Evolutionary anthropologist Herman Pontzer takes us on a groundbreaking tour through the science of human diversity and the intricate interplay between our bodies and our environments.

Real diversity isn’t skin deep. Over the past 100,000 years, as humans expanded into every biome on the planet, our bodies and our cultures have been fine-tuned to our local environments. Our ability to adapt is at the heart of being human and the engine of our diversity.

As an evolutionary anthropologist working with human populations around the globe, Herman Pontzer has conducted research that reveals the wonder of our biological diversity, documenting the connections between lifestyle, landscape, local adaptations and health. Now he joins us to take us on a tour of the human body and the surprising ways in which it survives in an uncertain world: from the Andean groups who have developed increased lung capacity to the Sama divers who have larger spleens.

With so much variation that can be handed down genetically, for better or worse, the way we understand our biology and its interplay with our cultural environments holds huge importance for how we understand our world and one another, including the biggest questions of our day, such as the health impact of social inequality. Eye-opening and profound, this In Conversation event is a revolutionary reappraisal of an overlooked science.

Tickets to this online event are free for members of How To +.