SoS 276: When the Grandmother Hypothesis Speaks, Part Two

In part two of our conversation with Dr. Kristen Hawkes, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Utah, we pick up where we left off and turn to the broader evolutionary story that grandmothering helps tell. Building on her original grandmother hypothesis, this episode focuses on her paper "Life History Evolution Explains Features of Humanity," in which she argues that post-menopausal longevity set off a cascade of life history shifts that distinguish us from our closest primate relatives. Dr. Hawkes walks us through how grandmothering can explain features that often get treated as separate evolutionary puzzles: our unusually long childhoods, late maturity, short interbirth intervals, and extended lifespans. From there, the conversation moves into the social and cognitive consequences of this life history pattern, including pair bonding, cooperative behavior, and the distinctive intensity of human social life. She also revisits how comparisons with chimpanzees and ethnographic data from the Hadza continue to inform and constrain the hypothesis. ------------------------------ Find the work discussed in this episode: Hawkes, K., & Jones, N. B. (2018). Hunter-gatherer studies and human evolution: A very selective review. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 165(4), 777-800. ------------------------------ Contact Dr. Hawkes: hawkes@anthro.utah.edu ------------------------------ Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and Human Biology Association: Facebook: facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation/, Website: humbio.org, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Chris Lynn, Host Website: cdlynn.people.ua.edu, E-mail: cdlynn@ua.edu, Twitter:@Chris_Ly Cristina Gildee, Co-Host & Co-Producer Website: cristinagildee.com, E-mail: cgildee@uw.edu

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SoS 276: When the Grandmother Hypothesis Speaks, Part Two is an episode from Sausage of Science by Human Biology Association.

This episode is 00:50:10 long.

This episode was published on Apr 25, 2026.

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