Welcome to On Humans!

This is Ilari Mäkelä, the producer and host of the show.

I interview world-leading scholars in Anthropology, Philosophy, Social Science, and more. I aim to make their research accessible to the general public and meaningful to the big questions around our self-understanding. I keep pondering topics such as: Where do we come from? What brings us together? Why do we love? Why do we destroy?

I’m also writing a book on these topics for readers of all ages, supported by generous grants from two independent foundations: The Federation of Finnish Learned Societies and Kansan sivistysrahasto.

Reviews & Recommendations

On Humans is trusted by several leading scholars and best-selling authors. Below is a sample of comments and reviews.

• “An incredible program… Deep and interesting“

  Yasheng Huang, author of The Rise and Fall of the East

• “Terrific… Deep and meaningful”

  Patricia Churchland, author of Conscience

• “Impressive… One of the very best”

  Oded Galor, author of Journey of Humanity

• "I highly recommend Ilari Mäkelä’s On Humans!”

  Brad DeLong, author of Slouching Towards Utopia

• “Absolutely incredible”

  Helen Fisher, author of Why We Love

How to listen?

You can listen to On Humans on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your shows. You can also read my essays and insights right here on Substack. If you like videos, you can also find shorter highlights on YouTube.

Whether you prefer reading or listening, I encourage you to sign up for the On Humans newsletter! This way, you will not miss either.

What’s on the Menu?

A lot of my current work concerns human origins. This has given me the privilege of interviewing giants like Richard Wrangham (listen), Sarah Blaffer Hrdy (listen), and Ian Tattersall (listen). In March 2025, I launched a 5-part series on human origins, produced with the great folks at CARTA (UC San Diego). Check it out!

I am also interested in the history of everyday life. This makes me a big consumer of economic history. If you share this interest, you might be interested in my four-part series on the “Birth of Modern Prosperity”. You’ll learn a lot of quirky history and hear Nobel laureate Daron Acemoglu give his ode to humanity. To move beyond the “Western canon”, check out my country-specific series, such as What About China? or What About India?.

I occasionally cover topics in my original fields of Philosophy and Psychology. For example, you can learn about the philosophy of infinity here or the psychology of generosity here.

About me

I got hooked on philosophy during my high school years in Finland. I then studied Philosophy and Psychology at Oxford before specialising in Chinese Philosophy at Peking University (北大).

After graduating, I turned to more general questions about the human condition. My academic publications investigate the neuroscience of culture, the psychology of inequality, and the philosophy of human nature. I’ve also written for larger audiences about the fallacies of modern Darwinism and the lifeways of hunter-gatherers.

I am also interested in mental health, especially mindfulness-related techniques in CBT. I am currently training to be a CBT therapist.

“So wait, how do I access all of this?

You can jump straight to Apple Podcast below.

All the episodes are also available on YouTube as audio-only podcasts!

Check out shorter video material, too. For example, this:

You’ll get access to all the good stuff by subscribing here on Substack. Hit the button and join the journey!