The Evolution of Life and the ‘Dead Species Walking’ with Henry Gee

Inquiring Minds

Science, Society & Culture, Neuroscience, Female Host, Interview, Social Sciences, Critical Thinking

4.4 • 848 Ratings

🗓️ 20 December 2021

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The holidays are a time for storytelling, and what better story to re-experience than the greatest one of all: the history of the universe and life on Earth. In today’s episode, Indre is joined by writer and editor Henry Gee to discuss this most epic of all stories and how it’s depicted in Henry’s new book, A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth. Henry is a senior editor at Nature and the author of several books, including Jacob’s Ladder, In Search of Deep Time, and The Accidental Species. He’s appeared on BBC Television and Radio and has written for The Guardian, The Times, and BBC Focus. Condensing 4.6 billion years into one 50-minute conversation is no easy task, but if anyone can do it, and do it in a way that is both accessible and fun, today’s fascinating guest Henry Gee is that person. Show Links: Inquiring Minds Podcast Homepage Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth: 4.6 Billion Years in 12 Pithy ChaptersSupport the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You and Betty and the Nancy's and Bill's and Joes and Jane's will find in the study of science
0:06.4	a richer, more rewarding life.
0:10.7	Welcome to Inquiring Minds. I'm Indravis Gontas.
0:14.2	This is a podcast that explores the space where science and society collide.
0:18.2	We want to find out what's true, what's left to discover, and why it matters.
0:26.6	During the holidays, no matter what your beliefs are, there are lots of opportunities to hear or tell a great story. And there's a
0:39.1	certain pleasure we get from listening to a story or watching a movie version of it or reading it in a
0:45.0	book. So why not take this holiday time to re-experience the greatest story of all time? The story of the
0:53.3	history of the universe and life on earth.
0:57.2	There's a lot of great information from scientists of all fields, telling us what happened from
1:03.6	the moment there was a big bang to where we are today and maybe even looking out into the far
1:08.7	future. But I've never come across all of this information
1:12.4	told in a form that is so compelling and interesting that it rivals some of my favorite novels.
1:19.7	This telling is by Henry G. He's a senior editor at Nature and the author of several books,
1:25.5	including Jacob's Ladder in Search of Deep Time,
1:28.9	The Accidental Species. He's appeared on BBC television and radio, has written for The Guardian,
1:34.7	The Times, and BBC Focus. And now he's just published a new book called A Very Short History
1:41.4	of Life on Earth. And I'm telling you, this one's a page turner.
1:49.5	Henry G., welcome to inquiring minds.
1:52.7	Thank you very much for having me.
1:54.5	So this episode is happening around the holiday time. It's a time when we often get immersed in various kinds of
2:02.3	stories and fantastical tales. And so I'm really delighted to have you on the show to give us
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

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

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