Nina Jablonski: Biological & Social Impacts of Skin Color

Nov 28, 2023

01:13:43

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Nina G. Jablonski is an American anthropologist and palaeobiologist who’s work focusses on the social and biological meanings of skin color in humans. She completed her PhD in Anthropology in 1981 and she is currently an Evan Pugh University Professor at Pennsylvania State University. Her work spans broad yet intimately connected topics such as human evolution, human diversity, and racism. She was recently elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and in 2009, she was elected to the American Philosophical Society.

Nina is the author of several books including “Living Color: The Biological and Social Meaning of Skin Color”, and “Skin: A Natural History” which examine the biological basis of skin pigmentation as well as the sociocultural implications of varying degrees of melanin density.

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:32 - How Nina Started Studying Skin

00:11:45 - The Goldilocks Zone of UV Exposure

00:16:22 - Evolutionary Depigmentation Events

00:22:58 - Discussing Skin Pigmentation in the Medical Field

00:28:37 - Balancing Sun Exposure in Our Unnatural World

00:31:42 - Vitamin D or Sunlight?

00:39:32 - Epidemiology of Skin Cancers & Public Health Messaging

00:44:33 - How Pigmentation Impacts Addictive Behaviour Patterns

00:48:22 - Color-Based Discrimination

00:58:08 - Dissecting Race & Culture with Regard to Identity