on paleoanthropology in 2020
Razib catches up with Chris Stinger on the state of paleoanthropology in 2020 and the ramifications of what genetics has taught us about the diversity in Denisovans in the past few years!
05.07.2020
Genetically Modified Organisms
Razib talks to Chad Niederhuth at Michigan State on the promise of GMO agriculture! http://niederhuthlab.com/
05.01.2020
Coronavirus 2020: vaccination and the specter of revolution
Spencer and Razib discuss the state of the pandemic, why Spencer is skeptical of rapid vaccine development, and the political and cultural fallout of COVID-19. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/04/29/847755751/compared-to-china-u-s-stay-at-home-has-been-a-giant-garden-party-journalist-says https://medium.com/@spwells
04.25.2020
Alfred Russel Wallace and the Prehistory of the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago
Spencer describes Wallace's encounter with Indonesia and his insight into evolution by natural selection.
04.22.2020
Genetics, genealogy, and secrets unknown
Razib talks to Libby Copeland about her new book, The Lost Family: How DNA Testing is Upending Who We Are https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/lost-family_9781419743009/
04.16.2020
Coronavirus 2020: preamble to Weimar?
Spencer and Razib discuss the updates to the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 as of mid-April. Spencer delves into the possible social and cultural ramifications, and they both discuss the trajectory internationally and into the future.
04.09.2020
Paleogenetics of East Asia
This week Spencer and Razib discuss the latest discoveries about the paleogenetic history of East Asia. Where did the Tibetans, Han, and Japanese come from? https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.25.004606v1 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.25.008078v1
03.31.2020
Coronavirus pandemic of 2020
Razib and Spencer discuss the state-of-the-pandemic at the end of March 2020. https://blog.insito.me/the-insight-show-notes-season-3-episode-13-pandemic-c6640de64d6b
03.25.2020
Natural Selection among indigenous Americans
Razib talks to Austin Reynolds about what he's discovered about adaptation in indigenous peoples of the New World. https://www.pnas.org/content/116/19/9312.short
03.23.2020
The Importance of Summer
An excerpt from Spencer's book Pandora's Seed about the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in 1815.
03.19.2020
Genomics of Mendelian Conditions
Razib talks to Dr. Jessica Chong of the University of Washington about how genomics has changed how we view and understand rare disorders https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002929719302745
03.11.2020
Decreasing genetic diversity with distance from Africa
Razib talks to Dr. Sohini Ramachandran of Brown about her classical paper from 2005 which showed decreasing genetic diversity as a function of distance from Africa https://www.pnas.org/content/102/44/15942
03.04.2020
Ancient Egyptian genetics
Razib and Spencer talk about the history of ancient Egypt, and the insights genetics can shed on the origins of the ancient Egyptians https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms15694
02.26.2020
Genetics and (pre)history of Southeast Asia
Razib and Spencer talk all things genetic and prehistorical Southeast Asia! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6476732/ https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-02185511/file/Science%20paper%20ORI.pdf https://insitome.libsyn.com/paradise-lost
02.19.2020
Coronavirus and Zoonoses
Spencer and Razib discuss the evolutionary and historical context of zoonotic diseases, and their relevance to current events.
02.13.2020
Genetics of Fertility
Razib talks to Melinda Mills about the intersection of demographics and genetics. https://www.rsfjournal.org/content/rsfjss/4/4/122.full.pdf
02.04.2020
Genetics of Papuans
Razib talks to Anders Bergstrom of the Crick Institute about the genetic history of New Guinea https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5802383/
01.29.2020
Paleogenetics of Africa
This week Spencer and Razib discuss the ramifications of a new paper which reports on the ancient DNA of West Africans who lived 8,000 and 3,000 years ago. https://reich.hms.harvard.edu/sites/reich.hms.harvard.edu/files/inline-files/Shum_Laka_published_online_0.pdf
01.23.2020
3000 years in the Levant
This week Razib discusses the genetics and history of the Levant with Dr. Marc Haber. https://blog.insito.me/3-000-years-in-the-levant-8aba846b18ae
01.15.2020
Predictions for genetics in the 2020s
Spencer and Razib offer up 10 predictions for what genetics will bring in the 2020s, from free sequencing to going beyond "Out of Africa." https://blog.insito.me/top-10-human-genetics-evolution-predictions-for-the-2020s-c93f3ef74b4f
12.20.2019
Ten years of human genetics and evolution
What was big in human evolution and genetics over the last 10 years? https://blog.insito.me/top-10-human-genetics-evolution-developments-of-the-2010s-1a8c5c213d35?
06.26.2019
Scandinavian Genetics
Talking the genetic history of Scandinavians with Torsten Günther. Show notes https://blog.insito.me/the-insight-show-notes-season-2-episode-33-scandinavian-genetics-d4e6e4deeaaf
06.19.2019
Tibetan Denisovans
Razib talks about a Denisovan finding from Tibet with Dr. Frido Welker. Show notes: https://pxlme.me/jcQr2gSy
06.12.2019
Obesity and genetic prediction
Razib talks to a researcher who developed a method to predict extreme obesity looking at genetic profiles. Show notes: https://pxlme.me/76367O2I
06.05.2019
Evolution of Family
Razib discusses the evolutionary and ecological context of human families with Dr. Rebecca Sear. https://blog.insito.me/the-insight-show-notes-season-2-episode-30-evolution-of-family-5f8db79194d9
05.29.2019
Natural Selection and "Deep Learning"
Evolutionary biology and computer science don't seem to have much in common. But this week Razib talks to a geneticist who brings both together in his research. https://blog.insito.me/the-insight-show-notes-season-2-episode-29-deep-learning-and-population-genetics-ffebb7278bc8
05.22.2019
Altitude Adaptation and Denisovans
Razib talks to Emilia Huerta-Sanchez about her finding that altitude adaptation in Tibetans is due to Denisovan admixture. https://pxlme.me/RECg03af
05.15.2019
Neolithic Massacre
This week Razib talks to two researchers who have published a paper that reconstructs the relationships between a group of people who seem to have been killed in a conflict during the Neolithic in Poland. Show notes https://pxlme.me/Iy2T9T_T
05.08.2019
The Epigenetics Revolution
This week Razib talks to Dr. John Greally on what epigenetics really is, and why it is important. Show notes https://pxlme.me/ZoXCz98p
05.01.2019
The $1000 Genome
Razib talks to Rodrigo Martinez of Veritas Genetics about what the age of "social genomics" will mean to us. https://pxlme.me/uWk0IqrZ
04.24.2019
Deconstructing the Denisovans
Spencer and Razib discuss who the Denisovans were, where they lived, and what it means for us as humans. https://pxlme.me/UPzHwYX6
04.16.2019
The ape that understood the universe
Razib talks to evolutionary psychologist Steve Stewart-Williams about how the origins of our mind can inform how we interact with the world around us. Show notes: https://pxlme.me/cxm84D_0
04.10.2019
Solving the Missing Heritability
Razib talks to Alexander Young on whether the missing heritability is solved, and what it is in the first place https://pxlme.me/LgByOD37
04.02.2019
The genetic history of Ice Age Europe
Razib discusses the genetics of Pleistocene Europeans with Cosimo Posth. https://pxlme.me/Rxv09mQ2
03.27.2019
This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution
David Sloan Wilson talks about the application of evolutionary theory to policy and people, and his book, This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution. https://pxlme.me/PqJs9Qy6
03.19.2019
Historical Linguistics
Asya Pereltsvaig joins us to talk about historical linguistics, how language evolution relates to genetic evolution (or not), and what sorts of features are important in creating a phylogenetic tree of languages. https://pxlme.me/S7aXK2Bf

What's The Insight about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The Insight episodes:

Brian Hare and Survival of the Friendliest: Understanding Our Origins and Rediscovering Our Common Humanity

Why Western Europeans are so WEIRD and why that matters!

Why much of science is fiction

Siberian paleohistory

Sundaland: a human evolutionary hearth

Peopling the Americas 32,000 years ago

Ghost in the machine

Native American admixture into Polynesia!

Will to Power and the Holocene transition

Two cultures, humanities and science

Psychiatry and genes

American Downfall: Cultural evolution, Peter Turchin, and the return of history

The genetic basis of facial variation

Ancient DNA and China

Chris Stringer on paleoanthropology in 2020

Genetically Modified Organisms

Coronavirus 2020: vaccination and the specter of revolution

Alfred Russel Wallace and the Prehistory of the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago

Genetics, genealogy, and secrets unknown

Coronavirus 2020: preamble to Weimar?

Paleogenetics of East Asia

Coronavirus pandemic of 2020

Natural Selection among indigenous Americans

The Importance of Summer

Genomics of Mendelian Conditions

Decreasing genetic diversity with distance from Africa

Ancient Egyptian genetics

Genetics and (pre)history of Southeast Asia

Coronavirus and Zoonoses

Genetics of Fertility

Genetics of Papuans

Paleogenetics of Africa

3000 years in the Levant

Predictions for genetics in the 2020s

Ten years of human genetics and evolution

Scandinavian Genetics

Tibetan Denisovans

Obesity and genetic prediction

Evolution of Family

Natural Selection and "Deep Learning"

Altitude Adaptation and Denisovans

Neolithic Massacre

The Epigenetics Revolution

The $1000 Genome

Deconstructing the Denisovans

The ape that understood the universe

Solving the Missing Heritability

The genetic history of Ice Age Europe

This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution

Historical Linguistics