On climate change:
Youtube interview on “The Dissenter” with Ricardo Lopes (2023), Comparing culture, Climate change and Religion – https://youtu.be/09UkHZ3nRrs
Ideasroom NZ – We must face climate emergency head-on, 4 July, 2019.
NZ Herald – Covering climate now series: What I learned in my no-fly year, 21 September 2019.
Ideasroom NZ – Uni scientists: Why we’re marching today, 27 September 2019.
The Conversation – Costly signals needed to deliver inconvenient truth, 16 August 2017.
Sample of responses to Hilton et al., 2022, Nature Human Behaviour, Acoustic regularities in infant-directed speech and song across cultures.
New York Times – https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/24/science/parentese-babies-global-language.html
The Guardian – https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/22/gaga-for-goo-goo-wellington-named-the-global-capital-of-baby-talk
Sample of responses to Ruck et al., 2019, Nature Human Behaviour, Cultural foundations of modern democracy.
The Telegraph – https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/high-price-of-intolerance/cid/1723833
Sample of responses to Watts et al., 2018, Nature Human Behaviour, Christianity spread faster in small, politically structured societies.
Times, UK – Power, not poverty, spreads Christianity study finds, 23 July, 2018.
Nature Human Behaviour – Predicting societal-level cultural change, 23 July, 2018.
NZ Herald – What’s Christianity’s spread teaches us about social change, 24 July, 2018.
Sample of responses to Sheehan et al., 2018, PNAS, Coevolution of landesque capital intensive agriculture and sociopolitical hierarchy.
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft News – Intensification of agriculture and social hierarchies evolve together, 23 March, 2018.
Le Scienze – Gerarchia sociale e agricoltura si sono evolute insieme, 22 March, 2018.
Science Daily – Intensification of agriculture and social hierarchies evolve together, 19 March, 2018.
Phys.Org – Intensification of agriculture and social hierarchies evolve together, 19 March, 2018.
Sample of responses to Bouckaert et al., 2018, Nature Ecology & Evolution, The origin and expansion of Pama–Nyungan languages across Australia.
Pour La Science – L’énigmatique expansion des langues Pama-Nyungan, 22 March, 2018.
The Guardian – Most Australian Indigenous languages came from just one place, 14 March, 2018.
ABC Australia RN Breakfast – Pama-Nyungan: Australia’s largest family of Indigenous languages, 13 March, 2018.
Sample of responses to Saunders et al., 2016, Royal Society Open Science, No evidence that a range of artificial monitoring cues influence online donations to charity in an MTurk sample.
Scimex.com – Feeling like someone’s watching doesn’t increase online charity donations, 19 Oct 2016.
Sample of responses to Watts et al., 2016, Nature, Ritual human sacrifice promoted and sustained the evolution of stratified societies
Science – Human Sacrifice May Have Helped Societies Become More Complex, 4 April, 2016.
Nature.com – How Human Sacrifice Propped Up The Social Order, 4 April, 2016.
The Guardian – Study Shows Human Sacrifice Was Less Likely In More Equal Societies, 4 April, 2016.
New York Times – Why Some Societies Practiced Ritual Human Sacrifice, 4 April, 2016.
NPR (US National Public Radio) – Human Sacrifice Linked to Social Hierarchies in new study, 4 April, 2016.
Smithsonian – Human Sacrifices May Lie Behind the Rise of Ancient Social Status, 4 April, 2016.
Daily Mail – Human sacrifice played a key role in shaping ancient societies, 4 April, 2016.
New Scientist – Has ritual human sacrifice shaped societies and class systems?, 4 April, 2016.
The Conversation – Why did early human societies practice violent human sacrifice?, 4 April, 2016.
ABC Australia – Human sacrifice may have helped build and sustain social class systems, 4 April, 2016.
NZ Herald – Human sacrifice used to maintain power, 4 April, 2016.
Sample of responses to Purzycki et al., 2016, Nature, Moralistic gods, supernatural punishment and the expansion of human sociality.
The Washington Post – Fear of a vengeful God may explain humanity’s global expansion, 10 Feb, 2016.
ScienceNews – Rise of human civilization tied to belief in punitive gods, 10 Feb, 2016.
The Telegraph – God was ‘vital for the development of civilisation’ as we know it, 10 Feb, 2016.
The Conversation – How punitive, omniscient gods may have encouraged the expansion of human society, 10 Feb, 2016.
New Scientist – Belief in punitive gods linked with expansion of human societies, 10 Feb, 2016.
El Pais – El ‘ojo vigilante’ de dios facilitó la aparición de sociedades complejas, 10 Feb, 2016
ABC – Fear of vengeful omniscient gods may have helped human societies expand, 11 Feb, 2016.
NewsTalk ZB – Breakfast interview with Mike Hosking, 11 Feb, 2016.
Sample of responses to Watts et al., 2015, Proc Roy Soc Lon B, Broad supernatural punishment but not moralizing high gods precede the evolution of political complexity in Austronesia.
Mail Online – Civilisation does NOT need faith in God: Belief in supreme being doesn’t play a role in forming complex societies, study finds, 5 March, 2015
Richard Dawkins Foundation – Complex Societies Evolved without belief in all-powerful deity, 10 March, 2015.
Scientific American – Complex Societies Evolved without Belief in All-Powerful Deity, 6 March, 2015.
International Business Times – Belief in supernatural punishment not ‘big gods’ gave rise to complex societies, 4 March, 2015.
Science News – To foster complex societies, tell people a god is watching, 4 March, 2015.
Nature News – Complex societies evolved without belief in all-powerful deity, 4 March, 2015.
Sample of responses to Opie et al, 2014, PNAS, Phylogenetic reconstruction of Bantu kinship challenges main sequence theory of human social evolution.
Phys.Org – Scientific methods shed new light on evolution of kinship patterns, 26 November, 2014.
Sample of responses to Kamilar and Atkinson, 2014, PNAS, Cultural assemblages show nested structure in humans and chimpanzees but not orang-utans.
Morin, M. (2013) Humans and chimps share cultural roots, study says, LA Times, 9 December.
Humans, chimps appear to sequentially adopt cultural traits, Wisconsin Daily Independent, 15 December, 2013.
Alle origini della capacità di evoluzione culturale, Le Scienze, 10 December, 2013
Sample of responses to Opie, Atkinson, Dunbar & Shultz, 2013, PNAS, Male infanticide leads to social monogamy in primates.
North & South – Forsaking all others, Issue 332: 58-64, November, 2013.
Balter, M. (2013) Monogamy May Have Evolved to Prevent Infanticide, Science, 29 July.
Radio interview with Quentin Atkinson, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, National Breakfast Program, 1 August, 2013
Wane, J. (2013), Forsaking all others, North & South, November 2013.
Sample of responses to Pagel, Atkinson, Calude and Meade, 2013, PNAS, Ultra-conserved words point to deep language ancestry across Eurasia.
Norton, E. (2013) English May Have Retained Words From an Ice Age Language, Science NOW, 6 May.
Brown, D. (2013) Linguists identify 15,000-year-old ‘ultraconserved words’, Washington Post, 7 May.
Sample of responses to Ross, Greenhill and Atkinson, 2013, Proc Roy Soc Lon B, Population structure and cultural geography of a folktale in Europe, 280, 1756.
Genes Mix faster than Stories, Nature NEWS, 6 Feb 2013.),
Humans Swap DNA More Readily Than They Swap Stories, National Geographic, 6 Feb 2013.
Genes Mix Across Borders More Easily Than Folktales, New Scientist, 6 Feb 2013.
Sample of responses to Bouckaert et al., 2012, Science, 337, 957-960.
Family Tree of Languages Has Roots in Anatolia, Biologists Say New York Times
A Turkish origin for Indo-European languages Nature
Disease Maps Pinpoint Origin of Indo-European Languages Scientific American
Researchers identify present day Turkey as origin of Indo-European languages Washington Post
Language family may have Anatolian origins Science News
Europäische Sprachen Deutsch stammt aus der Türkei Der Spiegel
Turquía, cuna del español El Mundo
English language ‘originated in Turkey’ BBC
The tree of knowledge The Economist
Sample of responses to Shultz, Opie and Atkinson, 2011, Nature 479, 219.
The Daily Telegraph – Switch to daylight made us sociable, 10 November, 2011.
Pennisi, E. (2011). How Humans Became Social. Wired Science blog, 09 November, 2011.
Silk, J. (2011). Evolutionary biology: The path to sociality. Nature, Joan Silk, 10 November, 2011.
Bascom, N. (2011). Two steps to primate social living, Science News, 09 November, 2011.
Sample of responses to Atkinson, 2011, Science 332, 346.
NYTimes – “Phonetic Clues Hint Language is Africa-Born”, Nicholas Wade, 14 April, 2011.
Wall Street Journal – “The Mother of All Languages”, Gautam Naik, 14 April, 2011.
The Telegraph, UK – “Language like people came out of Africa”, Richard Alleyne, 14 April, 2011.
The Washington Post – “Human language arose in southern Africa, first-of-its-kind analysis suggests”, 14 April, 2011.
ScienceNOW – “Language may have helped early humans spread out of Africa”, 14 April, 2011.
The Economist – “The evolution of language: two origin stories”, 14 April, 2011.
Radio Interviews for ABC (Australia), ABC (Newcastle), ABC Sydney, BBC News, BBC World Service, BBC Science and Technology, NPR – “Science Friday” (conversation with Ira Flatow and Richard Leaky), Radio New Zealand News, Radio Live (NZ).
Sample of responses to Atkinson et al., 2008, Science 319, 588.
Nature – “Languages divide, then bloom – Linguistic evolution is marked by ‘punctuational bursts’”, Emma Marris, 31st January, 2008.
ScienceNOW Daily News – “Punctuation Marks in Language Evolution?”, Constance Holden, 31 January, 2008.
The Economist – “Received pronunciation -Languages and species evolve in surprisingly similar ways”, 331 January, 2008.
Financial Times – “Language evolves in quick bursts”, Clive Cookson, 1 February, 2008.
The Telegraph – “Language development mirrors species evolution”, Roger Highfield, 31 January, 2008.
Noorderlicht (Netherlands) – 31 January, 2008.
New Scientist – “No smooth ride for mother tongues”, 9 February, 2008.
New Scientist – “How global success is changing English forever”, Michael Erard, 29 March 2008
Sample of responses to Pagel, Atkinson and Meade, 2007, Nature, 449, 717-720.
Nature, News and Views – “An invisible hand” W. Tecumseh Fitch, 449, 665-667, 2007.
Nature News – “How ‘holp’ became ‘helped’”, Emma Marris, 10 October, 2007.
The Telegraph, UK – “Scientists chart how words are changing”, Roger Highfield, 10 October, 2007.
New Scientist – “Language ‘mutations’ affect least-used words”, Bob Holmes, 11 October, 2007.
NZ Herald – “Irregular verbs: Use them or lose them”, 11 October, 2007.
Science News, Science – “Shifty talk: Probing the process of word evolution”, 172(15), 227, 13 October, 2007.
NY Times – “Two, Deux, Dos: Heavily Used Words Evolve More Slowly”, Henry Fountain, 16 October, 2007.
Daily Mail, UK – “Is the beauty of English being driven to extinction?” 10 October, 2007.
Independent, UK – “Common words ‘less likely to change’”, 10 October, 2007.
ABC Online, Australia – “Rare words ‘mutate’ faster than common ones”, 10 October, 2007.
Discovery Channel – “Words Subject to ‘Survival of the Fittest’”, 11 October, 2007.
Times of India, India – “Evolutionary law of language found, 11 October, 2007.
MedIndia, India – “Rarely Used Words Becomes Extinct Faster”, 12 October, 2007.
News24, South Africa – “Evolutionary law of language”, 11 October, 2007.
Cosmos Magazine – “Maths shows why words persist over time”, Hamish Clarke, 10 October, 2007.
Sample of responses to Gray & Atkinson (2003) Nature, 426, 435-438.
ABC NEWS Online – “Indo-European languages came from Turkey”, 27 November, 2003.
ABC Lingua Franca programme – Language Evolution, 7 February, 2004. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/linguafranca/stories/2004/1038067.htm
Boston Globe – “A new word on birth of western languages”, 27 November, 2003.
CBC News – “Turkey birthplace of Indo-European languages: study”, 26 November, 2003.
CNN – “Indo-European tongues from Turkey”, 28 November, 2003.
Christchurch Press – ”NZ research into language stuns world”, 1 December, 2003.
Deccan Herald (India) – “From Asia or Europe?” 2 December, 2003.
Guardian (UK) – “Scientists trace evolution of Indo-European languages to Hittites”, 27 November, 2003.
Hindustan Times (India) – “Mother of all Indo-European languages born in Turkey?” 26 November, 2003.
LA Times – “Language family traced to Turkey”, 29 November, 2003, A23.
Le Monde – “Une étude relance le débat sur l’origine des langues indo-euroéennes”, 27 November, 2003.
National Radio – Eureka – The origin of English, 6 March, 2004.
National Radio, Morning report, Interview with Sean Plunket, 1 December, 2003.
National Radio, Nine to Noon, Interview with Linda Clark. ? 6 Dcecember, 2003.
Nature – News and Views – “Trees of life and of language”, Nature, 426, 391-392.
Nature Science Update – “Language tree rooted in Turkey”, 27 November, 2003.
New York Times – “A biological dig for the roots of language”, 16 March, 2004.
New Zealand Herald – “NZ study cracks origin of English”, 1 December, 2003, A01.
Onze Taal (Netherlands) – “L’origine dell’indoeuropeo”, 27 November, 2003.
Pravda (Russia) – “Indians and Europeans Built Tower of Babel. What About Others?” 17 December, 2003.
Reuters – “Anatolian roots seen for Indo-European language tree”, 26 November, 2003.
Science – News – “Early date for the birth of Indo-European languages”, Science, 302, 1490-1491.
ScienceNOW online – “An earlier birth for Indo-Eurpean languages?”, 27 November, 2003.
Sydney Morning Herald – “English language traced to Turkish farmers”, 1 December, 2003.
Telegraph (India) – “Bengali roots traced to Turkey”, 28 November, 2003.
Telegraph (UK) – “Roots of English Traced to Turkey 8,000 years ago”, 27 November, 2003.
Time Magazine – “New look at old words”, 9 February, 2004, 52-52.
Washington Post – “Mother tongue may be older than many think”, 27 November, 2003, A09.
Other media coverage
Nature News Feature – “Social evolution: The ritual animal”, Dan Jones, 23 January, 2013.