Just over 125,000 years ago, humanity was going extinct until a dramatic shift occurred—Homo sapiens started tracking the tides in order to eat the nearby oysters. Before long, they’d pulled themselves back from the brink of extinction. What saved us during that period of endangerment? The human brain, and its evolutionary journey is unlike anything else in history.

In A History of the Human Brain, Bret Stetka takes listeners through that far-reaching journey, showing exactly when and how the human brain evolved to shape who we are today. A History of the HumanBrain also tackles the question of where the brain will take us next, exploring the burgeoning con­cepts of epigenetics and new technologies like CRISPR.