Stefanos Geroulanos, an eminent historian, tells the story of how we came to obsess over the origins of humanity ― and how, for three centuries, ideas of prehistory have been used to justify devastating violence against others.
🎟️ To learn more about our Oct. 10 event with Daniel Pink and Adam Moss, visit https://nextbigideaclub.com/events
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
Dec 2021
237. David Wengrow on The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity
For generations, our remote ancestors have been cast as primitive and childlike — either free and equal innocents, or thuggish and warlike. Civilization, we are told, could be achieved only by sacrificing those original freedoms or, alternatively, by taming our baser instincts. D ... Show More
1h 33m
Jul 2019
What explains the rise of humans? | Yuval Noah Harari
Seventy thousand years ago, our human ancestors were insignificant animals, just minding their own business in a corner of Africa with all the other animals. But now, few would disagree that humans dominate planet Earth; we've spread to every continent, and our actions determine ... Show More
17m 41s