Why is menopause a thing? Only three species really do it: short-finned pilot whales, killer whales and humans beings. It’s biologically strange. And it gives us another biologically strange thing: grandmas.

Dr Kristen Hawkes (University of Utah) is the lead proponent of the Grandmother Hypothesis, which says that grandmas became a thing in human evolution because having them was a pretty good deal, evolutionarily speaking.

Links from this episode:

Listen to Kristen’s full lecture at the Science Festival at Sydney Uni’s Sydney Ideas podcast. (She’s introduced by local collaborator, Peter Kim.)

The Atlantic also has a bit more about the Grandmother Hypothesis.

If you just want to know about other animals that do go through menopause, National Geographic has you covered.

Songs in This Episode:

Green, Green Rocky Road — Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis soundtrack)
1, 2, 3 — Camille
Golden Valves — Orkestra Del Sol
Il Principe — Eusebio
Green, Green Rocky Road — Dave Van Ronk (Inside Llewyn Davis soundtrack)
Mis Dos Pequeñas — Orlando Cachaito Lopez (Six Feet Under soundtrack)

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