Feet Don't Fail Me

Big Picture Science

Science, Technology

4.5 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 11 March 2024

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Standing on your own two feet isn’t easy. While many animals can momentarily balance on their hind legs, we’re the only critters, besides birds, for whom bipedalism is completely normal. Find out why, even though other animals are faster, we’re champions at getting around. Could it be that our upright stance made us human? Plus, why arches help stiffen feet, the argument for bare-footin’, and 12,000-year old footprints that tell a story about an Ice Age mother, her child, and a sloth. Guests: Daniel Lieberman – Professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University. Jeremy DeSilva – Professor in the departments of anthropology and biological sciences, Dartmouth College, and author of “First Steps: How Upright Walking Made Us Human.” Madhusudhan Venkadesan – Professor of mechanical engineering and materials science, Yale University School of Engineering. David Bustos – Chief of Resources at White Sands, National Park, New Mexico. Sally Reynolds – Paleontologist at Bournemouth University, U.K. Originally aired May 24, 2021 Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast.
0:04.2	I'm Matt Kaplan, the host of Safeguarding Sound Science, Evolution Edition.
0:09.6	Evolution is the unifying principle of biology, yet it still breeds controversy a century
0:15.3	and a half after Charles Darwin.
0:17.7	Join us as we meet the passionate researchers and communicators who are expanding our knowledge
0:23.0	and fighting to keep good science in our schools and politics. Subscribe to Safeguarding
0:29.0	sound science on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, or wherever you like to listen.
0:49.1	At the end of a long working day, some people are happy to just get off their feet.
0:56.0	On one hand, I absolutely love and adore my feet because they allow me to dance and live my passion. On the other hand, my toes are red, usually my arches and the balls of my feet are extremely
1:01.0	sore at the end of a day.
1:02.0	I work for the United States Postal Service as a letter carrier.
1:05.0	I'm on my feet from 8 to 12 hours a day.
1:07.0	The end of the day, my feet feel terrible. I usually get off work and put my crocs on
1:11.4	immediately. I love my feet. I love how far they've carried me over the decades. A couple of
1:17.5	years ago, though, I broke my toe and I didn't bother to get it fixed, and now it droops all the time,
1:22.9	and I stub it constantly, and that drives me crazy. We look at faces when we greet one another, but maybe looking down would reveal more about
1:31.4	who we are.
1:32.5	Whether yours are bare, bunioned, or blistered, your feet tell the tale of how you spend
1:37.5	your time.
1:38.6	Your feet, after all, are the most tangible contact you make with the earth, and if you do
1:42.9	an average amount of walking, your feet
1:45.1	will carry you about 100,000 miles during your lifetime. That's pretty impressive. But in addition
	...

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