Interview: Hobbits, Neanderthals, and Dragon Man with Ella Al-Shamahi | Particles of Thought

What if Homo sapiens weren’t the only humans? Paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi joins Hakeem to explore a lost world where Homo sapiens once shared the planet with at least seven other human species. They dig into Neanderthal culture, the mysterious Denisovans, and the ancient DNA discoveries rewriting the story of who we are. Then Ella turns the lens on herself, sharing her personal journey from creationist to becoming a leading expert on human evolution, and the long, difficult journey that challenged everything she thought she knew. It's a conversation about human origins in every sense of the phrase. Particles of Thought is back for Season 2! 🎧 Available on your favorite podcast platforms Amazon Music: https://bit.ly/4msqqby Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Hz8rkI Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4oB3Ten If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Your feedback helps new listeners find the show and allows us to continue creating great science content. Thank you for your support! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ella Al-Shamahi is a paleoanthropologist and explorer, and presenter based in London. She specializes in human evolution and has conducted fieldwork in some of the world's most dangerous and remote regions in search of fossil evidence of our earliest ancestors. She is a TED speaker and has appeared in numerous science documentaries, including hosting NOVA and BBC’s five-part series HUMAN, available on the PBS App and NOVA’s website. Particles of Thought is hosted by Hakeem Oluseyi, an astrophysicist, author, STEM educator, multi-patented inventor, science journalist, TV personality, science communicator, and inspirational speaker. His research is based on "hacking stars" to understand our universe better and develop innovative new technologies. Oluseyi's work has resulted in 11 patents and more than 100 publications covering contributions to astrophysics, cosmology, and plasma physics and the development of space missions, observatories, focal plane instruments, detectors, semiconductor manufacturing, and ion propulsion. 📰 Stay up to date on the latest science discoveries, full episodes, articles, videos, and more by signing up for NOVA's newsletter here: https://to.pbs.org/4brCC7Y ▶️ Stream NOVA documentaries & more with PBS Documentaries on Prime Video: https://amzn.to/4hXBlsu 💙 Help us bring the universe closer to home. Your donation ensures that NOVA’s deep-space discoveries and quantum physics explorations remain free and inspiring for the next generation of scientists. Support fact-based storytelling today. https://bit.ly/48UnsrD 🌟 Follow on social for more NOVA content Twitter:   / novapbs   Instagram:   / novapbs   TikTok:   / novapbs