Russia Speaks | Stanislav Drobyshevsky: What we search for in the Earth and why it defines our future

Anthropologist Stanislav Drobyshevsky is the guest on the latest episode of the "Russia Speaks" podcast. The conversation begins with the Khotylyovo archaeological site in the Bryansk Region: a small area beside the Desna River preserves layers spanning the period from 90,000 years ago to the present day, making it possible to literally read human history.

The episode explores Neanderthal finds, including a small bone bearing a zigzag as a rare example of an abstract drawing, and why small, isolated groups lost out to those who knew how to build connections.

Drobyshevsky explains how Cro-Magnons broadened their social circles, exchanged goods and reached agreements — and why this gave them an advantage. A separate part of the discussion explores how ancient stories echo the present, from discussions of genetic engineering to criticism of "stupid numbers" and pointless technological races.