Bonus | The Real Lessons From The World Happiness Report (with Lara Aknin)
Each year, the World Happiness Report ranks countries based on their citizen's life satisfaction. My home country, Finland, tends to come at the top. Sure. But lessons can we draw from all this? Beyon...
9 Jan 202516min
Bonus | Some Myths About Human Mating (with Katie Starkweather)
Many traditional societies accept polygyny (one man, many wives). Monogamy, too, is practised across the globe. But what about polyandry — one woman, many husbands? Is this a "dubious idea" as sometim...
5 Jan 202511min
Encore | The Mindbending Conversation That Topped 2024 (with Donald Hoffman)
Happy New Year 2025! To celebrate, here is an encore of what proved to be the most popular episode of 2024. This rerun combines episodes 30 and 31 into one epic journey towards the frontiers of human...
31 Dec 20241h 28min
Live from London | Yasheng Huang on the Origins of Modern China
This was fun! Last Wednesday saw the first-ever live recording of On Humans. The event was held at the London Business School, courtesy of the LBS's China Club. My guest was MIT Professor Yasheng Huan...
23 Dec 20241h 25min
A New Theory on the Broadest Patterns of History ~ Ideen Ali Riahi
Persians. Romans. Chinese. Guptas. Abbasids. Mongols. British.The list of the world’s largest empires is a list of different peoples of Eurasia. With the sole exception of ancient Egypt, the Eurasian ...
2 Dec 20241h 8min
Is War Inevitable? Lessons from East Asia ~ David C. Kang
Why do wars begin? How can we avoid them? Do countries wage wars whenever it suits their own goals? Or are wars a product of failed understanding and military madmen? These are questions at the centre...
15 Nov 202451min
Is War Natural After All? Revisiting the Debate ~ Luke Glowacki
Our ancestors did not wage war. Warfare emerged only when humans started settling down and storing food. Indeed, some modern hunter-gatherers still enjoy the peaceful existence that once was the natur...
2 Nov 20241h 6min
Nobel-Prize Special | Daron Acemoglu on Why We Should Celebrate Humanity
Daron Acemoglu has been awarded the 2024 Nobel-prize for Economic Science. This is a great testament to his impressive career. But the award was given for his early work on global inequality, together...
18 Okt 202420min
