Last Ape Standing #246
January 03, 2014
This week, we're learning about the past and the future of the human race on the planet we've come to dominate. Rachelle Saunders talks to Chip Walter, founder of AllThingsHuman.net, about his book "Last Ape Standing:The Seven-Million-Year Story of How and Why We Survived." And she speaks to University of Cincinnati paleoecologist Brooke Crowley about the evidence that human activity is the primary driver of change in our ecosystem.
Guests:
- Chip Walter
- Brooke Crowley
Featured Book
Last Ape Standing: The Seven-Million-Year Story of How and Why We Survived
Guest Bios
Chip Walter
Chip Walter is the founder of the popular website AllThingsHuman.net, a former CNN bureau chief, screenwriter, and documentary filmmaker. His articles have appeared in Slate, The Economist, Discover, Scientific American, the Wall Street Journal, and numerous other publications and websites. He is author of four books, most recently "Last Ape Standing", and his writing has been published in seven languages. He lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with his wife Cyndy where they try to keep track of their four children.
Brooke Crowley
Dr. Brooke Crowley is a Quanternary Paleoecologist. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geology and the Department of Anthropology at the University of Cincinnati. She uses chemistry in animal tissues like bones and teeth to reconstruct the ecology of animals that lived during the past two million years. It is her hope that she can use this information about animals in the past to understand how animals might react to current and future human impacts. She is particularly interested in how animal communities respond to human impacts, species introductions, and extinctions. Her research takes her all over the world, and she has had the opportunity to work in the Canary Islands, Cost Rica, India, Madagascar and Trinidad.
