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Novara Media

Novara FM: Who Dares To Rewrite 40,000 Years of History? w/ David Wengrow

Jan 25, 2024
David Wengrow, archaeologist and co-author of The Dawn of Everything, challenges conventional narratives of human history, discussing topics such as the origins of inequality, misconceptions about the agricultural revolution, contradictions within the family unit, interpreting violence in prehistoric societies, reimagining human nature and history, and the experience of co-writing the book with David Graeber.
01:24:42

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • Traditional narratives of inequality are influenced by colonialism and perpetuate misconceptions about non-European cultures.
  • The widely accepted notion of an agricultural revolution is debunked, as early farming societies maintained flexibility and experimented with different social arrangements.

Deep dives

Reimagining Human History: Challenging the Origins of Inequality

The podcast episode discusses the work of David Graver and David Wengrove, who challenge the traditional narrative about the origins of civilization and inequality. They argue that human history is not a monolithic story of progress and hierarchy, but rather a complex exploration of different ways of living. The podcast highlights three key insights from their work: the origins of inequality are not well-founded, the idea of an agricultural revolution is unsupported by evidence, and the flexibility of societies to experiment with different social arrangements. By questioning these conventional narratives, the episode challenges prevailing political and economic ideologies, paving the way for a reimagining of human history and the possibilities for real change.

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