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125. Is Gynecology the Best Innovation Ever? by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

125. Is Gynecology the Best Innovation Ever?

from People I (Mostly) Admire

by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Published: Sat Feb 17 2024

Show Notes

Cat Bohannon’s new book puts female anatomy at the center of human evolution. She tells Steve why it takes us so long to give birth, what breast milk is really for, and why the human reproductive system is a flaming pile of garbage.

  • RESOURCES:
    • Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution, by Cat Bohannon (2023).
    • GenomicInference of a Severe Human Bottleneck During the Early to Middle Pleistocene Transition,” by Wangjie Hu, Ziqian Hao, Pengyuan Du, Fabio Di Vincenzo, Giorgio Manzi, Jialong Cui, Yun-Xin Fu, Yi-Hsuan, and Haipeng Li (Science, 2023).
    • TheGreatest Invention in the History of Humanity,” by Cat Bohannon (The Atlantic, 2023).
    • ANewborn Infant Chimpanzee Snatched and Cannibalized Immediately After Birth: Implications for ‘Maternity Leave’ in Wild Chimpanzee,” by Hitonaru Nishie and Michio Nakamura (American Journal of Biological Anthropology, 2018).
    • War in the Womb,” by Suzanne Sadedin (Aeon, 2014).
    • Timingof Childbirth Evolved to Match Women’s Energy Limits,” by Erin Wayman (Smithsonian Magazine, 2012).
    • BonoboSex and Society,” by Frans B. M. de Waal (Scientific American, 2006).

  • EXTRAS:
    • Ninety-Eight Years of Economic Wisdom,” by People I (Mostly) Admire (2023).
    • We Can Play God Now,” by People I (Mostly) Admire (2022).
    • Yuval Noah Harari Thinks Life Is Meaningless and Amazing,” by People I (Mostly) Admire (2022).
    • Jared Diamond on the Downfall of Civilizations — and His Optimism for Ours,” by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021).
125. Is Gynecology the Best Innovation Ever? | Podcst