Wildhood: Adolescence Across Species

In this show, Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, MD, visiting professor in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and Kathryn Bowers, Science Journalist, draw upon their new book, Wildhood: The Epic Journey From Adolescence to Adulthood in Humans and Other Animals, to share their five year study of adolescence across species. What they find is as startling as it is important. Adolescents, be they the teens in our homes, or the animals across the globe, reveal striking similarities in their physical and emotional journey from being juveniles to adults. From bottlenose dolphins to red-tailed hawks to humans, adolescents have more in common with one another than with their mature parents or younger siblings. They are in the " Wildhood" negotiating four core challenges- Safety, Status, Sexuality and Self-Reliance. The behaviors of a naïve penguin, a charismatic hyena, an adventurous humpback whale, and a restless wolf, will sound strikingly similar to human teens.