Origin Stories

Around 23,000 years ago, people walked along an ancient lakeshore in what is now White Sands National Park, New Mexico. The tracks they left behind have pushed back the dates of known human occupation of the Americas by thousands of years. In this episode, scientists from the White Sands team share the story of how these Paleolithic prints were discovered, identified, and dated. 
Part two will explore what the White Sands footprints can tell us about life at the peak of the last Ice Age.
Origin Stories is a project of the Leakey Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to funding human origins research and sharing discoveries. If you can, please give to support the show. Your donation will be matched!
This episode was generously sponsored by Leakey Foundation Trustee Naoma Tate. Origin Stories is made possible by our listener-supporters. Additional support comes from Jeanne Newman, Camilla and George Smith, and the Joan and Arnold Travis Education Fund.
Links to learn more:
White Sands National Park - Fossilized Footprints
White Sands National Park - website
Evidence of humans in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum, 2021 - Open Access
Independent age estimates resolve the controversy of ancient human footprints at White Sands, 2023 - Open Access
Paleolake geochronology supports Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) age for human tracks at White Sands, New Mexico, 2025 - Open Access
Berkeley Geochronology Center
Video of researchers working on the trackways at White Sands 
Special thanks to our friends at the Berkeley Geochronology Center and White Sands National Park.
This episode was reported, produced, and sound designed by Ray Pang, hosted by Meredith Johson, our editor is Audrey Quinn. Music by Blue Dot Sessions, additional music by Lee Roservere.

What does evolutionary science tell us about what we should eat? In this episode, Harvard paleoanthropologist and author Daniel Lieberman joins us to discuss food, health, human evolution, and his new book, "Fed Up: What Evolution Reveals About Food, Diet, Health, and Eating Well."
Origin Stories is a project of The Leakey Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to funding human origins research and sharing discoveries. Support our work and this show at leakeyfoundation.org/originstories
Book Giveaway
Enter your name by October 12 for a chance to win a copy of Fed Up! Winners will be drawn at random on October 13. No donation necessary to win! 
Links to learn more
Leakey Foundation events calendar
"Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution" -Read the 1973 essay by geneticist and biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky. - full PDF
US FDA FoodData Central – Look up official, comprehensive nutritional data and macronutrient breakdowns for thousands of foods. 
Lieberman et al, Comparing measured dietary variation within and between tropical hunter-gatherer groups to the Paleo Diet
How the World Does Beans and Rice...in 16 Recipes, allrecipes.com
73 Best Rated Dishes with Peanuts, tasteatlas.com
The PREDIMED Study (NEJM) – The landmark clinical trial from Spain proving that a Mediterranean diet rich in extra-virgin olive oil or nuts reduces the risk of major cardiovascular events (like heart attacks and strokes) by roughly 30%. (Note: This is the updated, re-analyzed 2018 version that corrected a prior 2013 randomization issue).
The PREDIMED-Plus Study (Official Site) – The newer, ongoing follow-up trial evaluating how combining a calorie-restricted Mediterranean diet with physical activity impacts long-term weight loss and type 2 diabetes prevention.

Humans are the only animals that get dressed every day. Clothing is one of our most important inventions, yet we rarely even think about it as a technology. Nina Jablonski joins us to explore when and why our ancestors started wearing clothes, and what that decision meant for our survival, our migration across the planet, and our sense of self.
Origin Stories is a project of The Leakey Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to funding human origins research and sharing discoveries. Please support our work at leakeyfoundation.org/originstories.
Links to learn more:
Nina Jablonski's website
Nina Jablonski lecture on "The Evolution and Meaning of Human Skin Color" 
The Oldest Sewn Hide
Origins of Clothing Lice
Blombos Cave Awls
Sewing Needles Reveal the Roots of Fashion

Biruté Mary Galdikas passed away on March 24, 2026, at the age of 79. She spent more than 50 years studying orangutans in Borneo and fighting to protect them. Before she began her work, orangutans were the least understood of the great apes. She changed that. Her research formed the foundation of what we now know about orangutans. She was the first to learn what they ate, how they lived, how they moved, their long interbirth intervals, and so much more. Including the many threats to their survival. Her lifelong dedication inspired generations to care about orangutans and their forests, and to pursue careers in the field she helped shape. ⁠
I had the honor and privilege of interviewing Birute Galdikas in 2021, on the fiftieth anniversary of her study. We're re-releasing this episode in her honor. 
Links:
Orangutan Foundation International
Ways to get involved
In Memory of Dr. Biruté Marija Filomena Galdikas: A remembrance by primatologist Erin Vogel
Origin Stories is a project of The Leakey Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding human origins research and outreach.
Support this show and the science we talk about. Your donations will be matched by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation. leakeyfoundation.org/donate 
Credits:
Produced by Ray Pang and Meredith Johnson. Sound design by Ray Pang. Our editor is Audrey Quinn. Thanks to Talain Blanchon for audio of Dr. Galdikas in the field and for recording our interview with Dr. Galdikas in his studio. And special thanks to Marcus Foley and Emily Patton for all their help.
Archival lecture audio is from The Leakey Foundation archive.
Music by Henry Nagle and Lee Roservere.

2025 was another exciting year in human origins research! In this episode, four scientists and Leakey Foundation grantees (and one podcast host) share their picks for the top discoveries of the year.
Support this show and the science we talk about. Your tax-deductible gift to The Leakey Foundation will be matched! Click here to donate. 
Want more science between podcast episodes? Join our monthly newsletter for human origins news and updates from Origin Stories and The Leakey Foundation.
Links to learn more
All research articles are open-access and free to read
New research reveals the hand of Paranthropus boisei
Earliest evidence of making fire
Complete sequencing of ape genomes
Highly selective cannibalism in the Late Pleistocene of Northern Europe reveals Neandertals were targeted prey
Denisovan mitochondrial DNA from dental calculus of the >146,000-year-old Harbin cranium