Hay Festival
In a special recording at the Hay Festival, Tom Sutcliffe looks at the success of the human species with Yuval Noah Harari, Beth Shapiro, Colm Toibin and Owen Sheers.
Start the Week is at the Hay Festival for a discussion about what has made homo sapiens so successful. The historian Yuval Noah Harari looks back a hundred thousand years ago when at least six human species inhabited the earth and explores why only one came to dominate. Science was a key breakthrough and Beth Shapiro pushes at the limits of knowledge with her book on how to clone a mammoth. The writer Colm Tóibín reveals how much he owes past writers in his introduction to the enigmatic American poet, Elizabeth Bishop, while Owen Sheers explores the themes of loss and redemption in his latest novel.
Producer: Katy Hickman.
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Beth Shapiro
Beth Shapiro is Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
How To Clone A Mammoth: The Science of De-Extinction is published by Princeton University Press.
Yuval Noah Harari
Yuval Noah Harari is a Professor in the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind is published by Vintage.Colm Toibin
Colm Tóibín is a novelist, essayist, critic and poet.
On Elizabeth Bishop is published by Princeton University Press.
Owen Sheers
Owen Sheers is a poet, author and playwright.
I Saw A Man is published by Faber & Faber.
Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Presenter | Tom Sutcliffe |
| Interviewed Guest | Yuval Noah Harari |
| Interviewed Guest | Beth Shapiro |
| Interviewed Guest | Colm Toibin |
| Interviewed Guest | Owen Sheers |
| Producer | Katy Hickman |
Broadcasts
- Mon 25 May 201509:00BBC Radio 4
- Mon 25 May 201521:30BBC Radio 4
Podcast
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