What Happened When We Stopped Squatting?

What you'll learn

• 1 (00:28) **The Ekihalong Stool: A Physical Artifact** - Michael introduces a physical object from Kenya, a one-person stool called an ekihalong, setting up the episode's exploration of human resting positions.
• 2 (04:32) **Demonstration: Stool vs. Resting Squat** - Michael and Hannah compare the physical experience of sitting on the stool to performing a deep resting squat.
• 3 (07:55) **The Achilles Tendon and "Use It or Lose It"** - Michael explains the physiological reason most adults can't comfortably deep squat, linking it to a loss of ankle flexibility.
• 4 (09:42) **Skeletal Evidence: The Squatting Facet** - Michael reveals that habitual squatting leaves a permanent mark on human bones, allowing scientists to track the behavior through history.
• 5 (13:36) **The Historical Decline of Squatting and the Rise of the Chair** - Michael connects the disappearance of the squatting facet in European skeletons to the proliferation of chairs.
• 6 (16:57) **Two Historical Records That Align** - Michael highlights the beauty of how separate lines of evidence—written wills and bone marks—tell the same story about the adoption of chairs.
• 7 (17:24) **Chair vs. Stool: A Physiological Trade-Off** - Michael and Hannah debate the health implications of sitting in a chair versus on the stool.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app