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9. Why do we go to the pub?

Why Do We Do That?Series 2

Paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi asks: Why do we go to the pub?

Humans have evolved to drink alcohol, or at least to be able to metabolise it. And we share this ability with our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees and gorillas, who are also able to convert alcohol into sugar.

It gave our ancestors an advantage because we could eat rotting fruit from the forest floor and convert the alcohol into sugars, providing a source of nutrients that not all species could digest. This is also known as the drunken monkey hypothesis. But paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi asks Professor Robin Dunbar if alcohol is why we go to the pub today.

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15 minutes

Last on

Wed 23 Jul 202523:30
BBC Radio 4

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Broadcasts

  • Fri 21 Mar 202514:45
    BBC Radio 4
  • Sun 20 Jul 202514:45
    BBC Radio 4
  • Wed 23 Jul 202523:30
    BBC Radio 4

Podcast

  • Why Do We Do That?

    Ella Al-Shamahi investigates the origins of everyday human habits and behaviour.