Sean Illing talks with Yuval Noah Harari, historian and bestselling author, about how humanity came to be the dominant species on earth, and what our future might hold. Sean and Yuval discuss mankind's imaginative "superpower," the threats to democracy across the globe, the future of artificial intelligence — and plenty more.

Yuval's new book Unstoppable Us adapts many of his macro-historical insights from Sapiens for younger readers, and is the first in a planned four-volume series.

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area

Guest: Yuval Noah Harari (@harari_yuval), author; professor, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

References: 

• Unstoppable Us, Volume 1: How Humans Took Over the World by Yuval Noah Harari; illustrated by Ricard Zaplana Ruiz (Bright Matter; 2022)
• Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari (Harper; 2017)
• Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari (Harper; 2015)
• "Nationalism vs. globalism: the new political divide | Yuval Noah Harari" (TED; YouTube)

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This episode was made by: 

• Producer: Erikk Geannikis
• Editor: Amy Drozdowska
• Engineer: Patrick Boyd
• Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall

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