The Making of Modernity
The modern world is an odd world. Yes, there are the obvious oddities: skyscrapers, aeroplanes, and climate change. But everyday life has transformed in many more subtle ways, too. First and foremost, humanity has grown healthier and wealthier. Take the human height: it has increased, rather dramatically, across the globe.
Similar graphs can easily be produced for a variety of indicators, from life expectancy to GDP or from access to electricity to children in schools.
The new plenty is not equally distributed, of course. The uneven boom in prosperity has created a similar boom in global inequality.
All this raises plenty of questions. What gave rise to the modern growth in health and wealth? Why did Western countries benefit most from industrial modernity, followed by the rising powers of East Asia? What role did science and technology play in the origins of modernity? What about colonialism and resource extraction?
On Humans has covered these themes in several episodes. Together, you will find tens of hours of material on the matter, but it is scattered across the feed.
This page pulls the strings together.
With a few exceptions, all the episodes can be enjoyed either through audio or as written summaries.
Enjoy!
The Great Divergence
Why did the West get rich? Was the rise of Europe powered by colonial violence, scientific ingenuity, or something else entirely? And what happened to the medieval might of China and India?
This five-part series is produced together with Warwick University’s CAGE Research Centre. Guests include China’s and India’s leading economic historians as well as a 2025 Nobel Prize winner.
The series was launched on the 16th of April, 2025. New episodes will be uploaded weekly.
Complement with my China and India series, as well as my talk at the British Academy
What About China? A trilogy with Professor Yasheng Huang (MIT), co-produced with ChinaTalk
What About India? A two-part series with Professor Bishnupriya Gupta (Warwick).
The Great Question of History: India, Britain, and the Fates of Nations: My 2025 talk at the British Academy
The Birth of Modern Prosperity
A series on the origins of modern prosperity, from the dramatic rise in material welfare to the surprising dynamics of global inequality. Guests included Brad DeLong, Oded Galor, Branko Milanovic, and Daron Acemoglu (Nobel laureate, 2024).
Access the full series here.
Individual Episodes
Below is a list of further episodes on the roots of modernity. These focus on the deeper story of how the origins of farming paved the way for various aspects of the modern world.
If you don’t use Spotify, find On Humans on your favourite app and scroll to the relevant date. (Unfortunately, there is still no easy way to share link-trees to individual episodes. Let’s hope someone figures out a solution soon!)
Explaining the origins of farming: a climate story (Andrea Matranga, July 2024)
Why Eurasia? Examining the oversized impact of Europe and Asia on the economic history of the world (Ideen Ali Riahi, Dec 2025)
A brief history of the last 10 thousand years, focusing on migrations and the spread of farming (Johannes Krause, April 2025)
A deep history of equality: examining the intersection of economics, politics, and methods of resisting inequality (Elizabeth Anderson, Feb 2023)