About This Episode

Our evolutionary journey at the Beacon Theatre in NYC concludes with host Neil deGrasse Tyson, comic co-host Eugene Mirman, and guests Richard Dawkins, Bill Nye, Jim Gaffigan and Maeve Higgins. First up: human design flaws, or what Neil describes as putting “an entertainment system in the middle of a sewage complex.” Richard explains the evolutionary reason a giraffe’s recurrent laryngeal nerve improbably travels the length of its neck and back. Find out why negative traits like male pattern baldness persist – and why Eugene can’t be president. Explore how many generations it would take a mouse-sized species to evolve to the size of elephants and how to breed men who can lactate. You’ll also hear about stem cells and cloning, selective breeding vs. inducing mutation through genetic modification and manipulation, putting fish genes in tomatoes, the unintended consequences of GMO corn, the morality of breeding humans to be better musicians or resistant to Ebola, herd immunity and vaccines, and what we can learn by studying AIDS-resistant prostitutes in Nairobi.

NOTE: All-Access subscribers can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: StarTalk Live! Evolution with Richard Dawkins (Part 2).