The History of Being Human

Today we introduce our series on Mob Madness and Mass Delusions. I speak to Rob Henderson, PhD student in psychology and Gates scholar studying moral psychology (not his own) at Cambridge University. Topics include the physical pain of social ostracism, herd mentality, moral foundations theory, whether members of a screeching, seething mob are morally responsible for their activities, and the dangerous downside to creating your own personal echo chamber of like-minded people online. Grab your torch and pitchfork and join us in an intro to a the only series-long celebration of one of our defining human characteristics -- the capacity to whip ourselves into an foaming-at-the-mouth terrified and terrifying irrational frenzy and demolish everything in our path. READ Rob's Blog!   https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/after-service Art work: Oz by Ian Armstrong    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-history-of-being-human--5806452/support.

The bones of our ancient relatives and prehistoric ancestors bear the puncture wounds, scrapings, and bite marks that tell a horrifying tale of predation. Who and what we are has been shaped by what we had to duck, run, jump, and hide from.   But if you really want to know what preyed on us in the past, look no further that at what eats us now. From the Talon Holes in the Taung Child's skull to the bite marks on Peking Man, from the Beast of Gevaudan to the Leopard of Panar, here are a few of the trials of life that we, and our closest relatives, have endured.   Cover Art: Oz by Ian Armstrong      Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-history-of-being-human--5806452/support.

In this episode we learn that we are tough to kill and hard to keep alive. Within our sphere we are durable and resilient, but that sphere is very narrow indeed. We survive catastrophes, searing heat, crippling injuries, and seemingly mortal wounds. But could we survive in any other time and place than here and now? This is an open question.   Artwork: Oz by Ian Armstrong Music: Icy Vindur by A Himitsu Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-history-of-being-human--5806452/support.

Our relationship with microorganisms is *ahem* complicated...mostly symbiotic, but often combative and, yes, fatal. In this episode I speak with a physician on the front lines of the battle to the death between viruses, amoebas, and bacteria and their human victims.   Dr. Mark Crisplin in an infectious disease doctor in Portland, OR, and the author of a bi-weekly blog and several books. He is also and app-maker and an award-winning podcaster, creator of the now discontinued QuackWatch series and the Persiflager's Puscast. We speak on a wide range of topics, including which infectious diseases have killed the most people in history, how they did it, which ones are still a threat now and in the future, a virus so deadly that no one has ever recovered from it, whether ebola is a world-historic threat, resistance to antibiotics and the coming post-antibiotic world, Abraham Lincoln's possible syphilis, and the disease that is wiping out Tasmanian Devils. The picture Dr. Crislip paints is in some ways admittedly bleak. He believes that bacteria will develop resistance that renders our current antibiotics obsolete. And worse, he believes that there is no foreseeable pathway to avoiding this future.  Prepare for the Zombie apocalypse (which he does not see in the near future)! Look up Dr. Crislip's work:  www.edgydoc.com  Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-history-of-being-human--5806452/support.

The Adapt or Die Series goes Viral... Egyptians, Hittites, Athenians, Romans -- outbreak after outbreak Variola major has been a pox on our house from time immemorial. No other disease has weakened and crippled empires and wiped entire peoples off the earth like smallpox. It killed 400-500 million in the 20th Century alone. And now, through a millennium-long effort of blowing scab powder, scraping lesions, and really listening to dairy maids, it's gone. Almost.     Artwork: Oz by Ian ArmstrongBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-history-of-being-human--5806452/support.

The puking flea apocalypse! This is one of the rare events in history where the death toll is constantly being revised HIGHER as new data comes in. By recent estimates, possibly 40% of THE WORLD killed by the Great Plague. What was it like to live during the end of the world? What did the dying -- and those who remained alive -- experience?  How did people understand what was happening? Who did they burn and torture? In this episode are 1st hand accounts of the Black Death. A blow-by-blow recounting of the havoc one particular bacteria has wrought on humanity.  And, or course, the way in which the human imagination is capable to taking a bad situation and turning it into something truly ghastly and despicable. Famine, pestilence, maudlin displays of self-mutilation, cruelty in the guise of piety, and, yes, nobility and heroism.  Welcome to Europe during the Crisis of the Late Middle Ages.   Graphic: Oz by Ian ArmstrongBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-history-of-being-human--5806452/support.

Where did the plague that ravaged Europe in the mid-1300's come from? How did it get there? Today we begin a three episode series on the Great Black Death Plague of Europe that killed millions and rewrote history. We stare unblinking into the face of arguably the worst catastrophe in the history of humanity.  Herein you will hear of flying corpses, the dawn of germ warfare, where some of the deadliest diseases known to man hang out, and why one English Princess never made it to her own wedding. In the Next Episode we will cover Plague Life. Finally, the third Plague episode will cover the collateral damage to societies and the social repercussions of the Plague. Yikes. Note: There were some annoying issues with the audio of the episode that will be corrected in the next episode. Cover Art: Oz by Ian ArmstrongBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-history-of-being-human--5806452/support.

In which we begin our "Adapt or Die" Series. The Byzantine empire was under attack, and tens of thousands of people in Constantinople were dying every week. It wasn't the Vandals or the Ostragoths, it was a disease that brought terror and death on a massive scale. Even the Great Justinian himself is not spared from the illness. Corpse halls, ghost ships, headless sailors, plague-ridden serpents, fever dreams and apocalyptic visions, and the wrath of God. We begin the episode with an intro to our complex relationship to one of the most ancient of all life forms. If you want to skip all bacteria stuff, The Plague of Justinian begins at 14:30Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-history-of-being-human--5806452/support.

The conclusion to the worst people ever series winds up falling to Godwin's Law. This is one of those rare cases where cliche, popular opinion, and received knowledge happen to be absolutely right: Hitler was as bad as human beings get. Aggressor and instigator of world's most deadly war. Instigator of thuggery and riots. Murderer of former friends. Head of the coldest, most clinical and industrial, act of mass murder in history. Prancing ranting provocateur. Mama's boy.    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-history-of-being-human--5806452/support.

The Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 and The Holocaust  What do these events have in common? They were both seminal events that challenged two different eras relationship to, and understanding of, evil.  Today I speak with Dr. Susan Neiman, director of The Einstein Forum, devotee of the enlightenment, moral crusader (well, sort of?), and author of "Evil in Modern Thought: An Alternative History of Philosophy." Link: https://www.amazon.com/Evil-Modern-Thought-Alternative-Philosophy/dp/0691168504 We speak about the way evil shapes human actions and understanding of the world.    Pre-order her new book: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/learning-from-the-germans-susan-neiman/1129556836?ean=9780374184469 Image: Oz by Ian ArmstrongBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-history-of-being-human--5806452/support.