‘Humans are not evolved for modern life’ - evolutionary biologist Ella Al-Shamahi
Ways to Change the World with Krishnan Guru-Murthy
Channel 4 News
4.6 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 15 August 2025
⏱️ 44 minutes
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Summary
Ella Al-Shamahi grew up as a Muslim creationist, part of a ‘tribe’ that believes that humankind was created whole by a higher power. At university, she enrolled in courses that studied evolution, specifically to prove her professors wrong - but the plan backfired when she became fascinated by evolutionary biology and came to the conclusion that Darwin was, in fact, right all along. Now an accomplished paleoanthropologist, she explores the complex journey of human evolution and the origins of Homo sapiens. In this episode of Ways to Change the World, Ella joins Krishnan Guru-Murthy to discuss her remarkable personal transformation from creationism to science. She also explains why she believes humans haven’t fully evolved to meet the demands of the modern world, and shares her unwavering faith in humanity’s resilience and potential.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Studying human evolution, you cannot help but be impressed with our species. I mean, we're a nightmare |
| 0:05.3 | of species at the same time, don't get me wrong. But time and time again, we are resilient against all odds. |
| 0:12.3 | And every single person listening to this is literally the result of thousands of people who against all odds survived. I have a lot of hope in our species. |
| 0:25.8 | You are a questioning scientist. You're a professional skeptic. Yeah. But as a teenager, you were a religious |
| 0:33.0 | missionary. Missionary. So have you had a massive personality change over the period of time? |
| 0:40.4 | I think that is the nature, though, of tribalism. |
| 0:43.5 | You agree with your tribe. |
| 0:48.9 | Hello and welcome to ways to change the world. |
| 0:51.1 | I'm Christian Guru Murphy, and this is the podcast in which we talk to |
| 0:54.5 | extraordinary people about the big ideas and their lives and the events that have helped |
| 0:58.1 | shape them. My guest today is best known for exploring our human origins, but her own origin |
| 1:04.1 | story is a gripping tale too. Ella al-Shimae, he grew up as a Muslim creationist, but was converted |
| 1:10.7 | to evolutionary biologist |
| 1:12.5 | and is now a paleoanthropologist exploring the evolution of Homo sapiens in the BBC series |
| 1:19.9 | Human. |
| 1:20.9 | Ella, welcome. |
| 1:21.9 | Welcome, thank you for having me. |
| 1:22.9 | First of all, what is a paleoanthropologist? |
| 1:25.6 | It's somebody who studies deep, deep time. |
| 1:28.3 | So, like, I wouldn't wake up for the Romans as an archaeologist, but I would wake up for |
| 1:32.6 | early civilizations. |
| 1:34.6 | I'd certainly wake up for early man. |
... |
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