Human Meme
The Human Meme podcast examines what separates human consciousness from mere biological existence. Each episode investigates the inherited behaviors, cultural transmissions, and cognitive patterns that replicate across generations, shaping how we think, grieve, speak, and remember. David Boles, a New York City writer, publisher, and teacher, hosts these conversations as mindfulness with teeth: no production music, no easy comfort, only the direct inquiry into what makes us recognizably human. Since 2016, the podcast has asked why we weep emotional tears, how language emerged from gesture, and whether memory constructs or reveals the self. The irrevocable aesthetic is the commitment to answers that, once understood, cannot be unknown. Be a Human Meme.
Episodes
Picture a man in a bright room in a great house. In front of him sit three boxes. One is gold, one is silver, one is lead. He may ...
Let me start with a piece of paper. Early in the twentieth century a printed rate card circulated among the opera houses of Italy,...
Here is the idea at the center of it. Money has come in two families for about as long as we have had money. There is value that t...
There is a coin in your pocket right now, and there is an identical coin in someone else's pocket across town, and those two coins...
In the winter of 1393, the King of France gave his court an order that no one knew how to obey. He asked them not to touch him: no...
In 1868 the office of the Surgeon General put out an order asking Army doctors to gather Native skulls so the size of them could b...
The subject is recantation: the coerced word, the public taking back of a belief by a person who has been given no real choice. We...
I want to tell you about a clay mask. It sits in a glass case at the British Museum,...
The simple argument is the trade. Across more than a dozen contemporary cases, voter populations have agreed to trade the material...
There was a moment in your life when you found out.
Read more
I keep walking past the same stretch of river. Most days I cross over it. Sometimes I stop. There is a plac...
Paris, August nineteenth, eighteen thirty-nine. François Arago, perpetual secretary of the Académie des Sci...
I want to start with four seconds.
Read more
Shakespeare wrote the apothecary twenty lines and then disappeared him from the text.
1862.
Read more
We talked once on this podcast about the pause before a lie. That episode, "Pause Before the Lie," examined...
I was seven years old, sitting on red shag carpeting in Nebraska, in front of a wood...
In the fall of 1984, I was sitting in a darkened lecture hall at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, watchi...
Three seconds. That is all it takes.
Twenty-one violinists walked into a hotel room in Indianapolis in 2010. They were experienced soloists, peo...
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Hey Jonas! The official Jonas Brothers podcast. Hosted by Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. It’s the Jonas Brothers you know... musicians, actors, and well, yes, brothers. Now, they’re sharing another side of themselves in the playful, intimate, and irreverent way only they can. Spend time with the Jonas Brothers here and stay a little bit longer for deep conversations like never before.
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.
Building on the belief that a deeper understanding of the natural world enriches all of our lives, host Steven Rinella brings an in-depth and relevant look at all outdoor topics including hunting, fishing, nature, conservation, and wild foods. Filled with humor, irreverence, and things that will surprise the hell out of you, each episode welcomes a diverse group of guests who add their own expertise to the vast world of the outdoors. Part of The MeatEater Podcast Network.
Where the world and America meet, with episodes each weekday. The world is changing. Decisions made in the US and by the second Trump administration are accelerating that change. But they are also a symptom of it. With Asma Khalid in DC, Tristan Redman in London, and the backing of the BBC’s international newsroom, The Global Story brings clarity to politics, business and foreign policy in a time of connection and disruption. Come and join us our live event. You can register for Castfest tickets here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows/castfest-2026