Babbage: How did humans evolve?

<p>The evolutionary journey that created modern humans was once thought to be relatively linear. But <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/06/26/why-the-african-genome-project-is-so-useful?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=babbage&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">new technology is revealing a far more complex picture</a>. The Economist’s Dylan Barry travels to South Africa to trace the story of our evolution, and explains how <a href="https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/10/03/how-hybrids-have-upturned-evolutionary-theory?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=babbage&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">interbreeding with other species</a> provided the genes possessed by many people today. To uncover our origins, scientists are nowadays not only hunting for clues in the <a href="https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2021/07/01/a-new-human-species-may-have-been-identified?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=babbage&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">bones of our ancestors</a>—but in the <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2021/06/26/the-promise-of-the-african-genome-project?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=babbage&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">genomes of living people</a>, too. We speak to the researchers who are helping to rewrite the human story. Alok Jha hosts.</p><p><br></p><p>For full access to The Economist’s print, digital and audio editions subscribe at <a href="http://www.economist.com/podcastoffer?utm_campaign=b