Humans, Being

On the Media

WNYC Studios

Magazine, Newspapers, Media, 1st, Advertising, Social Sciences, Studios, Radio, Transparency, Tv, History, Science, News Commentary, Npr, Technology, Amendment, Newspaper, Wnyc, News, Journalism

4.6 • 8.7K Ratings

🗓️ 28 January 2022

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When you hear the word “Neanderthal,” you probably picture a mindless, clumsy brute. It’s often used as an insult — even by our president, who last year called anti-maskers “Neanderthals.” But what if we have more in common with our ancestral cousins than we think? On this week’s On the Media, hear how these early humans have been unfairly maligned in science and in popular culture.

1. John Hawks [@johnhawks], professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, on our biological family tree—and the complicated branch that is Neanderthals. Listen.

2. Rebecca Wragg Sykes [@LeMoustier], archeologist and author of Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art, on and what we know about how they lived. Listen.

3. Clive Finlayson [@CliveFinlayson], Director, Chief Scientist, and Curator of the Gibraltar National Museum, on how studying what’s inside Gorham and Vanguard caves can help reconstruct Neanderthal life beyond them. Listen.

4. Angela Saini, science journalist, on how Neanderthals have been co-opted to push mythologies about the genetic basis of race. Listen.

Music:Boy Moves the Sun by Michael AndrewsYoung Heart by Brad MehldauSacred Oracle by John ZornTomorrow Never Knows by Quartetto d’ Archi Di Dell’Orchestra di Milano Guiseppe VerdiInvestigations by Kevin MacLeod

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You wouldn't usually say that stupid congressman is in the under a tall.
0:05.0	You'd probably say Neanderthal.
0:07.0	That's the right way to pronounce everybody's favorite paleozoic insult.
0:12.0	From WNYC in New York, this is on the media. I'm Brooke Gladstone.
0:16.0	This week we speed-lunk into the real story of our cave dwelling in cousins.
0:22.0	The animals that lived across Europe and Asia for two, three hundred thousand years,
0:26.0	very successfully. We have another two hundred thousand years to go before we catch up with Neanderthals.
0:31.0	And expose the world view behind the scientific racism that seems to know no limits of time or place.
0:38.0	So those disbelief that what Europeans were at the top of this hierarchy and other races was slotted below,
0:44.0	and also that those at the bottom of this hierarchy were like Neanderthals doomed to die out.
0:51.0	Join us as we reckon with our family history.
0:55.0	After this.
1:00.0	From WNYC in New York, this is on the media. I'm Brooke Gladstone.
1:05.0	And I'm Anneli Newitz. That's the Anneli Newitz.
1:08.0	Joining me this hour are science journalist and science fiction writer.
1:12.0	Their most recent book is Four Lost Cities, a secret history of the urban age.
1:17.0	And co-host of the podcast, Our Opinions are correct.
1:21.0	We're going to be talking about a speech from last March where President Joe Biden made a disturbing comment.
1:28.0	The last thing we need is an Anderthal thinking that in the meantime everything's fine, take off your mask, forget it.
1:35.0	We both heard it. Of course we were both appalled.
1:38.0	I mean, it's just not true. There's no evidence that Neanderthals couldn't understand existential risks.
1:44.0	Yeah, right? Why are all Muslims always insulting Neanderthals?
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WNYC Studios, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of WNYC Studios and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.