Rise of Humans
The Ancients
History Hit
4.7 • 3.5K Ratings
🗓️ 6 April 2025
⏱️ 59 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
How did we go from ancient apes to the dominant species on Earth? The story of human evolution is one of survival, adaptation, and extinction - stretching back 7 million years.
In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. Henry Gee to unravel the complex origins of humanity. From the first bipedal hominins to the evolutionary leaps that set Homo sapiens apart, together they explore why humans evolved from long-armed tree dwellers to upright walkers and discuss the the advantages that bipedalism gave our ancestors over other species.
More from Henry Gee:
The Origins of Life on Earth: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Rb4OcjbmsjIHpFemJ7mmO
Feathered Dinosaurs: https://open.spotify.com/episode/05wbG2dMp174D10gP30kIj
Homo Erectus: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3MjgWtiENDpVXc5qv77oTy
Human Evolution: Dragon Man: https://open.spotify.com/episode/128XsUffcThVirTghas7OA
Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.
All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, I'm Tristan Hughes, and if you would like the ancient ad-free, get early access and bonus episodes, sign up to History Hit. |
| 0:08.1 | With a History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries, including my recent documentary all about Petra and the Nabatans, and enjoy a new release every week. |
| 0:19.3 | Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com slash subscribe. |
| 0:36.3 | It's The Ancients on History Hit. |
| 0:39.3 | I'm Tristan Hughes, your host. |
| 0:41.6 | Today we're covering the rise of humans. |
| 0:44.3 | Yep, that's right, human evolution. |
| 0:47.1 | It's a story that stretches back some seven million years, |
| 0:50.3 | one that begins with ancient apes and ends with us, |
| 0:53.9 | with many different species of early |
| 0:55.9 | humans emerging and disappearing in between. The story of human evolution is one still shrouded |
| 1:02.1 | in mystery. Not only is the fossil record for early humans extremely limited, but so much of it |
| 1:07.8 | is still debated, including the all-important question, |
| 1:12.1 | why did early humans or hominins, why did they become bipedal? |
| 1:16.7 | How did they evolve from long-armed tree dwellers to two-legged runners? |
| 1:21.4 | These radical changes in bodily structure that have occurred over millions of years. |
| 1:27.0 | Joining me to talk through this evolution story is a fan favourite of the podcast, Dr. Henry G. |
| 1:33.0 | Henry has been on the podcast before to talk about both the origins of life on earth and the dinosaurs. |
| 1:39.1 | Quite a few of you have been clamouring for us to have him back on the show, and I'm delighted to announce his return to talk about the fascinating story of the rise of humans. |
| 1:51.8 | Henry, welcome back to the podcast. It has been too long. Thank you very much, Tristan. |
| 1:57.6 | We've done top five dinosaurs. We've done the wonderful story of the origins of life on |
| 2:02.4 | Earth. And this feels like another story, the rise of humanity. And Henry, this is a story |
... |
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