Feet Don't Fail Me

Published: May 24, 2021, 3:53 p.m.

b'Standing on your own two feet isn\\u2019t easy. While many animals can momentarily balance on their hind legs, we\\u2019re the only critters, besides birds, for whom bipedalism is completely normal. Find out why, even though other animals are faster, we\\u2019re champions at getting around. Could it be that our upright stance made us human? Plus, why arches help stiffen feet, the argument for bare-footin\\u2019, and 12,000-year old footprints that tell a story about an Ice Age mother, her child, and a sloth.\\xa0\\nGuests:\\n\\n\\nDaniel Lieberman\\xa0\\u2013\\xa0Professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University.\\n\\n\\nJeremy DeSilva\\xa0\\u2013\\xa0Professor in the departments of anthropology and biological sciences, Dartmouth College, and author of \\u201cFirst Steps: How Upright Walking Made Us Human.\\u201d\\n\\n\\nMadhusudhan Venkadesan\\xa0\\u2013\\xa0Professor of\\xa0mechanical engineering and materials science, Yale University School of Engineering.\\n\\n\\nDavid Bustos\\xa0\\u2013\\xa0Chief of Resources at White Sands, National Park, New Mexico.\\n\\n\\nSally Reynolds\\xa0\\u2013 Paleontologist at Bournemouth University, U.K.\\n\\nFeaturing music by\\xa0Dewey Dellay\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'