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Adam Rutherford is a science broadcaster, and author of A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived, which transformed the way we think about human history. By using genetics to uncover the story of our species, it offered a thrilling new perspective on who we are and where we came from.
David Olusoga is an award winning author and historian, whose work includes the TV series and book Black & British: A Forgotten History and the landmark BBC arts series Civilizations.
In July 2026 they came to the Intelligence Squared stage to mark the tenth anniversary of A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived. Together, they explored how advances in DNA research have transformed our understanding of human history, and discussed what a decade of new discoveries has revealed about our past.
From Neanderthals to the plague, from redheads to race, from evolution to epigenetics, they discussed what our genes can tell us about human history and our ancestors. Together, they dispelled some common myths, challenging misconceptions about race and ancestry, and considered the profound consequences of the Human Genome Project.
