Uploaded March 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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How do human bodies use energy? In this episode, Leakey Foundation grantee Dr. Herman Pontzer shares groundbreaking research that upends our understanding of metabolism, calories, and the history of our species.

Origin Stories is hosted by Meredith Johnson, produced and sound designed by Ray Pang, and edited by Audrey Quinn.

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Links:

Burn by Herman Pontzer, PhD

Pontzer Lab

The energetics of uniquely human subsistence strategies