Olympics for the Rest of Us

Let the games begin! The mad dash to the phone … the sudden spring out of bed … the frantic juggling of car keys, grocery bags and a cell phone! Olympic athletes may have remarkable speed and strength, but it’s easy praise the extraordinary. Here’s to the extreme averageness of the rest of us. From beer bellies to aching backs, we’re all winners in the Darwinian Olympics just by virtue of being here.

Identify the one physical trait that you share with all Olympians – your head – and why it’s a remarkable human evolutionary achievement. Plus, the role of genes in putting on the pounds … and what event Spiderman would enter to win the gold.

Guests:

•   Daniel Lieberman – Professor of human evolutionary biology, Harvard University, author of The Evolution of the Human Head

•   Callum Ross – Professor of organismal biology and anatomy, University of Chicago

•   Kelly Brownell – Psychologist, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University

•   Robert Peaslee – Assistant professor, College of Media and Communications, Texas Tech University and author of Web-Spinning Heroics: Critical Essays on the History and Meaning of Spider-Man

Let the games begin! The mad dash to the phone … the sudden spring out of bed … the frantic juggling of car keys, grocery bags and a cell phone! Olympic athletes may have remarkable speed and strength, but it’s easy praise the extraordinary. Here’s to the extreme averageness of the rest of us. From beer bellies to aching backs, we’re all winners in the Darwinian Olympics just by virtue of being here.

Identify the one physical trait that you share with all Olympians – your head – and why it’s a remarkable human evolutionary achievement. Plus, the role of genes in putting on the pounds … and what event Spiderman would enter to win the gold.

Guests:

•   Daniel Lieberman – Professor of human evolutionary biology, Harvard University, author of The Evolution of the Human Head

•   Callum Ross – Professor of organismal biology and anatomy, University of Chicago

•   Kelly Brownell – Psychologist, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University

•   Robert Peaslee – Assistant professor, College of Media and Communications, Texas Tech University and author of Web-Spinning Heroics: Critical Essays on the History and Meaning of Spider-Man

Let the games begin! The mad dash to the phone … the sudden spring out of bed … the frantic juggling of car keys, grocery bags and a cell phone! Olympic athletes may have remarkable speed and strength, but it’s easy praise the extraordinary. Here’s to the extreme averageness of the rest of us. From beer bellies to aching backs, we’re all winners in the Darwinian Olympics just by virtue of being here.

Identify the one physical trait that you share with all Olympians – your head – and why it’s a remarkable human evolutionary achievement. Plus, the role of genes in putting on the pounds … and what event Spiderman would enter to win the gold.

Guests:

•   Daniel Lieberman – Professor of human evolutionary biology, Harvard University, author of The Evolution of the Human Head

•   Callum Ross – Professor of organismal biology and anatomy, University of Chicago

•   Kelly Brownell – Psychologist, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University

•   Robert Peaslee – Assistant professor, College of Media and Communications, Texas Tech University and author of Web-Spinning Heroics: Critical Essays on the History and Meaning of Spider-Man