Human Footprint

Science and Nature Series / 1 Season

Earth has never experienced anything like us: a single species dominating and transforming the planet. Biologist Shane Campbell-Staton travels the globe to explore our Human Footprint and to discover how the things we do reveal who we truly are.

11m 24s

How Cereal, Sugar, and Big Business Rewired Our Diets

6m 24s

Shane joins Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael Moss joins to uncover how cereal sparked the rise of processed foods — and the billion-dollar marketing machine behind it. From sugar-loaded breakfasts to Big Tobacco’s food empire, this segment reveals how modern diets were engineered to override our willpower.

The Birth of the Supermarket: How Convenience Took Over the Way We Shop

4m 18s

Host Shane Campbell-Staton joins author Ben Lorr to explore the surprising history of the supermarket. From neighborhood butchers to Piggly Wiggly, they trace how small innovations reshaped how we shop — and why convenience and low prices came to rule. What began as a cost-cutting experiment now defines modern life.

The True Cost of Shrimp: What the Grocery Store Doesn’t Show You

13m 11s

Shane Campbell-Staton investigates how shrimp became America’s #1 seafood — and reveals the exploitation and forced labor that fuel its global supply chain. With journalist Ben Lorr and activist Patima Tungpuchayakul, he exposes how modern slavery hides behind low prices and how grocery stores disconnect us from the people who feed us.

Season 2 Preview

30s

Earth has never experienced anything like us: a single species dominating and transforming the planet. Biologist Shane Campbell-Staton travels the globe to explore our Human Footprint and to discover how the things we do reveal who we truly are.

Meet the 'Puff Daddy' of Cotton

2m 28s

Shane’s journey begins in North Carolina, where Julius Tillery – a.k.a. “The Puff Daddy of Cotton” – is a 5th-generation Black cotton farmer. Julius and Shane dig into the rich soils that underlie the “Black Belt,” a broad swath of the South that formed the heart of the U.S. cotton industry.

How Geology Influenced Cotton Production

3m 1s

Meet Craig McClain, the selfie-master turned biological oceanographer. While he studies tiny creatures in the ocean, he's also unraveling the secrets hidden within the rock formations. Join us as we delve into the past to understand the incredible ripple effect behind each layer of time.

Reimagining Green City Living in Singapore

3m 25s

In Singapore, green spaces are no longer an escape from the city, they ARE the city. Pearl Chee, the genius architect behind Kampung Admiralty, proves that where there's a will (and a law), there's a way to bring nature into the concrete jungle.

City vs. Forest Anole Adaptations of Puerto Rico

2m 52s

Meet Kristin Winchell, the urban evolution expert. She's on a mission to unravel the secrets of anoles — the charismatic lizards thriving in cities like San Juan. Join us as we embark on a journey through the concrete jungle and discover how anoles have adapted to their urban playground.

Episode 5 Preview

30s

In "The Urban Jungle," Shane explores the modern city: an ecosystem built by, for us. He encounters three species thriving in the city, reckons with our complex urban history, and envisions a new and wilder urban future.

The Cat Tracking Device of the Future

3m 25s

Despite their abundance, scientists know close to nothing about what cats are doing in the wild, or what their impact might be. Dr. Roland Kays plan? Track cats the way we’ve tracked other large predators – by fitting them with GPS enabled collars.

The Top Secret Vault for Ancient Maize

1m 30s

Shane follows geneticist Sarah Hearne into a vault of over 28,000 species of maize that has weaved itself into the fabric of Mexico's past, present and future. But in the last century, just a handful of varieties have come to dominate global corn production. What happened?

Episode 4 Preview

30s

Shane explores the surprising science and unexpected histories of “The Replacements”: five animal and plant species that made allies of humans, grew to dominate the planet alongside us, and changed their destinies (and our own) forever.

Puppy IQ: How Canine Smarts Evolved with Humans

2m 16s

At the Duke Puppy Kindergarten – a “preschool” for service dogs – Evolutionary Biologists, Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods, show Shane that dogs have an unmatched ability to understand human body language.

Shane Meets an Inuit Sled Dog Hunter

2m 52s

They say dogs are man's best friend, but Inuit sled dogs take it to a whole new level. They're not just companions, they're the lifeline of Resolute Bay. Shane’s journey begins above the Arctic Circle, where the power and endurance of Inuit sled dogs allow a traditional way of life to thrive.

Episode 3 Preview

30s

Shane discovers why dogs are more than man’s best friend – they’ve been reshaped by evolution into the perfect partner for our species. And just as we’ve transformed them, dogs have left an unmistakable pawprint on us and the world we both share.

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