‘Humankind’ Makes the Case That We Are Wired ...

What if the thing holding you back isn’t the world saying no—it’s the voice in your head asking, Are you sure you’re allowed to do this? Today, we’re exploring two books about moving through hesitation and into action: Cate Hall and Sasha Chapin’s You Can Just Do Things, a sharp, ...  Show more

What does it actually take to get better—and keep getting better—once talent has taken you as far as it can? Today, we’re exploring two books about the disciplined, sometimes uncomfortable work of growth: Ryan Hawk’s The Price of Becoming, which argues that lasting excellence is ...  Show more

Why should we believe in human goodness? Today we’re exploring the power of human kindness and why the theory that most people are governed by self-interest is possibly totally inaccurate. Our guest Rutger Bregman instead argues that history shows we are fundamentally altruistic ...  Show more

Support this show  http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared ------ Human beings, we’re taught, are by nature selfish and governed by self-interest. From Hobbes’ theory about the state of nature to Richard Dawkins’ ‘selfish gene’, the roots of this belief are deeply ingrained ...  Show more

Rutger Bregman is one of Europe’s most prominent young thinkers. A historian and author, Rutger has published several books on history, philosophy, and economics. His book, History of Progress, was awarded the Belgian Liberales Prize for best nonfiction book of 2013. In this epis ...  Show more

Historian Yuval Noah Harari wrote a book back in 2015 that looked at the entirety of human history; from hunter-gatherers to space exploration. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind packs all of this into a mere 400 pages. Harari noted to NPR's Arun Rath that humans have done a g ...  Show more