Despite great social diversity across the planet, it is an observable fact that males subordinate females across almost all human cultures. Elle speaks with securities scholar Dr. Valerie Hudson about how this ancient sexual order came to be, the role male violence has played and continue to play, and how the persistent and systematic subordination of women by men shape the wider political order and what implications it has for global security and development.

Dr. Hudson relies on vast data-collection done by teams of global researchers at WomenStats database, which she created to track and analyze the status of women across the world, and in her new book The First Political Order, she masterfully joins the treatment and status of women with questions of politics and peace, and the fates of nations. 

In this first episode we jump in the deep end! Enjoy!