Why we sing

Recently, our producer Justine Paradis noticed something. Humans really like to sing together in groups: birthday parties, sports games, church hymns, protest chants, singing along to Taylor Swift at the Eras concert… the list could get very long. But… why? Did singing play a part in human evolution? Why does singing together make us feel so good? Featuring Hannah Mayree, Ani Patel, Dor Shilton, and Arla Good. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org. SUPPORT To share your questions and feedback with Outside/In, call the show’s hotline and leave us a voicemail. The number is 1-844-GO-OTTER. No question is too serious or too silly. Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member. Subscribe to our (free) newsletter. Follow Outside/In on Instagram or BlueSky, or join our private discussion group on Facebook LINKS Bobby McFerrin in 2009 at the World Science Festival, demonstrating the intuitive power of the pentatonic scale, and in 2010, improvising in a stadium in Germany with 60,000 singers. A short documentary about Sing For Your Life! and OneVoice Circle Singers. Check out Hannah Mayree’s music and work. Dor Shilton and Ani Patel collaborated on a paper (currently preprint) examining four societies where collective music-making is rare. Dor Shilton’s paper on the evolution of music as an “interactive technology” and open-access analysis of patterns in group singing. This journal presented the hypothesis of music as a mechanism for social bonding as part of an ongoing conversation. SingWell’s forthcoming research on group singing, aging, and Parkinson’s disease. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices