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Creation Story

Ella al-Shamahi is one part Charles Darwin, one part Indiana Jones. She braves war zones and pirate-infested waters to collect fossils from prehistoric caves, fossils that help us understand the origin of our species. Her recent hit BBC / PBS series Human follows her around the globe trying to piece together the unlikely story of how early humans conquered the world.  But Ella’s own origins as an evolutionary biologist are equally unlikely. She sits down with us and tells us a story she has rarely shared publicly, about how she came to believe in evolution, and how much that belief cost her. Special thanks to Misha Euceph, Khalil Andani, and Hamza Syed.EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Latif NasserProduced by - Jessica Yung and Pat Walterswith help from - Sarah QariFact-checking by - Diane Kellyand Edited by  - Pat Walters EPISODE CITATIONS: Videos - “Human” (https://www.bbcearth.com/shows/human), Ella’s show on the BBC and PBS Signup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected]. Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Duration
37m
Broadcast on
10 Oct 2025
Audio Format
other

Ella al-Shamahi is one part Charles Darwin, one part Indiana Jones. She braves war zones and pirate-infested waters to collect fossils from prehistoric caves, fossils that help us understand the origin of our species. Her recent hit BBC / PBS series Human follows her around the globe trying to piece together the unlikely story of how early humans conquered the world.  But Ella’s own origins as an evolutionary biologist are equally unlikely. She sits down with us and tells us a story she has rarely shared publicly, about how she came to believe in evolution, and how much that belief cost her. 

Special thanks to Misha Euceph, Khalil Andani, and Hamza Syed.

EPISODE CREDITS: 
Reported by - Latif Nasser
Produced by - Jessica Yung and Pat Walters
with help from - Sarah Qari
Fact-checking by - Diane Kelly
and Edited by  - Pat Walters

 

EPISODE CITATIONS:

Videos - 

“Human” (https://www.bbcearth.com/shows/human), Ella’s show on the BBC and PBS

Signup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!

Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.

Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.


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RIDILEB is supported by AT&T. We all love to connect via video calls or texts. Right now, at AT&T, you can get the new iPhone 18 Pro for $0 with iPhone trade-in. Any condition. It has the ultimate pro camera system and big leap in battery life, so you can turn this deal into a long-lasting connection. Learn how you can trade in your iPhone for the new iPhone 18 Pro requires trade-in of iPhone 14 or higher, excluding iPhone 16E, an eligible plan. Terms and restrictions apply, subject to change, visit an AT&T store for details. OK. OK. OK. You're listening to Radio Lab from WNYC because I'm pronouncing it the Yemeni way to present the Yemeni way. I'm like, I'm excited about you pronouncing it the Yemeni way. A week because it's used heavily by Yemenis. A lot less. Like, just to mean something nice or something? Yeah. Or, how's your day going? A lot less. Oh, yeah. I love it. Oh, that makes me feel so warm. Wait, now pronounce your name for me, so I know how to say your name the Yemeni way. Allah. Allah. Allah. It's like, at the end, it's too much. Everyone kept calling me Allah, and I was like, I know I'm great, but I think that's too far. Guys. Hey, I'm Latif Nasser. This is Radio Lab, and I'm talking with Allah al-Shamahi. She's a paleoanthropologist and evolutionary biologist, and she's like, honestly, the modern day Indiana Jones. She travels all over the place collecting fossils. Sometimes this takes her into active war zones or through pirate-invested waters, and she does all of this to help piece together the story of how humans came to be. The thing is, as well, our story is kind of epic, man. Our story is epic. She's got a new TV show out now on the BBC and PBS, and in it, she explains that the origin of our species is kind of surreal. We lived in a world that was a bit like Lord of the Rings. There was obviously the Neanderthals with so many people I've heard of, but there were all these other species, including one of my favourites, homofloresiensis, who were basically these hobbit-like humans. They were really short. They were about three and a half feet tall. Now, that means humans the size of penguins were living on this island in Indonesia called

Transcription truncated.

Ella al-Shamahi is one part Charles Darwin, one part Indiana Jones. She braves war zones and pirate-infested waters to collect fossils from prehistoric caves, fossils that help us understand the origin of our species. Her recent hit BBC / PBS series Human follows her around the globe trying to piece together the unlikely story of how early humans conquered the world.  But Ella’s own origins as an evolutionary biologist are equally unlikely. She sits down with us and tells us a story she has rarely shared publicly, about how she came to believe in evolution, and how much that belief cost her. Special thanks to Misha Euceph, Khalil Andani, and Hamza Syed.EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Latif NasserProduced by - Jessica Yung and Pat Walterswith help from - Sarah QariFact-checking by - Diane Kellyand Edited by  - Pat Walters EPISODE CITATIONS: Videos - “Human” (https://www.bbcearth.com/shows/human), Ella’s show on the BBC and PBS Signup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected]. Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.