Podcast appearances and mentions of Melvin Konner

Over half a century, Sarah Blaffer Hrdy has challenged many of our myths about parenting, attachment, and "human nature". In this conversation, we dive into her remarkable career, culminating in her new book, Father Time. [You can now order Father Time via Amazon or Princeton Uni Press] We discuss a variety of topics, from hunter-gatherer parenting to the limitations of comparing humans to chimpanzees. We also discuss "allomothers", attachment theory, and the tragedy of infanticide. We finish with a discussion on the remarkable social changes in fatherhood and the neuroscience that has enabled it. As always, we finish with Hrdy's reflections on humanity. Timestamps 04:15 Myths 10:11 Attachment Theory  20:53 Hunter-Gatherers 24:35 Modern Parenting  26:04 Infanticide  34:00 Monkey parenting (in South America) 36:10 Why we share  40:00 Husbands or aunties? 43:10 Father Brains ANNOUNCEMENT I'm writing a book! It is about the history of humans, for readers of all ages. Do you want access to early drafts? Become a member on Patreon.com/OnHumans⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LINKS Want to support the show? Checkout ⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/OnHumans⁠⁠⁠⁠ Want to read and not just listen? Get the newsletter on ⁠⁠⁠⁠OnHumans.Substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ MENTIONS Terms: allomothers, mobile hunter-gatherers (i.e. immediate return foragers), matrilineal and patrilineal kin Names: Edward O. Wilson, Robert Trivers, John Bowlby, John Watson, Charles Darwin, Mary Ainsworth, Melvin Konner, Barry Hewlett, Nikhil Chaudhary (#34), Nancy Howell, Martin Daly, Margot Wilson, Amanda Reese, Judith Burkart, Carl Von Schaik, Alessandra Cassar, Ivan Jablonka, Kristen Hawkes (#6), Ruth Feldman (#3), Richard Lee

What makes a man? My guest, Harvard evolutionary biologist Carole Hooven, has a one-word answer: testosterone. She is the author of the new book T: The Story of Testosterone, the Hormone that Dominates and Divides Us. Carole describes her own difficult educational journey, her own suffering as a result of male behavior; how an obsession with human behavior led her to the a chimpanzee colony in the jungles of Uganda; and ultimately to a focus on testosterone in explaining not only physical but psychological differences between men and women, especially in terms of aggression, sex drive and status-seeking. Carole talks about how the debate over sex differences has become over-politicized, leading to bad science. As you'll hear, one of my takeaways from Hooven's reality-based approach is that it makes culture even more important, not less. We end with a discussion about the importance of not pathologizing the male desire for sex. This episode gets quite personal at times, which seems appropriate given the subject.    Carole Hooven   Carole Hooven teaches in and co-directs the undergraduate program in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. She earned her BA in psychology from Antioch College in 1988 and her PhD at Harvard in 2004, researching sex differences and testosterone, and has taught there ever since. She has received numerous teaching awards, and her Hormones and Behavior class was named one of the Harvard Crimson's "top ten tried and true." Carole lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband Alex, son Griffin and cat Lola. She loves watching birds, running and biking, Belgian beer, salty snacks and freedom of speech. She tweets from @hoovlet and has a website: http://www.carolehooven.com.  More Hooven Read her new and informative book, T: The Story of Testosterone, the Hormone that Dominates and Divides Us She also recently wrote an interesting article for The Telegraph, The real reason men are more likely to cheat? Science has the answers, as well as a piece for Stylist Magazine: How understanding testosterone will help you understand yourself (and everyone around you) better Also mentioned  We mentioned the book, Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence, co-authored by Richard Wrangham I referred a 1998 piece by Francis Fukuyama titled Women and the Evolution of World Politics Learn more about the Guevedoces in the Dominican Republic who are born with 5-alpha-reductase deficiency syndrome.  Check out Carole's recent appearance on Andrew Sullivan's podcast I mentioned Melvin Konner's book, Women After All: Sex, Evolution, and the End of Male Supremacy I quoted Margret Mead who once said: “I do not believe in using women in combat, because females are too fierce.” Last year, Jeffrey Toobin was suspended for masturbating on a Zoom video chat.  In the movie City Slickers, Billy Crystal's character says: “Women need a reason to have sex, men just need a place.” (I wrongly attributed the quote to Seinfeld) I referenced research from Pew that shows that “masculine” is seen as a negative trait for both men and women.  In an earlier article, I quoted the Stowe headmaster J. F. Roxburgh who said: I am trying to produce men who are “acceptable at a dance and invaluable in a shipwreck.”  Learn more about the Carnegie medals awarded to those who exemplify physical bravery.  The Dialogues Team Creator & Host: Richard Reeves Research: Ashleigh Maciolek Artwork: George Vaughan Thomas Tech Support: Cameron Hauver-Reeves Music: "Remember" by Bencoolen (thanks for the permission, guys!)

This week is the season finale! I sit down with Jack Trusler to talk about three diet and nutrition books: The Paleolithic Prescription (1988) by S. Boyd Eaton, Marjorie Shostak, and Melvin Konner; Fat Land (2003) by Greg Critser; Eating Animals (2009) by Johnathan Safran Foer. For the full list of books reviewed so far on the podcast, check out the book bin: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vReMmvG9p-PQ_jGhgAaGsKRZ2ZYAj6V5cbk46TzNcHUk78m_ZFzOiMF5eHjqy5UMUTYgyak17AA9a6F/pubhtml. If you have questions, comments, send me an email at anthropologyarchives@gmail.com! For news and updates about projects, upcoming books, and news, join the telegram channel: https://t.me/anthropologyarchives. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/anthropologyarchives/support

Believers: Faith in Human Nature (Norton, 2019) is a scientist's answer to attacks on faith by some well-meaning scientists and philosophers. It is a firm rebuke of the "Four Horsemen"--Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens--known for writing about religion as something irrational and ultimately harmful. Anthropologist Melvin Konner, who was raised as an Orthodox Jew but has lived his adult life without such faith, explores the psychology, development, brain science, evolution, and even genetics of the varied religious impulses we experience as a species. Conceding that faith is not for everyone, he views religious people with a sympathetic eye; his own upbringing, his apprenticeship in the trance-dance religion of the African Bushmen, and his friends and explorations in Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and other faiths have all shaped his perspective. Faith has always manifested itself in different ways--some revelatory and comforting; some kind and good; some ecumenical and cosmopolitan; some bigoted, coercive, and violent. But the future, Konner argues, will both produce more nonbelievers, and incline the religious among us--holding their own by having larger families--to increasingly reject prejudice and aggression. A colorful weave of personal stories of religious--and irreligious--encounters, as well as new scientific research, Believers shows us that religion does much good as well as undoubted harm, and that for at least a large minority of humanity, the belief in things unseen neither can nor should go away. Renee Garfinkel, Ph.D. is a psychologist, writer, Middle East television commentator and host of The New Books Network’s Van Leer Jerusalem Series on Ideas. Write her at r.garfinkel@yahoo.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Believers: Faith in Human Nature (Norton, 2019) is a scientist's answer to attacks on faith by some well-meaning scientists and philosophers. It is a firm rebuke of the "Four Horsemen"--Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens--known for writing about religion as something irrational and ultimately harmful. Anthropologist Melvin Konner, who was raised as an Orthodox Jew but has lived his adult life without such faith, explores the psychology, development, brain science, evolution, and even genetics of the varied religious impulses we experience as a species. Conceding that faith is not for everyone, he views religious people with a sympathetic eye; his own upbringing, his apprenticeship in the trance-dance religion of the African Bushmen, and his friends and explorations in Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and other faiths have all shaped his perspective. Faith has always manifested itself in different ways--some revelatory and comforting; some kind and good; some ecumenical and cosmopolitan; some bigoted, coercive, and violent. But the future, Konner argues, will both produce more nonbelievers, and incline the religious among us--holding their own by having larger families--to increasingly reject prejudice and aggression. A colorful weave of personal stories of religious--and irreligious--encounters, as well as new scientific research, Believers shows us that religion does much good as well as undoubted harm, and that for at least a large minority of humanity, the belief in things unseen neither can nor should go away. Renee Garfinkel, Ph.D. is a psychologist, writer, Middle East television commentator and host of The New Books Network’s Van Leer Jerusalem Series on Ideas. Write her at r.garfinkel@yahoo.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

Believers: Faith in Human Nature (Norton, 2019) is a scientist's answer to attacks on faith by some well-meaning scientists and philosophers. It is a firm rebuke of the "Four Horsemen"--Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens--known for writing about religion as something irrational and ultimately harmful. Anthropologist Melvin Konner, who was raised as an Orthodox Jew but has lived his adult life without such faith, explores the psychology, development, brain science, evolution, and even genetics of the varied religious impulses we experience as a species. Conceding that faith is not for everyone, he views religious people with a sympathetic eye; his own upbringing, his apprenticeship in the trance-dance religion of the African Bushmen, and his friends and explorations in Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and other faiths have all shaped his perspective. Faith has always manifested itself in different ways--some revelatory and comforting; some kind and good; some ecumenical and cosmopolitan; some bigoted, coercive, and violent. But the future, Konner argues, will both produce more nonbelievers, and incline the religious among us--holding their own by having larger families--to increasingly reject prejudice and aggression. A colorful weave of personal stories of religious--and irreligious--encounters, as well as new scientific research, Believers shows us that religion does much good as well as undoubted harm, and that for at least a large minority of humanity, the belief in things unseen neither can nor should go away. Renee Garfinkel, Ph.D. is a psychologist, writer, Middle East television commentator and host of The New Books Network’s Van Leer Jerusalem Series on Ideas. Write her at r.garfinkel@yahoo.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/secularism

Believers: Faith in Human Nature (Norton, 2019) is a scientist's answer to attacks on faith by some well-meaning scientists and philosophers. It is a firm rebuke of the "Four Horsemen"--Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens--known for writing about religion as something irrational and ultimately harmful. Anthropologist Melvin Konner, who was raised as an Orthodox Jew but has lived his adult life without such faith, explores the psychology, development, brain science, evolution, and even genetics of the varied religious impulses we experience as a species. Conceding that faith is not for everyone, he views religious people with a sympathetic eye; his own upbringing, his apprenticeship in the trance-dance religion of the African Bushmen, and his friends and explorations in Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and other faiths have all shaped his perspective. Faith has always manifested itself in different ways--some revelatory and comforting; some kind and good; some ecumenical and cosmopolitan; some bigoted, coercive, and violent. But the future, Konner argues, will both produce more nonbelievers, and incline the religious among us--holding their own by having larger families--to increasingly reject prejudice and aggression. A colorful weave of personal stories of religious--and irreligious--encounters, as well as new scientific research, Believers shows us that religion does much good as well as undoubted harm, and that for at least a large minority of humanity, the belief in things unseen neither can nor should go away. Renee Garfinkel, Ph.D. is a psychologist, writer, Middle East television commentator and host of The New Books Network’s Van Leer Jerusalem Series on Ideas. Write her at r.garfinkel@yahoo.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/anthropology

Believers: Faith in Human Nature (Norton, 2019) is a scientist's answer to attacks on faith by some well-meaning scientists and philosophers. It is a firm rebuke of the "Four Horsemen"--Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens--known for writing about religion as something irrational and ultimately harmful. Anthropologist Melvin Konner, who was raised as an Orthodox Jew but has lived his adult life without such faith, explores the psychology, development, brain science, evolution, and even genetics of the varied religious impulses we experience as a species. Conceding that faith is not for everyone, he views religious people with a sympathetic eye; his own upbringing, his apprenticeship in the trance-dance religion of the African Bushmen, and his friends and explorations in Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and other faiths have all shaped his perspective. Faith has always manifested itself in different ways--some revelatory and comforting; some kind and good; some ecumenical and cosmopolitan; some bigoted, coercive, and violent. But the future, Konner argues, will both produce more nonbelievers, and incline the religious among us--holding their own by having larger families--to increasingly reject prejudice and aggression. A colorful weave of personal stories of religious--and irreligious--encounters, as well as new scientific research, Believers shows us that religion does much good as well as undoubted harm, and that for at least a large minority of humanity, the belief in things unseen neither can nor should go away. Renee Garfinkel, Ph.D. is a psychologist, writer, Middle East television commentator and host of The New Books Network’s Van Leer Jerusalem Series on Ideas. Write her at r.garfinkel@yahoo.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-technology-and-society

Believers: Faith in Human Nature (Norton, 2019) is a scientist's answer to attacks on faith by some well-meaning scientists and philosophers. It is a firm rebuke of the "Four Horsemen"--Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens--known for writing about religion as something irrational and ultimately harmful. Anthropologist Melvin Konner, who was raised as an Orthodox Jew but has lived his adult life without such faith, explores the psychology, development, brain science, evolution, and even genetics of the varied religious impulses we experience as a species. Conceding that faith is not for everyone, he views religious people with a sympathetic eye; his own upbringing, his apprenticeship in the trance-dance religion of the African Bushmen, and his friends and explorations in Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and other faiths have all shaped his perspective. Faith has always manifested itself in different ways--some revelatory and comforting; some kind and good; some ecumenical and cosmopolitan; some bigoted, coercive, and violent. But the future, Konner argues, will both produce more nonbelievers, and incline the religious among us--holding their own by having larger families--to increasingly reject prejudice and aggression. A colorful weave of personal stories of religious--and irreligious--encounters, as well as new scientific research, Believers shows us that religion does much good as well as undoubted harm, and that for at least a large minority of humanity, the belief in things unseen neither can nor should go away. Renee Garfinkel, Ph.D. is a psychologist, writer, Middle East television commentator and host of The New Books Network's Van Leer Jerusalem Series on Ideas. Write her at r.garfinkel@yahoo.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/psychology

Believers: Faith in Human Nature (Norton, 2019) is a scientist's answer to attacks on faith by some well-meaning scientists and philosophers. It is a firm rebuke of the "Four Horsemen"--Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens--known for writing about religion as something irrational and ultimately harmful. Anthropologist Melvin Konner, who was raised as an Orthodox Jew but has lived his adult life without such faith, explores the psychology, development, brain science, evolution, and even genetics of the varied religious impulses we experience as a species. Conceding that faith is not for everyone, he views religious people with a sympathetic eye; his own upbringing, his apprenticeship in the trance-dance religion of the African Bushmen, and his friends and explorations in Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and other faiths have all shaped his perspective. Faith has always manifested itself in different ways--some revelatory and comforting; some kind and good; some ecumenical and cosmopolitan; some bigoted, coercive, and violent. But the future, Konner argues, will both produce more nonbelievers, and incline the religious among us--holding their own by having larger families--to increasingly reject prejudice and aggression. A colorful weave of personal stories of religious--and irreligious--encounters, as well as new scientific research, Believers shows us that religion does much good as well as undoubted harm, and that for at least a large minority of humanity, the belief in things unseen neither can nor should go away. Renee Garfinkel, Ph.D. is a psychologist, writer, Middle East television commentator and host of The New Books Network's Van Leer Jerusalem Series on Ideas. Write her at r.garfinkel@yahoo.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/van-leer-institute

Herman Pontzer, PhD is an author and Associate Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University. Through lab and field research, he investigates the physiology of humans and apes to understand how ecology, lifestyle, diet, and evolutionary history affect metabolism and health. In his new book, Burn, he reveals how human metabolism really works, based on his studies of energy expenditure in modern-day hunter-gatherers. On this podcast, Herman and I discuss his groundbreaking research showing the effects of exercise on human metabolism, and their implications for obesity and disease prevention. He describes the astonishing results that emerged when directly measuring the metabolism of Tanzania’s highly active and healthy Hadza people while engaged in their daily activities. The conclusions he draws shed light on what people really need to do to lose weight and keep it off (and it’s not low-carb). Here’s the outline of this interview with Herman Pontzer: [00:00:35] Herman's background and interest in evolutionary anthropology. [00:02:38] Dan Lieberman. [00:03:09] Energy expenditure. [00:03:58] Working with the Hadza people of Tanzania. [00:06:24] Hadza researchers: Brian Wood, Frank Marlowe, and David Raichlen. Podcast with David Raichlen: Wired to Run: Why Your Brain Needs Exercise. [00:07:07] Paper: Pontzer, H., B. M. Wood, and David A. Raichlen. "Hunter‐gatherers as models in public health." Obesity Reviews 19 (2018): 24-35. [00:08:15] Paper: Eaton, S. Boyd, Melvin Konner, and Marjorie Shostak. "Stone agers in the fast lane: chronic degenerative diseases in evolutionary perspective." The American journal of medicine 84.4 (1988): 739-749. [00:08:47] What changed in modern culture. [00:09:52] Wearable GPS devices on Hadza men and women. [00:12:23] Video: The Intense 8 Hour Hunt, from David Attenborough’s Life of Mammals. [00:16:32] How the Hadza think and feel. [00:21:16] Book: Burn: New Research Blows the Lid Off How We Really Burn Calories, Lose Weight, and Stay Healthy, by Herman Pontzer, PhD. [00:24:35] The body adapts to the lifestyle. [00:25:03] Constrained energy expenditure model. [00:26:18] A fixed energy budget. [00:29:08] Overtraining syndrome; Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDS) and why eating more isn't the answer. [00:31:23] Race Across the USA study: Thurber, Caitlin, et al. "Extreme events reveal an alimentary limit on sustained maximal human energy expenditure." Science advances 5.6 (2019): eaaw0341. [00:37:00] Implications for obesity. [00:37:59] Researcher Kevin D. Hall, PhD. [00:41:25] Richard D. Feinman, PhD; Podcast: A Guide to Flawed Studies with Richard Feinman. [00:43:48] How to lose weight: cut calories without being miserable. [00:44:33] Why gastric bypass surgery works. [00:45:42] Podcast: The Hungry Brain with Stephan Guyenet, PhD. [00:47:50] Robb Wolf book: Wired to Eat: Turn Off Cravings, Rewire Your Appetite for Weight Loss, and Determine the Foods That Work for You; Podcast: Wired to Eat with Robb Wolf. [00:48:07] Book: The Hungry Brain: Outsmarting the Instincts That Make Us Overeat, by Stephan Guyenet, PhD. [00:50:31] Bodybuilding; Podcast: The Nutrition and Science of Natural Bodybuilding, with Eric Helms. [00:54:40] Exercise to keep weight off. [01:01:25] Where to find Herman: Pontzer Lab at Duke; Twitter. [01:01:55] hadzafund.org [01:02:23] Curiositystream documentary on the Hadza: Growing Up Hadza.

This podcast takes a different approach to laying out what we now know about the anthropological facts about our diet by introducing you to the people who have been part of putting the pieces together for us. I’ll recap and reference the speakers that opened my eyes as to what we can claim historically. I encourage you to follow up on the link references. Every presentation is worth watching or listening to more than once. And perhaps their collective presentation might change your life...It certainly did for me.Enjoy. Links/References:Paleolithic Nutrition — A Consideration of Its Nature and Current Implications.January 31, 1985, N Engl J Med 1985; 312:283-289DOI: 10.1056/NEJM198501313120505S. Boyd Eaton, M.D., and Melvin Konner, Ph.D.Dr. Michael Eades - 'Paleopathology and the Origins of the Low-carb Diet'Loren Cordain - Origins and Evolution of the Western Diet: Health Implications for the 21st Century.Paleo Diets in a Modern World – Boyd EatonJoin our 5 day PSMF (Protein Sparing Modified Fast) Challenge HEREBuy C8Keto MCT Oil on AmazonOur Facebook Group Keto NaturopathSubscribe to our YouTube ChannelDownload our Free Keto Foods ListBuy Keto Friendly Dry Farm WinesGet your KetoMoJo Here and test your ketones.Visit our website for more podcasts, recipes, and informationUntil next time, Dr. Karl

Anthropologist Melvin Konner—author of Believers: Faith in Human Nature—explains the persistence of religious belief in the face of atheistic criticisms. Konner discusses his religious background and his path to a study of biological anthropology, including his work with the !Kung people in Botswana. Konner also challenges the New Atheists' insistence that humanity can and should do away with religion.Support the show (https://ariarmstrong.com/donate/)

World renowned biological anthropologist Mel Konner examines the nature of human nature, including and especially in his new book the nature of religiosity. In Believers, Konner, who was raised in an orthodox Jewish home but has been an atheist his entire adult life, responds to attacks on faith by some well-meaning scientists and philosophers, most notably the “new atheists” Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens―known for writing about religion as something irrational and ultimately harmful. Konner explores the psychology, development, brain science, evolution, and even genetics of the varied religious impulses we experience as a species. Konner and Shermer discuss:   the nature of human nature what is religion? what is faith? is religion and faith adaptive or the byproduct of some other evolved adaptation? his experience living among hunter-gatherers how hunter-gatherers conceive of religion vs. modern peoples the “Big Gods” theory of religion the “God Module” theory of religion the group selection theory of religion why faith is not for everyone the rise of the nones, but why religion will never completely die out the upside of religion … and the downside were our paleolithic ancestors warlike or peaceful? would you want to switch places and live in a hunter-gatherer society? why for at least a large minority of humanity, the belief in things unseen neither can nor should go away. Melvin Konner, MD, is Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Program in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology at Emory University. He is the author of Believers, Women After All, Becoming a Doctor, and The Tangled Wing, among other books. Listen to Science Salon via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn. You play a vital part in our commitment to promote science and reason. If you enjoy the Science Salon Podcast, please show your support by making a donation, or by becoming a patron.  

I interview Emory University anthropologist Dr. Melvin Konner about his new book Believers: Faith in Human Nature, which looks at the evolutionary basis for religious tendencies, examines the good religion does in people's lives, and asks if people like Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins really know what they're talking about! Find out more about Konner and his work at melvinkonner.com and jewsandothers.com. Theme music courtesy of Body Found. Follow American Freethought on the intertubes: Website: AmericanFreethought.com  Podcast Page: http://americanfreethought.libsyn.com  Twitter: @AMERFREETHOUGHT Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/21523473365/ Libsyn Classic Feed: https://americanfreethought.libsyn.com/rss Find out how to support the show here and here. Contact: john@americanfreethought.com

Religion and the religious experience through the lens of social sciences and evolutionary biology. Dr. Melvin Konner, MD, Ph.D. is Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor at Emory University, where he teaches Anthropology, Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology, and Jewish Studies. He attended Brooklyn College, CUNY, and his MD and PhD are from Harvard. Konner's books include: Unsettled: An Anthropology of the Jews and The Jewish Body (Nextbook “Jewish Encounters”; An American Library Association Brody Award “Honor Book”), The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit; Becoming a Doctor; The Evolution of Childhood (one of The Atlantic’s Five Best Books of 2010), Women After All: Sex, Evolution, and the End of Male Supremacy, among other books. In addition to his many books, Konner has had regular columns in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and has written for Newsweek, The Forward, Nature, Science and The New England Journal of Medicine. He has also translated the African poems of the great Yiddish poet Avraham Sutzkever. Konner has visited Israel 13 times and lectured around the country as a Fulbright Senior Specialist for six weeks in 2011. In 2016 he was elected to The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and past fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.

In our Season Three finale, co-hosts Celeste Headlee and John Biewen talk about where American culture goes from here, sexism-wise. And we hear from scholar Melvin Konner, who argues that we are in fact witnessing—and bringing about—“the end of male supremacy.” Music by Alex Weston, and by Evgueni and Sacha Galperine. Music and production help from Joe Augustine of Narrative Music.

Brad Kearns has been a noted speaker, author and coach in the health and fitness world for over two decades. During his nine-year career as a triathlete, he was one of the world's top-ranked professionals, amassing 30 wins worldwide on the pro circuit. Brad currently works with Mark Sisson from Mark’s Daily Apple, and the two have co-authored several books including Primal Endurance (2016), and The Keto Reset Diet (2017). Brad is with us today to talk about his evolution as an athlete and the factors that contributed to his success, including leaving the corporate world early on (because it just wasn’t as much fun as training) and the ironic breakthrough that caused him to start winning races. His current projects include producing Primal Blueprint Mastery Courses to support those transitioning to an ancestral diet and lifestyle. Here’s the outline of this interview with Brad Kearns: [00:00:23] Podcast: How to Recognise Good Chocolate (and Why You Should Care), with Toréa Rodriguez. [00:00:49] Chocolate: Fruition, Theo, Creo, Lillie Belle Farms. [00:01:25] Podcast: Brain Training for the Primal Keto Endurance Athlete, with Lindsay Shaw Taylor; Mark Sisson, marksdailyapple.com. [00:02:47] Mike Pigg. [00:03:09] 7-Minute Analysis. [00:03:41] Primal Endurance Podcast. [00:06:26] Podcast: Health Outcome-Based Optimal Reference Ranges for Cholesterol, with Tommy Wood. [00:08:23] Book: The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance, by Jeff Volek and Stephen Phinney. [00:14:21] Results happen naturally when your motivation is pure. [00:17:17] Podcasts: National Cyclocross Champion Jeremy Powers on Racing, Training and the Ketogenic Diet and National Cyclocross Champion Katie Compton on Ketosis and MTHFR. [00:20:42] Transition to triathlete. [00:24:16] Andrew MacNaughton. [00:31:27] Richard Branson. [00:33:08] What do triathletes eat? [00:33:49] Kenny Souza. [00:34:22] The Brownlee Brothers. [00:34:53] Lance Armstrong. [00:36:16] Lone Mountain Wagyu. [00:36:28] Cate Shanahan. [00:37:48] Ted Talk: Run for your life! At a comfortable pace, and not too far: James O'Keefe at TEDxUMKC. [00:38:15] Peter Attia. [00:39:28] Mark Allen; Phil Maffetone. [00:39:47] Slowing down. [00:40:59] Heart rate monitoring. [00:43:45] Johnny G. [00:46:40] Transition to primal diet. [00:47:18] Book: The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Foods You Were Designed to Eat, by Loren Cordain. [00:47:18] Article: Paleolithic Nutrition: A Consideration of Its Nature and Consequences (Special Article, N Engl J Med 1985:312;283-289), by S. Boyd Eaton, M.D., and Melvin Konner, Ph.D. [00:50:28] Book: Keto Reset Diet: Reboot Your Metabolism in 21 Days and Burn Fat Forever, by Mark Sisson and Brad Kearns. [00:53:01] Book: Primal Endurance: Escape chronic cardio and carbohydrate dependency and become a fat burning beast!, by Mark Sisson and Brad Kearns; Audiobook here. [00:54:43] Primal Blueprint Mastery Courses. [00:57:33] Steve Phinney. [00:58:59] Keto Reset Facebook Group. [00:59:00] Book: The Keto Reset Instant Pot Cookbook: Reboot Your Metabolism with Simple, Delicious Ketogenic Diet Recipes for Your Electric Pressure Cooker, by Mark Sisson, Lindsay Taylor, and Layla McGowan. [01:01:33] ketoreset.com; primalendurance.fit.

Sebastian Junger’s insights on leadership and teamwork within a community - and civilization at large - are remarkable.  His broad range of experiences as a war-correspondent, anthropology student and tree cutter inform perspectives that have made him a New York Times bestselling author, award-winning journalist, and Academy Award nominated documentary filmmaker.   Sebastian is known for his insights on the extraordinary bonds formed in combat.  He has also studied PTSD, and the connection with depression and suicide; which he attributes to a loss of deep communal bonds. He says the basis and prevalence of mental illness and depression today may be derived from a society where all of our material needs, but none of our evolutionary social needs are met. Sebastian’s insight on the the importance of leadership and team accountability harken back to base needs that have been lost in the progress of civilization.   Key Takeaways [2:09] Although having written on and off for newspapers and magazines in his 20s, Sebastian earned his living as a climber and tree cutter until he was sidelined by a chainsaw injury. During his recovery time in Gloucester, Mass., a local fishing boat, the Andrea Gail, was lost to a storm at sea, and this disaster crystallized his desire to write about dangerous jobs. The Perfect Storm was his first book. [4:29] Sebastian discusses the social nature of humanity, attributing our survival to our ability to coordinate our efforts. We’re smart, we can build tools and weapons, and we work together. One of the ironies of modernity and of wealth is that people are able to be more independent of their community. [6:51] Sebastian comments on teams in business, and how they differ from evolutionary social groups. Life-and-death stakes bring out the best in people. A platoon will have greater devotion and loyalty than an office team. [9:35] Sebastian sees the infrastructure that keeps us alive today as separate from our immediate lives. We don’t eat locally. Everything is part of some larger process. There are huge physical advantages to industrialization and mass society, but also huge social and psychological deficiencies. When you don’t depend on, or even know, the people around you, that isolates you, and leads to depression and suicide. [12:46] Sebastian notes that PTSD cases outnumber the returned military who have actually served in combat. He explains why that may be. We are wired to deal with trauma, but not with the alienation and isolation of the American suburb. Addressing leadership, he suggests that skills that work in combat are the ultimate leadership skills and traits, and business leaders need those traits. Leaders eat last. [18:32] If you have a leader who takes a bonus while firing his people, that’s terrible leadership. In a band of hunter-gatherers, that leader would be killed. When we allow that type of leadership behavior, we are radically departing from our social communal past. [21:01] In the military, leaders give orders in their own name. There is no passing the buck. Sebastian recalls an incident of grave danger, where the lieutenant took a life-and-death risk to assess the situation. His sergeant immediately stepped up, following his example. [25:44] Two reporting situations altered Sebastian strongly. First, Afghanistan in 1996 and 2000, fighting the Taliban. For the first time, Sebastian saw extremely wounded people. He unknowingly had PTSD on his return. The second was being with the 2nd Platoon, Battle Company in the Korengal valley. The bonds he experienced were intense and changed his life. [28:27] Sebastian felt that the loyalty he observed, and was part of, in the 2nd Platoon, turned him inside out. Returning home, he was so altered that he could not continue leading his life as it was. He says it was not trauma; it was something much more positive. [30:38] There is much more to war journalism than being embedded with the U.S. Military. That feels so much safer than going by yourself to a civil war in Africa, or Afghanistan, or to the Arab Spring countries, on your own. You’re not even sure you can trust the people with you. The country needs journalists. [32:17] Sebastian’s degree is in Cultural Anthropology. He wrote his thesis on a Navajo reservation, on Navajo long distance runners. That thesis sparked his interest in writing. Anthropology informs everything he has written, especially his research on PTSD. PTSD is much more widespread today than in any previous generation. We are no more a communal society. [39:05] Sebastian shares a new issue he is exploring: raising his six-week old daughter. He is interested in evolutionary parenting. What infants need is closeness to their parents. As children grow, girls stay close to home; boys form groups and range farther away from home. We are not allowing boys today to  roam.   Website: SebastianJunger.com Watch for Hell on Earth, on the National Geographic Channel in June, 2017 Twitter: @SebastianJunger     Books Mentioned in This Episode The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea, by Sebastian Junger Fire, by Sebastian Junger A Death in Belmont, by Sebastian Junger War, by Sebastian Junger Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging, by Sebastian Junger The Evolution of Childhood: Relationships, Emotion, Mind, by Melvin Konner   Bio Sebastian Junger is the #1 New York Times Bestselling author of The Perfect Storm, Fire, A Death in Belmont, War, and Tribe. As an award-winning journalist, a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and a special correspondent at ABC News, he has covered major international news stories around the world, and has received both a National Magazine Award and a Peabody Award. Junger is also a documentary filmmaker whose debut film Restrepo, a feature-length documentary (co-directed with Tim Hetherington), was nominated for an Academy Award and won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. Restrepo, which chronicled the deployment of a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley, is widely considered to have broken new ground in war reporting. Junger has since produced and directed three additional documentaries about war and its aftermath. Which Way Is The Front Line From Here? which premiered on HBO, chronicles the life and career of his friend and colleague, photojournalist Tim Hetherington, who was killed while covering the civil war in Libya in 2011. Korengal returns to the subject of combat and tries to answer the eternal question of why young men miss war. The Last Patrol, which also premiered on HBO, examines the complexities of returning from war by following Junger and three friends — all of whom had experienced combat, either as soldiers or reporters — as they travel up the East Coast railroad lines on foot as “high-speed vagrants.” Junger has also written for magazines including Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic Adventure, Outside, and Men’s Journal. His reporting on Afghanistan in 2000, profiling Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud, who was assassinated just days before 9/11, became the subject of the National Geographic documentary “Into the Forbidden Zone,” and introduced America to the Afghan resistance fighting the Taliban. Junger lives in New York City and Cape Cod.

Jonathan Haidt is the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University’s Stern School of Business. His books include “The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion” and, forthcoming in 2017, “Three Stories about Capitalism: The moral psychology of economic life.” Melvin Konner is the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Anthropology and of Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology at Emory University. His books include “The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit” and “The Evolution of Childhood.” This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On Being episode “Jonathan Haidt and Melvin Konner — Capitalism and Moral Evolution: A Civil Provocation.” Find more at onbeing.org.

It was supposed to be a discussion about “culture and conscience” with two social scientists, as part of a public gathering of the Center for Humans and Nature at the American Museum of Natural History. But Jonathan Haidt is studying the relationship between capitalism and moral evolution, and our conversation took off from there in surprising directions. The liberal view of capitalism as essentially exploitative may remain alive and well, Haidt says. But the ironic truth of history is that capitalism actually generates liberal values as it takes root in societies. Our conversation preceded this American cultural-political season but offers provocative perspective on it.

Konner will argue, as he did at length in Women After All: Sex, Evolution, and the End of Male Supremacy (Norton, 2015), that a current consensus of neural and neuroendocrine research, in the context of neodarwinian sexual selection and phylogenetic, cross-cultural, historical, and psychological perspectives, now suggests that sex differences in some behaviors (notably violence and driven sexuality) and their underlying emotions and motivations require a partly biological explanation. There are no sex differences in general intelligence, or in many measures of cognitive function, skill, motivation, or emotion. Other measures of emotion (for example, the intensity of publicly expressed grief) are strongly influenced by cultural models and show marked cross-cultural variation in the character and degree of gender differences. But the current scientific consensus is that culture (including upbringing, education, models, and media) cannot explain all gender differences in behavior, emotion, and motivation, although it can explain most such differences. Thoughtful people are rightly concerned about the philosophical and political implications of this consensus. Konner will argue that biological facts and perspectives can now be deployed in favor of gender equality rather than against it. (February 11, 2016)

Emory CMBC Conference: The Foundations of Emotions in Mind, Brain, and Culture

Research on infancy and childhood among !Kung (Bushmen) hunter-gatherers of northwestern Botswana, the first hunting-gathering group where childhood was quantitatively studied, yielded a distinctive characterization of their patterns of child care and behavioral development, and surveys of prior ethnographic literature suggested that core features of these patterns were seen in other hunter-gatherers. In this lecture, Melvin Konner (Emory Univ) contextualizes these findings in the light of recent advances in our understanding of the evolution of human life histories and against the background of basic primate adaptations for infant and juvenile care. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28035]

Research on infancy and childhood among !Kung (Bushmen) hunter-gatherers of northwestern Botswana, the first hunting-gathering group where childhood was quantitatively studied, yielded a distinctive characterization of their patterns of child care and behavioral development, and surveys of prior ethnographic literature suggested that core features of these patterns were seen in other hunter-gatherers. In this lecture, Melvin Konner (Emory Univ) contextualizes these findings in the light of recent advances in our understanding of the evolution of human life histories and against the background of basic primate adaptations for infant and juvenile care. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28035]

From the moment of birth, human infants require an inordinate amount of care and, unlike our nearest living relatives, remain dependent on a variety of caretakers during an unusually long maturation period followed by extraordinary adult longevity. How did such a distinctive pattern of development evolve and what other human features are linked to it? Katie Hinde (Harvard Univ) begins with a discussion about Breast Milk and Breastfeeding, followed by Sue Carter (Univ of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) on Oxytocin Pathways and Human Evolution, and Melvin Konner (Emory Univ) on Hunter-Gatherer Childhood and Human Evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28017]

From the moment of birth, human infants require an inordinate amount of care and, unlike our nearest living relatives, remain dependent on a variety of caretakers during an unusually long maturation period followed by extraordinary adult longevity. How did such a distinctive pattern of development evolve and what other human features are linked to it? Katie Hinde (Harvard Univ) begins with a discussion about Breast Milk and Breastfeeding, followed by Sue Carter (Univ of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) on Oxytocin Pathways and Human Evolution, and Melvin Konner (Emory Univ) on Hunter-Gatherer Childhood and Human Evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28017]

Melvin Konner, a biological anthropologist, is Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Program in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology at Emory University. He earned his PhD (1973) and MD (1985) from Harvard. Dr. Konner is a globally recognized expert on how evolution, biology, and culture together shape child development and human nature. He also was among the first to recognize the importance of evolution to contemporary health, and published The Paleolithic Prescription: A Guide to Diet and Exercise and a Design for Living (1988) with S. Boyd Eaton and Marjorie Shostak. Dr. Konner is an active public communicator and advocate, testifying twice before the US Senate on health care reform and end-of-life care, appearing in two public television series, and writing for (among others) Newsweek, The Sciences, The American Prospect, and The New York Times Magazine.

Melvin Konner, Emory Anthropology | Childhood Evolving: The Role of Development in the Evolution of Mind | Evolution of Brain, Mind, and Culture