Explore every episode of the podcast Originally Human

What does it actually mean to be human — and what can our evolutionary past teach us about how to live better today?

In this episode of Originally Human, I’m joined by anthropologist and author Agustín Fuentes for a wide-ranging conversation about what makes our species unusual, and what we might be getting wrong about human nature.

We talk about why studying other primates can teach us so much about ourselves, how biology and culture are constantly shaping one another, and why humans may be less remarkable for being “intelligent” than for our extraordinary capacity to imagine possibilities and come together to make them real.

Agustín also challenges one of the assumptions at the heart of much ancestral-living thinking: that there is a single “natural” way for humans to live. Instead, he argues that our evolutionary history reveals something much more interesting — that there are many successful ways to be human.

We explore what that means for parenting, creativity, play, community, food, and even the way we use technology. We talk about why human children need many caregivers, why free play matters, what we may be losing when we outsource our thinking to AI, and why knowing your neighbours might change the way you experience the world.

We end with a question that feels particularly important right now: after studying humans and our ancestors for decades, what gives Agustín hope about our species?

Professor Agustín Fuentes' work explores human evolution, primate behaviour, creativity, cooperation, culture, belief, and the complex relationship between biology and the worlds humans create.

This conversation is ultimately a reminder that being human has never been about following one perfect blueprint. It has always been about imagining possibilities, adapting, and — perhaps most importantly — doing it together.

Resources:

Agustín's website

The Creative Spark

Why We Believe

Some of Agustín's work on Big Think/The Well:

I put a camera on a monkey. Here's how it shook my understanding of humanity

Why belief is the most powerful disruptor

Can you separate science from the scientist?

We need a new measure of evolutionary success. Here's why.

Other books mentioned in this conversation:

Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolsky

I Love Learning; I Hate School by Susan D. Blum

Michaeleen Doucleff, PhD, is a science journalist and author of Hunt, Gather, Parent. After struggling with some of the challenges of modern parenting herself, she travelled with her young daughter to Mexico, the Arctic, and Tanzania to learn from Maya, Inuit, and Hadzabe families about how they raise cooperative, confident and emotionally resilient children. 

In our conversation, we explore what these different approaches reveal about children, parents and the environments humans may be better adapted to - and what, if anything, modern Western families can take from them.

We talk about cooperation over control, why children seem to want to contribute, emotional regulation, autonomy, chores, boredom, community, and the surprising possibility that doing less as a parent might sometimes give you more of your life back.

You can learn more about Michaeleen on her website: michaeleendoucleff.com

What if some of the things children need most are also some of the things modern life makes hardest to provide?

In this episode of Originally Human, I talk to psychologist and researcher Darcia Narvaez about the Evolved Nest — her framework for understanding the developmental environment human children evolved to grow up in.

We explore what responsive caregiving, touch, play, nature, multiple caregivers and strong social connection might mean for children today — and what happens when those needs collide with modern family life, childcare and schooling.

In this episode, we talk about:

• The Evolved Nest — the developmental system Darcia believes humans evolved with, including responsive care, affectionate touch, play, nature, multiple nurturers and a welcoming social environment.
• Why play matters — including pillow fights, rough-and-tumble play and letting children take the lead as ways of supporting agency and connection.
• More than one caregiver — why children may benefit from relationships with grandparents, siblings, other children and trusted adults.
• Touch, closeness & sleep — including breastfeeding, night feeding, physical contact and the idea of babies experiencing an “external womb.”
• Boys and development — Darcia's perspective on why boys may need particularly strong nurturing, play and responsiveness.
• Mixed-age childhoods & freedom — what modern age-segregated childhoods may miss, and why autonomy and unsupervised play matter.
• Childcare and school — how Darcia thinks about daycare, Montessori, Waldorf and forest-school environments.
• The Triune Ethics framework — how early experiences may shape our orientation toward self-protection, social engagement and communal life.
• The kinship worldview — what Indigenous perspectives on interconnectedness and responsibility can teach us about human flourishing.

A simple thing to try

Darcia suggests starting with play. Let your child take charge, have a pillow fight, act out something difficult through play, or simply make space for spontaneous silliness and joy.

She also recommends simple practices around nature connection, self-calming and independent play.

A note on the science

Some of the ideas discussed — particularly around breastfeeding, sleep, sex differences, childcare and developmental needs — represent Darcia's interpretation and theoretical framework. They are not all settled scientific consensus.

Learn more

Darcia Narvaez: University of Notre Dame
Evolved Nest
Nested World
Nesting Ambassador program
Eco-Attachment Dance

Books & resources mentioned

• Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality — Darcia Narvaez
• Restoring the Kinship Worldview — Darcia Narvaez et al.
• Free-Range Kids — Lenore Skenazy
• The War on Kids — documentary
• The Healing Wisdom of Africa — Malidoma Patrice Somé

In this episode I’m speaking with Professor Ruth Mace, an evolutionary anthropologist whose work focuses on how human behaviour, family systems, and cooperation have been shaped by evolution.

She has spent much of her career studying how people make decisions about family, reproduction, and social life in different environments — and what that can tell us about how humans have adapted to live.

Her research sits right at the intersection of biology, culture, and everyday life, which makes her perspective especially interesting when we think about how modern lifestyles compare to the environments humans evolved in.

In the episode we cover child rearing, cooperation, family systems and what learnings we can draw from our evolutionary past.

You can learn more about Ruth and her work here: https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/7995-ruth-mace/about