Not What You Think With Zacha Rosen

Why is menopause a thing? Only three species really do it: short-finned pilot whales, killer whales and humans beings. It’s biologically strange. And it gives us another biologically strange thing: grandmas. Dr Kristen Hawkes (University of Utah) is the lead proponent of the Grandmother Hypothesis, which says that grandmas became a thing in human evolution because having them was a pretty good deal, evolutionarily speaking.   Links from this episode: Listen to Kristen’s full lecture at the Science Festival at Sydney Uni’s Sydney Ideas podcast. (She’s introduced by local collaborator, Peter Kim.) The Atlantic also has a bit more about the Grandmother Hypothesis. If you just want to know about other animals that do go through menopause, National Geographic has you covered.   Songs in This Episode: Green, Green Rocky Road — Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis soundtrack)1, 2, 3 — CamilleGolden Valves — Or