Radiolab Podcast on Specieswide Change

May I present to you an hour of listening time well spent:
http://blogs.wnyc.org/radiolab/2009/10/19/new-normal/

I just spent several hours gorging my mind with back episodes of the beautifully produced podcast, "Radiolab." I wanted to share this episode, "New Normal." To sum up, the show opens with the question, "Can humans ever live without war?"

What follows are 3 captivating stories.

1) Many of you probably know the story of Robert Sapolsky's Baboons. Due to a change in diet (read: abundant contaminated human food scraps), the most aggressive males in a baboon troop die off. The change in social structure results in a culture that is less violent and more accepting of outsiders, who also soon adopt the new culture.

2) A tiny conservative town in Oregon elects a new mayor, native son Stu Rasmussen, in spite of his breast implants and high heels. When fundamentalists from Kansas show up with the usual "God Hates...." picket signs, the town spontaneously organizes a counter rally where everyone wears opposite gendered clothing.

3) A 50 year study on a Russian fox fur farm asks what happens when fear is bred out of a population. Fearful and aggressive pups become clothing, while friendly ones are bred through successive generations. When asked what implications this has for humanity, a biologist suggests that we have been in the process of domesticating ourselves for millennia, and we are likely to grow more peaceful and cooperative (provided we can maintain a habitat to keep us going.)