logo
episode-header-image
May 2020
28m 35s

We Eat Bugs

The Leakey Foundation
About this episode

Have you ever considered how profoundly food has shaped who we are as a species? Julie Lesnik is a paleoanthropologist who studies the evolution of the human diet. Her special focus is on insects as food in the past, present, and future. 

Additional Information

Read more about Julie Lesnik's work and check out her book Edible Insects and Human Evolution.

Follow her on Twitter: @JulieLesnik

Want to try some edible insects?

Here are a few places we recommend:

Don Bugito Entomo Farms

Looking for recipes? 

Julie Lesnik's "Insect Bake-Off" recipes Chef-created recipes from the New York Times Recipes from "The Bug Chef"

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.  

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.

Up next
Sep 5
Origin Stories x The Science Podcast
This episode features two stories from the Science Podcast. First, Science writer Ann Gibbons tells the story of three ancient hominin species that lived side-by-side in South Africa’s Cradle of Humankind. Then, anthropologist Melanie Beasley discusses her new study on why chemic ... Show More
38m 25s
Aug 6
Can a Human Outrun a Horse?
This is a story about sweat, survival, speed, and the peculiar ways running may have shaped us as humans. Armed with a hydration vest, a dream, and paleoanthropologist Daniel Lieberman’s endurance running hypothesis, filmmaker Nicole Teeny set out to push the limits of her own en ... Show More
39m 1s
Jun 2025
The Origin Story of Origin Stories - 10th Anniversary
After 10 years of exploring the stories behind breakthrough science, it's time to tell our own origin story! In this special anniversary episode, we're flipping the script to share how Origin Stories began. Join us behind the scenes, revisit three milestone episodes, and get an e ... Show More
36m 31s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2025
The Last Neanderthals
For hundreds of thousands of years Neanderthals have roamed the lands of what is today Europe and western Asia. But how did they survive, and what caused their decline? Tristan Hughes delves into the fate of the last Neanderthals and continues our Ice Age mini-series with Profess ... Show More
53m 57s
Dec 2024
Where to meet a Neanderthal
We know Neanderthals and early modern humans coupled up. But when did they meet, exactly? And where? Some fossilized smoke and a baby tooth might hold clues.Guest: Adam Cole of HowTownFor show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscriptsFor more, go to vox.com/unexplainableAnd pleas ... Show More
31m 19s
Oct 2023
Trenton W. Holliday, "Cro-Magnon: The Story of the Last Ice Age People of Europe" (Columbia UP, 2023)
During the Last Ice Age, Europe was a cold, dry place teeming with mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, reindeer, bison, cave bears, cave hyenas, and cave lions. It was also the home of people physically indistinguishable from humans today, commonly known as the Cro-Magnons. Our knowle ... Show More
42m 33s
Sep 8
The Life Scientific: Tori Herridge
Elephants are the largest living land mammal and today our planet is home to three species: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant.But a hundred thousand years ago, in the chilly depths of the Ice Age, multiple species of elephant roamed th ... Show More
26m 30s
Mar 2024
Stefanos Geroulanos, "The Invention of Prehistory: Empire, Violence, and Our Obsession with Human Origins" (Liveright, 2024)
Books about the origins of humanity dominate bestseller lists, while national newspapers present breathless accounts of new archaeological findings and speculate about what those findings tell us about our earliest ancestors. We are obsessed with prehistory—and, in this respect, ... Show More
1h 14m
Feb 2025
Revenge of the Miasma
Today we uncover an invisible killer hidden, for over a hundred years, by reasonable disbelief. Science journalist extraordinaire Carl Zimmer tells us the story of a centuries-long battle of ideas that came to a head, with tragic consequences, in the very recent past. His latest ... Show More
35m 31s
Nov 2024
Journey inside Africa's cave of Great Apes to upend your understanding of the human origin story
Lee Berger, National Geographic Explorer in Residence and real-life Indiana Jones with tales of his hominid discoveries, many of which have rewritten the story of palaeoanthropology. (R)National Geographic Explorer in Residence, Lee Berger, entered the field of palaeoanthropology ... Show More
51m 30s
Apr 2025
The Age of Aquaticus
For years, scientists thought nothing could live above 73℃/163℉. At that temperature, everything boiled to death. But scientists Tom Brock and Hudson Freeze weren’t convinced. What began as their simple quest to trawl for life in some of the hottest natural springs on Earth would ... Show More
43 m
Aug 8
The Menopause Mystery
Until recently, scientists assumed humans were the only species in which females went through menopause, and lived a substantial part of their lives after they were no longer able to reproduce. And they had no idea why that happens, and why evolution wouldn’t push females to keep ... Show More
38m 58s
Mar 2025
Tori Herridge on ancient dwarf elephants and frozen mammoths
Elephants are the largest living land mammal and today our plant is home to three species: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant.But a hundred thousand years ago, in the chilly depths of the Ice Age, multiple species of elephant roamed the ... Show More
28m 39s