Stuff They Don't Want You To Know

What Comes After Humans? Chapter One: A Brief, Brightly Burning Light

Oct 8, 2025
Explore the fascinating evolution of Homo sapiens and recent skull discoveries that challenge our understanding of human origins. The hosts delve into the fragility of human achievements and the environmental damages of the Anthropocene. What happens after humans? They discuss survivors in a post-human world, from adaptable species like raccoons and corvids to the conditions that may shape future dominance. Tune in for speculative predictions on life after humanity and the enduring legacy we leave behind.
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INSIGHT

Humans Are A Very Recent Force

  • Modern Homo sapiens are very recent on geological timescales, roughly ~200,000 years by consensus but discoveries push timelines further back.
  • Human impact (Anthropocene) has already altered Earth in ways that will outlast our species.
INSIGHT

Human Origins Are Messy And Changing

  • Human ancestry stretches back millions of years with many hominin species evolving, interbreeding, and going extinct.
  • New fossil finds frequently revise timelines and reveal unknown branches of our family tree.
INSIGHT

We Might Not Be First Technological Species

  • Humanity uniquely advanced planetary-scale science and tech, but we may not be the first life to do so.
  • Time erases civilizations, so earlier technological species could have existed and left little trace.
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