Main content

Evolution and Extinction

Tom Sutcliffe with Jules Pretty on extinction, Andreas Wagner on evolution's greatest puzzle, Ruth Padel on learning from animals and Chris Stringer on lost human species.

Tom Sutcliffe discusses evolution and extinction with Jules Pretty, who's been travelling to meet "enduring people in vanishing lands" and is concerned about their future; with Andreas Wagner on solving what he calls evolution's greatest puzzle - how can random mutations over a mere 3.8 billion years solely be responsible for eyeballs; poet Ruth Padel on what we can learn from animals and Chris Stringer who's been looking at ancient human occupation of Britain and how homo sapiens may have driven other humans to extinction.

Available now

43 minutes

Last on

Mon 1 Dec 2014 21:30

Andreas Wagner

Andreas Wagner is Professor in the Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies at the University of Zurich.

Arrival of the Fittest: Solving Evolution’s Greatest Puzzle is published by Oneworld.

Andreas Wagner

Chris Stringer

Chris Stringer is Research Leader in Human Origins at the Natural History Museum.

Chris Stringer

Jules Pretty

Jules Pretty is Professor of Environment and Society at the University of Essex and Deputy Vice-Chancellor.

The Edge of Extinction: Travels with Enduring People in Vanishing Lands is published by Cornell University Press.

Jules Pretty

Ruth Padel

Ruth Padel is a poet and writer.

Learning to Make an Oud in Nazareth is published by Chatto & Windus and has been shortlisted for this year’s T.S. Eliot Prize.

Ruth Padel

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Tom Sutcliffe
Interviewed Guest Jules Pretty
Interviewed Guest Andreas Wagner
Interviewed Guest Ruth Padel
Interviewed Guest Chris Stringer
Producer Simon Tillotson

Broadcasts

  • Mon 1 Dec 2014 09:00
  • Mon 1 Dec 2014 21:30

Podcast