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Interactive lectures · course · Season 1

Why We Are Human

Eight episodes about what sets us apart from other animals — and what really doesn’t: the brain, genes, speech, lying, love. Each episode is a science detective story in which the audience takes part in an experiment.

Plans Season episodes

Lectures are currently held in Russian.

Skeletons of a gibbon, orangutan, chimpanzee, gorilla and human in a row — frontispiece of Thomas Huxley’s book
Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, frontispiece to T. H. Huxley’s “Evidence as to Man’s Place in Nature”, 1863 · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

The idea

Every episode is an investigation

  1. MysteryA question the audience has no ready answer to.
  2. CluesFacts from real research: from a fox farm near Novosibirsk to brain organoids.
  3. Live experimentThe audience votes from their phones, and the result appears on screen at once. How it works
  4. The revealWhat science knows about it today — and where knowledge ends.

Audience voting

How the voting works

Voting is a regular part of every lecture: a question goes to the audience, and everyone sees the answers during the lecture.

  1. A QR code on the screenYou point your phone camera at it, and a voting page opens in the browser.
  2. One vote per phoneEveryone answers once. The right answer appears only after the question is closed.
  3. Results on the projectorThe audience’s answers go straight to the big screen.
  4. Nothing to installNo apps and no Telegram — it works in an ordinary browser on any phone.

What you will see

Science, not dumbed down

  • How real experiments work — from Belyaev’s foxes to brain organoids.
  • Sources for every episode: you can check everything you hear.
  • Audience voting: your answers become part of the experiment.
  • In your account: videos, notes, materials and short quizzes.

Season 1

Episodes

  1. The Ape That Never Grew Up

    Human children take longer to grow up than the young of other primates. What does that have to do with the axolotl, an amphibian that gets by without growing up, and with foxes from Novosibirsk?

    Pilot

  2. A Brain in a Dish: Can It Think?

    From skin cells you can grow the rudiment of a brain a few millimetres across in a Petri dish. I have grown them myself. Neurons and electrical activity appear in it — but is anyone in there?

    In progress

  3. The Neanderthal Within You

    In people of non-African descent, 1–2% of the genome comes from Neanderthals. How are these pieces of DNA found, and what do they do to us today — from immunity to skin?

    In progress

  4. The Gene That Taught Us to Speak

    In one London family, about half of the relatives struggled to pronounce words. The culprit turned out to be a single broken gene, FOXP2. Why does the “language gene” still not explain where language comes from?

    In progress

  5. Why We Are the Best Liars

    One hypothesis says our big brain grew not for making tools but for understanding others — and deceiving them. We test it against the clues: from crafty chimpanzees to children learning to lie.

    In progress

  6. Why Evolution Needs Love and Jealousy

    Prairie voles pair up for life, while their relatives, montane voles, do not. The difference lies in where the brain places receptors for two hormones. What does that tell us about ourselves?

    In progress

  7. A Fly’s Brain Plays Poker

    In 2024 the complete wiring diagram of a fruit fly brain was published: about 140,000 neurons and every connection between them. I sat that diagram down at a poker table. Can it bluff?

    In progress

  8. Are We Still Evolving?

    Ten thousand years ago almost no adult could digest milk. Today most people in northern Europe can. What else is changing in us right now?

    In progress

Plans

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Lectures are currently held in Russian.

Questions

FAQ

Do I need a background in biology?

No. I explain everything from scratch, with examples and live experiments. If you remember school biology, great; if not, that’s fine too.

How is an episode structured?

Mystery → clues → live experiment → the reveal. The audience votes from their phones, and the answer is built from real research papers, listed on every episode page.

Where do I watch the lessons?

In your account on this website. The video is embedded from VK Video or Rutube, next to the notes, materials and a short quiz. The lessons are in Russian.

What is a pre-order?

You reserve your place for free. When sales open, I’ll email you, and you can pay in your account. I don’t take any money now.

Can I get a refund?

Yes, under the refund policy.

Is this medical advice?

No. The course is educational and does not replace a doctor’s advice.

For organisers

Bring the lecture to your city

A theatre, lecture hall, festival, school or company — the lecture adapts to the venue. For voting, the audience only needs a phone with a browser.

Formats and requests What the venue needs