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Prof. Herman Pontzer of the Duke Global Health Institute offers "Burn" (Encore)

Aired on Monday, October 24th.
Aired on Monday, October 24th.

"Science writing at its best: big ideas, wild and often hilarious stories from the field, and deft explanations. [This book] will reshape what you thought you knew about how our metabolisms work." -- Alex Hutchinson, author of "Endure"

(Note: This interview originally aired last year.) Our guest is Herman Pontzer, an Associate Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University and Associate Research Professor of Global Health at the Duke Global Health Institute. A well-known researcher in human energetics and evolution, he joins us to discuss his book, "Burn." This book draws on Pontzer's groundbreaking studies with hunter-gatherer tribes in order to show how exercise actually **doesn't** increase our metabolism. Instead, human beings generally burn calories within a very narrow range -- nearly 3,000 calories per day, no matter our activity level. The book thus offers, per a starred review in Kirkus, "an absorbing, instructive lesson for anyone concerned about their health."

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