Origin Stories
Explore human evolution one story at a time. This award-winning show blends storytelling with science that will change your understanding of who we are.
Episode 15: The Grandmother Hypothesis
When Kristen Hawkes first started to research the foraging habits of the Hadza hunter-gatherers, she noticed that the older women in the society were spending their time collecting food and sharing it with their grandchildren. She started to wonder if this type of contribution from grandmothers might explain why humans have such long lives. Her grandmother hypothesis suggests that grandmothering may have led to many of the things that make humans different from other great apes.
Thanks to Kristen Hawkes of the University of Utah for sharing her work with us. Dr. Hawkes is a member of The Leakey Foundation's Scientific Executive Committee.
Links
Grandmothers and the evolution of pair bonds
Grandmothers and the evolution of human longevity: a review of findings and future directions
Credits
This episode was produced by Schuyler Swenson. Our editor is Audrey Quinn. Scoring and mixing by Schuyler Swenson. Origin Stories theme music by Henry Nagle. Additional music by Lee Rosevere.
Sponsors
This episode was produced with support from the Being Human initiative of The Baumann Foundation and The Leakey Foundation.
Transcripts are provided by Adept Word Management.
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