875: Jonathan Kennedy | How Pathogens Have Shaped Our World
The Jordan Harbinger Show
Jordan Harbinger
4.8 • 12.3K Ratings
🗓️ 8 August 2023
⏱️ 84 minutes
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Summary
Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues author Jonathan Kennedy joins us to discuss how microscopic pathogens have shaped our world.
What We Discuss with Jonathan Kennedy:- If we were to weigh all the bacteria on Earth, their mass would be about 1,000 times more than all humans. If all of the viruses on the planet were laid end to end, they would stretch for 100 million light years.
- About eight percent of the human genome's DNA comes from retroviral infections we've endured over our evolution. From them, we've inherited memory and the ability to give birth to live young.
- Our gut microbiota communicates with our brains and can directly affect our mood and influence our behavior.
- We modern humans have our ancestors' romantic soirees with Neanderthals to thank for genetic defenses against countless viral diseases.
- How the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture was a double-edged sword that brought us innovative progress and population-decimating pandemics.
- And much more...
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Transcript
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| 0:24.5 | If we were to take all the bacteria on our planet and weigh them, |
| 0:29.6 | their mass would be about 1000 times more than all the humans. |
| 0:33.6 | So despite the fact that these things are so small, they're invisible to the naked eye. |
| 0:38.1 | There's so many of them that they weigh 1000 times all the humans. |
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| 1:39.8 | Today on the show, the modern world has been shaped by microbes as much as it has been shaped by the men and women who inhabit it. |
| 1:46.4 | My guest today, Jonathan Kennedy and I will discuss human history in terms of pathogens and diseases and the way that diseases and epidemics have shaped society and civilization. |
... |
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