Origin Stories

Deep in the forests of Borneo, lives a society of hunter-gatherers who speak a language never before shared with outsiders. Until now. The Cave Punan are the last surviving hunter-gatherers in Indonesia and they have reached out for help to save their forest home and their culture. In 2018, Leakey Foundation grantee Steve Lansing was invited by the elected leader of the Punan in Borneo to meet the Cave Punan. He soon learned of the Cave Punan's unique song language and their urgent need to protect their forest from illegal palm oil plantations. They asked for his help to share their story and save their forest.  Steve Lansing and his Indonesian colleagues are now working with local organizations on a plan to support the Cave Punan. Origin Stories is the first media outlet to share their story and their songs. We hope you will share this podcast with your friends to help raise awareness of the Cave Punan and their plight. Additional Information Visit our blog to see photos and videos of the Cave Punan. Read more about Steve Lansing's research on his website. Steve Lansing would like to thank his colleagues at the Eijkman Institute of Molecular Biology in Indonesia. Call us! We've set up a voicemail line and we'd love to hear from you! Call us at ‪(707)788-8582‬ to let us know how you're doing and if there is anything you'd like to hear on this podcast.  The Leakey Foundation Origin Stories is a project of The Leakey Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding human origins research and outreach. Support this show and the science we talk about with a tax-deductible donation. Help us raise money to pay teachers to create lesson plans and activities based on this podcast.  Visit leakeyfoundation.org/donate to donate today! Every donation will be matched. Credits Host and Producer: Meredith Johnson Editor: Audrey Quinn Theme Music: Henry Nagle Additional Music: Lee Rosevere "Tech Toys", and music from Blue Dot Sessions. Sponsors This season of Origin Stories is made possible by support from Diana McSherry, Jeanne Newman, Camilla Smith, and donors like you! Get Social We'd love to connect with you on Twitter and Facebook. Please say hi and let us know what you think of the show! If you like the show, please leave us a review or rating on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. It's the best way to help other people find the show and we really appreciate it.

What happens when bows and arrows and face-to-face conversations are replaced by high powered weapons and cell phones practically overnight? Dr. Polly Wiessner is an anthropologist who has studied the Enga of Papua New Guinea for 30 years and her current research is focused on how traditional societies cope with rapid cultural change. This episode features a talk given by Dr. Wiessner at The Leakey Foundation's Survival Symposium in 2019. Videos of the seven talks given at the symposium will be on our YouTube channel next week.  If you want to see more Leakey Foundation talks, check out our events calendar for an upcoming lecture near you! 

A mysterious new human relative was discovered ten years ago from a pinky bone found in a Siberian cave. They're called the Denisovans, and people around the world carry their DNA today. Until just a few months ago, the sum total of all the fossils the Denisovans left behind could fit in the palm of your hand. Now new research is unlocking more of their secrets. Thanks Thanks to Bence Viola and Viviane Slon for sharing their work.  Dr. Viola also wants to give a shoutout to his colleagues, including Anatoly Derevyanko over more than 40 years has excavated countless sites in Siberia, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan. And Michael Sunkov who now heads the excavations at Denisova. I also want to thank Sergey Zelensky who provided the sounds of Denisova cave and the recording of the conference. Click here to learn more about Leakey Foundation grantee Frido Welker’s work on ancient proteins. The Leakey Foundation Origin Stories is a project of The Leakey Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding human origins research and outreach. Support this show and the science we talk about with a tax-deductible donation. For a limited time, all donations up to $5,000 will be matched 4:1 thanks to Gianni Amato and Gordon and Ann Getty. Once we pass $5,000, all donations will be doubled. Visit leakeyfoundation.org/donate to donate today! Credits Host and Producer: Meredith Johnson Editor: Julia Barton Theme Music: Henry Nagle Additional Music: Lee Rosevere "Tech Toys", and music from Blue Dot Sessions. Sponsors This season of Origin Stories is made possible by support from Dixon Long, Diana McSherry, Jeanne Newman, Camilla Smith, and donors like you! Get Social We'd love to connect with you on Twitter and Facebook. Please say hi and let us know what you think of the show! If you like the show, please leave us a review or rating on Apple Podcasts. It's the best way to help other people find the show and we really appreciate it.

In this episode, we explore the story of Piltdown Man – one of the most notorious hoaxes in history.  When Piltdown Man was discovered in a gravel pit outside a small English village in 1912, it was celebrated as a "missing link." The find captured the public's imagination and became world-famous. The problem was that Piltdown Man was a complete fraud. The purported fossils were actually made up of modern human bones and an orangutan mandible. The Piltdown hoax suspects have included Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of Sherlock Holmes, and the philosopher Teilhard de Chardin. Now, more than 100 years later, scientists have narrowed the suspects down to a single culprit.  Thanks to producer Leo Hornak for reporting this story. Thanks also to Professor Chris Dean of University College, London, Dr. Isabelle De Groote of Liverpool University, Karolyn Shindler, Professor Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum, London, and Dr. David Joyce of Clark University, who runs the excellent Piltdown Plot website. Thanks as well to Dr. Miles Russell of Bournemouth University - author of  "Piltdown Man: The Secret Life of Charles Dawson." And finally thanks to Dr. Hugh Cecil for his advice and encouragement. Readings were by Luke Blackall, Angelo Hornak, and Jonathan Keates. The archival lecture audio used in this episode is from The Leakey Foundation Archive. You can listen to Dr. Weiner's complete lecture on our website.  The Leakey Foundation Origin Stories is a project of The Leakey Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding human origins research and outreach. The Leakey Foundation funds cutting-edge research about human evolution and human behavior. Support this show and the science we talk about with a tax-deductible donation. Thanks to a generous supporter, your donation will automatically be doubled! Visit leakeyfoundation.org/donate to donate today! Credits Producer: Leo Hornak Editor: Julia Barton Host and Series Producer: Meredith Johnson Senior Producer: Catherine Girardeau Sound Design: Katie McMurran Theme Music: Henry Nagle Additional Music: Lee Rosevere "Tech Toys"  Sponsors This season of Origin Stories is made possible by support from Dixon Long, Jeanne Newman, Camilla Smith, and donors like you! Get Social We'd love to connect with you on Twitter and Facebook. Please say hi and let us know what you think of the show! If you like the show, please leave us a review or rating on Apple Podcasts. It's the best way to help other people find the show and we really appreciate it.

In the final installment of our "From the Archive" series, Kenyan paleoanthropologist Louis S.B. Leakey shares the story of his life and work in a never-before-released interview recorded in 1969. The Leakey Foundation was formed 1968 in honor of Louis Leakey and we are proud to carry on his mission of increasing scientific knowledge, education, and public understanding of human origins, evolution, behavior, and survival. You can help carry on Louis Leakey's legacy by donating to The Leakey Foundation. Every donation will be doubled! leakeyfoundation.org/donate

Mary Leakey was called the "grand dame" of archaeology. She was a methodical and exacting scientist who made some of the world's most significant archaeological discoveries. In this lecture from The Leakey Foundation archive, Mary Leakey tells the story of Olduvai Gorge, the place where she found fossils that completely changed our understanding of human origins. Want to support Origin Stories? All donations are being matched 4:1. Give today at leakeyfoundation.org/originstorieschallenge

Tepilit Ole Saitoti was a Maasai warrior, author, and natural resources expert. In this lecture from The Leakey Foundation archive, Saitoti tells his life story, discusses Maasai culture, and explores the challenges faced by the Maasai people. Learn more and see photos on our blog. Want to support Origin Stories? All donations are being matched 4:1. Give today at leakeyfoundation.org/originstorieschallenge

Raymond Dart was getting dressed for a wedding when he was given two boxes of rocks and fossils. Inside the boxes, he found the first evidence of humanity’s African origins. This episode tells the story of the 1924 discovery of the Taung Child through a never-before-released lecture by Dr. Raymond Dart. Show Notes The Leakey Foundation is celebrating its 50th anniversary by sharing rare, previously unreleased lectures from the Foundation’s archive. The fourth lecture in this "From the Archive" series is by Dr. Raymond Dart, a neuroanatomist, discoverer of the Taung Child, and the person who named the genus Australopithecus. Raymond Dart was born in Australia in 1893. He studied biology and became a medical doctor specializing in neuroanatomy. He moved to South Africa in 1922 to help establish the anatomy department at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. In 1924, as he was getting dressed for a wedding, he received two boxes full of rocks and fossils from a nearby mine. The fossils inside those boxes changed his life – and our understanding of human origins. Dr. Dart gave two Leakey Foundation lectures. In this episode, you'll hear clips from one of them, along with the entirety of his lecture entitled "Why Study Human Origins?" which was recorded in Washington, D.C., in 1975. The Leakey Foundation Origin Stories is a project of The Leakey Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding human origins research and outreach.  4X Donation Match Support this show and the science we talk about with a tax-deductible donation. Thanks to a generous supporter, your donation will automatically be quadrupled! Visit leakeyfoundation.org/originstorieschallenge to donate today! Sponsors This season of Origin Stories is made possible by support from Dixon Long, Jeanne Newman, Camilla Smith, and donors like you! Get Social We'd love to connect with you on Twitter and Facebook. Please say hi and let us know what you think of the show! If you like Origin Stories, please leave us a review or tell a friend about the show. We really appreciate it! Credits Host and Series Producer: Meredith Johnson Sound Engineer/Mix: Katie McMurran Theme Music: Henry Nagle Additional Music: Lee Rosevere "Tech Toys"

In this archival lecture, anthropologist Margaret Mead discusses the lives of women from prehistoric to modern times, exploring topics such as gender relationships in human evolution, unique aspects of human development, and the historical discovery of paternity and its impact on human history.

In this never-before-released archival lecture from 1973, the legendary primatologist Dian Fossey tells the story of the early years of her groundbreaking mountain gorilla research. Show Notes The Leakey Foundation is 50 years old this year, and we’re celebrating this milestone by sharing rare, previously unreleased lectures from the Foundation’s archive. These talks are like a time capsule that lets you hear from scientists in their own words and in their own voices - as they were making the discoveries that made them famous. The second lecture in this "From the Archive" series is by Dian Fossey, the legendary primatologist who was sent by Louis Leakey to study the mountain gorillas of Rwanda. She gave this Leakey Foundation lecture in 1973, only six years after she started the Karisoke Research Center in the Virunga Mountains. In this talk, she describes what it was like to establish the Karisoke research center, and she shares what she’d learned so far about their lives and behavior. The Leakey Foundation Origin Stories is a project of The Leakey Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding human origins research and outreach. The Leakey Foundation funds cutting-edge research about human evolution and human behavior. 4X Donation Match Support this show and the science we talk about with a tax-deductible donation. Thanks to a generous supporter, your donation will automatically be quadrupled! Visit leakeyfoundation.org/originstorieschallenge to donate today! Sponsors This season of Origin Stories is made possible by support from Dixon Long, Jeanne Newman, and Camilla Smith. Get Social We'd love to connect with you on Twitter and Facebook. Please say hi and let us know what you think of the show! If you like Origin Stories, please leave us a review or rating on Apple Podcasts. It's the best way to help other people find the show and we really appreciate it. Credits Host and Series Producer: Meredith Johnson Sound Engineer/Mix: Katie McMurran Theme Music: Henry Nagle Additional Music: Lee Rosevere "Tech Toys"