Main content

Homo Sapiens +/-

Sebastian Faulks, Ludovic Slimak and Lauren Gunderson explore the differences and connections between humans, Neanderthals and AI, with Tom Sutcliffe.

The French archaeologist Ludovic Slimak has spent three decades uncovering evidence of ancient human life. In The Naked Neanderthal (translated by David Watson) he explores the last great extinction of a humanity that died out at the very moment Homo Sapiens expanded across the earth.

The ingenuity, compassion and cruelty of Homo Sapiens are at the centre of Sebastian Faulks’s new novel, The Seventh Son. As scientists develop methods to genetically alter the human race, ethical questions arise, as do questions about how humans respond to difference.

The American playwright Lauren Gunderson interrogates our relationship with AI in her new play, Anthropology, at the Hampstead Theatre, London (to 14th October). When Angie goes missing, presumed dead, her grieving sister Merril assembles the digital footprint she left behind, and builds herself a digital simulation.

Producer: Katy Hickman

Available now

42 minutes

Last on

Mon 18 Sep 2023 21:30

Broadcasts

  • Mon 18 Sep 2023 09:00
  • Mon 18 Sep 2023 21:30

Podcast