{"podcast":{"title":"On Humans","slug":"on-humans-5714769","podcast_index_feed_id":5714769,"rss_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/b6269808/podcast/rss","website_url":"https://onhumans.substack.com/about","image_url":"https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/staging/podcast_uploaded_nologo/30459826/30459826-1759510527619-3882a9600a0e7.jpg","author":"Ilari Mäkelä","episode_count":111,"summary":"Where do we come from? How did we get here? And what kinds of creatures are we? On Humans features conversations with leading scholars about the human story, making new research about humanity more accessible to everyone and more meaningful to the big questions about who we are. In addition to regular episodes, the show now includes longer series on some of the greatest arcs in the journey of our species, covering everything from the evolution of apes to the making of the modern economy. https://onhumans.substack.com/about","last_synced_at":"2026-07-26T20:17:23.337618+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/on-humans-5714769"},"episode":{"title":"Why the West? Colonies, Fossil Fuels, and Lessons from China ~ Kenneth Pomeranz (Great Divergence #1)","slug":"why-the-west-colonies-fossil-fuels-and-lessons-from-china-kenneth-pomeranz-great-divergence-1","published_at":"2026-04-16T16:17:44+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/on-humans-5714769/why-the-west-colonies-fossil-fuels-and-lessons-from-china-kenneth-pomeranz-great-divergence-1","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/on-humans-5714769","url":"https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ilari-makela/episodes/Why-the-West--Colonies--Fossil-Fuels--and-Lessons-from-China--Kenneth-Pomeranz-Great-Divergence-1-e3i0mae","audio_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/b6269808/podcast/play/118560526/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-3-27%2Fafdf9343-757d-ec4f-7edc-a3e4bf7e8ca0.mp3","summary":"Why did Western Europe become the richest region of the early modern world? Was the rise of the West powered by colonization, inventions, or something else entirely? And what happened to the medieval might of China and India? The term “great divergence” is increasingly used by historians who want to study this immense question, but who want to do it carefully, without falling into traditional East-West clichés. This episode marks the beginning of a five-episode series exploring the state of this research, produced by the University of Warwick’s CAGE Research Centre in collaboration with the On Humans Podcast. In this opening episode, we meet Kenneth Pomeranz, the historian of China who coined the term "great divergence" in a field-defining book of the same name. We begin by discussing Pomeranz’s groundbreaking approach and the surprising answers that he arrived at. In the second half of the episode, we zoom out and place the rise of the West into the broader story about the history of humanity – a story Pomeranz divides into four parts, with the fifth one beginning right now. Enjoy! LINKS AND REFERENCES Do you prefer reading to listening? You can find summary essays, bibliographies, and much more at our series page: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/research/centres/cage/news/podcasts/ GREAT DIVERGENCE: THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD This episode is part of a series produced by Warwick University’s ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ CAGE Research Centre ⁠⁠⁠⁠ in collaboration with ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ On Humans ⁠⁠⁠ , searching for explanations to why Western Europe and North America emerged as the most affluent and technologically advanced regions of the modern world. Guided by six expert guests, including a winner of the 2025 Nobel Prize in economics, we approach this topic with balance and bread…","meta_description":"Why did Western Europe become the richest region of the early modern world? Was the rise of the West powered by colonization, inventions, or something els…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3254,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/on-humans-5714769/episodes/why-the-west-colonies-fossil-fuels-and-lessons-from-china-kenneth-pomeranz-great-divergence-1/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/on-humans-5714769/why-the-west-colonies-fossil-fuels-and-lessons-from-china-kenneth-pomeranz-great-divergence-1.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}