When was the last time you actually thought about the air around you? Unless you're stuck in a windstorm or gasping after a run, probably never. But it turns out that this invisible element — whether it's blowing across continents or flowing through your lungs — has shaped human history in some pretty remarkable ways.

Simon Winchester is the New York Times bestselling author of books like The Professor and the Madman and Krakatoa. His new book is called The Breath of the Gods: The History and Future of the Wind, and he'll join us with some of his big ideas in just a moment.

And later in the show, we'll hear from James Nestor, author of the 2020 book Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, who'll show us how modern humans have forgotten how to breathe properly — and what that's costing us.