Since Charles Darwin, evolutionary biologists have been convinced that males in the animal kingdom are the most interesting, dominant, and promiscuous, while females are boring, passive, and devoted. In her new book Bitch, Cooke tells a new story. Whether investigating same-sex albatross pairs that raise chicks, murderous meerkat mothers, or ducks' titanic battle of the sexes, Cooke shows us a new evolutionary biology, in which females can be as dynamic as males. This isn't your grandfather's (or Darwin's) evolutionary biology. It’s more inclusive and truer to life.
Shermer and Cooke discuss: the definition of male and female in the animal kingdom • male bias in the history of science • genes involved in sex determination and how they work • natural selection • sexual selection • adaptationism or non-adaptationism in the theory of evolution • Why do men have nipples? • Why do women have orgasms? • why females are just as light-hearted, competitive, aggressive, dominant and dynamic as males • what humans can learn from non-human animals • maternal and paternal instincts • patriarchy and matriarchy across the animal kingdom • and why the sexes are much more similar than they are different.
Lucy Cooke is the author of The Truth About Animals, which was shortlisted for the Royal Society Prize, and the New York Times bestseller A Little Book of Sloth. She is a National Geographic explorer, TED speaker and award-winning documentary filmmaker, with a master's degree in zoology from the University of Oxford. She lives in Hastings, England.
SUPPORT THE PODCAST
If you enjoy the podcast, please show your support by making a 5 or 10 month donation.
https://www.skeptic.com/donate/
SPONSOR
Wondrium
https://wondrium.com/shermer
#michaelshermer
#skeptical
Listen to The Michael Shermer Show via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, iHeartRadio and TuneIn.
https://www.skeptic.com/michael-shermer-show/
Please take the opportunity to connect and share this video with your friends and family if you find it useful.
