<p>Happy 2026! <em>On Humans </em>has typically marked the coming of January by revisiting the previous year’s most popular episode. This time, the New Year special packs the five-hour-long &quot;Origins of Humankind&quot; series into one fast-paced dive through deep time.</p><p>By mixing highlights from the original interviews with fresh narration, this episode offers a captivating journey through many of the great topics around human origins, such as:</p><ul><li>Who were the first primates </li><li>The role of fruits, snakes, and predators </li><li>The human solution to danger</li><li>How to grow a human brain?</li><li>What did our ancestors eat?</li><li>Effects of our upright posture </li><li>Origins of music &amp; language </li><li>How <em>Homo sapiens </em>took over the world</li></ul><p>Enjoy!</p><p><br></p><p><strong>LINKS</strong></p><p>For the original five-hour experience, see: <a href="https://onhumans.substack.com/p/origins" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">OnHumans.Substack.com/Origins</a></p><p>For a shorter series on ancient DNA: see <a href="https://onhumans.substack.com/p/dna" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">OnHumans.Substack.com/DNA</a></p><p>Support: <a href="patreon.com/onhumans" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Patreon.com/OnHumans</a></p><p>The series was produced together with CARTA (UCSD &amp; Salk Institute). For past recordings of CARTA symposia on human origins, see: <a href="https://carta.anthropogeny.org/symposia" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Carta.Anthropogeny.org/Symposia</a></p><p><br></p><p><strong>KEYWORDS</strong></p><p>Human evolution | Human origins | Science | Biology | Paleoanthropology | Anthropology | Archaeology | Fossils | aDNA | History of life | Life history | Dinosaurs | Primates | Apes | Hominins | Homo sapiens | Evolution of language | Evolution of music | Brain evolution | Paleoneurology | Neanderthals | Denisovans | Neolithic Revolution | Spread of agriculture | Human destiny </p><p><br></p>